Click the link to read the article, which begins with this disclaimer:
Note from Senior Management:
Andrew Breitbart was never a "Birther," and Breitbart News is a site that has never advocated the narrative of "Birtherism." In fact, Andrew believed, as we do, that President Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on August 4, 1961.
Yet Andrew also believed that the complicit mainstream media had refused to examine President Obama's ideological past, or the carefully crafted persona he and his advisers had constructed for him.
It is for that reason that we launched "The Vetting," an ongoing series in which we explore the ideological background of President Obama (and other presidential candidates)--not to re-litigate 2008, but because ideas and actions have consequences.
It is also in that spirit that we discovered, and now present, the booklet described below--one that includes a marketing pitch for a forthcoming book by a then-young, otherwise unknown former president of the Harvard Law Review.
It is evidence--not of the President's foreign origin, but that Barack Obama's public persona has perhaps been presented differently at different times.
Note from Rantburg management: we also are not Birthers. Unless and until convincing, verifiable, conclusive evidence is offered, we believe that Mr. Obama was born in Hawaii.
We also believe that he's been a terrible president, and that that is sufficient justification to remove him this November.
Our editorial policy is unchanged: anything at all that supports the 'birther' nonsense will be removed immediately.
#8
They key talking point here is: Fundamental dishonesty, and willingness to lie and use deciet about something as basic as where he was born. He claimed Kenya then, claims Hawaii now. One way or another he is lying about a fundamental part of who he is - and that uncovers even more about who he really is: a manipulative man who will do and say anything to get what he wants, be it money or power. Any Obama supporter MUST be confronted with this established fact: Obama lied about something as fundamental as his birth. Why do you trust him after seeing this, and his horrible performance in office?
Yemeni troops killed 11 al-Qaida fighters in southern Yemen on Friday, as government forces battled their way into the outskirts of a key town under the militants' control, military officials said.
Al-Qaida-linked fighters have taken over a swath of territory and several towns in the south over the past year, pushing out government forces and establishing their own rule. In recent weeks, the army has launched a concerted effort to uproot the militants from their strongholds - and is closely coordinating with a small contingent of U.S. troops who are helping guide the operations from inside Yemen.
On Friday, Yemeni troops moved in on Jaar in Abyan province, killing eight al-Qaida fighters in clashes about 10 kilometers (six miles) north of the town. Recapturing Jaar would better position the military to take back Zinjibar, the provincial capital that has been under al-Qaida control for more than a year.
Also in Abyan, a Yemeni warplane struck an al-Qaida checkpoint some 70 kilometers (45 miles) east of Zinjibar in an area known as Shoqra, killing three militants and wounding six, officials said.
#5
David Mc Williams appears to be Irish. Maybe he was just speaking Austrian. It didn't sound like the Austrian School of Economics at all.
For years, we have been told how great Europe is. "America sucks! In Greece, they take 3 months off a year and retire at 50. Why can't we be more like them?" I hope the answer to that is becoming clear. I fear it isn't... even to the Europeans.
Syrian security forces have used tear gas and live ammunition to disperse thousands rallying in Aleppo, a city that has largely been loyal to the Assad regime.
A raid on dormitories at the city's main university in Syria's largest city on May 3, killed four students and forced the temporary closure of the state-run school earlier this month.
On Thursday, 15,000 students protested outside of Aleppo University before U.N. observers, before regime forces broke it up. Even larger numbers filled the streets on Friday.
Activist Mohammad Saeed said, "The number of protesters is increasing every day and today saw the biggest protests," adding that several people were injured when security forces tear gas and live ammunition to attempt to break up the demonstration.
California's economy, with a Gross State Product of about $1.9 trillion, is more than six times the size of Greece's. At $90 billion, the state's budget (excluding the few hundred billion dollars of federal money distributed there) is only sixty percent of the size of Greece's national budget. But, California's budget deficit, estimated at $16 billion for the current fiscal year unless substantial changes are made, represents a stunning 17.5 percent shortfall and a huge miss from January predictions of a $9.2 billion deficit. Greece is now anticipating a deficit under 7 percent of GDP, but even allowing for typical politician optimism, the Greek deficit problem is arguably small compared to California's.
While both places are full of union members and socialists (pardon my redundancy) focused on preventing cuts in government spending, California does have one advantage: it is not full of people who make a full-time job of tax evasion as is the case in Greece. According to a fascinating article on the subject, "the gap between what Greek taxpayers owed last year and what they paid was about a third of total tax revenue, roughly the size of the country's budget deficit."
California Governor Jerry Brown is proposing certain spending cuts (including cuts to higher education and to programs for the poor) and tax increases (a massive income tax rate hike -- from 10.3 percent to 13.3 percent on those earning over $250,000 -- and a 0.25 cent increase in the state's sales tax.) Even so, his budget calls for a more than 5 percent increase in state spending, including a 16 percent increase to public school spending, over the prior fiscal year, giving a new meaning to "austerity" and emphasizing the power of teachers unions over Democrats.
Brown is taking the tax hike part of his plan directly to voters, using the typical Democrat threat of cuts to public education if the hikes are not passed. It's time to call his bluff, at least if California wants to stop hemorrhaging people, jobs, and talent.
If you enjoy this movie, take heart, there will soon be a sequel: Illinois' state budget website says that "Illinois faces a budget shortfall of more than $11 billionÂ… Spending growth consistently exceeds revenue growth [and it is] getting worse each year."
#2
The voters have put together quite a few initiatives that might help but the special interest groups such as the public unions have found ways to smack them down. In other instances activist judges have smacked them down. California is not too big to fail--it is already failing or failed; in other words it is a large Greece.
#3
As a product of California's educational system I can tell you that it carries a whole butt load of crap. I remember them saying that it would make me a "well rounded person" whenever I asked what relevance some of the classes had. Well, these days we have a lot of well rounded people living in tents under bridges and in the river valleys. Some of them get jobs as cocktail waitresses or in real estate sales.
But when it comes to cutting I'm afraid the politicians will leave the crap and cut the muscle.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
05/18/2012 10:46
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#4
Unfortunately, many courses are not relevant; only PC.
#5
focused on preventing cuts in government spending True-ish, but not accurate. The referenced special interest group is dedicated to a constantly increasing level of government spending. To their simple minds, merely holding government spending unchanged at its currently absurdly elevated level is AUSTERITY.
#6
not until the political class and the voters that keep them in place recognize that there is a problem.
The problem is that the political class and the special interests don't see themselves as having a problem. The voters are the only one that can fix this because they are the only ones for whom the problem bites. The unlimited cash and perks of the elites will never be seen as a problem by the elites.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday he was sure that Al-Qaeda was responsible for the twin terror attacks that took place in Damascus last week and in which 55 people were killed.
Ban said that this fact is “disturbing and surprising.” I was surprised and disturbed that it wasn't the Quakers after all!
Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov dismissed his government on Thursday in what appeared to be an attempt to avoid a possible reduction in federal subsidies.
Kadyrov didn't offer much explanation for his actions, telling the dismissed officials that he was pleased with their work overall but changes to the government were needed to solve "new problems," according to a statement on Chechnya's official website. He did not say when a new government would be appointed and who would be in it.
One analyst said Kadyrov might be trying to show activity, fearing that the country's leadership might decide to cut federal budget subsidies to some or all of the regions despite promises not to do so.
The North Caucasus republics are some of the most heavily subsidized regions, provoking ethnic Russians, who have rallied under the slogan: "Stop Feeding the Caucasus."
Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson (R) appears to be doing a bang up job since taking office and has eliminated some 30,000 deceased voters from Michigan's voter rolls.
An audit of voting records over the period from 2008 to 2011 showed that more than 1300 deceased voters had cast ballots over the audit period though an official quoted in the source article said "in every instance where it appears a deceased person or incarcerated person voted and local records were available, a clerical error was established as the reason for the situation." whatever that means.
In any case, it is good to see Michigan joining several other states in getting their voter rolls cleaned up in preparation for the 2012 vote. It promises to be a much cleaner election in many states this year.
#1
Leave them there as bait and jug anyone who votes in their name until they can cough up $10,000 or 1000 legitimate signatures for the "Show Your ID To Vote" proposition.
#6
Well, Cook County's in Illinois, so even for a dead voter, that's some trick!
