Authorities in the US have refused to return 137,000 kroner that was confiscated from a Danish policeman who attempted to legally purchase Cuban cigars from Germany.
Torben Nødskouv intended to resell the cigars through his small business Cigarhuset and made the transaction in dollars with a Hamburg-based distributor. But the transaction, which was automatically routed through the US, was picked up by American authorities who froze the money, arguing that the transaction violated the American trade embargo with Cuba.
Nødskouv appealed after the $20,000 transaction was frozen last autumn, but the money may be permanently lost after he was recently informed that it would not be returned to him.
The intervention of the American authorities in a legal transaction between two European countries has provoked criticism from a range of politicians and experts who argue that the US has overstepped its place in their policing of financial transactions under the guise of fighting terrorism.
Speaking to Berlingske newspaper, the foreign minister, Villy Søvndal, said he was concerned by the Americans' decision, adding that as it was a European issue, it would be brought up by the EU in their running dialogue with the US.
It is worrying that the US is extraterritorially applying American legislation to regulate business activities outside of the US, Søvndal said. I do not think it is fair that the US intervenes with European businesses, especially with a legal transfer of money between two European countries.
Hans Jørgen Bonnichsen, the former head of the domestic intelligence agency PET, called on Denmark to use its position as EU president to pressure the US into releasing the money.
The case is an obvious opportunity for the Danish presidency to step up to the plate, Bonnichsen told Berlingske. Its a clear example of the US abusing rules which were implemented to fight terrorism. That the American authorities can stop a completely legal financial transaction between two European countries is an abuse of EU citizens rights.
Nødskouvs case is not the first time the American authorities have confiscated Danish money. In 2008, dress seller Christa Møllgaard-Hansen from Maribo had 205 dollars frozen after attempting to buy six dresses from Pakistan.
#2
smells of desperation. Every gas fill-up will reinforce the utter hate I feel for him, his policies, and his elitist fools that are in power. I'd crawl across broken glass to vote against him. He knows I'm not the only one, and the summer looks like an economic disaster
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/27/2012 19:31
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#3
It's of a piece. He's basically telling his green constituency "I'm telling you what you want to hear and doing the exact opposite, and you will vote for me anyway. Ahahahahahahahahha!" And the dumb bastards go along with it.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/27/2012 20:16
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It was a kindergarten class piece of art that Jessie Sansone probably won't want to hang on the refrigerator anytime soon.
After Jesse Sansone's 4-year-old daughter drew a picture of a gun, cops handcuffed the clueless father and dragged him off to jail. It was there that the dad was stripped of his clothes and searched by the authorities. Sansone was never charged with a crime.
Note how many parties of the first part are unnamed and in the passive voice in the article. It's as if bodiless evil spirits were wafting about the place, malice trailing in their wake
.Sansone wasn't expecting to be greeted by police when he went to pick up his three children from school last week. Faculty there had become concerned, however, after the man's 4-year-old daughter drew an image last Wednesday that they thought warranted investigation. It was a picture of a man holding a gun, and when teachers asked the girl to explain it, she said it was a depiction of her father.
"He uses it to shoot bad guys and monsters," teachers say the girl explained.
The father says he doesn't own a gun. Nor does he kill monsters. My guess is that the father might into video games. I've played some which were rather violent (the F.E.A.R. series for example, half life, etc...).
"I'm picking up my kids and then, next thing you know, I'm locked up," Sansone, 26, tells The Record out of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
"I was in shock. This is completely insane. My daughter drew a gun on a piece of paper at school," he says.
After seeing the image in question, the school's staff became shocked as well. So much so, in fact, that they rang up child welfare officials and local law enforcement and arranged for them to meet the girl's father at the end of the school day. By that evening, Sansone had been handcuffed, whisked away to jail and forced to remove his clothes so he could be subjected to a strip search.
Authorities took all three of Sansone's children and dragged them to Family and Children's Services to be interviewed. His wife, Stephanie Squires, tells The Record that authorities never explained themselves.
"He had absolutely no idea what this was even about. I just kept telling them. 'You're making a mistake,' " she says.
Despite her pleas, the ordeal went on for hours. Sansone says he was scared and was told he would be charged with possession of a firearm. The problem was, he says, that he doesn't own a gun. After being held for hours, Sansone was eventually freed from jail and was asked to authorize a search of his home. Though he didn't have to comply, he says he did so anyway.
Authorities did not recover any weapons in their search (or monsters Proving that the Sampson home doesn't have any mirrors.
).
His wife says they knew they wouldn't. The police, she says, acted on an assumption and nothing else.
"Police chose to arrest Jessie here. Nobody wants something like this to happen at any time, especially not at school. But that's out of my hands," Zack explains. Zack is the school Principal. Ultimately it was his decision to call in the police and children's welfare over a simple kids drawing. Old Zack is also in dire need of being FIRED for lacking even rudimentary common sense.
Sansone and his family are left wondering why the investigation carried out as far as it did, however. When The Record followed up on the story days later, Waterloo Regional Police Inspector Kevin Thaler told them, "We had every concern, based on this information that children were in danger." The information is now being called into question after Thaler adds that investigators never saw the drawing. In short - Waterloo Regional Police Inspector Kevin Thaler is lying. They arrested him with *no* evidence - not even the drawing - simply on the word of a school administrator.
Neither has Sansone or the school's superintendent.
Police add that the strip-search was necessary since it was a firearms-related incident. And the guy wasn't even charged. I don't know how it is in Canada but isn't this false imprisonment?
#1
Being its Canada he will have no useful legal recourse.... but .. being Canada there is a good chance Zack takes winter vacations to Florida.
Perhaps he ....
Posted by: Water Modem ||
02/27/2012 23:14
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#2
If they'd been real police, they'd of arrested the principle for being too stupid to be allowed in public. But since they're not cops, just thugs, they obeyed orders from their Supreme Master of Politically Moronically Correct Stupidity.
Posted by: Silentbrick - Halliburton Lost Drill Bit Division ||
02/27/2012 23:59
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#2
In a nutshell: "Everyone is killing each other in Syria and some other places in the region, and the conflict might spread. What should we do about it?"
"How much does this cost you?"
"Nothing at all," I answered.
"Then let them kill each other as long as possible, which is to say for 30 years or so. Do you know," the ghastly Cardinal continued, "why really interesting wars last for 30 years? That has been true from the Peloponnesian War to my own century. First you kill the fathers, then you kill their sons. There aren't usually enough men left for a third iteration."
#3
The biggest known unknown is how much damage Iran can do to the world oil trade & how long that damage can persist. Many national economies are already on the brink of collapse.
In a DW interview, former US National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski issues a stark warning about the consequences of an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities and urges Europeans to speak out on the issue.
#2
I can't tell if Zbig is merely a buffoon or disingeniously evil (I'm leaning toward the latter). His two main points are:
* Sanctions are good - unless they make the target feel they are being forced to choose between strangulation and capitulation. Uhhh... sanctions are supposed to be painful with the choice being exactly that: capitulate or be strangled.
* The United States can prevent war by providing security guarantees. Yes, it could, and this is what got us all through the Cold War. However, no country currently trusts the US to do this. Some, like the Philippines may hope so, but the Japanese don't seem to and the Israelis certainly do not.
Lastly, his snark about how can a country with nukes decide another cannot have them ignores the fact that the Iranians have explicitly declared their intent to destroy Israel once they have nuclear weapons. You can debate whether this is mere Persian bloviation or whether they actually mean it, but the Israelis cannot afford to guess wrong. There is the crux of the problem.
#3
Brzezinski belongs to every SPECTRE-like organization that will have him. Carter foolishly went along with his insanely bad judgment in foreign policy, resulting in the loss of five allies, giving away the Panama canal, trying to convince the Soviet Union to send even more military to Afghanistan, and every other foul up he could have possibly made.
His last big boffo was to convince Carter to make the hasty Iran rescue, followed by total inaction.
It's important to note that by then, many in the US Navy were convinced that Carter was a Jonah, and were frightened when he would come aboard, as disaster would follow.
The Agency is a U.S. government espionage and special operations agency, but one that is extremely secretive so much that it doesn't have a proper name. Charlie Borden (known as "The Official"), the director of The Agency, explained that the organization takes on cases that the other agencies "can't, won't, or don't". References in the show point to the Agency as being a "Cold War relic", which makes it likely that The Agency was founded during that time.
The most curious characteristic of The Agency is how it keeps being "absorbed" by Federal Departments that are completely unrelated to intelligence. During the first season, The Agency was a division of the fictional federal "Department of Fish and Game." In the pilot episode, it was explained this was due to the fact that at the time the Department of Defense was having budget cuts while the DFG had a surplus of money.
During the second season, The Agency changed departments several times, having been absorbed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Department of Health and Human Services, and (very briefly) the United States Postal Service before settling in the fictional Bureau of Weights and Measures. All of this led to a running gag in which Hobbes and Fawkes are never taken seriously as federal agents, since their identifications always include their department name.
#9
Besoeker, you raised another issue in passing yesterday. You said something like, everyone below the level of colonel can see this. Why such differentiation at that level? I understand generals needing to be political; they have to negotiate on behalf of the organization with politicians, a very different skill set than running an action, kinetic or otherwise. But wasn't Mr. Yon a colonel -- Special Forces, as I recall? And we have colonels posting here at Rantburg, I know, and they seem to have their feet firmly planted on the ground. So what is it that changes things at that level in re: Afghanistan?
There is an old story told about the officer who upom being promoted to colonel, could not fall asleep the night of his promotion ceremony. Tossing and turning throughout the night, he finnally nudged his wife in the wee hours and said "you know baby, this means I could be a GENERAL someday!"
It has been my observation that things oftentimes have a tendency to become a bit political from that day forward.
#12
TW, Yon was special forces, but he wasn't a colonel or any commissioned officer rank so far as I can tell. WIkipedia says he was born in 1964, enlisted at age 19 (1983) and left the military in 1987 after only 4 years.
So while he was quite young as a Green Beret, he wasn't in long enough even to make a more senior NCO rank or to hold leadership positions IIUC.
