Hundreds of workers have been on strike in Jordan for the past 10 days - but not for a pay rise or improving work conditions, local media reported Sunday.
Instead the employees, mostly from Sri Lanka and India, believe that their factories are haunted by evil spirits and are demanding that the demons are expelled by exorcism, according to local trade unionists.
'A total of 367 workers belonging to the Sri Lankan and Indian nationalities have been on strike at the industrial zone in Sihab, 20 kilometres east of Amman, alleging that their plants were dwelt by devils,' head of the Textile Industry Workers Union Fathallah Imrani told the daily newspaper al-Rai.
'This type of strike is unprecedented in the history of industry,' he added.
Imrani said that about 200 of the workers have agreed to return to work after the business owners brought Muslim preachers who read Koranic verses at the plants, a traditional method for evicting devils.
But the rest of striking workers 'insisted on changing the place where they work or be sent home,' he added.
'South East Asian peoples usually believe in demons, but this feeling gathered momentum with these workers after one of them died of a brain illness and two women workers were deported to their countries because they suffered epilepsy,' he said.
Read more: "Workers in Jordan strike to demand exorcism" - http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/business/news/article_1463419.php/Workers_in_Jordan_strike_to_demand_exorcism_#ixzz09D4Rx0Lf
The World Bank predicts the global economy will shrink this year for the first time since World War II, and sees trade at its lowest point in 80 years.
The World Bank also said Sunday the growing global financial crisis will create a multibillion-dollar financing shortfall for poor and developing nations.
A group of 129 countries face a shortfall of $270 to $700 billion this year, the World Bank says. It warns international financial institutions will not be able to cover even the low end of that estimate.
The bank said only one-quarter of the vulnerable countries will be able to ease the impact of the economic downturn through job creation or "safety net" programs.
#1
We need to introduce a UN resolution criminalizing criticism of Christianity. And Judaism. After all, if we're not supposed to criticize religion....
And watch heads spin until the whole lot of them takes off.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/08/2009 20:42
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Barbara is exactly right. The best way to defend oneself against an absurd, hypocrital law is to insist that it be universally enforced. If it becomes a crime to critize one religion, then it must be criminal to critize all religions. And while they are about it, other people get their feelings hurt, too. Make it illegal to critize the handicapped, pediphiles, school cross walk guards, smokers, balding white guys, anyone at all. Nullify the First Amendment and we shall at last have peace.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
03/08/2009 21:03
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#3
An annotation on my record that I shall point to with pride, so, here goes:
"Hey Muzzies, quit attempting to force the specious organized crime manual you call a "religion" upon those who believe in individual rights, punishment of paedophilia , and the ridiculousness of irritatingly bothersome "fatwa's.""
Until then, y'all are being, um, "observed," mmmmmmmmmmmm-k....?
Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani termed International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Sudanese President a plot against Islam.
Leading a parliamentary delegation with 52 members from Islamic and Arabic countries who have participated at Tehrans recent international conference on support for Palestine, Larijani said in Khartoum that the Hague-based ICC warrant against Omar al-Bashir was a plot against Islam, an insult against Muslims and has no legal justification.
We consider the warrant as a political insult against Muslims, what we expected from changes in the US administration was that we would not witness such stances.
The delegation is the representative of the public opinion in the world of Islam and assures Sudanese nation and government that Muslims will always stand against any plot, he added.
Referring to the US black history in regard with human rights and its measures in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib prisons and Afghanistan he added they must not ask for others punishment in charges of human rights violation, the West must know Muslims are vigilant and aware about such plots.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/08/2009 23:14
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#3
ION UK, ISRAEL FORUM > UK MODERATE ISLAMIC/MUSLIM LEADER CALLS FOR JIHAD AGZ BRITISH NAVY [iff it tries to stop delivery of arms to Hamas]; + SWEDEN: THE BEST MUSLIM STATE?; + [Video]BRTISH MP GEORGE GALLOWAY CALLS FOR ISRAEL'S DESTRUCTION AND SAYS SO!
Nearly three times as many foreign IT workers entered the UK last year than during the dot-com boom, new figures reveal.
Despite the economic downturn, 35,430 UK work permits were issued to non-EU IT workers in 2008, compared to 12,726 in 2000 when the UK was gripped by a massive IT skills shortage.
The huge intake from abroad is leading to thousands of UK IT workers being laid off, according to the Association of Professional Staffing Companies.
It said the figures show that the severity of the economic downturn and 'tougher new immigration system introduced last year had 'barely dented' the influx of non-EU IT workers coming to the UK.
Ann Swain, chief executive of APSCo, said: 'It seems crazy that with the economy in a severe downturn and thousands of IT workers having already lost their jobs, we are still bringing three times as many foreign IT workers to the UK than during the dot-com boom when we had a chronic skills shortage.
'The economic slowdown and supposedly 'tougher' new points based immigration system seem to have had very little effect on slowing the influx of foreign IT staff into the UK.
'A few years ago this may have been overlooked, but with IT jobs much scarcer, this is now a contentious issue.'
The vast majority of non-EU IT workers coming to the UK - 80 per cent - are classed as intra-company transfers, which is where companies relocate IT staff between offices in different countries.
There is currently no requirement for companies to advertise vacancies in the UK before bringing workers in on intra-company transfers.
In light of the significant increase in unemployment in the IT sector in the UK, APSCo said the Government should review this rule and consider making companies tap into the UK labour market first.
Most of the foreign IT workers are software engineers and systems analysts.
'They are not coming here to answer phones on help desks, but are taking highly skilled and well paid jobs,' said the association.
According to APSCo, 'offshoring' IT jobs to low-cost overseas locations, which is likely to accelerate during the downturn as organisations look to cut their budgets, is eroding the IT skills base in the UK.
This was making it easier for organisations to justify importing IT skills from abroad, it said.
'Offshoring has eaten away at the bottom rungs of the skills ladder, making it much harder to get the experience needed for the mid-level jobs which foreign companies are bringing workers into the UK to fill,' said Miss Swain.
'If anything we are going to see more entry-level IT jobs sent offshore in 2009 as recession bites.
'Is it any wonder that seven per cent fewer students leave British universities with IT
qualifications than five years ago when so many jobs are going offshore?'
The data, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act from the Home Office, revealed that the number of foreign IT workers coming to the UK last year fell by eight per cent from its high point of 38,450 in 2007.
Islamabad, Mar 8 (PTI) The Pakistani Taliban in the troubled Khyber tribal region have warned authorities not to issue national identity cards to women, saying the practice is un-Islamic.
Most everything is ...
Omar Farooq, the commander of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan in Khyber Agency, warned the National Database and Registration Authority that its offices would be attacked if it issued identity cards to women.
Farooq told reporters on phone from an unknown location that making identity cards for women went against Islamic rules. The Taliban will not allow women to obtain these cards, he said. He also warned women that they would have to face the consequences if they went to NADRA offices to get themselves registered for the identity cards.
The Taliban in Swat valley of the North Western Frontier Province and parts of the restive tribal have banned girls education and barred women from visiting markets unless they are accompanied by male relatives
This article starring:
Omar Farooq
Posted by: john frum ||
03/08/2009
14:44 ||
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#1
See also CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > TALIBAN GETTING STRONGER IN NWFP PAKISTAN; + WAFF > IRAN TO DEPLOY/STTAION 10,000 COMMANDOS ALONG AFGHAN-PAKISTAN BORDER.
NEW DELHI: Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf offered prayers at the historic Jama Masjid here on Sunday evening as hundreds of worshippers gathered there to get a glimpse of him, resulting in a stampede-like situation.
Musharraf drove to the 17th century architectural marvel around 6:40pm(local time) to offer the 'Magrib' namaz amidst heavy security.
Around 5,000 people were in the mosque when Musharraf came there. He waved at the people who went berserk and almost created a stampede-like situation. His security staff escorted him out of the complex as people scrambled each other to have a close look at him.
This was his second visit to the Jama Masjid. He last came here on an official visit in April 2005. Musharraf was born in Neharwali Haveli, a kilometre away from the Masjid, in Chandni Chowk on August 1943. After partition, his family had migrated to Pakistan.
Posted by: john frum ||
03/08/2009
12:39 ||
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How ironic that these 5000 muslims are safer offering prayers in this Delhi mosque than they would be in a Pakistani one
Posted by: john frum ||
03/08/2009 12:45
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THE United States will pull 12,000 troops out of Iraq by the end of September in an acceleration of the US withdrawal, Iraqi government spokesman Ali Dabbagh said.
"We have agreed that a total of 12,000 US troops will be withdrawn by the end of September 2009,'' he said.
"In addition, 4000 British troops will withdraw in July 2009 according to an agreement between the United Kingdom and Iraq,'' Mr Dabbagh said alongside coalition forces spokesman Major General David Perkins of the US army.
GUWAHATI: At least 2,000 Assam Police personnel, who were engaged in fighting militancy, carried their AK-47s without ammunition for nearly two years. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its 2007-08 report revealed the Assam Police did not receive the ammunition till March last year.
The CAG report tabled in the state legislative assembly on Saturday stated that during 2004-05, the ministry of home affairs supplied 2,000 AK-47s at a cost of Rs 1.60 crore without any ammunition. The police department, after a lapse of nearly two years, placed an order for the supply of 3,25,976 rounds of 7.62 mm x 39 ball ammunition for the AK-47s valued at Rs 96 lakh with the Ordinance Factory at Bharangaon.
But the ammunition was not received till March, 2008. The report further said that in September 2008, the DGP said the ammunition could not be collected due to non-receipt of delivery and non-availability of railway wagons.
The CAG report also revealed that the state police's preparedness and striking capability with sophisticated weaponry was not adequately addressed as the force is short of the required sophisticated arms, including AK-47s, SLRs, LMGs, carbines, pistols and rifle grenades, by varying figures of 23% to 100%.
The CAG pointed out that the detection of bombs and explosives decreased by 30% in 2007-08 compared to 2003-04, while cases of police casualties and bomb blasts increased by 42% in 2007-08 compared to 2003-04. It also observed that short procurement of bomb detectors and inadequate procurement of bullet-proof jackets could be among the factors that contributed towards the increase in bomb blasts and police deaths.
Assam Police, under the modernization of police force (MPF) schemes, got 5200 INSAS rifles worth Rs 13.06 crore from MHA, 1680 of which were withdrawn in December 2007 as the district police were not specially trained to handle the INSAS rifles.
These rifles are now lying unused at the district police headquarters, the CAG reported. Apart from these, the Assam Police also procured a Mahindra Scorpio and Tata Indigo, which are actually not allowed under the MPF scheme.
Not only that, the CAG found that 75 police stations and 55 police outposts are insecure because of a lack of boundary walls. Fifteen of these vulnerable police stations are in Guwahati.
Posted by: john frum ||
03/08/2009
11:23 ||
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President Barack Obama is poised to offer an olive branch to Cuba in an effort to repair the US's tattered reputation in Latin America.
The fumble with Putin, the cold shoulder to Gordo, now this. What's next, a state visit for Hugo?
The White House has moved to ease some travel and trade restrictions as a cautious first step towards better ties with Havana, raising hopes of an eventual lifting of the four-decade-old economic embargo. Several Bush-era controls are expected to be relaxed in the run-up to next month's Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago to gild the president's regional debut and signal a new era of "Yankee" cooperation.
By cozying up to thugs. Yup, that's a new era alright ...
The administration has moved to ease draconian travel controls and lift limits on cash remittances that Cuban-Americans can send to the island, a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of families.
"The effect on ordinary Cubans will be fairly significant. It will improve things and be very welcome," said a western diplomat in Havana. The changes would reverse hardline Bush policies but not fundamentally alter relations between the superpower and the island, he added. "It just takes us back to the 1990s."
The provisions are contained in a $410bn (£290bn) spending bill due to be voted on this week.
For some reason Bambi can't just have a simple piece of legislation that would do this, he has to hide it in the omnibus pork bill.