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/18/2012 8:55
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#7
I've received correspondence from Dems regarding issues I did not contact them about and just received a phone call soliciting Dem campaign donations--I took the opportunity to express how I really felt! ;D
#10
Each state should dump its registration database after every presidential election and start over with a clean slate. That, and voter ID laws would make ACORN's job much harder and more expensive.
#12
The thing to be wary of is the "Secretary of State Project" that is designed to elect "progressives" into the office of Secretary of State in the various states of the union. In practically every case of which I am aware, the states where massive cleanup of voter rolls happens are states where a Republican Secretary of State has replaced a Democrat. The election of Al Frankin in Minnesota was an example of how much damage a partisan Secretary of State can do when it was shown that ballots cast by dead people were greater than the margin of victory yet the votes by the dead were allowed to stand.
Democrats appear to be using voter fraud as a fundamental election tactic and need to secure the office of "Secretary of State" in order to enable that strategy.
I will NEVER vote for a Democrat for office of Secretary of State.
#13
I saw a vid clip of Obama on The View (can't stand the chattering magpies except for Elizabeth Hasselbeck). Barbara Walters asked if Obama was worried about winning or some such question as that. Obama flashed briefly what seemed like anger and said with too much certainty: "I am going to win." 20,000 voters here, 30,000, 10% there and you have large-scale voter fraud that might swing an election.
Kuwait's emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, has blocked a proposal by 31 of the 50 elected members of parliament to amend the constitution to make all legislation comply with Islamic law. His approval is needed for any constitutional change.
Mohammad al-Dallal, an Islamist MP and legal expert, said,"His highness the emir is not in favor," adding that the proposal was put forward by the Islamic Justice Bloc and signed by 31 lawmakers.
Political parties are banned in Kuwait so MPs have to rely on forming blocs in parliament. The 15-member cabinet selected by the prime minister can also vote in parliament.
Dallal said, "Our society is a conservative society, a lot of people request that laws comply with sharia (Islamic law). We also do not have a stable political system," he said, saying such an amendment could help make lawmaking less chaotic.
Islamist MPs have proposed amending the constitution in this way several times in the past. This time, they asked to change article 79 to make sharia "the only source" of legislation rather than a major or main source as it is now.
[Yemen Post] President Abdurabu Mansour Hadi ...the second and possibly the last president of Yemen, successor to former President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh... has met with Commander of the Republican Guard Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh and reached an understanding about the rebellion of the 3rd Republican Guard Brigade against his decree, well informed sources said.
The sources did not clarify whether it was allowed to the newly-appointed commander Abdul-Rahman Al-Halili to enter the headquarter of the brigade or not.
A Yemeni analyst told Yemen Post that what is reported about an understanding is merely a maneuver of Saleh's family to alleviate any resolutions to be issued against Saleh's relatives by the UN Security Council.
These developments came after ambassadors of the ten states overseeing the GCC-brokered power transfer deal met with Ahmed Ali this week.
Moreover, US President Barrack Obama issued on Wednesday an executive order freezing U.S. assets of anyone considered to be threatening the success of the U.S.-backed political transition in Yemen.
UN Security Council is to meet on Thursday to discuss a report presented by Envoy to Yemen Jamal Benomar who had threatened to impose sanctions against those officials who hamper decrees of Hadi.
A Western diplomat told Akhbar Alyawam newspaper that Benomar contacted during the past two days Hadi, officials of the General people Congress party led by the former president Ali Abdullah Saleh and leaders of the Joint Meeting Parties.
The diplomat quoted Benomar as saying that his report will brief the UN Permanent Members on Yemen's situation and risks posed against the political settlement.
The command of the 3rd Republican Guard Brigade was handed over to Al-Ahlili with the presence of the UN envoy to Yemen Jamal Benomar who put pressures on the pervious commander, Tariq Mohmmad Abdullah Saleh. However, corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds... after the departure of Benomar, Al-Halili was prevented by officers loyal to Saleh from entering the brigade.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Dawn] The White House has rejected a House bill which places limitation on reimbursements to the government of Pakistain and imposes new restrictions on US assistance to that country.
The bill requires the secretaries of defence and state to certify to the US Congress that Pakistain is cooperating with the United States in the war against terror, dismantling IED networks and preventing nuclear proliferation.
The White House rejects both, restrictions placed on reimbursing the money Pakistain spends in combating gunnies along the Pak-Afghan border as well as certification requirements.
A statement issued by Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget, says that the US administration "strongly objects to the restriction in reimbursement for Pakistain from Coalition Support Funds and the associated certification requirements in section 1211" of a bill a congressional panel passed last week.
"Taken together, the reimbursement restriction and the certification restrictions -- some of which require the Secretary of Defence to certify Pak cooperation on issues outside of his purview -- are proposed at a particularly sensitive time," the White House observes.
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(Sh. M. Network) -- Somali government soldiers have exchanged a deadly gunfire in Mogadishu on Wednesday night, killing three soldiers according to witnesses.
Reports say that the fighting came as two government soldiers disagreed over vehicles looted from civilians and lastly changed confrontation between the military and police forces of the transitional government troops ofSomaliaat Howlwadag juction.
The incident caused the death of three soldiers among police forces during the clash and the movement of the traffic and business in the areas was halted as the clash continued there for a while.
The latest reports in the areas say that the situation returned normal after more government troops had intervened the warring sides.
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[Dawn] The deteriorated law and order situation continued to prevail in the city as 11 more people, including two coppers, bit the dust to the events related to the assassinations here on Thursday, DawnNews reported.
Unidentified men opened fire on a police van, patrolling the area of Baldia town, causing death of two coppers. The dead bodies were taken to the civil hospital.
In the jurisdiction of Ferozabad cop shoppe, tortured bodies of two political workers were found from the area of Tariq road and Bahadurabad. They were identified as Shahbaz and Arghaman.
Another political worker was killed in the area of Lines area.
Four people were rubbed out in the areas of Lyari, Taimuria, Orangi town and Mominabad.
A tortured dead body of a man was found from the area of Mochko.
A woman named Shazia was choked to death in the area of Shah Faisal colony No.1.
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YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar's president has assured his South Korean counterpart that his country will no longer buy weapons from North Korea, while conceding it had done so to some extent over the past 20 years.
In his meeting with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, Myanmar President Thein Sein said his country never had nuclear cooperation with North Korea but did have deals with Pyongyang for conventional weapons, Lee's presidential Blue House said in an announcement Tuesday.
Thein Sein told Lee that Myanmar will no longer buy weapons from North Korea, honoring a U.N. ban, South Korean presidential official Kim Tae-hyo told reporters traveling with Lee, according to Blue House officials in Seoul.
Thus continuing their slow, slow rehabilitation...
Lee is on an official visit to Myanmar, the first by a South Korean president since North Korean commandos staged a bloody 1983 attack against visiting South Korean dignitaries.
Myanmar cut off diplomatic relations with North Korea after the 1983 attack, but restored them in 2007 as it sought allies in the face of sanctions for its human rights violations and failure to install a democratic government. Myanmar also began buying weapons from North Korea, and was suspected of obtaining nuclear weapons technology from Pyongyang.
Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said after the 45-minute meeting that South Korea and Myanmar have much in common in having had to "take the hard road to democratic leadership."
Lee, speaking through an interpreter Tuesday, said he had praised Thein Sein's efforts at democratizing when they met Monday. He said he told Thein Sein he hoped his government "will refrain from any activities" with North Korea that could be considered in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. He described this as a formal request.
Lee on Tuesday made a brief visit to the site of the 1983 bombing, Martyr's Mausoleum, a monument to Suu Kyi's father, Myanmar independence hero Gen. Aung San. The attack left 21 dead, 17 of them South Korean, but failed to kill its target, then-President Chun Doo-hwan, who arrived late and was not harmed.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/18/2012
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#1
PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > CHINA SUPPLIES ARMS TO CHINESE-SPEAKING ETHNICS IN BURMA [30,000-MAN UWSA = United Wa State Army]
POSTER/BLOGGER > opined that China does not want a pro-US-West, anti-China, Western-style democratic Govt-Regime in Burma aka Myanmar, + that China would prefer to see full-scale Civil War or pro-China insurgency break out in Burma than for the former to occur??? CHINA ARMS = CIVIL WAR OR INSURGENCY TO BREAK OUT IN BURMA WIDIN A FEW MONTHS???
and
* WORLD MILITARY FORUM > CHINA MAINLY RESPONSIBLE FOR STEADY DETERIORATION IN SINO-NORTH KOREAN RELATIONS.