#16
Apparently only a Muslim can intentionally deface the Koran/Quran, which by various MSM Artics has + is occurring often in mainstream Muslim life yet are NOT punished.
NON-MUSIMS = "DATS A BEHEADIN'"!, OR HAND-CHOPPING, OR BOTH.
* ION DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > NEW EXTREMIST ALLIANCE IN PAKISTAN | NEW PAKISTAN EXTREMIST ALLIANCE [PDC = Pakistan Defence Council] LEAVES GOVT. POWERLESS TO ACT AS IT CHANTS "DEATH TO AMERICA", oer Quran Burning.
ARTIC = Islamabad contained by limits of Pak Law + fear of Political, Popular Backlash, to includ backlash vee Pak Army whom supports the PDC.
The Taliban has claimed that one of its militants has infiltrated an international military base in eastern Afghanistan and poisoned food and drink being served at the facility.
A spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, Sergeant Nicholas Conner, is quoted as saying that an investigation was launched after laboratory tests discovered traces of bleach in food at a NATO base in Nangarhar Province.
The spokesman dismissed claims by the Taliban that five U.S. soldiers had been killed in the alleged poisoning.
The incident was reported after days of sometimes deadly anti-U.S. protests in Afghanistan over the burning of Korans at a NATO military base near Kabul.
#1
A lot of cost, asset and failure risk to destroy the facility. Less to disable access(entrances, power, logistics) to use of the facility.
Strategically more viable to disable the much softer targets of Operational Command and Control.
Strafe the busses carrying technicians to the site(s). Soon nobody will ride the busses.
#2
Compare wid TOPIX/WORLD NEWS > VARIOUS > [WashTimes] ATTACKING IRAN NUKES MAY ONLY SLOW PROGRESS, EXPERTS UNCERTAIN OF LOCATION, POSSIBILITY OF RETALIATION.
ARTIC = In reality, [short of War + Invasion] neither the US or Israel can stop Iran from dev or repoducing Nuclear Weapons.
ONCE AGAIN, IOW US + ISRAEL = CAN SLOW, BUT ARE UNLIKELY TO STOP IRAN FROM DEV NUCWEAPS.
Moreso given ...
* TOPIX > PUTIN: IRAN HAS RIGHT TO CIVILIAN NUCLEAR ENERGY PROGRAM.
IRAN = being a good SCALPEL LAWYER = POSSESSING THE ABILITY TO QUICKLY PRODUCE NUCWEAPS IS N-O-T THE SAME AS ACTUALLY POSSESSING NUCWEAPS, ERGO NEITHER THE US-ALLIES NOR THE UNO HAVE BASIS TO SANCTION MILACTION AGZ IRAN.
"NO WMDS IN IRAN"!
and
* TEHRAN TIMES > REGIONAL BALANCE OF BALANCE SHIFTING IN FAVOR OF RESISTANCE [agz Israel + Zionism]: JALILI, wid kudos to Lebanon's role in the anti-Zionist + Paleo struggles.
#3
Too bad. Seems like it was a pretty nice house by Pakistani standards. Couldn't they have sold it off to benefit a charity for the poor or something?
#4
Courtyard, facade, and front door... all numbered, shipped, and readied for reassembly at the 2012 Democratic convention. POTUS to arrived via black UH-60. Soundtrack includes Keith Urbans For You which sets the tone with follow-ons by Trace Adkins If the Sun Comes Up. If the sun comes up without me tomorrow / Youll be fine (in Spanish).
#6
Neither funny nor strange. Yours was a duplicate. We generally don't post duplicates. We look at the time the posts came in and also the reliability of the news source.
Thanks for asking.
AoS
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/27/2012 13:10
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#7
So were the ex-wives and daughters still living there when the bulldozer moved in?
#10
huh. that's even more odd, as I posted my story @yesterday@ with a time of 00:01, and this one is clearly labeled as 7am. How could it be a dupe? If anything, @this@ story was the dupe.
reliability of the news source? in what bizarro world is epoch times credible? they're nutso anti-chinese, they report all sorts of stuff that isn't true, when the truth is unflattering enough. rantburg might as well link to animal rights press releases.
#11
gromky, you have other stories here. I know, because I published some of them, and was very pleased to do so. Others I have dumped because I did not think they fit what we are doing here at Rantburg, just as I have to every other poster since I was tapped to be a moderator. For that matter, even yet not every article I put into the hopper gets published, and I'm a bloody moderator, with electronic life and death at my fingertip.
Life is imperfect and unfair, and the teacher did not always call on you when you put up your hand, back when you were the smartest kid in the class. I know this is so, because my teacher did not always call on me. Go take a walk in the sunshine, and come back calmed down.
#12
gromky, you have other stories here. I know, because I published some of them, and was very pleased to do so. Others I have dumped because I did not think they fit what we are doing here at Rantburg, just as I have to every other poster since I was tapped to be a moderator. For that matter, even yet not every article I put into the hopper gets published, and I'm a bloody moderator, with electronic life and death at my fingertip.
Life is imperfect and unfair, and the teacher did not always call on you when you put up your hand, back when you were the smartest kid in the class. I know this is so, because my teacher did not always call on me. Go take a walk in the sunshine, and come back calmed down.
#1
SARS is a coronavirus. But common colds are typically associated with rhinoviruses and adenoviruses, as well as coronavirus. If this is an adenovirus, it is not SARS.
Chris Moerdyk's opinion artikel contains much more than the e-tolling title text. Moerdyk's underlying concern and the concern of many others is that they are headed down a road to Zimbabwian governance and economy. Some interesting government attitudes and language parallels.
#2
Very timely post. Looking at the comments also. Yes, there is the signpost up ahead. I avoid news media but they must be avoiding reality. The captian is in the bar and the ship runs aground. The aircraft controller has fallen asleep. Trains have a deadman's swithch at least. long live the king. I recall an expression that is very old but has been used in history many times. Something like; They have eyes but they cannot see. They have ears and yet they cannot hear. They have a brain yet they cannot comprehend that which they have seen or heard.
#3
Oddly enough, in the very long run I think this might be a good thing. At least in Africa.
Democracy can only exist where the people not only can assert a choice in government, but where they are willing to do so, as individuals, as well.
Africa is horribly tormented by tribalism. When the leaders of a tribe tell the tribe to vote a particular way, they all, to a person, vote that way, blindly following whatever their leaders say.
In historical Africa, one tribe was so distraught over the death of their beloved leader that to a person they committed suicide. They are extinct.
Crap like this has to end. When the government puts the squeeze on people, indifferent to their hardship, something has to break. In Zimbabwe, it was the people who broke. Tribalism won out, and now that nation has descended into ruin.
But South Africa may be different enough for that not to happen. People who think for themselves may be strongly outnumbered by brain dead tribals, but they are far stronger and more resilient.
Yet the tribals can overwhelm them by misusing democracy with sheer number of lockstep untermensch. But only if the individuals allow it to happen.
The tribals would prefer a descent into a Zimbabwe state, because even in Hell they would rule, and could give up any pretensions of respecting anyone not in their tribe.
Right now the non-tribal South Africans are experiencing the death of a thousand cuts. Either they assert themselves or they die out. It is natural selection.
#4
Africa is horribly tormented by tribalism. When the leaders of a tribe tell the tribe to vote a particular way, they all, to a person, vote that way, blindly following whatever their leaders say.
You know that's not confined to Africa. We just use a different term than 'tribe' but its the same fundamental behavior.
Roads are a finite commodity in many places very expensive to build that people get to use as much as they like for free.
The main reason roads are free is that historically it wasn't feasible to charge for using them, except where a road is mostly isolated from the rest of the road network, like the NY state thruway.
The first law of human affairs is force. Before all other laws, the ballot box and appeals to reason is that primal law that enforces submission through violence. Islam is a religion built on that first law, forcing everyone to choose whether they will be the oppressors or the oppressed, whether they will be a Muslim or a Dhimmi.
The organizing force of Islam can be seen in urban gangs which react in much the same way to being 'disrespected'. When your religion is little more than an entitlement to be a thug, to elevate your way of life over that of everyone else, violent outrage over even the most minute sign of disrespect is to be expected. And when your beliefs are little more than an excuse to hate, rioting over a slight is the sacrament of your faith.
Islam did not expand through the persuasiveness of its illiterate child abusing founder, at least not beyond the initial persuasion that allowed him to gather bandit troops to raid, murder and enslave the multicultural peoples of the desert until there was nothing left but Muslims and their slaves. It expanded by force and it has gone on expanding by force. Faced with advanced civilizations, it has reacted with the violent petulant fury that is its spiritual heritage.
More
#1
Abdul-Latif said that jihad in America should be a physical jihad, and not just media jihad, expressing his view that it was necessary to take action rather than just talk, an FBI agent told the court. Abdul-Latif referred to the 2009 Fort Hood massacre, when a single gunman killed 13 people ... (and) said that if one person could kill so many people, three attackers could kill many more.
A Palestinian woman from Islamic Jihad has been on a hunger strike since the Israel placed her under administrative detention 11 days ago. This is the second high-profile hunger strike by an Islamic Jihad member in recent months.
The woman, Hana Shalbi, 30, says she was subjected to a body search by a male Israeli soldier upon being detained and was assaulted when she resisted. Shalbi says prison officials have put her in periodic solitary confinement as punishment for her hunger strike.
Shalbi lives in the West Bank village of Burkin near Jenin. She previously served 25 months under administrative detention; her detentions were repeatedly renewed. She was set free as part of the prisoner-exchange bargain that freed Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
Other administrative detainees have announced their intention to refuse to appear in Israeli military courts starting on March 1.
#2
Quoting a comment from a Canadian on Zerohedge: Fact is the USA badly needs Canada's oil and Canada is badly dependent on one customer only, USA. A pipe to west coast won't change anything and requires the approval of about 100 Native Indian tribes that have their rights enshrined in constitution. If they object, it would require constitutional changes and they.....are objecting.
Right now Obama needs the enviromentalist's votes and that's it. It's all about votes .......After next elections, whether Obama is still there or Santorum is the president, Keystone will start to lay down pipes.
