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Libya Interim Head's Car Comes under Fire
Today's Headlines
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Fifth Column
Funny
Posted by: Yosemite Sam || 03/07/2013 21:05 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under:


China-Japan-Koreas
Chinese National People's Congress has 83 billionaires, report says
The legislature of the world's last major communist country is almost certainly the wealthiest in the world, according to a popular rich list that names 83 dollar billionaires among the delegates to China's parliament this year.

Meanwhile, in the United States, there is not a single billionaire in the House of Representatives or the Senate.
Pikers...
Among the delegates gathered in Beijing this week to attend the National People's Congress, the China-based Hurun Global Rich List identified 31 people with more than $1 billion in personal assets. The richest is Zong Qinghou, founder of Chinese drinks maker Wahaha, with an estimated fortune of $13 billion, according to Hurun.
What is that in real dollars, as opposed to play money manipulated by Chinese banks and rulers?
The NPC is tasked with approving legislation proposed by the ruling Communist Party, but in practice it plays a mostly ceremonial role. Another 52 billionaires are delegates to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a toothless advisory body that meets at the same time as the NPC for about two weeks each year in early March.
Posted by: tipper || 03/07/2013 15:04 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [12 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
EU not ready for sanctions against Hezbollah: EU's Barroso
The European Union will consider imposing sanctions on the Lebanese Islamist group Hezbollah but does not yet have sufficient evidence of its activities in Europe to make a decision, the European Commission said on Thursday.

Bulgaria in February implicated Hezbollah in a bombing in the Black Sea resort of Burgas last year that killed five Israelis, putting pressure on the EU to sanction the group.

Israel also has stepped up lobbying in Brussels and Paris, calling on European governments to follow the United States in listing the Shi'ite Muslim group as a "terrorist organization" and impose financial sanctions on it.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, speaking at a news conference with Israeli President Shimon Peres in Brussels, said Bulgaria was still finalizing its investigation into the attack and had asked the Lebanese government for help.

"The judicial process will show whether we should take political decisions. We cannot decide this in advance," Barroso said. "Once the perpetrators are known, their inclusion in the list ... may be considered."

Many European governments are cautious, arguing that imposing sanctions on Hezbollah could destabilize the government in Beirut and contribute to tensions in the Middle East. Hezbollah is a dominant force in Lebanese politics, with Prime Minister Najib Mikati relying on the group for support.
Posted by: tipper || 03/07/2013 14:54 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under:


Britain
Fake bomb detectors sold by businessman court told
A businessman sold fake bomb detectors to countries around the world, the Old Bailey has heard.

Jurors were told James McCormick's Advanced Detection Equipment was marketed to the military, governments and police forces in various countries.

Prosecutors said fake detectors sold for up to $40,000 (£27,000) had no grounding in science and made "fantastic" claims.

Mr McCormick, 56, of Langport, Somerset, denies three counts of fraud.

Richard Whittam QC, prosecuting, said brochures featuring men in military-type outfits promised detection of substances from planes, underwater, underground and through walls.
Continue reading the main story

However, he said, the three models - the ADE650, 651 and 101 - were shams and did not work.

The prosecution said scientific tests showed the devices to be completely ineffectual and lacking any grounding in science.

Mr Whittam said the forerunner of the 101, the 100, "was actually a golf ball finder" that could be purchased in the US for less than $20 (£13).

He told the court that the devices were variously marketed as being able to detect all kinds of explosives, including TNT, drugs and even ivory, fluids and human beings.

"The devices did not work and he knew they did not work," said the barrister.
Posted by: tipper || 03/07/2013 13:34 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: WoT
Holder letter ignites new debate on drones
Posted by: tipper || 03/07/2013 12:58 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [20 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Bush had authority to shoot down US airliners as of 9/11
Posted by: texhooey || 03/07/2013 13:23 Comments || Top||

#2  An Act of War by non-US citizens was being carried out against American citizens by Al Qaeda on 9/11, all of which were dead along with thousands more on the ground when that order was issued. The situation of foreign combatants actively carring out suicide attacks using human shields being addressed by they US military and the Commander in Chief is far, far different than the context of the subject matter addressed by Rand Paul, how the Chief Executive officer and the Justice department will deal with US Citizens domestically who have NOT been found guilty of a domestic crime by a court of law, who is being observed by a domestic drone.
Posted by: wr || 03/07/2013 16:31 Comments || Top||

#3  wr, would it matter whether the highjacker aiming the airliner at the Capitol was an American citizen or not - or if you even had a way to know? What about all the other American citizens on the plane? Much as I despise Holder, I can see circumstances where the President may have to kill Americans though he does not really have the authority to do so.
Posted by: Glenmore || 03/07/2013 18:52 Comments || Top||

#4  that would be an imminent danger - something Sen. Paul conceded
Posted by: Frank G || 03/07/2013 18:55 Comments || Top||

#5  What constitutes an "imminent danger" to one man might not be so judged by another. Who decides? Do the blue eyed people constitute an "imminent danger"? How about the brown eyed people? How about us hazel eyed bastard?
Posted by: Canuckistan sniper || 03/07/2013 19:04 Comments || Top||

#6  There is always going to be a gray area. There will always be a required trust in the people we have put into high office.

If an American citizen had commandeered an airliner and was about to slam it into WTC as part of a large terrorist plot, and we had an Air Force fighter in the vicinity that could shoot it down just in the nick of time, as President I would have given the order (with the heaviest heart) to shoot it down.

I think most of us would do that.

So 'imminent danger' is always going to be a judgment call, and one has to trust the people making the judgment. That in the end was the unspoken agenda of Senator Paul, the crafty devil -- he was making clear that we could not trust Obama and therefore needed it in black and white. He succeeded.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/07/2013 20:40 Comments || Top||

#7  Yep. Paul was deft, cogent, brilliant. Cruz was good too. I'd gladly pay higher taxes to fund big fat pay raises if they'd shut down the Senate and spank Mr. "Constitutional Law Professor" like that, once a month.
Posted by: RandomJD || 03/07/2013 21:34 Comments || Top||

#8  The way you end this debate is simple, you announce that drone strikes will be used on domestic terrorists, such as ELF and other enviro-terror groups, as well as other terrorists, like Tyrant Obama's buddies.
Posted by: Silentbrick - Schlumberger Squishy Mud Division || 03/07/2013 22:03 Comments || Top||

#9  Didn't they already establish the legal precedent with the Reno Doctrine carried out at Waco?

[I'd put a /sarc at the end, but I'm not sure you can given no one 'faced the music' for that action]
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/07/2013 22:37 Comments || Top||

#10  The 9/11 highjackers were intent on murdering as many innocent people as possible and the president should be empowered to shoot down the airliner to prevent imminent act of mass murder.

There is a big difference between that and someone who simply disagrees with the administration and is simply going to a Tea party rally - or someone who is refusing to give up their arms.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 03/07/2013 23:16 Comments || Top||

#11  Paul was deft, cogent, brilliant. Cruz was good too.

An example of Alinsky jujitsu.
Posted by: Pappy || 03/07/2013 23:35 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Pak militant leader says India to be major terror target
A top Pakistani militant commander linked to al-Qaeda has praised terrorists behind attacks in India and said the country will become a major target of terrorist assaults once the US withdraws from Afghanistan.

Asmatullah Muawiya, a former Jaish-e-Mohammed leader who serves as one of al-Qaeda's 'company' commanders, released a statement praising Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist involved in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, and Afzal Guru, who was convicted of involvement in the attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001.

He threatened that attacks in India will increase as jihadi groups would shift their focus from Afghanistan to Kashmir once the US withdraws its forces from the region.

Muawiya's remarks hinted at the Inter-Services Intelligence agency's ties to jihadist groups, The Long War Journal reported.

He claimed the ISI would not be able to control the groups it has supported and directed in the past.

Muawiya's statement was published on the jihadist Jamia Hafsa Urdu Forum on February 24 and was obtained and translated by the privately-run SITE Intelligence Group.
Posted by: tipper || 03/07/2013 12:31 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [22 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Post Afghanistan pullout the jihadis and their state sponsors Saudi,UAE,Iran and Pakistan will feel invincible hence targeting India and Isteal more.

Lets hope we support India more going forward as they have to live with this jihadi bullshit for years just like Israel has.

Obama needs to realise who is the US true allies are Islamists like Muslim Brotherhood & Co or multifaith secular nations ala Israel and India.
Posted by: Photh Platypus2300 || 03/07/2013 15:56 Comments || Top||

#2  Obama needs to realise who is the US true allies are Islamists like Muslim Brotherhood & Co or multifaith secular nations ala Israel and India.

Mr. Platypus you fail to realize that the true allies of the US are NOT and never will be Obama's true allies. He shows nothing but disdain and dislike of the US and our real allies. He favors the Islamists. They are HIS true sould mates.
Posted by: Alanc || 03/07/2013 19:07 Comments || Top||

#3  The hell he says.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/07/2013 22:13 Comments || Top||


Government
Old Guard GOP blasts Rand Paul
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/07/2013 12:12 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [18 views] Top|| File under:

#1  And that is why you fucking idiots will continue to lose as long as you control the GOP.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/07/2013 12:13 Comments || Top||

#2  Amen Darth
Posted by: Yosemite Sam || 03/07/2013 12:23 Comments || Top||

#3  McCain is an idiot.
Posted by: jvalentour || 03/07/2013 12:47 Comments || Top||

#4  All the Senators involved getting this off the ground were Tea Party backed and Karl Rove opposed.
Posted by: Iblis || 03/07/2013 12:50 Comments || Top||

#5  I want Rove, Jeb Bush, and all the manginas to leave the party alone.

Your brand of Washington is just no help at all.
Posted by: newc || 03/07/2013 13:46 Comments || Top||

#6  Olde Guard
Odorant Stick

Now in Clear Gel!
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/07/2013 14:49 Comments || Top||

#7  Nearly anyone that ticks off the old guard (GOP or DEM) is okay in my book.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 03/07/2013 14:51 Comments || Top||

#8  Ditto Darth.

This old guard is as effective as a fence of sharpened sticks against an M1A1.

They all should be turfed out, the sooner the better.
Posted by: Alanc || 03/07/2013 15:56 Comments || Top||

#9  Turns out the Old Guard was dinning with Obama during the filibuster. If that doesn't show their complete lack of connection with their grassroots party, nothing does.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/07/2013 16:36 Comments || Top||

#10  IMA really growing weary of McShame and Graham.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/07/2013 17:50 Comments || Top||

#11  The Old Guard is about as politically effective as a screen door on a Submarine.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 03/07/2013 18:28 Comments || Top||

#12  "The Old Guard is about as politically effective as a screen door on a Submarine."

They keep tbe fish out?
Posted by: Barbara || 03/07/2013 19:12 Comments || Top||

#13  GOP of 2013 = Whigs of 1850. New party, please.
Posted by: SR-71 || 03/07/2013 20:38 Comments || Top||

#14  Carl Levin announced today he was retiring. I wish McCain would do the same.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/07/2013 20:40 Comments || Top||

#15  I started my own party a long time ago. Proud Founder of the Imperialist Warmonger Party. Our Stated goals are:

1. Repurpose blue zones.
2. Take over the World.
3. Invade Space and start colonizing.
Posted by: Silentbrick - Schlumberger Squishy Mud Division || 03/07/2013 21:13 Comments || Top||

#16  I wish McCain would do the same.

We'll see how the numbers look before the start of the campaign.
Posted by: Pappy || 03/07/2013 23:39 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
The Great Senior Sell-Off Could Cause the Next Housing Crisis
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/07/2013 12:02 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [18 views] Top|| File under:

#1  More and more I am thinking the boomers really screwed themselves hard, and in the process this country.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/07/2013 12:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Of course the other trend feeding into lack of starter house purchases is the fact that many of those potential purchasers will spend the first 15-20 years of their working life paying off student debt. They will have to put off buying houses and starting families.
Posted by: Iblis || 03/07/2013 12:09 Comments || Top||

#3  I (Currently) Live in my mom's old house, it's a good home but older, so nobody wants to buy it
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/07/2013 12:32 Comments || Top||

#4  Price = Demand/ Supply

If you want to sell lower the price.

The word for this is called capitalism. Bailing land-owners out to stop property being more affordable is the stupidest thing ever.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 03/07/2013 12:36 Comments || Top||

#5  Also, many municipalities have made a lucrative racket out of demanding all sorts of code compliance upgrades before they will allow a sale to go forward. Things than were just fine while you lived in your home for years are suddenly expensive showstoppers at sale time.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 03/07/2013 13:15 Comments || Top||

#6  Being a member of "Team Boomer" is on my top 5 list of things I am least proud of... especially when I hold my grand kids on my lap.
From the Greatest Generation to the boomer generation Ponzi scheme in one generation.
Posted by: Capsu78 || 03/07/2013 13:30 Comments || Top||

#7  Whoa. Wait a minute. I bought a house and that makes me a bad guy?
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 03/07/2013 14:35 Comments || Top||

#8  I put in the landscape myself, did not hire wetbacks to do it. It looks good too. I spent a butt load of time and money fixing the place up, worked my ass off to make the mortgage payments and this makes me a bad person?
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 03/07/2013 14:41 Comments || Top||

#9  You aren't a bad person, Ebbang Uluque6305. You and all the rest of us just need to wrap our minds around the idea that what we put so much time, effort, and money into is a home, not a profit center.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/07/2013 17:23 Comments || Top||

#10  A man builds a fine house; and now he has a master, and a task for life; he is to furnish, watch, show it, and keep it in repair, the rest of his days.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Society and Solitude: Works and Days, 1870
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/07/2013 20:08 Comments || Top||

#11  You are all bad, bad people. For shame. Putting your own interests and desire for profit ahead of the state. Shame Shame. I'm calling the re-education centers on you.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/07/2013 20:09 Comments || Top||

#12  The popping of the housing bubble began, IMHO, in 2006. The housing crisis is continuing and only massive intervention by the feds is preventing a catastrophic drop in housing prices.
What is this 'next housing crisis' the cited article is referring to?
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/07/2013 21:59 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Palestinians mourn loss of their champion Chavez
Palestinian Territories: Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank were united in grief on Thursday over the death of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, whose untiring support for their cause saw him make blistering attacks on Israel.

The 58-year-old Venezuelan president, who died on Tuesday after a nearly two-year struggle with cancer, was hugely popular with the Palestinians for his outspoken support for their plight.

"This is a great loss for us," president Mahmud Abbas said during a condolence call to the Venezuelan representative's office in Ramallah.

"The Palestinian people will remain faithful to Chavez whose memory will remain engraved in our consciousness in recognition of his courageous support for our right to an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital," he said a day earlier.

The Palestinian love affair with the firebrand Latin American leader began in earnest in January 2009 when he accused Israel of "state terrorism" during its vast 22-day offensive on Gaza and severed all diplomatic ties over its "cruel persecution of the Palestinian people."

