Hi there, !
Today Tue 06/25/2013 Mon 06/24/2013 Sun 06/23/2013 Sat 06/22/2013 Fri 06/21/2013 Thu 06/20/2013 Wed 06/19/2013 Archives
Rantburg
532973 articles and 1859842 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 52 articles and 136 comments as of 0:52.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Politix    Main Page
Britain OKs Treaty Clearing Way to Deport Abu Qatada to Jordan
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
10:17 4 22:37 DarthVader [10]
10:02 4 12:07 JohnQC [8]
08:35 2 10:49 JohnQC [4]
06:38 2 17:51 Cheaderhead [9] 
02:30 0 [5]
02:12 7 18:58 swksvolFF [15]
00:06 1 09:04 Frank G [4]
00:00 0 [3]
00:00 0 [4]
00:00 1 07:14 Bright Pebbles [3] 
00:00 10 22:22 Besoeker [9]
00:00 4 09:57 Harry the Rasher1329 [10] 
00:00 11 17:50 Shipman [6]
00:00 0 [4]
00:00 0 [5]
00:00 0 [4]
00:00 0 [6]
00:00 1 02:48 g(r)omgoru [8]
00:00 0 [8] 
00:00 0 [4]
00:00 1 10:15 Harry the Rasher1329 [5]
00:00 1 13:27 DepotGuy [11]
00:00 0 [4]
00:00 0 [6]
00:00 1 11:14 JohnQC [5]
00:00 0 [4]
00:00 3 04:15 Besoeker [4]
00:00 0 [5] 
00:00 0 [5] 
00:00 0 [4]
00:00 0 [6] 
00:00 0 [3] 
00:00 6 17:58 Shipman [10]
00:00 6 10:27 swksvolFF [5]
00:00 15 17:29 Skidmark [9]
00:00 0 [5]
00:00 1 04:43 Besoeker [2]
00:00 4 17:50 Yosemite Sam [12]
00:00 1 11:51 Frank G [4]
00:00 0 [5]
00:00 0 [11] 
00:00 6 10:46 JohnQC [9] 
00:00 1 02:44 g(r)omgoru [8]
00:00 0 [4]
00:00 0 [4]
00:00 0 [4] 
00:00 0 [4]
00:00 0 [5] 
00:00 0 [5]
00:00 4 11:27 Joe Biden [5]
00:00 27 22:26 Besoeker [9]
00:00 11 14:34 Newc [10]
Home Front: Politix
Obama cuts back oil shale development
Plenty of people here predicted something like this.
Controversy is heating up over an administration plan to drastically reduce the amount of federal lands available for oil shale development in the American West.
Yup, not out of character at all for Champ. Fortunately there's plenty of private land for development...
The Bush administration had set aside 1.3 million acres for oil shale and tar sands development in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. The new Bureau of Land Management plan cuts that amount by two-thirds, down to 700,000 acres, a decision that has prompted industry outrage.
Umm, the math says that a little over half the land will still be available...
"What they basically did was make it so that nobody is going to want to spend money going after oil shale on federal government lands," said Dan Kish, Senior Vice President of Institute for Energy Research.
It's almost as if it's a plan...
Oil shale refers to shale rock itself, which contains mineralized hydrocarbons. When subject to intense pressure and extremely high temperatures, oil develops. This can be done by mining the rock first or by leaving it in place and doing the pressurized heating process deep underground.

"That raises all kinds of concerns about what kind of impact that's going to have on our land and on our water," said Todd Malmsbury, spokesperson for the Colorado Wildlife Federation. "Water is the most important resource we have in the West. If we pollute that water, if we deplete that water it's going to hurt everyone out here."

In a statement to Fox News, the BLM says it is not against oil shale and tar sands deveopment,
No! Certainly not! Allowing the USA to be energy independent however....
but will restrict the amount of public lands available for leasing until the processes are proven, and proven safe.
Which will be at least until they find some endangered imaginary bug or something.
If shown to be viable in coming years, the agency says more federal lands may be opened up to oil shale and tar sands development.
Unless an environmentalist somewhere protests...
Kish said the decision will effectively put an end to the development in America of a resource with massive potential because the energy industry will simply go elsewhere.

"The Chinese are inviting companies in, companies that may have done business in the United States if we'd had a better approach.
As designed.
But the BLM's plan has certainly not made all environmentalists happy.
Hey! Careful with that feather! You almost knocked me over!
A coalition of seven groups has notified the agency of their intent to sue, saying BLM did not take into account the impact of oil shale and tar sands development on endangered species.
BINGO! The reduction will discourage investment until someone can find, or make up (i.e. pull out of their asses), some spottedground unicorn-dung beetle who might be hurt....
Posted by: CrazyFool || 06/22/2013 10:17 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  During the 2012 campaign Champ actually took credit for the shale oil boom.
Posted by: Iblis || 06/22/2013 10:37 Comments || Top||

#2  And he will, again.
Posted by: Bobby || 06/22/2013 14:58 Comments || Top||

#3  Oil shale, not tight oil.
Posted by: Shipman || 06/22/2013 17:59 Comments || Top||

#4  Oh gee wow. What a surprise.
Posted by: DarthVader || 06/22/2013 22:37 Comments || Top||


Europe
Leaders Questions on the visit of the Obamas to Ireland
h/t IMAO
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/22/2013 10:02 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ah, Claire Daly, who every day makes Medea Benjamin look likea Ted Cruz acolyte. Unfortunately, she just elevated our little manchild to new heights.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 06/22/2013 10:55 Comments || Top||

#2  Obama is going back to his Irish roots? After all, he's denying he was born in Kenya.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/22/2013 11:29 Comments || Top||

#3  She sounds like an earring short of a set, but has a point.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 06/22/2013 11:35 Comments || Top||

#4  It is good that free speech and debate are alive in the Irish Parliament. I seldom see that in our Congress--Instead, I see a PC-muzzled bunch in the Congress and the press. There has been little to no questioning and debate of policy in an open way.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/22/2013 12:07 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Obama may release edited opinions of surveillance court
In response to congressional demands, the Obama administration is considering disclosing portions of classified opinions by the secret court that oversees the National Security Agency's surveillance programs.

"We would like to release into the public domain as much of this as we can without compromising national security," Robert Litt, the top lawyer for Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, told Congress last week.

Liberals in Congress have been pressing the administration for years _ without success _ to release the classified orders by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which rules in secret on surveillance requests from the Justice Department and the intelligence community.

The disclosures by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden _ including an order from the court that showed the Patriot Act was being used to justify the collection of virtually all Americans' calling records _ have emboldened congressional critics and sent Obama officials scrambling to show that the FISA court's role in regulating surveillance is meaningful.

The court, made up of 11 judges appointed by the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, convenes in a secure portion of the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C. Its oversight takes place without public scrutiny and documents show that the court rarely denies a request from the government. Yet officials who have been briefed on the process say the court often demands changes in the scope of surveillance orders before approving them.

"I think they will end up declassifying at least portions of the opinions," said Rep. Adam Schiff , D-Calif., who introduced a bill last week requiring it. "I think they recognize it's in their interest now."
Posted by: tipper || 06/22/2013 08:35 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That irritating drip, drip, drip again. So distracting.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/22/2013 9:28 Comments || Top||

#2  Edited? Is this like "redacted" pages where the entire page is blank or black?
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/22/2013 10:49 Comments || Top||


Good morning
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 06/22/2013 06:38 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Birthday Gam Shot

Soraia Chaves [Portuguese][Filmography](age 31)



Sultry Design



Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 06/22/2013 8:59 Comments || Top||

#2  I know who's spot I like better
Posted by: Cheaderhead || 06/22/2013 17:51 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Will Egypt's embattled Morsi weather the storm?
The right question: Will Egypt weather the storm?
With mass demonstrations scheduled for June 30, a new poll has shown that the popularity of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has dropped from 57 percent a year ago to barely 28%.

The revolutionary youths who toppled former president Hosni Mubarak have launched a new movement called Tamarud, or "rebellion," and are spearheading a campaign to force the president to resign; they accuse him of having betrayed the revolution, setting up a dictatorial regime, oppressing the individual and failed to address the spiraling economic crisis.

They also accuse him of blatantly filling every state position with members of the Muslim Brotherhood -- a militant organization which openly states its desire to restore the caliphate -- though Morsi had renounced his membership in the Brotherhood upon taking office.
Why does this sounds familiar?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/22/2013 02:30 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran's new fanatic-in-chief
The assertion that Rohani is a moderate is absolute hogwash, marinated in self-delusion and garnished with sheer ignorance.
This article starring:
Rohani
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/22/2013 02:12 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [15 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Well, one thing is certain. He'll have to govern as a moderate.
[sarc off]
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/22/2013 4:49 Comments || Top||

#2  ...Looking back, they've ALL been moderates.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 06/22/2013 5:36 Comments || Top||

#3  A moderate Iranian is one that has run out of ammo…

Still true.
Posted by: Harry the Rasher1329 || 06/22/2013 10:09 Comments || Top||

#4  Labeling Rohani a moderate is an invention of the left-wing press. Maybe "Whistling in the Graveyard" or being Pollyanna describes what the press is water-carriers for the leftists are doing. Or they might just be lazy or stupid.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/22/2013 11:21 Comments || Top||

#5  The assertion that Rohani is a moderate is absolute hogwash, marinated in self-delusion and garnished with sheer ignorance.

Or, tilting the head thisaways, is perfect for having to reset the whole negotiating process over again, with a good year of just "catching up" with Mr. Kerry. But he is a moderate, so this time it will work this time I'm sure this time.

btw, his name threw a familiar flag, has he been in the news before or is it the normal mash-up of islumic names?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 06/22/2013 12:29 Comments || Top||

#6  swksvolFF, I did a Name Link to the name in the article for you. Click on it and see.
Posted by: trailing wife || 06/22/2013 16:39 Comments || Top||

#7  Thanks TW. For some reason I thought he was a face during the previous election protests. That he made the news in 2006 is interesting.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 06/22/2013 18:58 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Journolist archives released
This appears to be the raw email spools, not just some redacted data from a Google email server.

For once Google by virtue of sheer incompetence was not evil.

Way to go!

By the way the data is downloadable via PDF and text. It also appears to be just ten days of email exchanges, so by no means more than maybe two percent of the total.

From TFA:

Way back in 2009, the hottest media story was the exposure of the existence of "Journolist," a private listserv of several hundred mostly liberal journalists, talking to each other about crap. This was perceived as a big scandal! Andrew Breitbart offered $100,000 for the full archives. Well, we got (some of) them. Here they are.
Posted by: badanov || 06/22/2013 00:06 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  bunch of juicebox wussies - not journalists
Posted by: Frank G || 06/22/2013 9:04 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Suu Kyi slams proposed inter-faith marriage law
[Bangla Daily Star] Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has criticised a proposal by nationalist monks to restrict marriages between Buddhist women and men of other faiths, describing it as a violation of human rights
...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty...
, a report said yesterday.

"This is one-sided. Why only women? You cannot treat the women unfairly," Radio Free Asia quoted the Nobel Peace Laureate as saying in an interview.

"I also understand that this is not in accordance with the laws of the country and especially that it is not part of Buddhism," the veteran activist said.

"It is a violation of women's rights and human rights."

Under the proposal -- spearheaded by the controversial Mandalay holy man Wirathu -- non-Buddhist men wishing to marry a Buddhist woman would have to convert and gain permission from her parents to wed or risk 10 years in jail.

The idea was raised at a recent meeting of more than 200 monks called to discuss a surge in Buddhist-Mohammedan violence in the former junta-ruled country.

Wirathu said the law was needed "because Buddhist girls have lost freedom of religion when they married Mohammedan men".
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Tensions in Bir al-Abed as Personal Dispute Erupts into Gunfire
[An Nahar] A personal dispute between a building janitor and members of the al-Meqdad clan erupted into gunfire on Friday in the al-Meqdad neighborhood near al-Msharrafiyeh, state-run National News Agency reported.