#5
ION FOX NEWS AM > Guest MONICA CROWLEY = belabeled the Bammer as a dedicated, unswerving "Ideologue in the WH" whom is engaging in extensive "Social [Re-]Engineering" at every level of the US Eonomy - e.g. FUEL/GAS PRICES, the Bammer is INTENTIONALLY MAKING THINGS SO COSTLY IN ORDER TO INDUCE OR FORCE AMERICANS TO GIVE UP EFFECTIVE + CHEAPER FOSSIL FUELS.
#1
The headline is over-the-top. The US has been there & has done that before. Countless local governments issued their own paper money when all US banks closed early in 1933. This "scrip" circulated off & on for years even after the banks re-opened.
The Feds demonetized gold, seized private stocks of gold without due compensation, and invalidated previous legal contracts that were supposed to have been settled in gold, and these measures were approved by the US Supreme Court.
The impression that the federal government is not really functioning, despite appearances to the contrary, seems to be spreading.
#3
Since states can only constitutionally issue currency backed by gold, the proper alternative is to create a state licensed, regulated, insured and audited scrip corporation.
To a great extent, it would be a business cooperative, tasked to do several things.
1) To concentrate dollars from the purchase of scrip, to bulk buy products, commodities and services not manufactured or available in the state. (Think pharmaceuticals). These will then be resold to members, for retail by scrip or dollars.
2) As the clearinghouse for scrip transactions and sales taxes. The value of scrip and prices of things bought with scrip would be set on a monthly basis, and remain fixed no matter what happened to the value of the dollar. Within a normal range, the two would be close to parity, but with inflation or deflation of the dollar, either the dollar or scrip would become the preferred currency.
3) The corporation would warehouse surplus commodities and products of members, which would be available to the state as relief supplies for the poor, as well as sold out of state for dollars.
Retailers and individuals would have a card with an encrypted data matrix bar code on it. When the clearinghouse was called by an ordinary cellphone with a camera, then the cardholder would scan the bar code and the clearinghouse would respond by sending a picture of its owner.
This would identify them as the seller. Then they would scan the data matrix bar code of the buyer, and their picture would be displayed to confirm that they were the owner of that bar code.
Then the seller would scan the regular bar code of the item or items being sold, like a grocery store scanner, and see a readout of the price of the items and the projected total, which would be in black text if the buyer had sufficient funds in their account, but turn to red if they didn't have enough to pay for it.
Then they buyer would have to confirm the total, then enter a PIN number to verify it. Not particularly more difficult than a current debit card transaction, except that no national credit card company would be involved.
#5
The Yellowstone caldera. After it cools a little.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/27/2012 13:06
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#6
Where exactly would Wyoming keep an aircraft carrier?
After the Yellowstone volcano blows, the state will have a coastline. We're not yet sure which ocean it will connect to, though.
#9
You guys don't see it. It'll be in the Pacific. We'll just invade Washington and take it over, expel any liberals and it'll be Wyomings first Colony. We might let Montana help. Maybe.
Posted by: Silentbrick - Halliburton Lost Drill Bit Division ||
02/27/2012 22:09
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#10
In that case Silentbrick - will you hurry the hell up! Its getting to be like California lite around here....
#11
We're a bit busy, drilling for oil and gas up here at the moment. Hmmmm, betcha we could hire Tennessee to take it for us. I mean, they do like to fight. I would say Texas but they're having issues at the moment.
Posted by: Silentbrick - Halliburton Lost Drill Bit Division ||
02/27/2012 22:36
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Hitlers Nazi Germany signed a non-aggression agreement with Stalins USSR in 1939 (the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact). It meant nothing. It was a worthless peace of paper designed to ease the Nazis eventual conquest and extermination of all peoples in the Soviet sphere of influence: Of the Soviet Unions 190 million people, Hitler intended to kill 150 million and the rest would be made slaves for the invaders. The Nazis did kill millions of Russians and Eastern Europeans. In the same way, Nazi Germanys alliance with segments of the Arab/Muslim world was a short-term lie: The Germans considered North African Arab Semites to be sub-human inferiors whom Im sure they wouldve eventually exterminated. As is so common in the current Arab/Muslim world, ignorance reigns, and Libyans have forgotten that Allied soldiers actually saved them from eventual extermination by defeating the Nazis in WWIIs north African theater. Libyan Islamists have ignorantly desecrated Allied soldiers tombs because of the silly, accidental Koran-burning incident in Afghanistan:
A furious mob has desecrated dozens of Commonwealth War Graves in a Libyan cemetery amid continuing fury in the Middle East over the burning of the Koran by U.S. soldiers.
Headstones commemorating British and Allied servicemen, killed during World War II campaigns in the Western Desert, lay smashed and strewn across Benghazi Military Cemetery.
There is no Arab Spring. It is indeed an Arab winter in which hateful, violent Islamo-fascists are trying to take over the Middle East.
#1
Libyan Islamists have ignorantly desecrated Allied soldiers' tombs because they are ignorant Muslims, any other reason will do to fill in the blank. The dead soldiers of WWII had NOTHING to do with Afghanistan or the Koran. The rest of the world should expect nothing better of savages.
#2
A furious mob has desecrated dozens of Commonwealth War Graves in a Libyan cemetery amid continuing fury in the Middle East over the burning of the Koran by U.S. soldiers.
Busts of Churchill to be mailed back to 10 Downing Street by Libyan Islamists soon.
#3
Rather than pile on with another comment about savages behaving savagely, I have to ask: how does one properly dispose of a Koran? (and don't say with a thermonuclear explosion!)
#6
This is, sadly, nothing new for these monsters. After ELDORADO CANYON in '86, there's every indication that Khaddafi ordered the desecration of the remains of the two USAF crew killed in the attack (which were held for ransom afterward and the new Libyan government will not discuss the matter), as well as those of the crew of sloop Intrepid, lost in 1803 fighting another Islamic terrorist (whom, by-the-by, the US Government of the day really didn't want to face down either). And there have been rumors - I must identify them as such; for I'm having a dickens of a time locating the source I saw them at - that Khaddafi located the remains of the last missing crewman from the Lady Be Good and took his anger out on him as well.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/27/2012 11:23
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#7
As I understand it Khadaffi got desecrated in the end. Karma.
A recently formed jihadist group known as the Al Nusrah Front claimed credit for a suicide attack in the Syrian city of Homs. The Al Nusrah Front is one of two Islamist terror groups in Homs to have announced their existence in the past month to battle President Bashir al Assad's regime.
The Al Nusrah Front to Protect the Levant released a 45-minute-long videotape today on the al Qaeda-linked Shumukh al Islam web forum. The video was translated by the SITE Intelligence group.
In the video, Al Nusrah said the "martyrdom-seeking operation" was executed "in revenge for our mother Umm Abdullah - from the city of Homs- against whom the criminals of the regime violated her dignity and threatened to slaughter her son," SITE reported. The suicide bomber was identified as Abu al Bara'a al Shami, who is seen on the tape giving a martyrdom statement.
The video also shows "an excerpt of allegiances, operations, and training of the al-Nusra Front" as well as a fighter "amongst the masses in a public demonstration, advising them to do their prayers and adhere to the rituals of Islam."
A well known Saudi Islamic scholar Sheikh Ayedh Al Qarni issued a fatwa on Sunday to kill Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.
Al Qarni stressed in his fatwa that killing Bashar Al Assad is more important than killing Israelis, reported 'Al Bayan'.
Meanwhile, Saudi-based 'Sabq' reported that Al Qarni, in an interview on Al Arabia Channel, urged Syrian people to take up arms against Bashar Al Assad's regime.
In his fatwa, Al Qarni said that minorities and all other communities in Syria must enjoy freedom and security after Assad era.
"Bashar is illegitimate and he is a murderer because his hands are blood stained. He killed hundreds of children, destroyed mosques...he is a rogue...," he said.
He called on Syrian army to split and disobey President Bashar Al Assad. "It is not permissible for Syrian army to obey the tyrant...this is disobedience to the Creator," added Al Qarni.
#1
It would be amusing if Assad put out a contract on this "scholar" and had him gunned down. The general rule is that the insolence of Muslim clerics bears an inverse relationship to the risk of bodily harm, despite their loud (and false) assertions to the contrary.
In a stark warning ahead of next months Budget, the Chancellor said there was little the Coalition could do to stimulate the economy.
Mr Osborne made it clear that due to the parlous state of the public finances the best hope for economic growth was to encourage businesses to flourish and hire more workers.
The British Government has run out of money because all the money was spent in the good years, the Chancellor said. The money and the investment and the jobs need to come from the private sector.
Mr Osbornes bleak assessment echoes that of Liam Byrne, the former chief secretary to the Treasury, who bluntly joked that Labour had left Britain broke when he exited the Government in 2010.
He left David Laws, his successor, a one-line note saying: Dear Chief Secretary, Im afraid to tell you theres no money left.
#5
Full marks for refusing to borrow or print more money.
The next stage is to shrink the size of government (fire civil servants) and reduce transfer payments (welfare). Altogether harder as Greece is finding out.
#7
> the Chancellor said there was little the Coalition could do to stimulate the economy.
But there NEVER IS anything the government can really do to stimulate the economy. It can "fiddle the reading" with debt, but it cannot boost the economy.
What it can do is harm the economy less, and that means cutting taxes like VAT (sales tax).
As per the USoA, iff Britain's official Debt-to-GDP ratio is less than as determined by Private or Market Analysts-Pundits, i.e. less than 100% or better, THEN LONDON = WASHINGTON CLEARLY HAS $$$ = RATIO PERCENTAGE POINTS LEFT TO USE UP IN GLORIOUS DEFICIT OVERSPENDING!
ONLY THE GUMMERMINT SAYS 101% OR HIGHER NATIONAL BANKRUPTCY DOTH NOT EQUATE.
AT least six people have been killed and seven wounded in a suicide car bomb attack at the gates of Jalalabad airport in eastern Afghanistan.
"Six people are dead," Nangarhar provincial police spokesman Hazrat Mohammad told AFP today.