The legislation would allow Americans with immediate family in Cuba to visit annually, instead of once every three years, and broaden the definition of immediate family. It would also drop a requirement that Havana pay cash in advance for US food imports.
"There is a strong likelihood that Obama will announce policy changes prior to the summit," said Daniel Erikson, director of Caribbean programmes at the Inter-American Dialogue and author of The Cuba Wars. "Loosening travel restrictions would be the easy thing to do and defuse tensions at the summit."
Latin America, once considered Washington's "backyard", has become newly assertive and ended the Castro government's pariah status. The presidents of Brazil, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Guatemala have recently visited Havana to deepen economic and political ties. Brazil's president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, is expected to tell Obama on a White House visit this week that the region views the US embargo as anachronistic and vindictive. Easing it would help mend Washington's strained relations with the "pink tide" of leftist governments.
Which must be one of our most important foreign policy goals, getting in good with the pink tide ...
Obama's proposed Cuba measures would only partly thaw a policy frozen since John F Kennedy tried to isolate the communist state across the Florida Straits. "It would signal new pragmatism, but you would still have the embargo, which is the centrepiece of US policy," said Erikson.
Wayne Smith at the Centre for International Policy, Washington DC, said: "I think that the Obama administration will go ahead and lift restrictions on travel of Cuban Americans and remittance to their families. He may also lift restrictions on academic travel. There are some things that could be done very easily - for example it's about time we took Cuba off the terrorist list. It's the beginning of the end of the policies we have had towards Cuba for 50 years. It's achieved nothing, it's an embarrassment."
The 'Centre for International Policy' would say that since it's one of the progressive mills that has sprung up in DC. Part of their funding comes from George Soros' Open Society Institute which is a pretty good clue.
Wayne Smith, a former head of the US Interest Section in Havana, famously said Cuba had the same effect on American administrations as the full moon had on werewolves.
Except Fidel allowed his country to be used as a trans-shipment point for drugs and has spent the last fifty years bashing up.
Cuban exiles in Florida, a crucial voting bloc in a swing state, sustained a hardline US policy towards Havana even as the cold war ended and the US traded with other undemocratic nations with much worse human rights records.
Gee, the people who know Fidel best think we should take a hard line towards him. Fancy that ...
To Washington's chagrin, the economic stranglehold did not topple Fidel Castro. When Soviet Union subsidies evaporated, the "maximum leader" implemented savage austerity, opened the island to tourism and found a new sponsor in Venezuela's petrol-rich president, Hugo Chavez.
So it didn't topple him but it exposed the 'paradise' to be a sham ...
When Fidel fell ill in 2006, power transferred seamlessly to his brother Raúl. He cemented his authority last week with a cabinet reshuffle that replaced "Fidelistas" with "Raúlistas" from the military.
Recognising Castro continuity, and aghast at European and Asian competitors getting a free hand, US corporate interests are impatient to do business with Cuba. Oil companies want to drill offshore, farmers to export more rice, vegetables and meat, construction firms to build infrastructure projects.
Notice that it would be easier to drill offshore Cuba than offshore Florida ...
Young Cuban exiles in Florida, less radical than their parents, have advocated ending the policy of isolation. As a senator, Obama opposed the embargo, but as a presidential candidate he supported it - and simultaneously promised engagement with Havana.
Typical Bambi, talking out of both sides of his mouth and speaking nothing but mush. And he got elected with it ...
A handful of hardline anti-Castro Republican and Democrat members of Congress have threatened to derail the $410bn spending bill unless the Cuba provisions are removed, but most analysts think the legislation will survive.
Compared to intractable challenges in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Middle East, the opportunity for quick progress on Cuba has been called the "low-hanging fruit" of US foreign policy.
If you believe in coddling thugs ...
That Obama has moved so cautiously has frustrated many reformers. But after decades of freeze, even a slight thaw is welcome, and there is speculation that more will follow.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/08/2009
10:17 ||
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How about another Mariel boat lift for those Cubans too poor to afford inner tubes?
Posted by: ed ||
03/08/2009 10:40
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#2
All those pseudo human rights groups should be proud that W is now gone. Now they can focus on other money raising schemes to keep their scam going. /sarcasm off
#3
Let it happen. The Bonefish are getting out of hand and need supervision.
Seriously... Jeebus. It's time to examine the situation and conclude that the Commies done won in Cuba and our tactics ain't working worth a damn there. So let's try someting different.
#5
To be clear, I'm for whatever brings the Castro boys and their evil regime down quickest. If that means keeping the embargo, keep it. If that means removing the embargo, remove it.
But I have no confidence that Bambi wants to bring down the commies. I see his moves precisely as a way to prop up the Castro boys, and that's bad.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/08/2009 12:02
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#6
Doc. you're not adressing my main point. The damn Gray Ghosties are going nuts and need me or vicey verse, depending.
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has test-fired a new long-range missile, the country's state Press TV reported on Sunday.
Perhaps. You can never be too sure, it might be an old TV re-run.
Iran often stages war games or tests weapons to show its determination to counter any attack by foes including Israel and the United States, which accuse the Islamic Republic of seeking to develop nuclear bombs. Tehran denies the charge.
And if it can't it just makes something up out of thin air ...
"Iran test fires new long range missile," Press TV, Iran's English-language television station, said in a scrolling headline without giving details.
The Press TV report came less than a week after a top Iranian military commander said that Iranian missiles could now reach Israeli nuclear sites. Iran has often said it has missiles able to reach the Jewish state but had not previously mentioned such specific targets. Israel is believed to be the only nuclear-armed Middle East state.
I hear the old TV studios where the US faked the moon landings are available.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/08/2009
10:13 ||
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reports elsewhere say that Iran has announce 'it will fire' the missile
most of these reports say it is a air to ground device fired from a fighter (which if true means the missile can travel at least as far as the fighter - and we know Iran has fighters with at least 1200 km range - assuming they don't have to return to base)
#2
STARS-N-STRIPES > seems US ELITE FORCES left behind to advise and train Iraqi Mil-Sec are worried the OBAMA ADMIN's PLANS TO DOWNSIZE THE US PRESENCE IN IRAQ will take away their WAR-INSURGENCY-WINING TECH(S) and LEAVE THEM EITHER MOSTLY FOOT-BOUND, OR ELSE RELIANT ON OLDER IRAQI MIL EQUIPMENT ON PAR [read, NOT COMBAT/FIELD-SUPERIOR OR DOMINANT] TO THAT OF THE MILITANTS???
IOW, HOW CAN ANY ISLAMIST HIDDEN-IMAM/MAHDI LOSE UNDER THESE KINDS OF SELF-IMPOSED [pro-Islamist]ENEMY LIMITATIONS, etc. OR STRATEGIC ENVIRON???
Caracas - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Friday called upon US President Barack Obama to follow the path to socialism, which he termed as the "only" way out of the global recession. "Come with us, align yourself, come with us on the road to socialism. This is the only path. Imagine a socialist revolution in the United States," Chavez told a group of workers in the southern Venezuelan state of Bolivar.
The controversial Venezuelan leader, who taunted the United States as a source of capitalistic evil under former president George W Bush, added that the United States needs a leader who can take it to a "higher" destiny and bring it out of "the sad role that it has been given, as a murderous, attacking power that is hated all around the world."
Chavez said that people are calling Obama a "socialist" for the measures of state intervention he is taking to counter the crisis, so it would not be too far-fetched to suggest that he might join the project of "21st century socialism" that the Venezuelan leader is heading.
"Nothing is impossible. Who would have thought in the 1980s that the Soviet Union would disappear? No one," he said.
"That murderous, genocidal empire has to end, and some day there has to come a leader ... who interprets the best of a people who also include human beings who suffer, endure, weep and laugh," the outspoken Chavez said. Or not, another day, another personality emerges. It's so hard to tell with the bipolar personality affected. Hugo Chavez Tells Obama To "Wash His Ass"
Posted by: ed ||
03/08/2009
09:55 ||
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if Hugo wants O to "follow the path of Socialism", he hasn't been paying attention.
Posted by: Slereger Scourge of the Sith3543 ||
03/08/2009 17:56
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#2
There should be one of those propaganda looking graphics with profiles of Chavez, the Castro brothers and Obama all lined up together with a caption that reads "Brothers in Socialism". Maybe you could even work Che in there. I can envision it but I'm not artist enough to actually create it. Somebody could make a fortune with a T-shirt like that.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
03/08/2009 18:07
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TOPIX > BBC NEWS - OBAMA: US IS NOT WINNING IN AFGHANISTAN.
To friends and family, he was a maturing leader in the Muslim community, a passionate writer who was departing for Saudi Arabia for a career as a pharmacist. But the arrest of Tariq Mehanna in November, as he was about to board a plane at Logan International Airport for his new life in the Middle East, has cast the 26-year-old in darker terms, as a liar supporting and associating with terrorists.
With an indictment in federal court, the Sudbury man faces a maximum sentence of eight years in prison on charges of lying to investigators in a terrorism inquiry. But a community of supporters has rallied around him, questioning how Mehanna could have been ensnared in a federal case and whether he is being used a pawn in the FBI's war on terrorism. "They're kind of painting the wrong picture of the Muslim community," said S. Ahmad Zamanian of Houston, a friend of Mehanna's. "Anyone who has met Tariq . . . would all tell you that this man is far removed from anyone's definition of a terrorist."
Mehanna has been released pending trial after his parents posted more than $1 million in surety, including their sprawling Sudbury home. His lawyers, led by J.W. Carney Jr. of Boston, are challenging the case. But he is also fighting a separate battle to shed a stigma that has shadowed him since his arrest, as he faces scrutiny over his blog postings, his acquaintances, and his associations with people such as Daniel Maldonado, who later became the first American charged with terrorism activities in Somalia.
Just as often as Mehanna's friends have defended him, others have referred to him as an "Al Qaeda blogger." Thanks for the suggestion.
His interpretations of Arabic passages - seen as poetic by some - have been taken by critics as a promotion of Islamic fundamentalism. "You can bet that the FBI arrest on relatively minor charges was taken because there was a reasonable fear that Mehanna was leaving the country to join or further support the jihad himself," said a blogger known as Rusty Shackleford, on the popular Jawa Report website he runs that monitors terrorism investigations. Citing the ongoing case, the FBI and federal prosecutors would not comment for this article, only referring to the federal indictment.
It is clear that Mehanna did not help his case by openly supporting controversial figures such as Aafia Siddiqui, the Pakistani woman who was on the FBI's Most Wanted List before she was arrested last year on charges of shooting at a US soldier in Afghanistan. A 1995 MIT graduate, Siddiqui reportedly established ties with Al Qaeda during her time in Boston. In another example of questionable associations, some of the inspiration for Mehanna's writings were prominent fundamentalist figures such as Abdullah Azzam and Sayyid Qutb, who are considered significant influences by Al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood, a fundamentalist movement.
Mehanna does not dispute his support of Siddiqui, or the sources of his writings. But through his lawyer, Carney, he characterized such support as nothing more than following his own beliefs. He says he has never met Siddiqui but is concerned with the controversy surrounding her arrest, noting her supporters around the world have questioned how a frail woman could have managed to wrestle a weapon away from armed military men and shoot at a soldier, while getting shot twice, as is reported. Humanitarian groups have also questioned her mysterious disappearance and sudden arrest in Afghanistan, he noted.
Also, through his lawyer, Mehanna questioned the characterization of the figures he cites in his blogs, saying they are considered "freedom fighters" by others, including those who supported Afghanistan's opposition to Soviet Union oppression two decades ago - a movement that was supported at the time by the US government. "You can take your inspiration from these leaders, and then others will characterize you, whether they agree with your actions or disagree," Carney said.