The janitor opened fire from his pistol, which left Mohammed al-Meqdad and a man from al-Ashhab family critically maimed.

Earlier, MTV said two people were killed in the incident as al-Jadeed television said one person was killed and another was maimed.

"The Hadi Nasrallah Highway was closed near al-Zaghloul Restaurant as the army sent reinforcements to the area," al-Jadeed said.

Security forces have launched a probe and are pursuing the shooter, NNA said.
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11 views] Top|| File under:


Britain
Britain OKs Treaty Clearing Way to Deport Abu Qatada to Jordan
[An Nahar] A treaty intended to clear the way to deporting radical holy man Abu Qatada to Jordan has passed into law in Britannia.

The agreement, announced by Home Secretary Theresa May in April, aims to allay fears that evidence extracted through torture will be used against the terror suspect at a retrial.

The scrutiny process by the British parliament completed at midnight on Thursday, leaving a handful of legal steps before the deportation process can begin.

Jordan's King Adbullah and both houses of the Jordanian parliament have also approved the treaty.

The document must also be published in an official newspaper in Jordan and diplomatic letters must be exchanged between the two countries.

The treaty could then lead to the deportation of Abu Qatada next week, reports said.

The 52-year-old holy man has already indicated he will not challenge deportation if the treaty is passed because the document guarantees him a fair trial.

May has previously warned that, even when the treaty is fully ratified, it will not necessarily mean that he will leave for Jordan within days because the case remains open to legal challenge.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: "We welcome the approval of the Treaty by both the UK and Jordanian Parliaments. Our focus remains on seeing Qatada on a plane to Jordan at the earliest opportunity."

Last month, Abu Qatada unexpectedly volunteered to leave the country as soon as the treaty between Britannia and Jordan is ratified by both countries.
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  Just.Do.It.
Posted by: Frank G || 06/22/2013 11:51 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Turkish Air lines cancels flights from Mogadishu airport
[Shabelle] passengers who booked the flights with Turkey airlines today helplessly stood at Adan Adde airport in Mogadishu. This followed after the airline cancelled the flights from Mogadishu due to the alleged bad weather.

Passengers who contacted Shbaelle media station in Mogadishu said that they were unable to pay for hotels as the hotels were expensive and budgeted for the delays.

Passengers mainly foreigners are still stranded in Mogadishu after the airline officials cancelled the flights. Flights have been rescheduled to Sunday as the one of the passengers informed us.

Passengers are requesting the top admin of the airlines to improve their services by providing accommodations if flights are cancelled.
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I want to provide you with a picture from my last trip on "Turkish Air" from Adan Adde to Cairo, but it has been misplaced some where. This pic is as close as I can come to a reconstruction, bon voyage !

Posted by: Shomp Glert7500 || 06/22/2013 0:21 Comments || Top||

#2  There were actual scheduled commercial flights to Mogadishu? Learn something every day.
Posted by: 3dc || 06/22/2013 0:41 Comments || Top||

#3  No worries! You can still catch the Greyhound.
Posted by: SteveS || 06/22/2013 0:42 Comments || Top||

#4  You know, these guys need high-speed rail...
Posted by: Joe Biden || 06/22/2013 11:27 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
N. Korea Warns of War, Repeats U.S. Talks Offer
[An Nahar] A top North Korean envoy said Friday that U.S. hostility could lead to war at any time, but reaffirmed a government offer of talks with Washington that could include the nuclear weapons issue.

At a rare but typically combative news conference, the isolated state's U.N. ambassador Sin Son-Ho accused the United States of driving up tensions and appealed for an end to U.N. and U.S. sanctions against Pyongyang.

"The most pressing issue in northeast Asia today is the hostile relations between the DPRK (North Korea) and the U.S. which can lead to another war at any moment," Sin said.

With his country facing mounting U.N. and international sanctions over its recent nuclear bomb and missile tests, Sin said the North would never give up its atomic weapons.

North Korea "has a legitimate sovereign right to (its) self-defense deterrent as long as the United States continues its hostile policy towards DPRK and threatens it with nuclear weapons."

The country will "never give up (its) self-defense war deterrent."

Sin said U.S.-South Korean war games risked leading the Korean peninsula into "another vicious cycle of tensions and conflict."

But the warnings were also mixed with the North's new message that it wants talks with the United States. The North's all-powerful National Defense Commission said Sunday that it wants talks with the U.S. administration.

"This is our real intention to have talks," Sin said. "In the talks we can have wide-ranging discussions with the United States including those of easing tension on the Korean peninsula.

"Also we can discuss the matter of the world without nuclear weapons the United States has already proposed."

The envoy said that U.N. and U.S. sanctions against North Korea, reinforced since its nuclear test in February, were "blackmail."

"I urge the United States to stop economic sanctions against us," Sin said, adding that U.N. member states should not "blindly" follow U.N. sanctions.
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [12 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Commie Crap, they think we (USA) can't figure out they're just blowhards, scream "KILL THE AMERICANS" one day,and it'll be your last.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 06/22/2013 10:10 Comments || Top||

#2  With only 900 families running things, how hard can a coup d'etat really be?
Posted by: Harry the Rasher1329 || 06/22/2013 10:13 Comments || Top||

#3  Hey, in Mexico it only takes 31 families. Of course their solution to economic problems is to dump the excess population on El Norte.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/22/2013 11:04 Comments || Top||

#4 
Posted by: Yosemite Sam || 06/22/2013 17:50 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Azhar chief tells Egypt's Muslims: Opposing rulers is not a sin
[Al Ahram] Al-Azhar's Grand Imam Ahmed El-Tayyeb warned members of different Islamist groups against accusing their opponents of blasphemy on Wednesday.

In a statement, El-Tayyeb said that Al-Azhar, Egypt's core Islamic institution, calls for agreement between different factions and warns against violence and attacking others' religious beliefs.

"This is against sharia [Islamic law]," the statement read.

Tensions have been on the rise in Egypt recently as the country anticipates nationwide demonstrations on 30 June aimed at pushing President Mohamed Morsi -- who hails from the Moslem Brüderbund movement -- to step down and hold early presidential elections.

In response to anticipated opposition protests, Islamist forces and government sympathisers are expected to hold "anti-violence" protests on 21 June.

El-Tayyeb criticised "false" religious fatwas by "incompetent" sheikhs who issue statements saying that those who oppose the ruler are "hypocrites and infidels" in the eyes of Islam.

The statement came following El-Tayyeb's meeting with President Morsi on Tuesday, in a joint visit with Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Patriarch Tawadros II to discuss the current political situation in Egypt.

The imam said that "peaceful opposition against [rulers] is accepted according to sharia... and has nothing to do with belief or lack thereof," adding that violence and myrmidon actions are a "great sin" but not an act of "disbelief [kofr]."

Opponents of the groups calling for 30 June protests have criticised the protests, describing them as acts of hypocrisy that contradict Islamic rules and beliefs.

On Friday, Egypt's ultra-conservative group Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya accused opposition groups calling for protests of being "entities being funded from abroad that aim to stir chaos and make Egypt like Syria or Libya," the group's spokesperson Mohamed Hassan said.
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


India-Pakistan
MQM MPA, son gunned down in Karachi
[Pak Daily Times] Gunmen on Friday rubbed out an MQM politician, his son and a passer-by outside a mosque in North Nazimabad locality of the port city, officials said.

Sajid Qureshi, in his early 50s, and his 25-year-old son were targeted in a drive-by shooting as they left a mosque after attending Friday prayers in congested Nazimabad neighbourhood. "Gunmen on a cycle of violence fired at (Sindh) provincial assembly member Sajid Qureshi, his son and a pedestrian when they were coming out of mosque," senior police official Amir Farooqi told AFP. "He was struck down in his prime, while his son and the third victim died at hospital," Farooqi said. Nasir Jamal, a senior member of MQM, confirmed the death of Qureshi and his son.

The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) grabbed credit for the attack. The MQM has announced three days of mourning against the murder of its MPA and his son. The Board of Intermediate Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
, University of Karachi, Federal Urdu University and other associations postponed their examinations after the mourning call. The party appealed to the business community to keep their businesses closed during the mourning period. It also requested transporters to keep their vehicles off the road in protest against the murder of its politician.

Police officials said that Qureshi along his son Waqas was returning home after offering Friday prayer at a mosque located near Ziauddin Hospital, North Nazimabad. A large number of MQM leaders, workers and supporters, including Central Coordination Committee's Saleem Siddiqi, Amir Khan, Khalid Sultan and the victims' relatives rushed to the hospital where they were taken. Extra contingents of law enforcement agencies, including Rangers and police, reached the site and collected evidence from the scene of the crime. Police have found the slippers of the accused who left them behind while fleeing and also collected 11 empty shells of the pistol used in the killings.

Police said that the incident took place when the security guard of the slain MPA went for lunch. Police has jugged
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
the guard and initiated interrogation. Tension gripped the city following the incident, and all petrol pumps, CNG stations, markets and all kinds of businesses shut down across the city. Qureshi was elected from PS-103 in the May 11 elections. The MQM Rabita Committee has strongly condemned the incident. Prime Minister 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...
also strongly condemned the killing and directed immediate arrest of the killers and ordered an enquiry.
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Africa North
Copts free to join 30 June anti-govt protests: Egypt's Coptic Church
[Al Ahram] Coptic Church's Holy Synod says Coptic Christians are free to join planned 30 June protests against President Morsi and Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Jordanian Protesters Rally against Hizbullah, Assad
[An Nahar] Members of Jordan's Moslem Brüderbund and youth groups were among 1,500 people who erupted into the streets of Amman on Friday to protest against Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs...
and Hizbullah.

Demonstrators gathered outside the al-Husseini mosque after Friday prayers to protest against Assad and the Lebanese group which has sent fighters to bolster regime forces in Syria's bloody civil war.

The protesters chanted anti-Assad and anti-Hizbullah slogans, Agence La Belle France Presse reported.

They called Hizbullah -- the "party of God" in Arabic -- the "party of Satan", saying that the "true place for the resistance is Paleostine", referring to Hizbullah's long-term role as champion against Israel.

Marchers also chanted: "Syria, country of free men, with the help of God, Bashar will fall."

Zaki Bani Rsheid, deputy leader of Jordan's Moslem Brüderbund, said: "The revolution of the Syrian people is a great revolution, not just one against the regime, but a tale of how a nation rose up against tyranny and repression."

"The battle of Qusayr revealed the falsity of the resistance," he said, adding that "the will of the Syrian people is capable of creating a regime of true resistance, not a false one."

Syrian regime troops and Hizbullah fighters assaulted the former rebel stronghold in central Homs province last month. A fierce battle ensued for nearly three weeks, and ended with a regime victory.

Rsheid said "the true place of the resistance is not in Syria but in Paleostine", pointing out that "Bashar will share the same fate as (Muammar) Qadaffy and the others, because this is the will of the people," a reference to the late Libyan strongman toppled in 2011.
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


India-Pakistan
Hajj scandal: FIA grills Malik Riaz
[Pak Daily Times] The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Friday interrogated renowned property tycoon and founder of Bahria Town, Malik Riazm in the Hajj scandal. According to media reports, Malik Riaz said that he had nothing to do with the Hajj scandal, adding that he advised the investigation officer to hang those involved in the scandal. FIA investigation officer Husain Asghar interrogated Riaz in the agency's special investigation unit.
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Africa North
Tunisia political isolation law divides Ennahda
[MAGHAREBIA] Lawmakers are ready to hold a plenary session on the draft "Law for the Protection of the Revolution in Tunisia", Transitional Justice Minister Samir Dilou said on Thursday (June 20th).

But the bill may look much different from its original version. In a surprise move, Ennahda leader Rachid Ghannouchi said his "party would seek to reduce the number" of those impacted by the "political isolation law".

The draft measure prevents anyone who served in the former government or the dissolved Constitutional Democratic Rally (RCD) party from returning to political life.

The bill bans these allies of former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali from politics for seven years.

