If things go well, Indias Chandrayaan-1 probe could be joining forces with two U.S. spacecraft to be launched later this year in looking for water on the Moon.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration plans to launch the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) as well as the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) on an Atlas V rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASAs LRO web site indicates that the launch is currently scheduled to take place no earlier than May 20.
Whether or not water in the form of ice has accumulated in craters at the lunar poles remains an unsettled and controversial issue. One of the instruments on Chandrayaan-1, which is currently circling the Moon, is a compact imaging radar known as Mini-SAR. The radar was specifically developed by a team of U.S. scientists to look for signs of water-ice at the bottom of lunar craters that are permanently in shadow. A similar sort of radar, called Mini-RF, is flying on the LRO as well.
In principle, the two radars one on the Chandrayaan-1 and the other on the LRO could be used together in what is known as a bistatic mode. In that mode of operation, the radar signal would be sent out from the instrument on one satellite and the return echo picked up by the radar on the other satellite.
Because both Chandrayaan-1 and LRO will be in lunar orbit at the same time, the Chandrayaan-1 Mini-SAR and LRO Mini-RF units were designed to operate cooperatively in a bistatic mode, with Chandrayaan-1 transmitting and LRO receiving in S-band radar data, write Paul Spudis and others of the Mini-SAR team in a paper published in the latest issue of the journal Current Science.
The bistatic mode could provide the best evidence for the presence of water-ice, Dr. Spudis told this correspondent when he was in India last year for the launch of Chandryaan-1.
The LRO mission team has approached the Indian Space Research Organisation to explore possibilities for a bistatic experiment using their spacecraft and Chandrayaan-1, said J.N. Goswami, director of the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, and principal scientist for Chandrayaan-1.
The idea is scientifically interesting, Dr. Goswami said. But we may be able to consider it only after preliminary results from radars on both satellites become available. Also, it is important that many of Chandrayaan-1s primary science objectives are first completed.
Once the LRO and LCROSS satellites are put on course for the Moon, NASA intends to have the Atlas V rockets spent Centaur upper stage slam into a lunar crater. The impact is expected to throw up a large cloud of dust and debris that will rise high above the Moons surface, hopefully carrying traces of any water-ice that may be present. Travelling just minutes behind the Centaur stage, the LCROSS instruments will make measurements as the spacecraft passes through the plume of debris. The data will relayed back to Earth before the spacecraft too crashes into the Moon and creates a second debris plume.
Instruments on Chandrayaan-1 may be able to take readings of the debris plumes if the spacecraft is in a suitable position when the impacts occur, Dr. Goswami said.
Posted by: john frum ||
03/02/2009
18:00 ||
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The Texas Declaration of Independence was the formal declaration of independence of the Republic of Texas from Mexico in the Texas Revolution. It was adopted at the Convention of 1836 at Washington-on-the-Brazos on March 2, 1836, and formally signed the following day after errors were noted in the text.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
03/02/2009
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#1
Damn. Saw the headline and thought it was time to move...
#4
Seriously, more and more people that I talk to here in San Antonio are kicking around the notion... kind of half-joking, but kind of half-not.
There's a lot of details to be worked out, of course - a practically infinite list, like what would happen to all the federal military bases. And would we have to get passports to go to California to visit relatives?
The last time Texas had a go at secession, with that spot of bother after the 1860 election - that did not turn out at all well. Which is why it is half a joke. Whether it ever becomes serious matter for discussion depends upon how badly the One screws up the Federal government, of course
#10
This is what Texas looked when the treaty was signed. So if Texas went back to being its own Republic, would these other states be allowed to be a part of the Republic? I am sure most would. The "Disputed Area" was claimed by Mexico.
#11
Well, yes, TD - that is one of those myriad kinks that would have to be sorted out. And yes, Barbara - I'll put a dib on some nice property near Fredericksburg for you - although some of the other little towns are very pleasant, like Comfort and Stonewall.
Not this year, so much - it's been horribly dry this winter, and there is hardly any green at all. I don't see us getting much in the way of wildflowers, and many of the creeks were all but dry.
CARACAS (Reuters) - It's something few people can tell Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez: stop talking.
Chavez, whose speeches often stretch five hours or more, said on Sunday his doctor told him to stay quiet for three days to help a sore throat. "I am a little affected by the intensive, continuous and permanent use of this cannon I've got here and the doctor has told me not to talk," Chavez said to audience laughter.
Chavez immediately responded that silence was not the best medicine for him. "I said 'listen friend, do what you can but how am I going to follow this treatment?' Three days without talking? I lasted one, not even one," Chavez said at the start of a television show he presents every week.
Spain's King Juan Carlos famously tried to silence Chavez, sparking a diplomatic incident when he told the Venezuelan leader to "shut up" during a summit in 2007.
Chavez makes frequent joking references to his loquacious style and occasionally tries, with little success, to shorten his speeches.
Two consecutive election races in recent months have taken their toll on Chavez, whose throat is inflamed after dozens of hours-long stump speeches in which he often sings and shouts. On the show, Chavez often speaks for five hours or more. In January, Chavez spoke for about seven hours without a break during an appearance in Congress.
He campaigned intensively before state and city elections in November, then launched straight into a new campaign to amend the constitution via a referendum. Chavez won the referendum, which removed term limits and allows him to run for re-election as many times as he pleases.
Posted by: zip the lip ||
03/02/2009
16:48 ||
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#1
As I recall, the King of Spain told him the same thing.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Justice Department on Monday released a long-secret legal document from 2001 in which the Bush administration claimed the military could search and seize terror suspects in the United States without warrants. The legal memo was written about a month after the Sept. 11 terror attacks. It says constitutional protections against unlawful search and seizure would not apply to terror suspects in the U.S., as long as the president or another high official authorized the action.
Even after the Bush administration rescinded that legal analysis, the Justice Department refused to release its contents, prompting a standoff with congressional Democrats.
The memo was one of nine released Monday by the Obama administration. Another memo showed that, within two weeks of Sept. 11, the administration was contemplating ways to use wiretaps without getting warrants.
The author of the search and seizure memo, John Yoo, did not immediately return a call seeking comment. In that memo, Yoo wrote that the president could treat terrorist suspects in the United States like an invading foreign army. For instance, he said, the military would not have to get a warrant to storm a building to prevent terrorists from detonating a bomb.
Yoo also suggested that the government could put new restrictions on the press and speech, without spelling out what those might be. "First Amendment speech and press rights may also be subordinated to the overriding need to wage war successfully," Yoo wrote, adding later: "The current campaign against terrorism may require even broader exercises of federal power domestically."
While they were once important legal pillars of the U.S. fight against al-Qaida, all of the memos were withdrawn in the final days of the Bush administration. In one of his first official acts as president, Barack Obama also signed an order negating the memos' claims until his administration could conduct a thorough review.
In a speech Monday, Obama's attorney general, Eric Holder said that too often in the past decade the fight against terrorism has been put in opposition to "our tradition of civil liberties."
That "has done us more harm than good," he declared. "I've often said that the test of a great nation is whether it will adhere to its core values not only when it is easy but when it is hard."
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had to cancel an appearance Monday at a global warming rally in Washington, D.C., that was hit by a snowstorm because her flight was delayed
House Select Energy Independence and Global Warming Chairman Edward Markey (D-Mass.), who was scheduled to speak at the global warming event, also canceled his appearance because of the inclement weather,
despite the lawmakers' absence, about 500 protesters braved temperatures in the mid-20s wind chill temps in the low teens
and congregated on the Capitol lawn.
#3
From a marketing standpoint, wouldn't it make more sense to have a global warming event in the middle of the freakin' summer?
There is a bright side, though. San Fran Nan couldn't create tons of carbon with her private jet, so all the rainforest critters must be breathing huge sighs of relief. Right?
Dinajpur-The India border guards yesterday resumed erecting barbed wire fencing along their side opposite the Monipur camp in Dinajpur and BDR personnel resisted the efforts.Sources said the BDR jawans are performing their duties without high officials.
Tension is mounting between Indian Border Security Force (BSF) and BDR men as India wants to exploit the worse crisis passing Bangladesh.
Local people said 69 BSF Battalion of Amulia camp resumed constructing a ring road to erect barbed wire fence 150 metre inside no-man's-land at Kamdevpur village under the camp on Saturday. But in the face of strong opposition by 40 BDR Battalion, the Indian border force stopped the work.
But BSF men again started their activity with heavy machinery, including shovels and tractors, to develop the groundwork.
The BDR jawans again protested the BSF attempt and called for a flag meeting, but BSF did not respond to the meeting. Despite repeated request, BSF men continued their work violating the international border rules.
Sources said at least 12 BDR men are performing their duties at the Monipur camp without any BDR high-ups. BSF men are exploiting the recent mutiny by BDR jawans that claimed at least 63 lives of army officers.
Posted by: john frum ||
03/02/2009
14:43 ||
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#1
What business is it of Bangladesh if India fences their side of the border? It would be like Mexico protesting because we're ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/02/2009 15:09
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#2
There is a treaty that prohibits defensive works and stationing of the regular army at the border.
How a fence is considered to be a defensive work is something only the BDR can explain.
Posted by: john frum ||
03/02/2009 15:33
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What business is it of Bangladesh if India fences their side of the border?
Bangladesh is India's Mexico. The majority of the illegals in India are B'deshi's.
India has kept its special forces ready to counter possible fallout in case a coup is attempted in Bangladesh, sources told The Telegraph. The 50 Parachute Independent Brigade, also engaged in the Liberation War of 1971, was two days ago moved from Agra to Kalaikunda in Bengal, government sources said.
The parachute regiment has fought on the eastern and western fronts. It had launched the famous Tangail Airdrop operation on December 11, 1971, to capture the Poongli bridge on the Jamuna that would cut off the 93 Brigade of the Pakistani army.
Other sources said such regiments were expected to be kept ready when neighbourhoods were in turmoil and it should not be construed as "an alarmist posture".
The threat to the Awami League government became more pronounced after more than 700 armed BDR men escaped yesterday with heavy guns and rocket launchers. Some of them were arrested and interrogation revealed that the Jamaat-e-Islami was courting these rebels. "They have not joined the Jamaat yet, but if they do, it is a big worry," a source said.
The source said investigating agencies suspected the hand of Jamaat operative Motiur Rehman Nizami whose objective is to topple the Sheikh Hasina government.
The Jamaat and the Khaleda Zia-led BNP are seen as pro-Pakistan. Saifullah Qadir Chowdhury, a former BNP MP reportedly involved in triggering the mutiny, has active ISI links and is known to be close to Zia's son Tarique Rahman.
So the ISI was involved in the mutiny. Surprise, surprise, surprise ...
Reports said some outposts in Bangladesh had been re-occupied by BDR troops, suggesting a return to normality could be under way.
This article starring:
Motiur Rehman Nizami
Saifullah Qadir Chowdhury
Tarique Rahman
Posted by: john frum ||
03/02/2009
14:37 ||
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Does Barry know anybody who knows how to pay taxes?
WASHINGTON Ron Kirk, nominated as U.S. Trade Representative in the Obama administration, owes an estimated $10,000 in back taxes from earlier in the decade and has agreed to make his payments, the Senate Finance Committee said Monday.
The committee said the taxes arise from Kirk's handling of speaking fees that he donated to his alma mater, and for his deduction of the full cost of season tickets to the Dallas Mavericks professional basketball team.
The disclosure made the former Dallas mayor the latest in a string of top-level Obama administration appointees found to have underpaid their taxes, following Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Tom Daschle, who withdrew as candidate for Health and Human Services secretary. Nancy Killefer, Obama's pick for chief performance officer, also bowed out amid tax problems.
White House spokesman Ben LaBolt said Kirk was working to clear up "a few minor issues" uncovered by the committee and expressed confidence he would be confirmed.
Despite the error, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, issued a statement calling Kirk "the right person for this job," and said he would attempt to have the nomination moved through the panel quickly.
Kirk routinely gave any speaking fees he earned to Austin College, the committee said, and did not list them on his tax returns. Instead, the committee said he should have listed the fees as income, then claimed them as charitable donations. The estimated effect was to reduce Kirk's tax bill by an estimated $5,800, according to the report.
Kirk also deducted more than $17,000 as entertainment expenses for the cost of Mavericks' tickets. The committee said he substantiated about $9,900 of that amount, and will owe about $2,600 in taxes on the balance.
The committee said that last fall, Kirk amended his income tax return for 2006, paying an additional $2,188 in tax and $139 in interest after a notification from the Internal Revenue Service. The return was filed by a paid tax preparer, the panel added.
It has become jaw-droppingly clear that Barack Obama seeks to radically shift the alignment of this country -- tying its citizens to their government in a dramatic leftward lunge the likes of which America has never seen before.
Obama deceitfully billed himself a pragmatist on the campaign trail. He was marketed as a "moderate." After his November victory, pundits predicted he'd govern from the center. -- They couldn't have been more mistaken. Barack Obama is an extremist progressive who seeks to molest our fiscal values and pumps up our reliance on fruitless government programs.
Obama certainly will be successful in his mission for unparalleled historic recognition. But don't expect his face on the dollar bill in the future.
On its face, this appears to confirm that Obama is a tax-and-spend liberal with a heavy socialist marbling. But it's much more complex than that. Though Obama has proclaimed that "this has never been about me -- it's about you" on the stump, these very actions are all about him and his increasingly apparent obsession with exaltation and a delusional quest for historic grandeur.
The cult of personality created by the leftist trifecta of academia, media and the entertainment industry has overtaken Obama's own self-image. And he believes the hype. Most politicians possess a swollen sense of self-worship. But Obama believes he is the superhero of fanatical Democratic extremism, the green lantern of progressive precept, the Will Smith of left-wing indoctrination.
Obama certainly will be successful in his mission for unparalleled historic recognition. But don't expect his face on the dollar bill in the future. His notoriety will leave a legendary imprint for all the wrong reasons.
#2
All you had to do was ask anybody from Illinois about Obama...
oh!, wait! Illinois isn't on the east coast... isn't it part of that big empty space we fly over on our way to Aspen?
#3
But don't expect his face on the dollar bill in the future.
Can't we get that duce pic on the $500 spot? Don't wanna throw too much dust tax hauling my wheelbarrow 'round.
"Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?"
With no hesitation whatsoever, Franklin responded,
"A republic, if you can keep it."
Remember that folks when you see Mr. Franklin paying for a basic grocery week.
#4
A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government.
~Thomas Jefferson~
#5
A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government.
~Thomas Jefferson~
Among other things, Jefferson should be spinning in his gave to know that this quote of his hasn't applied to the US in nearly 70 years.
#7
get him the phuque out of there, any way you can!!!!
Posted by: zip the lip ||
03/02/2009 16:55
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What is interesting is that now some of the old er Democrats are crying fowl over the planned CZAR appointments. They say the CZARs is a power grab that will over ride the Congressionally approved Cabinet members.
My thought is, how come you critters are just now waking up to what many conservatives saw in this guy a long time ago.
#12
I predict that Obamahole doesn't make it through his first (and only) term. I have no idea by what means he will leave the office, but he will not finish his term.
I further predict that even with The Lefts propaganda organ (The Academia/Media/Entertainment Complex™) running heavy cover and spewing 24x7, he will be the death of the Democrat Party/Left in this country. We will survive.
#13
Maybe we'll see his face on the first $1T greenback. And a wheelbarrow load of those greenbacks will buy a loaf of bread. Because that will be what we're using to go to the grocery store to get our daily necessities when Ogabe is done with his program.
A homesick engineer leapt from a hotel balcony to his death after an argument with his wife during New Year's Eve celebrations, an inquest has been told. It wasn't a Rantburger. We all are accounted for.
Paul McDougall had been watching fireworks over Sydney harbour with his wife and friends when friends over heard him saying he wanted to return home to England with his wife "whether she liked it or not."
In a statement describing her husband's last words, Karen McDougall told the inquest in Trowbridge, Wilts., said: "Paul then said 'if I'm not here, they will kick you out. He was talking about permanent residency in Australia. He then ran through the open doors in the lounge room and jumped over the balcony." Bad and tragic choice.
The McDougalls, who had settled permanently in Western Australia, were visiting Sydney as part of plans to watch the Ashes Test Series with fellow English expats, David Carter and Lee Woolford.
On New Year's Eve 2007, the four gathered at Sydney's Lennon Bar at 6pm to ensure they had the best seats to view the fireworks display over the harbour. The group was treated to canapés and an endless supply of Champagne and spirits at the event. Which undoubtedly lubed up the judgement centres of the brain.
"He was probably on the same level as me. We'd go drink for drink every time. Every time someone wanted a drink we got a round in because it was free -- whisky and coke, Jack Daniels," said Mr Carter. And it is a sin to refuse a free drink.
The inquest was told that they left the bar after midnight and made their way back to the Oaks Harmony apartment in Quay Street.
Mr Woolford and Mrs McDougall arrived home first and as soon as Mr McDougall arrived, a row began. "He started on about my drinking. He said I drunk too much. I was an embarrassment. He poured a bottle of wine down the sink", said Mrs McDougall in a statement.
