#1
That antiqued little thing called the Constitution. You know, the one with the preamble that starts "We the People of the United States", not the people of the American Hemisphere or of North America.
The clear and unambiguous move to kill real in place border security shows its all about stuffing the ballot box.
After this, there is no America. It's everyone man, woman, and child for themselves. Find your tribe because nothing afterward means anything other than some bureaucrats capricious labeling of humans in the area.
#3
The moment that Obama would sign it in, the best revenge would be to establish the PRI as a legal political party in areas like Southern California. Have a motto like - why support a lot of privileged rich white people. The Donks would lose more votes in the end than they'd ever gain.
...In Men on Strike, Dr. Smith takes us on a highly readable journey through her extensive studies of mens issues. We learn, for example, of the impact of mens increasing fears of being labeled a pedophile. In one unfortunate case, Englishman Clive Peachey saw two-year-old Abigail Rae wandering freely as he passed by in his truck. But he didnt stop to help her for fear he would be accused of attempting to abduct her. The result? Abigail drowned.
...Smiths critically important book lays clear the pernicious outcomes of a climate that so idealizes female victims that it is willing to pay virtually any price to ensure those victims know their place and their power. As my own work on studying pathological altruism and altruism bias has shown, it is all too easy to draw well-meaning society members into such ultimately harmful social movements.
Dr. Smith also sensitively describes the inhospitable climate on college campuses towards men. As a college professor, I can vouch for the deeply troubling atmosphere Ive attended dozens of luncheons over the years celebrating womens victimization with litanies of misleading and downright false facts and one-sided perspectives that resemble nothing so much as an old-fashioned revival meeting. (God forbid anyone ever stand upright to object to the misinformation being conveyed.) As Dr. Smith observes, women already approach 60% of the population of most campuses. If the percentages of men and women were reversed, we would have a national uproar.
#1
Using the Left's own agenda against them [can you say Alinsky?], given that Congress has just removed the prohibition on women in combat, it's time for a class action suit vs Secty of Defense and the Prez, to either terminate selective service registration for males or require all females to register. Further to make up for two hundred years of oppression of one gender required to face death and dismemberment [no, their bodies weren't theirs to own], any future 'draft' [selective activation] be adjusted by gender to make up for that history [just like color or race preferences]. I think the political fallout will result in a very significant fundamental change in culture.
Once shrouded in secrecy, Israel's David's Sling missile interceptor went on display for the first time this week at the Paris Air Show.
Its co-manufacturers, Rafael, say the system is designed to compliment the Iron Dome defensive shield used in the Gaza conflict, and will be operational within two years.
Co-developed by US firm Raytheon and Israeli company Rafael, David's Sling is a missile defense system designed to safeguard Israeli citizens from attack.
The Sling is capable of intercepting incoming rockets more than 160 kilometers away.
Until now all that's been seen of it is a brief video handout of a secret desert test last November.
But this week Yossi Horowitz, business development director at Rafael, showed off one of the missiles at the Paris Air Show.
Also known as the Stunner, the missile is part of a three-tier system. It will be used as a bridge between the existing Iron Dome system, which intercepts short-range rockets, and the Arrow, targeting ballistic missiles.
Horowitz says David's Sling will be ready for deployment within two years.
Russia's Interfax news agency reports that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden is hanging out at the Russian airport, waiting for a flight to Cuba, and is accompanied a woman named Sarah Harrison.
Harrison is the closest adviser to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who orchestrated the release of reams of classified U.S. government documents and other embarrassing information.
Wikileaks confirmed: "Miss Harrison has courageously assisted Mr. Snowden with his lawful departure from Hong Kong and is accompanying Mr. Snowden in his passage to safety."
Harrison is a UK citizen, journalist, legal researcher, and section editor for WikiLeaks.
She previously worked as an investigative researcher for The Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the Centre for Investigative Journalism.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/23/2013
13:09 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
A very, very long flight on a Russian airliner.
The Internal Revenue Service sent 23,994 tax refunds worth a combined $46,378,040 to "unauthorized" alien workers who all used the same address in Atlanta, Ga., in 2011, according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). These are the people who want to handle our healthcare.
That was not the only Atlanta address theoretically used by thousands of "unauthorized" alien workers receiving millions in federal tax refunds in 2011. In fact, according to a TIGTA audit report published last year, four of the top ten addresses to which the IRS sent thousands of tax refunds to "unauthorized" aliens were in Atlanta. They're also the people who handle organized crime, so I'm sure they've rounded up the perps, jugged the criminal masterminds, and recovered the money. That's right up Eric Holder's ally.
The IRS sent 11,284 refunds worth a combined $2,164,976 to unauthorized alien workers at a second Atlanta address; 3,608 worth $2,691,448 to a third; and 2,386 worth $1,232,943 to a fourth. And not one word in the story about recovering the money or arresting the perps. It's like it's not a priority or something...
#3
The postal and refund anomalies could have been discovered much, much sooner had we been able to.... connect the dots through the establishment of massive data storage centers and implementation of newly developed software key word associations technology.
#6
Hey that ain't much, average unauthorized refund was $1932.98. Just consider it part of the local stimulus fund and your blood pressure will go down.
#7
Why does the name 'Southern Poverty Law Center' come to mind. They are famous for sharing offices with odorous groups such as Acorn.
It isn't in the story but something like this would be right up their alley. One has to wonder if there is some sort of connection.
#9
"Well if the IRS didn't have to spend all its resources investigating Tea-party related 501's then they would have caught this! It's *your* *fault*!".
More details from the Guardian to follow the Post story below. Anyone surprised? Anyone?
The NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has flown out of Hong Kong, where he had been in hiding since identifying himself as the source of revelations on US surveillance programmes, despite a US request for his arrest.
The 30-year-old had previously said he would stay in the city and fight for his freedom in the courts. But the Hong Kong government confirmed that he left on Sunday, two days after the US announced it had charged him with espionage, saying documents filed by the US did not fully comply with legal requirements.
It also said it was requesting clarification from Washington on Snowden's claims that the US had hacked targets in the territory.
So perhaps Snowden was a hot potato for the territory...
Snowden had been at a safe house since 10 June, when he checked out of his hotel after giving an interview to the Guardian outing himself as the source who leaked top secret documents.
