NOTE: This is not a joke. Used to be when Johnny Carson was alive, but now you know why Hollywood loves Democrats, they are a hell of a free source of brain dead material.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and a half dozen other senators have proposed legislation setting a uniform national standard for the treatment of egg-laying hens ...
A sombre milestone has been reached in the Afghanistan war after an American sailor became the 3000th member of the Nato coalition to lose his life.
The United States Defence Department announced that a serviceman had died from "complications associated with a medical condition," becoming the 3,000th casualty according to a tally compiled by the broadcaster CNN.
Most of those who have lost their lives during the more than 10 years of Operation Enduring Freedom have been American -- 1,974 to date. British troops have suffered the second highest level of deaths among coalition of 28 nations, with 414 deaths.
Fatality number 3,000 was named as petty Officer 1st Class Ryan J Wilson, 26, of Shasta, California, who died in Manama, Bahrain, on May 20. The Defence Department said that he had been assigned to the US Naval Forces Central Command in Bahrain, from where he had been supporting the mission in Afghanistan.
More than 90 people, including 32 children, have been killed in a Syrian government "massacre", as William Hague calls for an urgent session of the United Nations Security Council.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that Friday's shelling in the city of Houla, in central Homs province, had led to what seemed to be one of the bloodiest episodes so far of the 15-month long uprising.
Unconfirmed amateur videos posted by activists on YouTube showed around 20 bodies, mostly young children, lying in a room. One man holds up the limp body of a boy aged around seven, a gaping hole punched in the lower portion of his face. "This child, what did he do to deserve this?", he shouts.
Other footage shows the corpses of men and women lying under patterned blankets, including what is said to be one entire family. "We're being slaughtered like sheep here," says one voice. "Where are the UN observers?" adds another.
Tehran downplays IAEA report showing it is pressing ahead with its uranium enrichment work, saying western media seeking to turn technical issue into a political one, accuses Barak of unlawful war rhetoric.
Iran has lodged a complaint with the UN Security Council, accusing Israel of warmongering remarks that contradict international law, Iran's Fars News Agency reported on Saturday.
In a letter delivered to the UN Security Council on Friday, Iranian UN envoy Mohammad Khazayee said that comments made by Defense Minister Ehud Barak on a potential attack against Iran's nuclear sites "are considered as violation of the basic principles of the UN Charter, international rules and a move against the global endeavors to foster regional and international peace and security," according to Fars.
Khazayee added in the letter that Barak's "baseless" remarks about Iran's pursuing of nuclear weapons were made by an official of a regime which threatens international and regional peace with its nuclear arsenal.
#2
There is no international law against warmongering remarks. There isn't even international law against actually going to war. It's only against international law to wage war in proscribed ways,
From Canada to Colombia to Brazil, oil and gas production in the Western Hemisphere is booming, with the United States emerging less dependent on supplies from an unstable Middle East. Central to the new energy equation is the United States itself, which has ramped up production and is now churning out 1.7 million more barrels of oil and liquid fuel per day than in 2005. Perhaps the WaPo thinks Zero should take credit for this. Thank you, fracking. And oil workers. And steel workers. And geologists. May you one day finally have a government that lets you do your job.
Since 2006, exports to the United States have fallen from all but one major member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Anybody want to guess which one? I didn't find it.
the net decline adding up to nearly 1.8 million barrels a day. Canada, Brazil and Colombia have increased exports to the United States by 700,000 barrels daily in that time and now provide nearly 3.4 million barrels a day.
Six Persian Gulf suppliers provide just 22 percent of all U.S. imports, the nonpartisan U.S. Energy Information Administration said this month. The United States' neighbors in the Western Hemisphere, meanwhile, provide more than half -- a figure that has held steady for years because, as production has fallen in the oil powers of Venezuela and Mexico, it has gone up elsewhere.
Exports from Mexico and Venezuela have fallen in recent years, attributed to mismanagement and lack of investment at the state-owned oil industries in those countries. Even so, there is a possibility that new governments in Mexico and Venezuela -- Mexico elects a new president July 1, and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has cancer -- could open the energy industry to the private investment and expertise needed to boost production, analysts say.
Perhaps the biggest development in the worldwide realignment is how the United States went from importing 60 percent of its liquid fuels in 2005 to 45 percent last year. The economic downturn in the United States, improvements in automobile efficiency and an increasing reliance on subsidizedover-priced biofuels all played a role.
But a major driver has been the use of hydraulic fracturing. By blasting water, chemicals and tiny artificial beads at high pressure into tight rock formations to make them porous, workers have increased oil production in North Dakota from a few thousand barrels a day a decade ago to nearly half a million barrels today. Gotta get that stuff regulated! To protect the environment, of course!
A host of new discoveries or rosy prospects for large deposits also has energy companies drilling in the Chukchi Sea inside the Arctic Circle, deep in the Amazon, along a potentially huge field off South America's northeast shoulder, and in the roiling waters around the Falkland Islands. All without drilling in ANWR or off the sacred coasts of the US.
Production has risen strikingly fast in places such as the tar sands of Alberta, Canada, and the "tight" rock formations of North Dakota and Texas -- basins with resources so hard to refine or reach that they were not considered economically viable until recently. Also Colorado
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/26/2012
10:54 ||
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#1
Now, with increased domestic and near domestic crude supplies increased, we need more domestic refining capability. Then we can get the cost of gas and diesel down.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/26/2012 13:13
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#2
I don't see the cost of gasoline or diesel going down by much. Best hope I have is that it won't go up as much as Zero and his cronies would like to see. That, and no rationing.
"We will respect the traditions of our visitors in their food, and clothing and lifestyle," PM Jebali says, in attempt to woo tourists.
Hundreds of Salafi Islamists attacked bars and shops and clashed with security forces in a Tunisian town on Saturday in the latest incident to raise religious tensions in the home of the Arab Spring uprisings.
Police and witnesses in the northwestern town of Jendouba said hundreds of Salafis - followers of a puritanical interpretation of Islam - began rioting to protest the arrest of four men in connection with previous attacks on alcohol vendors.
Police responded with tear gas, breaking up the crowd, but clashes had yet to die down, witnesses and police said.
"This morning, four men were arrested in connection with attacks on alcohol vendors in recent days," Interior Ministry official Lutfi al-Haydari told Reuters.
"So hundreds of Salafis attacked the security base, pelting it with rocks and petrol bombs before they were dispersed by tear gas. They also set fire to a police station and attacked three shops in the town ... they are now in the center of town and are being dealt with."
#3
I don't think she wants it. Not with Champ, at least...
She'd do it. If she can stay married to Bubba she can do anything.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/26/2012 11:16
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#4
Not a big fan of Biden, but did any of you read the story?
It's like anything else. Until you've been where he's been, and I have, you won't understand where he's coming from. For once, Joe nailed it pretty good.
At any rate, if he is going to get thrown under, there are at least two contentions:
1. It would prove as a mistake for Champ, having to admit he is fallable.
2. Hillary! has said as much she is done; also a number of the foreign policy wtfs have been placed on her rightfully or wrongfully. She is not the force she was in '08 even if an improvement over Uncle Joey.
#6
I believe Team Obama will insist on keeping Biden, because BO needs a foil. A harmless old man succumbing to senile dementia is about the only type who won't steal BO's thunder. The contrast of Hillary would shine a spotlight on his incompetence.
#7
tu3031, yes I agree, but also remember the crocodile tears in his debate performance.
If they want to replace the veep, the only option to do so without loss of face to Champ is to create him so emotionally unstable as to have no other choice; for his own good dontchyaknow?
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/26/2012 11:43
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#9
Vice President Biden is the only real politician of the bunch. They need his instincts, the kind that would lead him to tell such a personal story to exactly the people who needed to hear it. Our esteemed secretary of state has no such instincts, and I don,t see her husband coaching her behind the scenese to help the man who kept him from returning to the White House.
#10
Hillary will be blamed for Obamas loss if she signs on to be vp. Biden would not be a seikus candidate next go around if Obama loses. Few vps actully go on to winon their own. Hiary would be a fool to accept the position.
4 to 8 years from ow she will be the only name in the game. Mitt will have done the dirty work required to fix thd economy and tbe American people will be tired of him. She will allow herself to be drafted at that point.
Until recently, Barack Obama's re-election was regarded as inevitable -- in the same way that summer follows spring, or a monsoon follows a hosepipe ban. The president's poll lead over Mitt Romney was strong, while the Republican's character was assassinated by a primary fight that permanently spoiled the reputation of his party. To court the GOP's conservative base, Romney was forced to adopt positions on abortion, contraception, health care and welfare that are thought to be unpopular among moderate swing voters. Obama, by contrast, is the man who killed bin Laden and toppled Gaddafi. A choice between Obama the moderate statesman and Romney the craven conservative is surely no contest at all.
But in the last two weeks, things have changed. Obama's re-election is no longer guaranteed; some pollsters think it is unlikely. Day by day, the odds are improving that Mitt Romney will be the next President of the United States.
What changed? For a start, voters are getting gloomier about the economy. Joblessness remains high and debt is out of control. According to one poll released this week, only 33 per cent of Americans expect the economy to improve in the coming months and only 43 per cent approve of the way that the president has handled it. Voters think Obama has made the debt situation and health care worse. The man who conducted the poll -- Democrat Peter Hart -- concluded that "Obama's chances for re-election... are no better than 50-50."
#1
If people perceive a bleaker future than they should, then all that Obama needs to do is to correct their misperception and it will look like he has improved the economy. Perception is reality, and timing is everything.
#2
Quite honestly, for those loving freedom and the Republic, the prospect of Barack Obama having any re-election chances at all is indeed disconcerning. The presidencies of Roosevelt....whom appeared to desire holding the office forever, that of Carter, and now of Obama would lead one to suspect we as a nation are subject to roughly 30 year lapses of memory. I am praying we will survive this one.
#3
B' that's an induced memory loss feed by the NEA and MSM. Why do you think they killed real history in schools in order to indoctrinate introduce 'studies'? /rhet question
#6
the prospect of Barack Obama having any re-election chances at all is indeed disconcerning.
I agree. However,any country stupid enough to elect Zero once is stupid enough to re-elect him. That was/is/will be truly disconcerting.
#8
However,any country stupid enough to elect Zero once is stupid enough to re-elect him.
Not stupidity. Naivety. After 8 years of terrorist war and a souring economy some voters jumped at a fresh start, optimism and the chance to vote to make history with a black president.
Now however, that naivety has been scoured away with more war, a depression, massive debt and a haughty elitist attitude. Anyone who votes for him now is a true believer or just fucking stupid. Most independents have soured on Mr. Hopenchange and are leaning toward Mr. Paidthefuckingbills
#9
Even if Mitt had a double-digit lead in the polls, the below still applies:
Don't forget that we almost always have to go to the UK newspapers to see stories like this one. The American MSM - print, broadcast, cable and online - has abandoned any pretense of objectivity and is essentially the agitprop arm of the Obama campaign. Evan Thomas's boast that the MSM can deliver 15 extra percentage points to the Dems isn't at all off the mark, since a distressingly high percentage of ordinary Americans still get all their political news from MSM outlets...it's mainly obsessives like us who are always wandering far afield for our info fix :-)
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
05/26/2012 13:18
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#10
Anyone who votes for him now is a true believer or just fucking stupid. Yup. And what percentage of the electorate doesn't fall in those categories?