Mr Carter told the inquest that soon after he and Mr Woolford had left the room to go bed, Mrs McDougall called them back. "The next thing she said was 'come here'.
"I came out and she said he had gone over the balcony. I looked down and saw him in a starfish shape," he said.
The inquest heard Mr McDougall had run through the sliding doors to the balcony and mounted a chair which he used as a "springboard" to vault the glass safety balustrade to plunge from the 17th floor onto the balcony of the 13th floor. Jeeze Louise.
Paramedics rushed the victim to hospital, but he died later of multiple injuries. Tests found Mr McDougall had 183 millilitres of alcohol in 100 litres of blood and had 272 millilitres of alcohol in urine. That is 0.183% alcohol in the bloodstream, and a bunch in the bladder.
"He never intended to take his own life. He loved life," insisted Mr Carter, while Mr Woolford said in an earlier statement that Mr McDougall told him he was looking forward to meeting with his father for a holiday in Thailand.
Mrs McDougall had said: "I don't think it was deliberate. It may have been just to scare me." Chock this one up to inebriation and bad judgment.
Summing up, Wiltshire Coroner David Masters said there was insufficient evidence to prove that Mr McDougall, of Mullaoo, Western Australia, intended to kill himself and recorded an open verdict.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/02/2009
13:25 ||
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As if parking at Logan wasn't expensive enough...
In the same month that Logan International Airport hiked its parking rates by $1, Governor Deval Patrick is asking for another $2 parking "carbon fee" as part of his transportation overhaul filed this week.
The carbon fee, described on page 137 of Patrick's 141-page bill, would that mean a 20- or 30-minute trip to pick up a relative at Logan could cost $6 in parking alone, not including tunnel tolls, which could rise to as much as $7 if legislators fail to pass Patrick's other proposal to raise the gas tax. Three hours in a Logan garage would cost $18; all-day parking in a garage would run $26.
Boston's short-term rates are currently higher than those in the nation's largest cities - from New York's LaGuardia to Los Angeles International, to Chicago's O'Hare.
"It makes me never want to park here," said Pam Nagy of Sutton, who was hauling luggage into Logan on Friday.
Patrick's transportation secretary, James A. Aloisi Jr., said he will be glad if people stop parking at the airport and use public transportation to get there, a sentiment that has led several environmental groups to endorse the parking fee. "It should not be inexpensive to park at convenient facilities in the middle of Logan Airport," Aloisi said. "We need people to understand that there are better ways to get to Logan."
Best way of all is to stay away from Boston. Stay home folks, Boston really doesn't want you there.
He wants the parking fee - which requires approval from the Legislature - to be used for improvements to airport-related transit projects, including a proposal to build a new tunnel under South Boston to speed up the Logan-bound Silver Line bus service, and the initial phases of a long-term plan to build a transit loop around the city. Based on Logan's most recent parking figures, the new fee would probably raise about $5.4 million per year.
Given that a tunnel in Boston costs oh, about $15 billion, I think they'll be scratching for more loose change ...
But many who travel to the airport come with bulky luggage or young children, making public transit a harder sell, if not an impossibility.
Ben Kaplan pulling a cart piled high with luggage and accompanied by his wife and two young sons, said taking public transit would be tough for his family. "We'd be more likely to take a cab," he said.
Cab rides to and from Boston usually cost a minimum of $20 to $30, depending on traffic, luggage, and tolls, which are higher for taxis. The rates are substantially higher for suburban trips.
Charge the cabbies a higher toll? Brilliant, simply brilliant ...
Aloisi's comments, and Patrick's proposal, represent a shift for Massachusetts, just 14 months after the state finished building a $15 billion tunnel project designed in large part to improve driving access to Logan. Aloisi said the plan is also designed to get the agency that runs Logan, the Massachusetts Port Authority, to do a better job of dealing with public transportation from the city to Logan, to grab some power for himself "to have some skin in the game." The plan takes the Tobin Bridge out of Massport's control, using the $10 million in toll profits it generates every year to fund statewide transportation. Rest at link. We're not called Taxachusetts for nothing...
#1
Anybody that parks at Logan is outta their friggin minds.
You either take the Logan Express bus or get a ride in for departures. Proper procedure for pickups is to orbit the airport until you get the cellphone call that your party has hit the street, thereby spewing carbon for the ten to twelve orbits before this happens.
The only "green" this corrupt little pygmy is worried about is the green it takes to keep some extra hack jobs around at Massport.
#2
I've actually taken the Silver line from Logan several times. Once it got stuck in traffic; the other two times everything went fine. The really annoying thing is that you have to take a shuttle to get to the red line.
DES MOINES, Iowa -- Nothing says summer in Iowa like a cloud of dust behind a combine. But what may be a fact of life for farmers is a cause for concern to federal regulators, who are refusing to exempt growers from new environmental regulations. It's left some farmers feeling bemused and more than a little frustrated.
"It's such a non-commonsense idea that you can keep dust within a property line when the wind blows," said Sen. Charles Grassley, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee who still farms in northeast Iowa. Who says the EPA has any common sense?
Under rules imposed in 2006, rural areas would be kept to the same standards as urban areas for what the Environmental Protection Agency calls "coarse particulate matter" in the air. Dust to us Rubes.
The American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Pork Producers Council had petitioned the government to provide an exemption to farmers. They argued that evidence of harm caused by dust in rural areas hasn't been determined. If I was the National Pork Producers Council I'd consider changing the name. Don't want to get confused with Congress.
But the U.S. District Court of Appeals in Washington ruled Tuesday that the EPA had already provided the evidence necessary to determine farm dust "likely is not safe." Nothing is safe. We must regulate everything out of existance.
Michael Formica, a lawyer for the pork council, said this means farmers now face the daunting task of proving a negative -- that the dust is not harmful. Try picking peanuts without making dust. It doesn't seem to have harmed me.
Formica said his and other groups will consider a further appeal.
Farmers said they will be hard-pressed to meet the standards. In a letter sent Wednesday to the EPA, Grassley wrote that compliance would be impossible because of the dust produced in farmers' day-to-day activities. That's why they're called Sodbusters.
Grassley also has noted that because many rural roads are not paved, particulate readings could be affected by wind gusts that constantly change. "After all, God decides when the wind blows, not Chuck Grassley," he said. Maybe Obama has taken over that part of God's job. He's gonna lower the Ocean levels.
But the EPA said the regulation was overdue. Every five years, the Clean Air Act requires the agency to review the newest scientific information and recommend changes to its standards. In 2006, the EPA determined larger particles in the air than previously thought were a danger to the public. The increased threshold covered air mixes that occur in rural areas.
EPA spokeswoman Cathy Milbourn said the changes are not just a matter of regulating dust. They serve the public's well-being and, regardless of whether someone lives in a rural or urban area, the threshold for unsafe levels of dust in the air must remain consistent nationally. Sounds like trying to shove a square peg into a round hole. They don't care that conditions are different everywhere, all they want is compliance with an arbitrary uniform model.
"It's health-based," she said. "We don't look at a particular industry. The goal is to protect public health." We know what's best for you. Trust us.
When counties reach "non-attainment" levels, it becomes a state's responsibility to bring the county back into acceptable levels. Milbourn said various options exist for states, such as retrofitting buses that run on diesel engines. What the hell does that have to do with dust?
But farmers insist the regulation will affect their operations and eventually their bottom lines. And they said unlike fixing a bus, they have few options for limiting dust from their fields and roads. Just do all work when it's raining.
Roger Zylstra, a director with the Iowa Corngrowers Association, said if left alone, farmers can compete worldwide. But regulation could impede their success. But they are Regulators! They exist to Regulate!
He said there seems to be a disconnect between farmers and policymakers. My, my. How DID he get so smart?
"Many of the people that are making the rules, it feels like they really don't know what (farming) issues are," said Zylstra, a Lynnville resident who has worked on a farm for 35 years. Zylstra said it's hard not to get frustrated. "We think we've met the demands that have been put upon us and lo and behold, we have new and even more stringent demands. It seems really unrealistic."
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/02/2009
12:13 ||
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#1
About the stupidest effin thing I've heard of.
So let me get this straight: gonna put a dust tax and fart tax on agriculture (you know, that major US export) and run everyone into the red, then what: Bail them out with a bigger farm package? Seize their land and sell it to big boys? Turn it into a big hunting ground for east coast lawyers?
Besides the obvious army of regulators whats gonna happen when states start contesting whether dust is local or blown in from another state? Could states sue the sahara countries for compensation? Whaddabout all that crap thrown up by a forest fire or that shovel ready pork chop express road construction?
When counties reach "non-attainment" levels, it becomes a state's responsibility to bring the county back into acceptable levels.
Gonna pass the regulatory buck down to the state huh? Claim the 12th and tell the EPA to sod off.
Compared to the shortage of food (expensive food will be the least worry) and loss of the farming culture, perhaps a relavent quote from someone smarter than I:
I've got a hundred people down here, and they're covered with dust.
Dust? Who gives a sh!t about dust? Who the f@k is this?
#2
Go anywhere in the agricultural areas of this country during the spring or fall and you'll get "Farm Dust". Sometimes it smells good, too.
Me thinks this is a ploy by the EPA (and their evil goracle masters) to get their fingers (and more unqualified personnel - Look! New Jobs!) deeper into the agricultural and mostly non-industrial, low-polluting states (except for those pesky manure slurry 'accidents' and fertilizer runoff during a flood). This little 'perceived danger' would justify their increased presence in these areas when it comes to budget time. Plus, they'd have the 'mandate' to snoop around.
In the past, they may have been met with angry dogs, evil geese or a load of #4 rock salt.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
03/02/2009 15:43
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#3
Why not - they force commercial fishermen to hire non-fishing 'observers' to make sure that they aren't fishing for the 'wrong' kind of fish.
When all they have to do is have people inspect the catch when they boat pulls up to the dock (or processing ship) to unload.
They are trying to do the same to Farmers that they did the Lumbermen and are trying with the fishermen.
#4
Nothing is safe. We must regulate everything out of existance.
That is precisely what this is all about. You can expect to see more and more bizarre crap like this as we move to the end stage of this insanity.
Personally, I don't think fighting this in court is what needs to happen. Time to give these folks the big middle finger, and when they try and enforce this...well, Iowa is a big place lots of places that things can get lost.
#5
So the EPA will drive all farm crops out of the country and we will import our food. But we will not be able to do that because we will go bankrupt paying taxes for this foolishness.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/02/2009 22:02
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#6
Don't worry about that. I'm sure Obama will issue some Directive that you cannot fire anyone, nor can you quit your job, or close your business....
(sorry don't have the Directive # from Atlas Shrugged on me right now....)
The cruiser Port Royal suffered widespread damage after it ran aground Feb. 5, according to an internal Navy report that detailed problems not only with propulsion gear, but also weapons, radars and other topside systems. The preliminary damage assessment, a copy of which was obtained by Navy Times, depicts a ship in need of repairs that will cost tens of millions of dollars and take months in a dry dock, experts agreed.
Not only did the grounding cost the Port Royal several propeller blades, its sonar dome and both its anchors, the ship suffered extensive damage as it lay aground and rolled with the surf for three days before it was pulled off by salvage ships.
#1
Makes you wonder if it would be cheaper to mothball the Port Royal and take bring back another Tico-class cruiser.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/02/2009 13:05
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#2
The only thing that can save this Navy captain's career is to discover the reef was uncharted. Otherwise, he's toast. From all the conflicting reports, it seems that may be the case (ie, coral reef/sandbar, etc.).
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/02/2009 13:10
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#3
My theory for the great pictures of giant sea monsters on the old charts is as follows:
It was easier for the captain of a disappeared ship to go back to his knig/investors saying "We were attacked by a Monster! It was THIS BIG! I am lucky to be alive!!!!" Than to say, "I sailed it onto some rocks."
Different questions could be: who would you hire, who would you want teaching your children, who would you want to be performing surgery on you, etc. The answer would be the same, of course.
Posted by: Matt ||
03/02/2009 13:45
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#2
Just wow.
Rasta boy picks up his skateboard at 7:20. Spoiled insolent.........
IRAN is supplying the Taliban in Afghanistan with surface-to-air missiles capable of destroying a helicopter, according to US intelligence sources.
They believe the Taliban want to use the SA-14 Gremlin missiles to launch a "spectacular" attack against coalition forces in Helmand in the southwest of the country, where insurgents claim to be gaining the upper hand.
Although coalition helicopters operating in southern Afghanistan are equipped with defensive systems to deflect an attempted strike, the SA-14 can evade such counter-measures.
It was a shoulder-held SA-14 supplied by Iran that Iraqi insurgents used to shoot down a Lynx helicopter over Basra in May 2006. Five British service personnel died in that attack, including Wing Commander John Coxen and Flight Lieutenant Sarah-Jayne Mulvihill, the first British servicewoman killed in action since World War II.
Although the Iranians are not natural supporters of the Taliban, they have been willing to assist them in the past to prevent Britain and the US gaining influence in the region. Special forces have previously intercepted arms shipments from Iran that would have helped the Taliban intensify a roadside bombing campaign that has killed coalition troops over the past 18 months.
However, coalition forces became aware of the presence of SA-14s only two weeks ago when parts from two of them were discovered during a US operation in western Afghanistan. "The weapons are out there and we thought it was only a matter of time before they got one or two into the south," said a defence source. "A Taliban spectacular against British or American troops would reinforce an increasing view among ordinary Afghans that the Taliban are gaining the upper hand."
In the past eight months, small arms and rocket-propelled grenade attacks on British helicopters in Helmand have increased.
#3
Although the Iranians are not natural supporters of the Taliban, they have been willing to assist them in the past to prevent Britain and the US gaining influence in the region.
Whatever it takes to kill infidels ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/02/2009 11:41
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#4
It's past time we started killing Iran's big cheeses. Tit for tat and all that.
#5
Iranians keep acting like they can fight these little proxy wars with us and the Israelis. It's almost like they think they're as big and bad as the old Soviet Union so they can get away with it. I wouldn't have thought that would be the case but apparently it is.
#12
I suspect this isnt such a big deal. Anything the Iranians could have done to hurt us severely, theyve already done in Iraq. And failed miserably. The counter to shoulder-fired missiles is round-the-clock Predator and Global Hawk coverage of air routes, backed up with either UAV or manned aircraft missile strikes against SAM teams.
FORWARD OPERATING BASE ALTIMUR, Afghanistan - The U.S. soldiers entered the sleeping village in Logar province in the dead of night on Feb. 20, sure of their target and heavily armed. They surrounded a mud-walled compound, shouting commands, and then kicked down the gate as cries of protest erupted within.
Exactly what happened next is disputed, but shots were fired and a man inside fell dead. Four other men were grabbed and arrested. Then the soldiers departed, leaving the women to calm the frightened children and the rumors to spread in the dark.
By midmorning, hundreds of angry people were blocking the nearby highway, burning tires and shouting "Death to America!" By mid-evening, millions of Afghan TV news viewers were convinced that foreign troops had killed an unarmed man trying to answer his door.
"We are afraid of the Taliban, but we are more afraid of the Americans now," said Abdul Ghaffar, a truck driver in the raided village. "The foreign forces are killing innocent people. We don't want them in Afghanistan. If they stay, one day we will stand against them, just like we stood against the Russians."
Tactically, the U.S.-led night raid in the village of Bagh-i-Soltan was a success. U.S. military officials said the dead man and an accomplice now in custody were bombmakers linked to recent insurgent attacks. They said that they had tracked the men for days and that one was holding an assault rifle when they shot him.
Strategically, however, the incident was a disaster. Its most incriminating version -- colored by villagers' grief and anger, possibly twisted by Taliban propaganda and magnified by the growing influence of Afghan independent TV -- spread far faster than U.S. authorities could even attempt to counter.
Worse, it happened in an area where the Obama administration has just launched an expensive military push, focusing on regions near Kabul, the capital, where Islamist insurgents are trying to gain influence. Several U.S. bases have been set up in Logar and adjacent Wardak province, and 3,000 troops have arrived since January. Their mandate is to strengthen security, facilitate aid projects and good government, and swing local opinion against the insurgents.
A wide gulf
Logar sits in a historically peaceful valley an hour's drive south of Kabul, surrounded by craggy mountains. Brown and bleak in winter, it is green and bucolic in summer, with wheat fields, orchards and honey that beekeepers sell beside the road. It is also a gateway from southeastern Afghanistan to the capital, straddling one of the few paved highways in the region.
In the past 18 months, Taliban forces have established strongholds in several nearby provinces and a low-key but intimidating presence in Logar. Officials say most Logaris, though frustrated by poor government services, have not yet decided where their loyalties lie. Politically, Logar is still up for grabs.
"This is a fertile area for us to plant the seeds of opportunity, but there are a lot of fence-sitters, and everyone is vying for the populace," said Lt. Col. Daniel Goldthorpe, who commands the U.S. Army base at Altimur in Logar, about 30 miles south of Bagh-i-Soltan.