Posted by: tipper || 03/07/2013 11:35 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [20 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Missing the free oil already?
Posted by: Raj || 03/07/2013 13:23 Comments || Top||

#2  Chavez got his $2 billion, enjoy poverty, suckers.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 03/07/2013 14:00 Comments || Top||

#3  That's more than Mitt Romney is worth, methinks.
Posted by: Pappy || 03/07/2013 15:42 Comments || Top||

#4  "Palestinians mourn loss of their champion Chavez"

Feeling lonely, paleos? Feeling blue?

Y'all are welcome to join him.
Posted by: Barbara || 03/07/2013 18:09 Comments || Top||

#5  I'm sick of these turds, from now on, Palestinians refers to Israelis. These wackjobs are going to be called what they are: Jordanians. Jordan took their lands, assuming you accept they ever had any.
Posted by: Silentbrick - Schlumberger Squishy Mud Division || 03/07/2013 22:01 Comments || Top||


Europe
2 arrested in French anti-terrorism probe
French officials say two men suspected of plotting terror attacks have been detained.

Officials at the Interior Ministry and the Paris prosecutor's office say intelligence and police officers detained them Thursday in a house in Marignane near the southern city of Marseille. The men are 18 and 20.

The Interior Ministry official says the two were suspected of preparing explosives, and had been under surveillance since November. He says they had been identified as a threat based on their online activity, and that authorities moved in because they believed the two were ready to carry out "terrorist acts." The target and location of the potential attacks are unclear.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to publicly discuss terrorism investigations.
Posted by: tipper || 03/07/2013 11:29 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [12 views] Top|| File under:


-Short Attention Span Theater-
DOD Study: Green Buildings Wasting Tax Dollars, Energy
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/07/2013 11:20 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [18 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Feds say, "You are using the non-cooked data and therefore wrong. Keep wasting money. Our phoney baloney jobs are at stake."
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/07/2013 11:22 Comments || Top||

#2  "Green" is a euphemism for "doesn't work."
Posted by: Iblis || 03/07/2013 12:06 Comments || Top||

#3  Specially green-certified government structures are consuming more water and energy resources than less expensive conventional buildings,
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/07/2013 12:23 Comments || Top||

#4  Green is a euphamism for money. Crooked money apparantly.
Posted by: Rjschwarz || 03/07/2013 22:30 Comments || Top||


James R. Bramlett lands record bass on the Black Warrior River.
Dreadfully off topic for the Burg, but if you've ever fished for bass, the foto sez it all!
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/07/2013 10:06 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [12 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Nice.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/07/2013 12:37 Comments || Top||

#2  Dang! That is one BIG fish.
Posted by: Barbara || 03/07/2013 13:33 Comments || Top||

#3  Holy cow. That's heavier than the tuna my brother caught...
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 03/07/2013 14:05 Comments || Top||

#4  "It's the Michael Moore of fish"
Posted by: Frank G || 03/07/2013 18:40 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
CIA seizes Osama bin Laden's son-in-law after Turkey deportation: Report
Ulululululu *breath* ulululululululu!
Osama bin Laden's son-in-law Sulaiman Abu Ghaith was seized by CIA agents and taken to the United States after Turkey deported him to Jordan this month, a Turkish newspaper reported on Thursday.

Abu Ghaith, the former spokesman of the al-Qaida network, was seized last month at a luxury hotel in Ankara after a tip-off from CIA and was held there by the police despite a US request for his extradition.

Turkish authorities deported Abu Ghaith to Jordan on March 1 to be sent back to Kuwait but he was seized by CIA agents in Jordan and taken to the United States, the Hurriyet newspaper said.

His deportation coincided with a visit by US Secretary of State John Kerry to Ankara as part of a regional tour, it added.

The Turkish foreign ministry declined to comment on the report while the US embassy in Ankara told AFP: "We're aware of the reports."

Ankara considers Abu Ghaith a "stateless" person as he was stripped of his Kuwaiti nationality after appearing in videos defending the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States and threatening further violence.

The United States wanted him extradited over his alleged connection to the attacks.
This article starring:
Sulaiman Abu Ghaith
Posted by: tipper || 03/07/2013 09:53 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [16 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Streaming video, books, movies, Abu Ghaith media interviews from the Broadmoor ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/07/2013 10:43 Comments || Top||

#2  HI JUNIOR!!!
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/07/2013 11:22 Comments || Top||

#3  On an unmarked plane to a secret prison?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/07/2013 12:22 Comments || Top||

#4  On an unmarked plane

Or possibly on the honoourable Jawn's official plane -- the timing is right.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/07/2013 14:25 Comments || Top||

#5  update
Sulaiman Abu Ghaith to appear in court Friday
Osama bin Laden's son-in-law, who has served as al-Qaida spokesman, was captured and has been brought to the United States, two administration officials and a federal law enforcement official said Thursday.

Sulaiman Abu Ghaith is being held in New York, and will appear in court Friday to face federal charges, the law enforcement official said.

A sealed indictment lays out charges against him, the administration officials said.

Abu Ghaith was captured within the past week in Jordan, according to a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Peter King of New York.

Congress was notified when Ghaith was taken into U.S. custody, the administration officials said.

The U.S. Treasury Department has described Abu Ghaith as "the official spokesman of al-Qaida since his appointment to that position after the attacks of September 11, 2001."

He appeared in videos as "the mouthpiece of bin Laden," the department said.
Posted by: tipper || 03/07/2013 14:36 Comments || Top||

#6  Thanks tipper. For a second there I wasn't sure which was worse: a non-story about super scary secret CIA prisons or Abu the Mouth and Jawn chatting it up on a long flight.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/07/2013 14:53 Comments || Top||

#7  His deportation coincided with a visit by US Secretary of State John Kerry to Ankara to deposit the check.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/07/2013 22:27 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Arab League gives go ahead to arm Syria rebels
rab media outlets are playing up the Arab LeagueÂ’s official green light to member countries to supply weapons and other tactical support to the Free Syria Army, as it bids to oust the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

“Arab League allows those who wish to arm the Free Syrian Army” reads the leading headline today in the Saudi-owned daily A-Sharq Al-Awsat. Saudi Arabia has been funding the Syrian rebels for many months now. The announcement, which comes after a meeting of foreign ministers of Arab League countries held in Cairo, also calls for a member of the Syrian opposition to officially take over the Syrian seat at the Arab League summit held in Doha later this month.

The Arab League statement stresses that “the opposition coalition is the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people. . . and the importance of continuing efforts to reach a political solution to the crisis. Emphasis is placed on the right of each state, according to its own willingness, to provide all means of defense, including military, to support the steadfastness of the Syrian people and the Free Syria Army.”

As expected, the Syrian government unequivocally rejected the Arab LeagueÂ’s move.

According to the London-based pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat, “the Syrian Arab Republic emphasizes its firm rejection of the Arab League’s policies or other international efforts in seeking a peaceful solution to the crisis in Syria… The Arab League has chosen to be biased in favor of Arab parties that support foreign military intervention. This hinders any solution based on national dialogue and encourages the opposition and terrorist groups to continue fueling the crisis.”

Two of SyriaÂ’s neighboring countries, Iraq and Lebanon, have issued statements that lend support to the official Syrian position. Both countries are facing political crises of their own at home and are concerned about the Syrian civil war spilling over into their territory.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has stated publicly his fears that sectarian bloodshed in Syria would lead to a major Al-Qaeda presence there and inspire a similar catastrophe in Iraq.

The Qatar-based media channel Al-Jazeera notes that LebanonÂ’s government officially distanced itself from SyriaÂ’s chaos yesterday. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati emphasized his countryÂ’s neutrality on the issue of the Syria.

Mikati has also urged the Lebanese people to refrain from taking sides or doing anything “that might endanger the security of their country or put its stability at risk.”

Adding more fuel to the fire against the Syrian government, former Assad insider Firas Tlass, a childhood friend of the president, military chief, prominent business tycoon and the son of a former Syrian defense minister who has since defected to the rebels, spills details of what he claims are AssadÂ’s secret ties with Israel to Dubai-based media channel Al-Arabiya.
Posted by: tipper || 03/07/2013 07:36 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [13 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: WoT
Al Gore Sued Over Current TV Sale to Al Jazeera
Posted by: tipper || 03/07/2013 06:50 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I love it when the vultures come out to feed.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/07/2013 11:23 Comments || Top||

#2  Well, I guess when a Board Member is the Husband of Feinstein, nobody really needs to make it palatable to law makers.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/07/2013 12:00 Comments || Top||

#3  It has to do with the plaintiff not getting his alleged cut. Nothing to do with principles.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 03/07/2013 14:03 Comments || Top||

#4  Sounds like he was the only real businessman in the room. Hope he has it in writing.

Wait...Currant TV has board members and investors, like in an evil kkorporation?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/07/2013 15:02 Comments || Top||


Michelle Obama and the Anti-Semite
Posted by: tipper || 03/07/2013 05:58 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The boot licking continues.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/07/2013 8:32 Comments || Top||

#2  update
Michelle Obama and Kerry to Hold Off Giving Award to Anti-Semitic 9/11 Fan
Now the State Department says she won't be honored Friday because of anti-American and anti-Semitic comments on her Twitter account.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Thursday officials will first study the tweets, which include support for attacks against U.S. diplomatic installations and praise for a terrorist assault against Israeli citizens in Bulgaria.

Ibrahim is already in the U.S. She says her account was hacked, though the comments stretch back several months.
Posted by: tipper || 03/07/2013 15:49 Comments || Top||

#3  ZOMG! A Harry's Place link on Rantburg!

If the reverse happens, I'll know that Hell has finally frozen over.
Posted by: Angie Schultz || 03/07/2013 18:24 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
Furious Over Sanctions, NKorea Vows To Nuke US
North Korea is vowing a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the United States. The harsh rhetoric Thursday comes hours ahead of a vote by U.N. diplomats on whether to level new sanctions against Pyongyang for its recent nuclear test.

An unidentified spokesman for Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry said the North will exercise its right for "pre-emptive nuclear strikes on the headquarters of the aggressors" because Washington is pushing to start a nuclear war against the North.

Such inflammatory rhetoric is common from North Korea. But it has been coming regularly in recent days. North Korea is angry over the possible sanctions and over upcoming U.S.-South Korean military drills.
Posted by: tipper || 03/07/2013 04:33 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [15 views] Top|| File under:

#1  North Korea vows nuclear attack on US, as UN prepares to vote on sanctions
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 03/07/2013 6:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Dear North Korea,
Please could you remind us which is your 193rd largest city so we know where to send our demands for your unconditional surrender in 20 minutes time.
Love,
Just one Ohio class submarine.
Posted by: Lionel Panda6719 || 03/07/2013 7:34 Comments || Top||

#3 
Redacted. Don't do that. Don't go there.

AoS.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/07/2013 8:51 Comments || Top||

#4  As if anyone needed another reason to leave California.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/07/2013 9:23 Comments || Top||

#5  ..yeah, sort of fitting that the lucrative targets are large 'blue' concentrations on the Left coast. Who needs a missile defense system when you can spend money on power social justice. I say its time to call their bluff.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/07/2013 9:32 Comments || Top||

#6  so where did I put my SPF 1000 sunblock? i know it's somewhere here in my house in California ... just buried under the Hollywood gossip magazines :-)
Posted by: Raider || 03/07/2013 9:35 Comments || Top||

#7  ..I thought it was recalled by the FDA for excessively high lead content?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/07/2013 9:39 Comments || Top||

#8  IIRC, the one thing that will trigger a nuclear response from the US is a nuclear attack on us or certain allies. (Israel not included, of course.)

As Lone Panda said, a single Ohio class boomer could turn much of North Korea into radioactive grit in a few minutes. We have 18 of them.

Of course, this assumes that O would issue the order instead of going to Pyongyang and begging their forgiveness.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 03/07/2013 9:57 Comments || Top||

#9  A strategic time now that Panetta is gone. Is this a test for Hagel?
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/07/2013 10:03 Comments || Top||

#10  Almost sounds like "suicide by police."
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 03/07/2013 10:20 Comments || Top||

#11  Sounds like it, doesn't it Almost?

Either that or they ain't very bright.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/07/2013 11:10 Comments || Top||

#12  Hey - not all of us here in the Peoples Republic of Washington State are blue. In fact I think if they take out Seattle - Washington will instantly become Red.

Rambler - Third option - Obama Surrenders.

This is what happens when we elect a limp-dickwrist to the white house. Pugsley woudn't have the guts to make a threat like that for Bush.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 03/07/2013 12:03 Comments || Top||

#13  CF, you may have just removed Seattle from the target list.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/07/2013 12:19 Comments || Top||

#14  Nuke the little bastard. He's gone too far. Let his Chinese puppet masters know there is a line and this time they've crossed it. It's no good hoping for peace when clearly they do not intend to stop unless we make them stop.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 03/07/2013 12:32 Comments || Top||

#15  Japanese are getting a little worried.

N. Korea shows some signs of preparing for war
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 03/07/2013 13:06 Comments || Top||

#16  They need to destroy their country to save it.
Posted by: Perfesser || 03/07/2013 13:39 Comments || Top||

#17  Executive order recinding the assassination ban combined with a bounty on Dear Leader's head might make him think twice about these occasional wild threats.

Combine that with an end to all discussions with China until China deals with their little monster.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 03/07/2013 14:46 Comments || Top||

#18  I'd also remind China that (a) nuclear blasts in North Korea would probably create a mess for the whole region (b) if Korea eventually unites they will be nuclear armed.

Perhaps it is time for China to show they are a great power and throttle the little leader and work to get the Koreas united in a way China can somewhat control.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 03/07/2013 14:48 Comments || Top||

#19  Perhaps it is time for China to show they are a great power and throttle the little leader and work to get the Koreas united in a way China can somewhat control.

That's like asking a dog handler to throttle his Doberman.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 03/07/2013 18:07 Comments || Top||

#20  Why don't they nuke China? It's closer...
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/07/2013 22:04 Comments || Top||

#21  USS GEORGE WASHINGTON [ + BatGru] I'm a'lookin at you.

On a separate note, a fellow restaurant patron claims he was told by his third-party friend from Chuuk [Truk] state that Chuuk + other Member-States of the FSM are ready to stop or end their Compact Agrement wid the USA + vote to become a CHINESE TERRITORY.

Iff true, it reminds me of the 1930's when Guam was surrounded by Japanese bases throughout Micronesia, save now in the 21st Century the bases may be CHINESE.

Besides avoiding a Limited or Full-scale Conventional-Nuclear Conflict wid China oer the Diaoyus/Senkakus [SSSHHHHH ... CCCCCC, read
"TAIWAN" in China-speak], IMO the only other way by which the Bammer can avoid a mil conflict agz China is to expand US borrowing from China in order to service or resolve the US Debt as per "Sequester/Sequestration", WHERE CHINA IS STILL LIKELY TO DEMAND CERTAIN CONDITIONS BE MET BY THE BAMMER ADMIN = USA E.G. THE UNILATERAL REDUCTION, CLOSURE, OR PULLOUT OF USDOD ASSETS FROM SELECT EAST ASIA + PACIFIC OCEAN AREAS.