#11
Im happy to compromise and consider Carter/Obama as a single gestalt President who served two discontinuous terms. That way we dont need to debate which was the worst President ever, they can share the title.
The Government is drawing up plans for emergency immigration controls to curb an influx of Greeks and other European Union residents if the euro collapses, the Home Secretary discloses today.
In an interview in The Daily Telegraph, Theresa May says "work is ongoing" to restrict European immigration in the event of a financial collapse. People from throughout the EU, with the exception of new member countries such as Romania and Bulgaria, are able to work anywhere in the single market.
However, there are growing concerns that if Greece was forced to leave the euro, it would effectively go bankrupt and millions could lose their jobs and consider looking for work abroad.
The crisis could spread quickly to other vulnerable countries such as Spain, Ireland and Portugal, although Britain is regarded as a safe haven because it is outside the single currency.
Details of the contingency plan emerged as the euro crisis deepened further yesterday.
#5
A number of Perts + Posters believe the collapse of the single-curency EuroDollar will likewise induce the collapse of the EU/EUZ = OWG Regional, Continental, Trans- ... "Unions" as well as NATO per se.
Again, I don't think the "Globalists" [Space Federalists?] + aligned will let that happen, although IMO there will be major delays in implementating same. THE BIRTH PANGS OF OWG = SPACE GOVT-ORDER WILL BE LONG + HARD.
#6
See also WAFF > [Daily Mail]"GREECE WILL LEAVE THE EUROZONE ON JANUARY 1, 2013"; CITIGROUP BOSS [Michael Saunders]PREDICTS EXIT DATE + WARNS OF "MASSIVE WAVE OF CONTAGION ACROSS EUROPE".
and
* SAME > [Institute of International Finance's Managing Director CHARLES -]DALLARA SAYS GREEK EXIT MAY EXCEED ONE TRILYUHN EUROS.
During a fundraising event in Monaco, former president Bill Clinton was photographed with two adult film stars. According to one of the women, Brooklyn Lee, it happened this way:
"He kind of was looking over at us every once and a while. And were huge, psycho fans of Bill. We just think hes really cute. So we end up wandering by. And we were going to approach him to take a picture and his Secret Service sort of brushed us away. And as we were walking away, Bill actually had the Secret Service guy call us back, to come hang out. [He was] really, really sweet. I told him I loved him, that he was a great president and he just kind of winked and smiled and gave us hugs and stuff."
The other woman, Tasha Regan, said: We feel sympathetic for Bill and I hope this doesnt hurt his re-election or whatever hes trying to run for. At this point, Clinton may be running for opportunities receive the adoration of folks like Ms. Lee and Ms. Regan. More power to him.
Regan added that Clinton didnt inquire about the profession of the two women. Perhaps he intuited the answer.
Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, a Tehran's Friday Prayers Imam, said in his sermons today that Iran will keep its 20-percent uranium enrichment program intact That's not what the problem is, catamite. It's inspection. If you don't agree to that expect to see your country back in the stone age. Who knows, the 12th Imam might come out of the well and help you. Won't that be fun!
"I speak on behalf of the Iranian nation that they will not be held to ransom," the influential senior cleric added.
Khatami was referring to a demand by six major powers during the unsuccessful Baghdad Talks that Iran ends its production of the 20-percent nuclear fuel. The subject will be one of the key discussion points in Moscow during the talks in mid-June.
Iran enriches uranium to the 20 percent purity to provide fuel for Tehran's Research Reactor, which produces medical isotopes for cancer patients. The country already has a stockpile of the higher level fuel to feed the reactor for the next decade.
#1
And for Missiles, and yes we know it, all stupidity aside.
Hiding behind Religion is like the Baptist Preacher who is caught leaving the Whorehouse in Handcuffs with his peter flapping in the breeze screaming loudly "I was only Praying with them", Yeah sure you were.
Posted by: Recneck Jim ||
05/26/2012 7:37
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After two days of withering and sometimes combative nuclear talks, Iran and six world powers put a positive spin on the outcome.
Both Iran and the so-called P5+1 group of world powers spoke of "some common ground" -- most importantly a willingness by Iran to address its sensitive 20 percent uranium enrichment program, which is technically not far from weapons grade -- that will drive the next round of talks set for mid-June in Moscow.
Yet even the official statements pointed toward a chasm of mismatched expectations that has only widened in Baghdad, in Iran's view at least.
The setback risks future deadlock that could trigger another Mideast war: Israel has threatened military strikes against Iran's nuclear program, if it is not verifiably limited to peaceful purposes.
"I think it was a complete failure, in terms of content," says an Iranian diplomat inside the talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"The more they talk, the worse it gets," said the diplomat about one of the final sessions. "The atmosphere is like Baghdad's weather," a reference to the sandstorm that swept across the Iraqi capital yesterday, closing the airport.
#2
Au contraire, the purpose was to delay, to buy time so as to give the parties involved a reason not to act. At this all parties succeeded in their kabuki theater to entertain the world while doing nothing.
Nearly complete success, an extra month would have been a perfect ploy, that being long enough to kick the can past election and have a better chance of the bow flex still being in office. As it is, there will be a boil over before november that the Lefty from Dutchy will have to address as some point.
The United States is reportedly developing a plan to vet members of the Free Syrian Army before Arab nations transfer arms to them. It hopes to avoid arming muhahideen who turn against America should they succeed in bringing down the Assad regime. The US does not want another al-Qaida on its hands. The race to arm Syria is heating up as Saudi arms shipments are said to be getting through now. Russia reportedly also has an arms shipment en route to Syria. The UN is asking both sides not to send arms to Syria, but in vain. A new U.N. report blamed both sides for human rights violations, but explains that the Syrian army is still killing more people than the opposition. To underline this, Syrian activists said government troops killed at least 50 people in the town of Houla in Homs province on Friday.
As Syrians begin to suffer from the lack of food, oil and gas products, they are questioning the wisdom of sanctions, which are a blunt weapon imposed to bring about regime-change and not improve human rights or relieve suffering. A new book on the Iraq sanctions demonstrates how destructive they were to the most vulnerable Iraqis. L.C. Brown, my adviser at Princeton, writes in Foreign Affairs that most studies estimate that at least 500,000 children under age five who died during the sanctions period would not have died under the Iraqi regime prior to sanctions. Joy Gordon, the author of the new book, also punctures holes in the argument that the Iraqi suffering was due to the abusive manipulation of the sanctions by the Saddam Hussein regime.This is not to mention that they decrease the likelihood of Syria making a democratic transition in the future.
#1
It hopes to avoid arming muhahideen who turn against America should they succeed in bringing down the Assad regime.
BWAHAHAHA! Unintentional irony on the part of the writer.
#2
The usual nonsense about fossil fuel subsidies.
The three largest US fossil fuel subsidies were:
Foreign tax credit ($15.3 billion)
Credit for production of non-conventional fuels ($14.1 billion)
Oil and Gas exploration and development expensing ($7.1 billion)
1 and 3 are standard deductions available to all businesses. 2 looks like a biofuel subsidy.
#3
Many of these energy companies have Direct Purchase Plan (DDP) investment venues which can be accessed for a little as an initial $250. outlay. These firms are NOT the enemy, but rather represent our opportunity. Of course if you do not believe in capitalism, desire the free stuff, and simply wish to bitch and moan, then class warfare is certainly for you.
[Al Ahram] A suicide bomb squad killed a police officer and maimed nearly a dozen people in central Turkey on Friday after it drove into a cop shoppe and opened fire, reports said.
Three men sped their vehicle into a cop shoppe in the city of Kayseri, where they fired weapons before one of the attackers set off a bomb strapped to his body, it said.
One officer was killed instantly and another left at death's door.
Ten civilians, including several children, who were nearby were maimed, Turkey's Interior Minister Idris Naim Sahin was quoted as saying.
Police suspect the attackers were members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and carried out the bombing in panic after fleeing a traffic stop earlier in the day, reports said.
It marked a rare suicide kaboom in Turkey, which frequently sees roadside kabooms and kabooms carried out by the PKK.
The group, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey and by much of the international community, took up arms in Kurdish-majority southeastern Turkey in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed some 45,000 lives.
Last September a powerful bomb rocked the centre of the capital Ankara, killing three people and wounding at least 15 and a kaboom in May last year injured eight people near a bus stop in Istanbul. Both attacks were blamed on the PKK.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2012
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[Jerusalem Post] - Iran has raised its potential capacity to make sensitive nuclear material by installing hundreds more uranium enrichment machines at an underground site, a UN watchdog report said, a day after world powers failed to convince Tehran to halt such activity.
The ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency also said on Friday satellite images show "extensive activities" at the Parchin military complex which inspectors want to check over suspicions that nuclear weapons-relevant research was done there.
Obtained by Rooters, the confidential report further said inspectors had found traces of uranium particles enriched to up to 27 percent at Iran's bunkered Fordow site, compared with the 20 percent level Tehran has officially reported to the IAEA.
Nuclear bombs require uranium enriched to 90 percent, but much of the effort required to get there is already achieved once it reaches 20 percent concentration, shortening the time needed for any nuclear weapons "break-out."
Obtained by Rooters, the confidential report further said inspectors had found traces of uranium particles enriched to up to 27 percent at Iran's bunkered Fordow site, compared with the 20 percent level Tehran has officially reported to the IAEA.
The quarterly report added that Iran had hooked up 368 new centrifuges in Fordow, a 50 percent increase in numbers, but that these were not yet being fed with material for enrichment.
Nuclear bombs require uranium enriched to 90 percent, but much of the effort required to get there is already achieved once it reaches 20 percent concentration, shortening the time needed for any nuclear weapons "break-out."
#1
IIRC FREEREPUBLIC > IRAN: WHAT DOES 27% [Enrichment] MEAN?
and
* GUARDIAN.UK > IRAN HAS ENOUGH [stockpiled] URANIUM FOR FIVE NUCLEAR WEAPONS, CLAIMS US THINKTANK [ISIS].
Not enuff to defeat the US Fifth Fleet per se, but enough to put the nervous willys into some powerful US Congresscritters, as per thingys that go boom on Iran's beachhead(s).
[Bangla Daily Star] UN rights chief Navi Pillay yesterday urged the West to suspend sanctions against Zim-bob-wean leader Bob Muggsy Mugabe Octogenarian President-for-Life of Zim-bob-we who turned the former Breadbasket of Africa into the African Basket Case... and his close aides to give the country a chance to implement much needed reforms. Ummmn... It's not the sanctions that make Zim a kleptocratic state with an oppressive one-party system. The former Breadbasket of Africa didn't tank because of the sanctions.
"I would urge those countries that are currently applying sanctions on Zim-bob-we to suspend them, at least until the conduct of the elections and related reforms are clear," she said in Harare after a five-day visit. The sanctions don't do a thing to inhibit the one-party system.
"Sanctions should be entirely suspended for people to entirely focus on economic issues that need to be addressed."
"I have yet to hear a single Zim-bob-wean inside the country say they definitely think sanctions should continue," she said.
Zim-bob-we immediately welcomed Pillay's calls with Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa saying the embargo should be scrapped "unconditionally".