The newly built base is a cluster of heated tents and wood cabins on a rocky plain, surrounded by dirt-filled barricades and a distant cordon of snowcapped mountains. It houses about 600 troops from the Army's 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, whose duties include search raids, security patrols and goodwill missions in nearby villages.
Goldthorpe acknowledged that the fallout from the raid in Bagh-i-Soltan was a surprising setback for the U.S. forces' image here. But he attributed the public unrest to superior Taliban propaganda efforts and strongly denied any misconduct during the raid.
"We did everything to the letter, but their media was a lot faster than ours," he said. "When a tree falls in the forest, the first to report the sound gets their version out. This was a huge learning curve for us and an important exercise in credibility."
But interviews with local residents, Afghan officials and U.S. military officers since the raid suggest that the problem was more complex than one side putting out a quicker news flash. The incident took place amid deepening national hostility to American and NATO forces and growing complaints about coalition bombings and night raids.
Logar officials, like area residents, seemed inclined to believe the worst. U.S. officials said some were afraid to publicly side with the Americans, and others said they had not been told of the raid by their superiors in Kabul, whom U.S. officials said they had briefed.
U.S. officials were also constrained from fully explaining their actions or making amends afterward. Intelligence sources could not be revealed. Daytime visits to villages required advance security planning and transport in monster vehicles armored against roadside bombs and rockets, hampering the troops' ability to make personal contact quickly.
A week after the raid, even though U.S. officials had by then met with village elders and released all but one detainee, emotions in Bagh-i-Soltan were still running high, and the raided compound was full of condolence callers. The gulf between the resentful residents and the eager-to-help soldiers at Altimur seemed as wide as the brown winter plain.
Divergent accounts
The first version of the raid, and the one that has stuck in the public mind, came from Mullah Abdul Mateen, the owner of the raided house. He told reporters the next day that heavily armed Americans had burst into the sleeping household, shot at his younger brother, herded the women and children into a room, then handcuffed and taken away several more brothers and a cousin.
"We are not terrorists or al-Qaeda. I am not hiding from anyone. There was no reason for the Americans to do this," Mateen, 35, said in an interview last week. "The Americans got the wrong information from an Afghan spy. If they continue killing and arresting innocent people, the anger against them will increase."
The provincial governor, Atiqullah Ludin, also bitterly criticized the U.S. forces, saying they had promised to avoid civilian casualties and to conduct all house raids accompanied by Afghan troops. "Now what can I tell the people of Logar?" Ludin said in apparent anguish last week. "We have to build their trust or the enemies of Afghanistan will take advantage of it."
A very different description of the raid came from U.S. officers who carried it out and who said they were accompanied by members of the Afghan military and intelligence forces. One was Army Maj. Todd Polk, a squad leader based at Altimur.
Polk said there was solid evidence that the dead man, identified as Sher Agha, and a second man detained in the raid possessed explosives-making materials and had helped prepare a recent bomb attack on a French military facility in Logar. He said both men had been tracked to Mateen's house and a neighboring compound.
"I was there, and I can tell you for a fact what happened," Polk said in an interview last week. He said Agha "had an AK-47 in his hand and was trying to get away" when he was shot by U.S. forces. "If he were innocent, he would have sat there."
Like other U.S. officers here, Polk said that he believed the protests afterward were instigated by the Taliban and that residents would not have objected had they known the facts that led to the raid. He also expressed frustration over the lack of communication between Afghan security officials in Kabul and Logar.
At a routine meeting with two local police officials last week, Polk was attempting to discuss highway safety issues when the officers changed the subject. Polite but uneasy, they asked why the Americans had broken down Mateen's door, why they had shot someone and why no one had informed their commander that the raid was going to take place.
"If you had come and asked us, we could have brought him to you, and there would be no trouble," Capt. Mohammed Wahidullah told Polk, speaking through an interpreter. "Instead we had to go out on the highway the next day, with thousands of people shouting and cursing us. You didn't need to take all those vehicles and people to raid that house. You just needed to make one call."
Polk told the police he would take the suggestion to his superiors, but it was evident that he remained skeptical of the policemen's sincerity -- and convinced that the Taliban insurgents, with their dual ability to intimidate people and whip up Afghans' emotions against foreign armies, were the real cause of the backlash.
"I know we did the right thing, but the Taliban kicked our butts on the response," the major said, shaking his head. "Next time, we just have to be faster putting out the truth."
#1
Capt. Mohammed Wahidullah told Polk, speaking through an interpreter. "Instead we had to go out on the highway the next day, with thousands of people shouting and cursing us. You didn't need to take all those vehicles and people to raid that house. You just needed to make one call."
#1
This brave man will one day be heralded for hisunderstanding of how Europe faltered, but probably not until the class of '68 is good and dead.
So important, so cherished is hatred of and bigotry towards the West and of Judeo-Christian values among the left that they will not permit any other thing to displace it, no matter how dangerous. Ossified idiots.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
03/02/2009 8:20
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#2
Muslims suck ass, well they prefer little boy ass, but they'll take what they can get. Hows that for inflamatory free speech?
BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau -- Renegade soldiers assassinated the president of Guinea-Bissau in his palace Monday, hours after a bomb blast killed his rival, but the military said that no coup was in progress in the fragile West African nation.
The military statement broadcast on state radio attributed President Joao Bernardo Vieira's death to an "isolated" group of unidentified soldiers whom the military said it was now hunting down.
Luis Sanca, security adviser to Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Jr., confirmed the president had died but gave no details.
The military said the armed forces would respect the constitutional order, which calls for parliament chief Raimundo Pereira to succeed the president in the event of his death. It also dismissed claims that the armed forces headquarters was implicated in Vieira's killing as a retaliation for the assassination late Sunday of armed forces chief of staff Gen. Batiste Tagme na Waie at his headquarters in Bissau.
The Commission of Inquiry investigating last Novembers crisis in Jos has summoned officials of the state Ministry of Lands and Survey to clarify the ownership of a community adjacent the University of Jos.
The summon followed repeated mention of Angwan Rogo community by many of the witnesses that testified before the commission, with some of them calling for the relocation of the community as according to them, the land was originally given to the university. Angwan Rogo which lies just behind the Bauchi Road campus of the University of Jos is predominantly inhabited by Hausa Muslims.
Testifying before the commission, one Princess Hannah Jang who presented a memorandum on behalf of the Izere Concerned Daughters of Jos North and Jos East local government areas accused the Hausa whom she said they gave their land to of turning round to kill them. She lamented the plight of women as a result of the constant crises in the state, noting that women and children suffer most as they are rendered widows and orphans.
Another witness, Haruna Rwang viewed the crisis as a continuation of the 1884 Islamic Jihad, stressing that whatever solution would have to take this fact into consideration to achieve anything meaningful.
Commission Chairman, Prince Bola Ajibola while giving the directive said the ministry was in a better position to clarify the actual ownership of the land to guide the commission.
#1
Another witness, Haruna Rwang viewed the crisis as a continuation of the 1884 Islamic Jihad, stressing that whatever solution would have to take this fact into consideration to achieve anything meaningful.
Not much has changed since 1884, has it? Islam has declared war against everyone not a Muslim, and internally, between the different "flavors" of Islam. Islam is a cancer, and needs to be excised from the planet.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/02/2009 13:33
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I have used this column many times over the last few years to criticize Canadas immigration minister for adopting policies which I did not agree with. I have never, however, called our minister of immigration a professional whore. The president of the Canadian Arab Federation, Khaled Mouammar, not only used this term to describe Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, but also used it to describe Minister of State of Foreign Affairs Peter Kent and Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff.
What surprised me the most about this incident is the fact that this wasnt said in a private conversation, or mistakenly caught by an open microphone. Mouammar spoke these words deliberately and repeatedly while addressing a rally in his official capacity as president of the CAF. The CAF is made up of more than 40 member organizations and claims as one of its core values the accurate representation of Arabs in the media, and in all areas of civil society.
Of course, in Canada, Mouammar has the right to say whatever he wants subject to very, very few limits. Few would seriously question that. However, when he purports to represent not one, but 40 Arab organizations, one would think that he would ensure that when he speaks he does so in the best interests of his community. On that day, Mouammar behaved in a very un-Canadian manner and did the community that he supposedly serves a great disservice.
In Canada, we tolerate uncivil speech. However, we do not encourage it because it lives right next door to dangerous speech -- the kind that when it gets out of hand, starts to foment hatred, conflict, and even harm. The world has enough of such places. When Canadians seek a rush, we head to the nearest hockey arena, shovel the driveway, or visit our local Tim Hortons where we can roll up the rim to win. We typically do not seek the kind of drama that Mouammar is peddling.
While behaving badly, Mouammar forgot that his organization receives about $447,000 of taxpayer money to teach immigrants language and job search skills. It is not surprising that the minister is now wondering aloud if the CAF, under the leadership of Mouammar, is the best organization to convey these skills to newcomers to Canada. Mouammar may soon discover that, in Canada, publicly insulting a cabinet minister is not necessarily the best lobbying technique.
Mouammars intemperate language should not be the focus of the greatest public concern. It is his apparent tolerance -- and promotion -- of the interests of known terrorist organizations that should cause public worry. According to the Canadian Jewish Congress, Mouammar lobbied Ottawa to remove Hezbollah from Canadas list of terrorist organizations. According to Kenney, the leader of the CAF circulated videos depicting the inculcation of hatred in children by organizations such as Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. Furthermore, according to published reports, the CAFs anti-Israel demonstrations unabashedly feature people waving the flags of organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah, both listed as terrorist organizations.
What is truly frightening is that this is the political fabric of a man who, for years, sat on Canadas Immigration and Refugee Board judging refugee claims. A big part of his job would have been to exclude from protection people who are suspected of being members of terrorist organizations. It shocks me that a person who is capable of acting so injudiciously, who behaves in a manner that is so contrary to the interests of the community that he serves, and who advocates for the interests of organizations that are internationally recognized as terrorist, was appointed to a board entrusted to protect Canadians from the very people he appears to be so sympathetic towards.
Mouammars values dont seem Canadian at all to me. He should never have had a seat on our Immigration and Refugee Board. However, whether he deserves the seat of leadership of a Canadian federation of Arab organizations is not for me, but for others, to decide.
Fierce fighting erupted Sunday between Filipino soldiers and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels in the restive region of Mindanao, officials said. Officials said troops have launched fresh operations Sunday in the province to capture Ameril Kato, one of three rebel commanders wanted by authorities for the series of deadly attacks last year in Mindanao.
Two soldiers were wounded and an undermined number of MILF rebels were either killed or injured in the fighting in the hinterlands of Datu Piang town in Maguindanao, one of six provinces under the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). "Two of our soldiers are wounded in the fighting and an undetermined number of rebels are either killed or injured also in the clashes," said Army Lt. Col. Jonathan Ponce, a spokesman for the 6th Infantry Division.
Aside from Kato, security forces are also pursuing Abdurahman Macapaar and Sulayman Panglian, who were also tagged as involved in the attacks in North Cotabato, Lanao del Norte, Sarangani, and Maguindanao that killed dozens of innocent civilians. The government has put up P25 million bounties for the capture of the three commanders.
"The 6th Infantry Division launched a law enforcement operation in support to the Philippine National Police to get Ameril Kato, head of the lawless MILF group responsible for the carnage on civilian communities in North Cotabato that claimed scores of innocent lives," Ponce said. The MILF said it would not yield the two rebel leaders. It said it would investigate their involvements in the attacks, which occurred after the aborted signing of the ancestral domain deal.
The rebel group, which is negotiating peace with the Arroyo government, said the bounties would only complicate the tense situation in Mindanao. Manila has been repeatedly demanded the MILF to peacefully surrender the three commanders. "The operation being carried out is to bring Kato to the bar of justice and pay for the infraction he committed against the people and law," Ponce said.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo abolished the government peace panel and also scrapped the ancestral domain deal, which was signed July last year by peace negotiators, after the Supreme Court stopped the formal signing of the accord that would have granted Muslims their own homeland in more than 700 barangays across Mindanao. Manila said it would only resume peace talks with the MILF if it would surrender the three wanted rebel leaders. The government also demanded the rebels to surrender their weapons, which the MILF flatly rejected.
The MILF, the countrys largest Muslim rebel group which is fighting for independence in the Mindanao, said it would not resume pace talks unless Arroyo honors the aborted homeland deal.
#1
Our biggest problem in Afghanistan was that we were unwilling to do the three things needed to restore it to order.
1) An aggressive attitude that everything they are and do is wrong, and everything we are and do is right. Therefore they need to be rewritten to doing things the right way.
2) Their wage is so low, we could have and should have employed every non-employed adult male and female, and put all children in safe, western style boarding schools.
3) Seal the border with Pakistan. It is only "porous" because we let it be porous. Too bad if Kabul wants an open border. The border must be closed. You are either an Afghan, and loyal to Afghanistan, or you are a foreigner, and get out.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/02/2009 8:15
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#3
For all the doom and gloom you'd walk away thinking everything is going rosy for the Talibunnies and AQ. It's not. Your adversary is having problems too. Never forget that.
#4
Steve White: I know that about half of Afghanistan's border is shared with Pakistan. However, there are only about six major, any vehicle, passes. Secondary passes suitable for rough terrain vehicles, perhaps two dozen, and foot or mule, another two dozen.
Otherwise, the rest of the border is impassable.
Pakistan offered to close a bunch of the lesser passes used for smuggling with multiple strand concertina and other reasonably effective means, but the Kabul government adamantly refused. Our permitting them to do so was a major mistake.
#5
Find a place on each trail to dig a big pit, somewhere there's NO chance to get around, THAT'LL STOP ALL CAR TRAFFIC then mine the surround. That'll stop any traffic, check periodically, making sure they didn't drive a herd of sheep through and boom all the mines. Reseed mines by air as needed.
Posted by: The Holy Reverend Redneck Jim ||
03/02/2009 14:02
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#6
we can't even seal our own border with mexico how do you suppose we seal one that that mountanous and the locals know all the little deer trails? first of all you have too stop these ROEs that are hindering our guys from killing the shit out of the talibunnies and al queda and bring back those pesky pesticides they banned in the late 80's that can really kill a poppy crop
#7
Legalize the poppy crop. Problem solved. Insurgents are defunded, and don't have any reason left to fight anyway. Young Afghans will get jobs growing crops instead of taking pot shots at NATO troops. Everyone will be too busy making money, buying goodies and saving to send their kids to a nice madrassa to pay any attention to the Pakis who are trying to foment violence.
#9
Our main problem in Afghanistan is that it doesn't have a port. Same problem the Kurds have. America wins wars logistically. Ports are a necessary but not sufficient condition for American victory. No port, no win.
#10
No port in Afghanistan, ya say? How 'bout a modern version of the PLOWSHARE PROGRAM? We'll need some 100 megaton plows to deal with some of the higher mountains.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/02/2009 21:41
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#2
I wish Fox could come up with some better talent. This "recovering alcoholic" mantra of Beck and O'Reilly's "I'm a rich guy" does very, very little for me. Less O'Reilly and Beck, more Megan Kelly, Dagen McDowell, etc.
MONTREAL (AFP)--Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said, in an interview broadcast Sunday, that he didn't believe the war in Afghanistan would ever be completely won.
"We're not going to win this war just by staying," Harper told CNN television. "Quite frankly, we are not going to ever defeat the insurgency. Afghanistan has probably had - my reading of Afghanistan history is - it's probably had an insurgency forever of some kind."
Canada has 2,700 soldiers in Afghanistan whose mission is scheduled to end in 2011.
"What has to happen in Afghanistan is we have to have an Afghan government that is capable of managing that insurgency," the prime minister said.
US KIAs in the Stan have exceeded Iraq 9 out of the last 10 months.
KABUL - U.S. deaths in Afghanistan increased threefold during the first two months of 2009 compared with the same period last year, after thousands more troops deployed and commanders ramped up winter operations against an increasingly violent insurgency.
As troops pour into the country and violence rises, another sobering measure has also increased: More Afghan civilians are dying in U.S. and allied operations than at the hands of the Taliban, according to a count by The Associated Press. In the first two months of the year, U.S., NATO or Afghan forces have killed 100 civilians, while militants have killed 60.
President Barack Obama recently announced the deployment of 17,000 additional troops to bolster 38,000 already in the country, increasing the U.S. focus on Afghanistan while a drawdown begins in Iraq. The latest casualty toll among U.S. forces could portend a deadlier year in Afghanistan than the U.S. military has experienced since the Taliban's ouster in 2001.
'I think that because you are going to see that additional engagement, there is a risk of greater additional casualties in the short term, just as there was in Iraq,' Obama told the Pentagon Channel on Friday from Camp Lejeune, N.C. 'That is something we will have to monitor very carefully.'
Twenty-nine U.S. troops died in Afghanistan the first two months of 2009 - compared with eight Americans in the first two months of 2008.
Part of the increase is due to the influx of troops. In early 2008 there were about 27,000 forces in the country, some 10,000 fewer than today.
But U.S. troops are also operating in new, dangerous areas. A brigade of 10th Mountain Division soldiers deployed to two insurgent-heavy provinces outside Kabul in January - Wardak and Logar. And American forces are increasingly operating in Taliban heartland in the south.