Lest we fergit, Perts are saying that at current rates the Bammer Admin = USA is likely to achieve a excessive level of debt by EOY 2016 which was not anticipated to be achieved by the USA until year 2020-2022 or 2025. SUCH A CRUSHING LEVEL OF NATIONAL DEBT HAS TO BE PAID OFF SOMEHOW, + RIGHT NOW THAT MEANS BORROWING FROM CHINA.

The US "pivot" to Asia may turn out to be a debt-focused, geopol "bow" to the Chinese Emperor = now Beijing + CPC???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/07/2013 22:35 Comments || Top||

#22  North Korea says it ends peace pacts with South
North Korea says it is scrapping all non-aggression pacts with South Korea, closing its hotline with Seoul and shutting their shared border point.

The announcement follows a fresh round of UN sanctions punishing Pyongyang for its nuclear test last month.

Earlier, Pyongyang said it reserved the right to a pre-emptive nuclear strike against its "aggressors".

The US said it took the threats seriously, but that "extreme rhetoric" was not unusual for Pyongyang.
Posted by: tipper || 03/07/2013 23:24 Comments || Top||

#23  See also STARS-N-STRIPES, WORLD NEWS > NORTH KOREA: KOREAN WAR BACK ON, iff US-ROK proceed wid scheduled MilEx come March 11th.

* RELATED WORLD NEWS > NORTH KOREA CANCELS HOTLINE, NON-AGGRESSION PACT WID SOUTH.

* RELATED SAME > NORTH KOREA CANCELS ALL PEACE PACTS WID SOUTH.

versus

* PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > USAF CHIEF SAYS 70% OF A-L-L US COMBAT AIRCRAFT [to be]"NON-COMBAT CAPABLE BY JULY" [2013], as due mainly to SEQUESTER/SEQUESTRATION cutbacks.

* WORLD NEWS > [Zee News] US GENERALS CONCERNED ON GROWING CHINESE PRESENCE IN PACIFIC.

versus

* IIRC STARS-N-STRIPES > [GOP-controlled] US HOUSE PASSES SPENDING BILL TO PREVENT MARCH MELTDOWN, come March 27th.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/08/2013 0:01 Comments || Top||


Europe
Sephardic Jews invited back to Spain after 500 years
More than 500 years ago, tens of thousands of Jews fled Spain because of persecution. Now their descendants are being invited to return.

Before the infamous Spanish Inquisition of the 15th Century, some 300,000 Jews lived in Spain. It was one of the largest communities of Jews in the world.

Today, there are about 40,000 or 50,000 - but that number could be about to swell dramatically.

In total, about 100,000 Jews fled Spain in the course of the 15th Century. Some went to North Africa, but most settled in the economic powerhouse of the day, the Ottoman Empire - which then stretched from Hungary to Turkey, and beyond that to the south, and was expanding.

About 90% of Jews in modern-day Turkey are Sephardic Jews. Roni Rodrigue, 55, a car dealer in Istanbul, has already claimed his Spanish passport.

"At the time of the Ottoman Empire, the Sultan was said to have commented that he couldn't understand why a great Spanish king like Ferdinand would go without the Jews - who were such a source of wealth - and just give them to him," says Maria Josep Estanyol, a historian at the University of Barcelona.

Estanyol doubts very many will re-establish roots in Spain.

"Given how disastrous things are here today, I'd advise against it," she says.

Whatever the motivation, some Muslim scholars are denouncing the offer as unfair. They point out that their ancestors were expelled from Spain during the Inquisition. But no-one is inviting them back.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/07/2013 04:01 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [18 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "At the time of the Ottoman Empire, the Sultan was said to have commented that he couldn't understand why a great Spanish king like Ferdinand would go without the Jews - who were such a source of wealth - and just give them to him," says Maria Josep Estanyol, a historian at the University of Barcelona.

Ferdinand and Isabella borrowed money to wage the final war to expel the Moors from Spain in the Reconquesta. Once they expelled the Moors in 1492, they then expelled those to whom they owed the financial debt which financed the war. Leaving a little change in the pocket to finance a Genoan's idea to finding a new route to the Far East since old route east had been occupied by the Ottomans after the fall of Constantinople and their Portuguese neighbors were already nosing south around the African Cape of Good Hope. As they say, the rest is history.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/07/2013 9:13 Comments || Top||

#2  The Laffer Curve of immigration, or do we actually now accept the Jew ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/07/2013 9:50 Comments || Top||

#3  "Muslim scholars are denouncing the offer as unfair. They point out that their ancestors were expelled from Spain during the Inquisition. But no-one is inviting them back."

Gee, I wonder why?

/sarc
Posted by: Barbara || 03/07/2013 10:27 Comments || Top||

#4  The PIGS have a lot of catching up to do.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/07/2013 11:09 Comments || Top||

#5  I would advise going to Israel over Spain.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/07/2013 11:12 Comments || Top||

#6  Why move to Spain to be broke, when I can be broke right here without having to learn Spanish?
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 03/07/2013 11:44 Comments || Top||

#7  An act of desperation by a country that can't think of any other way to fix the economy.

They haven't grown their own workers for a generation, and it shows. First they tried bringing in Muslims from the southern shore of the Mediterranean, which didn't work out well, then labourers from the Hispanic Americas, who cost the earth in unemployment payments when the economy went south, so they shipped 'em back, and now in desperation they are offering citizenship to those clever, hard-working Jews... Only most of the Jews who take the citizenship won't move "home", bringing their magical economy-boost with them. Nor will they pull an Israel and drive out the colonizing Muslims for them, nor hand over a portion of their foreign earnings as taxes for the privilege of a sentimental second citizenship.

It's like all those plans that start with "First, assemble ingredients," then have a series of blanks before finishing triumphantly with "Become king of the world!"
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/07/2013 14:21 Comments || Top||

#8  It's like all those plans that start with "First, assemble ingredients," then have a series of blanks before finishing triumphantly with "Become king of the world!"

Spanish Underwear Gnomes?
Posted by: Pappy || 03/07/2013 15:48 Comments || Top||

#9  Or Phillip II.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/07/2013 16:04 Comments || Top||

#10  Only most of the Jews who take the citizenship won't move "home", bringing their magical economy-boost with them.

Some Turkish Jews might, given the warning signs emanating from Erdogan's AKP. The US is too free market and too competitive, and Israel is too much of a state at war, whereas Spain is a country at peace where the locals have forgotten how to compete. And the transition from Ladino to Castilian Spanish isn't, relatively-speaking, all that great.

Posted by: Zhang Fei || 03/07/2013 17:15 Comments || Top||

#11  Some Turkish Jews might, given the warning signs emanating from Erdogan's AKP.

Good point, Zhang Fei -- and one I shouldn't have missed. Also some of the Jews now enjoying the North African Spring, who've also ejected moving to Israel or the U.S.

And yes, Pappy. I never expect the Spanish Underwear Gnomes. ;-) Thanks!
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/07/2013 17:46 Comments || Top||

#12  If they accept conversos, I expect a flood of Latin American immigration into Spain.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 03/07/2013 18:09 Comments || Top||

#13  They'd be fools to return.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/07/2013 20:43 Comments || Top||

#14  Zhang Fei, according to an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, the Jews of Turkey are indeed paying attention to Erdogan.
Link
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/07/2013 22:56 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syria Says It Discovered Israeli Spying Equipment
[Times of Israel] Syrian officials claimed to have captured Israeli espionage equipment deep inside the country Wednesday.

Authorities near the country's coast were said to have found Israeli devices capable of wiretapping, photographing, recording and broadcasting data, according to a brief report in the regime-run Syrian Arab News Agency.

The report added that the devices were found after "monitoring and investigations."

Israel had no immediate response.

Israel has been accused in the past of planting listening devices in Leb.

Also on Wednesday, Five Lebanese nationals were charged with collaborating with Israel, Lebanese media reported. The five are living in Paleostinian territories and two of them have obtained Israeli citizenship, according to the report.
Ynet adds the devices were found on a beach.
Perhaps it all just washed ashore...
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/07/2013 02:07 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [12 views] Top|| File under:

#1  To paraphrase John Wayne -

"If you discovered it, it wasn't Israeli."
Posted by: GORT || 03/07/2013 11:22 Comments || Top||

#2  An aquatic squirrel.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 03/07/2013 16:03 Comments || Top||


Olde Tyme Religion
What the Catholic Church can learn from the Muslim experience
[Washington Post]
A not very long opinion piece telling the Catholic Church how it should be doing things.
Nathan Lean is the editor-in-chief of Aslan Media and the author of the three books, including the award-winning "The Islamophobia Industry: How the Right Manufactures Fear of Muslims." He resides in Washington, D.C.
I think that means he's not a theologian. I'm guessing he's not a Catholic, either. And he's obviously not a Rantburg reader.
He writes in HuffPo which rather tells you everything you need to know...
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  When given the choice to support an ideology that respects rational argument verses an ideology that doesn't, the rational person ought choose the former.

Thus, any rational person ought reject Islam.
Posted by: rammer || 03/07/2013 0:40 Comments || Top||

#2  Maybe if the Catholics practiced violence and intimidation, they would get more respect. When was the last time they beheaded anyone?
Posted by: SteveS || 03/07/2013 1:16 Comments || Top||

#3  I stopped reading at Aslan Media. The fact Mr. Lean lives in D.C. and writes for the HuffPo were overkill.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/07/2013 3:59 Comments || Top||

#4  I didn't read past the headline, having learned from past experience.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/07/2013 4:52 Comments || Top||

#5  Public bigotry against authentic Catholics is highly fashionable in the education industry and amongst the cultural elite. If you are not an anti-Catholic bigot you won't go far in those quarters, outside of a few (but not all) Catholic institutions.

Bigotry against Muslims anywhere lands you in jail.

Any questions?

Posted by: no mo uro || 03/07/2013 5:55 Comments || Top||

#6  Here's BP's "What the Catholic Church can learn from the Muslim experience"

Basically Catholics need to do lots of violent things to make the public phobic of them.

They could also setup no-go areas for non-catholics.

They should stop working and just collect benefits.

Lying to non-catholics should no longer be a sin.

Blow up a few Mosques.

In majority Catholic countries execute those who convert.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 03/07/2013 6:27 Comments || Top||

#7  ..and gain major control of one of the more important elements required by modern civilizations with sufficient ability to cause major economic and social unrest if cut off all while playing a guilt cards over diversity.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/07/2013 9:18 Comments || Top||

#8  It's better to have a dead prophet than one who abdicates?
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/07/2013 10:05 Comments || Top||

#9  "If you're going to be an asshole, be a violent asshole. It gets more respect."
Posted by: Muggsy Mussolini1226 || 03/07/2013 14:40 Comments || Top||

#10  Better to jump into the Mediterranian than be captured by Barbarossa?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/07/2013 15:49 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
New O'Keefe Video: Cops Say 'You're On Your Own' Without Gun
Project Veritas video.

James O'Keefe's latest video shows the ugly truth: if you don't own a gun, you are on your own. In the video, he goes into police stations (predominately in the anti-gun Northeast) and collects a shocking harvest of responses from officers about how the police have no ability to protect them. Traffic and time prevent effective responses to 911 calls. O'Keefe's undercover protagonist pushes the issue, "well, how am I supposed to protect my family if I don't have a gun?"

"You're on your own," is the common response. Others suggest defending your family with bleach, 2 x 4′s, yelling, or holding a cell phone to your ear and pretending you are talking to the police. It demonstrates the immorality of gun control policies in places like New York and New Jersey. One New York cop says a "shotgun or rifle is a luxury." A government acts immorally when it prevents you from defending the lives of your children. If you care about keeping your family free from violence, move South.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [12 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Lest we fergit, come 2015 the Globalists + aligned desire for the US to be akin to a "borderless" country - DAT MEANS THAT WHATEVER YOUR BELIEFS, CRITICISMS, OR COMPLAINTS NOW ABOUT HOW US BORDERS ARE POROUS OR UN-PROTECTED, IT WILL BE MUCH M-U-C-H WORSE THEN.

Save Americans = Amerikans of the OWG mighty USSA = OWG Weak USRoA Global SSR MAY NOT HAVE THEIR GUNS TO PROTECT THEMSELVES ANYMORE.

What diffferentiates a US Citizen-Resident from a Foreign Worker or Illegal in borderless post-2015 OWG Amerika is one's personal RFID chip bio-implant, among other.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/07/2013 1:05 Comments || Top||

#2  I have, and carry, you should too, don't let the morons take over.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/07/2013 8:35 Comments || Top||

#3  'You're On Your Own'

I much prefer it that way.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/07/2013 8:37 Comments || Top||

#4  It's common sense, really. Good cops know very well that they almost will never get to your home in time to save you after you call 911. As the old saying goes, "when seconds count the police are just minutes away."

So I'm not surprised that the cops acknowledge this. I'm a fair bit disheartened to hear that their common sense stops at that point -- bleach? yelling?

If a social miscreant burgled a cop's house while the cop was home, how do you think the miscreant would be confronted -- bleach or a .38 special?

The answer to that question answers the issue.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/07/2013 8:58 Comments || Top||

#5  Leave the job to government 'professionals' because its worked so well in education. /sarc off
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/07/2013 9:19 Comments || Top||

#6  I thought the bleach was to clean up the carpet after the coroner and his new "toe tagged" buddy have left the building.
I better go back and review my security plans.
Posted by: Capsu78 || 03/07/2013 10:12 Comments || Top||

#7  Yes. Because I keep bleach an ammonia right there in my bedroom, unlocked so my kids can get into it.

I'm more likely to have a lighter and hairspray before heading to the cleaners cabinet...which is locked on account of my kids; those zip-tie ones I can barely get open on a good day.

And its not a shocking harvest, its the damn truth. I bet I could get from an outside door to the furthest reach of my house in less than 10 seconds. What's your PD's response time?

Capsu, I don't know if you want to bleach the carpet. Have some fun, what do they say on tv accessorize! Get an area rug colored like a mound of dirt.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/07/2013 12:13 Comments || Top||

#8  So I'm not surprised that the cops acknowledge this. I'm a fair bit disheartened to hear that their common sense stops at that point -- bleach? yelling?

They don't want to risk being shot by the homeowner when they arrive. Friendly fire, so to speak, is much more demoralizing than being shot by bad guys. Nonetheless, that oughtn't entitle them to disarm the good guys merely for their own peace of mind.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/07/2013 12:55 Comments || Top||

#9  Being shot by a responder would be a bad day as well. I have one of those safety vests and a very bright hat so that I can easily and definitively discribe to dispatch what the good guy looks like; just in case Rookie Officer Jittery and his side kick Billy B.A. show up.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/07/2013 16:12 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
BNP, allies go for oust-govt movement
[Bangla Daily Star] The BNP-led 18-party opposition alliance last night decided to go for "one-point movement" to overthrow the government, sources said.

Jamaat-e-Islami
...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
, a key component in the alliance, however, would carry on its ongoing movement demanding release of its top leaders facing war crimes charges.

The decision was made at an hour-long meeting of the alliance with BNP chief Khaleda Zia
Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ...
in the chair at her Gulshan office last night.