ARTIC Nutshell > Beijing likes to overtly label Pyongyang = NOKOR as an "Ally", Partner", + "Sovereign", etc. BUT IN REALITY TREATS IT AS ANYTHING BUT.
* SAME > MONGOLIA TO ESTABLISH QUASI-ALLIANCE RELATIONSHIP WID NATO AGZ CHINA, vee NATO's
"Partnership for Peace" international programme.
ARTIC = NATO's move seen in Beijing as reducing China's influence in MOngolia in favor of NATO [read, US] + Mama Russia.
[An Nahar] Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi revealed on Thursday that authorities released two detainees allegedly charged with forming an armed terrorist group and undermining the authority of the state, as well as having links to al-Qaeda.
The two members allegedly belong to a six-member network that infiltrated Leb to carry out "sabotage" operations.
Qortbawi told al-Joumhouria newspaper that Shadi al-Mawlawi, who was tossed in the calaboose Please don't kill me! on Saturday in Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of thich is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... , and the remaining three members of the network are still under investigation.
However, there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened... al-Liwaa newspaper reported that authorities released 3 detainees, while al-Mawlawi, Qatari national Abdul Azizi Qataria and a Paleostinian are still under arrest.
Meanwhile, ...back at the sandwich shop, Caroline was experimenting with ingredients of increasing volatility... al-Joumhouria reported that the army intelligence bureau set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... Lebanese Samir Kanjo and Syrian national Ons Othman for allegedly belonging to al-Qaeda.
Obtained information revealed that there is "clear evidence" that links Kanjo and Othman to al-Qaeda.
The two were tossed in the calaboose Please don't kill me! in Beirut on Tuesday, the daily said.
On the Islamist detainees in Roumieh prison, Qortbawi told al-Joumhouria that they are comprised of 180 prisoners from Leb and various Arab countries.
He said that some of them might be released "anytime soon."
Clashes erupted over the weekend in the northern city of Tripoli between the two rival neighborhoods of Sunni Bab al-Tabbaneh and Alawite Jabal Mohsen after the General Security Department set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... al-Mawlawi.
His arrest angered the Islamist demonstrators in Tripoli who were holding sit-ins in al-Nour square over the past few weeks in protest against the continuous detention of the Islamist prisoners.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/18/2012
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[Dawn] The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... government has ordered suspension of 27 officials including senior officers, prison staff, paramilitary soldiers and coppers on charges of negligence during the Bannu jailbreak incident.
Addressing a presser here on Wednesday, Minister for Information Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that the decision was taken in the light of findings of an inquiry, initiated soon after the incident on April 15.
"The committee held civil administration, prison department, law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies responsible for the biggest prison attack in the country's history," he said.
The provincial cabinet in a special meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti, ordered suspension of the officers and recommended departmental inquiries against them.
"Today, all these officials have been made officers on special duty (OSDs) and from tomorrow the departments concerned would issue their suspension orders," the minister said, adding that the employees of federal government would be dealt with by their respective departments.
Mr Hussain mentioned names of 27 officials, who were suspended and said that coppers and paramilitary deployed at three main cop shoppes and checkposts in the area had also been made OSDs.
He said that departmental inquiries would be conducted against those officers and final report would be presented to the chief minister within 20 days.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/18/2012
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[Dawn] The Pak prime minister has said the country has yet to decide on the issue of restoring ground supply lines to NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and organization.... troops in Afghanistan; however, a decision would be announced as soon as talks between different ministries and officials conclude.
"We have directed the concerned ministries and departments to conclude the process as soon as possible," Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ... told news hounds on Thursday after attending an event here in Islamabad.
The final decision would depend on the outcome of ongoing talks, said PM Gilani.
Moreover, the prime minister said that the invitation by NATO sent to President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari ... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ... to attend the Chicago summit was an 'unconditional' one.
Meanwhile, ...back at the abandoned silver mine, the water was up to Jack's neck and still rising... in a statement also on Thursday, the Foreign Office said that a final decision on reopening the routes will be taken in the best national interest of the country.
Pakistain has engaged with United States to resolve all pending issues, said Foreign Office front man Moazzam Ali Khan, adding that the government would abide by the recommendations of the parliament both "in letter and spirit".
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
See also DEFENCE FORUM INDIA > PAKISTAN WANTS US$5000 TRANSIT FEE FOR EACH NATO CONTAINER [ + Tanker], going overland from any reopened land routes in Pakistan vee Karachi into Aghanistan.
#2
This is so easy. We already give Pakiwackiland a mess of money. We can easily pay this "fee" for transport and deduct twice that from our annual support budget.
[An Nahar] Regime forces sent shells crashing into rebel stronghold Rastan early Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, while calling on U.N. observers to rush to the town in central Homs province.
"The army is trying to gradually destroy Rastan," Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britannia-based watchdog, told AFP.
He added that at least 30 shells smashed into the town in a 10 minute period, and urged United Nations ...When talk is your weapon it's hard to make yourself heard over the sound of artillery... monitors, deployed to observe a truce that has been violated daily, to immediately visit Rastan.
Encircled by the army and defended by the largest concentration of rebel soldiers in the country, Rastan has for several months been the focus of an offensive by the regime as it attempts to regain control of the town.
On Monday, the U.N. Supervisory Mission in Syria (UNMIS) reported heavy fighting ... as opposed to the more usual light or desultory fighting... near Rastan, where activists said at least 23 soldiers and seven civilians died in fierce festivities between government forces and rebels.
Elsewhere Thursday, two blasts rocked the neighborhoods of al-Jamila and al-Furqan in 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... , while other kabooms were heard across the northern city early morning.
There were no immediate reports of casualties, the Observatory said.
In Damascus ...The place where Pencilneck hangs his brass hat... province, regime forces carried out raids in the suburbs of Irbin and Kanakar, where three people were locked away You have the right to remain silent... And in the town of al-Qatifa, festivities broke out after midnight after the defection of several soldiers from an army center.
Regime troops also stormed several neighborhoods in the southern city of Daraa "in an attempt to break a general strike" in progress. The sound of gunfire was also reported, according to the Observatory.
In Khan Sheikhun in the northwest province of Idlib, one civilian died of wounds sustained during an attack on the town Tuesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britannia-based watchdog
[Yemen Post] Approximately 160.000 persons were displaced from 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... due to conflicts between the Yemeni army and Ansar Al-Sharia (supporters of the Islamic law) an Al-Qaeda linked group, chief of the Executive Unit of Refugee Affairs Ahmed Al-Kohlani said.
Al-Kohlani told 26 September Newspaper that the displaced persons in Abyan suffer of deteriorated humanitarian situations, pointing out that some of them left their homes and villages more than a year ago.
He affirmed that the foodstuffs provided by the World Food Program (WFP) are not enough to alleviate the suffers of the displaced persons.
He said that the figure of the displaced persons from Saada and Abyan governorates amounted 535.000, indicating that the Executive Unit of Refugee Affairs could not manage to record all the displaced.
With the conflict escalating in some towns of Abyan, further numbers of the displaced are expected to leave their areas in the up-coming days, particularly as the Yemeni army is determined to cleanse Abyan from Al-Qaeda bad turbans.
Abyan's refugees escaped fierce fighting were forced to live in a number of the city's schools in the neighboring governorates of Aden and Lahj.
President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi vowed to invade Abyan and evacuate Death Eaters in order to enable displaced people to return to their homes.
Some refugees complained that the response of aid organizations are slow, pointing out that they have no enough food.
According to the chief UN representative in Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, Yemen suffers a much more profound and much more deep humanitarian crisis as a result of the turbulence that hit the state in 2011.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/18/2012
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An op-ed from - naturally - the San Francisco Chronicle
Petty local politics shouldn't ruin a truly meaningful national gesture, which is naming a U.S. Navy ship after gay icon Harvey Milk.
A ship named for the first openly gay supervisor in San Francisco seems like such a bold and audacious gesture that you wonder whether the Navy would consider such a thing. Actually, it might. Last week, the service commissioned the Cesar Chavez, a ship named for the Mexican American labor leader. Chavez served two years in the Navy during World War II. Good God...between the Cesar Chavez, the (gag) John Murtha and the LCS named after a Democrat House backbencher who was nearly unknown until being shot by some nutjob, you just know this jackass will be all over this idea...
Rep. Bob Filner, D-San Diego, the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, made the formal request to the Secretary of the Navy, and supporters lined up. Next on the list...the USS Freddie Mercury! And how about the USS Liberace? And let's not forget the USS RuPaul...we have to give proper public honor to the entire LGBT community, after all!