"We want sanctions to be lifted unconditionally. We do not want any talk about suspension of sanctions, they have to be lifted unconditionally because in the first instance they are illegal," he told a news conference shortly after Pillay spoke.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2012
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#1
The British and US oil embargo of 1966 was never a issue for the United Nations. I simply do not understand. [cynicism off]
#2
Isn't there some international old folks home that Mugabe and Fidel Castro can be sent to?
Posted by: American Delight ||
05/26/2012 9:40
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#3
The Rhodesians built up an excellent economy exactly because of sanctions (whilst waging a war on two fronts). About the only things they imported would have been oil and helicopters. Is Zimbabwe any more demo ratic now than Rhodesia was then? No, and it's a lot more violent, the war aside. Keep the sanctions, tighten the travel restrictions until ZANU-PF, spit, cease to exist.
[Dawn] The Supreme Court on Friday directed the authorities to pay equal compensation to the heirs of all 103 people killed in the Lal Masjid operation, DawnNews reported.
A three-judge bench of the apex court, comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Justice Jawwad S Khwaja and Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, issued the ruling while hearing a number of cases relating to the Lal Masjid incident.
During the hearing, Justice Khwaja said that those killed in the operation were innocent as the police could not produce any criminal records against them.
Moreover, Islamabad police submitted two reports pertaining to the operation in the court.
Addressing the deputy attorney general, Chief Justice Iftikhar said the court had directed the government to compensate the heirs of those killed in the operation. He inquired of the deputy attorney general as to how the authorities determined who was innocent and who was not.
The deputy attorney general said the heirs of those who were waging war against the state were not compensated. Responding to which the chief justice said: "It was a small matter...no one was waging war against the state."
The court then ruled that compensation be paid to the heirs of all 103 people killed in the operation and directed the police to register an FIR of the killings.
The hearing was adjourned for a period of two weeks.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2012
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The economists are either incapable of computing Pakistain's economy with terror as the curve input or they have joined the politicians in hoping for the impossible. All they know is that Pakistain's economy is in dire straits with the following symptoms: faltering growth, record-low investment and historically high inflation. Presiding over this wasteland is debt of three kinds: external, internal and circular.
The internal debt is touching Rs 12.83 trillion at the end of December 2011 - over 65 per cent of GDP. It was only Rs 6.5 trillion in 2008, which means the PPP government has notched it up by twice as much, an index of its abysmal economic governance of four years. (It would be dishonest not to mention that the opposition and the allies alike refused to implement IMF-guided policies that would have rescued the economy somewhat.)
The same can be said about external debt which stands at over $60 billion with interest payment liabilities that Pakistain can hardly service, eroding further the spendable section of the revenues. Pakistain Army and the rapidly accumulating public support behind its honour-based edicts have hamstrung the economy, scaring away foreign investors while attracting only the quick-fix speculative funds in the stock market. Honour has satisfied the warrior while undermining the economy.
Forcing the US and its NATO partners through insults and threats to cough up money for the cure of Pakistan's terminal internal sickness is not going to work for very long
When you don't have the money and have to buy things you need you develop deficit. This gap between income and spending forces the government to attack the State Bank and cripple its stabilising functions by forcing it to print money to make the payments with. Imports need foreign exchange and that comes from exports and remittances from Pakistain's 7 million strong expatriate community plus the IMF. But here too the payable is double the amount of dollars that come in. But the PPP inherited an economy that General Musharraf had scuppered before committing his political blunders and leaving the country.
His gift to Pakistain was the disease of circular debt that the PPP could not cure, haunted by the crises emanating from domestic and Pakistain-inspired regional terrorism. This 300 billion rupees mountain stood athwart all efforts to remove the energy deficit the general had left behind in the shape of deferred payments and subsidies. Add to that the third world reflex of gouging money from the carcass of the economy and you have the terminal crisis that stares the PPP in the face months before the next election. The PPP is all set to pass on the legacy of Musharraf to whoever comes next - through the device of printing more money.
The political parties are 'same play', trying to kill each other with verbal abuse, a kind of background noise to the terrorism inflicted on the victim population by Al Qaeda and its slaves the Taliban and an entire Madrassa network eying the country as potential caliphate because the people don't vote for them under normal democracy. There is however a secret consensus in Pakistain that envelops the entire humanity living in Pakistain: denial of terrorism based on the misinterpretation of the following phenomena:
1) Bajaur-Damadola attack of 2006 which humbled the Army under Musharraf with popular blacklash;
2) Lal Masjid attack of 2007 which developed tacit pro-Taliban-Al Qaeda national consensus triggering an internal transformation of thinking in the Army;
3) Afiya Siddiqi affair which united the nation against the Army as an ally of rascally America;
4) the Haqqani network which the entire population ignores for mysterious reasons while attacking mythical entities like Black Water;
5) the Supreme Court which is responsible - together with terrorism - of scaring away foreign investments;
6) Raymond Davis incident which transformed the people of Pakistain into a phalanx against the national economy;
7) the late Osama bin Laden's ... who can now be reached at RFD Boneyard... death which further aroused the anti-economy sense of Army-led national honour;
8) All political parties that will get to handle the national economy in 2013 developed a hidden consensus in favour of isolationism expressed through the parliament.
No matter who comes to power after the PPP, the economy is doomed because of the shocking sameness in the stance of the homo pakistanicus against the entire world. The PPP is still partly unreconstructed but the PMLN will not be able to suppress the 'aghyar' rhetoric unleashed by the Sharif brothers on a country where the economy is gradually shutting down. The dark horse Tehrik Insaf will have the hardest time with the economy if it comes to power. It will try to correct the economy while basking in the charisma of isolationist pride and waiting for Al Qaeda and Taliban to transform themselves back into normal human beings after the exit of the Americans from the region.
The problem for Pakistain is posed like this: the usual wisdom is that if you have to run a normal economy you have to put an end to terrorism which actually saps the writ of the state by killing the will of the executive to practise normal governance. If you invert this wisdom you can say: create post-terrorism conditions without ending terrorism. The truth is that terrorism will not go away like that. Pakistain will have to confront and it will need global support for it. But can you tame terrorism emanating from an Afghan policy targeting India?
Forcing the US and its NATO partners through insults and threats to cough up money for the cure of Pakistain's terminal internal sickness is not going to work for very long. The proud groundwork of foreign policy laid by parliament as if Pakistain were a superpower will be quickly demolished. It will arouse rage in the capitals being asked to send dollars to persuade Pakistain to stop threatening the world. The inverted wisdom of creating post-terrorism conditions without ending terrorism will be exploded soon after NATO is gone and the supply route is not needed. The countries who leave Afghanistan will not love Pakistain for the gesture of the route. The economy will suffer in consequence.
Which economist will tell the Army that if you don't do something about Hafiz Muhammad Saeed ...who would be wearing a canvas jacket with very long sleeves anyplace but Pakistain... and his hostile maunderings to cringing TV anchors, the economy will not start flourishing and providing jobs to Pakistain's youth bulge? Pakistain's economy will hardly coexist for long with the likes of Hakimullah Mehsud and Al Zawahiri ... Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area. That is not a horn growing from the middle of his forehead, but a prayer bump, attesting to how devout he is... who are waiting to step up bank-looting and kidnapping of the captains of Pakistain's industry once the latter start returning to Pakistain from markets in Bangladesh and Malaysia, thinking a change of government was all Pakistain needed.
The economy is not with the Army. Nor is it with Al Qaeda and its minions in the Madrassa network and jihadi leaders like Hafiz Muhammad Saeed. It would have responded to the political parties but they are shunning it for being non-honourable and opportunist. It will abandon them as they square off to fight among themselves with their backs to the global economy where ultimately the solution is to be found.
[An Nahar] The 11 Lebanese pilgrims who were kidnapped in Syria earlier this week were released on Friday as Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu confirmed the news to Prime Minister Najib Miqati.
Davutoglu told Miqati that the pilgrims are doing well and that they were on their way to Beirut, according to a statement issued by Miqati's office.
For his part, Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, a member of AMAL, a not very subtle Hizbullah sock puppet... received a telephone call from former Prime Minister Saad Hariri Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's liquidation. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too. confirming the development.
Head of Syria's opposition Ahrar Party Ibrahim al-Zohbi also confirmed the release to al-Jadeed television.
He said that they were handed to Turkish authorities, adding that they were released without any conditions.
Thousands of people erupted into the streets and celebratory gunshots were fired in Beirut's southern suburbs at the news of the release.
The pilgrims will be transported from Turkey to Leb on board Hariri's private jet, state-run National News Agency reported.
NNA said Hariri's plane arrived at Turkey's Adana Airport at around 7:15 p.m. and that routine procedures had started ahead of the plane's takeoff.
On Tuesday, Leb's state news agency NNA said the pilgrims were kidnapped in northern Syria as they made their way home from a pilgrimage in Iran and accused the rebel Free Syrian Army of having kidnapped them.
The FSA denied the claim.
On Thursday the rebel army said it was making "every effort" to locate and release the pilgrims.
It was not immediately clear in what circumstances the pilgrims were freed.
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[Bangla Daily Star] At least 30 people have been killed after festivities erupted between Dogon farmers and nomadic Fulani herders along the Mali-Burkina Faso ...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president is currently Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and may be in the process of being chased out now... border, Burkina authorities said late on Thursday.
The fighting, which began on Tuesday, took place near Sari, a Malian town about 15 km from the border with Burkina Faso, Khalil Bara, governor of Burkina Faso's northern region, said on state radio.
Bara said the dispute originated from an agreement between the two west African nations, which allows Burkina herders to take their livestock to camps in Mali where there was available pasture land.
During the rule of former Malian president Amadou Toumani Toure, Fulani herders were allowed into Mali through special corridors. However, Caliphornia hasn't yet slid into the ocean, no matter how hard it's tried... Mali has descended into chaos since a March 22 military coup ousted Toure and left over half of the country occupied my Tuareg rebels and Islamist hard boys.
"The Dogons, who have always opposed the opening of these corridors, taking advantage of the crisis in Mali, have decided to solve the problem by attacking Fulani settlements," Bara said, adding that most of the deaths were Fulanis.
The governor said over 1,000 people, mostly herders, have fled back into villages in Burkina Faso.
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[Dawn] Three people were rubbed out in incidents of violence in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... , taking the corpse count to 10 in the past 24 hours, DawnNews reported on Friday.
A body bearing torture marks was found in a gunny bag near Korangi's Zaman Town area. Police said the body was of a man who had been kidnapped and then killed. However, ars longa, vita brevis... the body had still not been identified.
Furthermore, two people were killed in incidents of firing in the city's Bilal Colony and Sharfabad areas.
Seven people had been killed in incidents of firing in Bloody Karachi on Thursday taking the corpse count to 10 in the past 24 hours.
Those killed on Thursday included two workers of the Pakistain People's Party (PPP) and a son of a party activist.
Moreover, law enforcement agencies claimed detaining 11 suspects, including those affiliated with gang wars, from the city's Lyari, Baldia and Gulberg areas. The police also claimed recovering arms and ammunition from the placed in durance vile Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! suspects, DawnNews reported.
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[Yemen Post] The jacket wallah who attacked a military parade rehearsal in Yemen's capital Sanaa this week was a Yemeni soldier, named Haitham Hamid Hussein Mufarih, Almasdar Online reported on Thursday, quoting a front man for the Sharia Supporters.
No more details were given.
A security source, who preferred not to be named, confirmed that Mufarih was a member in the Central Security Forces, the website said.