But if former regime members apologise to the Tunisian people, they will receive exemptions, Ghannouchi told Shems FM on June 11th. The judiciary will continue to handle corruption cases.

Politicians from the Congress for the Republic (CPR) pushed the bill to exclude those seen as contributing to the Ben Ali dictatorship. CPR politician Samir Ben Amor even threatened a hunger strike if the National Constituent Assembly (ANC) did not soon debate the bill.

Ennahda, however, is divided over the measure.

"The law to protect the revolution must go through judicial mechanisms," the Islamist party's secretary-general said.

Speaking earlier this month to Mosaique FM, Hamadi Jebali pointed out that the exclusion of RCD politicians would be no different than what Ennahda and other opposition suffered under Ben Ali.

Yet those described as the "hawks" of Ennahda defend the law by saying that such a measure is commonplace in all countries undergoing a democratic transition.

"The conflict regarding this law is because a large number of former members of the dissolved RCD joined Ennahda," Ettakatol party member Habib Hamdi told Magharebia.

Moreover, during the Tunisia national dialogue last month, Ennahda welcomed "figures from the former regime, such as Kamel Morjane, who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defence during the time of Ben Ali", Hamdi noted.

Nidaa Tounes party leader Beji Caid Essebsi is among those opposed to the draft law. In his view, it targets him for exclusion from Tunisian politics.

"The law to protect the revolution, in the event it is ratified by the Constituent Assembly, is an affront to Tunisians and will be like a fissure in the history of Tunisia and in its image abroad," the former interim prime minister and newly declared presidential candidate said.

The Union for Tunisia, a coalition of opposition parties led by Nidaa Tounes, discussed the proposed law at a recent meeting.

"The issue of the protection of the revolution is decisive," opposition politician Abdul Razzaq al-Hammami said.

"We are against any law that would prevent serious electoral competition," he said.
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Miqati: Hizbullah's Priority Lies in Supporting Syrian Regime
[An Nahar] Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati announced that the Lebanese state is more powerful than all Lebanese parties, including Hizbullah, while condemning its involvement in the fighting in Syria, reported CNN television.

He told the television in an interview aired on Friday that Hizbullah's priority at the moment lies in supporting the Syrian regime.

"We demand that no Lebanese side, whether it backs or opposes the regime, interfere in the Syrian crisis because that will have negative repercussions on Leb," he added.

Hizbullah has its priorities and at the moment they include supporting the regime, Miqati said.

He noted however that the party will soon realize that protecting Leb should be the most important goal.

"Our meddling in Syria will not change anything, but it will only negatively impact us," remarked the caretaker premier.

"My greatest concern is not the Syrian crisis itself, but the ongoing flow of refugees into Leb," he revealed.

He noted that some 550,000 refugees have been registered in Leb, without counting the ones that have not been recorded, which amount to some 750,000.

"These figures are too great for us to handle and we call on the international community and aid organizations to help Leb," Miqati stated.
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  IMO, they understand that Sunni conquest of Syria means for Lebanese Shia.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/22/2013 2:44 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Berlin Summons Turkish Ambassador over Merkel Criticism
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:


Caribbean-Latin America
Nicaragua air force chiefs killed in helicopter crash
[Pak Daily Times] Senior members of Nicaragua's air force were killed on Thursday when a helicopter they were flying in crashed near Lake Managua, officials said.

Ten people died in the crash, including Air Force Chief of Staff Colonel Manuel Lopez, the head of Air Force counterintelligence, Colonel Chester Vargas, and air defense chief Lieutenant Colonel Aldo Herrera, the Nicaraguan Army said in a statement. The MI-17 helicopter went down after visiting the El Papalonal firing range in La Paz Centro, 52 kilometers (32 miles) northwest of Managua, the statement said. The senior officers killed were mostly former Sandinista guerrillas who helped found Nicaragua's modern military after the leftist revolutionaries triumphed in 1979 against the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza. The officers were returning to the capital Managua when, soon after departing, the helicopter pilot made an emergency call to warn of unspecified flight difficulties, said army front man, Colonel Orlando Palacios.
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Uh, uh, OBAMA'S "CONTRAS" ATTACKED THE WRONG COUNTRY + GOVT.???

Or did they?

Time to cue the "TWILIGHT ZONE" THEME, Johnson!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/22/2013 0:19 Comments || Top||

#2  Chinese backer behind Nicaragua canal is hidden billionaire

Lets eliminate the opposition.

You are right JosephMendiola, Time to cue the TWILIGHT ZONE THEME. Twilight Zone - (The Twilite Zone) - Theme

Powered by mp3skull.com

Joey, very perceptive.
Posted by: Shomp Glert7500 || 06/22/2013 0:52 Comments || Top||

#3  The senior officers killed were mostly former Sandinista guerrillas who helped found Nicaragua's modern military

Real sojur'n be hard.

Posted by: Besoeker || 06/22/2013 4:15 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Algeria arrests arms smugglers
[MAGHAREBIA] Algerian security services stopped an attempt to smuggle guns and pistols into the country from Tunisia, Tunisie Numerique reported on Thursday (June 20th). Two Tunisian nationals, along with Algerian and French suspects, were placed in durance vile
You have the right to remain silent...
in the operation. Dozens of weapons were also seized.
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


Europe
Belgium Moves Closer to Euthanasia for Minors
[An Nahar] Belgian politicians on Thursday moved closer to legalising the euthanasia of minors, so long as they are judged capable of deciding for themselves.
Another step closer to post-natal abortion.
Four senators from parties in the governing coalition formally put forward changes to a 2002 law that made Belgium the second country in the world after The Netherlands to legalise mercy killing in certain cases.
If post-natal abortion to the age of 23 had been around, how many of us would have made it through our teenage years?
Their parties said they would back the changes and parliament is likely to approve them in coming months.

Euthanasia is currently legal only for those aged 18 but experts have told parliament that in practice euthanasia on children was already taking place, without any set guidelines.

Changes to the law were submitted for debate in parliament in December and politicians have been discussing them there since February.

Discussions have centred on the minimum age should the law be changed, and senators on Thursday settled on a young person's "capacity to discern", which would be assessed by a psychiatrist.

The proposals have the support of the four senators' parties although they will be opposed by two of the other parties in the senate majority -- the Christian Democrat, Phlegmish speaking CD&V and the centrist but Christian-inspired Frenchie-loving CDH.

They are then expected to win a parliamentary majority in the following months with several parties saying they would back them.

A separate issue of whether to extend the law to those suffering from a mental deficiency remains unresolved.

Belgium recorded a record 1,432 cases of euthanasia in 2012, up 25 percent from the previous year. They represented two percent of all deaths.
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Belgium Moves Closer to Euthanasia for Minors should read

The World is Moving Closer Condemning and Euthanizing All Belgians

- Since it has become a fascist, Anti-Christian nation - state the difference between WWII Nazis and the present people in power: eliminate the weak to make the nation stronger ?

Immigrants since 1945 and their descendants are estimated by 2008 to have formed 22% of the total population. Of these ‘New Belgians’, 1,313,000 (56%) are of European ancestry and the 950,000 others originated from the rest of the world.

The prevalent foreign nationals were Italian (171,918), French (125,061), Dutch (116,970), Moroccan (80,579), Spanish (42,765), Turkish (39,419) and German (37,621).

The ones in bold print were nations of the Axis powers of WWII, has any of this "purification" philosophy rubbed off on the present inhabitants ?

You can call yourselves Christian, but frankly there is nothing Christian about you or your philosophy.

Bastards.
Posted by: Shomp Glert7500 || 06/22/2013 4:30 Comments || Top||

#2  If post-natal abortion to the age of 23 had been around, how many of us would have made it through our teenage years?

Excellent point, which leads me to the next question. How do now survive Obamacare? [which is little more than a gummit adaptation of seniors euthanasia]
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/22/2013 4:40 Comments || Top||

#3  It's sort of practiced naturally in America as young males 13-24 have a tendency to off themselves at a much higher rate than most other Western countries. Call it the 'here hold my beer' or the Chicago Hood syndrome. Part of the reason for the American disparity in male life expectancies among Western countries.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/22/2013 8:27 Comments || Top||

#4  Belgian politicians on Thursday moved closer to legalising the euthanasia of minors,...

This is a big issue for the voters? And nothing else to worry about?

What do we conclude from this? That it's cheaper to put them in gas chambers than to give them antidepressants?
Posted by: Harry the Rasher1329 || 06/22/2013 9:51 Comments || Top||

#5  Its very simple. If a person is willing to kill a child, then the elderly is a given. The only question at that point is where is the line, and it is always drawen with a 6H quite lightly and with plenty of erasers handy.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 06/22/2013 11:17 Comments || Top||

#6  Part of the reason for the American disparity in male life expectancies among Western countries.

It's gotta be the Fred Jackson Turner.... equalitarianism, disinterest in high culture, and violence, it's always Fred Jackson Turner.
Posted by: Shipman || 06/22/2013 17:58 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Palestinian PM Hamdallah reverses decision to step down
[Al Ahram] Paleostinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah on Friday withdrew an offer to quit a day after presenting it to president the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial...
, a high-ranking government official said.
"Hamdallah met Abbas for two hours in the president's headquarters in Ramallah and informed him he had decided to withdraw his resignation," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Paleostinian officials and media had reported a "power struggle" as being the reason for Hamdallah's offer to quit, with the premier incensed by Abbas's decision to appoint two deputy prime ministers in a government that was formed on June 6.

"Hamdallah wants clear and defined powers as prime minister and for his deputies, based on the law, so his authority is not encroached on," the official said, adding that the meeting had been "positive."

The prime minister left the president's headquarters in a government convoy, an AFP correspondent said.

Hamdallah presented his resignation on Thursday, only two weeks after taking office, in the latest crisis for the Paleostinian Authority.

His appointment on June 2 had followed the resignation of his predecessor Salam Fayyad
...Fayyad's political agenda holds that neither violence nor peaceful negotiations have brought the Paleostinians any closer to an independent state. The alternative to both, violent negotiations, doesn't seem to be working too well, either...
, a Western-backed economist who quit after a spat with the Paleostinian president.
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority


Iraq
Suicide bomber kills three at Iraq vote count
[Al Ahram] A jacket wallah killed three people at a vote counting centre west of Storied [Al Ahram] A suicide bomber killed three people at a vote counting centre west of Baghdad after polls closed in provincial elections but did not damage any ballots, officials said on Friday.

At around 9:00 pm (1800 GMT) on Thursday, a militant dressed as a policeman walked into the main vote counting office in Anbar provincial capital Ramadi and blew himself up, security, medical and election officials said.

The attack killed three people and wounded seven, the officials said. Election workers were getting ready to have dinner at the time, police Colonel Jabbar al-Dulaimi said.

No ballots were damaged as the count had not yet begun, the head of the local office of Iraq's electoral commission, Khaled Rijab, said.

Anbar was one of two Sunni-majority provinces, with Nineveh in the north, that held elections on Thursday, two months after most of the rest of the country, because of security concerns.

The evening bombing was the deadliest of several polling day attacks in Anbar and Nineveh.

Two policemen were killed by mortar fire in Ramadi, while four soldiers were wounded by mortar rounds and roadside bombs in and around Nineveh capital Mosul
...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
after polls closed in provincial elections but did not damage any ballots, officials said on Friday.

At around 9:00 pm (1800 GMT) on Thursday, a bad turban dressed as a policeman walked into the main vote counting office in Anbar lovely provincial capital Ramadi and went kaboom!, security, medical and election officials said.

The attack killed three people and maimed seven, the officials said. Election workers were getting ready to have dinner at the time, police Colonel Jabbar al-Dulaimi said.

No ballots were damaged as the count had not yet begun, the head of the local office of Iraq's electoral commission, Khaled Rijab, said.

Anbar was one of two Sunni-majority provinces, with Nineveh in the north, that held elections on Thursday, two months after most of the rest of the country, because of security concerns.

The evening bombing was the deadliest of several polling day attacks in Anbar and Nineveh.