Then some people lost their compass.
Supervisor Christina Olague, who voted against the idea in committee this week, thinks Milk's objection to the war in Vietnam makes a Navy ship a poor choice. "It's a warship," she said. "I'm not convinced that reflects Harvey Milk values."
Even more vehement is gay activist Tommi Avicolli Mecca. "Why not name a bomber after Gandhi?" he asks. "The purpose of the military is to kill people, no matter how we look at it. I know Harvey opposed the Vietnam War, and if he were alive, he would be against the wars we are in now. I think it is inappropriate." If the Bay Area's hard-left, military-hating nut sandwiches can put the kibosh on this stupid phuecking idea, I'm almost willing to forgive them for being hard-left, military-hating nut sandwiches.
#2
I could make a snarky comment about "torpedoed in the stern." But that would just be wrong.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
05/18/2012 2:06
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#3
How about a Submarine named the USS Richard Simmons, a Cruiser named the USS Rock Hudson, A Destroyer named the USS Rosie O'Donnell or an Aircraft Carrier named the USS Castro District.
We're not far from a demand that "Special Services" provide bases and ships with Bath Houses as part of their recreation programs.
#7
Even more vehement is gay activist Tommi Avicolli Mecca. "Why not name a bomber after Gandhi?"
I would have no problem with a bomber named after Gandhi. He forged his anti-war beliefs as a streacher bearer, carrying wounded and dying British soldiers to aid stations and field hospitals in a bloody African conflict.
#8
...It should be pointed out that the gay community is actually against the idea. By all accounts Mr. Milk was a pretty decent guy, and served honorably, but he strongly protested the Vietnam war (which, after all, was his right)and a great many folks don't think a warship (according to them, even if it's a supply ship, it's gray so it's a warship)should be named after him.
After all, the government should listen to the people. :D
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
05/18/2012 6:06
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#12
As a gay guy, I want to say I find this idea patronizing, humiliating, and shameful. Milk is being honored for two reasons: he is a victim and he fought for partisan political causes that not everyone agrees with. Hey, I've got a novel idea! Let's name ships after people admired by patriotic Americans of all political outlooks. How could this be anything other than a no-brainer?
Even more radically, I might suggest that we name ships only after people who have contributed significantly to the cause of American security. Is there a shortage of such candidates? I don't think so!
If the politicians are so damn committed to shamelessly catering to identity politics, even naming a ship after the gay guy who probably helped take out the Flight 93 terrorists would at least be somewhat appropriate.
#14
I still cannot believe they commissioned a ship named for Chavez. Chavez described his experience in the military [US Navy] as "the two worst years of my life."
Something is seriously f'd up in the Dept of the Navy regards ships names.
#15
What about reserving the names for CMH winners, those who died in the line of service, and deceased FEDERAL elected office holders (like Congress or Pres only), or those who conspicuously aided their service and the nation. Plenty of non-controverisal names there. As small as the navy is getting, I would thing limiting the list to Naval heroes (Jones, etc), CMH awardees, States and major city names would be plenty.
Posted by: Barbara ||
05/18/2012 12:22
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#18
Problem is a lot of the modern battles arent well named. My own for instance: the USS 73 Easting doesn't exactly pop, yet its the largest armored land battle the US Army has fought since WW2.
Its taught in the academies as a textbook example of how a meeting engagement and assault are done with modern cavalry in the absence of air support (due to weather). For those unaware:
The Battle of 73 Easting and the movement to contact south of the battle brought the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment's covering force mission for VII Corps to its conclusion. During the operation the Regiment covered the advance of three different U.S. divisions in turn, moved 120 miles in eighty-two hours and fought elements of five Iraqi Divisions. The violent battle at 73 Easting fixed the southern forces of the Iraqi Republican Guard Corps and permitted the Corps Commander to launch First Infantry Division into the depths of the Iraqi defenses and on into Kuwait.
The 2nd ACR, which advanced between the Iraqi 12th Armored Division and the Tawakalna Division, was the only American ground unit to find itself significantly outnumbered and out-gunned. In moving to and through the Battle of 73 Easting, 2nd ACR destroyed 160 tanks, 180 personnel carriers, 12 artillery pieces and more than 80 wheeled vehicles, along with several anti-aircraft artillery systems during the battle.[22]
Too bad they dont teach recent history in school. Kids hear all about Vietnam, but not about this.
#19
Basically the largest armored/mech turn and assault since the Bulge. I think Patton would have been proud of us, as he was when the regiment served as "The Ghosts of Patton's Army" (as the Germans called us).
To be accurate, tho. the Cesar Chavez is a USNS vessel not USS. That's the designation for Military Sealift Command vessels; fleet auxiliaries with civilian crews (albeit with a military detachment on some).
So it's pandering, but, since it's not a warship, it's in a way rather meaningless (kind of like the most of the diversity movement).
#21
Even more radically, I might suggest that we name ships only after people who have contributed significantly to the cause of American security. Is there a shortage of such candidates?
Unfortunately ryuge, things are done in the name of PC and perceived political advantage but what you say is a good idea and the right thing to do.
#25
Harvey was a decent guy, but his only two achievements were the "pooper scooper" law and to get shot. They say it's bad luck to rename a ship but......
A bomb threat on Thursday forced Pakistain International Airlines (PIA) to evacuate 157 passengers and 10 crew from an Airbus preparing to take off for Dubai, officials said.
The plane was preparing for its 11:00 am scheduled departure from Lahore airport when an anonymous caller to the airport claimed there was a bomb on board, PIA front man Sultan Hasan told AFP.
Airport security officials evacuated the A310 to search the aircraft, Hasan said.
Civil Aviation Authority front man Pervez George said all threats had to be taken seriously although most turned out to be hoaxes.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/18/2012
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[An Nahar] Two people were killed on Thursday as sniper attacks resumed in the northern city of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of thich is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... , reported Voice of Leb radio.
The dead include a child from the Zahra family, it added.
Agence La Belle France Presse reported that five people have been maimed in the festivities that renewed in Tripoli on Thursday.
VDL added that the army has blocked all the roads leading to the hotspots in the city in order to protect the people in light of the return of the sniper activity.
It later reported that gunnies, not affiliated to the Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen festivities, have opened fire randomly in various parts of the city.
The assailants, driving in a white Mercedes, drove around the city while randomly opening fire.
Members of the army intelligence are chasing the perpetrators.
The radio said that gunshots were heard in al-Zahiriya area in Tripoli, which is located far from the two rival neighborhoods, adding that the unknown gunnies were likely responsible for them.
A cautious calm had pervaded the city overnight, which was only interrupted by intermittent gunshots from snipers, reported the NNA on Friday.
Clashes had erupted Wednesday night between the rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen, especially at Syria Street, which separates the two areas.
The unrest was sparked by the arrest of Islamist Shadi al-Mawlawi on Saturday.
At least nine people have been killed and 90 maimed in the violence.
Efforts had been exerted by various political powers to end the unrest, with an agreement being reached on Wednesday between Interior Minister Marwan Charbel, Islamic committees and the committee following up on the case of Islamist detainees, under which al-Mawlawi will be re-interrogated on Thursday.
He was set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock Please don't kill me! on charges of belonging to a terrorist organization, but his supporters say he was targeted because of his help for Syrian refugees fleeing to Leb.
Al-Mawlawi's brother Nizar later warned that the Islamists would escalate the situation if Shadi is not released before 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, reported LBC television.
The detainee was scheduled to be re-interrogated on Thursday.
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[Al Ahram] Cairo's Criminal Court on Thursday finds 14 police officers innocent of killing two protestors - and injuring several others - at height of last year's uprising Oh. Well. It musta been somebody else, then.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
The story leaves open a lot of possibilities, including "self defense", "following orders", or that old Texas standard, "He needed killin'".
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/18/2012 6:09
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[Dawn] A suspected US drone strike killed two al Qaeda gunnies on Thursday in eastern Yemen, as an army offensive against the turban group entered its sixth day, a local official said.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the two al Qaeda suspects were killed in a strike on their car in Shibam, a historic city in Yemen's Hadramawt province.
Air strikes on al Qaeda targets in Yemen have increased since the Yemeni army, backed by US experts, launched an offensive on Saturday to retake southern cities that in the last year had fallen under al Qaeda control.