The interior ministry reported a day ago a 24-year old young man, Al-Worafi, was the bomber, but later this person, who lives in Sanaa, turned to be alive.
On Thursday, the ministry said two other suspects have been jugged You have the right to remain silent... in connection with the bombing.
More than one hundred central security forces were killed and more than three hundred others injured in the suicide kaboom at Al-Sabeen Square on Monday.
Some 67 of the victims were buried today, with families urging to find out who killed their relatives.
One of the troops, who participated in the parade rehearsal, said the bomber targeted a whole battalion.
"We suddenly heard a big kaboom and saw heads and parts of soldiers flying in the air," the soldier said.
The bombing, which drew large local and international condemnation, occurred amid an intensified offensive against Al-Qaeda gun-hung tough guys in Abyan ...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues... province, killing and injuring hundreds of them.
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[An Nahar] Helicopter gunships on Friday fired on rebel positions in the Latakia area of northwestern Syria, near the Turkish border, wounding at least 20 people, a monitoring group said.
"This is the first time that this area, known as the Mountain of the Kurds, has been the target of air strikes," said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman.
"It is an area of steep mountains where it is difficult for tanks to operate," he added.
"Before, helicopters just overflew the area. Today was the most violent operation" against the villages of Kansebba, Kabbaneh, Marj al-Zawiyah, Doueirkeh and Eido, between six and 25 kilometers (four and 16 miles) from the border.
"Using heavy machineguns, the helicopters are homing in on precise targets in an attempt to clear the area to allow troop transports to launch a ground assault to dislodge the rebels."
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BEIRUT (Ma'an) -- President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... said Thursday that Paleostinians in Leb should not arm themselves, as they are under the protection of the Lebanese state and its military, local media reported.
An interesting concept. Why d'you suppose he decided to utter it now?
"The weapons of Paleostinians in Leb are illegitimate. We do not want them inside or outside camps. We respect the law and we are [under] the protection of the Lebanese state and army," Abbas was quoted as saying.
According to Beirut-based Now Leb news agency, Abbas told the An-Nahar newspaper of "permanent" cooperation with the Lebanese government to maintain security in Paleostinian refugee camps.
The president also voiced hope that the lives of Paleostinians in Leb would be "easier", adding that they did not "want to be naturalized."
In March, Abbas gave his approval to several resolutions affecting Paleostinian refugees in Leb, in an effort to improve their situation.
One recommendation was to integrate security and civil branches in refugee camps into one national security institution to be headed by security official Subhi Abu Arab and supervised by secretary general of camps in Leb Fathi Abu al-Aradat.
There are currently over 400,000 Paleostinian refugees registered with UNRWA in Leb and the fragile sectarian composition of Lebanese society makes their presence a sensitive issue.
Refugees in the country have long suffered discrimination and are deprived of basic rights.
[Yemen Post] At least 36 Al-Qaeda snuffies were killed in fierce battles with the army in and around their most notorious strongholds in Yemen's southern Abyan ...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues... province, military sources said on Thursday.
Most of the snuffies were killed in Zinjibar, the capital, into which the forces got the prior day, the sources said, adding several others were targeted by Arclight airstrikes in Jaar.
"The number of the snuffies who were killed might be more than 36 after the forces surprised many of them at their positions inside and around Zinjibar," the sources continued.
At least ten troops and tribal fighters have been injured amid irreversible plans to clear the snuffies from Abyan and nearby provinces, they added.
The US and tribal fighters are directly supporting the armed forces in the battles against Al-Qaeda Death Eaters, and the army has recently stepped up the offensive to recapture the towns sized last year.
Through more than a month, hundreds of snuffies have been killed and injured in Abyan and Shabwa including big shots.
The forces have also retaken some areas including the Lawder city, forcing many snuffies to flee to other parts.
On Wednesday, more than two dozen snuffies were killed in the battles which paved the way for the forces to reach the middle of Zinjibar, the defense ministry said.
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[Dawn] Five kabooms in Afghanistan Friday killed five people and maimed at least 11, officials said, as French President Francois Hollande ...the Socialist president of La Belle France... visited to discuss the early withdrawal of troops.
Two passengers died and three were maimed when a bus struck a roadside kaboom in southern Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... province, said Daud Ahmadi, the Helmand government front man.
"It was a bomb planted by the enemy," he said, referring to Taliban forces of Evil trying to bring down President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... 's Western-backed government.
In the same province, a man was killed and two children were maimed by an improvised bomb, NATO's ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and organization.... International Security Assistance Force reported.
"These are examples of how the forces of Evil plant IEDs with a complete disregard for the safety of innocent civilians," said Lt. Col. Stewart Upton, spokesperson for ISAF's Regional Command Southwest.
In southern Uruzgan province, a roadside kaboom killed a police officer and injured three others, while a local police commander was killed in neighbouring Kandahar province, Afghan officials said.
And in the Afghanistan-Pakistain border town of Spin Boldak in Kandahar province, a jacket wallah on a cycle of violencemaimed a policeman and two civilians, local government front man Jawed Faisal told AFP.
La Belle France has some 3,550 troops serving in the 130,000-strong NATO force fighting the Taliban insurgency, but Hollande has pledged to bring them home by the end of this year -- two years ahead of his Western allies.
The French leader met French troops in the eastern province of Kapisa and held talks with Afghanistan's Caped President Hamid Karzai in Kabul.
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[An Nahar] Syrian regime forces killed 19 people on Friday, as massive anti-regime demonstrations swept the northern provinces of Aleppo ...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins... and Idlib, activists and a monitoring group reported.
Seven people were killed in the central province of Hama, five in the northern province of Aleppo, three in the central province of Homs, two in the Damascus ...The place where Pencilneck hangs his brass hat... suburbs of Zamalka and al-Damir and two in the southern province of Daraa, the Local Coordination Committees, the main activist group spurring protests on the ground, said.
For the second Friday in a row, "tens of thousands of people marched in Aleppo city and province," calling for regime change, said the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman.
"They are the most important protests in Aleppo" since the uprising against Assad began in March last year, he added, specifying that 12 separate demonstrations had taken place in Syria's second city.
Syrian troops fired on them with live rounds and tear gas, killing a protester and wounding dozens, the Britannia-based Observatory said.
In northwestern Idlib province, tens of thousands also marched in the rebel-held localities of Maaret al-Numan, Saraqe, Kafrnoubol, Hass and Sarge, Abdel Rahman said.
Clashes reportedly pitted regime forces against army deserters in the Idlib village of Maarshurin.
And in the province of Daraa, birthplace of the uprising against Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Lord of the Baath... , troops also fired on demonstrators, several of whom were maimed in Inkhel as they emerged from mosques after weekly Friday prayers, the Observatory said.
A civilian was killed in an ambush in the southern province.
Several protesters were maimed by gunfire in the town of Houla, in central Homs province, where demonstrations also took place in the city itself despite shelling by the army, the Observatory said.
Democracy activists had called for demonstrations on Friday under the slogan: "Our next rendezvous, Damascus," reflecting a desire to intensify their activities in the Syrian capital, despite the heavy presence there of security agents.
Protests were reported at dawn in at least five residential neighborhoods in Damascus in support of the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA), made up largely of dissidents from the regular army, and calling for Assad's downfall.
"Al-Tadamon neighborhood will not bend," read one placard, while in Tabbale, the protesters called on "the Sheikhs of Damascus to distance themselves from the regime," according to videos posted by activists on the Internet.
Loyalist forces fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators marching in the Midan district, according to the Observatory, which also said a child was killed by sniper fire in the suburb of Irbin.
In the central province of Hama, four people were killed early Friday by regime forces, including three teenagers, as they guarded their farm in the village of Chizar, the Observatory said citing activists.
A fifth person reportedly died in the Sabounie district of Hama city.
The SANA state news agency, for its part, said six people were killed when a bomb placed by a "terrorist group" went kaboom! on their doorstep in the village of Rabla, in Homs province, employing a term it uses to refer to armed rebels.
More than 12,600 people have been killed in Syria since the revolt against Assad's rule broke out in March last year, including nearly 1,500 since the U.N.-backed truce took effect, according to Observatory figures.
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[Dawn] THE factors that cause frequent shutdowns and violence in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... are part of the nebulous and apparently endless war for dominance between different political parties and groups. The damage done and the losses incurred, however, are all too tangible. This week saw yet another round of violence; numerous people were killed and vehicles torched. Tuesday's bloodshed was followed by a strike on Wednesday during which yet more people were killed and arson attacks carried out. As the smoke cleared and the city started to resume some semblance of normality, traders presented the estimate that the losses incurred over the two days when wholesale and most other markets remained shut, and supplies from the port and from upcountry were disrupted, stood in the region of Rs5bn.
This may be the situation in Bloody Karachi currently, but it is replicated with regularity across the country whenever strikes and demonstrations turn violent. Vehicles are burnt, businesses attacked and private property is looted, with the law-enforcement mechanism on the whole standing by helpless. Behind each vehicle, commodity or business destroyed or damaged is a citizen, suffering through no fault of his own. To whom should such victims turn? In the absence of a strong insurance network, he must pick up the pieces and do as best as he can. After particularly serious rounds of violence, state functionaries sometimes announce piecemeal 'compensation' that may or may not be enough to cover the cost of repair and might not even materialise. What does this gain for the state, or for the cause of those orchestrating the posturing that leads to violence? Nothing but the further alienation of the people. As a polity, we need to learn that our right to protest ends where someone else's property begins. As for the law-enforcers, they need reminding that their basic job is keeping the peace.
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[An Nahar] Army tanks were deployed on Friday in Syria's second city Aleppo ...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins... for the first time since an uprising against the regime erupted 14 months ago, a monitoring group said.
The Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the tanks rumbled through the Kalasse and Bustan al-Kasr neighborhoods of the northern city, where thousands of people attended a funeral.
The Observatory reported earlier that a young man was killed in Aleppo when troops fired with live rounds and tear gas on protesters in the city, where 12 massive anti-regime rallies took place on Friday.
"Long live Syria! Down with Assad!" demonstrators chanted at the funeral, shortly after tens of thousands of people erupted into the streets to demand the overthrow of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs... 's regime, according to the watchdog.
"They are the most important protests in Aleppo" since the uprising started in March 2011, said the Observatory's head Rami Abdel Rahman.
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[Dawn] The anti-Taliban Adezai Qaumi Lashkar has stopped supporting the law enforcement agencies, blaming Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... government for weakening coordination between police and different peace bodies in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar.
Addressing a presser here on Thursday, chief of Adezai Qaumi Lashkar Dilawar Khan said that they would stop supporting law enforcement agencies immediately against Taliban as provincial government was not serious to get support of armed volunteers against turbans.
"The government instead of supporting us against beturbanned goons has decided to withdraw police guards from the leaders of the peace body and leave them at the mercy of turbans," he said.
Flanked by other leaders of the peace body, Mr Khan said the lashkar had been raised by people on the directives of provincial government. He said that 105 volunteers of the lashkar including its founding chief Haji Abdul Malik were killed and hundreds were maimed in turbans' attacks but government was not ready to recognise their services.
"If police guards are withdrawn then the lashkar leaders will be unable to move as government doesn't allow private guards on roads and Taliban will take advantage of the situation," he said.
Mr Khan said that entire responsibility would rest with the provincial government if any loss was inflicted on the lives and properties of the peace volunteers.