Hong Kong's decision to allow him to leave
...alternately, that they told him to leave...
comes a day after the US sought to turn up the pressure on the territory to hand him over, with a senior administration official telling the Washington Post: "If Hong Kong doesn't act soon, it will complicate our bilateral relations and raise questions about Hong Kong's commitment to the rule of law."
As noted in our other article, Hong Kong should indeed act according to the rule of law. It would be a nice example for their masters in Beijing. But that doesn't mean they fall over themselves to comply with American demands, it means they follow the extradition treaty.
Sunday's statement from the Hong Kong authorities said: "Mr Edward Snowden left Hong Kong today [June 23] of his own accord for a third country through a lawful and normal channel.
"The US government earlier on made a request to the HKSAR [Hong Kong special administrative region] government for the issue of a provisional warrant of arrest against Mr Snowden. Since the documents provided by the US government did not fully comply with the legal requirements under Hong Kong law, the HKSAR government has requested the US government to provide additional information so that the Department of Justice could consider whether the US government's request can meet the relevant legal conditions.
"As the HKSAR government has yet to have sufficient information to process the request for provisional warrant of arrest, there is no legal basis to restrict Mr Snowden from leaving Hong Kong.
"The HKSAR government has already informed the US government of Mr Snowden's departure.
"Meanwhile, the HKSAR government has formally written to the US government requesting clarification on earlier reports about the hacking of computer systems in Hong Kong by US government agencies. The HKSAR government will continue to follow up on the matter so as to protect the legal rights of the people of Hong Kong."
According to the South China Morning Post, Snowden boarded an Aeroflot flight to Moscow, although the newspaper said Russia was not his ultimate destination.
It will be if Vlad wants it that way...
It suggested he might go to Ecuador or Iceland -- having cited the latter as a possible refuge in an interview with the Guardian.
However, reports from Moscow indicate that Havana would be his next port of call, with the ultimate destination either Caracas in Venezuela or Quito in Ecuador.
Wherein he will learn the definition of a "bird in a cage"...
The South China Morning Post said the Russian embassy in Beijing would neither confirm nor deny he was on a flight to Moscow and the Russian consulate in Hong Kong declined to comment.
Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian president Vladimir Putin, said: "I don't [know if he's planning to stay in Moscow]. I heard about the potential [arrival] from the press. I know nothing."
On whether Moscow would still consider a request for asylum from Snowden: "Every application is considered so it's standard procedure ... We are not tracing his movements and I know nothing."
US authorities could not be reached for comment.
WikiLeaks tweeted to say that it had "assisted Mr Snowden's political asylum in a democratic country, travel papers and safe exit from Hong Kong".
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/23/2013
09:38 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Moscow? a real traitor? Or convenience, that'l put him on the list.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/23/2013 9:54
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Unless Obama kidnaps him back from wherever he lands, Snowden isn't coming back. Even if he does, it will be a political disaster putting him on trial.
Posted by: Charles ||
06/23/2013 10:23
Comments ||
Top||
#3
Good move by Putin. Who or what do we have that's worth it to the Russkis so they would trade Snowden back to us?
#6
As far as anyone knows, Snowden has given up only enough information to let the Americans know the that the socialist Obama regime is spying on every detail of their life.
It appears that he has given no one in China information that would label him a traitor.
The hard drives on his 4 laptops are no doubt encripted. No doubt only he knows how to get past the encription of his data.
#11
He can tell them all about how that evil spying the US did hurt their attempts to help the strong upstanding moral rapists/kidnappers/terrorist communists on the side of good in Colombia.
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/23/2013 13:10
Comments ||
Top||
#16
you just know, though, that it would be OK to imprison HIM in Gitmo, right, Obama/Holder?
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/23/2013 13:12
Comments ||
Top||
#17
Do they have restaurants or food stores before customs in the Moscow airport?
If not the boy is going to get hungry and thirsty really fast.
If they do and he doesn't yet have rubles can he buy anything?
#19
another comment:
Snowden's Aeroflot flight to Havana passes through US airspace. Will Federal authorities allow wanted man to fly over US or make plane land?
#21
Remember that disinformation is just as important than information. Snowden has, in some ways, the upper hand on the O administration. Yes, they do not want him in court, but O admin would ahem bend the rules, if need be.
I am sure that Snowden has worked these contingencies and has a hole card with his information, so a hit on him will not eliminate later release of more information.
You can bet your boots that Snowden is getting lots of help from either the Russians or Chinese, or both. Cat is out of the bag.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/23/2013 14:45
Comments ||
Top||
#22
AP, if the O administration were a collection of agent provocateurs what would they do different?
They're finding new and interesting ways of ineptly getting into fights with the people they've been saying are more moral than us for the last forty years.
#23
Yes they are, Snowy. Our adversaries and enemies know that our signals, data, and traffic analysis are extensive and far reaching. They do not have nearly this capability. However, they also know that our top so-called leadership does not read Sun Tzu, and does not know an OODA loop from a hula hoop.
We have to gather data on our enemies and adversaries. It is in the interest of our survival as a nation. However, when you start using these intelligence capabilities for your own domestic political ends, and especially when it is discovered, it does threefold harm.
First, it destroys basic trust by the citizens (not people) of the US toward their govt;
Secondly, it gives our enemies and adversaries knowledge of our capabilities and what we know;
Thirdly, it gives our enemies a means of attacking and weakening the security of the US and its citizens.
Snowden may have inadvertently did some good in exposing the way the govt violated the rights and trust of its citizens, but he also did great harm in our legitimate responsibility of gathering intelligence.
There may be a remote possibility that things may be put to rights, but the US has been seriously wounded by other revelations by Snowden.
Snowden's action is a very sharp double edged sword that cuts both ways.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/23/2013 15:31
Comments ||
Top||
#24
AP, I'm not yet sure what I think of Snowden, BUT,I do know that if he was all about aiding the "enemy" he wouldn't have announced all this to the press.
If he really believes that the gov't is rapidly becoming a police state based on the NSA and other current news, how would he have acted differently?
Step 1 - warn the public and make a fuss;
setp 2 - run for your life.