Two coppers were killed by mortar fire in Ramadi, while four soldiers were maimed by mortar rounds and roadside kabooms in and around Nineveh capital djinn-infested Mosul.
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq


Africa North
Islamists 'say no to violence,' back 'legitimate' Egyptian president
[Al Ahram] President Morsi's supporters turn out for mass demonstration ahead of anticipated anti-Morsi protests on 30 June; Islamist party leaders, prominent preachers vow to 'defeat' anti-govt opposition
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

#1  Muslims are against violence --- a predator is not looking for a fight, it's looking for a meal.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/22/2013 2:48 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Violence claims 9 lives in Karachi
[Pak Daily Times] At least nine people were killed in separate incidents of violence across the city on Friday.

A seminary leader affiliated with Jamia Farooqia was rubbed out within the remits of Shah Faisal cop shoppe.

Officials said that Molana Yasir Qureshi, 42, resident of Shah Faisal No 4, was standing near his residence, where unidentified armed motorcyclists sprayed him with bullets. However,
by candlelight every wench is handsome...
a police patrol reached the spot and tried to intercept the assailants, resulting in the culprits leaving one cycle of violence behind before managing to escape.

The victim succumbed to his injures on the way to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC). Police said deceased holy man was associated with a defunct sectarian organization and his brother Mudasir had also been killed last year. Police handed over the body to the heirs after autopsy.

In another incident, a worker of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamat (ASWJ) formally knows as Sipah-e-Sahaba was bumped off within the jurisdiction of Mobina Town cop shoppe. SHO Jamal Laghari said that deceased Kamran, 35, son of Ali Marjan Masood, resident of Scout Colony was standing near his house, when pillion armed riders shot him dead. The body was shifted to Edhi morgue after autopsy hospital. Similarly, two men belonging to Baloch Community were rubbed out in Bhains Colony within the remits of Shah Latif cop shoppe.

SHO Ali Hassan Sheikh said that the incident tool place when two rival groups shot up each other. As a result two men Naseer and Adil sustained bullet injuries and died on the way to JPMC. Police suspect personal dispute as the reason behind the incident. Separately, a man was bumped off at Gate-15, Keamari within the remits of Jackson cop shoppe. SHO Mohammad Sabir said that deceased Mohammad Altaf, 42, son of Haji Dada, resident of Garden East was on his way when unknown gunnies shot him dead. The body was shifted to Civil Hospital Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
(CHK). Police suspect personal enmity as the motive behind the incident. Similarly, another man was bumped off and his friend was maimed within the remits of Nappier cop shoppe.

Police officials said that Nadeem Sharif and Allah Dad were sitting at a shop, when unknown armed motorcyclists came and started indiscriminate firing. As a result, both victims sustained bullet wounds and were taken to CHK, where doctors pronounced Sharif dead and admitted Allah Dad with crucial wounds.

Meanwhile,
...back at the mall, Clarissa suddenly spied Mr. Bartlett at the checkout counter. He was buying Grecian Formula!...
another man, Shakeel Ahmed, 35, was rubbed out by unknown culprits, while he was standing outside his home in Urdu Bazaar. Arambagh police shifted the man to CHK where doctors pronounced him dead
He's dead, Jim!
. Police have so far been unable to ascertain the motive behind the murder.

Bodies found: Two fishermen were found dead within the jurisdiction of Ibrahim Hydri cop shoppe. Officials said that unknown men, who threw their bodies at the said location after murder, kidnapped victims Abdul Shakoor and Noor Ahmed, both residents of Korangi. Another perforated carcass was found from Lasbela Riverbed within the remits of Rizvia cop shoppe. Officials said that the dear departed, Wasif, resident of Lines Area went to Lyari
...one of the eighteen constituent towns of the city of Karachi. It is the smallest town by area in the city but also the most densely populated. Lyari has few schools, substandard hospitals, a poor water system, limited infrastructure, and broken roads. It is a stronghold of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. Ubiquitous gang activity and a thriving narcotics industry make Lyari one of the most disturbed places in Karachi, which is really saying a lot....
for some work, where gunnies kidnapped him. Separately, an unidentified dead body was found from Akbar Road within the limits of Shershah cop shoppe. SHO Khan Mohammad Sheikh said that culprits kidnapped the victim from somewhere and later dumped his body at the abandon place after torturing him to death.

The body was moved to the morgue for identification after completing medico legal formalities at CHK. Moreover, two bagged bodies of faceless myrmidons were found from Maripur road within the remits of Kalri cop shoppe. Officials said that the victims appear between 30 and 35 years old. The bodies were moved to the morgue for identification.
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: WoT
Snowden charged with espionage
Federal prosecutors have filed a sealed criminal complaint against Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who leaked a trove of documents about top-secret surveillance programs, and the United States has asked Hong Kong to detain him on a provisional arrest warrant, according to U.S. officials.

Snowden was charged with espionage, theft and conversion of government property, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the case.
When does Glenn Greenwald get charged?
The complaint was filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, a jurisdiction where Snowden’s former employer, Booz Allen Hamilton, is headquartered and a district with a long track record of prosecuting cases with national security implications.

The documents, some of which have been published in The Washington Post and Britain’s Guardian, detailed some of the most-secret surveillance operations undertaken by the United States and theUnited Kingdom, as well as classified legal memos and court orders underpinning the programs in the United States.

The 30-year-old intelligence analyst revealed himself June 9 as the leaker in an interview with the Guardian and said he went to Hong Kong because it provided him the “cultural and legal framework to allow me to work without being immediately detained.”

Snowden subsequently disappeared from public view; it is thought that he is still in the Chinese territory. Hong Kong has its own legislative and legal systems but ultimately answers to Beijing, under the “one country, two systems” arrangement.

There was never any doubt that the Justice Department would seek to prosecute Snowden for one of the most significant national security leaks in the country’s history. Justice Department officials had already said that a criminal investigation of Snowden was underway and was being run out of the FBI’s Washington field office in conjunction with lawyers from the department’s National Security Division.

By filing a criminal complaint, prosecutors have a legal basis to make the detention request of the authorities in Hong Kong. Prosecutors now have 60 days to file an indictment, probably also under seal, and can then move to have Snowden extradited from Hong Kong for trial in the United States.

Snowden, however, can fight the extradition effort in the courts in Hong Kong. Any battle is likely to reach Hong Kong’s highest court and could last many months, lawyers in the United States and Hong Kong said.

The United States has an extradition treaty with Hong Kong, and U.S. officials said cooperation with the Chinese territory, which enjoys some autonomy from Beijing, has been good in previous cases. The treaty, however, has an exception for political offenses, and espionage has traditionally been treated as a political offense. Snowden’s defense team in Hong Kong is likely to invoke part of the extradition treaty with the United States, which states that suspects will not be turned over to face criminal trial for offenses of a “political character.”

Snowden could also remain in Hong Kong if the Chinese government decides that it is not in the defense or foreign policy interests of the government in Beijing to have him sent back to the United States for trial.

Snowden could also apply for asylum in Hong Kong or attempt to reach another jurisdiction and seek asylum there before the authorities in Hong Kong act.

The anti-secrecy group Wikileaks has held some discussions with officials in Iceland about providing asylum to Snowden. A businessman in Iceland has offered to fly Snowden on a chartered jet to his country if he is granted asylum there.
Be a shame if the jet was forced to land somewhere...
Posted by: Steve White || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Clearly Snowden is Penn State proud.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/22/2013 0:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Lets add an "Insult to the Glorious Leader" to the charges.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/22/2013 2:51 Comments || Top||

#3  The 30-year-old intelligence analyst revealed himself June 9 as the leaker

I thought he was an IT geek? There is a difference.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/22/2013 4:46 Comments || Top||

#4  So, when are they going to get around to doing the same for the management/editorial team of the NYT? IIRC they released info on intel TTP* during the Bush Administration. Oh, wait, they're Obamanauts. Nothing to see here.

Techniques, Tactics, Procedures
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/22/2013 8:32 Comments || Top||

#5  ...said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the case.

I wonder who believes that(copy-paste)statement
Posted by: Willy || 06/22/2013 8:52 Comments || Top||

#6  Snowden might be heading for Iceland. Iceland bound? Snowden out to be careful. He might get hit by an imbibing driver while stepping off a curb in Reykjavik. It's hard to get lost in today's world after being a whistle- blower.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/22/2013 11:04 Comments || Top||

#7  How do you get from Hong Kong to Iceland in a private plane without stopping somewhere for gas? It is like 6000 miles on the straight route, which crosses through airspace of Russia, Mongolia, and Norway.

http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=HKG-kef&MS=wls&DU=mi

I bet one of those countries would be happy to "interview" this guy for a while.
Posted by: rammer || 06/22/2013 12:34 Comments || Top||

#8  How do you get from Hong Kong to Iceland in a private plane without stopping somewhere for gas? It is like 6000 miles on the straight route, which crosses through airspace of Russia, Mongolia, and Norway.

That is all part of the flight planning. You are going to have to avoid territory potential hostile to you. You will have to make sure that you have landing rights. Once you have filed an ICAO flight plan you will be followed, and I imagine by US govt assets. Also, you will probably have to avoid North Atlantic airspace under US control. I would imagine changing planes and other diversions would be in order.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 06/22/2013 22:08 Comments || Top||

#9  The Achille Lauro hijackers thought they were safe flying too.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/22/2013 22:21 Comments || Top||

#10  If it were me, I'd do everything that AP has suggested..... then take a very slow boat [or two] with my pole dancing girl friend instead. Imagine the surprise at the first refueling stop.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/22/2013 22:22 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Karachi reacts to murder of MPA
[Pak Daily Times] The killing of MQM's member of Sindh Assembly Muhammad Sajid Qureshi came as a shock for citizens of metropolis. In just an hour the city came to a standstill with business and transport coming to halt. Dignitaries were efficient in passing on their condolences; they also issued directives for the arrest of culprits and bring the perpetrators to justice.

Zardari condemns the attack: President Asif Ali Ten Percent Zardari
... husband of the late Benazir Bhutto, who has been singularly lacking in curiosity about who done her in ...
strongly condemned the attack on MPA Sajid Qureshi. In his condolence message to the bereaved family, the President expressed his heartfelt sympathies and prayed for the departed souls and for the courage of the family to bear this irreparable loss with fortitude. President directed the concerned authorities to undertake every possible effort to bring the perpetrators of such a heinous act to justice.

Qaim seeks report from IG: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah condemned the incident and sought an urgent report from the IG Police. According to an official handout the chief minister has also issued orders for immediate arrest of culprits involved. He said that such acts of terrorism can not deter the government as well as law enforcement agencies from their commitment to eliminate terrorism.

Ebad orders inquiry: Governor Sindh Dr Ishrtaul Ebad Khan strongly decried the incident and directed the IG Police Sindh and ADIG Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
to conduct an inquiry and submit a report on the incident. He also issued directives for immediate arrest of culprits.
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Africa Subsaharan
Mugabe may yet hold vote without reforms: analysts
[Pak Daily Times] Zim-bob-wean President Bob Muggsy Mugabe
Octogenarian President-for-Life of Zim-bob-we who turned the former Breadbasket of Africa into the African Basket Case...
appears to have caved in to regional pressure to delay key elections, but analysts warn the veteran ruler could yet forge ahead with the polls without making key reforms.

Last week Mugabe swept aside considerable opposition, mustered all the powers of the presidency and declared Zim-bob-we's elections will be held July 31. In doing so he plunged the country into a fresh political crisis, with long-time rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai vowing to veto any unilaterally declared poll date.

But within a week Mugabe was looking less than omnipotent.

Southern African leaders -- fearing Mugabe was hurtling Zim-bob-we toward another flawed election, yet more violence and another political and economic meltdown -- stepped in. In an unusual public rebuke of their old comrade, leaders from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) demanded Mugabe push back the election date.

SADC leaders said time must be given to introduce reforms that would make the elections free and fair, or at least allow a vote that would not derail their own plan to stabilise Zim-bob-we, which has been half a decade in the making.