'It has a lot to do with the fact that we have a presence in places and going into places and disrupting insurgents in area where they haven't been bothered much,' Col. Greg Julian, the top U.S. spokesman in Afghanistan, said Saturday. That, he said, means more battles and more attacks.
American troop deaths occurred at a much higher rate in Afghanistan than in Iraq in January and February. Thirty-one U.S. forces have died in Iraq so far this year, but there are roughly 140,000 American troops in Iraq, more than three times the number in Afghanistan.
The decreasing U.S. death toll in Iraq coincides with an overall decline in violence largely attributed to a cease-fire by anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and a Sunni decision to join forces with the Americans against al-Qaida in Iraq.
Julian said that troops in Afghanistan have 'maintained the pressure throughout the winter months' this season, though in previous years there had been a lull.
#6
"The decreasing U.S. death toll in Iraq coincides with an overall decline in violence largely attributed to a cease-fire by anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, seeing that his militia and power base were about to be annihilated by the combined Iraqi and American forces, and a Sunni decision to join forces with the Americans against al-Qaida in Iraq, rather than face certain destruction at the hands of the Shia majority and Americans."
Pakistan picked their side when they sent the Taliban to hold Afghanistan for them back in the 1990s, Paul. They've repeatedly taken actions since to back up that choice -- the latest being the attacks in Mumbai and running the border guards mutiny in Bangladesh. Has Pakistan any friends left other than China and Saudi Arabia?
... and I suspect the Saudis are getting wobbly. Not to mention everyone is nervous about what President Obama will do.
#8
Let's face it - the problem in Afghanistan is a tribal problem. There are several tribes that are more or less at peace. There is one tribe (Pashtuns) that are at war, on both sides of the Durand line (Not technically a border, as neither side has agreed to it). The Pakistanis want the Pashtuns to win, so that Afghanistan will be a de-facto colony of Pakistan. Pakistan is stirring up trouble throughout South Asia to keep the US from winning.
It's time for an ARCLIGHT strike or three down through the center of Islamabad. Watch how fast things quieten down after that.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/02/2009 11:13
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#10
This is a really tough situation. We are going to give it a real try over the coming 24 months, but I don't know how persistent our involvement can be there. Afghanistan is a tribal hellhole. The local cops are not to be trusted at this point. The national army is only starting up the curve. I just don't see it getting much better while at the same time having only a tenuous strategic importance.
More than a quarter of this year's U.S. Naval Academy graduates will be commissioned as officers in the Marine Corps, the highest number in a decade and a reflection of the need for ground commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The number of graduates sought by the Marine Corps has grown steadily since the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks sent Marines into combat in the two countries. The academy had no trouble finding 273 graduating midshipmen eager to meet the Corps' request.
"Marines are involved in the fight, and a lot of these people are very desirous of being in the fight," said Lt. Col. Bill Tosick, head of officers plans for the Marines at Quantico, Va. "People join the Marine Corps to fight. We have a whole lot of that going on now."
The sense of purpose among Marines, and not simply the prospect of combat, seemed foremost to Michael Gaona, a midshipman from Rockville.
"I saw the Marines on the [academy's] Yard and how they had such a high physical standard," Gaona said. "They're mostly doing something physical."
Gaona said his parents grew up under a repressive regime in Paraguay. "They're always talking to me about how great this country is," he said. "I know this is going to sound corny or cliched, but I'm honored to serve my country in any way possible."
Gaona said his choice was influenced by a month-long summer training program known as Leatherneck, where midshipman are introduced to Marine life.
"Leatherneck was a big part of it for me, too," said Nikhil Kesireddy, a senior midshipman from Bethesda. "It's kind of where I knew I'd fit in."
The Marine Corps is under a congressional directive to expand its overall force from about 180,000 to 202,000 Marines and has consistently exceeded recruiting goals. Tosick said that growth would include adding more than 2,000 officers.
The number of Naval Academy graduates assigned to the Marine Corps each year has been stipulated under an agreement with the Navy; both the Marine Corps and the Navy come under the Department of the Navy. As the number of Marine officers has increased, they have become a larger percentage of the combined Marine-Navy officer corps. The Marines, accordingly, are entitled to a larger share of academy graduates.
"It's just our fair share," Tosick said. "We [now] make up roughly 30 percent of the Navy Department's officers. We're getting 25 to 26 percent [of the graduates]. We're happy with that."
#3
The fact that so many other countries are adopting comparable measures means a flood of new issuance is about to hit national and international bond markets.
Which means intense competition at all levels for funds which are available, sky rocketing interest rates and inflation. Notice administration language of late which appears to mention less and less often the phrase, "banks lending to borrowers for busniess, homes and autos?"
Last week the first 401k trial balloons set sail as administration voiced it's concern, and began discussions about assisting the 401k investor. The obvious goal or target is a government directed rebalancing of accounts in favour of government bonds vs stock funds. The funds need not be seized directly, the goals of account visibility and directed investments can be achieved easily through a government appointed czar and board supervised oversight. The hook will most certainly include some form of a FDIC account protection measure. The end result will be the establishment of another government investment ponzi scheme similar to social security. Social Security automated accounting systems would permit access and visibility of investor net worth, as well as electronic transfer between accounts of both social security and 401k/IRA dollars. As the administration reviews entitlement programs, the implications of a joint social security and 401k investment scheme are clearly obvious. Remember, we're "leveling the playing field" and providing an automated investment vehicle for government bonds and borrowing.
This one is getting close to home --- we watch the fires in CA, but, nothing is like having it close to you.
Central Texas has bowed down to Global Warming. We are in a severe 15 month drought -- and just lost 27 houses --- Our fellow Americans on the Southeast coast, NC, GA, etc, are suffering under the cold-laden storms. Drought or cold, we got some Americans that are getting hurt..... stay close -- much will be needed.
BASTROP, Texas -- A wildfire fueled by grass, brush and trees has destroyed at least 25 homes and three businesses in central Texas.
Officials say two National Guard helicopters joined other aircraft Sunday in dropping water on the blaze near the towns of Bastrop and Smithville. Gov. Rick Perry has activated state resources, including four Blackhawk helicopters equipped to drop water and fire retardant, firefighters and equipment.
The wildfire has charred just over a square mile since it was started Saturday by a fallen power line.
Texas Forest Service spokesman Lewis Kearney says the fire is about 70 percent contained and that no additional structures are threatened. Residents who were evacuated during the night were being escorted back into the area Sunday to identify their property.
#3
First Coast of Florida under High Red Alert for fires. Dry as a bone. No smoking on the golf courses. One day shorts and T's the next day get your downhill racer clothes on. Where is Gore? Did he see his shadow?
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
03/02/2009 9:51
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#4
On the other hand, it's raining cats and dogs in Israeli coastal plain---cold too (do you suppose Algore is on a secret visit to Israel?).
#5
We haven't had any significant rain/snow in Colorado yet this year. I doubt we've had a half-inch of moisture in Colorado Springs since the beginning of the year. Another drought zone...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/02/2009 13:30
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#6
We got three inches of snow here in the Montgomery Alabama area, not exactly unheard of, but damn rare.
Posted by: The Holy reverend Redneck Jim ||
03/02/2009 13:35
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#8
Drought is over in southern California. We've already exceed our average yearly rainfall and the rainy season isn't over yet. But they're still talking about rationing water this summer and encouraging us to rat on our neighbors if they water their lawns too often.
#10
Aquifers need thousands of years of rain to replenish what California has drunk in the last century. When I visited my cousin in Palm Springs ten years ago, I decided that golf courses in that terrain were obscenities.
Trying to prepare our assorted international student friends for a Wisconsin winter has been interesting. The Senegalese were shivering in September already: cold in Senegal is 65F. Most of the Chinese have seen cold, but not this much snow.
A large number of army officers yesterday expressed their deepest emotions, frustrations, excitement and expectations at a three-hour grand conference with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina discussing the BDR carnage in which the nation lost at least 73 people, including 60 officers.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2009
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DHAKA - Bangladesh's government will deploy army troops across the country to hunt border guards behind a deadly mutiny that killed at least 77 people, an official said Sunday. An Armed Forces spokesman told AFP that a nationwide operation would be launched from Monday to track down those believed to be behind a 33-hour revolt in the capital.
A home ministry official confirmed the operation to AFP but would not say how many troops would be deployed. 'The government has decided to deploy the army across the country under 'Operation Rebel Hunt' to arrest the fugitive (mutineers) and seize their arms,' the home ministry official said.
Meanwhile, in the capital rescuers continued to search on Sunday for more than 70 missing army officers at the headquarters of the paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles (BDR).
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/02/2009
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TEHRAN - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday called for a stronger alliance with Syria in a bid to resist Israel and its allies over the Palestinian crisis.
In a meeting with visiting Syrian Prime Minister Mahmoud Naji Otri, Ahmadinejad praised the two countries position on the international and regional issues, particularly the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. Recent developments in the world proved that Iran and Syria were moving on the right track insisting on the need of resistance against enemies, the Iranian leader said.
Tehran does not recognize Israel and is the main supporter of the Islamist Hamas movement which controls Gaza. Israel and the United States have accused Iran of training Hamas militants in Gaza as well as providing them financing and weapons. Tehran however insists it only gives spiritual and political support to anti-Israel militia groups both in the Palestinian territories and Lebanon.
If Iran and Syria have an eminent position in the region, it is because of their resistance based on their correct decisions, Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by the website of state television IRIB.
Iranian Vice President Parviz Davoudi, in a separate meeting with Otri, urged Damascus to be more on alert about their political enemies tricks, saying: Both countries (Iran and Syria) should be active in supporting unity among all Palestinian groups and the reconstruction of Gaza.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/02/2009
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Hutu rebels have retaken positions they lost in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, UN peacekeepers say. The UN says it has reports that FDLR rebels captured several villages and a former military training school, days after Rwandan troops began to withdraw.
However, Congolese officials said the rebels made "hit-and-run" raids, denying it was a major regrouping.
Rwandan troops began withdrawing last Wednesday - five weeks after they crossed the border to attack the FDLR. In January, the government in Kinshasa allowed thousands of Rwandan soldiers to enter eastern DR Congo to fight the remnants of the Rwandan Hutu militia.
Some of the FDLR rebels are accused of taking part in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, before fleeing across the border into DR Congo.
In a separate development, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon - on a visit to Rwanda - said achieving peace peace in the volatile region depended on co-operation between the governments in Kinshasa and Kigali. He said he welcomed a plan by Rwanda's President Paul Kagame for the establishment of full diplomatic relations with DR Congo, speaking of his hope for a "new chapter" in relations between the two neighbours.
In eastern Dr Congo, however, a spokesman for the UN peacekeeping mission said on Sunday he had reports that the FDLR rebels had retaken several positions in the area. But Congolese Information Minister Lambert Mende Omalanga said the rebels were carrying out raids rather than moving back. "We didn't hear report that they are retaking the places. What our reports are saying is that they are conducting hit-and-run operations," the minister told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.
"They [the rebels] don't remain in a place. When they come they loot, they frighten people and they take what they want to take and they go back because our boys are around."
The latest reports about the FDLR attacks will inevitably raise fears among Congolese civilians that their armed forces are failing to stand up to the rebels, the BBC's Mark Doyle reports from eastern DR Congo.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/02/2009
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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka: At least 10 Sri Lankan civilians were killed and dozens more wounded Sunday when artillery shells fell inside a government-designated "safe zone" in the heart of Tamil Tiger rebel territory, a health official said.
Government forces have driven the rebels from most of their strongholds in recent months and have boxed them into a tiny coastal territory in the northeast. A 7.5-mile (12-kilometer) -long "safe zone" serves as a haven for tens of thousands of civilians trapped inside rebel territory.
Dr. Thurairaja Varatharajah said six people died at a makeshift hospital inside rebel territory, and he saw four more bodies scattered among the huts of displaced people. He said 48 wounded civilians were also admitted to the hospital, which he runs out of a school. Many of the victims suffered burns from the exploding shells, Varatharajah said.
It was unclear who fired the shells. Varatharajah said they appeared to have come from an area where government forces are stationed.
Humanitarian groups estimate that 200,000 people are trapped in the fighting zone and face the risk of being caught in the crossfire. Top United Nations humanitarian officials urged the rebels Friday to allow civilians to flee the fighting, saying there are "credible reports" that some people trying to leave have been shot.
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March 2 (Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's Socialist Party suffered a blow in regional elections yesterday, losing control of Galicia.
At the same, his party's gains in the Basque Country left it in a position to form a coalition, ousting the Basque Nationalists who sought to hold a referendum on virtual independence from Spain. In order to displace the nationalists for the first time since 1980, the Socialists would have to form a bloc with the People's Party, its bitter rivals in the national parliament in Madrid.
In Galicia, with 94 percent of votes counted, the Socialists' vote slipped to 30 percent from 33 percent in 2005, allowing the People's Party to reclaim power with 39 out of 75 seats. The Socialists won 25 of 75 seats in the Basque parliament while the PP claimed 13, with almost all votes counted, according to El Mundo newspaper's Web site.
The Galicia result is a set back for Zapatero just a year after his party was re-elected nationally, as Spain faces its worst recession in half a century and the highest unemployment rate in Europe. "These are regional elections with undoubted national consequences," Francisco Llera, a professor of political science at the University of the Basque Country.
The result will offer encouragement to PP leader Mariano Rajoy, who had lost two straight general elections to Zapatero and faces a leadership challenge from within his own ranks from Esperanza Aguirre, president of the Madrid region.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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#1
Galicia is a pretty liberal area for this to happen, too. For years Barcelona (capital of Galicia) has been the hub of Spanish liberal thought, although maybe the serious leftards all moved to Madrid and joined the small group of communists on the city's south side now that Franco hasn't been around for a few decades.
Yes, he's still dead.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
03/02/2009 18:36
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#2
Galicia is a pretty liberal area for this to happen, too. For years Barcelona (capital of Galicia) has been the hub of Spanish liberal thought, although maybe the serious leftards all moved to Madrid and joined the small group of communists on the city's south side now that Franco hasn't been around for a few decades.
Yes, he's still dead.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
03/02/2009 18:36
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#3
D*MN my Java-Blocker.......
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
03/02/2009 18:37
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Women are allowed to chant the Scroll of Esther on behalf of men if no competent men are available, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual leader of Israel's Sephardi community, ruled last week in a landmark decision liable to outrage many of his Ashkenazi counterparts.
Esther is traditionally read in synagogue on the holiday of Purim, which this year falls next week. monday night Mar 9 next week
And while some rabbis have long permitted women to read the megillah, or scroll, for other women, most do not allow women to read on behalf of men.
Yosef said that most rabbis forbid women to read the megillah on the grounds that men are forbidden to listen to women sing, because a woman's singing voice can stimulate sexual arousal. However, he said, he does not agree that a woman chanting a sacred text is the kind of singing that stimulates sexual arousal. The analogy rabbis have drawn between singing and chanting sacred texts here he is speaking about the rabbis of the 13th through 19th centuries- this is important because if the 'analogy is false' rule is upheld, it could lead to solving the 'agunah' problem- that is the problem that ensues when men leave their wives but refuse to sign a divorce decree- and it could also lead to a way out of the convert problem where rabbis may rule a conversion to Judaism invalid after the fact
has "no value," he declared.
Yosef also said that women could write a kosher Scroll of Esther - another task
In both cases, Yosef's rulings were specific to Megillat Esther and do not necessarily apply to other sacred texts, such as the Torah or the scroll of Ecclesiateses or the scroll of Ruth or the Song of Songs.
I find it of interest insofar as it demonstrates how at least some parts of Judaism are working to reconcile tradition and law with a role for women that seems more .... respectful.
yes this is a highly technical point but its similar to a highly technical point about a malfunction in satellite ice detection sensors or to a highly technical point about similar stuff.
lotp makes a good point also
I will also admit that, IMO, R. Ovadiah Yosef has gone cookoo for Cocopuffs on some items (e.g., hats vs wigs). But even the cookoo-ness isn't advocating violence like in Islam.
#6
There are five major religions in the world today - Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism. Any significant changes in any of those religions will affect the politics, social strata, and economics in the areas dominated by that religion - E.G., Islam. Keeping up with major changes in religion is equally as important as keeping up with major political, social, or economic changes, since they affect each of those areas. It's indeed technical, but so is the constant drop in the value of the Euro, or the collapse of economic growth in China. The effects ripple out far beyond the narrow boundary where the events transpire.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/02/2009 12:57
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#7
OP, don't forget the sixth religion--atheism in its various Marxist, Socialist, Materialist, Fascist, Hedonist, and other ugly forms. The fact that Europe has lost its spiritual moorings has a lot to do with the mess there; and we run the same risks if we follow Europe's example.
Insanity returns for another round of "What Can We do Differently This Time?"
Fannie Mae's already-depleted shares took a new hit on Friday as it became clear that the biggest buyer of mortgages in the United States may need even more money.