At least 144 people have been killed in the last six days of fighting which has centred around the three cities of Loder, Jaar and Zinjibar in the 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.
A military official involved in the offensive said on Thursday that al Qaeda gunnies retreated from three locations on the outskirts of Loder.
"We have cleansed Loder (of al Qaeda) and the fighters have been forced to flee," said the official on condition of anonymity.
Al Qaeda remains in control of Zinjibar, Abyan's capital, though diplomats and officials said on Wednesday that the Yemeni military was advancing towards the southeastern entrance of the city.
One local official said on Thursday that the Yemeni airforce launched several late night Arclight airstrikes on the southern cities of Shaqra and Arqoub, both near Zinjibar, though no casualties were reported.
A force of around 20,000 soldiers from all regions in the south are believed to be engaged in the operation launched on Saturday.
They are backed by armed militias, mostly local residents of the towns and cities in the south that since the ouster of veteran leader President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... and the election of a new president earlier this year have thrown their support behind the Yemeni military.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[An Nahar] Syrian authorities on Thursday handed over to the General Directorate of General Security three suspects allegedly involved in the 2011 abduction of seven Estonian nationals in Leb.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/18/2012
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[Yemen Post] Media reports said on Thursday citing the former 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... governor Ahmed al-Maisari that the high-ranking leading figure in the pro-secessionist Southern Movement, Mohammed Ali Ahmed, urged his followers to fight al-Qaeda elements alongside the army troops in Abyan.Ahmed told the London-based Sharaq al-Awsat newspaper that he called on his tribe affiliates in Abyan to fight al-Qaeda elements which have been battling army troops assisted by tribal militias for months.The southern leader came back home after more than 15 years of living in exile. His return to Yemen which coincided with new Yemeni President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi rise to office, sparked controversy and speculation as many people believed that he came back to support Hadi. Hadi and Ahmed are from the same area.Al-Maisari denied that there are American troops on the ground fighting alongside the Yemeni army, arguing the existence of US troops would not be of help whatsoever to the army, rather it would have a negative effect, al-Masdar online newspaper reported.He stressed that things have turned around for the army troops' favor after the air force was involved heavily in the battles. He put the number of the aircraft's' Arclight airstrikes at about 50 per day."The festivities stopped in Zinjubar--the picturesque provincial capital of Abyan--which means that al-Qaeda influence in the town have collapsed. The past few days witnessed considerable evacuation process by the Islamic fascistitowards other areas," he said."The government intends to repeat the tribal militias in Lawdar and other places where al-Qaeda operatives still powerful." Ahmed added.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/18/2012
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[An Nahar] Seven people were killed and 12 others maimed in a suicide kaboom on the governor's compound in Afghanistan's western Farah province on Thursday, police said.
"Seven people -- six coppers and one civilian -- were killed and 12 others were maimed, including nine civilians and three police," regional police front man Abdul Raouf Ahmadi said.
The four attackers also died, he said.
Two of the attackers detonated their boom jackets and the other two were rubbed out by police, said interior ministry front man Sediq Sediqqi.
In a similar attack on the governor's office in Paktika ...which coincidentally borders South Wazoo... province in southeastern Afghanistan a week ago, four people were killed and five maimed by a group of six jacket wallahs wearing police uniforms.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/18/2012
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[Yemen Post] The Yemeni army cleared Islamic fascistifrom more parts 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... province on Thursday as Al-Qaeda continued to receive more devastating blows in the offensive stepped up with support from local fighters and the US, military sources said.
The forces retook control of the Lawder, Modya and Wadhi towns and caused the Islamic fascistiheavy losses, the sources said, pointing out that many Islamic fascistihave been killed and others fled to other parts. Senior Al-Qaeda leaders were among the killed, they continued.
The army launched an offensive against the Islamic fascistimore than a month ago and early this week it stepped up the offensive in southern and southeastern regions, mainly in Abyan, to regain control of the areas held last year.
Hundreds of Islamic fascistiincluding big shots have been killed and injured in the battles including those who have been reported dead in drone strikes. Over the past two days, dozens of Islamic fascistias well as soldiers and local fighters were killed and injured.
This week, the army also took over many positions of the Islamic fascistiand sources have said it is only a matter of time to recapture the whole province.
A massive hunt has been launched for those who fled the battles to other areas in Abyan and nearby provinces as the forces are pushing to clear Islamic fascistifrom all areas, the sources added.
Locals celebrated the gains in Abyan towns and more of them joined the forces to battle the remaining jihad boys, the sources said.
Earlier today, military sources said hunts for Al-Qaeda Islamic fascistihave been extended to other provinces after the forces advanced forcing them to flee.
Exploiting the escalating unrest in mid-2011, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP)), the most dangerous branch of the global terrorist organization, seized key towns in Abyan including the capital Zinjibar.
But the power-sharing government, formed after the unrest, decided to clear the Islamic fascistifrom the towns with direct support from the US.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/18/2012
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[Al Ahram] Egyptian police said they tossed in the clink Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! on Thursday the owner of a television station that broadcasts belly dancing, on suspicion of "facilitating prostitution."
Baleegh Hamdi, owner of the Al-Tit channel, is also accused of "harming public decency," police said, adding that he was tossed in the clink Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! in his apartment. Al-Tit? Seriously?
The prostitution charge appears to stem from messages broadcast on the channel, a police official said without elaborating.
In a clip from the station's broadcast posted on YouTube, a ticker at the bottom of the screen shows text messages from viewers who say they are looking for spouses.
Egyptian law bans prostitution and vaguely defined offences against public decency.
But the standard of female beauty is 100 kilograms. This puts the dancing girl, above, into perspective.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/18/2012
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#1
Hamdi swears that his new channel, Al-Boobi, will stay well within the bounds of public decency.
(Sh. M. Network)- The president of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland ...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion... Abdirahman Mohammed Faroole, gave details the exact grounds forces Puntland elders quit from the ongoing meetin forSomalia's traditional clan elders in Mogadishu.
Speaking with BBC Somali service, Puntland president Puntland Abdirahman Mohammed Faroole, said Puntland representatives at the assembly have deserted the meeting because of dissatisfaction of some issues in the new draft constitution of Somalia.
Mr. Faroole stated the draft constitution is not shaped as a constitution for a country that has ravaged long time civil-war.
He was speaking during a visit toIndia. The leader says the draft constitution is not outlined power and economic resources in the country in terms of federalism for that reasons Puntland elders got out from the assembly.
This comments followed as 135 Somali traditional elders are gathering in Somali capital,Mogadishuto select a constituent assembly that will approve the draft constitution and choose a parliament.
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[An Nahar] An Israeli tank shell fired into the Gazoo Strip on Thursday maimed seven Paleostinians, leaving two of them at death's door, Paleostinian medical officials told AFP.
The shell hit near the Karni crossing east of Gazoo City, according to the medics.
But Israeli security officials said that no tank shells were fired in that area this morning.
An Israeli army front man said that "a short while ago, Israeli soldiers identified several hard boyz approaching the security fence in the northern Gazoo Strip, in an area that is used by terror organizations to lay bombs."
"The soldiers fired toward the hard boyz (and) the suspects distanced themselves from the fence," he told AFP.
The Israeli military maintains an exclusion zone inside the Gazoo Strip along the border and regularly carries out military activities in the area.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
"The soldiers fired toward the terrorists (and) the suspects distanced themselves from the fence," he told AFP.
Enhanced tank gunnery! Think of the money saved on arrest, processing, medical exams, and deportation.
[Al Ahram] Former Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffy ...Custodian of Wheelus AFB for 42 long years until he was ejected from the gene pool by his indignant citizens... 's son has refused to appoint a Libyan lawyer to defend him against accusations of murder and torture during a crackdown on a revolt against his father's rule, the country said on Wednesday.
Libya said earlier this month that it would complete within weeks its investigation into Saif al-Islam and asked the International Criminal Court ... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ... to once again to hold off ordering his surrender.
Pressure is mounting on Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of thich is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... to hand Saif al-Islam to the ICC - which indicted Saif al-Islam in June for crimes against humanity - as human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... groups question whether its justice system can meet the standards of international law.
Libyan Deputy UN Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi told the UN Security Council on Wednesday that Libyan law prevented Saif al-Islam Qadaffy from standing trial without a lawyer.
"This matter has mainly got to do with Saif al-Islam Qadaffy, who until now refuses appointing an attorney to defend him. Hence the matter is not in the hands of the Libyan authorities but rather the defendant himself, but there are no obstacles towards hiring an attorney to defend him," he said.