#26
Snowden was a contractor with some sysadmin privileges. I'd be amazed if the Chinese and the Russians don't already posses a deeper understanding of the capabilities of the systems he interacted with than Snowden himself. I'm not seeing the harm to national security.
#27
C_Liberal, says I'm not seeing the harm to national security.
That all depends on who/what you consider to be the threat to national security. This regime considers the Tea Party to be the primary threat followed by the NRA and conservative Republicans.
Given that it's easy to see this as a threat to the security of the "elite" facists in charge.
#28
Snowden was a contractor with some sysadmin privileges. I'd be amazed if the Chinese and the Russians don't already posses a deeper understanding of the capabilities of the systems he interacted with than Snowden himself. I'm not seeing the harm to national security.
Posted by Classical_Liberal
#29
You guys are being played - and by a silly little adolescent and his ridiculously self-aggrandizing left-wing hack pseudo-journalist.
Has any of you bothered to consider that Snowden took FOUR laptops filled with clues to our sigint techniques - and has handed them over to not just the ChiComs but also (this is really mind-boggling) Putin's anti-American gangster regime? And you guys call yourselves patriots? Please...
Oh, and did you bother to note that Snowden contacted his bumboy at the Grauniad over a month before he began working at NSA? Malice aforethought, anyone? Or that he headed immediately with his four laptops not to Iceland but to CHINA?
AYFKM?
Don't be so g-damned naive. This foolish little kid is scum.
I know y'all hate Obama and can't bear the thought that maybe, possibly, the ol' Kenyan Marxist mooselim has turned out to be far more ruthless - and effective - against the jihadis than W ever was, but really, stop being so stupid. Snowden is a pawn in a chess match whose subtleties far exceed his or his moronic admirers' grasp.
Edward Snowden, the former contractor who leaked top-secret documents about about U.S. surveillance programs, has left Hong Kong on his own accord for a third country, the government here said Sunday afternoon.
Snowden is heading to Moscow, according to a report from the South China Morning Post. The newspaper reported that he boarded commercial flight Aeroflot SU213 from Chep Lap Kok airport at 11:04 a.m. He is scheduled to arrive at Moscows Shermetyevo International Airport at 5:15 p.m. (9:15 a.m. EDT)
U.S. officials are also seeking to extradite him to the United States to stand trial on criminal charges.
Snowdens final destination is unclear. Russian news agency Interfax reported that Snowden was booked on a flight to Cuba with the ultimate destination of Venezuela. Ecuador and Iceland have also been mentioned as possibilities.
Snowden is apparently being aided in his travel by WikiLeaks, the anti-secrecy organization that published hundreds of thousands of classified documents. The group posted on Twitter about 5 a.m. EDT that Snowden was currently over Russian airspace accompanied by WikiLeaks legal advisors. Snowden has drawn comparisons to Bradley Manning, the U.S. Army private who provided the secret files to WikiLeaks.
The Hong Kong government said that documents from the U.S. government requesting a warrant for his arrest did not fully comply with the legal requirements under Hong Kong law. And so it has asked the United States to provide additional information.
#2
This a is a 'head fake'. He was probably on a slow boat to china last week. Snowden should be dining on sweet and sour pork and reviewing secrets with his hosts daily.
Gunmen stormed a camp on Pakistans second largest mountain on Sunday, killing nine foreign climbers in a brazen assault that could deal a blow to the countrys efforts to jumpstart its tourism industry.
Pakistans Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, calling it retribution for a suspected U.S. drone strike last month that killed Wali ur-Rehman, the second highest-ranking leader of the terrorist group.
Through this killing we gave a message to international community to ask U.S. to stop drone strikes, said Ehsanullah Ehsan, a Taliban spokesman.
The attack in northern Pakistan at Nanga Parbat, the worlds ninth tallest mountain, occurred around 1 a.m. as the climbers and their guides were at a camp at about 4,000 feet above sea level. According to local and regional officials, about a dozen gunmen tied up the climbers Pakistani guides before shooting the climbers as they slept in tents.
The attackers reportedly wore police uniforms, an increasingly common tactic Taliban militants have used to evade scrutiny.
In all, 11 people were killed, including five from Ukraine, three from China and one from Russia. Two Pakistanis were also reportedly killed. At least one Chinese tourist survived and was later rescued from the area, known as Ferry Meadows, officials said.
The assault occurred in the picturesque Gilgit Ballistan area, a popular tourist area in the Himalayan Mountains near the countrys border with China. Nanga Parbat rises to an elevation of 26,660 feet. The worlds second largest mountain, K2, with an elevation of 28,251, straddles Gilgit Ballistan's border with China.
Guess Everest would have cost less in the long run. :-(
Posted by: Barbara ||
06/23/2013 12:43
Comments ||
Top||
#4
Okay, the mountain is on the border between China and Pakiwakiland. One of the climbers killed on their own mountain is Chinese so solution should be simple to PRC... EXTEND the border to encompass K2 and access areas to K2.
#5
Maybe climb from the China side while Pakistan sorts out its Taliban problem?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/23/2013 17:08
Comments ||
Top||
#6
This is a view of Nanga Parbat near the base camp. A magnificent mountain. Pic from wikipedia.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/23/2013 17:28
Comments ||
Top||
#7
maybe Chinese elite troops kill them and hang their heads as a warning to others?
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/23/2013 17:59
Comments ||
Top||
#8
3dc: the area around the mountain used to be Indian; Pakistan fought very hard for it and then ceded the area to China when they were through.
China hasn't really shown much signs of caring when Pakistan-supported-taliban killed Chinese in the past; I guess they consider them too useful and the deaths as a cost of doing business in the great game.
[Times of India] Thirty-eight Taliban militants were killed in separate military operations launched in Afghanistan since Saturday, the Afghanistan government said Sunday.
The joint security operations were carried out by Afghan National Police (ANP), army and the Nato-led coalition forces in the provinces of Nangarhar, Parwan, Kandahar, Zabul, Uruzgan, Wardak, Logar, Ghazni and Helmand, Xinhua reported.
"As a result, 38 armed Taliban were killed, four wounded and six others were arrested," the interior ministry said in a statement.
The Taliban did not comment over the deaths immediately.