On Friday ratings agency Standard & Poor's analyst Kevin Cole said Fannie Mae is expected to need an additional $100.0 billion over the course of the year to maintain a positive net worth in 2009. Fannie reported on Thursday that it needs $15.2 billion from the government for the quarter to restore it to solvency because of larger-than-expected losses. Fannie's losses have piled up as defaults on home loans have soared.
Last week, the government doubled its emergency funds for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to $200.0 billion each, up from $100.0 billion -- a good thing since Cole expects Fannie will need $100 billion just this year. "Next quarter they're going to lose more money so they'll ask for more," Cole told Forbes. "I assume they'll be losing money for at least the next four quarters if not through 2010."
Cole said there is a high probability that Fannie will need to draw down the entire $200.0 billion allotted to it by the government. He widened his 2009 loss per share estimate on Fannie to $20.02 per share up from $19.74. He maintained a $1 price target.
#3
That is not 100 Billion you are short today, it is $400,000. And by next week shall be $500,000 Billion. And in two months, another $320 Billion. How long can ya keep it up?
How long may you stand as an "Honerable" "solution"?
What does China think? You obviouslly don't give a damn about US. You already pimped US out.
#4
Just today I was looking thru the "legal notices" in the Examiner Classifieds: pages and pages and pages of mortgage foreclosures, all originations dating from 2005-2006.
#5
I remember how the donks freaked out when Bush asked for $87 billion for Iraq. It sounded like a lot of money back then but at least we knew where it was going.
#7
You laughed before, but now my Kansas banana farm bailout of $1 million seems like a small price to protect the free trade zone of Kansas banana farmers and protect the now indigenous Kansas banana slug, which would require an additional $500,000.
Kochi: Just when coastal India broods over measures to counter seaborne threats, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is in the process of developing an integrated costal defence system under its Project Nayan.
The development of seabed array system, forming its pivot, is making steadfast progress and we have tested the prototype successfully, a top source told The Hindu.
The idea is to get alerted when objects traverse the waters. The echo emanating from various objects like fish, various types of ships, submarines and the like have been calibrated and identified for the purpose. Now that the prototype is ready, we need to test it as a system with multiple layers and at various depths, said the source.
The array would transmit the ricocheted signal to the top water medium, maybe a sonobuoy, which in turn would be transmitted to the shore-based command and control centre by way of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or a satellite.
Once the capability is unambiguously demonstrated, it will be installed initially at Karwar under Project Seabird. However, for the entire system to come into being, we require an exclusive ocean satellite. That, however, has not come so far, said the source.
In progress, however, is another ambitious programme that will augment the DRDOs underwater detection capabilities. Oceanic waves are photographed, in multiple pixels, using a remote sensing satellite.
As in the seabed array system, various types of waves created by movement of different objects are standardised and using signal processing, the cause of a definite kind of wave is recognised.
In its nascent stage, initial trials pertaining to wave-identification have been highly encouraging. At present, we are developing the method of signal processing but we need to demonstrate it at the system level and in real-time to call it a full-fledged programme, the source said.
Posted by: john frum ||
03/02/2009
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#1
coastal India broods over measures to counter seaborne threats
Although they mention coastal threats (the recent Mumbai events?), this sounds more like a SOSUS-style system - something to track submarines. Hmmm...now who among India's neighbors has submarines?
#2
Karwar base will be the largest Naval base east of the Suez. It will house the IN's nuclear submarines, missile silos and a large part of the western command.
The SOSUS array gets installed here first. They need to monitor who is snooping around their SSBNs.
Posted by: john frum ||
03/02/2009 14:24
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Forest officials have tranquillised and captured the Lakhimpur Kheri man-eating tiger at Maharajnagar village in Kheri, Uttar Pradesh, on Sunday evening even while another feline, a leopard, struck yet again in Tehri in neighbouring Uttarakhand, leaving its fourth victim, a seven-year-old girl, grievously injured on Saturday night.
In Vigradi area of the Upper Yamuna Forest Division, another leopard was found dead, possibly due to wounds inflicted by poachers. Elsewhere in Uttarakhand, a man was arrested for killing a cheetal (spotted deer) at Kaladungi in Ramnagar Forest Division and then let go following payment of a compensation amount.
The three-year-old Lakhimpur Kheri tiger will be transported to Lucknow Zoo and is expected to reach here late on Sunday or Monday. The captured tiger was tranquillised by Ajan Mazumdar of the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI).
The tiger had triggered panic among villagers of Kheri, preying upon unsuspecting workers in sugarcane fields. During the last one-and-a-half month, the tiger had claimed more than six lives, dragging some of the victims out of their huts.
Chief Wildlife Warden BK Patnaik confirmed that the tiger was tranquillised and captured. He said that there was no possibility of releasing the tiger. "This case will be seriously studied as the man-eater had claimed a number of lives. The tiger will, in all possibility, be kept in a zoo," Patnaik said.
This is the second case of a tiger on the loose in the State in recent times that has now been resolved. The Faizabad stray tigress was earlier shot dead. The only stray tiger yet to be caught is that of Ghazipur where the animal is causing problems for local residents and has sparked panic in adjoining areas.
Lakhimpur Kheri DFO KK Singh said that the tiger had come creeping to the bait before it was tranquillised and quickly captured. "As soon it was tranquillised, it was transferred into the cage. The tiger is possibly a three-year-old and has been very active in this region for quite some time," Singh said.
In neighbouring Uttarakhand's Rangad village in Tehri region, Nainita, daughter of Surendra Singh, was picked by a man-eater leopard in front of her family members. She was carried for 25-20 metres from her house and abandoned with serious bite wounds on her hands, chin and neck when villagers intervened, shouting and pelting the animal with stones. Nainita was taken to Doon District Hospital in the state Capital for treatment.
Anti-Poaching Cell director Paramjit Singh said a game hunter has been hired to shoot the big cat which has killed three villagers and injured as many in the past one-and-a-half months. Eventhough its man-eater status will be withdrawn if it is not shot down in the next 10-15 days, a senior forest officer informed that that the leopard in question may be declared "man-eater" again if the office of state chief wildlife warden thinks fit.
In another incident it was confirmed that the leopard found dead at Vigradi area of Upper Yamuna Forest Division died out of injury to its neck. Forest officials believe that female leopard was injured following an attack by a poacher. A search to arrest him is on. According to the source, the dead female leopard was brought to Barkot with the help of villagers on Saturday and a postmortem was ordered by the DFO Upper Yamuna Forest Division. The neck injury was established as the cause of its death.
Ramnagar Forest Division officials also arrested a man on Saturday for killing a cheetal (spotted deer) at Kaladungi. Poacher identified as Jeevan Singh killed the deer with the help of two dogs. Singh was spotted by three bird watchers who were passing through the area, Ravinder Kumar, Divisional Forest Officer of Ramnagar, said.
He was identified and arrested by the forest officials on Saturday morning. However he was let off after paying Rs 55,000 as compensation to the forest department.
Posted by: john frum ||
03/02/2009
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Most of the BDR Jawaans who killed the army officers during the BDR mutiny were quite young and most of the killings were carried out and over between 10:30 to 11:00 am, immediately after the chaos started at Darbar Hall at the BDR headquarters.
This eyewitness account of that fateful day came from a survivor officer, Lt. Colonel Shams, commander of Battalion-44, as he recounted what he saw in an interview published in several newspapers.
Lt Col Shams said when the Director General of BDR Shakil Ahmed was delivering his speech at the Darbar, a Jawan aimed an SMG rifle at the DG and he (Lt Col Shams) jumped up and pushed this man over, who was visibly unable to fire and was trembling as he approached the DG.
As a chaos ensued, the army officers were sent out to calm down the Jawaans who had left the hall. Once outside, Lt Col Shams noticed a group of young Jawans, all firing their guns approaching the Darbar Hall from gate number 5.
During the mayhem that followed, some BDR JCO from battalion 44, including Subeder Saiful, Siraj and Ismail, told Shams that the situation was out of control and helped him escape the scene, taking him to their quarters at Al Beruni Bhaban.
As he was escaping, Lt Col Shams saw a grey-coloured pick-up approaching the Darbar Hall from the gate number 5, apparently loaded with boxes of ammunition.
Shams said that he had never seen such a pickup used in either the BDR or the army. By the time he had reached Al Beruni Bhaban, he could hear the sound of firing at the Darbar hall.
"It was between 10:30 am to 11:00 am and I assume most of the officers were killed during that time," he said in the interview.
"The Jawans took me to their house and told me that my life would be in no danger as long as they were alive. They took off my badge and uniform and gave me clothes to wear. I hid in that house for the next two days,' the Lt Col said.
"Whenever any rebelling Jawans came near the house to search, I would hide in the floor compartment of a box bed," Shams said expressing his gratitude to those who saved his life at such a time.
During the evening of February 25, Shams said he saw cleaners going into the Darbar Hall with cloths and he also recalls seeing ambulances going there and he realised that these people were going to clean up the place and remove the bodies of the officers killed.
Though the rebels had at the beginning announced over microphones that they had enough ammunition to continue to fight for six months, the next morning (Thursday) they began to call on all not to misuse the bullets.
Lt Col Shams said that the situation inside the BDR headquarters seemed to calm down on February 26 following the prime minister's speech that was aired on television.
"The prime minister's speech worked like a wonder. The tension seemed to ease. Groups of Jawans started surrendering arms following the speech," the Lt Col said in the interview.
Shams said that most of the Jawans appeared gloomy to him, following the prime minister's speech.
Shams also saw many Jawans fleeing the BDR headquarters in civil clothes on the second day of the mutiny.
Posted by: Fred ||
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This day in History:
1836 - Texas Revolution: Declaration of independence of the Republic of Texas from Mexico.
1896 - Ethiopia defeats Italy in the Battle of Adwa.
1919 - The first Communist International meets in Moscow. (Later moved to Democrat Convention)
1933 - The film King Kong opens at New York's Radio City Music Hall.
1943 - World War II: Battle of the Bismarck Sea
1962 - Wilt Chamberlain sets the single-game NBA scoring record, 100 points.
1991 - Battle at Rumaila Oil Field brings end to the 1991 Gulf War.
The morning edition of the RS & TP did not hit the streets until after I left for my Sunday morning golf game. When I returned KiloBravo had scheduled us to attend a "Y Gymanfa Ganu" in celebration of Dydd Dewi Sant.
#8
OK if I'm sainted, I can absolve sins, I start by absolving all of Mine.
Line forms on the left. Gifts appreciated due to the depth of sin absolved.
(In other words just how guilty do you feel)
Posted by: The Holy Reverend Redneck Jim ||
03/02/2009 14:06
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#9
Hello,
Cool blog, I just stumbled on it and I'm already a fan
I recently went down 30 pounds in 30 days, and I want to discuss my weight loss success
with your readers. I wrote up my experience
on my blog, and I welcome your comments!
If I can lose that much weight then anyone can. Whatever you do, never give up and you WILL
reach all your weight loss goals!
much thanks for reading,
Joan
Most recent blog post: diet for achalasia
#10
Line forms on the left. Gifts appreciated due to the depth of sin absolved.
(In other words just how guilty do you feel)
We've lost another one to the Donks. Well, isn't that their racket? Along with original sin, ie being white or successful but conservative. Just saying. :)
#11
All this talk about the Welsh made me want to find out the definition of the name of the township I grew up in because I had never been able to find Tredyffrin in any gazeteers of Wales. So when I googled it I found this in the townships history:
The Old Eagle School was built in 1776 by German Lutherans who did not find it easy to live with the Welsh Quakers. They moved on, and the next Lutheran church in the Township was established in 1960 when the Township had undergone considerable change.
#14
Meade will do. I was just wondering if St. David's day is gonna have celebrations like the Irish do. That and I was a little curious, being a whiskey afficianado, if there's something out there I need to know about.
#15
What I'm a DEMOCRAT, sorry but the Church has been taking money, property and riches millenia before those upstart democrats were invented.
To Hades with you Procopius. :-)
(Ps. whenever someone introduces himself as being Revered this, or Holy that, hang on to your property, biggest thieves I ever knew were "Holy Men" Of some stripe)
Posted by: The Holy Reverend Redneck Jim ||
03/02/2009 19:35
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Sri Lanka yesterday rejected fresh calls for a ceasefire with Tamil Tigers rebels as security forces hit stiff resistance in their efforts to secure final victory in the island's ethnic conflict.
"When the Tigers lay down arms, there will be no fighting. The fire will automatically cease."
Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona said any ceasefire would be unnecessary if the Tigers accepted international appeals to surrender. "When the Tigers lay down arms, there will be no fighting. The fire will automatically cease," Kohona told AFP.
Kohona was responding to calls from neighbouring India for a halt in the fighting in Sri Lanka's northeast, where the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have been cornered after two years of intense fighting.
Concern has mounted for the safety of an estimated 70,000 civilians trapped in the war zone, with the UN accusing the Tigers of forcibly holding civilians as "human shields." "India views with grave concern the humanitarian crisis that is building up with every passing day in Sri Lanka," Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in a statement late Saturday.
Indian politicians, facing a general election shortly, are under pressure to consider the welfare of Sri Lanka's Tamils who share close links with 60 million Tamils in southern India. Mukherjee said Colombo should consider a truce offered by the LTTE last week, although the guerrillas refused to lay down their arms as demanded by several countries including the US. "The government of Sri Lanka should seize the opportunity presented by the offer (of the Tigers) to bring about a pause in the hostilities," Mukherjee said.
Sri Lanka's military leaders have consistently rejected truce calls, saying that the Tigers were on the verge of complete defeat. The state-run Sunday Observer newspaper said government forces faced stiff resistance from the rebels, who have been encircled in a 50 square kilometre (19 square mile) area in the district of Mullaittivu.
The LTTE was fighting "tooth and nail" to defend their final stronghold of Puthukkudiriruppu, the Observer said. "The troops are witnessing the fiercest battles they have ever faced in the battle front these days in Puthukkudiriruppu," the paper said, adding that troops were still making progress towards the centre of the small town.
Security forces entered the town's outskirts Friday, but have faced 600 rebel fighters, the report said, without giving casualty figures. The defence ministry said that security forces seized a 1.5-kilometre (one-mile) stretch of rebel bunkers east of Puthukkudiriruppu after heavy fighting Saturday. At least 22 guerrillas were killed in two days of fighting, the ministry said. The LTTE did not comment on the latest clashes.
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03/02/2009
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An indictment may be on the way in one of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's numerous criminal investigations, Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz announced Sunday evening after a final review of the so-called "cash envelopes" affair with State Attorney Moshe Lador.
Mazuz informed Olmert's attorney he was considering charging the prime minister for a string of offenses stemming from the affair.
The announcement was a formality to allow Olmert the option of a hearing with Mazuz before the attorney-general makes a final decision. Justice Ministry officials said the indictments could include charges of fraud, bribery, violation of public confidence and receiving a goods fraudulently.
The cash envelopes affair, starring colorful New York businessman and charitable fund-raiser Morris Talansky, emerged early in 2008. In April, Mazuz decided that suspicions justified a criminal investigation into whether Olmert had received cash bribes when he was mayor of Jerusalem and a cabinet minister.
On Sunday, both Mazuz and Lador agreed to proceed with the case after reviewing the evidence gathered by the Israel Police's National Fraud Unit.
Justice Ministry officials described in detail the suspicions against the prime minister. His relationship with Talansky, they said, began in the early 1990s and was based on "what Talansky described as his identification with the policies that Olmert expressed and on the basis of Talansky's identifying Olmert as a promising key public and political figure."
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03/02/2009
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Two Frontier Corps men were injured in Kabal tehsil of Swat on Sunday in a gun and bomb attack on a security convoy, a private TV channel reported. According to the channel, the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack in Sarsanai area of Kabal. The army said the attack violated the recent truce between the government and the Taliban. It protested against the unprovoked attack in a press statement released in Swat on Sunday, another TV channel said.
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03/02/2009
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Aswat al-Iraq: Police personnel on Sunday found a cache containing long-range rockets in an orchard near Kut city, according to a local security source. "The cache contained five long-range rockets weighing one ton each," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "The cache was found in light of intelligence tips from local residents," the source added.
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Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
The international criminal court is considering whether the Palestinian Authority is "enough like a state" for it to bring a case alleging that Israeli troops committed war crimes in the recent assault on Gaza.
The deliberations would potentially open the way to putting Israeli military commanders in the dock at The Hague over the campaign, which claimed more than 1,300 lives, and set an important precedent for the court over what cases it can hear.
As part of the process the court's head of jurisdictions, part of the office of the prosecutor, is examining every international agreement signed by the PA to decide whether it behaves - and is regarded by others - as operating like a state.
Following talks with the Arab League's head, Amr Moussa, and senior PA officials, moves have accelerated inside the court to deliver a ruling on whether it may be able to insist on jurisdiction over alleged war crimes perpetrated in Gaza, with a decision from the prosecutor's office expected within "months, not years".
The issue arises because although the ICC potentially has "global jurisdiction" to investigate crimes which fall into its remit no matter where they were committed, Israel - despite having signed the Rome statute that founded the court and having expressed "deep sympathy" with the court's goals - is not a party.