Mehanna was not one to hide his devotion to Islam, and he seemed to be more dedicated to his religion as he matured from a guitar-playing high school student into a local leader who taught at religious schools and gave sermons during Friday services. He created a blog called Iskandrani, a name tied to his Egyptian ancestry, and was considered a leader to teenagers at the Worcester Islamic Center. He went under the name Abu Sabaya, which he translated as "Father of Children." LOL
As he encountered others as devout as himself, Mehanna met Maldonado, a Massachusetts native who converted to Islam in 2000. Maldonado, also known as Daniel Aljughaifi, immersed himself in his new religion, wearing traditional Arab clothing and reportedly chastising anyone he considered to be a sinner, even criticizing Arabs who did not fulfill tradition by growing a full beard. The two met at a Lowell mosque some time around 2003. Maldonado eventually moved to Houston, where he worked for a website that had been criticized for its sympathetic views of terrorists. He uprooted with his family to Egypt, and then to Somalia, where he joined rebels who were trying to form a pure Islamic government.
Mehanna, who in that time earned a doctorate degree from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, spoke by phone with his old friend in December 2006 and he was invited to join in the fighting, authorities contend. Mehanna told Maldonado - who used code phrases such as "peanut butter and jelly," to say, "I'm here fighting" - that he should not say such things over the telephone, according to court records. "Death sandwich is right out"
Federal prosecutors allege Mehanna obstructed a terrorism investigation when he told FBI agents just days after the phone call that he had not spoken with Maldonado for weeks and that he thought Maldonado was still in Egypt. Because the FBI was conducting a terrorism investigation, the penalty of lying to the agency is more severe than similar charges of making false statements.
FBI agents with a Joint Terrorism Task Force had reached out to Mehanna as early as October 2005, asking him about a trip a year earlier to Yemen, according to court records. Carney has said in court that the trip was for educational purposes. But he has suggested that the interview was a disguise of other political intentions and said that the agents were really trying to turn his client into an informant. When Mehanna would not assist investigators, Carney said, agents set up his client, asking him about Maldonado's whereabouts when they already had him under surveillance in Somalia, Carney said.
After the interview about Maldonado, agents told Mehanna and his family - as recently as April 2008 - that they would file charges unless he cooperated, Carney has said in court. Carney said his client finished his school work, found a new career with attractive benefits, and was about to board a flight when agents arrested him - two years after the alleged crime. "At some point, he has to get on with his life," Carney said.
According to terrorism specialists, the tactic of turning low-level suspects into confidential informants is nothing new. It has been more common with the FBI, as agents have had a lack of success infiltrating Muslim communities on their own because of scant understanding of the culture and a shortage of agents who speak Arabic, said Mathieu Deflem, a professor at the University of South Carolina and author on terrorism subjects. He added that the FBI will do anything it can in the war on terrorism to prove it is succeeding.
But the strategy does not mean that the arrest of Mehanna was not justified, according to Jean Rosenbluth, a law professor at the University of Southern California, who said it was not a coincidence that Mehanna was arrested as he was about to leave for Saudi Arabia, which does not have an extradition treaty with the United States.
The case has offended some Muslims who have seen popular leaders targeted for minor offenses in the war on terrorism. In the case of Mehanna, local leaders crowded his initial court hearings as a show of support, saying they feel as if their community has been targeted since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Abdul Cader Asmal, a local leader and past president of the Islamic Center of Boston and the Islamic Council of New England, said the arrest of Mehanna was another setback for the Muslim community. Asmal said he cannot make a judgment on the arrest until the case is heard in court, but he added that the boy he shared Superman comic books with in Sunday school years ago deserved better treatment than to be arrested at an airport as he was about to start a new job. "Every time a Muslim is found to do something . . . he's treated as a common criminal," Asmal said. "And no one will stand up for the Muslim community."
#4
J. W. Carney, the Ramsey Clark of Massachusetts. At least he wins about as often. Likes sensational murder cases that gets his mug on the six o'clock news a lot. Good for business, not so good for his clients.
Were you aware of this when you picked him for counsel, Tariq?
#3
Not that long. The value of his intel decreases by the day and he is on trial for offenses that carry a death penalty. His date with the gallows may be a few years away, but it is almost certain.
Posted by: john frum ||
03/08/2009 13:43
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NEW DELHI: "Indian Muslims are capable of solving their problems... We don't need your advice.. Don't try to alienate Indian Muslims by your remarks, here or in Pakistan."
This blunt message was conveyed to former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf by a prominent Muslim leader Mehmood Madani at a function in India.
Madani, member of Rajya Sabha and leader of Jamat-e-Ulema-i-Hind, made it clear to the Pakistani leader that he or his country need not bother about the condition of Muslims in India.
"Don't start your politics of Pakistan from here," Madani told Musharraf after the latter claimed that Muslims in India were alienated and suggested that this was one of the reasons for terrorism here.
Virtually retorting the former Pakistani military ruler, Madani said, "Pakistan ki jitni total population hai , us se zyada population hai Indian Muslims ki . (Population of Muslims in India is more than that total population of Pakistan). You should be knowing this."
When Musharraf said he was aware of it, Madani said "If you know this, then you should also know that Indian Muslims have the capability to solve their problems. We don't need your advise. Don't try to alienate Indian Muslims by your remarks, here or in Pakistan."
Posted by: john frum ||
03/08/2009
09:20 ||
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Humayun Gauhar ghost authored In the Line of Fire, the autobiography of President General Pervez Musharraf. His father Altaf Gauhar ghost authored Friends Not Masters, the autobiography of President General Ayub Khan
COUPS occur in Pakistan only when the politicians have created such a mess that the stability of the state is threatened. Then they become unavoidable.
And frequent ...
After nine years of military rule, albeit with an elected government for six of them, the army is loath to intervene again so soon. Which is why it is working behind the scenes to effect a rapprochement before it is too late between President Asif Zardari and his rival Nawaz Sharif, the former prime minister and leader of his own Pakistan Muslim League faction, the PML-N, with its support base in the country's most powerful province, the Punjab.
People fear that if this week's "long march" of lawyers to Islamabad gets out of hand and there are riots and unrest, the army could be forced to intervene.
There are certain pitfalls that any sensible Pakistan government should avoid if it wishes to avert a coup. One is to avoid economic meltdown - but this has already taken place with a stock market crash, the rupee devalued and a balance of payments deficit.
An increasing number are remembering Pervez Musharraf, the former president, with nostalgia and clamouring for his return.
Other political advice would include: do not damage Pakistan's strategic ties to China, do not confront the powerful spy service (the Inter-Service Intelligence agency), do not compromise Pakistan's nuclear assets, do not compromise with India on Kashmir and do not let the country be parcelled up by ethnic or sectarian groups as has occurred in Swat, in the NorthWest Frontier Province, which has already been ceded to the Taliban.
Whether the long march and the sit-in around parliament can be averted is a big question. If order breaks down, then some form of army intervention may be on the cards.
Posted by: john frum ||
03/08/2009
08:51 ||
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#1
How about first thing, killing the lawyers? It would do a lot for stabilizing the country.
#2
Lawyers are near the front line for rule of law. Killing them would simply empower religious radicals and advance Sharia. How about confronting the ISI and compromising on Kashmir instead?
#3
What if the mess was created by the military, as is most definitely the current situation? Is this possibly the Pakistani version of preparing the electorate for what we* decide must be?
*For a given value of "we", of course, in which that "we" who are reading this post are in no way members. (Read that sentence again -- I promise it will eventually make sense.)
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India and Pakistan must change the way they treat each other and bury a "dirty past" to tackle growing militancy in the region together, Pakistan's former President Pervez Musharraf said on Saturday.
"The past has been dirty, the past has been bad, but don't put the blame on Pakistan," Musharraf said at a media event in New Delhi late on Saturday. "You tried to do damage to us, we were not sitting idle, we tried to damage you."
He said both countries were to be blamed for decades of mistrust and dispute, but now need to move ahead.
"There is a need for attitudal change, more in India less in Pakistan," the former army general said, referring to India's regular allegations that Pakistan's spy agency, the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), and the Pakistan army were behind militant strikes in India.
Musharraf asked India to stop what he described as "Pakistan bashing" and instead urged New Delhi to help the ISI and Pakistan's army fight militancy in the region.
Posted by: john frum ||
03/08/2009
08:44 ||
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#2
Putting the onus on India, he said a permanent solution to the Kashmir issue and thereby peace in the region can only be achieved if India, the bigger country showed "magnanimity" by making more concessions than Pakistan. "... the onus or initiative for reconciliation and accommodation is always shown by the larger country. We do understand India is a large country, and so, if Pakistan during mediation, steps to compromise, it is seen as a sell-out, it is seen as a sign of weakness, while if the same thing is done by a larger partner, (in this case ) India, it is seen as a sign of magnanimity and a sign of greatness".
Posted by: john frum ||
03/08/2009 10:01
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#3
Heh. We can't compromise because it would make us look weak, whereas you, on the other hand...
With logic like that, Perv could get himself a position in the Obama administration. At least he didn't blame India vs Pakistan on Bush.
When smart young foreigners leave these shores, they take with them the seeds of tomorrow's innovation. Almost 25 percent of all international patent applications filed from the United States in 2006 named foreign nationals as inventors. Immigrants founded a quarter of all U.S. engineering and technology companies started between 1995 and 2005, including half of those in Silicon Valley. In 2005 alone, immigrants' businesses generated $52 billion in sales and employed 450,000 workers.
Yet rather than welcome these entrepreneurs, the U.S. government is confining many of them to a painful purgatory. As of Sept. 30, 2006, more than a million people were waiting for the 120,000 permanent-resident visas granted each year to skilled workers and their family members. No nation may claim more than 7 percent, so years may pass before immigrants from populous countries such as India and China are even considered.
Why does all this matter? Because just as the United States has relied on foreigners to underwrite its deficit, it has also depended on smart immigrants to staff its laboratories, engineering design studios and tech firms. An analysis of the 2000 Census showed that although immigrants accounted for only 12 percent of the U.S. workforce, they made up 47 percent of all scientists and engineers with doctorates. What's more, 67 percent of all those who entered the fields of science and engineering between 1995 and 2006 were immigrants. What will happen to America's competitive edge when these people go home?
Immigrants who leave the United States will launch companies, file patents and fill the intellectual coffers of other countries. Their talents will benefit nations such as India, China and Canada, not the United States. America's loss will be the world's gain. luddites
#1
And guess what happens when such intelligent, entrepreneurial types go home to discover a stifling bureaucracy, and an ignorant and superstitious government filled with socialists eager to redistribute their wealth?
#4
As of Sept. 30, 2006, more than a million people were waiting for the 120,000 permanent-resident visas granted each year to skilled workers and their family members.
You'll have to take that issue up with Nancy and Harry who are more interested in TEN million who didn't even bother to go through the entire process, but who they want to vote by the next election. The Nancy and Harry Show is not interested in people who won't be dependent upon them for their existence like good serfs.
#5
WaPo gets one right. Just as our lesser lights don't want illegals from Mexico coming in and taking their jobs by working for less (or even just by working at all), our brighter lights don't want competition for the more elite jobs. They skate through school and get C's in (at most) Civil Engineering and expect to be paid to design the next generation of stealth aircraft or nuclear power plants. So they put up roadblocks to those who actually learned partial differential equations (mostly Asians).
#6
So, Glenmore, why should an American get a PhD in a difficult discipline, when at any moment:
a) He could be replaced by an Indian with an H1B visa, or
b) His job could be outsourced to a team of programmers in India or China, or
c) If he does succeed here in America, the government will tax and/or regulate his company to death?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
03/08/2009 14:47
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#7
Because a PhD in an 'easy' discipline does not prepare one for productive work at all, whereas if you have learned something productive you at least have a chance to compete with the foreigners who have learned it. In general, for equally qualified and compensated workers in this country, the corporations will take the citizens over the H1B visa. Any job can be outsourced, but your odds are better (still not good, but better) if you are good at your job. I wish I had an argument for your third point - it does appear we have already outsourced our government.