An Egyptian court says Muslim Brotherhood members conspired with Hamas, Hezbollah and local militants to storm a prison in 2011 and free 34 Brotherhood leaders, including President Mohammed Morsi.
The court statement read by judge Khaled Mahgoub on Sunday named two members of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood to be among the alleged conspirators in the attack on Wadi el-Natroun prison in January 2011.
It is the first statement by a court that holds the Brotherhood, Hamas and Hezbollah responsible for the attack on Wadi el-Natroun and two other prisons in which members of the Palestinian and Lebanese groups were held.
Morsi and other Brotherhood leaders have maintained that they were freed by local residents. Hamas, the Palestinian chapter of the Brotherhood, has denied involvement in the attacks on prisons.
[Al Ahram] Egypt's opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei Egyptian law scholar and sometime Iranian catspaw. He was head of the IAEA from December 1997 to November 2009. At some point during his tenure he was purchased by the Iranians. ElBaradei and the IAEA were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for something in 2005. ElBaradei served on the Board of Trustees of the International Crisis Group, a lefty NGO that is bankrolled by the Carnegie Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as George Soros' Open Society Institute. After the fall of Mubarak he ran for president. He lost. said Saturday that even though the Egyptian people voted for President Mohamed Morsi, he now "has to resign so Egypt can start a new stage."
ElBaradei said in a conference held by the opposition umbrella group the National Salvation Front (NSF), which he co-founded, that a large number of Egyptians who voted for Morsi in 2012 are now calling for early presidential elections.
Egypt is anticipating mass nationwide protests 30 June against Morsi -- who hails from the Moslem Brüderbund group -- that aim to force him to step down, after which new presidential elections would be held.
The protest is spearheaded by the Rebel campaign, a movement launched in May that aims to withdraw confidence from Morsi by collecting 15 million signatures from citizens to outnumber the 13.2 million that put him into office. The campaign is supported by major opposition groups, including the NSF and the Egyptian Popular Current.
"I thank the Rebel movement and the Egyptian people who took part in the revolution, and what they are doing for 30 June to correct the path of the revolution peacefully," ElBaradei said.
Hamdeen Sabbahi, leading opposition figure and former presidential contender, also said in the conference that 30 June will be the "start of a wave that will end when the revolutionary goals are fulfilled."
He also emphasised that the protests will be peaceful.
ElBaradei added that the ruling regime has focused on "creating divisions in society" rather than working on fulfilling the goals of the January 25 Revolution of social justice, liberty and human dignity. He stated that the regime lacks the ability to rule.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
#1
Sorry but you "elected" your new dictator he'll be there as long as he wants, you should watch your head friend, before use meet wit an unfortunate accident, like say in de next month.
[Pak Daily Times] PESHAWAR: The Bomb Disposal Unit (BDU) on Saturday defused a two-and-a-half kilogram bomb, planted near a car bargain center here. AIG, BDU, Shafqat Malik said unknown myrmidons had planted explosive, wrapped in a plastic bag near a car showroom at University Road. The police called BDU personnel who successfully defused the device. Paperwork was started but nothing else was done against unknown myrmidons at Tehkal Police Station.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
[Al Ahram] Commenting on the demonstration organised by Islamist forces Friday under the banner "Rejecting Violence," President Mohamed Morsi said during a conference organised by the Arab Engineers' Union Saturday that the rally reflected the Egyptian people's rejection of violence.
Morsi, reported Al-Ahram Arabic new website, further stressed that the old regime will not be returning, as "time does not move backwards." He highlighted the important role that can be played by engineers in developing Egypt.
President Morsi's statement comes days before planned mass demonstrations demanding early presidential elections and his departure from power. The call to demonstrate on 30 June was first announced by the "Rebel" campaign, which has stated it has already collected 15 million signatures withdrawing confidence from the president.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[Al Ahram] Egypt's hardline Islamist Gamaa Islamiya says it will withdraw Adel El-Khayat from the governorship of the ancient touristic city of Luxor following uproar over his appointment by President Morsi
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
#1
"The party was not consulted [by the presidency] prior to the appointment of [El-Khayat] and if it were consulted we would not have approved the appointment"
[Pak Daily Times] A bomb kaboom on Saturday killed two members of a Pak pro-government militia in a tribal region near the Afghanistan border, officials said. The kaboom took place in Chamarkand town, 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of Khar, the main town of Bajaur tribal region. "Two members of a pro-government tribal peace committee were killed when an improvised bomb (IED) went off near them," local administration official, Ghulam Saeedullah told AFP. He said that the men were inspecting the site of an earlier IED blast when a second device went off. Local tribal police officials also confirmed the incident and casualties. The attack came two days after about a dozen forces of Evil attacked the homes of two tribal elders near Khar and later killed them. Pakistain has for years been fighting home-grown Taliban forces of Evil in its northwestern border areas with Afghanistan. A US-led NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and organization.... combat mission across the border is due to withdraw next year after a 12-year Afghan Taliban insurgency.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
Kim Han-sol, the grandson of former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, is expected to start university in France in September, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported Wednesday.
Wonder how many average North Koreans could be fed on the tuition, room and board that Han Solo here will consume in France...
Han-sol graduated from an international school in Bosnia last month and is now staying with his family in Macau, the Japanese daily quoted a North Korean official near Macau as saying.
Kim Jong-nam, Kim Jong-il's wayward eldest son and Han-sol's father, also returned to Macau early this month from Singapore, where he now lives, the official added.
Han-sol, who is the nephew of current North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, entered United World College in Mostar, Bosnia in 2011 and graduated last month.
In an interview with a Finnish TV in October last year, Han-sol called his uncle Jong-un a "dictator" and said his father "has no interest in politics." He also said that he had never met his grandfather.
Kim Jong-nam fell from favor when he was caught trying to enter Japan on a false passport and has since lived in sumptuously funded exile in Macau, China and Singapore, where he reportedly haunts the casinos.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Dead man walking.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/23/2013 9:39
Comments ||
Top||
South Korea, the U.S. and Japan have set tougher terms for any talks with North Korea, calling on Pyongyang to demonstrate sincerity through better guarantees than those agreed to in an abortive aid-for-disarmament deal reached with the U.S. more than a year ago.