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[Bangla Daily Star] Sri Lanka's ex-army chief Sarath Fonseka is barred from political office for seven years, despite being freed from jail on Monday, his lawyer said on Thursday. Comes as a surprise, huh?
Fonseka stood against President Mahinda Rajapaksa in a presidential election two years ago, lost and was imprisoned shortly afterwards.
Fonseka's lawyer, Nalin Laduwahetti, says that the terms of his release prevent him from running for office.
They are trying to secure a full pardon for the chief. The President has remitted Fonseka's two-and-a-half year jail sentence for corruption, but has not pardoned him or annulled the sentence already served.
This means he is subject to a seven-year restriction of his civic rights.
The government is interpreting the Constitution to rule that he can vote but cannot contest an election in that period.
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[Yemen Post] The Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Baker al-Qiribi said on Wednesday that al-Qaeda and the Houthis are two faces of the same coin, stressing that the government will do everything it can in order to make sure" these cancer cells" don't spread.
In an interview with the Saudi al-Watan newspaper, al-Qiribi considered the Friends of Yemen meeting as a rescue rope for the Yemeni economy which is on the verge of collapse due to the one-year plus crisis that strongly impacted an already struggling economy.
Speaking about the unemployment, he said before the unrest broke out last year, the unemployment rate among the adults was estimated at 35 percent, but noted that the unemployment rate went even higher. He linked the soaring unemployment rate with the active terrorism in the country.
With regards to Iran, al-Qiribi said Tehran does not respect its neighbors and that it keeps interfering in Yemen's internal affairs."Even though we urged Iran many times not to meddle in our affairs, Iran continues to support terrorism, to foment chaos, and to ignite and fund conflicts in Yemen," said al-Qiribi.
The official pointed out that fighting terrorism is not enough alone as another kind of war has to accompany it. "Another fight of ideologies and thoughts has to take place against the cut-thoats' misconceptions of Islam." Al-Qiribi said, citing the Saudi successful experiment in fighting the Islamic fascistiwith both weapons and ideologies. Fighting the thoughts and ideologies is through convincing and clarifying to the people as well as al-Qaeda Islamic fascistithat the terror network is not on the right track and that the snuffies lack understanding in Islam and its teachings.
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#1
It'll take several days for those Paleo "flip-flops on the ground" indentations to fossilize, at which point we'll perform Vermin DNA ID Cross-referencing techniques and then vaporize them.
[An Nahar] Egyptian Islamist candidate Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh on Friday urged his supporters to "confront the corrupt regime," in an implicit appeal against Mubarak-era prime minister Ahmed Shafiq.
His statement came after figures showing that Moslem Brüderbund candidate Mohammed Mursi and Shafiq appeared to have won the first round of Egypt's presidential vote, setting them up for a run-off.
"I am beginning communications and meetings and dialogue with all national forces to rally our efforts and votes and confront the corrupt regime," said Abul Fotouh, who appeared to have come fourth or fifth in the race.
"We will build a national revolutionary consensus on all the current political issues and form a single front against the symbols of corruption, injustice and tyranny," he added.
"Our revolution will be victorious and Egypt will be strong, God willing."
The statement fell far short of an endorsement of Mursi, the candidate of the Moslem Brüderbund organization which Abul Fotouh left to make his run for president.
But its reference to the "corrupt regime" appeared to be directed against Shafiq, who served as both aviation minister and prime minister under ousted president Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... and has been slammed for his regime ties.
Despite being considered an early frontrunner, Abul Fotouh appeared to have fared badly in the final count, which put Mursi in the lead, followed by Shafiq, and Nasserist candidate Hamdeen Sabbahi in third place.
Abul Fotouh touted his broad support, with backers ranging from liberal activists to members of the ultra-conservative Salafi movement.
Egypt's election commission is not expected to announce official results from the country's first free presidential elections since last year's uprising until Tuesday.
But the results have been trickling in via the Moslem Brüderbund's network of campaign observers, who are considered to be providing reliable figures on the final tallies.
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[Dawn] Gunmen on Friday rubbed out seven passengers on a bus in southern Pakistain and maimed three others in an attempted robbery, police said.
The attack took place on the highway near the town of Qazi Ahmad, nearly 200 miles northeast of Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
"At least seven people were killed and three others were maimed in the bus firing," senior police official Sanaullah Abbasi told AFP by telephone.
He said the bus was going from Bloody Karachi to Attock town in Punjab province.
Two men boarded the bus just before Qazi Ahmad and later asked the driver to stop. Two accomplices were waiting on cycle of violences. They opened fire, then fled.
"We are investigating the incident and initially it appears to be a case of failed robbery," he said.
Local police official Hashim Leghari also confirmed the shootings.
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Up is down, left is right -- all the usual. Not to mention another Arab nation celebrating a historic war loss to Israel.
[Jerusalem Post] Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah on Friday called Israel's construction of a wall along its northern border a potent testament to the victory of armed "resistance groups," according to Leb Now.
Speaking on the anniversary of Lebanese Liberation Day, which commemorates the IDF's withdrawal from southern Leb in May 2000, Nasrallah said: "Liberation day ended the project called 'Greater Israel,'" according to Leb Now.
"The project of Greater Israel always aimed for big territory bordered by rivers," he said.
Ah, yes. That highly fertilized Arab imagination. All sorts of ideas grow there that would die from lack of nourishment elsewhere.
"These walls built by Israel along the border with Paleostine and Leb show that the project of Greater Israel is over. The project of having rivers as borders ended with having walls for borders."
In an apparent reference to Egypt, which negotiated the return of the Sinai Peninsula in 1979, Nasrallah touted his country's record on having achieved the evacuation of IDF forces without resorting to diplomatic methods. "The land of the south was restored to the Lebanese with dignity and without conditions," he said.
So you've rebuilt all those piles of rubble into living buildings, have you?
Hezbollah's secretary-general stated that the strategy of armed activity has been the only one to produce results. "The weapons of the resistance have accomplished [something], but the weapons of other organizations did not accomplish [anything]," he said.
Nasrallah's comments on weaponization came amidst calls in Leb for the organization to disarm to allow the state to achieve a monopoly on weapons.
Nasrallah also commented on the formation of a national-unity government in Israel, saying it was the result of internal political considerations. He warned, however, that Leb must remain vigilant against Israeli aggression.
For a map, click here For a map of Zacatecas state click here
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
Two armed suspects were killed in two separate incidents, a third unidentified man was found shot to death, and several weapons and munitions were seized in in Zacatecas state, according to Mexican news accounts.
A posting on the website of El Sol de Zacatecas news daily said that a Policia Federal (PF) road patrol unit attempted to stop several suspects travelling aboard three vehicles in Fresnillo municipality near the village of Purisima del Maguey Wednesday. The suspects refused to stop and instead opened fire on the PF unit.
The ensuing pursuit led the unit to the town of Caledon where one suspect was hit by gunfire, and presumably died at the scene. The suspects aboard the the two vehicles fled the scene.
Policia Federal agents seized one rifle and the vehicle at the scene.
In another action, a Policia Federal road patrol came under small arms fire in Calera municipality from individuals travelling aboard a pickup truck Friday. PF return fire killed one suspect. The press report indicates that a second suspect may have gotten away in the exchange of gunfire.
PF agents seized a small quantity of marijuana, one AK-47 rifle, 12 weapons magazines, 241 rounds of ammunition, tactical gear and the vehicle.
On Thursday, a Policia Federal road patrol discovered a cache of weapons in Villa de Cos municipality Thursday. The weapons cache was found in a vacant lot on Calle Nueva Aurora.
Seized weapons include 41 rifles, 43 40mm grenades, 28 weapons magazines and 569 rounds of ammunition.
On Wednesday morning police found an unidentified man shot to death on the road between Jimenez del Teúl and Chalchihuite. The victim was said to be a victim of an organized crime execution.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
#1
Seized weapons include 41 rifles, 43 40mm grenades, 28 weapons magazines and 569 rounds of ammunition.
The RAB must be green with envy.
I notice this article has around 5-10 times the number of views compared with the others. Seems to indicate more than a little interest in a subject that seldom, if ever, makes the evening news. (or that badanov is exercising his mad script-kiddie skillz)
[Nigerian Tribune] DISTURBED by the security situation in the North, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar, has told perpetrators of terrorism and related acts in the region that "enough is enough," saying the shedding of blood must stop.
The sultan, who is also President-General of the Jama'atu Nasril Islam (JNI), spoke at the opening ceremony of the JNI Central Council meeting attended by all emirs and chiefs from the region in Kaduna, on Thursday. According to the traditional ruler, "we must come back to our senses and say firmly and resolutely that enough is enough."
He chided the nation's politicians for their alleged insensitivity to the plight of the masses, adding that the level of insecurity in the northern states was slowly but surely tearing apart every fabric of the religious, social and economic life of the people. He said that all hands should be on deck in the search for peace and security in the society.
"The bloodshed must stop. Each and every one of us must come to appreciate that we cannot continue on this destructive path.
"We must open active, meaningful and sincere channels of dialogue and communication to ensure that we listen to those who have real grievances and to take genuine efforts to address them.
"But we must, as the ummah, also take a resolute stand against those who take advantage of this unfortunate situation to wreak havoc on society, in pursuit of their narrow interest.
"Allah will definitely put to shame those who seek to violate the honour and sanctity of Mohammedans. We must at all times seek Allah's intervention through prayers for there is no calamity or distress that He cannot dispel."
The sultan expressed worry over the level of poverty in the society, saying the federal, state and local governments must embark on meaningful development programmes that would make life easier and more pleasant for the majority of the people.
"The current level of poverty, especially in the northern states, cannot be acceptable in any decent society. We can hide behind our rhetoric but we cannot run away from the stark realities which characterise the daily lives of our people.
"Traditional and religious leaders must bear a special responsibility in counselling those in positions of authority at the federal, state and local government levels that governance must necessarily be equated with service to the people and that the socio-economic development of the society.
"The prosperity of the state must translate into the prosperity of the entire populace. It shall not be the exclusive preserve of the few who happen to have access to state resources.
"When we vie with one another in a democratic society, for positions of leadership, it is equally incumbent upon us to vie with each other to make leadership more meaningful to the generality of the people."
Declaring the meeting open, Kaduna State governor, Mr Patrick Yakowa, also described the current insecurity situation in the country as a challenge "that calls for the contribution of all Nigerians who desire that the nation continues as we inherited it from those who led our independence struggle.
"The JNI, being a noble organization, founded on truth and piety to educate Mohammedans, should maintain its original mandate and form with a renewed vigour and go ahead to establish much more cordial relationship with other faith-based organizations.
"This will really go a long way in the establishment of a better cordial and respectful relationship between the Nigerian Mohammedans and their Christian compatriots as witnessed during the time of the late Sardauna."
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05/26/2012
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#4
Ward boss, Urban Inequality, classic. To be honest and disagree appropriately, but for a candidate, other than pandering for certain votes, as on its own just looks as a pander for votes. However, it is another piece in the puzzle, brick in the wall. Its a good thing we are finding these things out before he was elected as president. Wait? Huh?
[Ma'an] For years the Arab world has been searching for the perfect Arab democratic model. Progressive young Arabs want a Western-style democratic model, but older democrats argue that we have to discover our own model, not copy and paste models from this or that country.