#8
And in the end, we as a country are better off if bright young Indians and Chinese come here and join us and add to our economy than if they go home/stay home and take their contributions to our economy with them. (Our livestyle and freedoms have tended to be addictive to immigrants over the decades - all my engineering profs were Russians or European Jews who fled Hitler and/or Stalin.) Outsourcing everything is even worse than outsourcing almost everything.
#9
In general, for equally qualified and compensated workers in this country, the corporations will take the citizens over the H1B visa.
In your dreams. An America who has the 'go' will seek, just like the business, a better deal for himself. The H1-B loses their ticket if they jump ship. It's just as much about control as it is about ability. Businesses are loath to issue binding contracts to American workers because they count such items as liabilities not as assets [just look at Detroit] since they obligate the corp for financial compensation they could otherwise address by simple termination.
#10
Glenmore, I wouldn't try selling that to 3dc if I were you.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/08/2009 17:18
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#11
They skate through school and get C's in (at most) Civil Engineering
Hey! I was living in the fraternity house at the time! C's were like gold, man
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/08/2009 18:12
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#12
CNN NEWS this AM > Guest Pert - proclaims US GOP IS NOW A HEAVILY FRACTURED, WEAK MINORITY PARTY. US DEMS = DEMOLEFT could score points vee RUSH LIMBAUGH by potraying the GOP-Right as dedicated or manic followers of LIMBAUGH = the MAHARUSHIE???
Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's party on Saturday pushed for an independent probe of the car crash that killed his wife and injured him, as an official said a US aid truck was involved.
Tsvangirai and his wife Susan, 50, were travelling from Harare to Buhera, their rural hometown where the new prime minister was due to speak at a rally on Saturday. His wife died at the scene of the crash. Police on Friday said Tsvangirai's car collided with a truck which crossed into the oncoming lane and side-swiped the prime minister's vehicle, causing it to roll several times.
More details of the truck emerged on Saturday, with a US embassy official in Harare saying it belonged to a US aid agency "partner" for AIDS drug delivery.
ABC News in the United States cited unnamed US officials as saying the truck belonged to a contractor working for the US and British governments. The truck, which had a USAID insignia on it, was purchased by US government funds and its driver was hired by a British development agency, the report said.
#1
So USAID and the Brits are now hiring "War Veterans"?
Posted by: ed ||
03/08/2009 10:27
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#2
Bitch cut me off...
Posted by: Drivin B. Hard ||
03/08/2009 13:35
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#3
So basically the fact that the US funds NGO's (which are basically on the side of the tranzi aristocracy) is going to be used to blame the crime on the US by the usual conspiracy theorists?
At least one suicide bomber exploded himself in the busy early morning hours on Sunday near the police academy killing 28 people and injuring 57, some of them seriously, according to Iraqs Interior Minister.
The area near the police academy has been a frequent target for suicide bombers since shortly after the American invasion in 2003. Just over three months ago, on Dec. 1, a bomber wearing a vest blew himself up in almost the same location killing 15 people.Sundays bombing came after a period of relative calm in the capital and a peaceful election at the end of January. However, many military officials, Iraqi and American, have predicted that the post-election period would see an increase in violence.
Early reports suggested there were two bombers: one on a motorcycle and the other wearing a suicide vest but those details were still sketchy and reporters were not able to get close to the scene of the attack. A police lieutenant near the scene of the bombing said there had been a protest near the police academy and that the bomber had mingled with the crowd before the explosion.
#4
The area near the police academy has been a frequent target for suicide bombers since shortly after the American invasion in 2003.
So what should be done differently to fix this? Never mind the opinion of the American president, it's up to the Iraqis to protect their protectors-in-training.
Two men, understood to be soldiers, have been killed after an attack on an Army barracks in Northern Ireland. Four other men were injured in the attack, when shots were fired at the Massereene base in County Antrim, north of Belfast. Two were thought to be military personnel and the others civilians.
The attack happened at around 9.20pm Saturday at the barracks, which is home to 38 Engineering Regiment. A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence described it as a "drive-by" attack. Reports suggested that at least two gunmen opened fire close to the main gates of the base. The victims were reportedly waiting to take delivery of pizza when they were attacked.
A spokesman for the Police Service of Northern Ireland, said: "We can confirm that an attack has been carried out in Massereene in Antrim at about 9.20pm. "There have been two fatalities. It is understood that those two fatalities are male. It is also understood that a further four males have been brought to hospital and are in a serious condition."
Witnesses said there were two long bursts of gunfire. Immediately afterwards, sirens could be heard blaring inside the military barracks, which is located on the edge of the town of Antrim. At least six ambulances and three paramedic vehicles rushed to the scene to take the injured to Antrim Area Hospital, about a mile away. The area around the barracks was sealed off and a major security operation was launched. Nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.
One witness who lives near the base told how he looked to the sky after hearing what he thought were fireworks. He added: "Then I heard a lot of loud bangs again, only it was a lot more than there was initially - maybe between 10 and 20. Then the siren at the Army barracks went off. Then all you heard was the police sirens and ambulances and there was at least six ambulances. There was definitely six of the ambulances and God knows how many police cars - they just came out of the police station one after the other."
The soldiers are the first to be murdered in Northern Ireland since Lance Bombardier Stephen Restorick was killed by an IRA sniper in 1997. Ian Paisley Jnr, a Democratic Unionist member of the Northern Ireland Assembly and the policing board, said the shooting could be a defining moment in the history of Northern Ireland. He said: "For the last 10 years, people believed things like this happened in foreign countries, places like Basra. Unfortunately it has returned to our doorstep."
The shooting follows warnings last week by Sir Hugh Orde, Northern Ireland's police chief, that the threat of a serious terror attack in Northern Ireland was higher than at any time since he became chief constable seven years ago. An Army special forces squad is mounting a round-the-clock surveillance operation on dissident republicans in Northern Ireland. The Special Reconnaissance Regiment, which shares headquarters in Hereford with the SAS, is employing communication intercept tactics that have been used on enemy targets in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sir Hugh said that he had called in the six specialists because the threat of a serious attack was heightened, but insisted the deployment did not signal the return of soldiers to the streets. "I will die in a ditch over that - that is not going to happen," he said. "This is a very small number, a handful of people coming in with technical expertise I don't have, to enhance the frontline capabilities of my officers. The idea that there will be SAS walking around with machine guns, as some people have tried to portray, is rubbish."
Republican extremists opposed to the peace process have launched a series of failed murder attempts on police, ranging from shootings to bomb attempts. Last year dissident Republicans tried to kill PSNI officers in separate incidents in Derry City and Dungannon Co Tyrone. Last month, security forces also defused a 300lb bomb in Castlewellan Co Down which may have been intended for an attack on a nearby barracks.
[Announcing the honorary knighthood for Edward
Kennedy, Mr Brown said that "Northern Ireland is
today at peace, more Americans have healthcare,
more children around the world are going to school"
because of the long-serving Democratic senator.]
The US president admits that the 'anti-terror' operations in Afghanistan will not lead to victory, urging dialogue with insurgents as a cure.
'No', The United States is not winning the war in Afghanistan, President Barack Obama told The New York Times, suggesting that contact with the 'moderate' Taliban elements could result in 'success' - as a similar strategy proved to be successful in Iraq.
"If you talk to [the commander of US forces in the Middle East and Central Asia] General Petraeus, I think he would argue that part of the success in Iraq involved reaching out to people that we would consider to be Islamic fundamentalists, but who were willing to work with us because they had been completely alienated by the tactics of al-Qaeda in Iraq."
"There may be some comparable opportunities in Afghanistan and in the Pakistani region," the US president added.
This is while Iraq is reportedly witnessing a sevenfold rise in the number of terrorist attacks since the 2003 US-led invasion of the country.
The 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan, which toppled the Taliban regime, has likewise been followed by numerous reports of an increase in insurgent attacks.
Following the invasion, Taliban leaders took refuge in the tribal regions of Pakistan and gradually extended their influence to major towns and cities. The tribal regions along the common border also became safe havens for the insurgents. US attacks on alleged al-Qaeda hideouts, meanwhile, have incurred considerable civilian casualties outraging the countries' public.
Despite the popular indignation, 17,000 additional US troops were deployed in Afghanistan following recent orders by Obama who has vowed to switch focus from Iraq to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The conciliatory measure, which the president spoke of on Friday, is part of a policy revision meant to build confidence among the discontented public.
Administration officials criticized a similar move on Thursday by Pakistan to reconcile with the local Taliban leaders allowing them to establish their own rule in the volatile northwestern Swat Valley, the paper concluded.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009
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#1
"If your determination to shut your eyes will carry you as far as this, Cornelius," said Dumbledore, "we have reached a parting of the ways. You must act as you see fit. And I - I shall act as I see fit."
Dumbledore's voice carried no hint of a threat; it sounded like a mere statement, but Fudge bristled as though Dumbledore were advancing on him with a wand.
"Now see here, Dumbledore," he said, waving a threatening finger. "I've given you free rein, always. I've had a lot of repect for you. I might not have always agreed with your decisions, but I've kept quiet. There aren't many who'd have let you hire werewolves, or keep Hagrid, or decide what to teach your students without reference to the Ministry. But if you're going to work against me --"
"The only one against whom I intend to work," said Dumbledore, "is Lord Voldemort. If you are against him, then we remain, Cornelius, on the same side."
Excerpt from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling, Scholastic Press, 2000. (Page 709)
#3
"These demands are not open to negotiation or discussion. The Taliban must act, and act immediately. They will hand over the terrorists, or they will share in their fate."
George W. Bush, Statement To Joint Session Of Congress September 20th 2001
Since the Taliban did not hand over the terrorists this implies that the reason for Operation Infinite Justice Enduring Freedom is not to bring welfare of some sort to Afghanistan (that may be a welcome side effect, or a means to achieve an end) but the annihilation the the Taliban. It's about retribution, surgical retribution not indiscriminate carpet bombing, but still it is about retribution.
I don't think the Democrats have ever repudiated or even criticized these statements.
The result of such a reconciliation will be a Taliban state, rebuilt with western danegeld, the Taliban not ignored like before 9/11 but ruling with NATO and US blessing.
Even if these "moderates" won't host terrorists openly, they will show to the world that sponsoring a mass fatality attack on the continental US is NOT a deadly mistake.
With this move Obama tells the world that American and western deterrence is based on an empty threat.
#4
I'm not surprised that he would attempt it, but I am surprised that he would make so many amateurish foreign policy mistakes so early. Didn't the humiliation of Putin bitch-slapping him over his 'secret' letter teach him anything - even temporarily??
#5
Obama has not been in office long and already Russia, Iran, North Korea, Islamic radicals in Pakistan and the Taliban in Afghanistan have all seen their hands strengthened. Will the world be able to survive a full four years of his presidency?
Also from the same article on Yahoo:
At the same time, Obama left open the possibility that U.S. operatives might capture terror suspects abroad without the cooperation of a country where they were found.
"There could be situations and I emphasize 'could be' because we haven't made a determination yet where, let's say that we have a well-known al-Qaida operative that doesn't surface very often, appears in a third country with whom we don't have an extradition relationship or would not be willing to prosecute, but we think is a very dangerous person," he said.
It also did not take long for the left-wing hypocrites who rode to power on the heels of America's so-called loss of standing in the world to vindicate the policies of the last administration which have kept America safe for the last seven years!
#10
Those who can learn do not remain liberals past their teens.
LOL g(r)omgoru
I regret to say that it took me a bit longer than that. The scales had to be pried off of my eyes one at a time - haha. Of course, 9-11 took most of the rest off all at once. I wish that were true for more of my fellow citizens. Glad I made it to the promised land though. :-)
#11
"Obama has not been in office long and already Russia, Iran, North Korea, Islamic radicals in Pakistan and the Taliban in Afghanistan have all seen their hands strengthened."
For completeness, you forgot the Palestinians and Syria....there's probably others.
Obama has also weakened the hands of Israel and a number of Eastern European allies (Czechs, Poland, etc.) and insulted the British. All, in what, 45 days?