Seoul's chief envoy to stalled six-party talks, Cho Tae-young, told reporters after a meeting in Washington D.C. with his counterparts from the U.S. and Japan, "Stronger requirements should be imposed [on the North] than the Feb. 29 agreement between North Korea and the United States."
On Feb. 29 of last year, North Korea and the U.S. announced a deal in which Pyongyang would halt nuclear activities at its main facility in Yongbyon, impose a moratorium on nuclear tests and long-range missile tests, and invite back international nuclear inspectors in return for 240,000 tons of food aid from Washington.
The Norks lied, of course...
South Korea, the U.S. and Japan also reiterated that North Korea must abide by a Sept. 19, 2005 statement of principles whereby it agreed to "complete and verifiable" denuclearization and other steps.
"Talks for the sake of more talks are meaningless," Cho said. "Without concrete progress, there will be no further discussions."
What a radical thought...
But China, the host country of the six-party talks, apparently still favors the resumption of negotiations first and worries that a hard line by South Korea, the U.S. and Japan would only agitate North Korea further.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters on Thursday that the easing of tensions on the Korean Peninsula must be the result of "combined efforts" by the countries involved in the six-party talks. "What is most urgent right now is to bolster mutual trust through dialogue and contact and improve relations, while resolving problems through negotiations," Hua said.
She also called on each country to create the conditions necessary for the stalled talks to resume.
Meaning that Uncle Sugar has to give food and oil to the Norks...
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Stand on one foot, hop like a Kangaroo, and sing to our tune, NOW HOP.
(Drill Sergeant voice)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/23/2013 10:02
Comments ||
Top||
#2
give us back the Pueblo
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/23/2013 13:08
Comments ||
Top||
Two female Muslim filmmakers were reportedly seized in the southern Philippines, but authorities could not be reached for confirmation. The two women were filming in Sulu province when gunmen reportedly seized them inside a commuter jeep near Patikul town.
Officials have released no information about the alleged abduction. But a television network had reported that Abu Sayyaf may have been involved.
It was not immediately known what the duo was filming, but one of them had previously researched coffee farming in Sulu, one of the provinces in the Muslim autonomous region which is one of the biggest suppliers of coffee in the region. Both women have written and made many films about Muslims and their culture and traditions in Mindanao.
[An Nahar] More than 12 shells landed on Saturday on a border town in the northern Akkar district without causing any casualties, the state-run National News Agency reported.
NNA said the shelling on al-Dbabiyeh from the Syrian side of the border caused panic among the residents.
They urged the Lebanese army to help the occupants of two houses to evacuate after three of the shells landed near the homes of Mohammed and Walid Kouha.
NNA said two more shells hit an area near the house of Tajeddine Kouha.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[Al Ahram] Pakistain could secure peace in Afghanistan by releasing dozens of senior Taliban prisoners to help kick-start the process, the Afghan foreign ministry said on Saturday, in remarks that underscore the issues vexing peace talks in Qatar.
The ministry's statement was a response to comments by the Pak foreign ministry on Tuesday, which welcomed the opening of a Taliban office in the Qatari capital of Doha, saying the country stood "ready to continue to facilitate the (peace) process to achieve lasting peace".
Afghanistan has long accused Pakistain of playing a double game regarding the 12-year-old war against the Taliban, saying its neighbour makes public pronouncements about peace but allows elements of its military complex to play a spoiling role.
"(If) Pakistain has the sincere determination to support the Afghan grinding of the peace processor ... then the most useful and urgent step would be to release those Afghan Taliban leaders who have been nabbed Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! by Pak authorities," the Afghan foreign ministry said.
"The release of these prominent Taliban leaders would provide the High Peace Council of Afghanistan with the opportunity to start peace talks with them," it added, referring to a body set up by 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... in 2010 to seek a negotiated end to the 12-year war with a Taliban-led insurgency.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
Goes to show the absurdity of negotiating with thugs.
Replace "Taliban" in this piece with "Murderers, heroin traffickers, and terrorist" and how promising does that negotiation look? The Paks have them in jail for very good reasons (add insurrectionist to the above list).
#2
Ralston was born Esther Worth in Bar Harbor, Maine. She was the older sister of Howard Ralston who also appeared in silent pictures but never achieved the stardom of his sister. She began her career as a child actress in a family vaudeville act which was billed as "The Ralston Family with Baby Esther, America's Youngest Juliet." From this, she appeared in a few small silent film roles including a role alongside her brother in the 1920 film adaptation of Huckleberry Finn. Ralston later gained attention as Mrs. Darling in the 1924 film version of Peter Pan.
In the late 1920s she appeared in many films for Paramount, at one point earning as much as $8000 a week, and garnering much popularity, especially in Britain. She appeared mainly in comedies, often portraying spirited society girls, but she also received good reviews for her forays into dramatic roles.
[An Nahar] Jordan on Saturday denied an American newspaper report saying that the CIA and U.S. special operations forces were training rebels from neighboring Syria on its territory.
"There is no training in our country whatsoever of Syrian opposition forces," Prime Minister Abdullah Nsur told a group of journalists including one from Agence La Belle France Presse.
"The only Syrians we are dealing with in our country are refugees. There isn't any training" of Syrian forces of Evil in Jordan, he insisted.
On Friday the Los Angeles Times reported that the Central Intelligence Agency and U.S. special forces have been training Syrian rebels at a new U.S. base in the desert in southwest Jordan since November,
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[An Nahar] Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... ordered a pay rise on Saturday for all military and civil service personnel, as his regime sought to give its loyalists some protection against soaring inflation.
Soldiers and civil servants will get a 40 percent pay rise on the first 10,000 pounds (50 dollars) a month of their salaries, and a further 20 percent rise on the next 10,000, the decree carried by the official SANA news agency said.
Pensions will also rise.
It was the second pay increase Assad had ordered for the civil service and the army since the uprising against his rule erupted in March 2011.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[Pak Daily Times] Two Indian coppers were rubbed out Saturday by rebels in a high security area of Srinagar, the summer capital of held Kashmire, police said.