Dumisani Nkomo, a Bulawayo-based independent political analyst said Mugabe got the message loud and clear.

"Mugabe is under pressure to ensure elections which will be credible and acceptable to SADC," Nkomo said. "This means if Mugabe decides to go ahead with the elections on July 31, the results won't be accepted by SADC."

But many observers see Mugabe's request to the constitutional court for a two-week delay until August 14 as necessary, but not sufficient to ensure a fair vote.

"There is no guarantee that the two weeks will be granted by the court," said Takavafira Zhou, a political scientist at Masvingo State University.

Rights groups and Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) have already accused the government of lodging an application to the consitutional court that was intended to fail.
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
U.S. training Syrian rebels
WASHINGTON — White House officials refused to comment Friday on a Los Angeles Times report that CIA operatives and U.S. special operations troops have been secretly training Syrian rebels with anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons since late last year, saying only that the U.S. had increased its assistance to the rebellion.

The covert U.S. training at bases in Jordan and Turkey began months before President Obama approved plans to begin directly arming the opposition to Syrian President Bashar Assad, according to U.S. officials and rebel commanders.

“We have stepped up our assistance, but I cannot inventory for you all the elements of that assistance,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said. “We have provided and will continue to provide substantial assistance to the Syrian opposition, as well as the Supreme Military Council.”
Does anyone at the White House understand the Pournelle Doctrine?
The training and Obama’s decision this month to supply arms and ammunition to the rebels have raised hope among the beleaguered opposition that Washington ultimately will provide heavier weapons as well. So far, the rebels say they lack the weapons they need to regain the offensive in Syria’s bitter civil war.

The tightly constrained U.S. effort reflects Obama’s continuing doubts about getting drawn into a conflict that already has killed more than 100,000 people and the administration’s fear that Islamic militants now leading the war against Assad could gain control of advanced U.S. weaponry.

The training has involved fighters from the Free Syrian Army, a loose confederation of rebel groups and some terrorists that the Obama administration has promised to back with expanded military assistance, said a U.S. official.

The number of rebels given U.S. instruction in both countries since the program began could not be determined, but in Jordan, the training involves 20 to 45 insurgents at a time, a rebel commander said. U.S. special operations teams selected the trainees over the last year when the U.S. military set up regional supply lines to provide the rebels with nonlethal assistance, including uniforms, radios and medical aid.

The two-week courses include training with Russian-designed 14.5-millimeter anti-tank rifles, anti-tank missiles, as well as 23-millimeter anti-aircraft weapons, according to a rebel commander in the Syrian province of Dara who helps oversee weapons acquisitions.
All of which could be used against us infidels and crusaders...
The training began last November at a new American base in the desert in southwest Jordan, he said.
Technically it's not a "U.S. base" but that won't stop the L.A. Times...
So far, about 100 rebels from Dara have attended four courses, while rebels from Damascus have attended three courses, he said.
Do they get diplomas?
“Those from the CIA, we would sit and talk with them during breaks from training and afterward, they would try to get information on the situation inside Syria," he said.

The rebels were promised enough armor-piercing anti-tank weapons and other arms to gain a military advantage over Assad’s better-equipped army and security forces, said the Dara commander. But arms shipments from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries, provided with assent from the Americans, took months to arrive and included less than the rebels had expected.

Since last year, the weapons sent through the Dara military council have included four or five Russian-made heavy Concourse anti-tank missiles, 18 14.5-millimeter guns mounted on the backs of pickup trucks and 30 82-millimeter recoilless rifles. The weapons are all Soviet or Russian models but manufactured in other countries, he said.
Ukraine? Serbia? North Korea?
“I’m telling you, this amount of weapons, once they are spread across the province [of Dara] is considered nothing,” the rebel commander said. “We need more than this to tip the balance or for there to even be a balance of power.”

U.S. officials said the Obama administration and its allies may supply anti-tank weapons to help the rebels destroy armored vehicles used by Assad forces. They are less likely to provide portable anti-aircraft missiles, which the rebels say they need to eliminate Assad’s warplanes.
Apparently the Syrian military has been eliminating their warplanes themselves given the Insh'allan maintenance and combat attrition. A good question: is Assad getting new aircraft from someone?
Secretary of State John F. Kerry is heading to Qatar on Saturday and will talk with other governments backing the rebels. A senior State Department official told reporters Friday that the talks would include discussions about coordinating deliveries of military aid.
They're doomed...
Posted by: Steve White || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Training the Syrian Rebs since late 2012, + still Baby Assad stands to prevail in full victory.

Its highly debatable iff the Bammer's "Contras" will prove to be as successful as Reagan-Bush's.

IMO how the Bammer = USA responds ala Syria may harbinger how the same will respond on China + Iran vee JAPAN, ROK, PHILIPPINES, VIETNAM, ASEAN, + INDIA I.E. OUR OVERSEAS ALLIES IN EAST-SOUTH ASIA.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/22/2013 0:14 Comments || Top||

#2  * DEFENCE FORUM INDIA > OBAMA: I'M NOT DICK CHENEY, + SYRIA IS NOT IRAQ.

Sorry, Bammey, but as someone involved in both the anti-Soviet Afghan war + Iran-Contra Syria = NOT Iraq = NOT Nicaragua + Honduras + El Salvador because Ron Reagan + Bush 41 + Boyz would never had allowed their respective situation(s) to deteriorate this far.

* WAFF > [Daily Mail.UK] UK TO JOIN US IN ACCEPTING DEFEAT AND START PEACE TALKS WID TALIBAN.

> RELATED DAILY MAIL.UK = US, TALIBAN DIALOGUE SIGNALS END OF US COLONIAL EMPIRE.
> PRESS TV = US COLONIAL EMPIRE SEES ITS LAST DAYS: [American] ACTIVIST SAYS.

Sara Flounders of IAC = International Action Center.

* TOPIX > CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: UNDER BARACK OBAMA, US IS "MISSING IN ACTION".

* Also from CHUCKY + SAME > [National Review Online] CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: SYRIA: AMERICA SIDELINED, BARELY RELEVANT.

* TOPIX > TALIBAN "EMBASSY" IS A SURRENDER BY OBAMA.

* SAME > AMERICA LOSES THE WAR ON TERROR.

Is "Winning by Losing" = "Losing by Winning"???

* SAME > KARZAI: TALIBAN MADE NO CONCESSIONS, US DESPERATE DUE TO WAR STALEMATE.

* SAME > [WaPo] SYRIAN CHEMICAL ARMS CLAIMS SAID TO BE UNVERIFIABLE.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/22/2013 1:11 Comments || Top||

#3  JosephMendiola, I know you are on a roll, but you left out the most important headline of all:

Obama is a Jack Ass, as they say takes one to know one "Obama: Kanye Is A Jackass, But He's Talented"

Posted by: Shomp Glert7500 || 06/22/2013 1:39 Comments || Top||

#4  And we keep the arms away from Al Qaeda how?

They will simply attack the the other rebel groups and take them. Silly plan.
Posted by: Harry the Rasher1329 || 06/22/2013 9:57 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
South Africa Deploying Troops to DR Congo
[An Nahar] South African troops have begun deploying to the Democratic Republic of the Congo
...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material...
's volatile east as part of a special U.N. brigade to battle armed rebels, a junior minister said Friday.

"South African troops are on their way to the DRC now," deputy foreign minister Ebrahim Ebrahim told news hounds.

South Africa has pledged 1,345 soldiers to the first-ever offensive United Nations
...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks...
brigade.

Tanzania and Malawi are also part of the 3,000-strong force, which began deploying to Goma on May 13.

"The Tanzanians are already on the ground," said Ebrahim.
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Afri solutions for Afri problems. I'm all for it.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/22/2013 4:43 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Rebels barring access to Sudan conflict zones: UN
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Rebels battling government forces in two southern states in Sudan are holding up relief and medical supplies into areas they control, the UN humanitarian chief said Thursday.

But a Sudanese rebel coalition is ready to accept a ceasefire in the two-year-old conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states so help can reach civilians, Valerie Amos told news hounds.

The United Nations
...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly...
and western countries have said fighting between the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-North) and the Sudanese army triggered a major health and food crisis in Kordofan and Blue Nile.

The Sudanese military has staged regular air raids on rebel areas in recent months. The SPLM-North has in turn shelled the Kordofan capital of Kadugli.

The UN estimates one million people in the two states are affected by the conflict and more than 200,000 have fled to neighboring South Sudan and Æthiopia.

The United Nations wants to bring medicine and food from Sudan into rebel-controlled areas. Amos said the government was ready to consider the operation, which it has blocked for several months, but the SPLM-North would not agree unless supplies came "across border" from South Sudan.

Amos blamed a "breakdown in trust" between the two sides.
A "breakdown in trust" isn't really a bad thing if one or more of the sides is a perfidious bastard.
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan


Southeast Asia
Military excercises with Indonesia demonstrate growing ties
Posted by: ryuge || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syria Rebels Say They Received New Types of Arms
[An Nahar] Syrian rebels have recently received new weapons that could "change the course of the battle" against the Syrian regime, a front man for the Free Syrian Army told Agence La Belle France Presse on Friday.

"We've received quantities of new types of weapons, including some that we asked for and that we believe will change the course of the battle on the ground," FSA political and media coordinator Louay Muqdad said.

"We have begun distributing them on the front lines, they will be in the hands of professional officers and FSA fighters," he said.

He did not specify what weapons had been received or when they had arrived, but added that a new shipment was expecting in coming days and recalled that the rebels had asked for "deterrent weapons."

The apparent influx of weapons comes after the United States said it would provide rebel forces with "military support," although it has declined to outline what that might entail.

"The weapons will be used for one objective, which is to fight the regime of (President) Bashir al-Assad," Muqdad insisted.

"They will be collected after the fall of the regime, we have made this commitment to the friends and brotherly countries" who supplied the weapons, he said.

On Thursday, Muqdad said rebels needed short-range ground-to-air missiles, surface-to-air missiles known as MANPADS, anti-tank missiles, mortars and ammunition.
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  As per BIG NEWS NETWORK + TOPIX, a Bill has been introduced before the US Congress barring the Bammer from arming the Syrian rebs until certain conditions are met.

As likely due to the following, in part, among other GOP-DEM + Euro concerns per the Rebs ...

* BIG NEWS NETWORK > [The National] SYRIAN REBELS' LEADER URGES EXTREMIST FIGHTERS TO UNIFY [under FSA Coalition banner] IN RETURN FOR [getting a share of] ADVANCED WEAPONS, i.e. ostensibly US, NATO-EU, + Israeli, etal. supplied advanced weapons.

Gen. Salim Idriss.

Only pre-condition is that the Extremists don't give or share any advanced weapons they receive from the FSA wid Al-Qaeda = Al-Nusra - WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG???

versus

* WAFF > [UPI.com] BETTER THE DEVIL WE KNOW THAN DEMONS WE CAN ONLY WAGER IFF ASSAD FALLS.

* ASSOCIATED PRESS > RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER [Sergei Lavrov]: SYRIA PEACE CONFERENCE COULD BE DERAILED IFF US PUSHES FOR NO-FLY ZONE, as a NFZ wold only encourage the Syrian Rebs to keep fighting???

* RELATED TOPIX > [Reuters] RUSSIA SAYS US RISKS AL-QAIDA "BOOMERANG" WID SYRIA REBELS.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/22/2013 0:46 Comments || Top||

#2  WORLD NEWS > [BBC] IDRISS: SYRIAN REBELS "CAN FIGHT HEZBOLLAH IN LEBANON".

Not news SecState Kerry wants to hear???

and

* TOPIX > [JPost] REBELS: WE WON'T ATTACK ISRAEL IFF IT INVADES SYRIA.