NATO troops have sealed off the area, where they have a base, said provincial spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdul Zai.
An AP photographer reports seeing at least four destroyed cars at the airport gates. The airport serves both civilian and international military aircraft.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot
Kate Mara aka Kristi in "127 Hours (2010)" aka Sarah Fenn in "Shooter (2007)" aka U.S. Marshal in "Iron Man 2 (2010)" aka Abby in "Transsiberian (2008)" aka Isabel in "Ironclad (2011)" aka Lucy in "The Open Road (2009)" (age 29)
KARACHI: Three people, including an activist of Awami National Party (ANP), were killed in separate incidents of target killing in the metropolis on Sunday.
In the first incident, a 32-year-old Ibrahim, son of Ahmed Hussain, was sitting at his friends shop in Bukhari Colony, where two armed men riding a motorcycle targeted him within the precincts of Orangi Town police station. According to details, Ibrahim was shot once on his head. He was taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH), where he succumbed to his injuries. The deceased worked as a watchman in Bukhari Colony. The police said the victim was an activist of ANP.
Separately, unknown motorcyclist assailants targeted and killed a young man, who was physically impaired, identified as Abdul Kareem, 35, son of Mojuddin. Police officials said that the culprits shot and killed him while he was sitting near his home in Aligarh Colony, Orangi Town. Police sources said that the deceased belonged to the Urdu speaking community and had no affiliation with any political party.
Meanwhile, a bakery worker was also shot dead in an act of target killing in Hussainabad within the jurisdiction of Azizabad police station. The victim was identified as Zubair. He was taken to the ASH where he breathed his last. The deceased was resident of Orangi 11½ and used to work at Lajawab Bakery in Hussainabad.
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BOGOTA: Colombias main rebel group said Sunday it is abandoning the practice of kidnapping and will free its last remaining prisoners of war: 10 security force members it has held for as long as 14 years.
They're getting really tired of getting their butts kicked by the government security forces, and really, really afraid their days are numbered.
The leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, did provide a date for the liberation in a communique published on its website. The government says the rebels hold 12 security force members.
The FARCs announcement that it would no longer kidnap for financial ends was its first unequivocal statement on the practice since it took up arms in 1964. It renounces a tool that in the 1990s helped make Colombia the worlds kidnapping capital. It could advance prospects for a peace dialogue sought by the rebels, who number about 9,000 fighters. The government has insisted the FARC end all kidnappings as a minimal first step.
The rebels did not say, however that they were was abandoning hostilities. The FARC has recently stepped up hit-and-run attacks on and the military blames it for bombings and mortar attacks on two police posts in the past month that killed 15 people and wounded nearly 100, most of them civilians.
President Juan Manuel Santos responded to Sundays statement positively but cautiously via Twitter. We value the FARCs announcement that it is renouncing kidnapping as an important and necessary, if insufficient, step in the right direction, he said.
As defense minister from 2006-2009, Santos oversaw operations that struck major blows to the FARC. Since he took office in 2010, Colombias military has tracked down and killed the rebels two top leaders. Santos has insisted on a halt to kidnapping as a condition for peace talks that the FARC is seeking.
The FARC said it was revoking a law its general staff approved in 2000, when Colombias government ceded a Switzerland-sized swath of the country to the rebels for peace talks that failed two years later.
There was no halt in FARC hostilities during those talks and they collapsed after the rebels high-profile kidnap of a lawmaker, Jorge Eduardo Gechem, who was held for six years before being released in a goodwill gesture. Gechem was among the last political hostages freed by the FARC.
It is not known how many civilians the rebels currently hold the government does not provide figures but analysts say FARC revenues from ransom kidnappings in recent years represent only a sliver of income for a group whose main revenue source is the cocaine trade.
Can we make stopping that the next condition for peace talks?
Colombias anti-kidnapping police said the FARC kidnapped 72 people during the first 11 months of 2011.
The FARCs fronts are spread all around Colombia and tend to operate with relative autonomy so it was not clear whether Sundays announcement would mean the immediate release of any civilians they currently hold.
The rebels announced on Dec. 27 that they would free six security force members but said a month later that they were delaying the release because of a government militarization of the area where the release was planned.
Brazil, which has provided the International Red Cross with helicopters in past FARC liberations, subsequently agreed to help arrange the release.
Latin Americas last major rebel movement, the FARC was founded in 1964. It has been releasing captives piecemeal since early 2008.
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One US soldier and one Afghan protester were killed Sunday in a hand grenade attack in northern Afghanistan during a protest against Koran burning, officials said.
"Twenty thousand people took to the streets in Imam Saheb District in the northern province of Kunduz to protest against the burning of the Koran," Sayed Sarwar Hussaini, the provincial deputy police chief said.
"The protesters tried to storm a military base of the international forces in the district. Some of the protesters were armed and threw hand grenades inside the base, resulting in the death of one US soldier and one Afghan protester," Hussaini said, adding six US soldiers were also injured.
Fifteen Afghan policemen, including the district police chief, were injured, he said.
The NATO-led coalition confirmed that an explosion had occurred in an ISAF installation in northern Afghanistan, but said there were no fatalities.
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This is still worse then it looks: North Afganistan is not Pashtun/Taliban territory. We area losing the battle for hearts and minds.
The War on Terror like any guerrilla war will be won or lost in the political, propagandistic film. If we had done whaty we should have done ten yeatrs after the fall of Kabul Afgahans should have been burning Korans and looking at everything Arab with suspicion. Instead within weeks of Kabul's fall we allowed Aghans to spend thirty million dolars from tyhe 500 the West was giving them on pilgrimages to Mecca, we allowed an Arab firm to be the provider for their cell phone net (using an inferior technology BTW), last but not least we did nothing to remember them of things like how much piss poor Afghanistan was giving to the Saudis through the hadj and of Al Quida people taking, with Taliban consent, Afghan women as sex slaves.
#2
I remember karzai saying, at the inception of his term, "this will be a sharia governed country" and me thinking "what dumb shits we are". We should have blown up the al-qaeda bases, killed as many as we could, then beat it. What the heck are we doing establishing another muslim country? Ditto iraq.
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02/27/2012 13:13
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The Quran in the trash heap was classic PsyOps.
It was PLANTED, when is everyone going to that message.
If the US had said, "We didn't put the Quran in the trash, someone planted it."
The demonstrations and all of the killing was too well organized and too immediate for it to have been spontanteous.
The empty suit should have kept his mouth shut and let us work the situation. By apologizing we have only fanned the flames and essentially admitted to doing something that I do not think we did.
Our troops have been trained ad nauseum about being careful with that book and there is no way our guys would have thrown one into a trash heap and set it on fire in an area that the locals could come. We are not that stupid.
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LANDIKOTAL: At least six extremists were killed as helicopter gunships attacked the banned Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) hideouts in Nari Baba area.
According to sources, many bases of the LI were destroyed, and a large quantity of weapons was recovered in a search operation after the attack. Security forces and Tawheedul Islam volunteers also made progress on the ground destroying posts under LIs control in order to clear the entire area of the terrorists.
The operation will continue until the whole area is cleared of the extremists, security officials said.
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Hundreds of North Korean defectors were awaiting repatriation as of last Friday after being arrested in various parts of China, rights activists say.
"Some 220 defectors have been interrogated by regional security departments in China and are being held at about 10 detention centers near the North Korea-China border," said Kim Hoe-tae of Solidarity for North Korean Human Rights. "They'll be sent back to the North one by one."
Other defector groups and activists say there are even more, counting those who are still on the way to detention centers after their arrests, bringing the total to anywhere between 300 and 400.
According to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China sent between 4,800 and 8,900 defectors back to the North every year between 1998 and 2006, Kim added.
Former unification deputy minister Kim Suk-woo agreed. "China has repatriated about 5,000 defectors to the North every year under an agreement on the extradition of fugitives and criminals it concluded with the North in the 1960s," he said.
Different groups give different estimates on the number of defectors who have been arrested in Shenyang, Yanji, and Changchun this month, ranging from 24 to 40. "We're certain of the number of defectors arrested in China for whom we've worked through our brokers," a member of a defector group said. "But it's hard for us to find out the total number."
But most activists believe the numbers reported in the press are just the tip of the iceberg. It is estimated that somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 North Koreans are currently roaming China, including North Korean women who were sold to Chinese men, people who crossed the border in search of food, and families who are trying to get to South Korea.
Those who are looking for food often find work at factories or lumber camps in China as undocumented immigrant workers. But those who wish to defect to the South move to designated gathering points, from where they are taken to safe houses provided by Christian missions and cross the border through the southwestern province of Yunnan into Laos or Burma. They then make their way to Thailand, where they spend three or four weeks in immigration detention centers before they are deported to South Korea.
Some 2,500 to 3,000 defectors have reached South Korea annually over the past five years, 2,737 last year.
The fate of defectors who are arrested in China and repatriated depends on what motivated them to flee in the first place. Those who fled hunger are normally categorized as ordinary criminals and held in prisons or labor camps managed by the Ministry of People's Security. They suffer forced labor and beatings but are released after a certain period.
But those who are found to have attempted to escape to South Korea, contacted South Koreans or foreigners, or visited churches, are treated as political criminals and held in political concentration camps supervised by the State Security Department. Some are executed, depending on the extent of their crimes or the prevailing mood in the regime.
"Defectors can escape the most severe punishment if they insist that they were merely trying to find food in China, even if they really wanted to go to South Korea," a defector said. "But if media reports confirm that they were trying to get to the South, as we've seen recently, they face the worst kind of punishment."
Meanwhile, the North Korean propaganda website Uriminzokkiri accused South Korea of "making a bigger fuss about the issue of 'defectors' than ever before."
It was the first response from the North since conflict between South Korea and China over the issue started making headlines.
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One report of a repatriation even freaked out the Chinese border guards. They turned over a woman to the North Koreans, and without hesitation they put two steel hooks through her collarbones. The hooks were connected to a chain by which they could then lead her around with minimal resistance.
#2
As South Korea has become a Christian country, so too will China. And in the future, those Christian Chinese souls will regret this time and their shortfalls.