The coppers were shot from point blank range when they were on a regular patrol near the main court complex located in a busy commercial district of Srinagar, a senior police official said. "Both the coppers died at the spot. We don't know as yet who carried out the attack," city police chief Ashiq Bukhari told AFP. The attack comes at a time when security is being stepped up in the region ahead of a visit by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh early next week.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
[Al Ahram] A Shia man was rubbed out late on Friday in the fractious Qatif district of Soddy Arabia's ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... Eastern Province, home to many of its Shia Mohammedan minority.
The shooting brings to 19 the corpse count since early 2011 during protests by Shias demanding equal rights with the Sunni majority, and in festivities with police in the towns and villages around Qatif.
Shia activists said the 19-year-old Shia was shot in his car by a stray bullet fired by police when they fired at another person on a cycle of violence.
An Eastern Province police front man said in a statement carried on state media he was shot when they exchanged fire with unknown gunnies, adding he was found in his car at dawn on Saturday but was dead before reaching hospital.
The shooting happened at around midnight on Friday, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Upping the pressure for a Sunni-vs-Shia, Saudi-vs-Iran mil showdown ... ... AND AT "HIGH NOON" STARRING THE BAMMER AS NOT-GARY COOPER??
[Pak Daily Times] Prime Minister Mian Muhammad 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... on Saturday called for a more vigilant and modern policing coupled with an effective coordination among all relevant institutions to eliminate the menace of terrorism and crimes from the society.
While, co-chairing a high-level meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif on the Police Reforms here at Model Town, he said the police department must conduct investigations on merit and submit their challans to respective courts for an early dispensation of justice to the aggrieved people. The prime minister also directed the Punjab Acting IGP Khan Baig to chalk out a comprehensive strategy, while keeping well in view the optimum utilisation of modern technology and equipment as well as a coordinated intelligence for better policing, and gave him (the PM) a detailed presentation within a week.
He said that none of the countries in the world except Pakistain where hundreds of innocent people were being killed in terrorist attacks and kabooms, and "Our public places and even the mosques and Imambargha are attacked by the terrorists." The monster of terrorism had ultimately affected severely the country's trade and economy and the nation was faced with energy crisis and power load-shedding, he mentioned.
The prime minister said police and other relevant departments would have to bring necessary changes and thorough reforms in the system to weed-out terrorism and crimes in a real manner.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Al Ahram] Syria's army on Saturday pressed a fierce assault launched four days ago against rebel areas in northern and eastern Damascus, killing three children with mortar fire, a monitoring group said.
"The district of Qaboon in (northeastern) Damascus is being intensely shelled by regime forces," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
Rebels were resisting the onslaught, battling troops loyal to Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs... on the edges of Qaboon as the army tried to storm the neighbourhood, it said.
Overnight mortar fire targeting Qaboon killed three children from one family, the Britannia-based group said.
Nearby, festivities raged between rebels, troops and pro-Assad gunnies in the Barzeh neighbourhood of the capital, said the watchdog.
The fighting erupted as rebels fought off an army attempt to enter the district, said the Syrian Revolution General Commission, a network of activists on the ground.
Battles also raged on the edges of Al-Hajar al-Aswad in southern Damascus and Jubar in the east, said the Observatory. Troops meanwhile pounded the Qadam district, parts of which are rebel-held.
Over the past fortnight, the army has dramatically boosted efforts to crush the anti-Assad insurgency in and around Damascus.
The opposition and activists have warned of critical humanitarian conditions in some areas.
Also on Saturday, the military pushed on with its bid to end the insurgency in and around Homs in central Syria, said the Observatory.
While troops shelled rebel-held besieged districts in the heart of Homs city, Assad loyalists also tried to storm the town of Tal Kalakh near the border with Leb.
Referred to by activists as "the capital of the revolution", Homs has suffered massive damage during Syria's 27-month conflict.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[Pak Daily Times] Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told thousands of supporters in the Black Sea city of Samsun on Saturday that weeks of often violent protests against his government had played into the hands of Turkey's enemies.
As he finished speaking, around 10,000 protesters had gathered in Istanbul's Taksim Square, many of them to attend a planned laying down of carnations in memory of the four people who had been killed in the unrest.
The mood at the scene of some of the fiercest festivities between demonstrators and police firing teargas and water cannon was calm, with hundreds of riot police looking on as the crowd chanted "this is just the start, the struggle will continue".
In Samsun, a crowd of some 15,000 of Erdogan's AK Party faithful cheered and waved Turkish flags as he called on the public to give their answer to protests at the ballot box when Turkey holds municipal elections next March.
The rally in the party stronghold was the fourth in a series of mass meetings which Erdogan has called since demonstrations began in Istanbul at the start of June in an unprecedented challenge on the streets to his rule.
The blunt-talking 59-year-old said opponents both within Turkey and abroad had orchestrated the demonstrations, saying an "interest rate lobby" of speculators in financial markets had benefited from the unrest.
"Who won from these three weeks of protests? The interest rate lobby, Turkey's enemies," Erdogan said from a stage emblazoned with his portrait and a slogan calling for his supporters to "thwart the big game" played out against Turkey.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
[An Nahar] Countries supporting Syria's rebels demanded on Saturday that Iran and Hizbullah stop meddling in the country's civil war, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said.
"In the text that we have just released, we have demanded that Iran and Hizbullah end their intervention in the conflict," said Fabius, referring to their support for the regime of Bashir al-Assad.
"Hizbullah has played a terribly negative role, mainly in the attack on Qusayr," which was recaptured from rebels earlier this month with the group's help.
"We are fully against the internationalization of the conflict," he told news hounds following a meeting of foreign ministers of the so-called Friends of Syria in Doha.
Earlier at the opening of the meeting, Qatar FM Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani called on Leb to halt the involvement of any party in the conflict in the neighboring country Syria.
"The Lebanese government should stop the intervention of any party in the Syrian conflict," he said.
To that end, U.S. 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... also while addressing the FMs said that Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Lord of the Baath... "escalated the conditions by seeking support from Iran and Lebanese fighters," in a reference to Hizbullah.
Kerry accused Assad of an "internationalization" of the conflict which has claimed nearly 100,000 lives by bringing in the support of Iran and Hizbullah.
The Foreign Ministers held talks in Qatar to discuss boosting their assistance after rebels hailed recent deliveries of new types of weaponry.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#1
Nasrallah managed to do something unplanned: A group of normally-squabbling Sunni Arab nations are cooperating with each other.