Islam, of course, confused this search. Islamists appeared to want an Islamic model that no one could explain or point to an existing example. Iran was not seen as a successful model and neither was Afghanistan. Turkey was touted by some as a model, although the country is totally secular even if its current leader has an Islamic approach.
Egypt is poised in the coming months and years to provide all of us with a unique example. Egypt's revolution that brought down decades-long Mubarak regime was made possible by non-ideological young Egyptians who wanted to participate in the political process.
For a while, especially after the parliamentary elections, the Ikhwan (Moslem Brüderbund) seemed to have hijacked the revolution from the young people who had brought down the regime. Being the main opposition group for years and having had to organize underground gave the Brotherhood an advantage over the others, especially since the Tahrir Square revolutionaries were unable to turn their street power into parliamentary seats.
The presidential campaign has been a breath of fresh air for the democratic future of Egypt. While the 13 candidates represent a healthy plurality of ideas and programs, the discussions and debates that have focused on the future of Egypt have been amazing.
While discussions and public scrutiny of candidates has been inspirational, the Arab world's first-ever televised debate produced an unprecedented public involvement in Egypt's future.
The television debate featuring the two leading candidates at the time went on for a whopping four hours and featured a robust and unprecedented political discussion that was followed by millions.
As one would expect, the debate -- even though it had many deficiencies -- caused dramatic changes in polling results, proving that people do care about a sincere discussion of political differences between candidates.
Economic and foreign policy issues, along with citizen rights have dominated the general discussion up to election day in Egypt. Statements made by candidates are regularly challenged and they have been forced to explain issues and how they would handle a particular problem that might arise under their leadership.
Hardline Islamic presidential candidates have not performed as well despite the impressive gains made in the parliamentary elections, which weakens the argument that if given a chance Egyptians and other Arabs would overwhelmingly elect radical Islamists.
The presidential election has forced candidates to fine tune their position regarding local and international issues with local politics and the economy position grabbing the lion's share of the public's interest.
Of course democracy is not only about elections. Separation of powers, the independence of the judiciary and freedom of expression are all necessary elements for a comprehensive approach to democracy whatever the governing model that people eventually choose.
Post-Mubarak Egypt has witnessed vibrant freedom of expression and media. Egyptians are demonstrating and protesting about all issues, sometimes to their own short-term detriment.
Newspapers have been able to operate without any interference and privately-run satellite television stations have become the leading source of information for an Egyptian public yearning for change. Ironically no solution has been found for the state-run radio and television with its 40,000 plus employees and no regulatory framework established for independent or community radio.
Egypt's presidential elections are being watched very closely by friend and foe alike. The emerging democratic model that Egyptians will produce will most likely become a model for an Arab world longing for an end to autocratic rule that has left Arabs lagging behind the rest of the world.
So long as the new model includes genuine power-sharing systems and a bottom-up approach to solving problems, the future will most certainly be much prettier than the past. Any attempts at reversing the gains made by the people of Egypt will not be tolerated by Egyptians who have started to taste freedom and democracy.
The genie of democracy is out and it will not be forced back into the bottle any time soon.
Daoud Kuttab is a journalist and former professor of journalism at Princeton University.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
05/26/2012
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#1
But government by consent of the governed is SO un-Islamic.
#2
Searching for the perfect democratic Arab model
FIFY. There is no perfect. Particularly one operated by humans with all their frailties. The best you can work towards is something better than others.
[Times of India] A key US Senate panel has voted to impose pointed and punitive cut in aid dollars to Pakistain for its continued support to state-engineered extremism, although the country described bluntly by one politician as a "terrorist state" will still get at least $ 1 billion in American taxpayer money for 2013. So all it really is is an indignant sniff, with no slap actually on the way.
Angered by a Pak court's sentencing of a doctor who helped the US nail the late Osama bin Laden ... who doesn't live anywhere anymore... to 33 years in prison (for high treason), the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday voted for a symbolic but token $ 33 million cut in aid -- a million for each year of the sentence. It's that "high treason" charge that sticks out. Treason involves providing aid and comfort to your nation's enemies, not to its allies. There are other charges that could be made if it's just a matter of divulging military secrets or something along that line ‐ serious enough stuff, but not quite to the level of selling out the state.
The cut came on top of the panel voting to withhold nearly a billion dollars in proposed assistance subject to Pakistain re-opening NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... supply routes, although it still left more than $ 1 billion on the table for a country that has publicly castigated the US for killing a universally reviled terrorist. They pretend that it's not the killing of bin Laden but the violation of sovereignty that has them up on a high horse. The fact that Binny was living comfortably just thirty miles from Islamabad for nine years, within sight of the nation's military academy, illustrates the speciousness of the argument.
Further reductions have been threatened if Pakistain does not change course. That could actually happen. Given the prevalence of Short Attention Span Syndrome, the cuts would be made, then quietly reinstated somewhere between three and six months later.
The Senate action reflected growing American anger over issues ranging from the NATO supply route stand-off to the sentencing of Dr Shakil Afridi, all of which, some US politicians suggest, show that Pakistain is in league with hard boyz rather than with the United States. It's the strong horse-weak horse thing again. The Paks see the B.O. administration precipitously leaving Afghanistan. We haven't left in a huff over the stoopid remarks Karzai comes up with when he's high or because the Afghan army's developed the habit of occasionally potting an infidel whenever they're feeling particularly devout. Nor have we announced we're staying until the last Talib's been rooted out and shot, his corpse publicly burned, and the flames peed on by the Marines. Instead B.O. has abandoned the "good war" for domestic political reasons, giving the enemy a withdrawal date to hold out until. We're going to be out in two years and the Paks are lining up with what they see as the victors, expecting to call in their markers with the new regime.
"We need Pakistain, Pakistain needs us, The problem is that they don't think they do need us.
but we don't need Pakistain double-dealing and not seeing the justice in bringing Osama bin Laden to an end," Lindsey Graham, ... the endangered South Carolina RINO... a Senate Republican who pushed for the additional cut in aid said, while calling Pakistain a "schizophrenic ally." They're a puffed-up Islamic pipsqueak of a nation. They see themselves as a power to rival India and Iran. They see Afghanistan as their vassal state and their influence spreading from Burma into Iran and up into Central Asia. The fact that they're an ignorant tribal culture run by an oligarchy of feudal kleptocrats, ignorant holy men, and scheming wannabe military dictators escapes them. They've started and lost four wars with India, on one of which they lost "East Pakistain" -- now Bangladesh -- and they still think their military's second to none. Their politicians are equally inept, and the holy men moreso. Yet they still think they're a world power in the making and an example to the rest of the Islamic world.
Lawmakers on the House side have been less kind. Following the sentencing by Pakistain's pro-jihadi courts of Dr Afridi, who helped the US locate bin Laden, Caliphornia Congressman Dana Rohrabacher said "This is decisive proof Pakistain sees itself as being at war with us." Picked right up on that, didn't he?
"There is no shared interest against Islamic terrorism," Rohrabacher maintained in a statement, contesting the bromide periodically advanced by the administration that Islamabad is an ally in the war on terror. "Pakistain was and remains a terrorist state." Personally, I regard it as very significant that Pakistain has convicted Afridi of helping to bring bin Laden to book, but that they haven't convicted even one person, don't even seem to have investigated the matter in fact, of conspiring to aid and abet bin Laden. Binny's neighbors had no idea who he was? How did he shop for groceries? Whose name was on the electric bill? He never needed shoes, clothing, medical attention, a dentist? He was so holy he had no need to go to a mosque? A family in one place for nine years that no one knew anything at all about? Come now.
These and other remarks by US politicians suggest that many of them, including Rohrabacher, who supported Pakistain for more than two decades despite its track record of rampant nuclear proliferation and sponsorship of terrorism, have turned against the country, although even now the administration and its supporters advance the idea that Pakistain is better treated as an ally rather than as an adversary. Now we seem to be down to treating them as an ally for purely tactical reasons, which brings us back to where we were when we started.
"It's Alice in Wonderland at best," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, ...Democrat Senator-for-Life from Vermont, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, source of more leaks than a plumber could keep up with... a Democrat who heads the appropriations sub-committee which voted to size down and make conditional some of the aid to Pakistain. "If this is cooperation, I'd hate like hell to see opposition." The United States, Leahy added, is "not going to invest in a country that won't help us in a reasonable way to deal with threats to our forces in Afghanistan." At least not for awhile. Not until memory fades. Meanwhile, ...back at the wrecked scow, a single surviver held tightly to the smashed prow... Washington and Islamabad clashed over the sentencing of Dr Afridi, even as the matter became a political issue in the US election season with some Republicans accusing the administration of throwing him under the bus by publicly revealing his identity and his cooperation even before he could be rescued from Pakistain. Having used him up he could be discarded. No skin off the Obama fore.
On Thursday, secretary of state Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Jeremiah S. Black ... waded into the issue, demanding that Dr Afridi be released, because "his help was instrumental in taking down one of the world's most notorious murderers that was clearly in Pakistain's interest as well as ours and the rest of the world." The Pak foreign office fired back, saying the US needed to respect Pakistain's legal processes and judgments. Even when they approach the point of casus belli.
Congressman Rohrabacher meanwhile is pushing for legislation to award a Congressional Gold Medal and a US citizenship for Dr Afridi. The were also something about a $25 million reward, of which at least a part would seem to be due him.
"Secretary Clinton will have to do more than voice protests over the Afridi case. ... but she won't...
Both the Departments of State and Defense need to take punitive actions against Pakistain. Carrots are not enough when dealing with an adversary. Sticks are needed to prove we are serious," Rohrabacher said. By this point it probably needs sticks and stones.
The politician also contested arguments from advocates of aid to Pakistain that the US should draw a distinction between the civilian government and the military-intelligence cabal who are supporting terrorist groups, saying President Zardari's behavior at the NATO summit in Chicago indicates that he is either in league with the military or under their domination. Given the military's record with elected governments that's a statement of the blindingly obvious...
"Any money that goes to Islamabad will continue to end up in the pockets of people actively and deadly hostile to America," he said. "The Taliban is only the tip of the spear, the real enemy is Pakistain." Money is fungible? Who knew?
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
will still get at least $ 1 billion in American taxpayer money for 2013.
#2
"Any money that goes to Islamabad will continue to end up in the pockets of people actively and deadly hostile to America," he said. "The Taliban is only the tip of the spear, the real enemy is Pakistain."
At last Congress have realised this!
Posted by: Paul D ||
05/26/2012 6:10
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Congress is privy to the intelligence traffic and I assure you, no reasonable person could reach any other conclusion regarding Pakistan.
My own suspicions regarding Dr Afridi are rather different from some, possibly conspiratoral, but plausable nonetheless. This poor fellow Afridi might very well have become the election tool of two corrupt, self-serving political regimes simultaneously. That being the scapegoat of Pakistan's complicity in the Bin Laden take down, and a quite convenient cause de jour news destraction for our administration all rolled into one. The illusion of outing a one trick pony foreign asset, who was already outed, what a small price to pay for successful political diversions.
Imagine if you will this scenario; following the Pakistani elections and much Obama adminisration pressure, Dr. Afridi's 33 year sentence is commuted to time served. Dr. Afridi and Chen Guangcheng, two highly media saturated, made for news human rights victories in a single election year. Amazing no?