#20
I will be amazed if some nut job doesn't take a shot at our socialist leader after his financial and foreign policy moves. And then its gonna get UGLY.
#21
LBJ, Carter and Clinton taught me all I need to know about Democrats so I knew before he took office that Obama would be bad. But it is a bit surprising to see him stumbling so badly so soon out of the blocks. Lord help us all, he sounds just like Zardari making a deal to let the Taliban have Swat. Even if it is a mistake to stay there in perpetuity, do we have to "reach out"? How about if we reach out with some arclights on their sanctuaries in PakiWakiland? Then, just for kicks, we can ask the Pakis what they plan to do about it.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
03/08/2009 18:27
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#22
Abu: LBJ, Carter and Clinton are certainly capable of being all the object lessons you need to know about Demoncrats; but, you can include JFK as well (the first one I was aware of) too.
#23
I don't remember Kennedy that well. I remember him promise to put a man on the moon, give him credit for that. I remember the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban missile crisis. I think he got too much credit for the Cuban missile crisis and not enough blame for the Bay of Pigs. Dunno but can't help thinking maybe one thing led to another there. He dithered on Vietnam, left it as unfinished business which LBJ proceeded to turn into an unmitigated disaster. The one thing I could never, ever forgive him for was LBJ. Just hope there is no parallel there with Joe Biden. Just hope. I really, seriously don't want the country going through that again. I remember JFK getting shot but I don't canonize him for it. He was no saint. We've learned in later years just what a slimy guy he was. The press gave him a pass for his womanizing and I can't forgive them for that either. They had stars in their eyes and dreams of Camelot but their Camelot was full of snakes. PTUI.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
03/08/2009 19:02
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#24
You forgot the Berlin Wall, also a Kennedy legacy.
#25
Why don't I pretend I'm Obama and explain that I'm stuffed up from a bad cold and can't think straight overwhelmed?
Poor Barbara -- get well soon, my dear.
Glad I made it to the promised land though. :-)
I feel the same way about my own journey, ryuge. I suspect a great many Rantburgers do. It will be interesting to see how many experience Buyer's Remorse over their vote last November.
The objective of women's empowerment lies at the heart of the government's efforts for national development, Information Minister Sherry Rehman said on Saturday.
In her message on International Women's Day on March 8, Sherry said it was important to stretch our commitment to gender justice beyond celebrations on a single day.
"Women's Day is a reminder that as citizens, we share serious obligations to bridge the gaps in gender development that exist in our societies despite the progress we have made towards women's empowerment over the last few decades." Sherry said it was important that the context of all policy actions by the government prioritise women's development and stress on equal rights.
"The promotion of human rights in any society is, to a great extent, dependent on the commitment of its political forces and public representatives to fundamental entitlements of the citizens. For the Pakistan People's Party government, politics and human rights are closely linked to each other. The PPP set an example when it made human rights the basis of Pakistan's 1973 Constitution, which remains the sole guarantor of fundamental freedoms and rights enjoyed by the Pakistani people."
Fundamental principle: Sherry said the PPP worked on the fundamental principle that linked women's rights to human rights.
"It is this commitment that led the party to introduce special provisions for women related to non-discrimination on the basis of sex in Pakistan's constitution. A strong sense of responsibility drove Benazir Bhutto to aggressively pursue a pro-women agenda - both while in the government and in the opposition -- in the face of an extremely resistant right-wing establishment. During her two terms in office, and in the course of her political life, Benazir established fundamental structures in Pakistan's state apparatus to ensure that women's rights become central to all future policy actions of the government and political entities of the country. In 1993, Benazir's government subscribed to the Vienna Declaration, which recognised women's rights as human rights. This policy action served as the most important move towards enabling the state to deliver on its obligation for women's empowerment."
The information minister said the PPP government was determined to carry forward the mantle of gender equality, social justice, and political and economic empowerment. She said legislation related to workplace harassment and domestic violence, initiated by the government is key to the efforts to address issues of safety and security for women. She said the Information Ministry was working with the media to enable them to serve women effectively by enhancing their participation and representation on important forums. The information minister said the president and the prime minister were committed to building further on the party's pro-women legacy.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009
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#1
empowered to listen to Bob Dylan sing "everybody must get stoned."
Two people were killed and five others wounded in a suicide attack Saturday on the barracks of Algerian security forces at Tadmait near Tizi Ouzou, east of the capital, witnesses said. A man tried to enter the barracks and after he was stopped by a guard he detonated a belt of explosives he was wearing, according to witnesses.
There was no immediate official statement with details on the attack.
Earlier local press reports said a bomb exploded at the entrance to the barracks about 100 kilometres (60 miles) east of Algiers. The toll was two dead and five wounded, according to the APS news agency, citing a security source. The two dead were identified as a security guard and an elderly passer-by.
The attack targeted the so-called communal guards, a force created in the early 1990s which were marked by Islamist violence and a government crackdown on Muslim fundamentalism that left 150,000 people dead, according to official figures. The guards are generally deployed in small towns and are often backed up by paramilitary forces.
In the last attack on Feb. 22, nine security guards were killed when Muslim extremists attacked their local headquarters at Ziama Mansouriah near Jijel, about 360 kilometres (224 miles) east of Algiers. A week later Interior Minister Yazid Erhouni said security forces had killed about 120 armed Islamists since Sept. 1 last year including top ringleaders.
Saturday's attack came just over a month before presidential elections set for April 9 when President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is seeking a third mandate.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009
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Spanish authorities arrested a 21-year-old Moroccan citizen wanted in Morocco on terror-related charges, Spain's Interior Ministry said Thursday (March 5th). The suspect, identified only by his initials "J.M." and an alias, "Abou Mosaab Anadori", was arrested Tuesday near Barcelona under an international arrest warrant issued by Morocco on February 19th, the ministry added. The suspect is accused of belonging to dismantled terror group Fath Al-Andalus, which allegedly planned attacks against government and tourist targets in Morocco. Last August, Moroccan authorities uncovered the network and arrested 15 cell members.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009
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A security personnel of civil aviation was shot dead allegedly by his friends early yesterday at Kawla in the capital. I can't recall any of my friends ever taking a shot at me.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009
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#1
I believe that there was an article yesterday about a suitcase with a woman's body in it found at this airport. Not related according to the story BUT....
#2
Fred, there was that one time, at Rantapalooza II, but you were in no condition to notice and we patched the wall pretty good with some toothpaste and White-Out so really, just let bygones be bygones...
#6
Fred, there was that one time, at Rantapalooza II, but you were in no condition to notice and we patched the wall pretty good with some toothpaste and White-Out so really, just let bygones be bygones...
#6
Oh boy! i have always had a thing for fishnet stockings...
Rowrl!
Posted by: abu do you love ||
03/08/2009 7:18
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#7
This day in history, not much to note, but for your amusement, I offer this trip down memory lane, from p. 3 of the New York Times, 8 March 1933: BANKING CHAOS SEEN AS SPUR TO REFORM;
Need for National Revision Is Cited as Leaders Falter Over Relief Measures.
ALL EYES ON WASHINGTON
Dependency of System on Federal Action Revealed in Confusion Here.
IN QUANDARY OVER SCRIP
Financiers Hold Parleys, but Fail to Agree on Emergency Move on Third Day of Holiday.
Out of the confusion of opinion and practice which existed among the New York banks yesterday on the third day of the banking holiday there emerged a growing concern that the national crisis would have to be settled by a thorough-going reorganization of the banking system. Bankers who have been working on the plan to issue New York Clearing House certificates as a substitute for currency expressed doubt that the scrip would ever be used. Other bankers said the entire matter was undecided and that everything depended on the decisions reached by the administration officials in Washington... A number of the bankers cling to the idea that it should be possible to reopen the banks in some fashion and begin banking operations just where they were left off along the old lines of organization, but others, who have suffered a rude awakening in the last few days, assert impatiently that any such belief is "perfect nonsense."..Once the public is assured of the soundness of the banking system, the money now in hoarding will flow back overnight into its accustomed channels and the business of the country can be resumed. [Some] bankers said provision should be made for a greater concentration and unification of banking resources and the establishment of wider branch banking facilities. In any case, they said, rigid Federal supervision is called for.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
03/08/2009 12:59
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#12
Jeebus, there's a month of bloid pics there ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/08/2009 14:05
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#13
I don't think she's lounging around the pool in her high heels. I think she learned that it is hard to walk in the grass in those things. She fell and she is writing a note to herself to not do that anymore. If you could read it, the note probably says, "Do not walk on the grass". Thanks Fred for another great shot.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
03/08/2009 20:47
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Pakistan will seek $40 billion in aid and investment and $6 billion in annual budgetary support over five years during a meeting of the Friends of Pakistan forum and a donors' conference scheduled in Tokyo on April 17, sources told Daily Times on Saturday. And this get's us...what again?
I'll wait. "Friends of Pakistain"? That's what, a table for two at the hotel bar?
President Asif Ali Zardari will represent Pakistan during the meetings. Bilateral and multilateral donors will make pledges the same day. Don't expect the fat envelopes you'd see at a mafia wedding ...
The decision was made in a meeting at the President's House on Saturday, officials privy to the meeting told Daily Times.
The government would focus on seeking help from bilateral donors in the security, institution building, social development, infrastructure development, governance and energy sectors, the officials said. It will also seek market access for Pakistani goods, oil supplies on deferred payment, barter trade, a trust fund for the development of FATA and debt swaps from western countries, they added.
The participants of the meeting at the President's House discussed preparations for the events.
In a statement, Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said that the 15-member Friends of Pakistan group was formed in September last year on the initiative of President Asif Zardari to garner international support for bolstering Pakistan's security and economic situation. The countries and international bodies included in the group are Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the UAE, the UK, the US, the European Union, the EC and the United Nations. No doubt Bambi is supposed to lead the way with the fattest envelope ...
A number of other countries including Sweden, Norway, Spain and the Netherlands are also likely to join the initiative in the near future, Babar said.
Two meetings of the group have thus far been held, one in New York on September 26, 2008 and the other in the UAE on November 17, 2008.
The April meeting will be crucial as a clear affirmation of support of world powers to stand by Pakistan is considered invaluable for the country's long-term security, stability and economic development. The donors' conference on the same day in Tokyo will be attended by representatives of the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank among other bodies to address issues relating to Pakistan's immediate financial problems.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009
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#1
So chutzpah is a Paki word.
Posted by: ed ||
03/08/2009 9:55
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Around 250 suspected mutineers of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) are still on the run defying government orders to get back to barracks. The Daily Star has obtained the rough figure from army officers preparing a list of the paramilitaries who were at the Pilkhana headquarters during the bloody mutiny that left dozens of their commanding officers from the army killed on February 25-26.
Meanwhile, new BDR Director General Brig Gen Md Mainul Islam has asked the surviving army officers, deputed to BDR, to convene at Senakunja in Dhaka cantonment this morning. He told The Daily Star yesterday that BDR has lost all its 12 sector commanders and chiefs of several battalions based in the capital and elsewhere.
The remaining battalion commanders and staff officers from the battalions that do not have any commanding officer at present will participate in the coordination meeting. "Objectives of the meeting are to assess the situation, strengthen co-ordination within the force and give necessary directives," Brig Gen Mainul said.
An officer involved in the rescue operation last night said, "Roughly speaking, I'd say around 7,500 BDR men were supposed to be inside Pilkhana during the carnage. We need a few more days to have the exact figure."
As of yesterday afternoon, a notice board at the BDR headquarters showed around 1,500 border troops missing. That number was based on a sketchy estimate that around 9,000 paramilitaries were in the Pilkhana compound when the deadly revolt broke out.
However, late at night, the officials concerned revised that figure down to 7,250. Around 250 BDR personnel might have been on leave at that time. "Though our notice board still shows 1,500 missing, the number would come down to around 250," said an army officer.
In the week following the end of mutiny, news reports citing primary investigations said at best 200 mutineers had been directly involved in the vicious killings, looting, arson and other crimes during the fateful 33 hours at the BDR headquarters.