The ICC, which has 108 member states, has not so far recognised Palestine as a sovereign state or as a member.
The latest moves in The Hague come amid mounting international pressure on Israel and a growing recognition in Israeli government circles that it may eventually have to defend itself against war crimes allegations. The Guardian has also learned that a confidential inquiry by the International Committee of the Red Cross into the actions of Israel and Hamas during the recent conflict in Gaza is expected to accuse Israel of using "excessive force" - prohibited under the fourth Geneva convention.
The Red Cross has been collecting information for two parallel inquiries, one into the conduct of Israel and a second into Hamas, both of which will be presented in private to the parties involved.
In the case of Israel, the Red Cross is expected to highlight three areas of concern: the Israeli Defence Forces' "use and choice of weapons in a complex and densely populated environment"; the issue of "proportionality"; and concerns over the IDF's lack of distinction between combatants and non-combatants during Operation Cast Lead. Hamas is likely to be challenged over its use of civilian facilities as cover for its fighters; its summary executions and kneecappings of Palestinians during the campaign; and its indiscriminate firing of rockets into civilian areas.
Meanwhile, sources at the ICC say it is considering two potential tracks that would permit it to investigate what happened in Gaza. As well as determining whether the PA is recognised internationally as a sufficiently state-like entity, the head of jurisdictions in the office of the international criminal court's prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, is looking at whether the court can consider war crimes allegations on the basis of the dual nationality of either victims or alleged perpetrators whose second passport is with a country party to the court.
The court's deliberations follow more than 220 complaints about Israel's actions in Gaza. "It does not matter necessarily whether the Palestinian National Authority is in charge of its own borders," said a source at the court. "Right now the court is looking at everything from agreements it has signed on education to the constitution of its legal system."
Yesterday, Ehud Olmert, Israel's prime minister, warned Palestinian militants their continuing rocket attacks on Israel would not go unpunished. He said further strikes would "be answered with a painful, harsh, strong and uncompromising response from the security forces". More than 100 rockets and mortars have exploded in Israel in the six weeks since it ended its air and ground assault on Gaza, to which the government has responded with airstrikes.
Olmert's warning came as Israel's attorney general notified the prime minister that he was considering indicting him on charges of allegedly taking cash-stuffed envelopes from a Jewish-American businessman. Five corruption cases are pending against Olmert, although he has denied all wrongdoing. His spokesman said yesterday the charges against the prime minister would "disappear in the end".
Posted by: john frum ||
03/02/2009
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#4
If it is enough of a state to sue Israel, then it is enough of a state for Israel to declare war on if the rockets continue. After a formal declaration of war, Israel should then go Roman and level the entire "state", destroy anything remotely military, and roast all the baby ducks.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/02/2009 19:50
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#6
Perhaps the esteemed judicial wankers of the ICC would like to hold their deliberations in Sderot or Ashkelon. I hear the western Negev is lovely this time of year. Mind the falling rockets, though!
March 2 (Bloomberg) -- The euro fell to a one-week low against the dollar after European Union leaders rejected calls to back an aid package for eastern Europe, fueling concern the financial crisis will deepen the 16-nation region's recession.
Europe's single currency dropped for a second day versus the greenback as EU leaders vetoed Hungary's proposals for 180 billion euros ($227 billion) of loans to ex-communist economies in eastern Europe. The dollar and the yen strengthened as declines in Asian stocks added to concerns the global slump will worsen, stoking demand for safety.
"There's disappointment that nothing really concrete came out of the EU's weekend meeting and their failure to address eastern Europe's problems," said Tsutomu Soma, a bond and currency dealer at Okasan Securities Co. in Tokyo. "The bias is for the euro to be sold" to $1.2560 and 122.10 yen today, he said.
The euro weakened for a second day versus the yen as EU leaders also told automakers such as General Motors Corp.'s European arm to look to national governments for help.
"I would advise against taking huge numbers into the debate," German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters at an EU summit in Brussels yesterday. "I see a very different situation -- you can compare neither Slovenia nor Slovakia with Hungary."
The worst economic crisis since World War II is devastating eastern Europe, putting at risk the EU's goals of forming a continent-wide free market.
The U.S. and Japanese currencies strengthened as Asian equities slumped. "Risk aversion is re-emerging, so the dollar and the yen are being bought," said Yuji Saito, head of the foreign- exchange group in Tokyo at Societe Generale SA, France's third- largest bank. "Investors appear to be repatriating funds."
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/02/2009
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#1
TOPIX > VLADIMIR VORONIN: NOOSE IS TIGHTENING AROUND THE NECK OF RUSSIA.
A suicide car bomb blew up near US-led soldiers in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, wounding six civilians, authorities said, while other attacks left seven security guards dead in the insurgency-hit south.
Meanwhile, nine Taliban-linked insurgents were killed in operations by Afghan and international security forces helping the government to fight a mounting extremist insurgency, they said.
The suicide attacker detonated an explosives-filled vehicle outside the city of Jalalabad near a convoy of US soldiers, provincial government spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzai told AFP. "Six civilians were wounded including two children but there was no harm to the American forces," Abdulzai said. One of the children was in a critical condition. Abdulzai blamed the attack on the "enemies of Afghanistan", a reference to the Taliban.
He said another US-led military convoy had accidentally killed a municipal worker in the same area when it knocked the worker off his bicycle.
The seven Afghan security guards, including two working with the US-based security company USPI, were killed in various attacks and bomb blasts in the southern province of Kandahar on Saturday, officials said. In the same province, unidentified attackers gunned down a religious cleric in Spin Boldak district on the Pakistani border late Saturday, an official said, blaming the Taliban for the murder.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2009
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Aswat al-Iraq: Three Iraqi servicemen on Sunday were wounded when two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) went off in western Mosul city, according to an army source. "On Sunday, three Iraqi army soldiers were injured when two explosive charges detonated in al-Islah al-Ziraie area, western Mosul," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "One device targeted an army patrol vehicle, while the other exploded when another patrol arrived at the location to provide help," the source added. "The wounded were rushed to the hospital for treatment," he noted.
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03/02/2009
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United States (US) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in the Middle East on Sunday, delving into Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking for the first time at an international donors conference for Gaza, which is to be held today (Monday).
About 75 countries are taking part in the aid conference being held in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. The US is expected to pledge more than $900 million at the conference. Washington also wants the money to bolster Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and has stipulated no US funds will go through the militant group Hamas.
"I will be announcing a commitment to a significant aid package, but it will only be spent if we determine that our goals can be furthered rather than undermined or subverted," Clinton told Voice of America in an interview taped on Friday.
"All the pledges of aid this conference is expected to produce will be worth next to nothing if the donors do not demand that Israel open the borders to commercial goods as well as humanitarian essentials," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch.
Clinton will be joined by a host of top world officials including UN chief Ban Ki-moon, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and EU foreign policy envoy Javier Solana. "We expect rapid international aid from all parties to completely rebuild Gaza," Abbas told reporters on Saturday.
After the conference in Egypt, Clinton travels to Jerusalem to see Israeli politicians trying to cobble together a new government after February elections. Clinton plans to meet Benjamin Netanyahu, the hawkish Israeli prime minister-designate who on Saturday abandoned efforts to form a broad coalition government with centrist Tzipi Livni, who has been involved in US-brokered peace talks. "This is a sensitive time in Israeli politics as they seek to form a government, but I will take the opportunity to reaffirm the strength of the US-Israel relationship and talk about the best way to move peace forward," said Clinton.
Palestinian groups are taking part in Egyptian-mediated reconciliation talks. Clinton, who will travel to the West Bank, said the US could only accept Hamas in a unity government if it met three conditions: recognise Israel, sign on to previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements and renounce violence.
"Otherwise, I don't think it will result in the kind of positive step forward either for the Palestinian people or as a vehicle for a reinvigorated effort to obtain peace that leads to a Palestinian state," Clinton said. After meeting Abbas in his West Bank office and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, Clinton will travel to Brussels to see NATO foreign ministers.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority
#1
Waste of a trip. Send her home and save the hotel costs. Hamas will never recognise Israel, the only thing Hamas will recognise are the rockets inbound from Israel.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
03/02/2009 5:44
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#2
Send her home and save the hotel costs.
Why can't we just leave her there four years & save on the airfare?
The government yesterday decided to deploy members of the armed forces across the country indefinitely to help law enforcement agencies arrest the absconding rebels of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) and recover the missing firearms and ammunition.
The deployment begins today morning in aid of the civil administration under the 'Operation Rebel Hunt' mission, sources said.
A notice was issued by the home ministry in this regard hours after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina held talks with army officers at Sena Kunja at the Dhaka Cantonment yesterday.
The forces will be stationed at district headquarters and carry out operations on the basis of specific information from their intelligence, said sources.
Hasina told the House last night that her government had already assigned members of army, Rab and police to hunt down the absconding rebels.
"They [BDR rebels] must be tracked down," Hasina told the Jatiya Sangsad.
Following the government notice, verbal messages had already been conveyed to the cantonments across the country to prepare the forces for the operation, said sources in the armed forces division.
The forcers were preparing themselves so that they could reach their destinations by today morning, the sources added.
"The operation will continue until its goal is achieved," said a mid-ranking army official wishing anonymity.
"The army will help the law enforcement agencies to arrest the absconding rebels and recover firearms," Deputy Secretary (political) of home ministry, Javed Ahmed told The Daily Star last night.
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Aswat al-Iraq: Three Iraqi soldiers on Sunday were killed or wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off in eastern Mosul city, according to a media source. "This afternoon, a roadside explosive charge detonated near infantrymen from the 2 nd Division of the Iraqi army in al-Tameem neighborhood, eastern Mosul," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "The explosion killed a soldier and wounded two others," the source noted, providing no further details.
Posted by: Fred ||
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A police patrol car was completely destroyed after it was attacked by about 40 masked men in a village in Bahrain on Friday.
A Ministry of Interior spokesperson said in a statement that the attackers who were in fully black clothes could not kill policemen inside the car who managed to escape unhurt. "The vehicle was on its usual patrol at around 9.30pm near Deraz village, when unidentified men attacked it with Molotov cocktail and pelted it with stones," he said. The spokesperson pointed out that investigations into the incident have been launched to identify attackers and bring them to justice.
The attack is the third in a series of assaults targeting police patrols since the beginning of clashes between rioters and security forces on December 2007. In one of such attacks, a 27-year-old Pakistani policeman died.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2009
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#1
Paleos?
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
03/02/2009 9:42
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#2
Um, Pakistani policeman? Do I take that to mean that they're outsourcing their police force to immigrants in Bahrain now?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
03/02/2009 11:11
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#3
Do the police have NO weapons, and bulletproof cars? I'd have potted a few anyway.
"How", you say? Simple, roll down the window about .30 caliber's worth, shoot through the crack, roll it back up when through.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/02/2009 13:01
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#4
I believe that I have read comments to that effect on some blogs from the area. Police & security forces (not necessarily the same thing) have many foreigners within the ranks...
The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO) has issued a circular calling for the arrest of 15 top Israeli officials over war crimes.
At a news briefing on Sunday, Tehran's Public Prosecutor, Saeed Mortazavi, said that Iran had referred the case to the organization, known as Interpol, drawing on the Interpol charter and Israel's violation of the Geneva Conventions. "ICPO has notified governments of 180 countries to arrest the suspects," who were involved in the 23-day Israeli offensive on Gaza in December and January he said.
In December, Iran's judiciary announced its decision to set up a court to look into complaints made by the Palestinian envoy in Iran and wounded Palestinians delivered to Iran, against Israeli atrocities in Gaza, saying it was ready to try the Israelis in absentia. "In the current week, we have completed our investigation of about 15 individuals who were among those criminals," IRIB, Iran's State Television, quoted Mortazavi as saying. "Based on our investigation and according to article 2 of the Interpol charter, we asked Interpol to arrest these suspects."
Mortazavi said the charges included war crimes, invasion, occupation, genocide and crimes against humanity. The Iranian prosecutor was referring to Israeli strikes that started on December 27 on the densely populated Palestinian coastal territory and did not end until it had claimed the lives of more than 1,330 Gazans, mostly civilians.
Many international NGOs and human rights organizations, Palestinians wounded in the Gaza onslaught, more than 5,700 Iranian lawyers and attorneys in the Iranian Bar Association along with a large number of medics were also among those who filed complaints against Tel Aviv, Mortazavi added.
The list of Israeli war criminals includes:
1 Outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
2 Defense Minister Ehud Barak
3 Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni
4 Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi
5 Commander in Chief of the Israeli Air Force Ido Nehoshtan
6 Commander of the Gaza war -- Operation Cast Lead -- Maj. Gen. Yoav Galant
7 Head of Military Intelligence Directorate Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin
8 Commander of Battalion 13 in the Golani Brigade Lt. Col. Oren Cohen
9 Deputy to the Givati Brigade Col. Ron Ashrov
10 Commander of the Israel Paratroopers' Brigade in Gaza Col. Hertzi Halevy
11 Commander of 401st Armored Corps Brigade convoy Col. Yigal Slovik
12 Commander of the 101st Battalion in the Paratrooper Brigade Lt. Col. Avi Blot
13 Lt. Col. Yoav Mordechai, who served as a commander of the Golani infantry brigade's 13th Battalion in Gaza
14 Givati squad commander Col. Tomer Tsiter
15 Brigade commander in Battalion 51 Col. Avi Peled
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2009
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
International Criminal Police Organization
Heh, Criminal Police Organization. Isn't that a self-snarking name.
#3
What it actually says is. Interpol begins studying Iran's request for the arrest of 15 senior Israeli officials over war crimes committed during the Gaza offensive.
Not the same thing. Yet. However, with USA a tranzi country, who knows?
#10
Yes, it's another scoop from Press TV Iran!
And it's BULLSHIT...
INTERPOL issues denial of reported Iranian request seeking arrest of 15 senior Israeli officials
Statement by INTERPOL General Secretariat headquarters, Lyon, France
02 March 2009
While INTERPOL does not ordinarily comment on false stories reported in the media, in light of the nature of recent erroneous articles reporting that INTERPOL is being used by Iranian authorities to seek the arrest of 15 senior Israeli officials on alleged charges of war crimes in Gaza, the Organization is taking the unusual step of making the following public statement:
INTERPOL has neither been requested to issue by Iran, nor has it issued on behalf of Iran or any of its 187 member countries any Red Notices for persons wanted internationally or other requests seeking the arrest of senior Israeli officials for alleged war crimes in relation to the Gaza offensive in December and January.
INTERPOLs Constitution strictly prohibits the Organization from making any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character.
All further enquiries should be directed to the source reported in the media. Since INTERPOL has received no information in relation to the alleged false claim, INTERPOL is unable to comment further on this matter.
#11
tu3013, i'm glad you cleared that up. An d hell they are just now getting around too prosecuting PolPots men from what 1979. and didn't milosevic die in prison waiting too be tried by them? Tu you get any snow in the ATL?
Labor chairman Ehud Barak has called Labor MKs in recent days and told them that the party should join a national unity government led by Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu, sources close to Barak said Sunday.
Barak's associates confirmed a Channel 2 report that he had called Labor MKs to check whether he could obtain a majority in the faction for joining the government, but that he might try to bring Labor into the coalition without his faction's support. "We have to go in," Barak told the MKs. "Be on my side. I don't care if I don't have a majority in the faction. I can pass it in the central committee."
A source close to Barak said the party leader felt it would be better for the country and for himself to remain defense minister, and that it was now a matter of persuading his party that this would not harm Labor.
The fact that Kadima leader Tzipi Livni would be opposition leader and that Labor could at best play second-fiddle in the opposition had to be taken into account, the source said.
The Channel 2 report said that National Infrastructures Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer and Agriculture Minister Shalom Simhon supported Barak's effort to join the government. But Ben-Eliezer denied the report, and even MK Orit Noked, considered the Labor MK most in favor of joining the government, said she believed Labor's downfall from 19 seats to 13 required that the party remain in the opposition.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2009
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Gaza terrorists continued their attacks on Israeli civilian areas on Sunday evening, firing six rockets at the western Negev. One of the Kassams hit in the yard of a Sderot home, causing slight damage to the house.
The other five rockets hit open areas in the Sdot Negev region. There were no casualties in the attacks.
Earlier, terrorists fired a rocket that landed south of Ashkelon, after a rocket had hit the same region at around midnight Saturday. No one was wounded and no damaged was reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2009
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Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Was this while Tony Blair was there reconciling the differences between the factions? I use to do that in 8th grade math.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
03/02/2009 9:45
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#2
Well, with one of their own in the White House, what did you expect?
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday told parliament that her government has sought assistance from the US and UN, and will request the UK as well for cooperation in probe into the massacre at BDR headquarters last week.
Referring to her telephone conversation with the United States assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs, she said, "I've had a talk with Mr. [Richard] Boucher today. I told him I want FBI assistance in the probe."
She said she has asked for cooperation from UN as there is no question of belittling the barbaric acts of violence at BDR Pilkhana.