Wouldn't it be something if Dr. Afridi was just a fall guy for covering an internal leak and they just threw the whole thing out there, and it stuck on account of the smaht diplomacy squad? I'm not throwing tin foil hats about, but here is a place where a leading political candidate is murdered in broad daylight and no witnesses, yet this doctor was rounded up quite quickly.
#5
Who called Pakistan schizophrenic? Ah, right, Lindsey Graham. Pak gets US boodle no matter how hard or how often they stab us in the back. Shitty, conniving, duplicitous? Yep. And far more rational than we are.
[Dawn] DR Shakil Afridi has been sentenced to 33 years in prison for assisting CIA in its search for the late Osama bin Laden ... who is no more... in Pakistain. His sentence is likely to renew the debate on what constitutes patriotism and treason in this (joint) war against militancy. Much of the discourse is bound to focus on the hatching of a conspiracy of which Dr Afridi's fake vaccination scheme was a part. While the proponents of this view would have some justification to question a unilateral US operation on Pak soil of which Pakistain was not informed, other aspects of the debate should be considered before Dr Afridi's sentence is endorsed. First, was the forum that heard the doctor's case competent enough? The PPP-led government has time and again expressed a wish to do away with the Frontier Crimes Regulation. The law has survived and perhaps for some legal minds treason can be tried under it. What about geographical jurisdiction? Although Dr Afridi was posted in Khyber, the location of his 'treasonous' act in Abbottabad ... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden.... is a fair distance from the tribal areas where the FCR is usually applied. The accused was denied a lawyer as a group of elders in Bara deliberated on his fate. Why was he not tried in a regular court guided by Pakistain's penal law -- or would that have thrown up some unsavoury facts?
Second, the US had a multimillion-dollar bounty on Bin Laden. The temptation to help US authorities track down the world's most wanted terrorist would have been too great, especially in the absence of a clear warning from the Pak state to its nationals of the consequences of helping America locate dangerous snuffies in return for huge rewards. In fact, American targets have been busted here before. This could not have been possible without local intelligence and logistical contacts -- none of whom have been tried.
Third, the unilateral operation naturally led to anger on Pakistain's part -- but was the target of its wrath worth it? The truth is that Pakistain's illusory sovereignty would have been better protected with better vigilance, and -- something that the US should also note -- an effort by both Pakistain and the US to undertake aggressive joint operations against suspected terrorists. Unfortunately, the absence of a clear-cut definition of Pakistain-US ties in the war against militancy has hindered not only a sound counterterrorism measure but also one that would have helped bridge differences. In all this, Dr Afridi's actual crime has been ignored: the fake vaccination campaign, abetted by the CIA, went against all ethics of the medical profession, and may intensify the already existing misconceptions among some families regarding vaccination for their children.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
the absence of a clear-cut definition of Pakistain-US ties
You mean like who is on who's side?
I still think we should spring the good doctor, just for the PR and shock value. Hey, the SEALs live for this sort of thing.
And maybe we could get Snake Plissken to star in "Escape From Pakistain". Although he is not returning my calls since I pitched (the admittedly ill-advised) "Escape from Gaza"
[Al Ahram] Results in 25 governorates aggregated by Ahram Online shows that with about 41.8 per cent turn out, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Mursi is in the first place so far, followed by Ahmed Shafik, Mubarak's last prime minister, while the leftist candidate, Hamdeen Sabbahi, who proved to be the main surprise so far, fell back to the third place. Still waiting for Cairo and Giza results. Will we witness more surprise
1. Mursi 4,406,782 (26.48 per cent)
2. Shafiq 4,115,840 (24.74 per cent)
3. Sabbahi 3,329,519 (20.01 per cent)
4. Abul-Fotouh 2,959,937 (17.79 per cent)
5. Moussa 1,778,244 (10.69 per cent)
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Yemen Post] At least 14 Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is "God is Great, Death to America™", Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews" ... followers and passersby were killed in a suicide kaboom in Yemen's Jawf province on Friday, security sources said.
An explosives-laden car were rammed into a school targeting a gathering of Houthi people in the northeastern province killing ten Houthi followers including a child and four passersby, the sources said.
Several others were maimed in the bombing coinciding with reports the Houthi Group thwarted another attempt to carry out a suicide kaboom in Saada province in the far north.
Media quoted a front man at the office of the group's leader as saying a jacket wallah with an boom belt tried to target a weekly gathering by the group on the highway but he became confused exploding himself away from the gathering.
The group, which the Yemeni army fought six times and allegedly receives Iranian support, did not accuse anyone.
Two years ago, Al-Qaeda bombed a convoy in Jawf killing and injuring tens of Houthis.
The Shiite group controls many parts in Saada, Jawf and nearby provinces.
Observers said the Houthi and Al-Qaeda are the most armed, krazed killer groups in the region and they pose serious threats to Yemen's stability.
Al-Qaeda grabbed credit for the deadliest ever bombing in the capital Sanaa this week, which killed more than one hundred security forces and injured hundreds others.
Meantime, the Yemeni army has been advancing on Al-Qaeda gun-hung tough guys in the southern province of Abyan ...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues... , killing and injuring hundreds of them including big shots. More recently, the army has stepped up the offensive to retake key towns including the capital Zinjibar, which were seized last year.
Separately, a soldier and two inmates were killed when a riot broke out inside the central prison in Taiz province on Friday, the interior ministry said.
Three prisoners were maimed and four others escaped, the ministry said.
In recent years, riots have erupted inside many Yemeni jails, with inmates sometimes demanding rights including good treatment and supply necessary needs for them.
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[Dawn] The son of slain Pakistain leader Benazir Bhutto ... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in... said on Thursday that ex-military ruler Pervez Musharaf "murdered my mother," as he vowed to play a bigger political role in his homeland "in any way I can."
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, son of current President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari ... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ... , said Musharaf sabotaged his mother's security when she returned to her homeland in 2007, and said he is confident of his own security in Pakistain.
"I'm confident that the Pak government will provide me with the adequate security, unlike the government at the time that sabotaged my mother's security in Pakistain," he told CNN in an interview.
The 23-year-old, who returned to Pakistain last year after studying at Oxford, said her liquidation was due to a combination of thugs, and Musharraf's regime.
"Al Qaeda issued the instructions to do it, the Taliban... carried out the actual attack, while Pervez Musharaf purposely sabotaged my mother's security when he knew there was going to be attacks, so she would be eliminated.
"He murdered my mother. I hold him responsible for the murder of my mother," he added. "He'd threatened her himself in the past. He said: 'Your security is directly linked to our relationship and our cooperation.'
"When he imposed emergency, and it was clear that he was pulling the wool over our eyes. He was not interested in returning democracy to Pakistain. And my mother started to speak out more against him, the security decreased."
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[Dawn] The Foreign Office reiterated on Thursday its denunciation of drone attacks, but said that Pakistain's desire for normalisation of ties with the United States remained unaffected.
"Let me also add here that the US is an important country and it is an important relationship for Pakistain and there is a mutual desire to normalise this relationship," FO front man Moazzam Khan said at his weekly media briefing while responding to a question about drone attacks and negotiations on re-engagement.
"We strongly condemn the drone attacks. We regard them a violation of our territorial integrity. They are in contravention of international law. They are illegal, counter-productive and totally unacceptable," he said.
The US has continued to pound thug targets in tribal areas with hellfire missiles from Predator drones, although the two countries are negotiating a parliamentary demand for cessation of the strikes.
The attacks, which analysts once feared could scuttle the re-engagement process, have not affected the talks. Other differences, including those over fee structure for using Pak territory for transportation of supplies for coalition forces in Afghanistan have, however, slowed down the dialogue.
(According to APP, the front man was asked why didn't Pakistain take the issue to the UN if these attacks were in breach of the international law. He said: "We want to resolve the issue bilaterally, but of course all options are open."
However, a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all... both Washington and Islamabad acknowledged the importance of their relationship and they wanted to solve their issues through negotiations.
Asked if he was aware from where the drones were taking off to carry out the attacks, the front man said he was unaware of it.)
Several drone attacks have taken place since parliament adopted guidelines for revised terms of engagement with the US in April. The US has also ignored similar calls from Pak parliament in the past for stopping the attacks.
However, by candlelight every wench is handsome... the attacks temporarily suspended after the Nov 26 Salala incident which sent the troubled alliance into a tailspin.
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Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot 05/26
Misaki Ito [Japanese] aka Hiroko Iijima in "Tengoku de kimi ni aetara(Life: Tears in Heaven )(2007)" aka Misuzu in "Tsuribaka nisshi 16 (Fishing Fool's Diary)(2005)" aka Kaoru Ueda in "Umineko(Sea Cat)(2004)" aka Yurina in "Nain souruzu(9 Souls)(2003)" aka Hitomi Tokunaga in "Ju-on (The Grudge)(2002) " aka Mariko Arima in "Mohou-han(Copycat Killer)(2002) " (age 35)
[Dawn] The vehicle of the provincial chief of Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam ...Assembly of Islamic Clergy, or JUI, is a Pak Deobandi (Hanafi) political party. There are two main branches, one led by Maulana Fazlur Rahman, and one led by Maulana Samiul Haq. Fazl is active in Pak politix and Sami spends more time running his madrassah. Both branches sponsor branches of the Taliban, though with plausible deniability... -Sami (JUI-S) was destroyed completely when an improvised bomb went off in it here on Thursday.
Police said that unidentified persons might have planted the bomb in the car of JUI-S provincial chief Maulana Yousaf Shah in the night. The bomb was detected in the car when it was taken in the morning to a nearby service station. The driver informed police and Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) but the bomb went kaboom! before the officials reached there.
The JUI-S provincial chief, who is also a close friend of party chief Maulana Samiul Haq, was the apparent target.
Later, BDS personnel collected evidence from the site of the blast. They said that two to three kilograms of explosives were used in the blast.
Maulana Shah told journalists that the people, who kidnapped and later killed Maulana Naseeb Khan Wazir, were involved in the act of terrorism. He alleged that some hidden hands were trying to target leaders of Defa-e-Pakistain Council and Darul Uloom Haqania.
He said that they could not be frightened by such tactics. "We will continue our efforts for supremacy of Islam and defense of our motherland," the JUI-S leader added.
The Akora Khattak cop shoppestarted the paperwork but haven't done much else against unidentified persons and started investigation.
Meanwhile, ...back at the wreckage, Captain Poindexter awoke groggily, his hand still stuck in the Ming vase... one primitive was killed and five persons were maimed seriously in a kaboom on a passenger vehicle in Ghulam Banda near the semi-autonomous tribal area of Kohat on Thursday.
The bomb was planted at a bicycle that was parked along the Kohat-Shindand Road. It was a remote controlled device, which went off as soon as the vehicle reached the place where the bicycle was parked, sources said.
A passenger identified as Khan Mohammad was killed on the spot while Noor Mohammad, Jalat Khan, Mohammad Nawaz and Shahid Mahmood were maimed in the blast.Police and volunteers rushed the injured to KDA divisional headquarters hospital. The Bomb Disposal Squad collected evidence from the scene.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2012
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#1
Hey, Maulana? Is that your car blowing up in the parking lot?
I have better things to write about. I really do. Every day I write about just how awful things are in Mexico and the Drug War: the bloodletting, the shootings and the terror.