May God help those afflicted by North Korea, and to the extent possible forgive those who enabled that affliction.
At least nine gunmen were killed Sunday in clashes between Shiite rebels and Sunni fundamentalists in Yemen's northwestern province of Hajja, a security official said, underscoring severe sectarian tension laying before the country's newly-elected president, Xinhua reported.
"Seven Sunni armed tribesmen and two Shiite rebels were killed early Sunday, while several others were wounded in a fresh fighting in Kishir district in Hajja," an official of the interior ministry told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
Hajja, some 127 km northwest of the Yemeni capital Sanaa, has been the scene of almost daily sectarian clashes since early 2011. Local residents said Shiite rebels led by Saada-based Abdulmalik al-Houthi have been trying to overrun the northern regions bordering oil-rich Saudi Arabia.
The sectarian conflict has spread to the northern provinces of Hajja, Saada, al-Jouf and Amran. Since anti-government protests erupted in late January 2011, the Houthi-led rebels have been attempting to expand their control over the restive northern provinces after the government's control was weakened by the protests.
On Aug. 26, 2010, the Yemeni government and the Shiite group signed an agreement in Doha to cement a fragile cease-fire to end an on-and-off war since 2004, but the rebels' clashes with local tribesmen are still rocking the region.
Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi took the constitutional oath before the parliament on Saturday to become Yemen's new president, after a landmark vote last week proposed in a Gulf-brokered power transfer deal to ease the long-time president Ali Abdullah Saleh out of office.
The Houthi Shiite group in the north, as well as pro-separatism Southern Movement in the south and resurgent regional al-Qaida network in the southern and eastern provinces, have announced that they will not recognize the legitimacy of Hadi and the transitional government.
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Been on that ship in that Port. Felt safer there than in Mazatlan.
I always felt the right people had been greeced to provide a safe experience on land excursions. This was not smart move if these are simply banditoes. Sort of like holding up customers in the parking lot of the Bada Bing.
If it is gang on gang or simply late fees for protection services, I know this much. My taste for Mexican Tourism is on the same shelf as Egyptian tourism or Greek.
Azerbaijan, Baku -- Starting early next year, Iran's electricity network will get up to 1,000 megawatts (MW) of power generated by nuclear energy, Fars news agency reported the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization as saying.
Iran is already getting 700 MW of electricity from its nuclear plant. After testing is finished at 75 percent capacity, 1,000 will be sent to the country's electricity grid, said Fereydoun Abbasi.
"Message to Mahmoud the Weasel: Operation Lemony Snickett has another set of targets for you..."
The U.S and EU have worked to impose increasingly tougher sanctions against Iran because of its nuclear program. The West's measures are part of an effort to make Iran answer questions about its nuclear work which it says is peaceful and civilian in nature while the U.S. and its allies contend it is not.
The Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant was officially launched on September 12 and started by generating electricity at 40 percent of its capacity. The 1,000-megawatt plant, located southeast of the city of Bushehr along the Persian Gulf, had been already connected to the country's national power grid with the power of 60 MW on September 3, 2011.
It reached the capacity of 190 MW on September 27, and a day later it improved its capacity to 300 MW. The plant gained 50 percent of its nominal power on October 7 as it reached the capacity of 420 MW.
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I hear nuclear electricity can make you sterile. Probably a plot by you-know-whooooo...
DOHA, Qatar: Qatars ruler says the Arab identity in Jerusalem is threatened by Israeli expansion around the city claimed as capital by both Israel and Palestinians.
Yup, that's what happens when you lose four wars and two intifadas. The winner eventually comes to the conclusion that you losers aren't serious about behaving yourselves, and decides to take matters into their own hands.
Israel annexed Jerusalem around 1968. The world doesn't accept, the world doesn't like it, and you Arabs in particular have been real unhappy about it. But facts are stubborn things, and the fact is, Israel possesses Jerusalem. Israel is working now, more than ever, to integrate Jerusalem into its country, and you Arabs have a choice: you can try another war (sure, go ahead Sparky), or you can negotiate and offer Israel something that would cause them to give East Jerusalem back to you. But alternately blustering, whining and issuing threats of Dire Revenge haven't worked, and don't look to do so in the near future.
Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani urged a UN-backed investigation into Israeli settlements as well as Israeli actions in predominantly Arab districts in Jerusalem and surrounding areas captured by the Jewish state in 1967.
His remarks Sunday opened a conference in the Gulf emirates capital Doha on Jerusalem.
The emir also pledged support for Palestinian reconciliation between rivals Hamas and the Palestinian Authority. Qatar hosted talks earlier this month that led to a Palestinian unity accord.
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SEOUL, Feb. 27 -- North Korea stepped up its rhetoric Monday as South Korea and the United States kicked off joint military drills that Pyongyang claims are rehearsals for a northward invasion.
"The war drills are an unpardonable infringement upon the sovereignty and dignity of the DPRK as they evidently target the DPRK which is in the mourning period," the North's official Korean Central News Agency said in an English-language dispatch, referring to the North by the initials of its official name.
The latest warning came as South Korea and the U.S. staged the Key Resolve exercise that will last through March 9, with about 200,000 South Korean and 2,100 U.S. troops participating. Separately, the two allies plan to hold the Foal Eagle joint military exercise from March 1 to April 30.
The North, which has a track record of military provocations against South Korea, routinely condemns the military drills in the South as precursors for an invasion.
"The army and people of the DPRK are fully ready to fight a war with them," the dispatch said. "The warmongers will meet destruction in the fire kindled by them if they go reckless misjudging the strong will of the Koreans to defend peace."
Seoul and Washington say the exercises are defensive in nature.
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All this oer SUPERMARKETS???
* TOPIX > CHINA INTRODUCES SUPERMARKETS CONCEPT TO NORTH KOREA.
A powerful blast rocked Jalalabad city, the provincial capital of eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar on Monday morning, with feared casualties, local media reported.
According to the report by private TV Lemar, the explosion happened at around 7:00 a.m. local time near the city's airport, Xinhua reported. There are no immediate reports of casualties, the report said, adding "Several vehicles had been damaged in the Monday morning's blast near the Jalalabad city airport."
Meantime, unofficial sources in the province told Xinhua that the blast was a suicide bombing and that the explosion left two people including a policeman injured besides killing the bomber right on the spot.
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WASHINGTON: The United States should resist the urge to pull troops out of Afghanistan ahead of schedule due to the violence against Americans over the burning of the Quran at a US military base, US Ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker said on Sunday.
As we discussed yesterday here and here, we don't have a winning strategy for Afghanistan, and we don't have a political leadership class that will generate a winning strategy. Whether we leave completely or leave with a small force that hunts the bad boys, leaving seems to be a smart idea.
Tensions are running very high here. I think we need to let things calm down, return to a more normal atmosphere, and then get on with business, Crocker said in an interview from Kabul on CNNs State of the Union.
He added that a full investigation of the incident was underway at the Bagram airbase near Kabul.
This is not the time to decide that we are done here. We have got to redouble our efforts. Weve got to create a situation that Al-Qaeda is not coming back, Crocker said. If we decide were tired of it, Al-Qaeda and the Taleban certainly arent."
In a CNN interview from Rabat, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Sunday others need to join Karzai in calling for an end to the violence. It is out of hand and it needs to stop.
Crocker noted that Karzai has called for calm almost since the beginning, and Afghan security forces were working to quell the demonstrations. They are very much in this fight trying to protect us, Crocker said.
A leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, on Sunday stepped up his criticism of Obama. Speaking on Fox News Sunday, Romney said that for many Americans, considering the thousands of American deaths in Afghanistan, the apology sticks in their throats.
Pulling US forces and civilians out of Afghan ministry offices after two US officers were killed in the Interior Ministry in apparent retaliation for the Quran incident was, Romney said, an extraordinary admission of a failure.
His chief opponent, Republican Rick Santorum, said Karzai should apologize to the United States for the violent reaction to something that was clearly inadvertent.
I think the response needs to be apologized for by Karzai and the Afghan people - of attacking and killing our men and women in uniform, Santorum said on NBCs Meet the Press. Thats the real crime here, not what our soldiers did.
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I have a sinking feeling that the departure from Afghanistan will be like the departure from Vietnam. Followed shortly thereafter by a flood of Taliban and al Qaeda back into Afghanistan to overthrow the government.
And about two years later Kabul will fall and Afghanistan will be returned to utter chaos and anarchy.
#4
That's about right moose. Just in time for the election and the Cindy Sheehan vote. Reputation of the US and well being of the troops are not in the equation.
#5
I don't think this will be another Vietnam (as much as the Democrats want to relive their glory days of old...). I think it may be a lot worse. Vietnam wasn't as 'tribal' and the government wasn't actively against us. Bumbles won't want to 'antagonize' the enemy by sending in choppers to pull the diplomats from the Embassy's roof. Or worse yet he'll order them in 'unarmed' - remember to him the Taliban are 'honorable'.
Damn fool is going to get a lot of good people killed.
#1
Stratfor has been left leaning in it's aspiration to gain notoriety. Like Debka sometimes... it is like a clearing house. Just a higher paid dip-speak. MEH.
SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has doled out medals and state commendations to its people in recent weeks in what could be an attempt to win their loyalty following a transition of power.
The North held a ceremony of awarding state commendation to more than 300 officials and workers in the field of public service at the People's Palace of Culture on Sunday, according to the country's official Korean Central News Agency. Award recipients include barbers, a tailor and a teacher in training. The North also conferred Order of National Flag and Order of Labor on 305 people, the KCNA said in a dispatch on Sunday.
"They were awarded commendation in recognition of their contributions to promoting the convenience of people's life through years of faithful public services in the spirit of devoted service to the people," the dispatch said.
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North Korea has doled out medals and state commendations to its people in recent weeks in what could be an attempt to win their loyalty following a transition of power.
Medals and state commendations produce no long-term dependency. I recommend food stamps.
At least seven law-enforcement members were killed Sunday night when an armed group opened fire at the forces' checkpoint in a suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus, private Sham FM radio reported. The attack took place in the Yabrud suburb of Damascus, said the report without further details.