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#1
Seeing how they are going to shoot him anyway he might as well save his money.
Posted by: kelly ||
05/18/2012 15:13
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#1
Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot
Joan Blackman aka Maile Duval in "Blue Hawaii (1961)" aka Ellen Spelding in "Visit to a Small Planet (1960)" aka Rose Grogan in "Kid Galahad (1962)" aka Barbara Lawson Helmsley in "Career (1959)" aka Susan Harper in "Twilight of Honor (1963)" aka Kathryn Carlyle in "Daring Game (1968)" (age 74)
Sasha Alexander aka Dr. Maura Isles in "Rizzoli & Isles (TV 2010-2012)" aka Lucy in "Yes Man (2008)" aka Agent Caitlin Todd in "NCIS (TV 2003– )" aka Alex in "Coming & Going (2011)" aka Jessica in "Love Happens (2009)" aka Margaret in "Tenure (2009)" (age 39)
[Dawn] The government has yet to take a final decision about reopening NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... supply lines and a perception that it has agreed behind closed doors to US demands in this regard is wrong, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said on Wednesday.
He said at a press briefing after a meeting of the federal cabinet that NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen had extended an unconditional invitation to President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari ... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ... to participate in the organization's summit in Chicago.
In his opening remarks at the cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ... said: "Our relations with NATO and the US are passing through a delicate phase where we need to take critical decisions keeping in view our strategic importance in the region
and our national interests."
He said the country had not, and would not, compromise on its principled stand, but would also not take "emotional decisions which will harm it in the long run".
Posted by: Fred ||
05/18/2012
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#1
He said the country had not, and would not, compromise on its principled stand,
Translation: I got payments to make. And a little walking-around money wouldn't hurt none, either.
[Shabelle] Kenyan police have set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock Drop the rosco and step away witcher hands up! a suspect in a grenade attack on a restaurant in Mombasa that killed one person on Tuesday. It is the latest in a string of attacks since Kenya launched a military intervention in Somalia.
Kenya has been hit by a series of grenade attacks since it sent tanks and troops intoSomalialate last year. The authorities are blaming the Somali Islamist group al-Shabaab ... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... for the violence.
"It is about time that al-Shabaab gives up and takes part in a grinding of the peace processor," tweeted the Kenyan military spokesperson Emmanuel Chirichiri on the social network Twitter in April.
A tweet in response was not long in coming. "Al-Shabaab encourages and supports all Kenyan Mohammedans who want to fight a jihad against the Kenyan government,"
Although there is no evidence that the tweet came from al-Shabaab, this conversation shows that Kenya and al-Shabaab are at war, not only online but across the region.
In October 2011,Kenyadeclared war on al-Shabaab and sent troops into Somalia. "The argument was that Kenyan troops inSomaliacould push al-Shabaab as far away as possible from the Kenya border, and if possible to eliminate them," says Emmanuel Kisiangani, an analyst at the Institute for Security Studies ( ISS) inNairobi.
"Today you can say they prevented major terror attacks, but they haven't managed to stop terrorist activities in the country," he adds.
Hunt for German suspect
By "major attacks" Kisiangani was referring to bombings such as the 1998 U.S. Embassy attack inNairobi, during which a truck full of explosives killed more than 200 people, or the suicide kaboom on a hotel inMombasa owned by Israelis, which left more than ten people dead in 2002.
These attacks, says Kisiangani, were directed against the West and not specifically atKenya. However the attacks of recent months, in which grenades have been detonated in busy places inNairobi andMombasa, are being linked toKenya's intervention in Somalia.
A German national, Ahmed Khaled Müller, is being sought for questioning by the Kenyan authorities in connection with a church attack in late April which killed two people and injured 15.
Müller was incarcerated Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! inPakistain in 2009 and is believed to have enteredKenya illegally. A spokesperson for the Kenyan police, Charles Owino, has urged him to come forward and clarify some of the allegations against him.
Al-Shabaab sympathizers in Kenya
Analysts suspect that there are numerous foreign nationals fighting for al-Shabaab in Somalia. Kisiangani believes that the Islamist Death Eater group can draw on sympathizers in Kenya and is even able to recruit supporters among the Somalian refugees.
Total protection against terrorism is hardly possible because ofKenya's mostly non-existent border with Somalia and an easily accessible coastline.
Terrorism cannot be defeated by military means alone, says Kisiangani. He believes the root causes such as poverty and deprivation need to be addressed.
"Groups who feel deprived are easily brainwashed by this radical ideology," he adds.
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05/18/2012
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An Islamic school that had been using teaching materials that slandered Jews and encouraged boys to stay fit for jihad has lost its license to use Toronto District School Board property. The board suspended a permit issued to the Islamic Shia Study Centre, which ran the East End Madrassah from a Toronto high school until an outcry last week over the content of its curriculum booklets.
Ryan Bird, a TDSB spokesman, said, "The Islamic Shia Study Centre will not be able to permit TDSB property until the police investigation is complete and they are able to demonstrate that they comply with board policies and procedures. Pending the outcome of the police investigation, we are willing to meet with the permit holder to discuss TDSB policies and procedures. As soon as we became aware of this complaint, we started to review the permit and the information that was available."
In a statement, the school said, "Our curriculum is not intended to promote hatred towards any individual or group of people; rather, the children are taught to respect and value other faiths and beliefs, and to uphold Canada's basic values of decency and tolerance."
But the school's curriculum, which it has now removed from its website, referred to "crafty," "treacherous" Jews and contrasted Islam with "the Jews and the Nazis." The passages were from two books published by Iranian foundations.
The booklets also told children that Islam was the "best" religion, and listed "unclean things," including pigs, dogs and "a person who does not believe in Allah." It said boys should be "healthy and strong" so they would be "ready for jihad whenever the time comes for it."
Girls, on the other hand, were told to limit their involvement in physical activities and to instead engage in pastimes that would prepare them to become mothers and wives.
The York Region Police hate crimes unit launched an investigation after receiving a complaint from the Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre. The school apologized and promised to review its materials. The Islamic school had been teaching classes on Sundays at David & Mary Thomson Collegiate.
Neither the school principal nor the cleric affiliated with the centre could be reached for comment. Last week, Imam Syed Muhammad Rizvi told reporters the citations in question had been wrongly copied from two websites. But they are actually excerpts from two books published by the Al Balagh Foundation in Tehran and the Mostazafan Foundation of New York, which the FBI alleges are a front organization controlled by the Iranian government.
"As we have said before, the excerpted material at issue should never have been a part of our curriculum," a statement, signed "Principal, East End Madrassah" said. In a video posted online, Imam Rizvi called "absolutely baseless" concerns that school teaching materials were written in Iran.
[Al Ahram] Syrian National Council President Burhan Ghalioun said on Thursday he was ready to quit, after mounting criticism of his leadership. "I declare my resignation as soon as a replacement is found through elections or consensus," Ghalioun told Rooters.
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[Dawn] The Punjab University Academic Staff Association executive body announced boycotting classes and creating law and order "to jolt the government" over the thrashing of two university teachers by a group of students.
"The government does not realise the gravity of an issue until it is responded with a drastic action," said PU Syndicate member Prof Dr Shaukat Ali, who says he was ridiculed and abused by the group. "Now, either the Islami Jamaat Tulaba ...the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami... (IJT) or we will live here," he said.
The university remained closed on Monday and Tuesday due to the Islami Jamaat Tulaba's mourning over the murder of its activist. The activists did not allow the university bus to pick and drop the students. Prof Shaukat claimed that classes were held on Tuesday.
At a presser, PUASA President Amer Sarwar said the executive body had demanded that the university administration cancel admissions of IJT nazim ...small time big shot, the chief elected official of a local government in Pakistan, such as a district, tehsil, union council, or village council... s to hostels and academic departments. The executive body also demanded that all boys' hostels be vacated immediately. The ASA also demanded the removal of the top police officer of the province for his failure to check the unruly students.
Two chemistry department teachers Dr Ehsan Sharif and Dr Ejaz Butt said they had also become a victim of the group's
highhandedness. According to them, the group manhandled them when they were coming out of Prof Shaukat's office.
Dr Sharif said that the mob kept on slapping him and brought him to Main University Road. "The boys taunted me, saying 'now call the vice-chancellor' and 'go to PUCIT'," he said.