Does this mean the Rebs W-I-L-L attack Israel iff the latter does N-O-T invade Syria???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/22/2013 1:47 Comments || Top||

#3  What could go wrong?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/22/2013 2:26 Comments || Top||

#4  What could go right?
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 06/22/2013 7:34 Comments || Top||

#5  Markings on the boxes correspond with Libyan arms and ammo shipped to Qadaffi.
Posted by: Pappy || 06/22/2013 9:12 Comments || Top||

#6  Afghanistan redux, circa 1980s, supplying the Mujahideen with stinger missiles against the Soviets. It worked out well for awhile...
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/22/2013 10:46 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
EDITORIAL : What about North Waziristan?
[Pak Daily Times] The Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Pervaz Kayani
... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI...
has assured the military's presence in South Wazoo (SW) until law and order is fully restored in the area. He appreciated his soldiers for their relentless efforts to rescue SW from the clutches of the bad boys.

The effort becomes formidable when viewed in the context of the geographical location of the area, having one of the most forbidding terrains in the world.

General Kayani was in SW on Thursday accompanied by the UAE ambassador to Pakistain to inaugurate the newly constructed 50 kilometre road from Wana to Angoor Adda. The road, completed at a cost of $40 million, is funded by the UAE and will be named after Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Having both strategic and economic value, this road is one of the many development projects undertaken by the Pakistain army in SW.

The tribal area of FATA has lagged behind in all forms of development because of the indifference of successive governments to the needs of its people. Many believe, and rightly so, that it was the absence of the state from the region that has allowed the forces of Evil and faceless myrmidons to gain hold of the area and convert it into their sanctuaries and safe havens.

He was referring to this dilemma when the COAS said that progress and development would wean people away from terrorism. He urged the Internally Displaced People (IDPs) who had fled SW in the wake of military operation Rah-e-Nijat to return and once again inhabit their homes. Since the occupation of Tirah valley's strategic heights recently and the hoisting of the Pak flag on the valley's historic mosque Maidan Bagh on Thursday, the Pakistain army is confident that militancy is on the run in FATA.

What gives this confidence to the army is a question worth pursuing, since right next door, North Waziristan (NW) is still teeming with bad boys. Unless this hornet's nest is eliminated, assuming militancy to be on its last legs could be an illusion. NW is not only occupied by local forces of Evil (some having retreated into the safe havens there from Swat
...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat...
and SW) but has been home to foreign Death Eaters (including al Qaeda) over decades and is considered a terror-exporting centre. The Afghan war's predicament emanates from NW, and the drone hysteria too shares the same source.

It is now common knowledge that the bad boys, having been given ample time to make their move and new abode before the Rah-e-Nijat operation began, are now concentrated in NW. It was the clearing out of the forces of Evil to a large extent that enabled the army to build SW's infrastructure with relative calm. Therefore the test of the army's ability to rid FATA of militancy would not be complete unless NW is cleansed of militancy.

The new national security policy for the country, underscoring the need to have a coordinated and concentrated anti-terrorism and counter-insurgency strategy is under consideration. No policy on national security to combat terrorism, argues Chaudhry Nisar, Pakistain's Interior Minister, can succeed unless all the security forces and intelligence agencies, whether military or civilian, federal or provincial, are on the same page.

This brings to mind the creation of the National Counter Terrorism Authority, rendered ineffective by the lack of political will and vested interest. The new national security policy would serve little purpose if it does not address the situation in NW. The purpose of the policy to secure security would falter if it does not transparently spell out the mechanism to deal with the most intimidating task of cleansing NW of militancy.

The army has encircled NW from three sides. This offers the best opportunity in a long time to move into NW without qualms. It is now a matter of planning and forging the political will to do the needful. *
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan

#1  former Director General of ISI

He is suspect already.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/22/2013 11:14 Comments || Top||


Government
Chicago Teachers Union Prez Blames 'Rich White People'
[NEWS.INVESTORS] The president of the reliably Democrat Chicago, aka The Windy City or Mobtown
... home of Al Capone, a succession of Daleys, Barak Obama, and Rahm Emmanuel,...
Teachers Union charges that racism and "rich white people" are to blame for the immense financial and educational crisis facing the Chicago Public Schools.

Tbe Chicago Public Schools (CPS) represent everything that is wrong with public education in America. They are in thrall to the unions that run the system and bankrupt it through bloated salaries and pensions while too many of the students trapped inside graduate as functional illiterates, if they graduate at all.

Poor academic performance generally, a huge budget shortfall and poorly attended schools in declining neighborhoods recently forced CPS to close 49 schools in an attempt to close a $1 billion budget gap. But according to CTU President Karen Lewis, the root cause is not the lack of educational competition or the inability to fire or reward teachers on the basis of student academic performance.

In a speech Wednesday before the upscale City Club of Chicago, Lewis asked, "When will we address the fact that rich, white people think they know what's in the best interest of children of African-Americans and Latinos -- no matter what the parent's income or education level."

She decried members of the "status quo, the people who are running the schools and advising the mayor on how to best run our district, know what good education looks like because they have secured it for their own children in well-resourced, public and private institutions."
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Glad you are in Chicago, but we are waiting for you with open arms, brother.


Posted by: Shomp Glert7500 || 06/22/2013 0:32 Comments || Top||

#2  Fuck you, you stupid racist asshole. Take some goddamn responsibility for once in your idiotic life. Liberal.

Better yet. Jump off a cliff and die. You would server the world better as worm food anyhow.
Posted by: DarthVader || 06/22/2013 0:42 Comments || Top||

#3  Going by CTU President Karen Lewis' looks I'd say that she's been stuffing WAAAAAYYYY too much cake into that piehole.
Posted by: Canuckistan sniper || 06/22/2013 1:21 Comments || Top||

#4 
You seem to be having a bad day. Why don't you step away from the computer for a while? Perhaps you could get in a little exercise, take in a movie, spend time with the family. Then come back when you're calm and refreshed.

AoS
Posted by: Shomp Glert7500 || 06/22/2013 1:55 Comments || Top||

#5  She's right too---if it wasn't for rich white liberals, she'd be a domestic and the kids would have somebody who actually can teach (even if, gasp, it was a white male).
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/22/2013 2:25 Comments || Top||

#6  Sounds like Obama.
Posted by: Winky Sproing5899 || 06/22/2013 2:50 Comments || Top||

#7  Still blaming the plantation owner even after they bought the farm.
Posted by: Airandee || 06/22/2013 6:55 Comments || Top||

#8  How is this not
a) Racist?
b) a sign she's a responsibility dodger who can't do her job?
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 06/22/2013 7:16 Comments || Top||

#9  1 - never ever mention the middle and upper class blacks who took advantage of desegregation to flee the inner cities removing the social lid that had kept self destructive behaviors in check for generations.

2 - never ever mention the destructive effect not just of schools but also major cities of forced busing as people fled the lowering standards of discipline and academics in the education system.

3 - prove, however, that black racist can get away with the most outlandish slanders without consequences.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/22/2013 8:21 Comments || Top||

#10  "When will we address the fact that rich, white people think they know what's in the best interest of children of African-Americans and Latinos -- no matter what the parent's income or education level."

Ms. Lewis, do you mean rich white folks like Walter Annenberg?
Posted by: DepotGuy || 06/22/2013 8:58 Comments || Top||

#11  Rich, "blue-eyed devils"? Ms. Lewis, please report to the Mayor's office at once.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/22/2013 9:26 Comments || Top||

#12  Black racists like her will never be held accountable for their racism by the leftist media. That' kind of scrutiny is reserved for enemies of the party.
Posted by: OldSpook || 06/22/2013 9:40 Comments || Top||

#13  Since I don't know how to get the Day by Day cartoon of today to appear here:

"She could rescind the bounty she put out on Han Solo"

Heh.™
Posted by: Barbara || 06/22/2013 10:03 Comments || Top||

#14  "Bring me Solo and the Wookie, they will pay for this outrage."
Posted by: swksvolFF || 06/22/2013 10:07 Comments || Top||

#15  Looks like the sort of woman who would sponsor a youth soccer team...
Posted by: Pappy || 06/22/2013 11:02 Comments || Top||

#16  They blame "Rich White People" for everything.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/22/2013 11:23 Comments || Top||

#17  Is this another version of "blame Bush"?
Posted by: Hupomosing Cravilet9745 || 06/22/2013 11:24 Comments || Top||

#18  "They" being the Left. Case of self-loathing.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/22/2013 11:25 Comments || Top||

#19  Sounds like the blame Bush meme.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/22/2013 11:26 Comments || Top||

#20  People massive enough to have their own planetary system should not use the phrase "When are we going to talk about the elephant in the room?".
Posted by: SteveS || 06/22/2013 11:54 Comments || Top||

#21  To err is human. To blame others is politics.
Posted by: Hupomosing Cravilet9745 || 06/22/2013 12:10 Comments || Top||

#22  Wasting your life in a GUnion screwing with others out of self importance and ignorance. Apparently, the kids are stupid because of stupid people like you.
Posted by: Newc || 06/22/2013 14:31 Comments || Top||

#23  I blame poor white people and assorted other vile villens.
Posted by: Shipman || 06/22/2013 18:50 Comments || Top||

#24  Years ago during the years of the '70's, in my days as an educator consultant to elementary schools,(largely funded by federal funds, tho I worked for a private enterprise), Chicago was always a "what next?"

More than once, spent several days sitting, cause teachers were on a "sit-in" for what ever reason..... (Good for me, I got to tour Chicago)

Can't even begin to detail the meetings that were necessary before I was "allowed" to present to teachers.....

Seems nothing has changed since the '70's -- just more money now being spent....

It was in Chicago, in those days, that I had my second introduction to "The Teacher's Union."

The first was during my first teaching job, straight out of college. All this stuff about the state NTA (National Teachers Association) was having it's state conference. Whether or not I wanted to, I had to pay $20, had the day off, but had to attend the state meeting in Little Rock....

Couldn't get any of this "day off that was costing me $20" stuff to make sense to me..... but then again, I was just 20 years old..... with my questions, I learned quickly to "shut it up" and just go....

This same Chicago "leader" seems to have forgotten about The Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC)-- a Chicago public school reform project from 1995 to 2001 that worked with half of Chicago's public schools and was funded by a $49.2 million, 2-to-1 matching challenge grant over five years from the Annenberg Foundation. The grant was contingent on being matched by $49.2 million in private donations and $49.2 million in public money.

On the board of this Annenberg Foundation were Bill Ayers and Obama --- seems no process was the result of these millions of dollars......
Posted by: Sherry || 06/22/2013 22:21 Comments || Top||

#25  Screams and vitriol get louder when you are starting to circle the drain.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 06/22/2013 22:24 Comments || Top||

#26  Congratulations on your successful escape Sherry.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/22/2013 22:25 Comments || Top||

#27  She's right though Paul, "white people to blame". To blame....for letting it go on for so long that is.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/22/2013 22:26 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Turkey to Charge 18 More over Protests
[An Nahar] Turkey will charge 18 more people over recent mass anti-government protests, including with alleged membership in a "terror" group, lawyers and media said on Thursday.

The 18 were among the 90 members of the small leftist group, the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP), who were tossed in the slammer
Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit!
over the demonstrations that have presented Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan with the biggest challenge of his decade-long rule.

They will face charges of "membership in a terrorist organization" and "damaging public property" and will face several years in prison if convicted, NTV reported.

The group is among several that has been active in the anti-government protests and its members were jugged
Please don't kill me!
in a police raid on Tuesday, the Contemporary Lawyers Association (CHD) said.

They bring to at least 24 the number of people who will face charges over the demonstrations that infuriated Erdogan and that have earned Turkey criticism from the West. Most observers expect the number of those charged to rise.
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Hundreds of Brotherhood members hurt in Nile Delta clashes: Egypt's FJP
[Al Ahram] At least 357 members of the Moslem Brüderbund and its Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) have been injured in recent festivities with political opponents in the city of Dosouk in Egypt's Kafr Al-Sheikh governorate, FJP Secretary-General Mohamed El-Heleisy announced Thursday.

According to El-Heleisy, six injuries were the result of gunshots and 90 of birdshot, in addition to 87 injuries from bladed weapons and 76 by blunt instruments.

"The injured have been taken to hospitals in nearby governorates, such as Beheira, Alexandria and Gharbiya," he said at a presser.