Meanwhile,
back at the ranch...
state-run SANA news agency said Sunday that more than 40 armed men surrendered themselves to the authorities along with their weapons at the restive Baba Amr neighborhood in central Homs province, Xinhua reported.
In northern Idlib province, another hub of armed clashes, engineering units dismantled six explosive devices weighing between 40 kg and 50 kg and rigged for remote-controlled detonation near the town of Oweid in Jabal al-Zawye area.
Another six explosive devices were dismantled in the town of Kansafra in Idlib, said SANA, adding that the devices were hidden in bathroom boilers.
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Attagirl, Hilde, that should do it. Arabs loved being lectured by women...
SIDI BOU SAID, Tunisia: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Tunisians on Saturday to protect their newly-won freedoms and called on Islamist and secular parties to work together in the country that launched the Arab Spring.
Speaking to a group of about 200 students, Clinton also urged young people to use social media and other technologies that enabled popular revolts across the region last year to hold their new rulers to account.
"After a revolution, history shows it can go one of two ways. It can move in the direction you are now headed, building a strong, democratic country, or it can derail ... into autocracy, into new absolutism," Clinton said in a meeting a Andalusian-style seaside villa.
"The victors of revolutions can become their victims," she added. "You must be the guardians of your democracy."
In Tunisia, a popular revolt forced autocratic leader Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali to flee the country on Jan. 14, 2011 and the country has become a model for democratic change in the Middle East, inspiring revolutions that toppled autocratic rulers in Egypt and Libya.
The North African country has since calmly elected its own government, defying predictions it would descend into chaos, while Ben Ali's secret police have been disbanded and the news media enjoy unprecedented freedoms.
For all its progress, however, Tunisia has acute problems of poverty and unemployment and its society is split over the rise to power of Islamists who were banned from public life for years under Ben Ali. The moderate Islamist Ennahda party which dominates the new government has said it is will try to represent all Tunisians, including secularists who say Islam and the state should be kept separate.
But the country's political scene has quickly grown polarized, with secularist parties and the Islamists accusing each other of betraying the principles of the revolution.
"There are those here in Tunisia and elsewhere who question whether Islamist (politics) can really be compatible with democracy," Clinton said. "Tunisia has the chance to answer that question in the affirmative and to demonstrate there is no contradiction ... and that means not just talking about tolerance and pluralism, but living it."
Clinton stressed the importance of reforming the country's economy to create more jobs, and of young people using technology such as social media "to expose corruption (and to) encourage transparency and good governance."
She also exhorted Islamist and secular parties to work together, including in the assembly which will draft a new constitution.
"To write a constitution, the governing party, Ennahda, will have to work with other parties, including secular parties, and persuade voters across the political spectrum to respect fundamental principles" such as freedom of speech, religion and association as well as the rule of law, she said.
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TUNISIA ...
versus
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > CHINA CALLS US CRITIQUE [SecState Hillary] ON SYRIA "SUPER-ARROGANT", as per Hillary's rant agz Russia + China for shooting down UN Resolution agz Baby Assad.
At least two people were killed Sunday in fighting between army soldiers and insurgents in the central Yemeni town of Rada'a, reported local media.
The fighting started when a unit from the elite Republican Guards arrived in Rada'a, some 150 kilometres south-east of the capital Sana'a, to arrest a man suspected of stealing a soldier's gun, local sources told the Yemeni website Mareb Press. The insurgents and soldiers exchanged fire, injuring four people, said the sources.
The two deaths were a soldier and the suspected thief of the gun, they added. A battalion of armed radicals with links to al-Qaeda last month seized Rada'a before releasing it following tribal mediation, dpa reported.
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France and Germany on Sunday announced plans to pull their personnel from Afghan government ministries, a day after two US military advisers were killed in that country's Interior Ministry, dpa reported.
Germany's Development Ministry said the move would affect about 50 workers, who would be pulled back to German-run bases while the investigation into the death of the US advisers continues. Development Minister Dirk Niebel referred to the decision as a "purely precautionary measure."
France also labelled its move as precautionary, noting that the safety of its experts took top priority. It was not stated how many French personnel were affected by the decision.
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Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, commenting on the international conference on Syria held in Tunis last week, has said the international community debated all possible courses of action for ending the ongoing violence in the neighboring country, including the possibility of a military intervention, Today's Zaman reported.
Wrapping up talks after the first meeting of the Friends of Syria in Tunisia on Friday, Davutoglu said Turkey would take part in international initiatives against the Syrian regime. He added, "All possible scenarios, including military intervention, have been discussed by a number of countries as a solution [to ending the bloodshed] in Syria."
"Even though Turkey does not want to see Syria in a situation similar to the Libyan civil war [following the NATO intervention in 2011], the upcoming period in Syria poses many risks for the region," Davutoglu continued, adding that Turkey should be prepared for any possible decisions made by the international community.
"The international community should not hold back from taking initiatives to alleviate the humanitarian situation in Syria, even though the UN Security Council has been blocked from providing a solution due to Russia and China's vetoes," Davutoglu said. The Feb. 4 decision by Russia and China to veto a UN resolution calling on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step aside angered the international community.
Davutoglu highlighted that Turkey has started to strongly voice its opinions on diplomatic issues over the last decade after taking a back seat on regional and global issues in the past, including the Minsk process, an Azerbaijani-Armenian reconciliation process over Nagorno-Karabakh; the Dayton peace process, reconciling Serbs, Bosniaks and Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina; and talks on the future of Iraq in the post-Saddam Hussein period. "Turkey has started pulling its diplomatic weight in the international arena. Turkey will have a say in regional and global issues, including Somalia and Syria."
Davutoglu also said the second Friends of Syria meeting will take place in Turkey, while a third is planned to take place in France. Turkey, along with Tunisia and France, chaired Friday's meeting on Syria's political and humanitarian crisis.
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#1
OTOH IIRC DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > TURKISH AIR FORCE IS UNABLE TO [operationally] SUPPORT A UN NO-FLY ZONE OVER SYRIA.
D *** NG IT, ANKARA rly Rly ... REALLY RRRREEEELLLYYY WANTS TO, BUT DOESN'T HAVE ENOUGH WARBIRDS TO COVER SYRIA + IRAN THREAT + ISRAEL [Cyprus] + MOST ESPEC DEM WILY DASTARDLY,
"HELEN" + ISLAND(S)-STEALING GREEKS.
Less so wid the "Islamic Union" happy yet waffling-as-usual Arab League.
Military drama "Act of Valor" claimed the No. 1 spot on movie box office charts, beating expectations with an estimated $24.7 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales during another busy weekend at theaters.
"Act of Valor" stars real-life, active-duty U.S. Navy SEALs alongside professional actors in a fictional story about a mission to rescue a kidnapped CIA agent. Some scenes used live fire rather than visual effects. Audiences liked the movie, awarding an "A" grade in polling by survey firm CinemaScore and providing high marks in studio exit polls, said Kyle Davies, president of worldwide theatrical distribution for Relativity Media, the independent studio that released the film. "You don't get a consistent reaction like that unless the movie delivers," he said.
The movie attracted a 71 percent male audience, and 60 percent of filmgoers were older than age 25, Relativity said. The studio acquired the film for $13 million and had projected opening weekend sales of up to $17 million.
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The "actuals" weekend b.o. come out on Monday afternoon, and judging from SRO reports from around the country, this is a certified hit.
Almost comically, lefty critics abhor it, with a 31% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but the public reviews are 85% favorable with glowing reviews.
Some viewers have noted that the violence is very graphic, and is too much for some. Also that unlike Hollywood movies, this does not disparage or look for flaws in the SEALs, nor does it try to undermine their heroism in any way.
#3
...but we were assured by the Hollyweird types that after a series of (anti-)war movies that the public wasn't interested in this sort of stuff. Ah, yes, someone in finally remembered the old adage - if you want to send a message, use Western Union.
As for the critics, it's a self identifying posting that they are indeed above the mob and truly live in a alternate world elite.
#4
I plan on seeing this. My money goes towards good movies where I don't get preached at. Captain America was the first movie I went to see in the theater in 4 years.
Tehran: Iran has refused to give Greece a shipment of 500,000 barrels of crude oil in a retaliatory measure against European Union sanctions on the Islamic states lifeblood, oil, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Sunday.
Oil tankers that had come to transfer 500,000 barrels of Iranian oil to a refinery in Greece had to go back empty-handed after Iran refused to give the shipment, Fars reported, without giving a source. Oil Ministry officials were not available to comment.
Perhaps the Greeks should look closer to home. I hear there's a developing oil and NG field just off the coasts of Israel and Cyprus.
Iran stopped selling crude to British and French companies last week after Irans oil minister said on Feb. 4 that the Islamic state would cut its oil exports to some European countries.
The European Commission has said that the bloc would not be short of oil if Iran stopped crude exports, as they have enough in stock to meet their needs for around 120 days.
Fars said the tankers were destined to the Greek refiner Hellenic.
Traders told Reuters on February 24 that Swiss-based Totsa, the trading arm of French oil major Total, and trading house Mercuria were in separate negotiations with Greek refiner Hellenic Petroleum to help it replace Iranian crude. Glencore, a leading Swiss-based commodities trader and one of the few that conducted business with Greece during the debt crisis, may also boost supplies, trading sources have said.
Hellenic would pay back the traders with refined products, which could then be sold in Greece or abroad.
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Iran replenishing strategic oil reserves or protecting domestic demand from higher prices? Oh WAIT !
BANNU: Unidentified terrorists attacked a police station with rockets followed by heavy gunfire on Sunday. No loss of life was reported.
According to officials, unidentified assailants fired three rockets on Ghouriwala Police Station in Bannu and opened fire with automatic weapons. A portion of the police station building was partially damaged in the attack but police officials remained unhurt.
The police retaliated, forcing the attackers to flee the area.
Sort of like the RAB, but no spot onto which to place a lifeless perp...
They cordoned off the area after the incident and launched a search operation but no arrest could be made.
Just as well about the spot, then, seeing as there was no lifeless perp to place there...