"I'll also request the British high commissioner for Scotland Yard's assistance."
Hasina, also leader of the House, was speaking on an obituary reference on the death of army officials in the hands of disgruntled border troops on Wednesday and Thursday.
About the government's tackling of what she termed a pre-planned massacre at Pilkhana, she said the focus all along was on saving lives of thousands of innocent people.
"I opted for talks to save lives, to save the officers and their families," she said refuting claims that not resorting to force was a tactical mistake.
She said her government has already directed the army, police and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) to round up the BDR men who did not report for duty within the 24 hour time limit that ended at 4:00pm yesterday.
She also said she has asked the law minister to arrange for a special tribunal to try those responsible for the vicious killings.
The prime minister said a neutral probe committee was formed yesterday ensuring representation of the army, air force, navy, police and Rab.
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A landmark international tribunal to try the suspected killers of Lebanon's former prime minister Rafiq Hariri got under way on Sunday with pledges to provide justice to the victims of terrorism.
The chief prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (SPL), Daniel Bellemare, said the new tribunal constituted the world's first anti-terrorist court.
Bellemare was speaking at a special ceremony to inaugurate the tribunal, set up four years after Hariri's assassination in Beirut in 2005. "By the very nature of its mandate, the SPL is the first international anti-terrorist tribunal," he told reporters.
He said the court was set up not to seek revenge, but "a justice that ensures everybody is treated with dignity and respect".
Under the terms of the tribunal, Bellemare has 60 days to apply to the Lebanese authorities to have four generals held over the killing to be brought to The Hague to face trial. The four include the former head of the presidential guard. Three others, civilians suspected of withholding information and misleading the ongoing probe, were freed on bail by Lebanon on Wednesday. The Canadian prosecutor gave no indication of a date when the tribunal would hold its first trial. "Indictments will be filed when I am satisfied I have enough evidence," he said.
He emphasised the tribunal's independence, asserting that its workings "must and will be above politics".
The tribunal, located in the suburb of Leidschendam, was created by a 2007 UN Security Council resolution and will apply Lebanese law. It has an initial, renewable, three-year mandate. There was no indication of a date for its first trial. The identities of its 11 judges, four of them Lebanese, are being kept secret.
The opening ceremony, attended by UN officials and diplomats, was held at a former gymnasium at the headquarters of the Dutch intelligence service, where the court will sit. The tribunal's registrar, Robin Vincent, told the opening ceremony, "We're not here for the perpetrators of crimes, but for the victims of crimes."
Lebanon's ambassador to the Netherlands, Zeidan Al-Saghir, said the court was a step towards the Lebanese people's belief "that they can reconstruct and rebuild what has been destroyed by war". "What Lebanon is asking you is to serve justice. Justice is our request," he said.
Welcome: The United States welcomed the opening of the Special Tribunal, saying it was "a clear signal that Lebanon's sovereignty is non-negotiable".
"We hope it will help deter further violence and end a sad era of impunity. Too many Lebanese families have never seen justice for the murder of their loved ones," said State Department spokesman Robert A Wood.
Bellemare has hitherto led the international investigation into a series of attacks on Lebanese political and media personalities, notably Hariri's assassination in a car bombing in February 2005 that also killed 22 other people.
The attack on Hariri on the Beirut seafront was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since the 1975-1990 civil war and led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops after a 29-year presence. In its early stages, the UN probe into the murder implicated top officials close to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Damascus has consistently denied any involvement.
A lawyer for one of the generals held in connection with the crime, Akram Azuri, said last week the tribunal held no fear for the suspects. "They have a clear conscience, they have no problem with the tribunal. They are impatient for it to get underway," he said.
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03/02/2009
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
Continues yesterday's story...
A missile strike believed to have been launched by a U.S. drone aircraft has killed at least eight militants in a Pakistani tribal region, intelligence officials and witnesses said. NEW! Improved! Now with 30 percent more deaders!
Two missiles struck a house in an area near Sarorogha village in the South Waziristan tribal region, a stronghold of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, the officials said. South Waziristan borders Afghanistan, though Mehsud's territory does not touch the frontier. "At least eight militants have been killed in the attack," said one intelligence official in the area. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.
A villager, named Hakeemullah, said eight bodies had been recovered from the rubble, and people were searching for more casualties.
Pakistan believes the civilian casualties caused by the strikes have fuelled support for the militants cause, whereas U.S. officials believe the drone attacks have killed a number of mid-level Al-Qaeda members.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2009
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan
#1
PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM/WAFF.com > POLICE REPORT: TALIBAN CAN TAKE KARACHI AT AT ANY TIME; + INDIA HAS NO GREATER ENEMY THAN THE UNITED STATES [worse for India than CHINA or PAKISTAN]!?
Also on PDF > OP-ED: INDIA, PAKISTAN AND BANGLADESH SHOULD FORM A CONFEDERATION?
A Saudi religious scholar has issued an edict calling for the prosecution of a royal tycoon and another Saudi businessman, accusing the men of being as dangerous as drug dealers because the TV channels they own broadcast films. The edict issued by Youssef Al-Ahmed, a government employee, is unusual in that it publicly chastises two such prominent Saudi figures by name - Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal and Waleed Al-Ibrahim, a brother-in-law of the late King Fahad and owner of the Dubai-based MBC Group media conglomerate. It also comes about six months after the former head of the kingdom's highest tribunal said it was permissible to kill the owners of satellite TV stations that show content deemed immoral. He did not name anyone specific.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2009
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#1
It is long past time that wealthy Saudis should have discovered that "turbulent priests" are rarely missed.
#2
Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal is hardly a holy man...he's the prince who's bin buying off America's leading universities. He owns Georgetown and Harvard outright - he has John Esposito's nvts in a jar over his fireplace and Noam Chomsky on speed dial.
He's one of the premier Da'wa specialists in the West, especially among the chattering classes, and it's interesting that Back Home in Ol' Araby may be souring on him.
#4
Y'know, I'm not sure. There may be some "restructuring" necessary in the global Dar-ul-Sunni, because lately the Dar-ul-Shia seem to be hogging the spotlight, and the Iranian mullacracy's Da'wa shock troops (Hamas and Hezb'Allah) are making their statement the old-fashioned, Big Mo-approved way - at the points of their swords.
Swat cleric Sufi Muhammad -- who has promised peace in the troubled Swat valley if the government implanted the sharia law -- warned on Sunday he wanted Islamic courts set up in two weeks.
He said he was not happy over the fact that there had been no tangible progress since February 16 when the NWFP government agreed to implement the Shari Nizam-e-Adl -- a new system of justice in the restive valley.
"The government announced enforcement of sharia but so far no practical step has been taken and we are not satisfied," Sufi told reporters in Swat's main town Mingora.
"I'm not seeing any practical steps for the implementation of the peace agreement, except for ministers visiting Swat and uttering words," the elderly cleric said.
He said he was also unhappy over a delay in an exchange of prisoners and urged both the Taliban and the government to release people they were holding by March 10.
"If the government does not appoint Qazis [Islamic judges] by March 15, and the two sides do not release prisoners in their custody, we will set up protest camps," he said.
The warning came only four days after Swat Taliban leader Mullah Fazlullah agreed to an indefinite ceasefire.
The cleric said armed patrol by either side would not be allowed after March 1 (Sunday), and anybody who violated the truce would be charged and punished in line with the sharia law.
Attack: Later, Sufi's spokesman Ameer Izzat Khan blamed the security forces for an attack on a troop convoy in Swat earlier in the day. He said the soldiers had not given prior information of their movement in accordance with the terms of the truce.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2009
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#1
I think even the DUMBEST politician in Pakistan realizes that implementation of Sharia means the end of their cushy non-jobs. Under Sharia, the holy men are in charge, not the "government". I think the "sharia" issue was agreed to similar to saying "nice doggy" when reaching for a bigger rock. Things could get VERY interesting in the Tribal Areas before this is all over.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/02/2009 11:40
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Another body of an army officer killed during the mutiny at the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) headquarters at Pilkhana floated out of a sluice gate in the city's Nawabganj yesterday, raising the death toll to 74. The dead was identified as Lt Col Golam Kibria, a Senior Record officer at the BDR headquarters.
Locals noticed the body floating in front of the sluice gate at around 8:30am. On information, army personnel rushed to the spot and recovered the body. The deceased's wife Sharmin Kibria identified her husband's body at Sir Salimullah Medical College morgue by marks on the back of his right hand and on the left wrist.
Sharmin said she talked to her husband the last time over mobile phone at around 10:30am on Wednesday. She said her husband was posted to the BDR headquarters only eight days before the mutiny took place.
Relatives of the missing army officers including Col Gulzar thronged the BDR headquarters and morgues of the Dhaka and Sir Salimuallah Medical Colleges in search of their loved ones.
Earlier, eight bodies of BDR officers --two on Wednesday and six on Thursday -- killed during the mutiny floated out of the same sluice gate.
Meanwhile, members of the army, navy and fire service continued search at the BDR headquarters yesterday.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2009
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Over 1,500 Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) men, who left the Pilkhana headquarters during or after the mutiny, reported back to the headquarters yesterday.
The deadline set for them to report back expired yesterday afternoon.
Apart from them, 140 BDR men reported to police stations, sector headquarters and battalion headquarters in Rajshahi, Sylhet Dinajpur, Gazipur, Mymensingh, Pabna, Barisal and Chittagong yesterday. Four BDR jawans surrendered at police stations in Sylhet and Joydevpur while Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) arrested two jawans in Comilla and Faridpur yesterday.
They started gathering at the Pilkhana headquarters following a home ministry order issued Saturday asking all BDR members, who did not take leave but are absent at their stations, to report back within 24 hours.
"I assume between 1,500 and 2,000 jawans gathered at the BDR headquarters. We do not have any official count yet," newly appointed Director General (DG) of BDR Brig Gen Moinul Hossain said.
"Those who have already entered the headquarters will be considered reported back. Some of them are being given leave while others will start working with us," he added.
A number of BDR jawans, who returned yesterday, said many of them were given 15 to 30 days' leave with instructions to come back to the headquarters when summoned. Only 24 BDR jawans were allowed to join work yesterday.
Talking to The Daily Star, a number of BDR jawans, who returned to the BDR headquarters in plain clothes, claimed that they left their uniforms in or around the headquarters before fleeing in plain clothes on Wednesday and Thursday.
They appeared to be very worried about their future and feared many innocent jawans could become victims if the enquiry is not conducted impartially. A number of them had their family members with them. They also looked anxious.
Those in uniform were asked to report at Gate-4 near Jigatola while the rest at Abahani ground in Dhanmondi. All of the BDR men in plain clothes at Abahani ground could not be listed as reported back yesterday; they were asked to come again this morning.
Around 500 BDR men reported back to the BDR headquarters with their uniforms on.
Talking to The Daily Star, the BDR jawans in uniform claimed that most of them had fled just after the mutiny broke out on Wednesday. Some of them were also on leave that day.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2009
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Aswat al-Iraq: Joint security forces have arrested 48 suspects throughout the past 24 hours following an armed attack that targeted a police officer in Jalawlaa district, according to a police source. "A force from the emergency police and the Iraqi army carried out search raids in the neighborhoods of Mahafeez, al-Shuhadaa, Jalawlaa district (30 km southwest of Khanaqin)," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Earlier today, several Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) members were arrested in connection with the attack, but were released later in the day. Yesterday night, a police major was wounded in an armed attack while he was heading home in Mahafeez neighborhood, Jalawlaa.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2009
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Awami National Party (ANP) on Sunday appealed to the government stop attacks in Bara. The appeal was made in a meeting of the party's local office bearers. They claimed what security forces had targeted was a place where funeral prayers were offered, an Eid Gah and a centre for flour distribution at controlled rate.
They appealed to the government to stop use of force, which would further aggravate the situation. Meanwhile, leaders of Bara Peace Committee said the government was trying to break Bara peace deal.
Peace committee leader Haji Shaukat Khan Afridi and others told reporters that there was no reason for shelling on Bara and the government did not take them into confidence before the attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2009
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The government announced on Sunday it will appoint Qazis (Islamic judges) in Malakand Division before March 15 -- a deadline set by cleric Sufi Muhammad earlier in the day.
Malakand Commissioner Syed Muhammad Javed told reporters after a meeting with the cleric -- who is negotiating the truce between the government and Taliban -- at the Tableeghi Markaz in the main Swat town of Mingora that Sufi would himself interview the Qazis.
The elderly cleric had provided a list of Taliban prisoners that the government is yet to release. "After going through the list and fulfilling the necessary requirements, the government will release the prisoners," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2009
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Outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed yesterday to hit back "severely" if militants in the Islamist Hamas-run Gaza Strip continue to fire rockets into Israel.
"If the rocket fire from Gaza continues, we will hit back severely, so much so that the terrorist organisations will understand that Israel is not ready to resign itself to this," Olmert said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.
"At the end of the week, 11 rockets were fired against southern Israel," he said. "Defence Minister Ehud Barak will give directions so that Israeli forces bring calm to southern Israel."
He spoke a day after seven rockets fired from Gaza landed in Israel without causing casualties although one smashed into an empty school, and a day before an international conference on rebuilding Gaza is to be held in Egypt.
President Shimon Peres told visiting Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere that the billions of dollars expected to be pledged to the Palestinians for rebuilding Gaza by world powers at the Egyptian conference should be given to the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, not Hamas.
Peres "detailed how the smuggling of weapons from Iran into the Gaza Strip has been renewed, and he requested that Europe emphasise that money for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip be directed to the Palestinian Authority and the bodies of the United Nations in order to best help improve the lives of Palestinian citizens," said a statement from his office.
"President Peres cautioned that in the past, a great deal of European money has been wasted in vain and diverted to supporting Palestinian terror activities," it said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2009
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#1
"ALL OF THE PALESTINIANS MUST BE KILLED;
MEN, WOMEN, INFANTS and EVEN THEIR BEASTS"
Rabbi Yisrael Rosen
Here is Rabbi Yisrael Rosen's Website
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3266113,00.html
"All of the Palestinians must be killed; men, women, infants, and even their beasts" cries the religious opinion of Rabbi Yisrael Rosen, the director of the long-established Tsomet Religious Institute. He wrote that Palestinians are like the nation of Amalekites, who attacked the Israelite tribes led by Moses on their way to Jerusalem. He stated that the Lord sent down in the Torah a ruling that allowed the Jews to kill the Amalekites, and that this ruling is known in Jewish jurisprudence (That's exactly what the Israeli Offensive Forces did in Ghaza.)
The Torah states: "Annihilate the Amalekites from the beginning to the end. Kill them and wrest them from their possessions. Show them no mercy. Kill continuously, one after the other.. Leave no child, plant, or tree. Kill their beasts, from camels to donkeys.." Rosen stated that Amalekites are not a particular race, but rather all those who hate and oppose the Jews; Christians and Muslims.
Many leading Israeli Rabbis support Rosen's views. Israel's former Sephardic Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu advocated carpet bombing of Gaza stating that "there is absolutely no moral prohibition against the indiscriminate killing of civilians during massive military offensive on Gaza" (The Jerusalem Post, 30 May, 2007). His son Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu amplified his father's genocidal call stating: "if they don't stop after we kill 100, then we must kill a thousand, then we must kill 10,000 and even a million"
Many Rabbis had argued that Palestinians in Gaza are not innocent civilians and that during war time it is not individuals but nations the Israelis are fighting. (It seems that Hitler had adopted this Telmudic teaching when he persecuted all European Jews)
Israeli educators, scholars, and politicians, openly, advocate the annihilation of all Palestinians. Dr. Nachum Rakover, a legal scholar, opined "They voted for killers and sent them to kill us. To call them (civilians) innocent is a tragic comedy civilians are partners of the killers" Eli Yeshai, Israeli official in the Orthodox Shas party argued that "extermination of the enemy is sanctioned by the Torah" Many other politicians called for the need for "wiping off Gaza from the face of earth", and "annihilating of every moving thing there." The right-wing Israeli politician Avigdor Lieberman proposed nuking Gaza following the US example when it dropped the atomic bomb on Japan during WWII.
This "ideology of annihilation" is by no means a minority opinion in Israel, but represents a mainstream in the Jews of Israel as well as Jews in the West (US). The popular attitude is "if it was right by God to order us to commit genocide during Biblical time, why can't it be right to commit genocide now. Has God changed his mind?" Indeed Judaic god is a racist genocidal god.
Watch and listen here to an example of how Israeli Jews are brainwashed and indoctrinated into the ideology of annihilation by their rabbis and scholars through Israeli media. Watch Max Blumenthal's videotape of a group of messianic Orthodox Jewish Chabad-Lubavitch exhibit this ideology in NYC in January 11, 2009.
The Israeli spokesman, Nachman Abramovic demonized Palestinian children stating "They may look young to you, but these people are terrorists at heart. Don't look at their deceptively innocent faces, try to think of the demons inside each of them I am absolutely certain these people would grow to be evil terrorists if we allowed them to grow would you allow them to grow to kill your children or finish them off right now? honost and moral people ought to differentiate between true humans and human animals. We do kill human animals and we do so unapologetically. Besides who in the West is in a position to lecture us on killing human animals. After all, whose hands are clean?"