The health ministry, however, has stated that the festivities left only 14 injured.

El-Heleisy added that 21 legal complaints had been filed blaming certain opposition figures for the violence, including officials affiliated with the liberal Constitution party, the anti-government 'Rebel' campaign and the Egyptian popular current, along with former Kafr Al-Sheikh MP Youssef El-Badry.

Clashes in Kafr Al-Sheikh were sparked by the president's appointment of seven Moslem Brüderbund members as new regional governors on Sunday, putting eleven of Egypt's 27 provinces under Brotherhood-affiliated governors.

Last Tuesday, anti-government protesters hurled Molotov cocktails at the residence of Kafr Al-Sheikh Governor Saad El-Husseini and set his car alight. El-Husseini, a leading Brotherhood member, was appointed governor last September.

A subsequent statement by the Kafr Al-Sheikh governor's office blamed the assault on "thugs affiliated with the 'Rebel' campaign and remnants of the former regime."

Sunday's gubernatorial appointments have provoked similar festivities in other governorates, with dozens injured in Fayoum and Gharbiya within recent days.
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

#1  What do expect from gang warfare?
Posted by: Harry the Rasher1329 || 06/22/2013 10:15 Comments || Top||


Egypt's 6 April denies taking part in pro-Morsi Cairo rally
[Al Ahram] Prominent youth group denies its members participated in Friday's mass rally in Cairo by Islamist parties to support President Morsi and 'say no to violence'
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Africa Horn
A delegation from Ahlu Suna Wal Jama'a arrives in Adado after 3 years.
[Shabelle] a delegation from Ahlu Suna Wal Jama'a who control large parts of south and central Somalia arrived in Cadodo town after 3 years.

The town which is controlled by Ximan iyo Xeeb was a battled field 3 years ago between Ahlu Suna and the current administration.

The delegation from the religious leaders was led by Ibrahim Hassan Gurey.

They attended the inauguration ceremony of the newly elected Himan iyo Heb president which occurred in Adado the capital of the region.

Reconciliation efforts are underway in Mogadishu to unite all the administrations in central Somalia to form a federal state.
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Salafists


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Paula Deen was Obama supporter
Not having been subscribed to cable TV in 10 years, I know nothing of this individual. Only that she admitted using the word "ni**er" in one context of another and her contract for her cooking show was not renewed.

Clearly blue on blue action.

from TFA:

Anyway, Paula Deen is a horrible racist who has never had a progressive thought in her life because who would ever use that term to refer to a minority in this day and age? Why, she must be one of those Republican, church-going, hatred-supporting vote suppressors we're always hearing about! Which would probably be accurate if she didn't happen to be close personal friends with the Obamas.
Posted by: badanov || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Please Note this maybe another "Bring Down the House" tactic by a person or persons unknown against any mention of race, even in your private life.
Posted by: Shomp Glert7500 || 06/22/2013 1:10 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm certainly no fan of Deen or her resturants, but her teevee apology was quite lame. She should have just told them to fok and walked away whistling Dixie.

Of course there was no mention made of the millions in federal and state taxes, or wages, and social security she has paid for her employees over the many yeas of her successful food empire run. If you've ever visited one of her southern fried food [artery blocking] establishments.... you know whom I'm referring to. Once again, class warfare trumps reality and truth.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/22/2013 4:33 Comments || Top||

#3  Wasn't Oprah an Obama supporter also.........?
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/22/2013 4:51 Comments || Top||

#4  "Kiss my grits"
Posted by: Airandee || 06/22/2013 6:54 Comments || Top||

#5  Paula Deen and her ilk are old time Plantaion Democrats, willing to kiss liberal ass in order to gain "acceptance"l by "all the right people". despite the southern accent, she is not country folk by a long shot. Yellow dog democrat.
Posted by: OldSpook || 06/22/2013 9:01 Comments || Top||

#6  How about Obama having a White House sit down luncheon with Paula Deen and Karen Lewis? Fried Chicken optional.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 06/22/2013 9:47 Comments || Top||

#7  #3 Wasn't Oprah an Obama supporter also.........?

I'd be surprised if the above statement is in the past tense.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/22/2013 11:11 Comments || Top||

#8  Hilarious, because the page has a link to a stupidly busty gal and a rapper/rapist.

Yeah, she is as country as John Fogerty is Southern, but I am coming of the solid opinion that democrats are the descendants of the plantation owners - or wannabe's.

I have heard the term about rigging applied to all peoples, and always when the work was shoddy. True or not, as it has the small town gossip feel about it, she did own up to it, which is much much more than we can say about certain politicians. Right Mr. Reid and Mr. Wright? Mr. Biden? Mr. Gates? Mrs. Hutt of the Chicago Teachers Union?

So let me ask this question, because it is a difference: Obama supporter out of character or convienance - as in support or local ward heeler community organizer (or else)?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 06/22/2013 11:14 Comments || Top||

#9  but I am coming of the solid opinion that democrats are the descendants of the plantation owners - or wannabe's.

Most Democrats Progressives want to separate themselves from their past. Most of the South of the Civil War era was Democrat with the exception of a very few isolated pockets. The KKK roots were in the South. I seldom heard Senator Byrd (now of ground temperature) mention his KKK roots.
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/22/2013 11:49 Comments || Top||

#10  Want to, or have to? To sell the product of a sh!!y brand the salesmanperson has to convince themself that this time, the product will be better.

Like in acting, be the part. Like the 'money shot' face on the cooking shows in order to convince the viewer via TV that the taste and smell is exquisite.

"Today we will cook up some progressivism. Because something everyone has in common is pooping, first roll a turd in flour, then deep fry in ethenol and guilt. (takes a taste, rolls eyes, humms, does little happy dance) Now that is what I'm-a talkn' about!"
Posted by: swksvolFF || 06/22/2013 12:17 Comments || Top||

#11  LOL!
Posted by: Newc || 06/22/2013 14:34 Comments || Top||


Arabia
WHO calls emergency meeting to respond to coronavirus outbreak
Prepare for the Saoodi medical system to be modestly over-stressed this Ramadan...
Amid fears of a new pandemic more deadly than SARS, 80 officials and doctors, including two from Britain, gathered in Cairo yesterday to examine ways of tackling Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, dubbed MERS.

The coronavirus is casting a shadow over the annual Muslim pilgrimages to Saudi Arabia, where four new deaths were announced on Monday.

The three-day meeting called by the World Health Organisation will look at developing guidelines for Ramadan. In October, more than two million people are expected to attend the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.

"Everyone is very aware of the fact that Ramadan begins next month and that there will be a large, large movement of people in a small crowded spaces," said Gregory Hartl, a spokesman for the WHO. "So the more we know about this virus before that starts the better."

There are also concerns that tourists could bring the virus back to their home countries. It appears to have an incubation period of up to 12 days and a fatality rate of 60 per cent.

Cases have also been found in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Tunisia and Jordan. Most were patients transferred home from the Middle East for treatment or people who had travelled to the region and became ill after they returned.

Dr Jon Bible, a clinical scientist, who treated one of the three British cases last year, said: "You don't want to have this."

Sufferers, he said, "are very close to death at all times. They are in respiratory distress at all times, it's like a very serious pneumonia".

The relief for authorities is that it has not yet mutated so as to gain the ability to jump easily from person to person.

Mr Hartl said: "We have been lucky it hasn't started to spread in any sustainable way between humans. We still have time, but we have to use that time to act."

An international team of doctors who investigated nearly two dozen cases in eastern Saudi Arabia found the virus has some striking similarities to SARS, which killed 800 people around the world as it spread a global health panic in 2003. Unlike SARS, though, scientists remain baffled about the source of the new virus, which was first reported in April 2012.

The symptoms of both are similar, with an initial fever and cough that may last for a few days before overpowering pneumonia develops.

"To me, this felt a lot like SARS did," said Trish Perl, a senior hospital epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Medicine, who was part of the team. Their report was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The team was alarmed to find MERS only spread within hospitals, even though some hospital patients were not close to the infected person.

"In the right circumstances, the spread could be explosive," said Dr Perl.

What is of particular concern is the high fatality rate of the virus. It has caused death in about 60 percent of patients so far, with 75 percent of cases in men and most in people with serious health conditions. There are currently no known treatments.
Posted by: Steve White || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  WHO calls emergency meeting:




The sky is falling ----oooooooohhhh !

Global Warming ------ oooooooohhhh !

My dog has fleas ------ oooooooohhhh !
This one turns out to be serious. Sometimes the WHO gets it right.

AoS
Posted by: Shomp Glert7500 || 06/22/2013 0:44 Comments || Top||

#2  The key question is how long before an infected person becomes infectious?
Posted by: phil_b || 06/22/2013 1:48 Comments || Top||

#3  The team was alarmed to find MERS only spread within hospitals, even though some hospital patients were not close to the infected person.

Some lunatic with a syringe?
Posted by: Harry the Rasher1329 || 06/22/2013 9:45 Comments || Top||

#4  Hmmm. Does anybody in the saudi hospital system actually wash their hands, or is that unislamic? We know they won't use hand sanitizer since it contains alcohol.
Posted by: Barbara || 06/22/2013 10:15 Comments || Top||

#5  Who gets it right?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/22/2013 10:17 Comments || Top||

#6  Everyone is very aware of the fact that Ramadan begins next month and that there will be a large, large movement of people in a small crowded spaces

Dralm moves in mysterious ways.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/22/2013 10:33 Comments || Top||

#7  Who gets it right?

What gets it second.

As for Prepare for the Saoodi medical system to be modestly over-stressed this Ramadan..., as long as the medical system wears a burka and only goes out in the company of a male relative...
Posted by: SteveS || 06/22/2013 11:48 Comments || Top||

#8  Nothing a good milk and camel urine won't cure.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 06/22/2013 12:26 Comments || Top||

#9  Barbara, of course washing is Islamic, but sand can sometimes be used as a substitute for water.
Posted by: James || 06/22/2013 16:23 Comments || Top||

#10  Airborne, Harry. Correlate airflow ductwork venting with carrier and new infections.
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/22/2013 17:27 Comments || Top||

#11  What gets it second.

Slowly I turned....
Posted by: Shipman || 06/22/2013 17:50 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
U.S. Secretary of State Kerry heads to Qatar to talk Syria rebel support
[Al Ahram] Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry
Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State...
headed to Qatar on Friday on a mission to coordinate with allies on the next steps in Syria as the United States considers how far to go on assisting rebels.

Kerry flew out of Washington on the start of a 12-day trip that will also include meetings in emerging US partner India, an Asia regional conference in Brunei and his latest attempt to revive the Middle East grinding of the peace processor.

The top US diplomat was to meet Saturday with fellow foreign ministers of the so-called London 11 "Friends of Syria" group in Qatar, an oil-rich monarchy at the forefront of helping rebels battling Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Supressor of the Damascenes...

The United States has vowed to boost support for the rebels after declaring that Assad defied warnings not to use chemical weapons, but President Barack Obama
I inhaled. That was the point...
is cautious about becoming embroiled in an increasingly sectarian conflict that has claimed nearly 100,000 lives.

"The goal of the meeting is to be very concrete about the importance of every kind of assistance that's coming from the London 11 countries... being fully coordinated and going through only the Syrian opposition coalition," a US official said.

The official said that the Qatar meeting was critical as the Syrian National Coalition was looking at its leadership, amid concerns in Washington that fighters against Assad lack cohesion and direction.

"This is all in support of energizing, reenergizing, the Syrian opposition coalition leadership to work to select its leadership," the official said on condition of anonymity.

Qatar has also played a key role in reconciliation efforts in Afghanistan by playing host to a mission of the Taliban, with which the United States plans talks as it prepares to end more than a decade of war next year.