The attack spread fear among the locals. They were of the view that when even security forces are not safe from terrorists attacks then who will guarantee security of their lives and property.
Now there's a reasonable thought...
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After losing to violence three members of Javier Sicilia's Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity since last October, a fourth member has voluntarily severed his relationship, according to Mexican news accounts.
Julian LeBaron, a resident of Galeana municipality in Chihuahua state and a fundamentalist Mormon leader, announced in an open letter that Javier Sicilia's peace movement had formed a relationship with governments, a nexus which he compared in the letter to repairing a car with a saw.
According to the open letter, published in whole in Proceso leftist news weekly's website Saturday, Julian LeBaron's beef with Sicilia's group has been the dialogue Sicilia established with "highest authorities of the Mexican state", and how some members of the movement have come to embrace electoral politics as a means of bringing peace to Mexican society.
Senor LeBaron probably refers to two meetings Sicilia had with Mexican president Felipe Calderon Hinojosa as well as a meeting last fall with top federal cabinet officials, legislators and senators from Mexico City.
In a Sunday morning explication of LeBaron's decision, another Proceso report had him comparing Calderon's method of dealing with gang and drug violence with having heart surgery with chain saws. Le Baron also has a problem with what he has seen as weak accommodations the federal government has taken with the peace movement's concerns.
Chief amongst those are legislation recently signed by President Calderon that made high school for all Mexican youth compulsory, an increase in secondary education spending and the creation of an Office for Victims of Violence.
A co-founder in Sicilia's peace movement, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) professor Emilio Alvarez Icaza Longoria has taken exception to Le Baron's assessment of the strategy in Sicilia's movement. He said initiatives such as the violence against victim's office will need many "adjustments", his term. He also said the dialogue with government officials has "changed the narrative" with regard to violence.
The peace movement by Sicilia has had a number of problems since the fall of 2011.
The violent deaths of three top members of the peace group has emerged as one. Those deaths include:
Leiva Pedro Dominguez, who was shot to death in Aquila municipality in Michoacan state by unidentified armed suspects in August, 2011. To read the Rantburg report on the murder of Leiva Pedro Dominguez, click here.
Nepomuceno Moreno Nunez, who was shot to death last November by armed suspects in Hermosillo, Sonora. To read the Rantburg report on the murder of Nepomuceno Moreno Nunez, click here.
J. Trinidad de la Cruz Crisoforo, who was shot to death in Santa Maria Ostula in Aquila municipality in Michoacan state last December. To read the Rantburg report on the murder of J. Trinidad de la Cruz Crisoforo, click here.
All of these violent deaths were unrelated to Felipe Calderon's war on the cartels, two of them related to local ongoing disputes over land. One was said to be related to Moreno's Nunez's alleged former involvement with a local violent gang.
Unlike with his own son Francisco, Sicilia could not point to those three deaths as emblematic of Calderon's efforts to deal with drug cartels, tragic as they were, but they do point to a problem Sicilia has with his allies.
Senor LeBaron has himself lost relatives to organized crime violence, when a brother in law, Benjamin LeBaron and his brother in law, Luis Carlos Widmar Stubbs, were kidnapped and murdered in 2009. LeBaron was impressed enough with Sicilia's grief over the loss of his own son, that he moved to Cuernavaca, Morelos to aid Sicilia in his then nascent movement.
Other problems have emerged as well. For example, it was discovered by Mexican press that Sicilia had an armed federal security detail accompanying him since his first meeting with Calderon in the spring of 2011. That detail nearly ran afoul of Guatemalan authorities when they entered Guatamala armed.
Presence of the detail assigned to Sicilia could well have been a major reason why Commandante Marcos of the Marxist Ejercito Zapatista Libercaion National (EZLN) refused to meet with Sicilia when he decided to pay a visit. He was personally turned away by EZLN operatives.
The same issue could well haunt Sicilia when he comes to the US in August to make a scheduled tour of the US-Mexico border. Security arrangements for Sicilia have yet to be announced, if they will be, but it is unlikely US local law enforcement will allow armed Mexican security personnel to accompany him in his tour. If not, Sicilia may well be forced to rely on other means of personal protection.
Sicilia may not be a target of cartels, but cartel and gang violence is apparently so pervasive his security detail invoked a security protocol last fall while touring through Veracruz state. Agents had spotted armed suspects on the road, and forced Sicilia's entourage off the road. Agents then dismounted weapons at the ready into a defensive laager before allowing the entourage to continue. To read the Rantburg report on the September, 2011 security incident involving Javier Sicilia, click here.
The most likely final straw for LeBaron was the inclusion of several unidentified members of the peace movement in political candidate slots of the mainstream leftist Partido Revolucion Democratica (PRD) to run in the general election July 1st.
Sicilia himself was asked to join as a candidate for PRD, but he refused.
The PRD, with Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador as its flag bearer is an obvious natural next step for a peace movement seeking political power, and the change that comes with it.
Lopez Obrador has long been advocating ordering Mexican military units off the streets and to the barrack, almost word for word what Sicilia has been demanding since April 2011, when he first started his movement.
Sicilia's reluctance to join PRD in imposing a disarmament solution in the face of extreme and wanton violence is understandable. Sicilia is in general agreement with Le Baron that the peace movement must focus on people and their suffering, not political power in advancing its goals.
But the movement is fracturing from the apparently growing nexus with the Mexican national political establishment.
Perhaps LeBaron wants some distance from the institutions he sees as at least as responsible for organized crime violence as the cartels. How he would personally proceed to advance his own goals is now anyone's guess.
Ten down, a quarter million to go. These ten must not have paid the 'border fee'...
CHAMAN: A law enforcement agency has arrested 10 Afghan nationals under the Foreign Act. Official sources said that 10 Afghan nationals entered Pakistan from Afghanistan illegally and were taken into custody, as they could not produce travelling documents. They were booked under the Foreign Act and later shifted to the Chaman jail.
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Yes, the threat is in the south. Sounds like an old playbook in serious need of an upgrade. The March election is the cause of much of this rhetoric in my opinion. His big spending plans will be difficult within his own party. The public want a better life. They have all the domestic problems other countries have. They are in no mood for war. "engage in nation building instead" Ditto.
#3
He seems flummoxed with something that has long haunted Russian leaders. Russians don't want to breed anymore. And he resists with every bone in his body making the changes needed so that they will want to breed.
He literally needs to create from scratch a new city that is clean, healthy, boring, and populated with breeding age young adults, and non-breeders are kept out. Men work in dull and easy, 9-5 paperwork jobs. Women are housewives and schoolteachers. Little or no birth control and zero abortions, but good OB/GYN. Lots of fertility drugs for multiple births.
Lots of elementary schools and churches full of young Russian Orthodox priests instructed to strongly emphasize "fruitful and multiply" as an essential religious doctrine. Family friendly everything, with a strong emphasis on sports and patriotism in school. Boy and girl scouting. Lots of co-ed everything. All children look forward to marriage.
Very little TV, movies and entertainment electronics. Computers and the Internet are for business and learning. Travel to or from the city is expensive.
A subtle promotional policy based on number of children. Eventually promotions for the parents to move out when the kids are young adults. Or new breeders to move in if the kids leave, too.
This is a simple formula to give Russia a baby boom of high quality Russians.
#5
Well, my telephone rang it would not stop
It's President Kennedy callin' me up
He said, "My friend, Bob, what do we need to make the country grow" ?
I said, "My friend, John, "Brigitte Bardot,
Anita Ekberg
Sophia Loren"
Country'll grow.
#6
Very high rate of Alcoholism. Severe drug problems also in the cities. Many children born with a variety of medical problems. My brother adopted two children(brother and sister)that have problems. This was several years ago. I believe he had to pay $20,000 each in crisp new bills. Build a strong family would be my suggestion. Those I have met here are very intelligent.
This is not a pleasant video. The fellow signing it has died. He was in his forties. He was for and against communism in his life. He seems to me to be a Russian version of John Lennon.
United States Democratic Congressmen Gerald Nadler and Elliot Engel and Executive Vice Chairman of the Conference of Presidents Malcolm Hoenlein were attacked by Arab rock throwers on Friday afternoon as they visited the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives.
Nadler and Engel are hard-left progressive Democrats. I don't advocate violence against them at all, but perhaps this incident will begin to wake them up.
A large baseball-sized rock was thrown at the group, and just missed hitting Congressman Nadler. Both he and Rep. Engel are from New York. They spoke Saturday night at the International Committee for the Preservation of Har Hazeitim's Emergency Forum on Violence at Mt. of Olives Ancient Jewish Cemetery.
Hes fine. No one was hurt. I think they were waiting for their bus, and then a rock was thrown and then Israeli police officers chased the person away. They didnt catch them. Then they got on the bus and left, said Nadlers spokesman, John Doty.
Engel issued a statement confirming the report.
As we were about to board the bus at the conclusion of our visit, I heard a rock hit a car about 100 feet from us. I saw police jump out of their vehicle to ensure our safety. I dont know if the rocks were thrown at us or at the police. All I know is that we heard a thud and later someone brought over the rock. We were told that the incidents happen like this all the time, but it is disconcerting to actually be a part of it, he said.
This incident is just more evidence that the vandalism of the graves, and the harassment of those who visit the cemetery need to be stopped, Engel continued.
There have been many cases of vandalism against the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives. After a rock attack in late November, an Arab perpetrator was found guilty on the basis of video evidence that showed him vandalizing the ceremony, and he was sentenced to three months in prison for his crime.
A meeting was called for Saturday night in Jerusalem, including members of Knesset, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon and Hoenlein, to address the recent acts of Mount of Olives desecration.
Though it is unknown who was behind the rock-throwing or who paid the November vandal caught on tape, Palestinians and their supporters frequently deny the Jewish connection to Jerusalem and other locations in Israel. Examples include rebranding Jewish holy sites as Muslim, denying the Jewish Temple ever existed in Jerusalem, and identifying Jesus as a Palestinian. Erasing the Jewish connection to the Mount of Olives can only serve the political efforts to bolster the Palestinian claim to the Jerusalem, while challenging Israels, stated The Blaze.