Dr Butt said some students also pushed him but he ran and took cover in Prof Shaukat's office. Prof Shaukat said that he too was misbehaved by the students. "Though some boys called some one to shoot me, I held my ground. The boys then dispersed," he said.
When asked why teachers were boycotting classes at the cost of thousands of students' time, the ASA president said, "We cannot take classes until the government and police provide us complete security." To a question that how the thrashing of two teachers justify the closure of the university, he said, "Do you (news hounds) want that more teachers are thrashed and misbehaved?"
Prof Shaukat also criticised security guards who failed to take any action against the mob. He said guards had given a free-hand to IJT activists to -- thrash teachers and ransack flower-pots and windowpanes of the vice-chancellor office.
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05/18/2012
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Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami
For a map, click here. For a map of Nuevo Leon state, click here. For a map of Monterrey, click here. To read the Rantburg report on the Cadereyta Mother's Day massacre click here.
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
A unit with the Mexican 7th Military Zone detained eight unidentified individuals they said were Gulf Cartel operatives, and who may be involved in the murder of at least 49 people in Cadereyta municipality in Nuevo Leon state, according to web reports.
The detentions took place following a raid in China municipality, where solders also seized four rifles, one handgun, three hand grenades, 34 weapons magazines, 881 rounds of ammunition, one kilogram of powder cocaine, tactical and communications gear and two vehicles.
This writer reported late Sunday that a possible connection existed between the Jalisco massacre, where a total of 18 individuals were kidnapped, tortured to death and butchered in a purported Mother's Day massacre. Those dead were found May 9th, the day before the traditional Mexican Mother's Day.
News reports at the time said a number of unidentified kidnap victims of the same Los Zetas/Milenio group escaped a safe house. Anonymous reports said that the plan was for a spectacular Mother's Day massacre using innocents kidnapped at random. This writer speculated that those escapees may have sprung the plan for a larger massacre, and possibly led to the Cadereyta massacre the following Sunday.
Nuevo Leon attorney general Adrian de la Garza said that some of the victims were from southern areas of Mexico. A Secretaria Seguridad Publica spokesman reportedly said that many of the victims were killed two days before their discovery. The report on Borderlandbeat.com and Rantburg.com attempted to link the two mass murders from the same criminal group, Los Zetas. To read the Rantburg.com report on the possible connection between Los Zetas and the Cadereyta massacre, click here.
However, early Tuesday morning several narcopintas or painted messages appeared in Zacatecas state and later in Nuevo Leon which disclaimed Los Zetas responsibility for the butchery at Caderayta, hinting that Gulf Cartel members had committed the much larger Cadereyta massacre.
Since March, the Los Zetas and Gulf Cartels have been engaged in a bloody game of oneupmanship as the Gulf and Sinaloa cartel alliance vowed to remove Los Zetas from their home turf in Nuevo Laredo in Tamaulipas state. The Jalisco state murders, similar to the Cadereyta murders, were meant to send a message to the Gulf/Sinaloa alliance, and similarly, innocents such as migrants had been captured, tortured and and then butchered in those grisly displays.
It is de riguer in the Mexican Drug War that narcopintas mean nothing until they mean something, so the end result of the massacre and the actions taken by Mexican security forces is far from over.
The story of the 49 dead at Cadereyta is also far from over.
Chris Covert write Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
[An Nahar] Conflicting reports have emerged over the escape of seven Fatah al-Islam A Syrian-incubated al-Qaeda work-alike that they think can be turned off if no longer needed to keep the Leb pot stirred. members from the Paleostinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hellhole in southern Leb on Tuesday, reported Voice of Leb radio on Thursday.
An informed security source from the South stated that leading member Toufic Taha is among them.
It remains unclear where the runaways escaped to, but it has been speculated that they may have headed to Syria.
A Paleostinian source identified the six other Fatah Islam members as Haitham al-Shaabi, Mohammed al-Aarfi, Ziad Abou al-Niaaj, Mohammed Ibrahim al-Mansour, and Oussama Shehabi.
An expanded meeting for Fatah members and the representative of the Paleostinian Authority in Leb Azzam al-Ahmed was promptly held at the Paleostinian Embassy in Beirut as soon as the news of the escape broke out.
The Lebanese army had recently uncovered a takfir ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed... i network within its ranks, which was planning on carrying out attacks against army barracks and centers.
Taha has been found to be the head of the network.
Al-Joumhouria newspaper reported in March that Taha is one of the most active members of al-Qaeda in Leb and he is also in constant internet contact with al-Qaeda leader Ayman 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... from whom he receives orders and directions.
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[Shabelle] (Sh. M. Network)- Forces under The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia backed are approaching towards villages around Hudur district, the capital of Bakol region in southern Somalia and an Al-Shabaab ... the personification of Somali state failure... stronghold, an official and locals said on Thursday.
Ahmed Sheik Mohammed, Somali MP told Shabelle Media that heavily armed Somali government troops with battlewagons have moved on Wednesday night in the direction several Al shabab controlled areas near Hudur district and expect to seize the city within hours.
"If God wills, we will be in the rest of rebel-held locations near Hudur soon from Al shabab fighters. We are only 10km away," the Lawmaker, told Shabelle Media by phone from the town.
Residents in Hudur expressed frustration they say neither the government nor aid agencies have come to their assistance nor fear fighting is imminent, forcing many to flee.
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#1
errrr should be in Africa Horn , unless Al-Shabaab is really on the move :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/18/2012 8:33
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Top||
The Wold Wildlife Foundation and a group at the European Space Agency have decided that the answer to global warming is global poverty and I kid you not
that should be the goal we work toward. Right, convince China, India, and Brazil.
According to source article the Living Planet Report for 2012 is described as "quite remarkable". I would tend to agree though the remarks aren't fit for a family joint like this.
I am sure you will have some remarks of your own after reading this piece that lays out the true goal of the "Green" agenda.
#1
I really wish the World Wrestling Federation would come out with their own counter-report. Pretty much anything they said would work to mock the other WWF.
#2
I was trying to figure out what WWF was an abbreviation for. I thought maybe it was "World Wide Fvckoffs." I suggest these folks go to a different planet. Obviously they are are already out there somewhere in their minds.
#3
"World Wildlife Foundation and a group at the European Space Agency have decided that the answer to global warming is global poverty"
Why don't you clowns set a good example for the rest of us and give up everything, including your Ipods, computers, electricity, potable water, cars . . . .
C'mon, ya' pansies, show us how it's done!
Posted by: Barbara ||
05/18/2012 12:20
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#4
The WWF law-whores and Enviro-Nazis cost the Gibson Guitar Company million$ and almost shut the company (in TN) down related to imported wooden guitar-making materials/parts.
Gibson would have gone tits-up had it not been for the popularity of their guitars and support from many of the best and most influential guitarists in the the Biz.
Eat sh$$ WWF!
[Al Ahram] Libya has approved an Islamic banking law that will introduce sharia-compliant banking in the North African country, a member of the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) said on Thursday.
Libya has been working to amend its banking laws to attract foreign investment and stimulate its private sector following last year's war that ousted Muammar Qadaffy ...Custodian of Wheelus AFB for 42 long years until he was ejected from the gene pool by his indignant citizens... , the central bank governor has said.
Clearly it isn't Western investors they want. Just as well, with key bits of Europe going up in flames...
NTC Chairman Mustafa Abdul Jalil said in October Libya's new rulers were working on an Islamic banking system. The central bank submitted a proposal on this to the council for approval in the last few months.
"The NTC has adopted the central bank's proposal regarding Islamic banking," Salwa Al-Dgheily, a member of the NTC judicial committee, told Rooters. She said it was up to the central bank to now announce the law.
The central bank has been looking to update a 2005 banking law which first allowed foreign banks into Libya.
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Top|| File under: Arab Spring
#1
NTC Chairman Mustafa Abdul Jalil said in October Libya's new rulers were working on an Islamic banking system.
How ironic. Since taking office, the Obama administration has been doing precisely the same thing.
[Yemen Post] A security official told the government-run 26 September website that the army troops assisted by tribal militias managed to kick out the cut-throats from three towns in the southern Yemeni 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... He said the army troops and the tribal fighters expelled al-Qaeda gun-hung tough guys from Lawdar, Modia, and al-Wadea after two days of fierce festivities.
The unnamed official pointed out that the gun-hung tough guys fled to mountainous areas after they lost great number of their fighters and weapons."In the couple of past days, approximately 60 gun-hung tough guys have been killed. Also some army troops and tribal men were killed in the festivities," the official said.