Meeting sources told The Daily Star that it was the BNP chief who actually proposed waging a one-point movement under the banner of 18-party alliance to topple the government, a top leader of a component of the alliance said.

"Leaders of the 18-party alliance welcomed the BNP chief's proposal saying that the alliance should have gone for such movement a long time ago," the leader told The Daily Star requesting anonymity.

"In reply, she [Khaleda Zia] said, 'let's forget the past and work for the future'," the leader said.

The meeting also decided to take up tougher programmes in the coming days.

Emerging from yesterday's meeting, National Democratic Party chief Shawkat Hossain Nilu told The Daily Star that today's countrywide daylong hartal
... a peculiarly Bangla combination of a general strike and a riot, used by both major political groups in lieu of actual governance ...
would be enforced by the 18-party alliance, instead of just the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami.

The BNP had called the hartal after its rally in front of its Naya Paltan head office was foiled yesterday afternoon. Jamaat called for the hartal today minutes later.

The last meeting of the opposition alliance was held on January 28.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Libya rebels end sit-in
[MAGHAREBIA] Libyan politicians on Tuesday (March 5th) returned to the national assembly building in Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
after a month-long occupation.

Assembly members "took possession of the premises after an agreement was struck with the former rebels", official news agency LANA reported.

Veterans of the revolution had been occupying the General National Congress (GNC) hall since February 3rd. The sit-in forced assembly members to meet in a nearby hotel.

The former rebels, among them amputees, mounted the protest to demand lifetime pensions and medical treatment abroad.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

#1  The former rebels, among them amputees, mounted the protest to demand lifetime pensions and medical treatment abroad.

Under the US State Department's "Wounded Jihadi Warriors program", the rebels must first be flown to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center for evaluation. There they will be issued cover-names, visas, and flown to Bethesda Naval Hospital for long term, follow-on treatment. Secretary of State Kerry will conduct periodic clandestine visits to Bethesda to monitor their progress.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/07/2013 4:26 Comments || Top||

#2  If there wasn't a Shoot in, don't bother me.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/07/2013 8:43 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Fifteen Years for Bahraini Shiite in Bomb Case
[An Nahar] A court in Bahrain on Wednesday condemned a protester accused of involvement in a kaboom on police in a Shiite village to 15 years in prison, the official BNA news agency reported.

It quoted a judiciary source as saying that the High Criminal Court in Manama handed down the sentence to the unidentified defendant on charges that included "attempted murder of members of the security forces."

The suspect was also charged with "possessing and making explosives for terrorist purposes" and "detonating an bomb to intimidate and spread panic."

The agency said two coppers were maimed in the incident in the village of Sitra.

Explosives were placed inside a scale model of the former Pearl Square in the capital, the focal point for Shiite-led anti-regime protests in February and March 2011, and detonated remotely when the officers approached.

BNA did not say when the attack took place.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [18 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


India-Pakistan
Two bombs defused in Peshawar
[Dawn] Police defused two improvised bombs in limits of Mattani cop shoppe in suburbs of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
on Tuesday.

An official of the rural police said each bomb weighed about 12 kilogram which had been packed in pressure cookers. He said that one bomb had been planted along a road in Yousuf Khel area and the other on track leading to Adezai village.

He said one of the explosives had been defused early in the morning and the other in the afternoon. He said that the apparent target of the bombs was police and volunteers of the Adezai Qaumi Lashkar.

The officials of Mattani police said some local informers had given information to police and thus personnel of the bomb disposal unit were immediately called, who defused the bombs.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [12 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Britain to give Syria rebels body armour, vehicles
[Al Ahram] British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Wednesday that non-lethal military aid, worth $20 million (15.4 million euros), was a "necessary, proportionate and lawful response" to a situation of "extreme" humanitarian suffering in Syria.

"The fact remains that diplomacy is taking far too long and the prospect of an immediate breakthrough is slim," he told parliament.

The announcement comes after the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
authorised on Thursday last week the supply of non-lethal military equipment and training to the Syrian opposition.

Britannia has already provided them with equipment such as power generators and communications devices worth £9.4 million ($14.2 million, 10.9 euros).

But Hague said his government was being forced to move towards "more active efforts" in a bid to end the violence.

"We will also now provide new types of non-lethal equipment for the protection of civilians, going beyond what we have given before," he said.

"It will certainly include, for instance, armoured four-wheel drive vehicles to help opposition figures move around more freely, as well as personal protection equipment including body armour."

Britannia will also give the rebels equipment to test for the possible use of chemical weapons by the regime, he added.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Birthday Gam Shot

Laura Prepon [Filmography](age 33)



"Surf's Up"

Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 03/07/2013 0:49 Comments || Top||

#2  That a'nt all that's up.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/07/2013 8:53 Comments || Top||

#3  surf? where?
Posted by: Frozen Al || 03/07/2013 14:18 Comments || Top||

#4  It's Kimberly Guifoyle's birthday
Posted by: Beavis || 03/07/2013 17:56 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
I support Al-Nusra Front against the Syrian regime, Wally sez says
[Al Ahram] Lebanon's Druze leader Walid Jumblatt has sided with the rebel Al-Nusra Front, a jihadist group which Washington lists as a "terrorist organisation', in the Syrian conflict.

"I support Al-Nusra Front against the Syrian regime," Jumblatt said in an interview with Al-Akhbar newspaper published on Wednesday.

"The Syrian people has the right to side with the devil -- except with Israel -- against the regime," said Jumblatt, a fierce foe of President Bashar al-Assad although he was once an ally of his late predecessor and father, Hafez al-Assad.

"I am acting to protect the (Syrian) Druze. The Alawites (Assad's community) will go back to their mountain, but the Druze live in a sea of Sunnis," said Jumblatt.

While most anti-Assad rebels -- like the majority of Syria's population -- are Sunni, the country's minorities have mostly stayed on the sidelines of the two-year-old conflict in Lebanon's neighbour.

Among them are Syria's Druze, many of who live in the south, next to the majority Sunni area of Hauran.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [14 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  "this week"
Posted by: Frank G || 03/07/2013 10:41 Comments || Top||

#2  And it seems to me
You live your life
Like a candle in the wind...
Posted by: Dopey Sinatra9196 || 03/07/2013 19:41 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Libya Interim Head's Car Comes under Fire
[An Nahar] The car of Libya's interim leader came under fire in Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
as he left a chaotic session of the national assembly disrupted by protesters, without causing casualties, the interior minister said Wednesday.

"The car of the General National Congress speaker (Mohammed al-Megeryef) came under fire as assembly members left in a state of total confusion" on Tuesday night, Ashur Shwayel told a presser.

The demonstrators who disrupted the session of the General National Congress, the highest authority in Libya, in effect making Megeryef the country's interim leader, were armed and some carried explosives, said the minister.

Dozens of protesters insisting the national assembly adopt a bill banning from politics associates of former dictator Muammar Qadaffy
... one of those little rainstorms from the Arab Spring...
blocked MPs from leaving the meeting room in a southern suburb of Tripoli.

The official news agency LANA, quoting an assembly official, said Megeryef's car came under heavy gunfire. It was unclear if the attack was "an liquidation bid or a collateral incident," the official said.

The bill is controversial because it could put more than 30 members of the General National Congress out of office, including al-Megeryef and even Prime Minister Ali Zeidan.

Proposed in December, the bill would ban from politics all officials of the Qadaffy regime and their associates.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [17 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

#1  Wait until Libya becomes an advanced nation; then they can do all their attacks through the media instead.
Posted by: Pappy || 03/07/2013 10:21 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran arrests 2 journalists, bans reform papers
[Al Ahram] Iranian authorities have incarcerated
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
two journalists and banned three reformist publications, part of a crackdown on news media.

The latest moves are seen in the context of rivalries among political factions ahead of June's presidential election.

A report by semi-official ISNA news agency Wednesday says agents from Tehran prosecutor's office jugged
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
managing editor Mohammad Mahdi Emami Nasseri and political editor Ali Reza Aghaeirad of the reformist Maghreb daily over an article that criticized President Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad last month.

ISNA also quoted politician Ali Motahari as saying that prosecutor's office has banned three reformist periodicals -- Mehrnameh and Tajrobeh monthlies and the weekly Asseman. He gave no further details.

In recent months Iran has escalated its press crackdown, arresting dozens of journalists for alleged cooperation with foreign-based Persian-language media organizations.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Africa North
Rebels holding UN team investigated for past executions
[Al Ahram] Human Rights Watch
... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world...
said it was investigating the same rebel brigade that seized 20 United Nations
...Parkinson's Law on an international scale...
peacekeepers on Wednesday for executing captured Syrian soldiers earlier this week.

Peter Bouckaert of the human rights
...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions...
monitoring group told Rooters it was investigating the involvement of the "Martyrs of Yarmouk" brigade in a videotaped execution of nabbed
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
Syrian soldiers posted on the Internet on Tuesday.

The UN says about 20 peacekeepers in the force charged with monitoring the cease-fire between Israel and Syrian troops on the Golan Heights have been detained by approximately 30 armed fighters.

UN deputy front man Eduardo del Buey says the UN observers were on a regular supply mission Wednesday when they were stopped near an observation post which sustained damage and was evacuated last weekend following heavy combat.

He said the UN peacekeeping mission has dispatched a team to assess the situation and attempt a resolution.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra

#1  Syria rebels want troop pullback before they free U.N. men
Rebels holding 21 U.N. peacekeepers near the Golan Heights in southern Syria say government forces must leave the area before they free their "guests", an activist in touch with the fighters said on Thursday.

Rami Abdelrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights quoted a spokesman for the "Martyrs of Yarmouk" rebel brigade as saying the peacekeepers were being held as "guests" in the village of Jamla, about a mile from a ceasefire line with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

"He said they will not be harmed. But the rebels want the Syrian army and tanks to pull back from the area," Abdelrahman said after speaking to the rebel spokesman on Thursday morning.
Posted by: tipper || 03/07/2013 6:56 Comments || Top||

#2  Welcome to the Martyrs of Yarmouk brigade. I, Fazil Musaka am your unit sponsor. If you have further questions, please contact the Brigade Sergeant Major. I, Fazil Musaka have already been martyred.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/07/2013 8:16 Comments || Top||

#3  Israel Concerned UN will Leave Golan After Abductions
Israel on Thursday expressed concern that the UN peacekeeping force in the Golan Heights could pull out altogether after Syrian rebels snatched 21 of their troops in the ceasefire zone bordering Israel. The soldiers, Filipino members of the UNDOF peacekeeping force, were taken hostage on Wednesday by gunmen who said they would be held until troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad pulled back from Jamla village in the southern province of Daraa.

“This kidnapping is likely to convince countries who participate in this force to bring their troops home, which would undoubtedly create a dangerous vacuum in no man's land on the Golan,” an Israeli official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Since its creation, this force has fulfilled its mission, which was to keep the peace," he said.
Posted by: tipper || 03/07/2013 10:32 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Karzai calls on Afghan troops to clean up own act
[Dawn] The Afghan president on Wednesday called on his security forces to end incidents of torture and abuse of the Afghan people, a shift from past speeches that have solely blamed Nato troops for the violations in the country.

In an address to parliament, Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai
... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use...
said Afghan forces are also violating their own people's rights, making it harder for him to raise the issue when abuses are carried out by foreigners.

"It's not forgivable ... Our Afghan people are not safe in their houses," because of Afghan troops' treatment, he said. "Why should I blame foreigners?"

The Afghan leader said he did not initially want to believe reports that his own security forces had tortured prisoners, for instance, but that now he was calling on Afghan forces to respect human rights
One man's rights are another man's existential threat.

An Afghan government investigation last month found widespread cases of abuse at government-run prisons, backing up the results of a UN investigation that Karzai had initially repudiated.

Karzai's speech is likely to be welcomed by diplomats who have called on him to acknowledge his own troops' responsibility for incidents of abuse.

But with the remarks, the Afghan leader also made a veiled reference to his recent calls for the withdrawal of US special operations forces from Wardak province, neighboring Kabul, because of alleged incidents of abuse by US and Afghan forces there.

US officials have said they are investigating the allegations.

Karzai also called on the Afghan Taliban to acknowledge his offer to open negotiations with them through an official Taliban office, which is due to open in Qatar. The senior Taliban leadership has not responded to the offer.

And in a possibly troubling statement for the international community, Karzai criticised the cost of the last presidential elections, saying that paying for international advisers and enablers drove up the price of each vote to between $30 and $40.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [12 views] Top|| File under:


Bangladesh
Jamaat makes AL men 'Muslim'
[Bangla Daily Star] They were born and raised as Mohammedans. Yet, according to Jamaat leaders, they are not Mohammedan enough because they are not involved with Jamaat politics. Instead, they are with Awami League politics.

So to make them sufficiently Mohammedan, the Jamaat men in Panchbibi upazila of Joypurhat caught 16 AL activists, forced them into a mosque and then administered "tauba" (oath of penance).

"We've become non-Mohammedan for supporting Awami League. We're now promising to be Jamaat to become Mohammedan again. Those who support Awami League are Jewish and if we breach this oath, we will become non-Mohammedan again. Ameen," the 16 men, aged between 22 and 45, said after the imam.

The "tauba" took place at Bharahuta Jame Mosque around 11:30am on Monday in front of some 300 villagers, witnesses said, adding that the victims were all from Bharahuta village.

Moiz Uddin, a holy man of another mosque of the same area, administered the rare oath when local Jamaat leader Zafir Uddin and a BNP activist Abdul Khaleque were present. Zafir Uddin is locally known as Razakar.

Many AL supporters left the area following the incident.

Locals said Abdur Rahim, known to be an influential BNP figure, two Jamaat leaders Abdul Malek Master and Siddique and Ashraf Ali, an office assistant at Ali Mostafabia Fazil madrasa of the area, oversaw the oath.

Despite repeated attempts none of these men could be reached over the phone except for Ashraf.

He dismissed his connection with the incident and went on to deny that the forcible "tauba" ever took place.

But district superintendent of police Hamidul Alam confirmed the incident to The Daily Star yesterday.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [15 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami


Afghanistan
Taliban kill 17 captured Afghan soldiers: Officials
[Al Ahram] Talibs have killed 17 captured Afghan soldiers in the far northeast in one of the deadliest single attacks on local forces in recent years, officials said on Wednesday.

The men were taken hostage in Badakhshan on Saturday while guarding a convoy. Their bodies were discovered by local people in the relatively peaceful mountainous province, which borders Tajikistan, China and Pakistain.

"The enemy have executed 17 soldiers whose bodies were found last night," provincial deputy police chief Sayed Jahangir Keramat said. "Seven other soldiers were released in exchange for some Taliban prisoners."

The attack came as local forces take over responsibility for tackling the Taliban from the NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
-led military coalition.

"Last night locals found 17 bullet-riddled bodies of Afghan soldiers in Warduj district," Abdul Marouf Rasekh, front man for the provincial governor, told AFP, confirming several others had been released after talks led by tribal elders.

The Taliban grabbed credit for the attack but said the deaths had occurred during fighting rather than after the soldiers had been captured.