Another officer concerned said some 451 rebels stayed put at Pilkhana after laying down arms in response to the prime minister's general amnesty, but the rest 6,750 escaped. "Those who surrendered on announcement of the amnesty have been kept in BDR hospital," he continued.
Following the government notice for them to report for duties within 24 hours ending at 4:00pm on March 1, around 6,500 BDR men returned to the headquarters. "Around 250 border guards who did not get back to barracks yet will be considered deserters," noted the officer.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009
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#1
Should be a rich target environment for the RAB
Posted by: john frum ||
03/08/2009 11:03
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Zeb Gul used to sell music CDs in Mingora but was driven out of business by the Taliban engaged in peace talks with leaders desperate to halt their march across the nation.
The government insists the Taliban would not be allowed to enforce its harsh version of Islam here, but merchants like Gul know otherwise - he switched to selling poultry.
"The Taliban now call the shots. We cannot do anything that offends them," he said, standing outside his shop in this once-popular tourist destination less than two hours drive from Islamabad.
Leaders contend their peace talks with the Taliban in this region involve implementing a mild version of Islamic law, in which girls would still be allowed to attend school, vendors like Gul could continue to sell music and movies, and there would be no public floggings or executions.
But three weeks since a ceasefire took hold, the Taliban appear to have used the pause in fighting to tighten their hold over the Swat valley, especially in and around Mingora.
There is also scepticism the Taliban - who do not have to surrender any arms under the ceasefire - will modify their hard-line brand of Islam, as well as concern the region will simply become a safe haven for the Taliban.
In his tiny shop in Mingora's main bazaar, Ali Ahmed now hawks cell phones - not the Pakistani pop music he used to sell, deemed sinful by the Taliban. He says only that the "situation" means his music business was no longer viable.
Peace deal: Many analysts believe any final peace deal in Swat, like a previous agreement with the Taliban that failed last year, will eventually collapse leaving the Taliban in a stronger position, having been given time to consolidate.
Despite the current ceasefire, violence has continued. The Taliban killed two soldiers this week who they accused of patrolling without first informing them, one of the terms of the truce. The day after the ceasefire was formalised, a TV journalist from Pakistan's most popular news channel was abducted and murdered in an area known to be under Taliban control.
The government has been talking to the Taliban through Sufi Muhammad, an pro-Taliban cleric who has publicly renounced violence, but who leads a movement with identical political aims.
Government officials have defended the negotiations with Sufi as an attempt to isolate armed the Taliban from non-violent movements in the valley, even if the latter have extremist views.
"In America, they have thousands of laws they use, they have their own system," said Amir Izzat, a spokesman for Sufi. "Here we are Muslims. We are the supporters of the Islamic system and this is our right and we will use our right to live according to the holy Quran and the Hadiths," he said.
The overall peace talks have been shrouded in secrecy: Neither the process for formalising any deal nor who would enforce it has been clearly explained. A spokesman for President Asif Ali Zardari says the Pakistani leader will not sign any changes in the law affecting Swat until peace and the authority of the government have been restored there.
Residents, many of whom fled during the fighting, are simply glad of the respite from army shelling and brutal Taliban executions designed to dissuade anyone from resisting their authority.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009
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#1
Too fuckin bad, folks. You want em, you got em. Quit bitchin and enjoy it.
#2
Leaders contend their peace talks with the Taliban in this region involve implementing a mild version of Islamic law, in which girls would still be allowed to attend school, vendors like Gul could continue to sell music and movies, and there would be no public floggings or executions.
But three weeks since a ceasefire took hold, the Taliban appear to have used the pause in fighting to tighten their hold over the Swat valley, especially in and around Mingora.
#3
"Leaders contend their peace talks with the Taliban in this region involve implementing a mild version of Islamic law, in which girls would still be allowed to attend school, vendors like Gul could continue to sell music and movies, and there would be no public floggings or executions."
The so-called "leaders" were idiots if they believed that.
Here's an idea: The negotiators should have to agree to live in Czechoslovakia the area they're giving away negotiating about.
If they're not willing to do that, we know they know it's all bullshit. (We already know it's bullshit.)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/08/2009 18:47
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Here's an idea: The negotiators should have to agree to live in the area they're negotiating about.
I like it. Canaries in the coal mine. Make sure their families live there and attend public school (without private security)
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/08/2009 19:00
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So they didn't adopt the Swedish social democratic model?
Military wing commander of the United Liberation Front of Assam (Ulfa) Paresh Barua, Naga rebel leader Anthony Shimray and several more people were stationed in Chittagong by using fake names before the abortive Ulfa arms shipment in 2004.
They checked in Hotel Golden Inn but left Chittagong immediately after the arms were seized, according to a report of the Bengali daily Prothom Alo.
Principal accused of the case Hafizur Rahman alias Hafiz in his confessional statement said he was introduced with one Zaman before the 2001 election. Later, he came to know that the said Zaman was Ulfa military commander Paresh Barua.
Zaman told Hafiz a huge consignment of machinery would land in Chittagong and he assigned him (Hafiz) to hire a trawler and decide on a jetty for offloading the delivery. Zaman also said they themselves would handle the rest.
Paresh Barua assured him of not worrying about anything as chiefs of the National Security Intelligence (NSI) and Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) had already made all arrangements.
As per the records of the Hotel Golden Inn register on Station Road in Chittagong where Ulfa operatives stayed, room-305 was allocated to Asif Zaman at 5:45am on March 28, 2004, just three days before offloading the arms cache.
Asif Zaman's address was recorded as 97/5 Sher-e-Bangla Road, Mohammadpur, Dhaka. It is the same Zaman who actually went by the name of Paresh Barua. Asif was believed to be another fake name of an Ulfa leader.
Anthony Davis in the August 1, 2004 issue of Janes Intelligence Review wrote Naga rebel leader Anthony Shimray also accompanied Paresh Barua when the arms were being offloaded in Chittagong.
Anthony Shimray who is based in Manila in Philippines had flown to Chittagong via Bangkok around the time of the shipment.
Proofs were found that Asif, Zaman, Abul Hossain, Shahidul Islam and several others believed to have been involved in offloading arms and ammunition rented rooms in Hotel Golden Inn during March 28-30 in 2004.
They left the hotel never to return after the caches of weapon were seized in the morning of April 2.
Shahidul Islam rented room-317 of the hotel at 5:45 on March 28, 2004. The address of this Islam was also shown as 97/5 Sher-e-Bangla Road, Mohammadpur, Dhaka meaning that Shahidul Islam and Zaman lived in the same address.
Visit to the address in Dhaka reveals that none by the name of Shahidul Islam or Zaman had ever lived in that building.
Four more youths checked in the Hotel Golden Inn at the dead of night of March 28, 2004. They are Farhad Ahmed (Gulshan, Dhaka, room no-314), M Rahman (12/10 Islampur, Dhaka, room no-207), Shafiqur Rahman (459/2 South Kafrul, Dhaka, room no-405) and Anisur Rahman (459/2 South Kafrul, Dhaka, room-505).
Earlier 10 rooms of the hotel were rented for 20 Indian nationals; most of their addresses in the hotel register were shown as Babupara of Habra, West Bengal, India. They were not found in the room from the moment of the seizure of arms.
Investigations also revealed that the register book in which the names of those allegedly involved in the arms smuggling were recorded, disappeared from the hotel.
Hotel authorities said they sold the old register books with other odds and bits. But, a source close to the hotel management said intelligence agency men seized the register book six to seven months into the arms seizure.
The hotel authorities, however, denied the matter.
The investigation says Hafizur Rahman knew all about arms smuggling. Then chief of CID Chittagong region AKM Kabir Uddin and inspector Mohammad Shah Alam sent a review report on the arms haul to the CID headquarters in the last week of April in 2004.
The report reads Hafizur Rahman is proved to have had link with the international smuggling network of Pakistan's largest intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
The same report also goes on to say that Hafiz met a Pakistani at a room of Hotel Sundarban in Dhaka six months before the ten truckloads of arms seizure. After that Hafiz went to Pakistan, China, Rangoon (Myanmar) and Bangkok, sources close to Hafiz told the CID.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009
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US Central Command (CENTCOM) has denied reports that a drone was shot down in South Waziristan by the Taliban on Saturday. "As far as CENTCOM goes, all of our drones have been accounted for. So it's not ours, if there is one that was shot down," Major Marie Boughen, a spokeswoman for CENTCOM, said. Lieutenant Colonel Todd Vician, a Pentagon spokesman, said he had heard of no such reports, adding "the Taliban make specious claims all the time". Referring to reports of a downed drone, army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told AFP he had no confirmation of the crash. "We are further investigating and trying to find out," he added. Earlier, residents and a local police official said two drones were flying at low altitude over a village in South Waziristan when one of them was hit by Taliban fire and crashed.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009
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Iran said on Saturday the United States and world powers will be unable to restore stability in neighboring Afghanistan without the help of the Islamic Republic. "The U.S. and global powers have realized that the issues in Afghanistan cannot be solved without the presence of the Islamic Republic," Iranian government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham told reporters.
Elham added that Iran would consider a U.S. invitation to take part in a meeting on Afghanistan and it was ready to offer any help to its eastern neighbor.
"If America and European countries and others need to use Iran, they should give us (the invitation). We will review it with the approach that we are ready to offer any help to Afghanistan," Elham said.
"Stability in Afghanistan and issues there are priorities for Iran, and it is important for us to help them."
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday that President Barrack Obama's government intended to invite Iran to an international conference on Afghanistan planned for this month.
"There are a lot of reasons why Iran would be interested," Clinton said. "So they will be invited. Obviously it is up to them to decide whether to come."
Clinton's comments were seen as the latest overture by the U.S. administration of President Barack Obama towards Iran.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009
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Information Minister Sherry Rehman has said that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Nawaz Sharif is trying to destabilise the Pakistan People's Party government, a private TV channel reported on Saturday. That doesn't take much effort, does it?
According to the channel, Sherry told reporters in Islamabad that politics of confrontation would not benefit anyone and the PML-N should avoid a campaign to derail democracy.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009
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U.N. Security Council failed to order Sudan to reverse its decision to expel 13 international aid groups from the country amid disagreement between permanent members, according to news reports on Saturday.
France had drafted a statement urging Khartoum to reverse its decision on the NGOs, but Britain's U.N. ambassador John Sawers said one of the five permanent members--the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China--had blocked it. He left no doubt he was referring to China.
Western diplomats said the 15-member council had only agreed to express their "concern" about the situation in Sudan during discussions Friday, but were unable to agree to a joint statement.
"One delegation insisted on a reference, which we thought was unwarranted and not relevant, to the ICC decision," he said. "I think the Russians would have been able to agree to a reasonable statement."
China says it wants the council to use its power to halt the ICC case against Bashir. Russia is with China, but Britain, France and the United States oppose deferring the proceedings.
The Khartoum government announced it would expel the agencies after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity carried out in Darfur, western Sudan.
"There won't be a statement," Sawers said after the closed-door meeting. Aid groups condemned the United Nation's inaction as "grotesque."
"The Security Council should condemn the fact that an indicted war criminal has deliberately put yet more lives at risk by expelling aid workers," said Richard Dicker of Human Rights Watch.
"This is no time for the council to debate letting Bashir off the hook for crimes against humanity. That is simply grotesque."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009
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As Pakistan battles radical Islam in different parts of the country, the base laid in the mid-70s, when children in schools and madrasas were introduced to an extremist syllabus, are now showing results.
An illustrated Urdu primer, published in Rawalpindi, the Pakistani Army garrison town near Islamabad, may not be an officially approved text book. But even now, it is being used by some regular schools and madrasas associated with the Jamiat-ul-Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), a hardline Islamist party that allied itself with Pervez Musharraf when he was President, as a learning tool.