[An Nahar] Nine people were killed Friday night in fresh inter-clan violence in northeastern Kenya's border region with war-torn Somalia, police said Saturday.
"Nine people were killed, four in Mandera and five in Wajir," a police officer who declined to be named told Agence La Belle France Presse.
"The two incidents are related because the second one was a retaliatory attack of the earlier one," added the officer.
Among the victims is a police reservist who had tried to intervene in the fighting between members of the Degodia and Garreh clans.
In the Mandera incident, unidentified gunnies shot at a lorry, killing four people who were travelling in the vehicle.
"There has been a problem in that region and that is what we want to bring to an end," Kenya police chief David Kimaiyo said.
"The two communities were fighting, there are people killed and others injured but we have deployed more coppers to the region to restore peace," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
[Jpost] Washington reportedly set to slash $150 million in aid.
Israel will not object to a planned five-percent cut in the annual military aid package from the United States, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu reportedly said. Under the sequester, the across-the-board cuts mandated by 2011 legislation, Washington is set to cut more than $150 million from the annual $3.1 billion package to Israel.
According to the Ma'ariv daily, Netanyahu instructed Israeli officials in Washington not to ask the US government for an exception from cuts.
"Israel did not seek an exception," Ma'ariv quoted Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador to Washington, as saying. "We are willing to share in the burden."
The planned cuts will likely affect Israel's ability to purchase advanced F-35 stealth fighters, according to the report, 19 of which were supposed to be delivered in 2016. Because of budgetary cuts in Washington, the Pentagon has slashed production of the F-35s, from 2,500 to 1,200 planes, thereby making each fighter more expensive.
The cuts are also expected to affect future joint military exercises between the two countries, Ma'ariv reported.
Apparently unaffected is some $220 million US President Barack Obama Why can't I just eat my waffle?... has budgeted for the short-range Iron Dome missile defense system, which Israel claims successfully repelled more than 90 percent of rockets launched by Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, in last November's Gazoo Strip war.
Appropriators in the US House of Representatives have approved that sum, as well as an increase to $270 million of Obama's $173 million request for missile defense cooperation programs separate from Iron Dome.
An army major was killed and five other soldiers injured by a roadside bomb in Pattani province yesterday morning. The blast occurred when six soldiers were traveling in an armored truck along Highway 43. The bomb, buried in the road, was remotely detonated when the military vehicle drove over it.
Fourth Army chief Sakol Chuentrakoon said that despite the violence the military would act in accordance with peace talks between security authorities and representatives of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional terrorist separatist group. He said that during Ramadan the military provide security for the locals so they could carry out their religious activities in peace.
The Fourth Army commander urged separatist sympathisers to turn themselves in before Ramadan. He said security forces have placed an emphasis on fighting violence in the South through peaceful means. He urged everyone in the region to take a united stance in rejecting all forms of violence.
#1
Hesaid that during Ramadan the military provide security for the locals so they could carry out their religious activities in peace.
Let em be slaughtered by their fellow Muslims. Allan will be pleased by the sacrifice
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/23/2013 9:40
Comments ||
Top||
#2
"have placed an emphasis on fighting violence in the South through peaceful means."
Of course, since the Thai Army upper echelon is in majority Muslims supporting the Monarchist dictatorship...the 'slimes are in the south in conquered territory and can count in the Army not lifting a finger against them.
Posted by: Bob Snore6814 ||
06/23/2013 20:44
Comments ||
Top||
[Pak Daily Times] KARACHI: Sindh Assembly strongly condemned the assassination of Muttahida Qaumi Movement ...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead... (MQM) MPA Muhammad Sajid Qureshi and demanded immediate arrest of killers.
The house met here on Saturday with speaker Agha Siraj Khan Durrani in chair. Newly elected PPP's MPA Sardar Muhammad Muqeem Khan Khoso took oath of affirmation.
MQM members attended the sitting wearing black armbands to condemn the assassination of their MPA.
The house was scheduled to debate the provincial budget for fiscal year 2013-14, but it did not carry out further proceeding due to the death of sitting MPA. Qureshi, who was elected from PS-103 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... constituency, was bumped off along with his son on Friday.
It remains the tradition of Sindh Assembly to adjourn the house without carrying out any business, after offering Fateha, in case of demise of any of its sitting member.
After the recitation from Holy Koran, the members requested the speaker to offer Fateha prayers for the slain MPA. In their requests for prayers, both treasury and opposition members strongly condemned the assassination of their colleague.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[Chicago Tribune] At least three people were killed and 10 others wounded in shootings in Chicago Friday, the first day of summer.
At least two other people suffered gunshot wounds early today, for a total of three shot to death and 12 others wounded in shootings since Friday afternoon.
So they're behind Baghdad. But not that far behind Baghdad...
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Saw the headline, just knew this was about SHE-CA-GO, great place, has that She-ca-go Pete-za, deep dish stuff, don't you know. AT least 3 people will not be eating it this weekend, bet the Bay-root on the lake, known as She-ca-go death toll reaches 15 by Monday June 24, 2013. Any takers on this bet ?
#2
I'll take it, bet there's more, all darkened skin.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/23/2013 9:37
Comments ||
Top||
#3
In 2013, 144 U.S. soldiers have been killed on duty in Afghanistan, at least 240 people have been shot dead in Chicago. Chicago's murder rate is currently four times that of New York's and double that in Los Angeles. 5,000 people have been shot dead in Chicago since 2001. Funeral business ought to be a good business in Chicago. Current score (murders and assaults) in Chicago.
[Al Ahram] Talibs attacked local security checkpoints in a scenic provincial capital in northern Afghanistan, killing two coppers in a fight that also left 18 snuffies dead, Afghan officials said Saturday.
NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and organization.... said a coalition service member also died in a krazed killer attack in the south on Saturday, but did not provide further details.
The violence follows NATO's formal handover of security in the entirety of Afghanistan to Kabul's forces -- a transition that comes at a time with violence levels matching their worst in nearly 12 years of war.
In northern Afghanistan, Kunduz provincial police front man Sayed Sarwar Hussaini said Saturday that the Taliban attacked multiple checkpoints at about noon Friday in the scenic provincial capital of the same name, killing one member of the Afghan local police, a community-based force, and wounding two.