"The soldiers were all killed in the battlefield," Taliban front man Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement sent to AFP.

"A huge amount of munitions and two vehicles were also seized," he added.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1 
Posted by: Snise Cruter2274 || 03/07/2013 0:23 Comments || Top||

#2  Love your meat butcher picture. I was close up to a meat cutter with his blood stained apron. His eyes were big because of his glasses. With knife in hand he begins to sign and dance this tune; Her lips were red like a roosters dink. Her hair was a horse shit brown. Her tits hung lose like the balls on a moose and she came from a chick chick town. I mentioned it to him in later years and he remembered nothing. You can see I remembered word for word. He made an impression on myself. Yes, a little saucy but real life shop talk.
Posted by: Dale || 03/07/2013 7:34 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Dozens clash with police near US embassy in Cairo
[Al Ahram] Clashes re-erupted Wednesday between tens of protesters and police near the US embassy where security presence is most intense. Protesters, mostly young, blocked the Nile Corniche with a tree as they continued to throw rocks at the police.

It is unclear what triggered the restart of violence. However,
alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk...
intermittent festivities in the area have been ongoing for three days.

Since the January 25 Revolution second anniversary, violence has escalated in Cairo and other governorates after mass anti-government protests erupted into the streets. Port Said has seen a civil disobedience campaign in protest at perceived marginalisation by the government.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [13 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

#1  It is unclear what triggered the restart of violence

Another YouTube video?
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 03/07/2013 16:24 Comments || Top||


Security, jobs top Tunisian priorities
[MAGHAREBIA] The talk on the Tunisian street is all about the new government, which by law must be announced by Saturday (March 9th).

Despite their differences over politics, citizens agree that the incoming leaders must focus on security and jobs.

"I expect the new government to restore national unity, open the door for dialogue and understanding between the different political factions, and to give priority to the language of consensus for the best interests of the country," day labourer Mohamed Ali Tabboubi said.

Tunisians need to unite in the coming days and put national interests above anything else to help the country get out of its economic crisis and social tensions, he told Magharebia.

"I hope that the new government will start by establishing security and dealing with the chaos that has worried citizens," retiree Zoubaida Hamrouni said.

She added that the government needed to find a solution to curtail arms proliferation and put an end to violence and thefts that have spread in Tunisian cities so tourists and investors could return to the country.

"Punishments must be toughened for all those who violate the law before violence, threats and use of arms turn into a habit and an acquired right for Tunisians," she told Magharebia.

"There will be no development, tourism or economy without security," she added.

Student Nouha Belghith concurred. "The biggest concern for us now is how to restore security and avert terrorist threats and violence which we now live from day to day," she said.

She told Magharebia that establishing security was the key for getting out of the strangling economic and social crisis facing Tunisians and would guarantee the progress of the democratic transition in good political and social circumstances.

Many challenges are awaiting the new Ali Larayedh government, the most important of which is security, given the tensions and continuous worries for their future that are now haunting Tunisians, journalist Mahmoud Hocheni.

"It seems that restoring security will be a priority for Larayedh's government, and there are no other priorities preceding it," he said.

Tunisians are also expecting that the new government start dealing with social conditions, especially unemployment among university graduates.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


India-Pakistan
Army chief in Karachi, briefed over security situation
[Dawn] Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani
... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI...
visited the Corps Headquarters in Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
on Wednesday where he was briefed about the security situation in the city, the Army's public relations wing said in a statement.

"During his visit COAS was briefed about the security situation in Karachi," said the statement by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

The army chief's visit comes as the Supreme Court is hearing a case on the unrest in Pakistain's largest city and commercial capital.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [17 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Angry Jordan MP Goes for His Gun in Parliament
[An Nahar] A Jordanian MP, angered by a fellow deputy accusing the premier of corruption, tried to draw a pistol during a session of parliament on Wednesday but was circled by colleagues who talked him down.

Khalil Atiyeh, a deputy speaker, said MP Shadi al-Adwan was annoyed when fellow MP Zeid Shawakbeh accused Prime Minister Abdullah Nsur of corruption.

Videotapes of the incident showed Adwan reaching for his belt to pull out a pistol and then being surrounded.

Atiyeh said he suspended the session until Thursday, when the question of carrying arms inside parliament will also be on the agenda.

Last July, an MP got into an argument on a television talk show. He first took off his shoe and threw it at his adversary, then pulled a revolver from his belt and pointed it at him.

He eventually put the gun away.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Khalil Atiyeh is fortunate indeed. Forming the shape of a pistol by eating a corner from a piece of bread will get one suspended from kindergarten here. Government based childhood socialization and monitoring is the key. [sarcasm off]
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/07/2013 4:12 Comments || Top||

#2  At least it sounds like they are familiar with firearms, unlike that doofus who was waving around that rifle with his finger inside the trigger guard.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/07/2013 16:42 Comments || Top||


Government
The Pentagon's Metals Gap
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [17 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Who needs metals when you can print the $ to buy 'em....? /sarc
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 03/07/2013 8:31 Comments || Top||

#2  This "single-point of failure" in Pentagon parlance is beyond the purview of the newly-released report, but it is no less a clear and present danger.

This should be no challenge for an administration that embraces and rewards multiple points of failure.

Posted by: Besoeker || 03/07/2013 8:36 Comments || Top||

#3  In a previous life, many of our DOD contracts had exclusions of sources, making the materials cost even higher, and we had to have material certs showing origin and and all processing steps.
Posted by: USN,ret || 03/07/2013 9:05 Comments || Top||

#4  Disarmament-by-deindustrialization.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 03/07/2013 21:56 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Railway tracks torched & bombs blasted in B`baria
Brahmanbaria -- Pro-hartal elements on Monday set railway tracks afire, blasted 20 crude bombs and vandalised 20 vehicles, injuring one in the town ahead of Tuesday`s day-long general strike called by BNP.

Police and witnesses said, hartal supporters, in simultaneous attacks, torched several slippers on Dhaka-Chittagong and Dhaka-Sylhet railway tracks by pouring petrol on those in the evening. However, police arrived in time after receiving information and put out the fire in two rail routes beside Niaz Mohammad High School.

The pro-hartal elements also vandalised 20 vehicles in different areas of the district headquarters, simultaneously blasting 20 crude bombs on TA Road, College Road and other parts of the town in the evening.

The incidents sent a panic wave in the town.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [14 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Alleged bomber among three held in Karachi
KARACHI — Under fire from the Supreme Court for failing to provide security to the people of Karachi, Pakistan Rangers on Wednesday claimed to have arrested three alleged terror suspects including a would-be suicide bomber on the outskirts of city.

The arrests came after the paramilitary troops swooped on a locality near New Sabzi Mandi and nabbed the accused. The Rangers also claimed to have recovered a suicide vest and other weapons from the suspects believed to be involved in target killings in the city. The raid was conducted on the basis of information extracted from the suspects arrested from different parts of the city soon after the deadly bomb blasts.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [22 views] Top|| File under:


Bangladesh
Police fire, teargas foil BNP rally in Dhaka
DHAKA: About 100 people, including politicians and journalists, were injured, most of them with bullet wounds, after gun-totting law enforcers fired a volley of tear gas and rubber bullets on scheduled protest rallies by opposition BNP and Jamaat in cityÂ’s Naya Paltan and Bijoynagar areas Wednesday afternoon.

The crowded downtown areas were rocked by innumerable gun shots and cracker blasts instantly foiling the rallies and sending panicked protesters, local residents and commuters to rush for shelter and shopkeepers to down their shutters.

During the nearly hour-long noisy violence police swung into action indiscriminately firing shots towards BNP leaders and activists attending their protest rally in front of Naya Paltan party office. The BNP activists who dispersed in the face of police attack quickly regrouped and tried to fight back with stone chips and later setting a few vehicles on fire.

BNP Standing Committee member Nazrul Islam Khan, its Dhaka city unit member secretary Abdus Salam and joint secretary general Amanullah Aman were among senior party leaders who were injured in police action and firing. Scores of injured BNP leaders and workers who were rushed inside the party office and nearby buildings during the police action were later brought out and taken in ambulances to nearby hospitals for treatment, witness said.

At least five photo journalists, including Nayem Ahmed Julhas of The Independent, who were covering the BNP rally, were injured mostly from rubber bullets and were treated at the Emergency section of Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Both BNP and Jamaat later separately called for nationwide day-long hartal on Thursday to protest Wednesday ‘police atrocities.’
If I were the hospital administrator I'd be double-staffing the ER again for Thursday...
The trouble at Naya Paltan prompted violence in nearby Purana Paltan, Bijoynagar and Baitul Mukarram areas where Jamaat was scheduled to hold a protest rally. The rally was foiled by police who also chased away Jamaat-Shibir activists from holding processions by firing shots and teargas shells.

Witnesses also said a crude bomb exploded at the Nightingale crossing near the Naya Paltan BNP office at around 4:30 pm when the BNP rally was in progress to protest the earlier arrest of its leaders and activists and also against police repression on them.

The loud blast prompted police to move towards the rally firing volleys of shots, leaving many people injured and forcing BNP leaders and activists to abandon the rally and rush for shelter. The law enforcers there also lobbed several teargas shells.

BNP on Tuesday announced to hold protest rallies nationwide on Wednesday to protest police action and arrest of their leaders and workers during TuesdayÂ’s violence-marred day-long hartal.

As part of the programme, leaders and activists of the party and its different front and associate bodies started gathering in front of the partyÂ’s Naya Paltan central office at about 1:30 pm on Wednesday.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [15 views] Top|| File under:

#1  sounds like a Civil War in B'Desh is brewing
Posted by: Frank G || 03/07/2013 9:43 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
That Nasty Ammunition
A Florida legislator wants anyone trying to buy ammunition to complete an anger management program first, in what critics say is the latest example of local lawmakers reaching for constitutionally-dubious solutions to the problem of gun violence.
Is it something in the Democratic National Committee drinking fountain?
The bill filed Saturday by state Sen. Audrey Gibson, D-Jacksonville, would require a three-day waiting period for the sale of any firearm and the sale of ammunition to anyone who has not completed anger management courses. The proposal would require ammo buyers to take the anger management courses every 10 years.
Because people who buy ammunition are soooo angry.
If we applied the rule to politicians the halls of the state legislature would be empty...
"This is not about guns," Gibson said. "This is about ammunition and not only for the safety of the general community, but also for the safety of law enforcement."
Of course it's about guns. What good are guns without ammunition?
For that matter, what good is ammunition without guns? I realize that bullets were originally used with slingshots, but a modern cartridge is meant for grander things.
Gibson said she's concerned with citizens stockpiling ammunition, potentially creating dangerous situations should those individuals ever come in contact with law enforcement agencies or criminals.
Because coming in contact with criminals means you might hurt one.
"It's about getting people to think, really, about how much ammunition they need," Gibson said. "It's a step, I think, in a safer direction. It's about getting people to think before they buy."
I always think before I buy. I need as much as I can afford.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [17 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I need as much ammunition as I am willing to buy.

That is called the free market.

Stand aside or attempt to deny me, Florida.
Posted by: rammer || 03/07/2013 0:31 Comments || Top||

#2  Anger Management testing analysis will be closely monitored and approved or disapproved by the Serbsky Central Research Institute Forensic Psychiatry.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/07/2013 3:38 Comments || Top||

#3  You can't be trusted to make your own decisions, so we will do it for you.

Oh, and while we are at it give me your checkbook and credit cards so I can inspect what you buy with your own money before you buy anything.

Now bend over.
Posted by: Threater Flusoper9823 || 03/07/2013 4:13 Comments || Top||

#4  Civil war monument on the grounds of the Michigan state capitol building.
The memorialized rifleman is aiming at the building's front door.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/07/2013 4:56 Comments || Top||

#5  I want anyone running for public office to take a test on the Constitution of the United States to include a major written portion. Results won't be graded but will be posted early enough in the voting cycle to give any opponent opportunity to exploit displays of idiocy.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/07/2013 9:25 Comments || Top||

#6  Section VI, Geography:

1. Name the 57 States protected by the Constitution of the United States:
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/07/2013 9:56 Comments || Top||

#7  If you have to think about if you "need" any ammo, then you don't have enough.
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 03/07/2013 10:37 Comments || Top||

#8 
Is it something in the Democratic National Committee drinking fountain?


I believe the Democrats require a criminal record before you run for office. Criminals, as a class, want disarmed victims.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 03/07/2013 13:52 Comments || Top||

#9  Because people who buy ammunition are soooo angry

Program likely staffed by people who think firearm owners are already irrational and angry so a person fails the class by showing up. Put in a clause that a person cannot privately transaction or gift ammo and there they go.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/07/2013 16:47 Comments || Top||

#10  I propose the Florida state senators complete a stupidity management program before they're seated.
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/07/2013 22:22 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Al-Qaeda hard boyz study IDF patrols on Israeli-Syrian border
Reader Thromotch Pheatle9230 found this yesterday at a different aggregator. I went to the original news source. When possible (and we understand when it isn't), please cite the original source, and thanks. AoS.
Al-Qaeda operatives fighting the Syrian regime have been watching and studying IDF patrols along the border with Israel, from only meters away on the other side of the fence.

Members of the al-Furqan group -- affiliated with the global al-Qaeda organization which has acted in Yemen and Iraq -- were filmed close to Israel's border, out in the open, in footage screened by Israel's Channel 10 on Tuesday night.

In a number of videos uploaded to the internet, the fighters can also be seen holding various munitions, including old anti-tank rockets and heavy machine guns.

Sources in the IDF believe the gunmen affiliated with these and other terror groups are currently preoccupied with fighting President Bashar Assad's regime, and that if they plan on turning their focus on Israel they won't do so before they have more control in Syria, the TV report said. Plainly, though, it added, the decades of relative quiet for Israel on its border with Syria are coming to an end, and a year from now, Israel might have to brace itself to thwart cross-border attacks.
That won't end well for the hard-boyz. I don't think it would bother Israel a bit to take another dozen kilometers of the Golan away from Syria...
The latest reports confirm a Times of Israel story last week which said Assad's forces have largely left the Syrian side of the Golan Heights. The footage screened on Tuesday included film taken in the Quneitra area of the Golan, the TV report said.

Though the ongoing fighting in Syria is not directed at Israel, the IDF and Israeli security officials are keeping a close watch on the situation in the neighboring country, preparing for any development, the report said, adding that some in the IDF are suggesting that Israel seek to reach out to some of the more moderate Syrian rebel groups with an eye on the post-Assad future.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [13 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Egypt cancels April 22 legislative vote
Bet you didn't see that coming...
EgyptÂ’s administrative court on Wednesday ordered the cancellation of controversial parliamentary elections scheduled for April 22, throwing the country deeper into political crisis.

Judge Abdel Meguid al-Moqanen said Islamist President Mohamed Morsi had ratified a new electoral law for the country last month without sending it to the Supreme Constitutional Court for its approval, as required by the constitution. Consequently, the administrative court referred the law to the constitutional court and cancelled MursiÂ’s decree calling for elections.