The illustrations in the primer have the letters of the Urdu alphabet with accompanying images: Alif (A) for Allah, Bay (B) for bundooq (gun), Tay for takrao (collision), Jeem for jihad . Takrao is colourfully depicted by the image of the 9/11 planes crashing into the World Trade Centre.
A curriculum document prepared by Pakistans National Bureau of Curriculum and Textbooks, under the Federal Ministry of Education, 1995, wants children at the end of Class 5 to be able to:
* Make speeches on jihad and shahadata (martyrdom)
* Acknowledge and identify forces that may be working against Pakistan
* Understand Hindu-Muslim differences and the resultant requirements for Pakistan
Leading lights of Pakistans civil society have compiled these details, pointing to the damage that has been done through such propaganda.
Pakistans self-inflicted suffering comes from an education system that, like Saudi Arabias, provides an ideological foundation for violence and future jihadists, wrote Pervez Hoodbhoy, a Pakistani academic, in the magazine Newsline.
Pakistans Talibanisation is taking place from its schools. And these schoolchildren are making Pakistans future.
Posted by: john frum ||
03/08/2009
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#1
As Pakistan battles radical Islam in different parts of the country, the base laid in the mid-70s, when the Soddies raised the price of oil and could afford to start their global Da'wa effort, exporting death and totalitarianism 'round the world, children in schools and madrasas were introduced to an extremist syllabus, are now showing results.
Criminal Investigation Department (CID) yesterday arrested two more BDR jawans from BDR headquarters in connection with the mutiny.
Investigation Officer (IO) of the mutiny case ASP Abdul Kahar Akand told the reporters that CID officials also recovered three pistols, 36 bullets and one SMG in an abandoned condition from the headquarters.
If they find a shutter gun we'll know who's behind this ...
Meanwhile, six other jawans were shown arrested yesterday in connection with the mutiny case filed against over one thousand people, including its Deputy Assistant Director Touhidul Alam, with the Lalbagh police station. The IO said Metropolitan Magistrate Faisal Atiq Bin Qadir directed to show the detainees arrested in the case after a prayer.
A total of 36 BDR men have been arrested in connection with the case since the 'Operation Rebel Hunt' began.
Fire brigade sources said no more body was found during their on going rescue operation in Pilkhana area yesterday.
On the other hand, relatives of BDR personnel gathered at the gates of the headquarters yesterday like other days to know about the fate of their near and dear ones. For the first time, some army personnel let them contact the BDR jawans over cell phone yesterday.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009
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Aswat al-Iraq: U.S. troops killed a man in Baiji in self-defense, said a U.S. source, explaining that the man is an amir (senior member) of al-Qaeda Organization in the area.
"The forces entered a neighborhood at al-Qayiara area of Baiji (35 km) north of Tikrit, to track down some accomplices of a detainee," Lt. Colonel Braen Maki told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "The forces came under fire from a man with a pistol when they went inside a house," he said. "The force responded and killed him," he added. "The force later identified the man as a wanted person for being an amir of al-Qaeda Organization in Baiji," he noted.
Maki added that the house was empty when the incident took place but from two men who were arrested for interrogation.
Earlier, a source from Salah al-Din police said U.S. forces handed over the body of a man who was shot dead to the Iraqi police in Baiji city, claiming that he was a gunman who attacked a U.S. patrol that killed him, but the dead man's relatives said that the forces killed him in front of his family.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009
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#4
I think this was stolen from the Onion, with some names changed.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
03/08/2009 7:15
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#5
while they deserve nothing, the Democrats in the usa, (and the socialists in EUrabia) have been bending the rest of us over for a long time to pander to them :<
Posted by: abu do you love ||
03/08/2009 7:16
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#6
The motif of white people throwing themselves into a bottomless pit comes from the Rastafarians, kind of their version of "end times". The pit, while physical, represents materialism and power, which white people and the ruling classes find to be irresistible, so they all converge on it and throw themselves in.
Leaving just the Rastafarians behind, since they don't care for materialism, power, success, hard work, organization, or about anything else than living in shacks and smoking ganja.
#7
Anon:
"Leaving just the Rastafarians behind, since they don't care for materialism, power, success, hard work, organization, or about anything else than living in shacks and smoking ganja."
Don't forget the full moon parties. Rastas can legally use magic mushrooms to alter their reality, so they won't care when whitey is gone.
An independent U.N. investigator on North Korea's human rights situation on Friday called for an ''effective response'' from North Korea to settle its past abductions of Japanese nationals. ''A number of cases concerning Japanese nationals abducted by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea remain unsolved and require an effective response from the latter to ensure transparency and accountability,'' U.N. special rapporteur Vitit Muntarbhorn said in a report unveiled at the 10th session of the U.N. Human Rights Council.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009
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#2
Anybody with the title "rapporteur" should be shot on sight, just on general principles.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/08/2009 1:57
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#3
Btw, "rapporteur" is (used to be) french for (the now commonly used) "reporter" (wasn't Tintin's scout newspaper named "Le petit rapporteur"???), and in familiar use, it means a snitch, with a pueril connotation (Ie the kid who goes telling the teacher what happened)..
#8
ION NORTH KOREA > seems NOKOR is warning SOKOR, the USA, + NIPPON that any attempt to shoot down its satellite will "precisely" MEAN WAR.
Lest we fergit, TOPIX > JAPAN: NORTH KOREAN MISSLE TO BE SHOT DOWN IFF AIMED/FLIES OVER JAPAN, including offshore territorial waters and islands.
HMMMMMMMM, again the comments made in Tokyo that CHINA shold take over NOKOR has prob rattle Pyongyang, all but officially indic or inferring that not only is NOKOR A FAILED OR FAILING SOCIALIST + COMMUNIST STATE, espec vee intact SOKOR, BUT THAT IS POTENS NATIONAL COLLAPSE MAY INDUCE/HARBINGER THE DIRECT LOSS OF MORE KOREAN ANCESTRAL HOMELAND TO MAINLAND CHINA???
IOW, PYONGYANG > MAY HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE BY WAR???
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Saturday presidential elections would go ahead on August 20 and called for a "national consensus" to decide on who should rule the country after his term ends in May.
Karzai, under huge pressure from the United Nations, the United States and other Afghan allies to support the August date set by the election commission, caused a stir last week when he called for an April ballot. But on Saturday the president told a press conference he accepted the election commission's decision. "I accept the decision of the election commission ... and I call on all sides to respect the decision and allow the commission to do their job," he said. Karzai's political opponents, including several potential candidates, have called on him to hand over power to an interim administration when his term ends, particularly if he decides to stand for a second term in office.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009
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Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad resigned from his post Saturday to pave the way for the formation of a national unity government and reconciliation with Hamas. "Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has submitted his resignation from the government of president Mahmud Abbas.
But shortly after the prime minister's brief written statement, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah told reporters he had asked Fayyad to "continue with his work until we see the results" of Egyptian-sponsored talks between the rivals over forming a new unity government.
Fayyad, a politically independent former World Bank economist, was appointed prime minister following the Hamas movement's takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, which cleaved the Palestinians into two hostile camps.
The two sides met with other Palestinian factions in Cairo on Feb. 26 to launch a reconciliation process aimed at forming a national unity government in the wake of Israel's massive offensive against Gaza at the turn of the year.
They agreed to form five committees to oversee the creation of a government that would supervise Gaza reconstruction efforts and prepare for fresh presidential and parliamentary elections in January 2010.
"We consider that the positive climate seen in the first round of dialogue offers an opportunity that has to be exploited to put an end to divisions and as a basis on which to reach unity and reconciliation," Fayyad's office stated.
However the European Union and the United States continue to blacklist Hamas as a terrorist organization and in the past have boycotted any Palestinian government that includes the group.
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03/08/2009
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President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Saturday said the government is addressing issues pertaining to discriminatory laws against women, and they appealed to political parties to join hands and rise above partisan politics to extricate women from the agony of discriminatory laws.
In their separate messages on the occasion of International Women's Day, falling on March 8, they congratulated the women of the world in general and of Pakistan in particular and saluted them for their struggle for emancipation and putting an end to discrimination.
Zardari: The president urged parliamentarians to revisit the laws discriminatory to women and review them. The government felt a special responsibility towards women-related issues and considered the promotion of women's rights as a moral, political and religious obligation, he said. The president said women the world over and in Pakistan had been subjected to varying degrees of discrimination, exploitation and violence. "It is simply the result of prejudice. This situation must change; it will," he said. Zardari said Pakistan had the distinction of having Benazir Bhutto as the first woman elected as prime minister of an Islamic nation. He said for the first time the country now had a woman as the speaker of the National Assembly. "These are distinctions of which the women of Pakistan, indeed all of us, can genuinely feel proud," he said. President Zardari said during the two tenures of Benazir Bhutto's government, a trend was set in gender equality and protection of women from violence.
He said the introduction of the Benazir Income Support Programme, with a focus on women, was a step in the direction of empowering women of the country and that it would expand into a social action programme largely for the benefit of women in the rural area.
PM Gilani: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said the government accorded high priority to the development and empowerment of women, and was addressing issues pertaining to discriminatory laws, introducing new legislation, and earnestly stepping up its efforts to eliminate abuse of women in all its forms, with the active involvement of women parliamentarians, civil society organisations and NGOs. "These prejudices persist in every country as a pervasive violation of human rights and a major impediment to achieving gender equality. Zero tolerance of violation against women is the target of this government," Gilani said.
He reiterated the government's commitment of enabling women to play their due role in the socio-economic development of Pakistan, in line with the vision of Benazir Bhutto. The prime minister said, "No nation can afford to ignore women as they form almost fifty percent of the world's population." The prime minister said he was confident that "if we safeguard the rights and acknowledge the contribution of women in our development agenda, we can make Pakistan a peaceful and a prosperous country".
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Aswat al-Iraq: Four civilians were wounded, three of them seriously, when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off near their vehicle in southern al-Saadiya district, Diala province, on Saturday, the local police said.
"The IED blew up near the vehicle in the area of Imam & Yassin, southern al-Saadiya, (100 km) north of Baaquba, wounding all four passengers on board," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "The three seriously wounded people were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment," he said, not giving more information.
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Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
PARIS, MARCH 6 - The pret-a-porter season in Paris has begun, but the crisis is being felt. First of all, the Chambre syndacale is already regretting its decision to hold 9 days of catwalks, which the organisers are now saying are too many: "the French labels had really insisted on keeping the calendar to the same length, but next season it will not be possible, we will have to reduce it to seven days". The directors of the chambre announce that the number of journalists and buyers in attendance has halved. Paris is attempting to maintain a high level of show, but also reducing the costs: "there will be less champagne, fewer parties, less of everything. The crisis is hitting hard", the organisers of the show comment.
#2
And we're supposed to give a rat's patootie because...?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/08/2009 1:52
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#3
I'm too sexy for the catwalk...
Posted by: Right Said Fred ||
03/08/2009 9:17
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#4
They would never dream of putting on a fashion show that would appeal to heterosexual men, however. It would be far too hard to find women with curves willing to don revealing costumes while men ogled and leered at them.
#8
It would be far too hard to find women with curves
Don't be silly, Anonymoose. Lots of curves in French butter sauce country. Generally the curves develop extra curves as the years pass, but there are quite enough men who prefer women to be extra womanly.
#11
Thanks, ed. Your comment about soleless shoe enabled me to coin a new definition of an atheist as some who has soles on his feet, but none in his heart. Sorry to all those who cringed upon reading this. I can't help myself. But it's all ed's fault. He fed me the idea for the line.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
03/08/2009 21:09
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A suicide bomber attacked a police station in southwestern Afghanistan early on Saturday, killing two people and injuring three policemen, a provincial official said.
The attack took place in Nimroz province that borders volatile Helmand -- which sees some of the worst violence of the Taliban-led insurgency against the United States-backed government -- as well as Iran and Pakistan.n. "At around 9:50 am, a suicide attacker, who had strapped explosives to his body, detonated his charge in front of the first police station in Zaranj city," provincial governor Ghulam Dastagir Azad told AFP. "So far, one policeman and a civilian are dead," he said, adding that three policemen were also wounded in the attack. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in Nimroz, where Taliban militants have been increasingly active in recent months.