But this isn't about Mexico, though it is about terror. It is about an ideology couched safely by our abjectly ignorant press as social justice, the only justice of which is the left's blinded view of justice: vengeance.
The astroturf Occupy Wall Street movement is about social justice, but it is really about vengeance. It is about the sense of vengeance of their paymasters, but expressed in terms like social justice. They got kiddies from college, heads full of mush and inexperience, and they got them to buy into it. Like good little parrots they repeat the lines about Social Justice perfectly.
I have said on many times that liberalism and socialism, both brands practiced by our leftist political opponents, cannot exist, indeed cannot even be expressed in a free society. It requires self deception on the part of the speaker as well as the listener. It requires a listener who is willing to accept the contradictions inherent in leftist ideology, and it requires a willing press, either willfuly ignorant, or just plan dumb.
Capitalism can thrive in any political environment, but socialism/liberalism can only thrive in an oppressive environment. You can't even talk about how unfair things are in a society whose very basis of interaction and exchange is free markets, idealogical and material as well, unless you yourself create a kind of personal oppression, a self-deception, maybe even using a problem your paymasters themselves have created.
With the help of a wilfully ignorant (or just plain dumb) cadre of writers and journalists, if you use the phrase social justice, just about any idea that subsequently comes out of your mouth is taken down in writing like it is the Holy Writ.
It is how activists such as Brett Kimberlin managed to gain hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants from charitable institutions over the years for his execrable ideas. He's got the old windsong down pat, and he plays charities like the cheap harp they allow themselves to be.
So, it seems the entire basis of Kimberlin's existence for the past 20 years has been ignorance. He expresses ignorant ideas, charitable institutions play dumb to him and his past, and the press gives him a pass on his past by ignoring it. Ignorance is how he got his means of living. I am pretty certain that the multiple foundations, once they are caught in the realization that they have funded a social terror scheme, will immediately move to have their name removed from association.
Or maybe they'll just play dumb.
Kimberlin's social justice mantra has worked to mask a dark past. I have not closely followed the reporting concerning Kimberlin, but I have included in this article a link to the website of Robert Stacy McCain who has laid out much of the problem represented by Kimberlin and his great American Terror Campaign.
The reaction, is it said, to those who have dared to repeat claims that exist in open record, is to harass critics. You should go to McCain's site and focus on Patterico, AKA Patrick Frey, and the heartbreaking... sh*t, to call it what it is Mr Frey and his bride have been subjected to. It is heartbreaking that such a thing has been allowed to happen.
But now just after a year of this treatment, four more individuals have found themselves at the end of a high tech terror campaign at the hands of individuals who have zero sense of propriety and basic decency. But just like everything else the left lays its hands on, others pay their freight. Charities pay for their stone dead ideas and their opponents pay their price for the mere act of laying those ideas bare for all to see.
A free society doesn't allow behavior that wrecks lives and that destroys the gentle threads that bind society, each individual to another.
Our society is supposed to be premised on the vigorous, free exchange of ideas. But the basic premise of liberalism that destroys what is not theirs, and then complains that the result isn't their doing, is on display.
But the mandarins at the top of our government and legal institutions which permit this behavior, and their allies which refuse to report on it, are as derelict as the ideas expoused by Kimberlin and his enablers.
There is literally so much more to say about this. I cannot sufficiently express how bad the situation has been and will probably get. It reminds me of the rumors I heard about how the Obama campaign operated during the 2008 primaries, using veiled threats and intimidation to gain an advantage.
Just a rumor, though.
And maybe this is just a taste of what is coming down the pike by this November: Rumor, innuendo and the Great American Terror.
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The latest baloon rising from the media is that the "Occupy Movement" has been..."highjacked" by anarchists. Something akin to the 9:30 arriving B&O from Louisville being "highjacked" by the tracks.
#2
-- This situation has been in the works for over 20 years, and worsening year by year.
-- Doris Lessing's 1983 novel "The Sentimental Agents in the Volyen Empire" was a fun read that outlines this whole situation. Paraphrased/edited from Wikipedia: The novel is a social satire written in the tradition of Jonathan Swift and George Orwell, and focuses on the debasement of language in rhetoric. In Lessing's fictional universe nothing but propaganda keeps a threatened empire afloat. When the language used becomes too distorted, some members of society develop a species of insanity.
[Dawn] Pak lawyers said Friday they would appeal the conviction for treason handed down by a tribal court to a surgeon recruited by US intelligence to help find the late Osama bin Laden ... who used to be but now ain't...
A tribal court in Khyber Wednesday placed in long-term storage Drop the rosco and step away witcher hands up! Shakeel Afridi for 33 years for agreeing to try and collect DNA for US intelligence in their bid to locate Osama.
Afridi ran a fake vaccination program designed to collect bin Laden family DNA from the compound in the town of Abbottabad ... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden.... , where the al Qaeda leader was rubbed out in a US raid in May 2011.
"We have requested the Khyber administration to provide us with the documents related to the trial and conviction, and once we get them, we will file an appeal in the office of the commissioner of the Frontier Crimes Regulation," lawyer Samiullah Afridi told AFP.
The lawyer, general secretary of the Peace Movement, a civil society group against militancy, said his organization did not believe the doctor committed any crime, but had instead worked "to help eliminate terrorism".
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2012
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[Jerusalem Post] If technology upgrade effort is successful, fewer batteries would be required to defend Israel's borders.
The IDF is working to increase the range of the Iron Dome counter rocket defense system, with the aim of enabling it to intercept longer-range rockets, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
To achieve the improved performance, the IDF is focusing on two tracks -- technological upgrades to the system as well as modifications to the Israel Air Force's operational doctrine.
The Iron Dome was originally designed to defend against rockets at a range of 4-70 km.
Each battery consists of a mini multi-mission radar manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries and three launchers, each equipped with 20 interceptors called Tamirs.
The radar enables Iron Dome operators to predict the impact site of the enemy rocket and decide not to intercept it if it is slated to hit an open area. Each interceptor costs between $50,000-100,000 and usually two are fired at rockets slated for interception.
"This is significant since it would allow us to intercept more rockets with less batteries," a senior defense official explained.
The system recently underwent a series of tests in conjunction with manufacturer Rafael to determine its ability to intercept longer-range rockets.
The IDF currently operates four Iron Dome batteries and plans to deploy an additional two within the coming year. Last week, the United States announced that it will provide Israel with $70 million in immediate aid for the purchase of additional Iron Dome batteries.
Since its deployment last year, Iron Dome batteries have intercepted over 90 Katyusha and Kassam rockets fired into Israel from the Gazoo Strip. The new aid package comes after the B.O. regime gave Israel $205 million in 2011 and comes on top of the $3 billion Israel receives in annual foreign aid from the United States.
[Ynet] In report deemed credible by Western diplomats, Al Arabiya says Russian fat merchantman carrying 'large amount' of weapons 'trying to conceal final destination in suspicious way', due to arrive in Syrian port this weekend.
Lightning strikes are natures method of "controlled burning" and are ecologically sound method of keep the forest floor clean and sustaining delicate plant and animal species.
[Dawn] President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari ... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ... on Friday ordered quick and stern action against those involved in killing participants of a political rally on Tuesday in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... , DawnNews reported.
During a high level meeting on security with Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik Pak politician, current Interior Minister under the Gilani administration. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. He later joined the Pak Peoples Party and was chief security officer to Bhutto. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Nawaz Sharif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. at Bilawal House, the president also emphasised on action against the criminals regardless of their political and ethnic affiliations.
At least eleven people were killed and more than 30 people maimed after unidentified armed assailants shot up an Awami Tehrik's "Mohabbat-e-Sindh" (Love for Sindh) rally in the lovely provincial capital.
The Sindh chief minister, on the occasion, presented the probe report on the May 22 incident and brought the reservations, of provincial ministers belonging to the Pakistain People's Party (PPP), into the president's notice.
The president also took notice of wall chalking by the Muhajir Suba Tehrik (Muhajir Province Movement.)
Meanwhile, ...back at the game, the Babe was wondering why the baseball kept getting bigger and bigger. Finally it hit him... Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan made an apology for not attending the meeting, as he had to leave for Dubai over MV Albedo captives' matter.
The interior minister vowed to act against the myrmidons in Bloody Karachi without any discrimination.
Earlier, some of the provincial ministers had criticised Malik over worsening law and order situation in Bloody Karachi.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2012
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[Dawn] Pakistain and India on Friday pledged to fight terrorism together, calling it "a continuing threat to peace and security" and a block to the full establishment of normal relations.
The announcement came after two-day talks between the home and interior secretaries of the two countries at the Pak tourist resort of Bhurban.
The talks were led by the interior secretary of Pakistain, Siddiq Akbar, and the home secretary of India, Raj Kumar Singh, and included security experts from both countries.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2012
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#1
Pak fighting terror, nobody fall for that still?
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.
A sombre milestone has been reached in the Afghanistan war after an American sailor became the 3000th member of the Nato coalition to lose his life. 
From Canada to Colombia to Brazil, oil and gas production in the Western Hemisphere is booming, with the United States emerging less dependent on supplies from an unstable Middle East. Central to the new energy equation is the United States itself, which has ramped up production and is now churning out 1.7 million more barrels of oil and liquid fuel per day than in 2005.
[Al Ahram] A suicide bomb squad killed a police officer and 
UN rights chief Navi Pillay yesterday urged the West to suspend sanctions against Zim-bob-wean leader 
The Supreme Court on Friday directed the authorities to pay equal compensation to the heirs of all 103 people killed in the Lal Masjid operation, DawnNews reported.
Zawahiri
Najib Miqati
[Dawn] Three people were 
[Yemen Post] The 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[Dawn] THE factors that cause frequent shutdowns and violence in 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
The anti-Taliban Adezai Qaumi Lashkar has stopped supporting the law enforcement agencies, blaming 
The Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Baker al-Qiribi said on Wednesday that al-Qaeda and the Houthis are two faces of the same coin, stressing that the government will do everything it can in order to make sure" these cancer cells" don't spread.
[An Nahar] Egyptian Islamist candidate Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh on Friday urged his supporters to "confront the corrupt regime," in an implicit appeal against Mubarak-era prime minister Ahmed Shafiq.
cycle of violence
DISTURBED by the security situation in the North, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar, has told perpetrators of terrorism and related acts in the region that "enough is enough," saying the shedding of blood must stop.
[Times of India] A key US Senate panel has voted to impose pointed and punitive cut in aid dollars to Pakistain for its continued support to state-engineered extremism, although the country described bluntly by one 
Lindsey Graham,
Hillary Clinton
[Dawn] DR Shakil Afridi has been sentenced to 33 years in prison for assisting CIA in its search for 
[Al Ahram] Results in 25 governorates aggregated by Ahram Online shows that with about 41.8 per cent turn out, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Mursi is in the first place so far, followed by Ahmed Shafik, Mubarak's last prime minister, while the leftist candidate, Hamdeen Sabbahi, who proved to be the main surprise so far, fell back to the third place. Still waiting for Cairo and Giza results. Will we witness more surprise
The son of slain Pakistain leader 
Asif Ali 
[Dawn] Pak lawyers said Friday they would appeal the conviction for treason handed down by a tribal court to a surgeon recruited by US intelligence to help find 
Pakistain and India on Friday pledged to fight terrorism together, calling it "a continuing threat to peace and security" and a block to the full establishment of normal relations.