Human animal mentioned by Abramovic refers to the Judaic religious belief that Jews are Gods chosen people; the elite and the pure-blooded, while all others (non-Jews, Goyims, gentiles) are animal souls incarnated into human bodies to serve the Jews. Killing a human animal is just a sport like hunting deer or birds.
More here: http://www.uruknet.de/?p=m42961&hd=&size=1&l=e
GORDON BROWN hopes to forge a partnership with President Barack Obama in Washington this week, to call for a "global new deal" to lift the world out of recession.
As he prepares for his first White House visit since the president's inauguration, the prime minister has hinted that he is ready to make further tax cuts to boost the UK economy.
Brown will meet Obama on Tuesday and address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday. Aides say he has both to demonstrate to a sceptical British public that he commands the respect of the president, and to persuade the American political establishment that global action is needed to rescue the US economy.
Brown is under pressure to persuade American political leaders to sign up to bold aims for the G20 summit of industrial and leading developing nations, which is to be held in London next month.
Many US politicians believe economic policy should put America first, and have shown little interest in concerted global action. Brown will argue for a renewal of the transatlantic relationship, with the two powers working together to solve global economic problems.
The prime minister will borrow from the rhetoric of Franklin Roosevelt, who introduced the government-financed New Deal to tackle the US Depression of the 1930s. He will argue that his 21st century "global new deal" will also require public spending on a huge world-wide scale.
Writing in The Sunday Times today, Brown calls for "universal action to prevent the crisis spreading, to stimulate the global economy and to help reduce the severity and length of the global recession".
His stress on continued economic "stimulation" will increase speculation about next month's budget. No 10 sources said that, while no final decision had been taken about further tax cuts, the prime minister would do "whatever it took" to pull the UK out of recession.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2009
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#1
Oh, you mean the US taxpayer now gets to "stimulate" and bail out foreign economies and firms too? Yay!
#3
The prime minister will borrow from the rhetoric of Franklin Roosevelt, who introduced the government-financed New Deal to tackle the US Depression of the 1930s. He will argue that his 21st century "global new deal" will also require public spending on a huge world-wide scale.
What finally brought the world out of the depression was WWII. Who does Brown think we should declare war on? He won't even defend his own country against the Muslims.
Posted by: Formerly Dan ||
03/02/2009 8:11
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#4
Brown will try anything to get his sorry a$$ out of a sling.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/02/2009 8:58
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#5
A bit of Rantrivia:
Did you know that President Obama signed his stimulus package at the same desk where President Clinton got his package stimulated? anon
#10
In Great Britain Brown is increasingly unpopular and Obama is currently popular. There is nothing of substance being accomplished. Brown is just trying to get a little sprinkling of Obama pixie dust for his domestic audience.
Defense officials slammed Egypt on Sunday for allowing Hamas No. 2 Moussa Abu Marzouk to enter the Gaza Strip last week following reconciliation talks the terror group held with Fatah in Cairo.
One official told The Jerusalem Post that Abu Marzouk, 58, spent nearly 24 hours in Gaza after entering from Sinai on Thursday night, visiting family and his parent's graves. It was his first visit to the Strip in 30 years. He was born in the Rafah refugee camp.
The officials said that while Egypt denied allowing Abu Marzouk into Gaza, he was in fact allowed to cross into Gaza above ground and not via a tunnel like some Hamas men have done in the past. "This is a slap in the face," a defense official said. "Abu Marzouk is a senior terrorist and Egypt is helping Hamas by allowing him into Gaza."
The decision to allow Abu Marzouk into Gaza was made without telling Israel and was understood in the Defense Ministry as Egypt's way of expressing its anger with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's rejection last month of Cairo's proposal for a cease-fire with Hamas as well as for using other channels to negotiate a deal with Hamas for the release of abducted soldier Gilad Schalit.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2009
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Militants have kidnapped six Pakistani paramilitary personnel in the Swat Valley hours after security forces rescued four abductees in Kohat. Inconceivable!
Pro-Taliban militants in Pakistan's troubled North West Frontier Province (NWFP) kidnapped a paramilitary commander along with five of his personnel while the provincial government has negotiated a peace deal with the region's pro-Taliban insurgents. No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack. Inconceivable!
Local sources told Press TV that unknown armed men kidnapped a local commander of the Frontier Corps (FC), his four bodyguards and his driver from Qambar area in Swat Valley on Sunday evening.
The incident followed an operation carried out by Pakistani forces in NWFP's Kohat district during which nine militants were killed, ten were taken into custody and four hostages were released, a Press TV correspondent reported.
Commissioner Malakand conformed the kidnapping of the six, saying that the authorities were contacting Muhammad, Chief of Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat Muhammadi (TNSM) about the abduction.
Also on Sunday, two security personnel were injured when unknown militants attacked a security forces convoy in Sarbani area of the scenic valley.
It was a first attack on security forces after the recent truce and a spokesman of Pakistan Army said that the attack violated the terms of the agreement.
However, Taliban militants said that according to the deal, security forces should inform the Peace Committee before their movement.
"The security forces had not informed the members of peace committee about their movement," Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan told reporters.
The peace deal signed between Pakistani officials and militant leader Maulana Sufi Muhammad, envisages the implementation of Islamic law (Sharia), and a judicial and court system run by the militants in the region in exchange for and to the attacks on Pakistani forces and civilians.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2009
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Twenty six year old Quratul Ain eloped from her house six months ago, marrying the person with whom she intended to spend her entire life with. However, her dreams fell short when she was shot thrice in the name of honour.
The rental house where the deceased along with her husband took shelter in is located in the Gulshan-e-Ghazi within the jurisdiction of Malir City Police Station. Quratul Ain was killed in this 'shelter' house at around 3:00 am on Sunday when two armed men knocked on her door. Her husband was in the shower at the time; hearing the knocking she opened the door. "She recognised them and tired to flee but the men shot her thrice in her back," SHO Jehangir Maher told Daily Times. The culprits easily fled the scene when the deceased's husband Sheraz came out from the bathroom after hearing the sound of bullets and Quratul Ain's screams.
Not only did her dreams come to an end but her husband's as well. He helplessly watched his wife take her last breaths in front of him. It is pertinent to mention here that this is the second incident of honour killing in the last seven days. Earlier, on February 22, Elahi Bux surrendered himself after brutally killing his elderly sister Shehla Bibi in the name of honour within the jurisdiction of Korangi Industrial Area Police Station.
Quratul Ain's body was taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, however her husband took it away without legal formalities and an FIR No 48/09 was registered against the two unidentified men on behalf of Sheraz. The couple were Iranian Balochis; they met a long time ago and gradually fell in love. The deceased used to visit her aunts house located in Salaar Goth, close to Sheraz's house. After Quratul Ain's family engaged her to a relative, the couple decided to elope and get married in court. Maher further said that it is clear that the killing of the woman was done in the name of honour and added that the couple was being threatened by relatives of the deceased, who had disowned her after she eloped. The officer also said that the woman was not pregnant and no arrests were made.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2009
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#1
No ID's on the shooters? That's a surprise. Usually they like to brag about it. Why do an honor killing if you can't brag about what a tough guy you are to all your friends? How they gonna know you got your "honor" back?
An Arab Israeli man is under arrest following suspicions that he gathered information on the IDF in the North on behalf of Hizbullah.
Ismail Muhammad Suleiman Suleiman, 27, from Hajajri in the Jezreel Valley, was arrested by the Amakim Police's Central Unit and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) on February 5.
And the Israelis haven't already killed him Taliban-style?
Law enforcement agencies say Suleiman was recruited into Hizbullah during a trip to Umra, Saudi Arabia, in September, where he met a Hizbullah handler. A second meeting between Suleiman and the Hizbullah handler was planned for April 2009, when Suleiman was expected to receive additional missions.
Suleiman was indicted in the Nazareth Magistrate's Court on Sunday, and ordered held in custody until the end of legal proceedings.
The arrest marks yet another exposure of Hizbullah efforts to recruit Israeli agents.
Two Druze men from the Golan Heights were convicted in December for passing intelligence to Syrian army officers in the midst of fighting between Israel and Hizbullah during the Second Lebanon War of 2006. The two men, Youssuf Shams and Atta Frahaht, conveyed information regarding IDF troop movements in the Golan. The men were sentenced to three and four-year prison sentences respectively and fined tens of thousands of shekels.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2009
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Lalbagh police Saturday night filed a case against over a thousand Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) members for their links to the mutiny at BDR headquarters in Pilkhana.
Those who face the charges include Deputy Assistant Director (DAD) Touhidul Alam, DAD Nasiruddin Khan, DAD Mirza Habibur Rahman, DAD Abdul Jalil, jawan Abdur Rahim and jawan Selim.
Lalbagh Police Station's Officer-In-Charge Nobojyoti Khisha filed the case that was shifted to Criminal Investigation Department (CID) yesterday.
Police sources said so far they could identify several accused from footages aired on different television channels and pictures published in dailies.
Of those accused, Touhid led a team of mutineers to talks with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to end the mutiny.
The complainant, in the case story, said the accused committed the offences in a planned way and it is tantamount to treason.
The charges include killing army officers, their family members and civilians, looting, arson, exploding grenades, hiding bodies, holding people hostage, and destroying properties.
The case statement also said the rebel border guards being instigated by vested quarters committed the crimes to destabilise the state and make unlawful gains.
It went on to say that the accused led by DAD Touhid incited the rebellion at the Darbar hall at the BDR headquarters in the name of realising demands where about 3,000 border guards from across the country were present.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/02/2009
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#1
The charges include killing ..., looting, arson, exploding grenades, hiding bodies, holding people hostage, and destroying properties.
Posted by: James Carville ||
03/02/2009 10:35
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#3
BDR (Bangladeshi Rifles) is a paramilitary Border Patrol force. Its officers are on deputation from the Bangla Army.
BDR pay scales are far below army soldiers of same rank. In addition, they are not sent for UN tour of duty (unlike army), depriving them of much valued UN salary.
The previous regime and their Islamist allies staffed the BDR with their goons.
Enter the Jaamat-Islami. They have been stoking the flames of discontent.
Enter the ISI (with plans for the BD regime). Some sort of insurrection was planned by the Islamist leaders using the pay issue to motivate the followers.
Enter the Indian BSF. They have accelerated fencing, depriving the BDR of a lot of their smuggling revenue.
Enter the Bangla PM. She visits the BDR and warns them of smuggling. Asks them for loyalty.
So, cut to last week. The BDR commander is reviewing a parade. A soldier interupts him with a protest about their pay. Asks him why he has not followed up on the previous promises.
Soldier is quick marched to the cells. Mutiny begins. Officers are killed left and right. Shot, mutilated. Heads crushed. Bodies dumped in the sewers. Wives are raped.
BDR is now run by a Subedar Major. That is a JCO rank. He is running a force of 40,000. All the Army officers have refused to take command.
The army brought in the RAB. You can guess why their skills will be needed. Many thousands of opposition Islamists and BDR will pay the price for all this. The army will not take this silently.
Posted by: john frum ||
03/02/2009 14:21
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Thanks for the summary, john frum. I was away with 'hardware issues' when the festivities started and was wondering about the background.
#5
Kolkata/Dhaka: Faced with an unprecedented crisis, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina rushed to the Dhaka cantonment on Sunday in an attempt to pacify the Bangladesh Army that is seething for revenge.
Army officers repeatedly interrupted her two-hour speech with angry outbursts, but she kept her cool and promised tough action against those involved in the massacre and the agent provocateurs. After Hasina left, the government announced that 1,000 BDR personnel were being tried for the planned and orchestrated murders.
But the crisis isnt over. Anger is mounting in the army as the toll climbed to 100 and reports came in that in some cases, women were tortured before being killed in the BDR headquarters.
Army chief Moeen U Ahmed was reportedly shoved and fell during a heated argument with his officers on Saturday. In the last 24 hours, he has twice offered to resign but was dissuaded by his senior colleagues. There are serious concerns about rifts in the army ranks.
Adding to this is the worry that anti-India elements are gunning for the Hasina government and trying to garner support among the rank and file. Of the 73 slain army officers identified so far (bodies are still being recovered), at least 33 had taken part in anti-Jamiat operations. An anti-India campaign has already started, with pro-Jamiat news channel Diganta taking the lead.
Investigation has revealed clearly that a huge quantity of arms and ammunition was smuggled into the BDR headquarters at Pilkhana before the mutiny. Stocktaking after the surrender of mutineers has yielded weapons and ammo in excess of what was officially in the armoury.
Besides, the mutiny leaders seen at gates 1, 2 and 3 wearing red, green and yellow masks were not from the BDR headquarters. They were either called in from other sectors for the mutiny or were rank outsiders.
Investigation has also revealed that on February 23 or 24, some outsiders had entered the BDR HQ, apparently for a religious ceremony. No one saw them leave. The BDR HQ in Pilkhana has a capacity of 4,500 but on the day the mutiny broke out, there were over 10,000 personnel from 12 sectors inside.
Posted by: john frum ||
03/02/2009 14:41
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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.
It has become jaw-droppingly clear that Barack Obama seeks to radically shift the alignment of this country -- tying its citizens to their government in a dramatic leftward lunge the likes of which America has never seen before.
FORWARD OPERATING BASE ALTIMUR, Afghanistan - The U.S. soldiers entered the sleeping village in Logar province in the dead of night on Feb. 20, sure of their target and heavily armed. They surrounded a mud-walled compound, shouting commands, and then kicked down the gate as cries of protest erupted within.
The Commission of Inquiry investigating last Novembers crisis in Jos has summoned officials of the state Ministry of Lands and Survey to clarify the ownership of a community adjacent the University of Jos. 
I have used this column many times over the last few years to criticize Canadas immigration minister for adopting policies which I did not agree with. I have never, however, called our minister of immigration a professional whore. The president of the Canadian Arab Federation, Khaled Mouammar, not only used this term to describe Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, but also used it to describe Minister of State of Foreign Affairs Peter Kent and Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff.
MONTREAL (AFP)--Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said, in an interview broadcast Sunday, that he didn't believe the war in Afghanistan would ever be completely won.
More than a quarter of this year's U.S. Naval Academy graduates will be commissioned as officers in the Marine Corps, the highest number in a decade and a reflection of the need for ground commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan. 
DHAKA - Bangladesh's government will deploy army troops across the country to hunt border guards behind a deadly mutiny that killed at least 77 people, an official said Sunday. An Armed Forces spokesman told AFP that a nationwide operation would be launched from Monday to track down those believed to be behind a 33-hour revolt in the capital.
TEHRAN - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday called for a stronger alliance with Syria in a bid to resist Israel and its allies over the Palestinian crisis.
Hutu rebels have retaken positions they lost in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, UN peacekeepers say. The UN says it has reports that FDLR rebels captured several villages and a former military training school, days after Rwandan troops began to withdraw.
An indictment may be on the way in one of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's numerous criminal investigations, Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz announced Sunday evening after a final review of the so-called "cash envelopes" affair with State Attorney Moshe Lador. 
March 2 (Bloomberg) -- The euro fell to a one-week low against the dollar after European Union leaders rejected calls to back an aid package for eastern Europe, fueling concern the financial crisis will deepen the 16-nation region's recession.
A suicide car bomb blew up near US-led soldiers in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, wounding six civilians, authorities said, while other attacks left seven security guards dead in the insurgency-hit south.
United States (US) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in the Middle East on Sunday, delving into Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking for the first time at an international donors conference for Gaza, which is to be held today (Monday).
The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO) has issued a circular calling for the arrest of 15 top Israeli officials over war crimes. 
A landmark international tribunal to try the suspected killers of Lebanon's former prime minister Rafiq Hariri got under way on Sunday with pledges to provide justice to the victims of terrorism.
A Saudi religious scholar has issued an edict calling for the prosecution of a royal tycoon and another Saudi businessman, accusing the men of being as dangerous as drug dealers because the TV channels they own broadcast films. The edict issued by Youssef Al-Ahmed, a government employee, is unusual in that it publicly chastises two such prominent Saudi figures by name - Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal and Waleed Al-Ibrahim, a brother-in-law of the late King Fahad and owner of the Dubai-based MBC Group media conglomerate. It also comes about six months after the former head of the kingdom's highest tribunal said it was permissible to kill the owners of satellite TV stations that show content deemed immoral. He did not name anyone specific.
Swat cleric Sufi Muhammad -- who has promised peace in the troubled Swat valley if the government implanted the sharia law -- warned on Sunday he wanted Islamic courts set up in two weeks.
Awami National Party (ANP) on Sunday appealed to the government stop attacks in Bara. The appeal was made in a meeting of the party's local office bearers. They claimed what security forces had targeted was a place where funeral prayers were offered, an Eid Gah and a centre for flour distribution at controlled rate.
Militants have kidnapped six Pakistani paramilitary personnel in the Swat Valley hours after security forces rescued four abductees in Kohat. 