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Three separate bombings killed at least 15 people in the NWFP and Khyber Agency on Saturday.
At least eight people, including five policemen, two FC personnel, and a civilian were killed in a remote-controlled car bombing in Mashugagr village. Some villagers also sustained minor injuries.
Muhammad Wali, a villager, said the car was unlocked and the villagers had found the body of an old man in it. "The blast occurred when police officials walked towards the vehicle," he said. Security officials said about 40 kilogrammes of explosives were packed in the vehicle. They said it was likely that the militants who had blown up the shrine of Sufi poet Rehman Baba were involved.
According to Online, President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and several other political personalities have, in separate statements, condemned the bombing.
Darra blast: In a separate car bombing, at least two civilians were killed and seven others, including six security personnel, injured in Darra Adamkhel. Eyewitnesses said the Taliban detonated a car parked alongside the road when a convoy of Mehsud Scouts reached Bazikhel graveyard. They said security forces launched indiscriminate fire after the attack and arrested 15 locals. At least 10 people were injured, Online quoted a private TV channel as reporting.
Tirah blast: Also on Saturday, at least five people were killed and eight injured when a shop in the remote Tirah area of Khyber Agency was bombed, sources said. They said five volunteers of banned organisation Ansarul Islam (AI) were killed. An AI spokesman blamed rival militant outfit Lashkar-e-Islam for the blast.
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Terrified, locked up at home and courting death if they go out alone, women oppressed by the Taliban in Swat have nothing to celebrate on International Women's Day.
Nearly 100 years after the annual day was created to mark the struggle for equal rights for half the world's population, most women in Swat look blank and go silent when asked about gender rights and discrimination.
They are too frightened to speak in public. They can only leave the confines of their homes accompanied by a male relative, their bodies hidden in veils.
"How can I tell you my name, are you crazy? I was told not to give my name to anyone because the Taliban could hurt me," one girl in the ninth grade told AFP by telephone from the former ski resort.
Last month, the government signed a widely criticised agreement with a pro-Taliban cleric to enforce sharia law in exchange for a ceasefire in a region where most locals say the Taliban have become the masters.
The girl's dreams of becoming a doctor are over. She worries the Taliban will stop her finishing school, regardless of her parents' support.
"My mother told me I can do anything, but my inner soul is shattered."
"Tell me if you stop women getting an education where will a sick woman go? Do you want her to go to a male doctor? I was told that education is compulsory for every man and woman in Islam but the Taliban destroyed our schools."
The Taliban have destroyed 191 schools in the valley, 122 of them for girls, leaving 62,000 pupils with nowhere to study, local officials say.
Huma Batool -- not her real name -- is a 42-year-old mother of two who dices with death to teach girls at a private school in the region's main town Mingora.a.
"We have to veil ourselves and wear shuttlecock burqas. We are not safe even at home. We fear the Taliban all the time. Life is becoming worse and worse for women in Swat," she told AFP by telephone.
Educated and financially self-sufficient, she cannot even visit shops without a male relative, leaving her frequently couped up at home for hours, waiting for a suitable escort to become available.
"You cannot imagine how I manage to get to school, practically every day I think about leaving the job and sitting at home."
Taliban hardliners have outlawed entertainment as un-Islamic, shut down beauty parlours and closed shops considered dens of vice rather than virtue.
"Life bores us to tears. There is no entertainment. We can't even think about cable TV, cinema, film and music. Imagine I can't even go shopping or to the bazaar as women are banned by Taliban."
Salma Javed, 35, is a nurse at a local hospital, where women -- however sick -- can only be admitted if accompanied by a male relative.e.
"Every woman fears she will be killed if she comes out, so even sick and pregnant women have to visit hospital with their husbands."
"Now we are waiting to see what will happen after the peace deal, but let me tell you things will not change for women," she said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
"things will not change for women,"
If you believe women should have equal rights, arm them and teach them to fight. But in the end I think they'd mostly rather be dependent subjects than independent and responsible, just like most men.
Expressing solidarity with the Pakistani people in their anti-terrorism struggle, the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has pledged the Barack Obama administration's continued support for the country against Â"encroachment of terrorist networks.Â" Â"The threat of terrorism is one that every nation and every group of people has to contend with. The recent attack in Lahore against the Sri Lankan cricket team was just another senseless, violent act that took innocent (Pakistani) lives. Â"We can go and look at how so many of the countries represented here, including of course my own, have been affected by terrorists using new techniques and taking advantage of global networks in order to wreak havoc,Â" she told a group of young European leaders in Brussels, according to a transcript released here by the State Department. The chief U.S. diplomat added, Â"We are engaged in the Obama Administration in a policy review of our approach to Afghanistan-Pakistan, because we see them together. We want to help support the people of those two countries against the encroachment of terrorist networks.Â" Clinton claimed that much of the planning for terrorist activities come from border areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan but at the same time acknowledged the stiffness of the challenge in combating them. The border areas, she said, Â"Are very difficult for either the Government of Pakistan or Afghanistan or any of our military forces to be able to reach.Â" The United States, she said, is Â"working closely with not only the European Union, but many individual countries and multilateral institutionsÂ" in addressing the menace of terrorism.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
No one ever reads it.
WARNING
CIGARETTES CAUSE LUNG CANCER
85% of lung cancers are caused by smoking.
80% of lung cancer victims die within three years.
A group of anti-Israeli protesters clashed with riot police outside an Israeli-Swedish Davis Cup tennis match in Sweden on Saturday, but did not break through police lines.
More than 100 masked demonstrators outside a sports arena threw bottles of paint, stones and firecrackers at police in riot squad vans and on horseback, sending the horses into a panic, amid a larger protest against the Scandinavian country's match with Israel.
Due to security concerns, the three-day match is being played in an empty stadium in this southwestern port city, which has a large immigrant population.
Why not play it in a city that has fewer excitable youts?
The youths clad in black, their faces covered with masks carrying banners saying "Turn left, smash right," and "Boycott Israel" joined a peaceful pro-Palestinian demonstration by about 6,000 people. About 200 of the hardliners began pelting police with stones, fireworks and paint bombs, Reuters witnesses said, while organizers of the official demonstration shouted at the masked protesters not to use violence against the authorities.
Worked well, didn't it ...
Police said they had detained 10 protesters.
Malmo, which is Sweden's third largest city and is ruled by a left-of-center coalition, was heavily criticised by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and by Israeli players for its decision to close the stadium to the public.
Around 1,000 police officers have cordoned off a large area around the stadium to prevent protesters from getting in.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Top|| File under: Global Jihad
The government on Saturday released 12 Taliban prisoners after a meeting in Swat of a delegation of the Tehreek-Nifaz-e-Shariat Muhammadi (TNSM) and the NWFP government.
Awami National Party (ANP) NWFP President Afrasiyab Khattak, provincial Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain, the Malakand division commissioner, and representatives of the TNSM and the local peace committee attended the meeting.
Sharia: It was decided that sharia would be formally implemented in Malakand region, including Swat district, from next week after the government released the 12 Taliban, a spokesman for a pro-Taliban cleric said.
They agreed to open the Qambar-Takhtaband road, Amir Izzat Khan, spokesman for TNSM chief Sufi Muhammad said.
The spokesman said it was also decided that qazis would begin taking up cases under the Islamic law from March 12, three days prior to an earlier deadline of March 15 set by the TNSM chief.
Earlier on Friday, NWFP Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti had said that his government would not free Taliban prisoners who were in the black and grey categories of security agencies, but had promised to release those falling in the white category.
Official sources said no prominent Taliban was among the freed prisoners, who were set free at the Circuit House in Mingora.
Meanwhile, unidentified men abducted six people from Saidu Sharif tehsil of Mingora, witnesses said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009
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Aswat al-Iraq: Iraqi lawmaker Mohammed al-Dayni is still at large but he was placed on the red list so that the Interpol may arrest him if he left Iraq, a senior security official said on Saturday.
"The Baghdad Operations Command has placed Dayni on the red list," Mohammed Atta, the BOC official spokesman, told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Atta had earlier said that Dayni has escaped to an unknown place after he was stripped of parliamentary immunity, calling on citizens to report him if any information on his whereabouts was available.
The Iraqi parliament had lifted immunity off Dayni on Feb. 25 by majority after the Iraqi interior ministry accused him of involvement in acts of violence.
Atta, during a press conference he held on Feb. 22, said that Dayni's nephew, Riad, has acknowledged the responsibility of his maternal uncle for the deadly blast that occurred inside the Iraqi parliament on April 12, 2007.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009
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Pagara said lawyers' duty was to argue cases, not conduct protests.
Pakistan Muslim League-Functional chief Pir Pagara on Saturday said the country would see a revolution instead of martial law if the current conditions did not improve. He was talking to reporters after meeting former state minister Muhammed Ali Durrani. Pagara said PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif had a dark future, while his brother, former Punjab chief minister, Shahbaz Sharif had an obscure future. He advised sacked chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry to defend people's cases in the Supreme Court instead of aspiring for the chief justice slot. Pagara said lawyers' duty was to argue cases, not conduct protests.
Posted by: Fred ||
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(AKI) - A man identifying himself as a member of the self-proclaimed Palestinian group, Ahrar al-Jalil, on Friday claimed responsibility for the bulldozer attack in West Jerusalem in a telephone call to Palestinian news agency Maan.
In a statement, Ahrar al-Jalil - or Free men of Galilee - claimed the bulldozer driver, 26-year-old Mari al-Rdaidah, was one of its members. The little-known group has also claimed responsibility for three other similar attacks in the city over the past year, according to Maan.
Al-Rdaidah was shot dead by police after the bulldozer he was driving rammed a police car, causing it to flip over several times as the digger sped down a West Jerusalem road, dragging the car behind it. Two policemen were injured in the incident, which occurred on Jerusalem's main Begin Highway. An Israeli taxi driver said he also shot al-Rdaidah four times before police arrived.
The family of al-Rdaidah, who was married with a child, have denied Israeli claims that the collision was a terrorist attack, saying it was an accident. He was a resident of the West Jerusalem suburb of Beit Hanina, which was annexed by Israel in 1967.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009
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#1
I'm seriously considering starting my own group.
Police claimed capturing four suspects and seized three vehicles laden with explosives and weaponry in Nowshera on Saturday, police sources said. According to DPO Noshera Muhammad Idrees, during a routine checking on Tarojabba check post police signaled three suspected vehicles to stop but they refused to obey and hid in a nearby village where police arrested four offenders and seized three explosive-laden vehicles after 30-minutes long shootout. He said, Â"The criminals, during preliminary investigation, confessed that the explosives and weaponry were meant to carry out terrorism in Punjab.Â" Police have registered cases against them and taken to unidentified place, sources added.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2009
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has test-fired a new long-range missile, the country's state Press TV reported on Sunday.
Two people were killed and five others wounded in a suicide attack Saturday on the barracks of Algerian security forces at Tadmait near Tizi Ouzou, east of the capital, witnesses said. A man tried to enter the barracks and after he was stopped by a guard he detonated a belt of explosives he was wearing, according to witnesses.
U.N. Security Council failed to order Sudan to reverse its decision to expel 13 international aid groups from the country amid disagreement between permanent members, according to news reports on Saturday. 
Aswat al-Iraq: U.S. troops killed a man in Baiji in self-defense, said a U.S. source, explaining that the man is an amir (senior member) of al-Qaeda Organization in the area.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Saturday said the government is addressing issues pertaining to discriminatory laws against women, and they appealed to political parties to join hands and rise above partisan politics to extricate women from the agony of discriminatory laws.
Three separate bombings killed at least 15 people in the NWFP and Khyber Agency on Saturday.
Terrified, locked up at home and courting death if they go out alone, women oppressed by the Taliban in Swat have nothing to celebrate on International Women's Day.