Charley J. Levine, adviser to the Preservation Committee in Israel stated, "This is not a freak occurrence. This sort of vicious vandalism and desecration occurs at Har Hazeitim [Mount of Olives] every single day, some orchestrated and some spontaneous. It is a shame of enormous proportion that this takes place at the oldest and largest Jewish cemetery in the entire world, he told Arutz Sheva.
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The congressman is Jerrold Nadler, frequently misspelled as Gerald. As fat as he is, the rock thrower must have been throwing in the opposite direction to miss him.
#2
perhaps this incident will begin to wake them up
Not hardly. The first thought this sort of incident stimulates in these bozos is "I'm important..." The second thought is "I don't deserve this, but America does..." The third thought is "Not to worry, the president will issue an apology..."
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02/27/2012 9:23
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one of Hek's able-armed throwers? Ooops. Wrong country.
I have no problem with them catching a rock upside their head. It's called "reaping what you sow"
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02/27/2012 9:37
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Future unnamed presidential candidate:
"And then there was the time we came under sniper fire in......"
The Pentagon is readying for the possibility of intervention in Syria, aiming to halt Syrian President Bashsar Assad's violent crackdown on protesters, the newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported Saturday, citing a US military offical.
Who if he's smart will really remain someone who spoke 'on condition of anonymity'...
According to the official, the intervention scenario calls for the establishment of a buffer zone on the Turkish border, in order to receive Syrian refugees. The Red Thingy Cross would then provide the civilians humanitarian aid, before NATO crews would arrive from Turkey and join the efforts.
The measure would pave the way for the US to declare an aerial blockade on Syria.
The intercession is to be modeled after NATO's efforts in Kosovo, which brought an end to the Serbian control of the region. NATO's plan of action included prolonged aerial shelling.
According to Asharq Al-Awsat, the Pentagon does not anticipate a change of heart on the part of China or Russia, who have opposed foreign intervention or sanctions against Syria. But the US expects the two nations to join the humanitarian aid efforts, support a ceasefire between the Syrian regime and rebels and send special UN envoys to investigate the developments in the country.
Not one chance in the world of that happening. Iran, Russia and China simply will not allow Syria to slip away from them.
The next step in the reported US Department of Defense plan would be to appoint a team of UN observers to monitor the humanitarian aid, and enter Syria. They would need aerial protection, which would eventually lead to an aerial blockade.
The military official said in the interview that the plan is a cautious one, and takes into account the Syrian air force's advanced capabilities.
'Advanced capabilities' is a relative term -- ask the Israeli Air Force.
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I assume aerial blockade is Gramscian newspeak for no-fly zone.
CAIRO: The trial of 16 Americans and 27 others opens Sunday at a Cairo courthouse in what critics say is a politically charged case linked to a government crackdown on nonprofit groups that has touched off the deepest crisis in US-Egyptian relations in decades.
The case, which involves American employees of four US-based pro-democracy groups, has tested one of Washingtons most pivotal relationships in the Middle East, and prompted US officials to threaten to cut a $1.5 billion annual aid package to Egypt if the issue is not resolved. Egyptian authorities have responded by blasting what they call US meddling in Egypts legal affairs.
There are 43 defendants in the case 16 Americans, 16 Egyptians, as well as Germans, Palestinians, Serbs and Jordanians. They have been charged with the illegal use foreign funds to foment unrest and operating without a license. But the investigation fits into a broader campaign by Egypts rulers against alleged foreign influence since the ouster of longtime rule Hosni Mubarak last year.
Rights groups have sharply criticized the investigation into the pro-democracy groups and the charges, saying they are part of an orchestrated effort by Egyptian authorities to silence critics and cripple civil society groups critical of the militarys handling of the countrys transition to democracy. Egyptian officials counter by saying the trial has nothing to do with the government and is in the judiciarys hands.
As we discussed yesterday, the NGOs were indeed doing things to 'educate' various political parties and groups. We call it 'promoting democracy', the Egyptians call it 'interference in internal affairs'. Call it what you like, we're holding the short, dirty end of the stick this time, and it's not going to be pretty.
President Barack Obama has urged Egypts military rulers to drop the investigation, and high-level officials, including Joint Chiefs Chairman Martin Dempsey and Republican Sen. John McCain, have flown in to Cairo to seek a solution.
A senior US official said that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had raised the matter twice in person with Egypts foreign minister once in London and once in Tunisia in the past three days and that other senior US officials are actively involved.
However, the US cannot be seen as pushing too hard against Egypts ruling military council, which is viewed as the best hope for a stable transition for a nation that is not just a regional heavyweight, but also the most populous in the Arab world and a lynchpin in Washingtons Middle East policy, largely because of its landmark peace treaty with Israel.
It will indeed be counter-productive as both the Muslim Brotherhood and the rubes on the street will see it as the leadership caving in once again to the imperialists. That won't help matters.
The US State Department says that seven of the 16 Americans facing trial have been barred from leaving Egypt by the countrys attorney general. Several Americans, including Sam LaHood, son of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, have sought refuge in the US Embassy.
It is not clear whether the Americans and the rest of the defendants will appear in court Monday. They could not be immediately reached by telephone.
The Americans work for four US-based groups: the International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute, Freedom House and a group that trains journalists.
The dispute began in December when Egyptian security forces raided the offices of the pro-democracy groups, seizing documents and computers.
Earlier this month the NDI said in a statement that it denies the accusations and that it fulfilled all of the registration requirements for the past six years, including a number of updates provided in January.
Freedom House President David J. Kramer said this month that the charges against the NGOs indicates that freedom in Egypt has only gotten worse under Mubaraks appointed ruling generals who took power after the longtime authoritarian leader was toppled.
Let me state clearly that we do not view this situation as a legal matter involving rule of law, Kramer said. The charges are clearly political in nature and without foundation.
Problem is, both sides can point to the law and say they're right.
The state-run Al-Ahram daily on Sunday reported that 19 Americans, not 16, were facing trial. The newspaper, quoting leaked Egyptian intelligence reports, said that some of the computers seized in the raid had sensitive information affecting Egypts national security.
The newspaper, quoting the intelligence report, charged that LaHood, who heads the IRI office in Egypt, had advised his employees not to disclose their foreign nationalities under any circumstances. The charges against Lahood partly stem from the testimony of a woman named Dawlat Sweillam, who allegedly quit her job at IRI because of what she believed were activities that ran counter to Egyptian laws, according to the newspaper report.
While Mondays trial involves foreign-funded NGOs, hundreds of Egyptian non-governmental organizations have also come under investigation from the government since Mubaraks ouster.
Activists blame Mubarak-era laws that have been used to go after groups critical of state policies.
First you make an example of the foreigners, then you cow --and/or thump -- the domestics.
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A 25-year-old Afghan intelligence officer has been identified as "the main suspect" in the killing of two US military advisers inside the Afghan Interior Ministry building in Kabul Saturday, officials said yesterday.
Abdul Saboor joined the police force two years ago and had one of the highest security clearances in the ministry. He is now believed to be on the run, a senior Afghan official told dpa. Saboor had served in several Afghan ministries and had worked at the Interior Ministry for some time, officials said.
Security forces have already raided his house in the north-eastern province of Parwan, just north of Kabul, and have detained several of his relatives, local television Tolo reported.
Investigators have not yet formally linked the killing to the incident, but it followed Taliban calls for revenge. The group claimed responsibility on Saturday.
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BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Six civilians were wounded in an improvised explosive device attack in northern Baghdad while an army colonel was injured and his brother killed in an armed attack south of the Iraqi capital on Sunday, a security source said.
An IED went off today at Nazim al-Tabqajli square in al-Azamiya, northern Baghdad, leaving six civilians wounded and causing severe damage to stores near the blast site, the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
In a separate incident, unidentified gunmen attacked a vehicle driven by Colonel Abdullah Hammad in al-Dora area, southern Baghdad, he said, adding the attack left him wounded and his brother killed. The gunmen managed to escape.
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QUETTA: Baloch and Pashtun nationalists have declined the invitation of the Difa-e-Pakistan Council to participate in the All-Parties Conference (APC) on Balochistan, scheduled to be held in Quetta today (Monday).
They still don't trust Rehman Malik. Wonder why...
Major political parties, including the Balochistan National Party (BNP), National Party (NP), Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP), Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Awami National Party (ANP), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) have reportedly received the formal invitation for the APC. It will be useless if stakeholders concerned like BNP, NP and JWP are not taking part in this conference.
The Baloch National Front, an alliance of several hardliner nationalist parties and students organisations, had already boycotted the APC. On the other hand, the DFCs contact committee is busy in persuading political and nationalist parties for the past four days to ensure their participation, but Balochistan PPP former president Nawabzada Lashkari Raisani, JWP President Nawabzada Talal Akbar Bugti and PML-N leader General (r) Abdul Qadir Baloch have announced their boycott of the APC. Arrangements have been finalised for the APC, which would be chaired by DFC Chairman Samiul Haq. All leaders of the council, including Maulana Samiul Haq, JI Secretary General Liaquat Baloch, Jamaatud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, former ISI chief General (r) Hameed Gul, Jamaat Ahle-Sunnat leader Maulana Muhammad Ahmed Ludhianvi, Ulema Pakistan Council leader Tahir Ashrafi and PML-Zia President Ejazul Haq have reached to attend the APC.
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
KARACHI: Three people, including an activist of Awami National Party (ANP), were killed in separate incidents of target killing in the metropolis on Sunday.
A powerful blast rocked Jalalabad city, the provincial capital of eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar on Monday morning, with feared casualties, local media reported.
At least two people were killed Sunday in fighting between army soldiers and insurgents in the central Yemeni town of Rada'a, reported local media.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, commenting on the international conference on Syria held in Tunis last week, has said the international community debated all possible courses of action for ending the ongoing violence in the neighboring country, including the possibility of a military intervention, Today's Zaman reported.
The Pentagon is readying for the possibility of intervention in Syria, aiming to halt Syrian President Bashsar Assad's violent crackdown on protesters, the newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported Saturday, citing a US military offical.