The law was issued by the Senate, which has been acting as a legislative body since a previous court ruling abolished the lower house of parliament in June over constitutional issues. The Senate sent it to the constitutional court, which returned it after rejecting several articles. The Senate then amended the law, but never sent it back for final approval.

This puts Morsi, who ratified the law despite that fact, in an uncomfortable position. He has repeatedly insisted that elections would usher in stability,
...defined as tightening his grip on power...
dismissing criticism that the timing of the polls was wrong with the country gripped by unrest and division.

The election had been scheduled to take place in four stages over two months.

Egypt’s main opposition bloc, the National Salvation Front, had already announced it would boycott the vote — expressing doubts over its transparency — and demanded a new electoral law.

The gulf between the ruling Islamists and the opposition has been growing wider since November, when Mursi issued a decree expanding his powers. The decree was repealed after intense street pressure, but only after a controversial Islamist-drafted constitution was rushed through.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Saboteurs blow up Yemen oil pipeline
SANAA — Saboteurs blew up an oil pipeline that runs from Yemen’s eastern Marib province to its west coast, the defence ministry announced on Wednesday.

“Subversive elements blew up the pipeline at 93 kilometre in the Sarwah region” between Sanaa and Marib, said a statement on the ministry’s news website 26sep.net.

The attack caused “a large fire” in the pipeline, it said, without mentioning whether crude exports had been interrupted.

In December, the army launched an offensive against tribesmen suspected of repeatedly sabotaging the pipeline, sparking clashes which left 17 people dead.

According to official figures, lost production due to pipeline attacks in the east cost the government more than $1 billion in 2012, while oil exports fell by 4.5 per cent.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [24 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Interestingly, blowing up a pipelines and sabotaging approval for construction of new pipelines both appear to have similar economic outcomes.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/07/2013 3:47 Comments || Top||


Saoodis free 100 protesters
RIYADH — Saudi authorities have freed 100 protesters arrested last week while staging a sit-in to demand the release of prisoners in the city of Buraida, police said on Wednesday.

“One hundred people were released” on Tuesday of the 176 people arrested in Buraida, capital of the northern Qassim province, said police spokesman Colonel Fahd Al Habdan. “Procedures are continuing to free nine more prisoners."
How badly were they beaten prior to release?
Authorities have accused the protesters of acting on behalf of “deviant groups” — a term they usually use to refer to the Al Qaeda network.

Saudi rights activists say those jailed are extremist political prisoners.
So both sides agree...
Small groups of women have gathered almost daily in Buraida, north of Riyadh, to demand the release of imprisoned Islamist relatives, and dozens of protesters held a rare sit-in outside the Buraida prison in September.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [15 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
US operating five submarines in Persian Gulf
The number of US submarines deployed to the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman has reached five with the dispatch of the USS Springfield (SSN-761) to the region, Press TV reported.
And they would know this ... how?
The USS Columbia (SSN-771) is operating west of the Strait of Hormuz, which is a key oil transit route. The US has also stationed eight minesweeping ships in international waters of the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman.

The United Kingdom has also deployed HMS Trenchant, a Trafalgar-class nuclear-powered submarine, to the Sea of Oman.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [19 views] Top|| File under:

#1  OTOH BIGNEWSNETWORK > TOP US COMMANDER WARNS IRAN AGZ TESTING ITS RESOLVE IN GULF.

Methinks the good ADM. should be talking squarely to CHINA oer in NE Asia, but because China is Nuke-armed decides to defer to Iran instead???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/07/2013 0:54 Comments || Top||

#2  It's that sixth one with the Star of David logo that could prove problematic.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 03/07/2013 8:12 Comments || Top||

#3  As per VARIOUS, the USN Base at bahrain will be affected by the sequestration cuts - the Subs are a good thing as the USDOD has said the Japan-based USS GEORGE WASHINGTON [+ CVBG] are likely to be the ONE-N-ONLY US NUCLEAR CARRIER + BG the US may deply in any overseas or international crisis = crises, espec the longer the mandated sequester cuts go on.

As things stand at present, the USDOD will prefer the "GEORGE" stay near the China-Japan crisis in NE Asia.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/07/2013 22:12 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Two MQM workers gunned down
[Dawn] Two workers of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement
...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead...
were bumped off in the city on Wednesday, police said.

They said that the body of Abdul Wahid aka Shahzan, 25, was found near a storm drain in the Samoo graveyard within the remit of the Murad Memon Goth cop shoppe.

The victim had been shot in the head and chest, the police said.

The body was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for medico-legal formalities.

The police said that the victim was a resident of Musarrat Colony in the Malir City area and was an employee of the Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
Water and Sewerage Board. He was also associated with some poultry related business.

They said that he was an active worker of the MQM.

According to his family, he last talked to them at around 11pm on Tuesday night, when he was in Saudabad.

Meanwhile,
...back at the pond, Gloria slowly backed away from the eight-foot bull frog. If the creature croaked she would surely be deafened...
another MQM activist was bumped off in Landhi on Wednesday.

Police said that gunnies riding a cycle of violence opened fire on Rashid Khan, 35, in Landhi's Sector 36-G near Aulia Masjid and rode away.The victim was rushed to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre where he died during treatment.

He was working in a garments factory and was associated with Unit 83 of the MQM's organizational structure, the police said.

They said that the victim had shifted back to the area about a year back.

Policeman rubbed out

A police constable was rubbed out in the SITE area near the Denim traffic intersection on Wednesday night, police said. They said that gunnies riding a cycle of violence targeted 29-year-old Constable Fazle Amin, who was also riding a bike.

"The police constable was heading to the Site-A cop shoppe to resume duty when he was killed," SP Ali Asif told Dawn.

The police took his body to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities.

Factory worker rubbed out

A factory worker was bumped off in Korangi on Wednesday, police said.

They said that assailants riding a motorbike fired at Qadir Hussain, 62, who was passing through Korangi No 2 ½ within the remit of the Zaman Town cop shoppe.

The victim was struck down in his prime. The body was shifted to the JPMC for a post-mortem examination.

The police said that he worked at a garments factory and father of four.

They said that the motive for the killing might be some personal enmity.

Killing in old city area

The driver of a Suzuki pickup was killed in the old city area on Wednesday, police said.

They said that men riding a motorbike first had some altercation with Pasand Khan, 36, and they then fired shots at him in Khajoor Bazaar within the remit of the Lea Market cop shoppe and rode away.

The victim was struck down in his prime. The body was moved to the JPMC.

The police said that the victim originally hailed from Bajaur.

Quoting some witnesses, the police said that the gunnies were wearing shalwar-kameez.

Youth killed

A young man was killed in Korangi on Wednesday.

Police said that motorcyclists rubbed out Jalal Bilal, 25, and maimed Maqbool Sabir near Murtaza Chowrangi outside a flour mill.

The police were not sure about the motive for the killing.

They suspected that it could be an outcome of some personal feud.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [19 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: WoT
American charged with helping Pakistani bomber
PORTLAND (Oregon) — An Oregon man was arrested on Tuesday on charges he gave advice and financial assistance to one of three militants who carried out a 2009 suicide bombing in Pakistan that killed 30 people and wounded 300 others, US officials said.

Reaz 'Ralph' Qadir Khan, 48, a naturalised US citizen, was indicted on a single count of conspiracy to provide material support for terrorists, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
After which we revoke his citizenship and send him to Pakistain...
Khan, whose country of origin was not disclosed,
...okay, so we send him to Mauritania...
was arrested without incident in Portland, prosecutors said. His lawyer said Khan later pleaded not guilty at his first court appearance. He was scheduled to return to federal court on Wednesday for a detention hearing.

According to the indictment, Khan used email and intermediaries to consult with and provide financial support to a Maldivian national named Ali Jaleel and his family, making it possible for Jaleel to attend a training camp in Pakistan in preparation for the bomb attack.

The indictment says the conspiracy began in December 2005 and continued on through the attack on PakistanÂ’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) headquarters in Lahore on May 27, 2009, and into the following month.

Approximately 30 people were killed and 300 more were wounded in the blast, federal prosecutors said. The Pakistani government said at the time that the car bomb attack was carried out in apparent revenge for an army offensive against Taleban militants in that nationÂ’s northwestern Swat region. Pakistani officials had said that two intelligence officers and six lower-level officials from that nationÂ’s spy agency were among those killed. In addition to damaging an ISI office, the bomb demolished a government ambulance service.

Jaleel and two others carried out the attack, the indictment says.

The indictment cites several instances in which Khan is accused of helping Jaleel with various travel arrangements and instructions on how to avoid detection. In November 2008, it says, Jaleel wrote that he was about to gain admission to a training camp and would have money left over from funds that Khan had provided him. Khan, according to the indictment, advised Jaleel to keep the extra money so it could be sent back to JaleelÂ’s two wives in the Maldives.

Khan himself is accused of sending money to JaleelÂ’s family during his absence from home and after he died in the bombing.

In a video released by an al Qaeda media outlet after the attack, Jaleel was shown making a statement taking responsibility for the blast and preparing for the bombing at a training camp in Pakistan, prosecutors said.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If we can't promote "Intelligent Design", can we stop calling these people Americans?

Though bombing PakistanÂ’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) headquarters might not be seen as a problem by some.
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/07/2013 10:00 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Lebanon urges Arab League to reinstate Syria
The lapdog barks...
CAIRO - Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour called on Wednesday for SyriaÂ’s suspension from the Arab League to be lifted in order to help find a political solution to the conflict in the country.

Damascus was suspended from membership of the Cairo-based League in November 2011, eight months into what began as a peaceful popular uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

“I call for Syria’s membership of the Arab League to be unblocked,” Mansour told a League ministerial meeting. “Communication with Syria ... is essential for a political solution.”

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib MikatiÂ’s government is dominated by a coalition including the militant group Hezbollah and its mainly Shia and Christian allies who support Assad.

Mikati, who has sought to follow a policy of “dissociation” from the conflict in Lebanon’s dominant neighbour, has said his country would respect any decisions taken by the League over Syria. However, Mansour has been critical of the Cairo-based organisation’s steps against Damascus.

“We have held meetings over two years and taken decision after decision thinking that with them we will be providing Syria with security and stability by removing the regime and replacing it with another - while Syria sank into blood and destruction,” said Mansour.

One million refugees have fled Syria, piling pressure on its neighbours, including Lebanon, which are struggling to support them, the United Nations refugee agency said on Wednesday.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under:


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Today's Idiot
Woman with no pants on, tries to flee scene on a child's battery-powered toy truck

A half-naked DUI suspect tried to flee the scene of a car crash in a child's toy truck, police said. Jamie Craft, 28, was not wearing any pants when she hopped on board the battery-powered toy truck -- which has a top speed of just 5 mph -- to make her escape.

Her attempted getaway came moments after she allegedly slammed her Pontiac Grand Am into the side of a trailer home in Jonesboro, Ark., on Tuesday. Cops gave chase -- on foot -- and arrested her within minutes.
It took them minutes to chase down a toy truck?
Seconds, then.
KTLA reports she had a blood alcohol level of 0.217 -- three times the legal limit in the state.
What's the legal limit when driving a toy truck?
Craft faces an array of charges including disorderly conduct and driving on a toy truck with a suspended license.
Posted by: Beavis || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [14 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I guess there's no law against driving without pants.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 03/07/2013 7:14 Comments || Top||

#2  DAMN, no pictures.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/07/2013 8:44 Comments || Top||

#3  "Trailer home..."that sets the scene nicely
Posted by: USN,ret || 03/07/2013 9:07 Comments || Top||

#4  RedneckJim, remember this is Arkansas, be careful what you wish for. HEH!
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 03/07/2013 10:24 Comments || Top||

#5  "DAMN, no pictures."

I'm thinking you probably don't want to see any pictures of this drunken idiot (but I repeat myself), RJ.

Somehow I doubt she's a double for Pamela Anderson.
Posted by: Barbara || 03/07/2013 10:25 Comments || Top||

#6  I believe the alcohol point works both ways, as the difference between a hunk/hunkete and (male/female) coyotes is somewhere around 5 drinks and 5 minutes to closing. As the commercials say, as seen on tv Spinger.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/07/2013 11:19 Comments || Top||

#7  when she hopped on board the battery-powered toy truck

What, you expect her to run? She'd look like a slow, accidental Barry Sanders.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/07/2013 12:42 Comments || Top||

#8  It had to happen in a trailer park.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 03/07/2013 13:22 Comments || Top||

#9  the battery-powered toy truck

A white Ford Explorer?
Posted by: Pappy || 03/07/2013 14:09 Comments || Top||

#10  I suspect looking at the pictures would then require a large amount of brain bleach.
Posted by: Silentbrick - Schlumberger Squishy Mud Division || 03/07/2013 21:10 Comments || Top||

#11  No, there's a mug shot in there.
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/07/2013 22:18 Comments || Top||

#12  "No, there's a mug shot in there."

I think RJ wasn't looking for a photo of her face, tu.

I also think he should be grateful he didn't see one. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara || 03/07/2013 22:31 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Turkey to send PKK militants to northern Iraq
Turkey is preparing to send more than 2,000 militants of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to northern Iraq, Haber7 newspaper reported today. The agreement has been reached within the negotiations between Ankara and the PKK.

According to the newspaper, the PKK and Turkey will reach a full agreement on laying down the weapons on March 21. After reaching the final agreement, PKK militants will leave Turkey and move to northern Iraq.
Is Iraq ok with this?
Posted by: Steve White || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:


Caribbean-Latin America
Tamaulipas closes prison in Miguel Aleman

For a map, click here. For a map of Tamaulipas state, click here

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A prison in Miguel Aleman municipality in Tamaulipas state has been closed, according to an official government announcement.

In an announcement posted on the government website of Tamaulipas, the Secretaria de Seguridad Publica del Estado (SSPE) said that the Centro de Ejecucion de Sanciones (CEDES) prison in Miguel Aleman has been closed and its remaining 152 inmates transferred.

Only nine days ago a total of 12 inmates were released from the prison during an assault by 15 armed suspects. The suspects had entered the prison during the early morning hours of February 26th, held prison officials and guards at gunpoint, and released the 12 inmates. No shots were fired and no one was reported hurt in the incident.
You can read about the February 26th prison break in Miguel Aleman by clicking here.
Wednesday's announcement said that 148 inmates serving time for state charges were moved from the CEDES to another state prison in Reynosa. Four federal prisoners were moved to another federal facility in Matamoros, also in Tamaulipas state.

Mexican Army and Policia Federal (PF) troops provided security for the transfer.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
Posted by: badanov || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Tizi Ouzou blast injures army officer
[MAGHAREBIA] A kaboom in blood-stained Tizi Ouzou maimed an Algerian army officer on Tuesday (March 5th), Tout sur l'Algerie reported. The bomb went off while soldiers were conducting a search operation between Azazga and Yakourene.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [15 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


Africa Subsaharan
Boko Haram Beheads Informant  
[PMNEWSNIGERIA] A man accused of being an informant has been beheaded by Islamist group Boko Haram.
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
The incident was recorded in a video obtained Tuesday in which the victim accused of being an informant appears to be beheaded on camera.