He noted that the army troops are currently chasing the cut-throats in order to arrest them and force them to stand trial for their crimes, calling on the al-Qaeda gun-hung tough guys to turn themselves in willingly to the authorities.
According to the official, all Modia inhabitants showed their support for the tribal militias and the troops.
For his part, Abyan governor hailed the progress in the battle against the terror organization affiliates, saying the troops and the tribal militias showcased fantastic braveness and determination to eradicate the terrorists.
The governor said eradicating the rest of the gun-hung tough guys is a national duty and stressed that a great number of the gun-hung tough guys were killed.
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia
[Al Ahram] Israeli officials were angry Thursday after the International Olympic Committee denied their request to hold a special tribute to the 11 Israeli team members killed by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Munich Games.
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[An Nahar] Twenty-nine Chinese fishermen have been kidnapped at sea by unidentified North Koreans who have demanded 1.2 million yuan ($190,000) in ransom, fellow sailors and media said Thursday.
The men were fishing in three separate vessels on May 8 when a group of gunnies boarded their boats and forcibly took them over, locking up those on board, said a boat owner surnamed Sun who has been in touch with them.
"On May 9, one of the kidnapped boat owners used a phone given to him by the North Koreans to call us. He said the kidnappers asked for a ransom of 400,000 yuan per boat," Sun -- who like the hostages is from the northeastern port city of Donggang -- told AFP.
Chinese state media reports said the men were fishing off the coast of northeastern China, in the waters that run between China and North Korea, when they were snatched.
The Foreign Ministry said it was "keeping close contact with North Korea to safeguard our citizens' rights and interests," according to reports. The ministry did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment.
Sun, who refused to give his full name, said another boat owner he works with managed to speak to them again earlier this week.
"He could hear in the background that sailors were being beaten and there was the sound of crying, and the boat owner said they had not eaten for two days," he said.
"If the kidnappers don't get the money by today (Thursday), they will sell off the boats, which are worth 3 million yuan."
Another Donggang-based boat owner surnamed Zhang said no threats had yet been made against the sailors themselves.
Media reports say the three boats were taken to North Korean waters, but Sun said he was "100 percent sure" there were Chinese people among the hijackers.
"They left us a Chinese number, and once, the hijacked boat owner called, I picked up the phone and asked if there were any Chinese people besides them. He whispered 'yes'," he said.
Chinese fishermen regularly run into difficulties with the authorities of other countries as they fish in areas that are claimed by both China and its neighbors.
However, a clean conscience makes a soft pillow... there was no immediate indication that the North Korean gunnies who seized the Chinese sailors were security forces from the isolated country -- a ally of China.
Calls to the Donggang government went unanswered, and an official at the government of Dandong city -- which oversees Donggang -- said they were not in charge of the case.
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05/18/2012
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Top|| File under: Pirates
Apparently one Daniel Salinas, Mayor-elect of a small New Mexico town has been arrested on charges of extortion and voter fraud in conjunction with his election to that office. What is interesting is that today's AP article appearing in Fox News and an earlier (april 9) AP article some 600 words long fail to note his political affiliation. It is hard to do a search for Democratic corruption when the only time a party is mentioned is when it is a Republican. That's precisely the idea...
#2
In this case, its less party and a far more 'good old boy'-clan-blood thingy. It has the flavor and markings of the PRI tradition from across the border rather than something you'd link with an Illinois, New Jersey, or Massachusetts machine. Think Juarez with Spanglish.
#6
Yeah, far less registrations of Bobby O'Neil, Jan Walkowski, and Jamal Sufi on the rolls. Seems the vast number of the names have a very distinct linguistic heritage. Not quite multicultural as you'd find much further north which usually includes some sort of dealing between 'interest groups' for their piece of the action. The competition for graft and looting resources is far less. Of course, being New Mexico there are less resources to pillage go around so they have a tendency to keep it in the 'family' and among friends of the 'family'. See patron-peon abstract at cite. For a lot in the local population, they're not interested in the ritual of democratic voting as much as affirmation of the existing social arrangement. It's all personal rather than something dealing with efficient and honest government.
#7
I'm hoping the Pubs take off the gloves in the Presidential election. If Romney is unwilling, then I hope the PACS go after the first gay-lebian, black, Hispanic, Jewish, Muslim, Cherokee victims-everywhere President for all the $hit he has wrought upon us.
(Sh.M.Network)- Bitter fighting between the Islamist fighters of Al shabab aligned with Al Qaeda and TFG troops alongside with Ahlu Sunna militias broke out in the Somalia's southwestern region of Gedo overnight, killing two civilians, witnesses told Shabelle Media on Thursday.
Witnesses said that the fighting started in and around Garbaharey town, the thriving provincial capital of Gedo region, southwesternSomalia, causing damages of wells used by locals.
Sheik Mohammed Hussein, the front man of Ahlu Sunna told Shabelle Media via phone that the forces of Evil have completely destroyed several wells inside the town following their attack against Garbaharey.
"We repulsed the attacking forces of Evil soon after were informed that Al shabab fighters are planning the assault the town. During the combat Al shabab committed unfortunate acts against wells that locals have been fetching water to drink for their children and livestock," he added.
The locals in the areas reported that the two sides exchanged heavy weapon as the fighting continued and the few residents in the area had expressed concern ...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended... over the continuous festivities there that often causes civilian casualties of deaths and injuries in the region.
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[Dawn] Pakistain Moslem League- Nawaz (PML-N) Chief Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... said on Thursday that after Yousuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ... 's conviction he does not accept him as the prime minister, adding that his party will not allow the appointment of chief election commissioner (CEC) as per the government's wishes, DawnNews reported. In an interview, Sharif said that the government cannot bear the opposition's demand that the prime minister resign.
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(Sh.M.Network)-Hundreds of angry people,including women and kiddies have marched through the streets of Hargeisa on Thursday to denounce a military court ruling by Somalia's breakaway region of Somaliland, reports said.
Waving banners written anti-Court ruling slogans and chanting "Allahu Akbar" (God is great), the crowd burnt tyres in the main streets in Hargeisa to show their annoyance against the ruling and demand the release of the defendants.
A military court in Somalia's breakaway region of Somaliland has sentenced 28, 17 of them to death while 5 others in life in prison for attacking a military base over a land dispute one day earlier.
The court in Somaliland's capital convicted the 17 on Wednesday, saying the defendants confessed to attacking soldiers during Tuesday's confrontation.
Yusuf Mohammed, an elder said during comments on the issue that his clan is not satisfied Somaliland's military court decision, saying the decision was reached in haste.
According to the prosecution, the 17 have no chance to appeal their death sentences.
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
California's economy, with a Gross State Product of about $1.9 trillion, is more than six times the size of Greece's. At $90 billion, the state's budget (excluding the few hundred billion dollars of federal money distributed there) is only sixty percent of the size of Greece's national budget. But, California's budget deficit, estimated at $16 billion for the current fiscal year unless substantial changes are made, represents a stunning 17.5 percent shortfall and a huge miss from January predictions of a $9.2 billion deficit. Greece is now anticipating a deficit under 7 percent of GDP, but even allowing for typical politician optimism, the Greek deficit problem is arguably small compared to California's.
Kuwait's emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, has blocked a proposal by 31 of the 50 elected members of parliament to amend the constitution to make all legislation comply with Islamic law. His approval is needed for any constitutional change. 
The deteriorated law and order situation continued to prevail in the city as 11 more people, including two 
Asif Ali 
[Al Ahram] Egyptian police said they 
International Criminal Court
An Islamic school that had been using teaching materials that slandered Jews and encouraged boys to stay fit for jihad has lost its license to use Toronto District School Board property. The board suspended a permit issued to the Islamic Shia Study Centre, which ran the East End Madrassah from a Toronto high school until an outcry last week over the content of its curriculum booklets.
[An Nahar] Conflicting reports have emerged over the escape of seven 
Zawahiri
The Wold Wildlife Foundation and a group at the European Space Agency have decided that the answer to global warming is global poverty and 
North Korea
Apparently one Daniel Salinas, Mayor-elect of a small New Mexico town has been arrested on charges of extortion and voter fraud in conjunction with his election to that office. What is interesting is that today's AP article appearing in Fox News and an earlier (april 9) AP article some 600 words long fail to note his political affiliation. 
Nawaz Sharif