But the long-planned initiative has faced strident criticism from Afghanistan's Caped President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai
... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use...
, who objects to the mission's name of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan -- which may imply a government in exile from the hardline 1996-2001 Taliban regime.
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  The goal of the meeting is to be very concrete about the importance…

Whenever anyone - ever - begins a statement like that you know they’re completly full of horseshit.
Posted by: DepotGuy || 06/22/2013 13:27 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Thai marine captain apologizes to slain rebels' kin
Posted by: ryuge || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'd have thought investigating and arresting the families if they were involved might be a better first step...
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 06/22/2013 7:14 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Security operations underway in Mogadishu
[Shabelle] Security operations conducted by federal government troops is currently under way in Mogadishu. This follows after Wednesday's attacks on UNDP offices in Mogadishu.

Vehicles using major roads in the city are stopped by government troops and a thorough search follows, pedestrians are neither spared as they are ordered to stop and a security check up follows.

A local who contacted Shabelle media station in Mogadishu expressed his anger towards the government and urged the Somali leaders to sack top security officials'. '' they only wait for kabooms to occur or when Alshabab attacks. That's when they (government) starts conducting security operations and arrests innocent school children'' said the local.

Many youths have been tossed in the clink
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
but the exact number has not yet been released by the government as for now.

House to house operations are frequently done by government troops every night.
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Africa North
Limited Cairo protest calls on army to take over from Egypt president
[Al Ahram] Hundreds stage anti-Morsi counter-demonstration in Cairo as hundreds of thousands of Islamist protesters rally in support of beleaguered presidency
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Bangladesh
Stay alert to plot PM asks people
[Bangla Daily Star] Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since the Lower Paleolithic. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangla. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide. She and the head of the BNP, Khaleda Zia show such blind animosity toward each other that they are known as the Battling Begums..
yesterday called upon all to remain alert about any conspiracy of the leader of the opposition against the nation after her return from Singapore.

"Last time she conspired in Singapore to topple the government. I don't know what conspiracy she will hatch this time against the nation," she said.

"So, I urge people to remain alert and forge unity against the conspiracy," she added.

The premier was addressing a discussion marking the 64th founding anniversary of Bangladesh Awami League at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the capital.

Hasina urged the leader of the opposition not to argue in favour of the caretaker government, saying it would not bring any benefit for her party.

"The caretaker government will try to stay in power sending you and me to jail," she said.
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Two pro-govt tribal elders killed in Khar
[Pak Daily Times] Militants armed with guns and rockets killed two members of a pro-government militia and maimed two coppers in a tribal district on the Afghanistan border, officials said Friday. The hard boy attack in Bajaur came just days after US officials said they hoped to open peace talks with the Afghan Taliban in Doha, capital of the Gulf state of Qatar. About a dozen snuffies attacked the homes of two tribal elders near Khar, the main town in Bajaur, late Thursday, administration official Abdul Haseeb said. The two elders, who were members of a pro-government tribal militia, were killed and two tribal coppers were maimed, Haseeb told AFP. A security official in the area confirmed the attack and the casualties. "Their targets were the tribal elders," he said. Pakistain has for years been fighting homegrown Taliban snuffies in its northwestern border areas with Afghanistan. A US-led NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all....
combat mission across the border is due to withdraw next year after a 12-year Afghan Taliban insurgency.
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Africa North
Mothers of slain protesters demonstrate at Morsi's house
[Al Ahram] Dozens of protesters gathered in front of President Mohamed Morsi's house in the suburb of New Cairo on Friday morning, denouncing what they described as the president's failure to obtain justice for slain protesters.

The protest was attended by several mothers of those slain during the 2011 revolution, who chanted against the president and prayed. Among the protesters was mother of Khaled Said. Said was killed by two coppers in Alexandria in June 2010 and subsequently became a symbol of the struggle against police torture.

Reports suggested that the president had left his house to avoid the protesters.

Journalist Rasha Azab posted on Twitter, "Morsi has fled from the deaders' mothers."

Several security cordons have been erected in front of the house.

The protest was called for by a campaign called 'We're following you' which follows the work of fact-finding committee which was drawn up by Morsi in July 2012 to investigate the killing of unarmed protesters since 2011.

Earlier this year, members of the fact-finding committee accused the president of ignoring their conclusions after leaks from the committee's reports were revealed.
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Obama Confuses UK Finance Minister with Soul Singer
[An Nahar] U.S. President Barack Obama
I am not a dictator!...
repeatedly called British Finance Minister George Osborne "Jeffrey" at the G8 summit, media reported on Thursday.

The U.S. president said three times that he agreed fully with "Jeffrey" during his presentation on G8 host Britannia's plans to crack down on tax evasion, leaving Osborne red-faced.

Realising his blunder afterwards, Obama joked that he had mistaken the chancellor of the exchequer for the U.S. soul singer Jeffrey Osborne, The Sun and the Financial Times reported.

"I'm sorry, man. I must have confused you with my favorite R and B singer," Obama was quoted as saying.

The chancellor, 42, bears little resemblance to Jeffrey Osborne, a 65-year-old African-American hit singer-songwriter known for his 1982 classic "On the Wings of Love".

The singer told Sky News television: "I was really delighted actually. I was really not aware that (Obama) was that much of a fan that he would call the chancellor Jeffrey Osborne.
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I like Madonna, Osama liked Whitney.

I like Ozzy, the Bammer likes Jeffrey.

[REESE'S "YOU GOT CHOCOLATE IN MY PEANUT BUTTER" COMMERCIALS here].
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 06/22/2013 0:51 Comments || Top||

#2  Yeah, I can see how Obama could be confused, (Light me another Dubbie will ya brother Prez... hey got anymore Coke ? Past life catching up with you, son ?)

Posted by: Shomp Glert7500 || 06/22/2013 1:20 Comments || Top||

#3  British Finance Minister George Osborne note the resemblance /sarc off
Posted by: Shomp Glert7500 || 06/22/2013 4:14 Comments || Top||

#4  Realising his blunder afterwards, Obama joked that he had mistaken the chancellor of the exchequer for the U.S. soul singer Jeffrey Osborne,

Attributed to weed abuse no doubt. Names, why do they hate me.
Posted by: Besoeker || 06/22/2013 4:18 Comments || Top||

#5  Had Bush committed this gaffe, the press would have been overflowing with more of the "Bush is an idiot" theme. Obama shows all the intelligence of a waffle iron (especially if he is without his teleprompter or goes off his scripted remarks) and yet he gets a free pass from the leftist media. This has got to be remedied - we as a republic cannot continue to exist in liberty without a truly free press. And we no longer have a free press in the so called mainstream media; their self applied ideological shackles seem even more controlling than was the police state of the old Soviet Union.

Want criticism of a president, wait til a conservative is elected. The leftist mass media will go after him or her with the fervor of the SS on the night of the Long Knives, in their pursuit of a one party state and elimination of all dissenting political views.
Posted by: OldSpook || 06/22/2013 9:34 Comments || Top||

#6  their self applied ideological shackles seem even more controlling than was the police state of the old Soviet Union.

^^^^^^^ This
Posted by: RandomJD || 06/22/2013 9:41 Comments || Top||

#7  And in other news...George Osborne confused mrs Obama with one of the queens carriage pullers and feed her an apple.
Posted by: Airandee || 06/22/2013 9:57 Comments || Top||

#8  Without losing his hand, Airandee?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/22/2013 10:12 Comments || Top||

#9  Accepted. Make that mistake all the time.

Posted by: swksvolFF || 06/22/2013 10:15 Comments || Top||

#10  Hey, Europe!

Ya' wanted Bambi, begged for Bambi, now ya' got Bambi.

Miss George Bush yet?
Posted by: Barbara || 06/22/2013 10:18 Comments || Top||

#11  George Osborne note the resemblance

Kinda looks like Charlie Sheen after a 2-month donut binge.
Posted by: Pappy || 06/22/2013 10:55 Comments || Top||

#12  When a candidate for public office faces the voters he does not face men of sense; he faces a mob of men whose chief distinguishing mark is the fact that they are quite incapable of weighing ideas, or even of comprehending any save the most elemental — men whose whole thinking is done in terms of emotion, and whose dominant emotion is dread of what they cannot understand. So confronted, the candidate must either bark with the pack or be lost... All the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre — the man who can most adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum. The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.
H.L. Mencken, Baltimore Sun (26 July 1920)
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/22/2013 11:42 Comments || Top||

#13  At least the 47%...
Posted by: JohnQC || 06/22/2013 12:13 Comments || Top||

#14  When you don't care about anything but your own pipe dream agenda, these things happen.
Posted by: Newc || 06/22/2013 14:26 Comments || Top||

#15  James Brown is the UK Finance Minister?
Posted by: Skidmark || 06/22/2013 17:29 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Drunk Aussie Lets Seven-Year-Old Drive Him Home
[An Nahar] Police on Friday charged a drunk man after pulling over a car on Australia's Gold Coast to allegedly find a seven-year-old boy driving him home at 3:00 am.

A patrol car stopped the vehicle after it went by without its headlights on early Friday, to find the boy at the wheel and the man in the passenger seat.

"A man has been charged with serious traffic offences after police intercepted a car allegedly being driven by a seven-year-old boy at Surfers Paradise in the early hours of this morning," police said.

The 41-year-old was charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and being an adult in charge under the influence of alcohol.
Posted by: Fred || 06/22/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Well, could be worse,

Posted by: Shomp Glert7500 || 06/22/2013 1:02 Comments || Top||

#2  Great premise for a reality tv show: Can you drive better than a 7 yr old? Contestants consume massive amounts of alcohol and then compete with 7 year olds on a simulated drive home from the pub.
Posted by: SteveS || 06/22/2013 1:05 Comments || Top||

#3  That brings memories --- there was a place, called The Dolphin in Sharm el Sheik that served Forsters.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 06/22/2013 3:02 Comments || Top||

#4  "Yes, officer- I know my dog doesn't have a driver's license. But I never let him off his leash."
Posted by: Pappy || 06/22/2013 9:16 Comments || Top||

#5  Did the kid wreck the car? No? Then obviously he's a better driver than the drunk would have been.

Bet they would have made it all the way home if the drunk had remembered about the headlights.
Posted by: Barbara || 06/22/2013 10:09 Comments || Top||

#6  7 year old > texting
Posted by: swksvolFF || 06/22/2013 10:27 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
26[untagged]
8Arab Spring
3Govt of Pakistan
2Commies
2Govt of Syria
2Hezbollah
1al-Qaeda in North Africa
1al-Qaeda in Iraq
1al-Qaeda
1Govt of Sudan
1Salafists
1TTP
1Palestinian Authority
1al-Qaeda in Pakistan
1al-Shabaab

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
Comments Spam
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
RSS Links
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio
Sink Trap

Alzheimer's Association
Day by Day
Counterterrorism
Hair Through the Ages







On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2013-06-22
  Britain OKs Treaty Clearing Way to Deport Abu Qatada to Jordan
Fri 2013-06-21
  Today's Pakaboom: 15 Dead in Peshawar Mosquaboom
Thu 2013-06-20
  Hizbullah Leader's Brother Killed In Syria Clashes
Wed 2013-06-19
  20 killed after militants storm UN compound in Somalia
Tue 2013-06-18
  Today's Pakaboom: 18 dead at Mardan funeral
Mon 2013-06-17
  LeJ claims twin attacks
Sun 2013-06-16
  Double blasts kill 25 in Pakistan
Sat 2013-06-15
  Mali's Tuareg rebels ready to sign peace deal
Fri 2013-06-14
  Mortars Fired at Damascus Airport, Delay 3 Flights
Thu 2013-06-13
  60 Boko Haram members killed in Maiduguri
Wed 2013-06-12
  Thousands Throng Istanbul Protest Square
Tue 2013-06-11
  Bombs and battles hit northern Iraq, more than 70 dead
Mon 2013-06-10
  Syria Islamists Execute Youth in Front of Family
Sun 2013-06-09
  Pak police recovers 15,000 kilos of explosive material
Sat 2013-06-08
  Tunisia Turns Away 8 Gulf Muslim Preachers

Better than the average link...



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.
52.14.183.150
Paypal:
WoT Background (21)    Non-WoT (14)    Opinion (2)    (0)    Politix (3)