Suspected leader of the group, Abubakar Shekau, denies any ceasefire deal with the government and also makes no mention of kidnappings in the video, including last month's abduction of seven members of a French family in neighbouring Cameroon that was blamed on his group.

It was not clear when or where the video was made. The clip has been distributed to Nigerian journalists in the country's north in recent days through intermediaries.

Shekau and other Boko Haram members. PHOTO: AFP

Sources familiar with Boko Haram say it was handed out in this manner because Nigerian authorities have been blocking the group's videos from being uploaded to YouTube.

AFP could not verify the authenticity of the video but the man speaking closely resembles a person identified in previous clips as Shekau.

There are two separate parts to the video: one of Shekau speaking and another of the apparent beheading. Shekau cannot be seen in the second part.

The video is in part a response to a man claiming to be a Boko Haram commander who has appeared in public several times in recent months calling for dialogue and declaring a ceasefire.

There has been deep suspicion over whether the man calling for the ceasefire has truly represented Boko Haram.

"We have never made a truce with anybody, and no one represented us in any dialogue," Shekau, wearing a knee-length green caftan and with an AK-47 dangling from his neck, says in the video, which is about 10 minutes long.

Speaking in the Hausa language common throughout northern Nigeria, he names the man who made the ceasefire claim, Sheikh Muhammed Abdulazeez Ibn Idris, and promises punishment for those who falsely represent the group.

"We have not entered into dialogue with anyone," he says. "Which kind of dialogue, for God's sake, when day and night our brothers are being placed in durance vile
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
, imprisoned, including women and kiddies?"
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [18 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram

#1 
Posted by: Water Modem || 03/07/2013 0:41 Comments || Top||

#2  response: take two Bokos and one of their politician backers out of jail and behead them in the street.
Posted by: Frank G || 03/07/2013 9:37 Comments || Top||

#3  Just two?

I'd take ALL of their membership and shoot them on sight, they are like rabid dogs. Or you could hack them to pieces and stick their heads on sticks like they are want to do to Christians.

I hope Nigeria knows they need to take the gloves off on this cancer before it spreads and just freaking kill them all...
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 03/07/2013 10:28 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Unite to resist Jamaat terror
[Bangla Daily Star] Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since 1981. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide...
has urged people to set up committees all over the country to resist the ongoing rampage by Jamaat-Shibir activists.

"Form terrorism prevention committees everywhere -- in districts, upazilas, union parishads and wards -- to prevent them from doing any harm to people or public property," the prime minister said in parliament yesterday.

Hasina, also the leader of the House, said politicians, political activists, Islamic scholars and all pro-liberation forces have to unite to resist the ongoing violence.

Taking part in the thanksgiving motion on the president's address, she said people must raise their voice if they want to take the country forward and see the continuation of economic development.

Hasina's remarks came just two days after BNP on Monday announced setting up "committees for public safety across the country to counter the ruling Awami League's threat to resist the opposition's movement."

Referring to Jamaat-e-Islami
...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
's showing in the 2008 parliamentary polls, Hasina said it got less than one percent of the total votes. It means at least 95 percent people, except Jamaat and the BNP chief, want trial of war criminals.

"It is unacceptable that a few people will hold the majority hostage."

On the recent vandalism and attacks by Jamaat-Shibir men which left more than 60 people dead, she said they continue to indulge in violent activities like bombing, killing and looting.

In her 46-minute speech, Hasina, chief of Awami League, strongly criticised her archrival Khaleda Zia
Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ...
and her party BNP for "their role in protecting war criminals."

"The opposition leader [Khaleda Zia] will have to take responsibilities for the deaths of general people and coppers [in recent violence]."

"She will not be able to protect war criminals. Trial of war criminals must be done."

In a statement in parliament on Tuesday, Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir announced that the government decided to take action against central and local leaders of Jamaat and BNP under the anti-terrorism act-2009, holding them responsible for the recent deaths and violence.

Winding up the 16th parliament session that was prorogued last night, Speaker Abdul Hamid said the politicians should make people aware about any smear campaigns and help them resist the troublemakers.

Meanwhile,
...back at the bunker, his Excellency called the chief of staff and complained that the artillery was keeping him awake...
the House passed a resolution giving thanks to President Zillur Rahman for his address to parliament.

The House held discussions for a total of 46 hours on the thanksgiving motion with the participation of 191 politicians.

The BNP-led opposition politicians refrained from joining the session that began on January 27.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami


Africa North
Libya warns warring tribes
[MAGHAREBIA] Libyan authorities told rival Mizdah tribes to either cease hostilities or risk military intervention, PANA reported on Tuesday (March 5th). Army front man Col. Ali Al-Sheikh said that the country's air force had been given orders to conduct strikes against any gang operating in the region.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

#1  Libya IS warring tribes.
Posted by: Spusoling Ulaimble8374 || 03/07/2013 12:50 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian rebel army chief sees victory 'in month' if West ships arms
[Al Ahram] The chief of staff of Syria's rebel army issued a strong call for arms and ammunition from Western nations Wednesday, saying that if helped, the Islamic fascisti could topple Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad's
Lord of the Baath...
regime "within a month".

"What we have now is little, very very little," Brigadier General Selim Idriss said in Brussels, where he spoke on the invitation of a group of centrist political parties in the European Parliament.

The lack of weaponry and munitions was hampering the progress of the Free Syrian Army and inflicting more suffering on the civilian population, he added, urging European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
nations to lift an arms embargo.

"This embargo is really regrettable", he said, saying the EU ban on supplying lethal weaponry "affects only the victims" though "the regime receives Russian and Iranian arms".

The West condemns Assad but refuses to help, he added. "There is very little support from the Western countries," he added.

The EU last week authorised the supply of non-lethal equipment as well as training for the Syrian opposition, and Britannia on Wednesday announced it would provide body armour and armoured vehicles to the rebels.

Regime forces were using heavy artillery and SCUD missiles against civilians and the rebels needed anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, he said.

"If we have the weapons we need we can bring down the regime in a month," he told politicians from the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.

Idriss said his army of more than 100,000 armed and as many unarmed Islamic fascisti controlled most of the north and might be able to claim the liberation of the east of Syria "in a few days".

He said major cities such as Aleppo and the capital Damascus
...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world...
remained under regime control because Islamic fascisti had tried to avoid festivities in city centres "to avoid bombing and destruction". Assad forces had fired 10 SCUDs into Aleppo last week, he said.

He brushed off any hope of a political solution, saying "you cannot reform a dictatorship" but said a military outcome would be long unless the West "brings pressure on Russia to stop providing aid to the regime".
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Africa North
Libya condemns Benghazi church attack
[MAGHAREBIA] The Libyan foreign ministry on Sunday (March 3rd) condemned an attack on a Coptic church in Benghazi, just days after 50 Christians were incarcerated
... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
and accused of proselytising.

The foreign ministry said it "strongly condemned Thursday's attack on the Egyptian church... and the aggression towards Father Paula Isaac and his deputy by the irresponsible gunnies", AFP reported.

It expressed its deep sorrow and concern for what happened, and noted that the attack was a violation of the teachings of Islam, international human rights
One man's rights are another man's existential threat.
treaties, basic rights and respect of divine religions.
What lovely pieties.
The foreign ministry said that the government formed a committee from the interior ministry, chief of staffs' office, and intelligence agency headed by Justice Minister Dr. Salah al-Marghani to investigate the attack.

The Libyan authorities intend to deal with this incident very seriously and professionally, especially as the government has taken the necessary measures to secure the church.

It called on Libyans to help activate and create the culture of respecting expatriates who come from friendly and brotherly countries.

Libyan authorities also urged citizens to respect the beliefs of foreign workers in line with the necessary requirements to build a state of law and institutions and in implementation of Libya's obligations under international and regional human rights and basic freedoms treaties.

Also on Sunday, 23 Egyptians Christians accused of proselytising were released pending deportation. The Coptic Church in Benghazi intervened to assist them.

Meanwhile,
...back at the Hubba Hubba Club, Nunzio wondered: Where the hell was Chumbaloni? And where was his $600?...
25 others remain in detention and are under investigation. The priest and his assistants were released after their heads were shaved.
What an odd thing to do. In post-War France they shaved the heads of local women who went out with Nazi soldiers -- is it something like that?
A security source in Benghazi said that seven or eight of them rented shops at al-Jareed popular market at the heart of Benghazi. They were arrested and their houses searched, where bibles and religious books were allegedly found.

The source noted that investigations revealed that a number of them were without visas, others were without work permits, and three had hepatitis C. He said that this was a violation of Libyan law, and that they violated the immigration and labour laws.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


India-Pakistan
Sindh govt axes police chief
[Dawn] The provincial government of Sindh axed the Inspector General of police on Wednesday over a kaboom that killed 50 people in a Shia Moslem areneighbourhood of Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
, following stinging criticism by the country's Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry resumed the hearing over Abbas Town tragedy at the Supreme Court's Karachi registry.

During the hearing, Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry remarked that the Rangers had completely failed at establishing law and order in the city, and that the government did not appear serious over the issue.

He further said that incidents of terrorism continued in the city despite the presence of 11,000 Rangers personnel who enjoyed special policing powers.

The court ordered the Rangers' chief to use his 11,000 troops to safeguard the city's entry points and not allow "a single bullet to enter".

Rangers' Director General Rizwan Akhtar said his troops conducted overnight operations and jugged
Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw!
59 suspects in the blast.

The court ordered the country's three main intelligence agencies, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) , Military Intelligence (MI) and the Intelligence Bureau (IB), to submit reports on Friday on the blast.

The court also issued notices to officials of the federal government and intelligence agencies summoning them to appear in court on Mar 8.

The court also instructed for the suspension of Malir Police chief SP Rao Anwar.

The Chief Justice had taken suo motu
...a legal term, from the Latin. Roughly translated it means I saw what you did, you bastard...
notice on an office note sent by the SC Registrar based on clippings of different newspapers over a deadly bombing last week in Karachi's Abbas Town in which around 50 people reportedly bit the dust and almost 200 others were maimed.

The note said the incident enraged the members of a particular community that erupted into the streets demanding immediate arrest of the killers and the situation in many areas remained tense.

Anwer Mansoor Khan, lawyer for Sindh provincial government, told a Supreme Court hearing in Karachi on Wednesday that police chief Fayyaz Leghari was being removed from his post, along with one of his deputies.

Leghari was also removed from his post in June 2011, but was later reinstated, after security forces rubbed out an unarmed man in a public park.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [14 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Home Front: Culture Wars
Roger Ailes on Joe Biden, "I like him. But he's dumb as an ashtray."
Ailes and Rupert Murdoch are very respectful of each other. Ailes credits Murdoch with realizing that there was a niche audience ("half the country," as Charles Krauthammer, a Fox contributor, drily put it) for a cable news network with a conservative perspective. Murdoch, for his part, assured me that he doesn't dictate editorial decisions. "I defer to Roger," he said. "I have ideas that Roger can accept or not. As long as things are going well."

One day during the 2012 primary season, Newt Gingrich complained that Fox News's support for Mitt Romney was responsible for Gingrich's poor showing. Rick Santorum had made a similar claim when he dropped out of the race. Gingrich and Santorum had been Fox commentators before getting into the race, and Ailes found their complaints self-serving and disloyal. Brian Lewis, his spokesman, asked Ailes for guidance on how to respond to Newt. "Brush him back," Ailes said. "He's a sore loser and if he had won he would have been a sore winner." Lewis nodded.

Ailes was silent for a moment and then added, "Newt's a prick."

Lewis then read Ailes a summary of the flap over Democratic operative Hilary Rosen's comment that Ann Romney, mother of five, had never worked a day in her life. Ailes spun it without hesitation. "Obama's the one who never worked a day in his life. He never earned a penny that wasn't public money. How many fund-raisers does he attend every week? How often does he play basketball and golf? I wish I had that kind of time. He's lazy, but the media won't report that." He noticed my arched eyebrows and added, "I didn't come up with that. Obama said that, to Barbara Walters." (What Obama said was that he feels a laziness in himself that he attributes to his laid-back upbringing in Hawaii.)

"I like Marco Rubio," Ailes told a staff meeting of Fox News Latino when talk about the Florida senator being Mitt Romney's vice-presidential pick was at fever pitch. "But I don't know about as a vice-presidential candidate. He's a nice guy, and that role requires kicking the crap out of your opponents." He paused, thinking about vice presidents he had known. "I have a soft spot for Joe Biden," he said. "I like him. But he's dumb as an ashtray."
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11 views] Top|| File under:

#1  that's too much credit.
Posted by: Frank G || 03/07/2013 8:08 Comments || Top||

#2  He's supposed to be dumb, that way he doesn't offend Obullshit, understand dumb is what Obullshit wants, there's no possibility of interference that way.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/07/2013 8:38 Comments || Top||

#3  But, but he has a diploma.

Wizard of Oz: Why, anybody can have a brain. That's a very mediocre commodity. Every pusillanimous creature that crawls on the Earth or slinks through slimy seas has a brain. Back where I come from, we have universities, seats of great learning, where men go to become great thinkers. And when they come out, they think deep thoughts and with no more brains than you have. But they have one thing you haven't got: a diploma.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/07/2013 9:28 Comments || Top||

#4  He's lazy [Champ}, but the media won't report that.

The role of the "media" is to provide new information and enlightenment, not rehash givens.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/07/2013 9:28 Comments || Top||

#5  Wow, I thought Ailes would be more insightful, that is just being Captain Obvious when it comes to "Slow Joe" (as Hugh Hewitt calls him).
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 03/07/2013 10:34 Comments || Top||

#6  I developed a new opinion of Biden after watching him in the debate with Paul Ryan. Oh, he's dumb alright. But he's also a jerk.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 03/07/2013 13:54 Comments || Top||

#7  The honourable vice president will say whatever it takes to win the debating point, and for that truthfulness and knowledge are a handicap. Quite probably he once knew the difference -- he did manage to graduate from law school, though apparently at the bottom of his class -- but threw it away long ago.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/07/2013 14:30 Comments || Top||

#8  But he's also a jerk

Look who the Obama campaign was pandering to...
Posted by: Pappy || 03/07/2013 15:58 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Kabila at top of coup-accused's hit list
[News24] A computer confiscated from one of 20 men accused of plotting to overthrow the Democratic Republic of the Congo
...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo or Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material...
's government contained a hit list of Congolese leaders, a prosecutor told a the North Gauteng High Court on Wednesday.

"President Joseph Kabila is at the top of that list," prosecutor Shaun Abrahams told the court.

"Then there is a group of Congolese leaders who the accused say have to be eliminated.

"The state is opposing bail against all 20 accused in this matter because they pose a threat to both South Africa and the DRC," he said.

City Press reported Abrahams as telling the court that the plotters had sought to source funds to buy arms belonging to prolific arms smuggler Viktor Bout.

On the shopping list of weapons the accused allegedly wanted: 50 satellite phones, 200 Motorola radios, 5 000 AK 47s, 1 000 grenades, various machine guns, 20 land missiles, 20 air missiles and 100 revolvers, according to City Press.

Abrahams did not complete his submission before Magistrate Solomon Mkhubela, and the matter was postponed until 15 March.

The men have been charged with engaging in mercenary activities under South Africa's Foreign Military Assistance Act and with conspiracy to murder Kabila and other Congolese leaders.

The Hawks got wind of the accused, most of whom reside in South Africa, planning the coup and infiltrated the circle, prosecutors say.

Every one of the alleged plotters' meetings in the six months between September last year and their arrest on 5 February, when they believed they were being taken for military training, was recorded on audio and film, said Abrahams.

Three days after the arrest of the first 19 suspects, a man named Etienne Kabila turned himself in.

Kabila claims to be the son of the assassinated president Laurent Kabila, the current president's father.

Etienne has lived in South Africa since Laurent Kabila was slain, said Abrahams, adding that the accused maintains Joseph Kabila is an imposter.

Supporters of the 20, who were in court again on Wednesday, say their allegiance is with Etienne Tshisekedi, who lost a 2011 election race to Joseph Kabila.

A 21st accused, William Amuri Yakutumba, a general "with experience in the military and politics", and who is well known outside the DRC, is still being sought by police.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [14 views] Top|| File under:


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Manchester United's fan calls police to complain against Nani's red card
[Al Ahram] An 18-year-old Manchester United fan became so incensed after a decision went against his team that he called the police during the match to report a crime.

On Wednesday, he apologized and was let off without punishment.

The unidentified fan called Nottinghamshire Police after United midfielder Nani was red-carded for dangerous play during Tuesday's 2-1 loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League.

Nottinghamshire Police chief inspector Ted Antill says "there may be people out there in real trouble who need our help and they have to wait because we are tied up with calls like this one, reporting a referee from the television."
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under:


Afghanistan
International meddling led to terrorism in Afghanistan, says Foreign Secretary
[Dawn] Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani on Wednesday said the role of international forces in Afghanistan had led to terrorism in the war-torn country, DawnNews reported.

Speaking at a conference on Afghanistan in Islamabad, the foreign secretary said terrorism would continue to affect the country even after the withdrawal of NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
forces.

The US plans to end its combat operations in Afghanistan by the end of 2014 and is encouraging the Afghan government to engage the Talibs for a peaceful end to the conflict. The Taliban, however, appear reluctant to work with Kabul.

Jilani added that Pakistain's army and intelligence agencies were in close contact with their Afghan counterparts over cooperation on security-related issues.

The foreign secretary said Pakistain had allocated funds for development projects in Afghanistan, adding that 20 million dollars were for assisting the Afghan National Army (ANA).
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [15 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  What a bunch of silly crap.

Has every one gone mad over there?

Is being Muslem a euphorism for being stupid? Illogical? Psychotic?
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 03/07/2013 10:32 Comments || Top||

#2  The Taliban, however, appear reluctant to work with Kabul....

...but quite eager to kill them all, which is also a solution.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/07/2013 10:41 Comments || Top||

#3  The Pak army will try to get the Taliban back in power asap.

The countries who support the Taliban Pre 911 still support the Taliban 2013.

Pakistan,UAE and Saudi fund the Muslim WOT against the West.

Iran have joined the above in the fight for Global Islam.

Hope we support the countries on the frontline vs Global Islam ie Israel and India.

Posted by: Photh Platypus2300 || 03/07/2013 15:50 Comments || Top||

#4  Hope we support the countries on the frontline vs Global Islam ie Israel and India.

Yes. Hopefully without too much overt undermining by the current resident of the White House. It would be lovely if Britain could quickly get its financial house in order so it could resupply its armed forces as well... This ought not be carried by the U.S. alone.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/07/2013 17:32 Comments || Top||

#5  "Is being Muslem a euphorism for being stupid? Illogical? Psychotic?"

That was a rhetorical question, right, Bill?
Posted by: Barbara || 03/07/2013 18:12 Comments || Top||

#6  Well Barbara I guess that is a big obvious isn't it?

Yep. Do the math, the CDC once said at any given time 2% of the US population is dangerously psychotic. So if there are 1.4 BILLION Moslems, times 2% that is 28 million complete wacked nutso crazy keeping heads in the refrigerator dangerously insane people out there jabbering about Jihad....I wonder if you have to flunk the MMPI to be a iman?
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 03/07/2013 23:09 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Protests rage in Egypt's Port Said for fourth day
[REUTERS] Egyptian protesters demanding the release of prisoners battled police in Port Said for a fourth day on Wednesday, challenging state authority in the turbulent city at the northern end of the Suez Canal.

Violent demonstrations also broke out in Cairo, where protesters threw petrol bombs at police and soccer fans set fire to a security car, in another a sign of the insecurity that has plagued Egypt since Hosni Mubarak
...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011...
's overthrow two years ago.

Port Said has been a focus for violence since January, with people staging angry protests over death sentences handed down to some residents in connection with a football stadium riot in which more than 70 people died last year.

Hundreds gathered again on Wednesday, throwing rocks at police, who fired teargas to drive them back from a local government building, a Rooters witness said.

Army troops tried to separate police and protesters, and at one point a soldier was evacuated in an ambulance after choking on teargas, the witness said.

"Stamp your foot, shoot your gun, Port Said is free," protesters shouted, demanding the release of several demonstrators enjugged
Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw!
on Tuesday. "The people want to overthrow the regime."

That was the signature chant of the demonstrators who ended Mubarak's 30-year rule in an upheaval that helped install an elected Islamist-led government which is still struggling to assert its authority, restore order and revive the economy.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [12 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Africa Subsaharan
CAN blasts Sultan over Boko Haram amnesty call
[VANGUARDNGR] Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, yesterday, dismissed the call by the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, NSCIA, Alhaji Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar III, calling on the Federal Government to grant "total amnesty" to members of Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
sect for the sake of peace.

CAN in a statement by its General Secretary, Dr. Musa Asake, said it categorically rejected any offer of amnesty for members of Boko Haram sect.

The statement said: "Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, is surprised and puzzled by the statement credited to the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, NSCIA, Alhaji Muham-mad Sa'ad Abubakar III, that the Islamist myrmidon group, Boko Haram, should be granted "total amnesty" for the sake of peace in Nigeria and that "the bottom line of the problem facing us has been injustice meted out to people who are not supposed to.

"We wonder what the Sultan meant by injustice in relation to the activities of Boko Haram sect when members of the group are a bunch of fundamentalists who have killed, maimed, deformed Christians and made orphans and widows of otherwise peaceful and lovely families.

"They have also displaced people, destroyed businesses and livelihoods in their thousands. Would the Sultan sincerely attribute the perpetration of the injustice to Christians?

"If it is injustice, is it not government that should be held accountable? Why would the sect not hold their representatives at the various tiers of government responsible?"

"The Sultan should be told that we have since found out that the attacks are primarily targeted at Christians and their Churches. Who then is suffering injustice? Who needs justice? Christians or those killing and bombing Churches?

"The injustice to Christians killed, maimed and rendered helpless by the sect is underscored by the payment of the sum of N100 million to the late sect leader's family by the Borno State government without any assistance to any of the Christian victims of Boko Haram."
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [20 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram


Africa Horn
ICC Sets Date for Trial of Darfur Rebels over Peacekeeper Deaths
[An Nahar] Two Darfur rebel leaders are to go on trial in May next year for the 2007 killings of 12 African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
peacekeepers in the war-torn western region of Sudan, the International Criminal Court
... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ...
said on Wednesday.

Abdallah Banda and Saleh Jerbo face three war crimes charges for leading an attack in northern Darfur in September 2007, when a force armed with rocket launchers and anti-aircraft guns opened fire on the AU's military base at Haskanita.

"Today, the trial chamber set the date for the commencement of trial for May 5, 2014," the Hague-based ICC said in a statement, setting the stage for the first trial for crimes committed in the Darfur region.

About 1,000 assailants took part in the massive attack targeting peacekeepers from the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS), during which the base was also looted.

Banda, around 50, and Jerbo, around 39, who are not in jug, appeared voluntarily before the court in June 2010 and urged other war crimes suspects to surrender to justice.

The court's judges confirmed in March 2010 there was enough evidence to put them on trial for "violence to life, intentionally directing attacks against peacekeepers and pillaging," but did not set a trial date.

The judges "considered that the trial cannot start before necessary measures are put in place to ensure that... any risks of interruptions to the trial proceedings are minimized," the ICC said.

This included witness protection and training interpreters to speak Zaghawa in order to allow the suspects "to follow proceedings in a language they can understand."

The ICC declined to comment on the two suspects' current whereabouts.

Four others are wanted for war crimes in Darfur: Sudanese Defense Minister Abdelrahim Mohamed Hussein, former Sudanese government minister Ahmad Harun, pro-government Janjaweed militia leader Ali Kushayb, and Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir
Head of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself president-for-life. He has fallen out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to Arabize Darfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it.
, whom prosecutors accuse of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur.

Bashir continues to defy an ICC arrest warrant as he travels around the continent, including making a visit to Chad in February for a regional summit.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [17 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan

#1  The Darfur Rebels?

When in hell are they going to take Bashir, that murderous bastard, and try him? Or is his Muslemness too much for the ICC, try a few Christians instead?
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 03/07/2013 10:31 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Opponents of girls' right to education violate Islam, ambassador tells United Nations
[Dawn] "Those who deny women and girls their right to education, violate Islam," Pakistain's UN Ambassador Masood Khan told an audience at the world body on Monday. He said the religion was for all men and women without discrimination.

He observed that the terrorist attack on Malala Yousufzai showed that "the forces of darkness" were afraid of the education that gave courage to girls to stand up for their rights.

"Those who do so (deny girls' education) violently, violate the right to life and the right to education," he said while addressing a Unesco-sponsored discussion on the "Importance of education and sports in preventing gender-based violence" held at the UN Headquarters on the sidelines of the current session of the Commission on the Status of Women.

The Director-General of Unesco, Irina Bokova, presided. Emphasising that education is enlightenment, emancipation, empowerment and development, Mr Khan said Pakistain had always given priority to education for girls and boys, for men and women.

"In education lies the redemption of a nation and the entire international community. The attack against Malala was as evil as it was showed that the forces of darkness are afraid of the education that gives courage to girls as young as Malala to stand for their rights against all odds," the Pak envoy added. He said Pak women parliamentarians, with the support of all political parties, were creating new legislative and administrative space for women's education.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [17 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Nice words, but what are you actually doing about it? Besides the lovely words and determined resolutions, I mean?
Posted by: SteveS || 03/07/2013 1:24 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Arab League says members free to offer Syria rebels arms
[Al Ahram] Arab states are free to offer military support to rebels fighting the forces of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Leveler of Latakia...
if they wish, a final statement of Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
ministers said on Wednesday.

Previously the League had stressed that the Syrian opposition and rebels should be supported by humanitarian and diplomatic means.

However,
man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them...
a final statement issued at the end of a meeting of the ministers in Cairo said they had "stressed the right of each state according to its wishes to offer all types of self defence, including military, to support the resilience of the Syrian people and the Free (Syrian) Army."

Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby told a news conference that the ministers had invited the opposition Syrian National Coalition - an umbrella body for anti-Assad political and rebel groups - to occupy the seat of Syria at the League.

This was held by Damascus
...The place where Pencilneck hangs his brass hat...
until it was suspended from the organization in 2011.

The statement called on the coalition to choose a representative to attend a League meeting to be held in Doha on 26 to 27 March.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [13 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Israel fights swarms of locusts from Egypt
[Al Ahram] Israel on Wednesday began battling a swarm of locusts from Egypt on Wednesday to prevent crop damage in the south of the country.

Locust clouds darkened skies some three weeks before the Jewish Passover holiday that recalls 10 Biblical plagues, one of them locusts, that struck Egypt during the exodus of Israelite slaves.

The insects covered nearly 2,000 acres (800 hectares) of desert overnight, officials said. Israel sprayed pesticides from the air and land to try to kill them in the early morning before dew on their wings dried and they could take off again.

Miriam Freund, director of plant protection in the Agriculture Ministry, called it a "medium-sized swarm" and her office set up a hotline for farmers to call in case they see it advance.

"We hope our actions are effective," one of the pilots of a plane spraying the fields said on Army Radio. "Let's hope the damage will be minimal."

Locusts, which wreak havoc by eating crops, last invaded southern Israel in 2004, said the pilot, who gave only his first name, Shai.

Potato farmer Pavel Rosenfeld, who lives about 3 km (2 miles) from the Egyptian border, said 30 to 40 percent of his land had already been damaged.

"Everything depends on the wind ... and we are praying that the wind doesn't bring us more," he said on Army Radio.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Egypt's interior minister replaces Port Said security chief
[Al Ahram] Egyptian Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim on Wednesday dismissed Port Said security chief Mohsen Radi, appointing Radi's deputy, Sayid Gad, in his place.

Since 26 January, when a court sentenced 21 Port Said residents to death for their roles in the February 2012 Port Said stadium disaster, the canal city has seen intermittent festivities and riots.

For over two weeks, the convicts' relatives -- along with members of the 'Green Eagles' (hardcore fans of Port Said football club Masry) -- have attempted to launch a 'civil disobedience' campaign in the city to protest what they see as an unjust court verdict and the city's marginalisation by the central government in Cairo.

So far over 40 people -- including security personnel -- have been killed in the festivities. This week alone, which witnessed renewed festivities, three local residents and three coppers were killed.

A second court ruling, this time on security officials allegedly involved in last year's stadium disaster, is expected Saturday. Members of the Ultras Ahlawy -- hardcore fans of Cairo football club Ahly -- have vowed to wreak "chaos" in the event that the court delivers light sentences.
Posted by: Fred || 03/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring



Who's in the News
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2Jamaat-e-Islami
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1al-Qaeda in North Africa
1Govt of Iran
1Govt of Sudan

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Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2013-03-07
  Libya Interim Head's Car Comes under Fire
Wed 2013-03-06
  Syria rebels detain UN Golan observers
Tue 2013-03-05
  Chavez Dead
Mon 2013-03-04
  Twenty Islamists Killed in Northeast Nigeria
Sun 2013-03-03
  Jamaat, Shibir stay violent; toll rises to 47
Sat 2013-03-02
  Chad says soldiers in Mali kill al Qaeda's Belmokhtar
Fri 2013-03-01
  Al-Qaeda commander Abu Zeid killed in Mali
Thu 2013-02-28
  Syrian Rebels Say They Killed Hezbollah Deputy Chief
Wed 2013-02-27
  Syria Rebels Push into Police Academy as Jets Strike
Tue 2013-02-26
  Over 50 killed in battle for Syria police academy
Mon 2013-02-25
  Taliban suicide bombers hit Afghan cities, Kabul attack foiled
Sun 2013-02-24
  Karzai orders US special forces out of Afghan province
Sat 2013-02-23
  Syrian Rebels Claim To Seize Nuclear Facility
Fri 2013-02-22
  Boko Haram Denies Ceasefire, Pastes Threat Posters In Borno
Thu 2013-02-21
  Bombing in Indian Hyderabad, at least 11 killed

Better than the average link...



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