The Taliban then moved outside the city where a shootout with Afghan cops lasted until about midnight, Hussaini said.
Eighteen Taliban fighters and another local policeman were killed in the battle, and another 11 snuffies were maimed, he said. Hussaini posted on his Facebook page a picture of 11 bodies lined up inside the provincial police compound in Kunduz that he said were those of Talibs his troops recovered from the scene of the fight.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
[Al Ahram] Turkish authorities tossed in the clink Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! 23 more people on Saturday over their alleged role in this month's anti-government protests, accusing them of acting on behalf of a far-left "terrorist" group, a news report said.
A court in the capital accused them of helping to organise the protests and engaging in violence in the name of the Communist Marxist-Leninist Party (MLKP), CNN-Turk said on its website.
Another three were released but placed under judicial supervision, the report said.
Interior Minister Muammer Guler said the operation had been planned for about a year against the "terrorist" (MLKP), but that the suspects were also implicated in the protests, the most violent since Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamist-rooted government came to power in 2002,.
Prosecutors could not immediately confirm the arrests, which follow a sweep last Tuesday against far-left groups in Ankara and Istanbul and bring to at least 47 those tossed in the calaboose Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! over the protests that grew from a peaceful demonstration on 28 May.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
[Al Ahram] Foreign minister of countries supporting the Syrian opposition on Saturday agreed to provide it "urgently" with materiel to support rebels in their fight against regime forces, a final statement said.
The ministers agreed to "provide urgently all the necessary materiel and equipment to the opposition on the ground, each country in its own way in order to enable them to counter brutal attacks by the regime and its allies and protect the Syrian people," it said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
WASHINGTON, DC -- Today, President Obama announced his intent to nominate Denise Bauer to the post of Ambassador to Belgium, Department of State. The announcement comes only weeks after the current ambassador to Belgium, Howard Gutman, was accused of soliciting underage prostitutes.
As the New York Post reported recently: Thank you for your servicing Mr. Ambassador.
A State Department whistleblower has accused high-ranking staff of a massive coverup -- including keeping a lid on findings that members of then-Secretary Hillary Clinton's security detail and the Belgian ambassador solicited prostitutes.
Well at least no one has been killed...yet.
A chief investigator for the agency's inspector general wrote a memo outlining eight cases that were derailed by senior officials, including one instance of interference by Clinton's chief of staff, Cheryl Mills. Foggier than usual in Foggy Bottom.
#2
Soon to be immortalized as the next Bhengazi victim, do they place the Ambassadors as sacrificial victims? (I'd be damned leery)
As was Bhenghazi, go (Reading from note)Denise Bauer and sin no more.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/23/2013 9:32
Comments ||
Top||
#3
Denise Bauer (Belgium ambo) and James Wally Brewster (Dominican Republic)--both Champ's bundlers. Two dozen of Obamas bundlers from his 2008 presidential run were awarded ambassadorships. The qualification for being an ambo is to have helped (money and influence) get Obama elected.
[Al Ahram] The Moslem Brüderbund's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) said on Saturday that a Gamaa Islamiya member has died from gunshot wounds in Egypt's central Fayoum governorate, pointing finger at opposition forces for his death.
The FJP said in a statement that Mohamed Said El-Shalakany, 35, was shot by "thugs" of the National Salvation Front (NSF), the main opposition umbrella group, and proponents of the anti-Mohamed Morsi Rebel campaign during a rally supporting the president on 16 June.
"The party condemns that criminal act, and offers its condolences to the martyr's family. His blood will be a curse on those who incite violence," the FJP added.
Ahmed Ibrahim Bayoumi, a member of the Moslem Brüderbund higher board, stated on 17 June that the Fayoum festivities involving the supporters and opponents of Morsi were instigated by "remnants" of the former regime and not by anti-government 'Rebel' campaigners.
El-Shalakany, a father of four, was a tourism worker. He was a member of the hard-line Islamist Gamaa Islamiya group, according to the Brotherhood's satellite channel.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[Jpost] Spain tossed in the calaboose Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! eight people in its North African enclave of Ceuta early on Friday on suspicion of recruiting fighters for a branch of al-Qaeda in Syria, the Interior Ministry said.
The operation was carried out by police intelligence services and the Spanish Civil Guard, it said.
[An Nahar] Syria's army on Saturday pressed a fierce assault launched four days ago against rebel areas in northern and eastern Damascus, killing three children with mortar fire, a monitoring group said.
In northern Syria, rebels said they had begun a new assault on regime-held neighborhoods of the country's second city, Aleppo.
"The district of Qaboon in (northeastern) Damascus is being intensely shelled by regime forces," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
Rebels were resisting the onslaught, battling troops loyal to Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor. If he'd stuck with it he'd have had a good practice by now... on the edges of Qaboon as the army tried to storm the neighborhood, it said.
Overnight mortar fire targeting Qaboon killed three children from one family, the Britannia-based group said.
Nearby, festivities raged between rebels, troops and pro-Assad forces of Evil in the Barzeh neighborhood of the capital, said the watchdog.
The fighting erupted as rebels fought off an army attempt to enter the district, said the Syrian Revolution General Commission, a network of activists on the ground.
Battles also raged on the edges of Al-Hajar al-Aswad in southern Damascus and Jubar in the east, said the Observatory. Troops meanwhile pounded the Qadam district, parts of which are rebel-held.
Over the past fortnight, the army has dramatically boosted efforts to crush the anti-Assad insurgency in and around Damascus.
Meanwhile in Aleppo, large swathes of which are under rebel control, the main rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) command announced the launch of "a battle to liberate several western districts".
According to a statement posted online, "several revolutionary brigades and armed factions launched a new battle at dawn today".
Activists said fierce fighting raged in the regime-held New Aleppo district in the west of the city.
Rebels launched their first major assault on Aleppo on July 20 last year.
Ever since, despite many festivities and army bids to retake control, the city has fallen into a stalemate.
The latest assault is being staged by 13 rebel groups, including the powerful Liwa al-Tawhid and the Farouq Brigades, the FSA statement said.
Saturday's fighting was heaviest in the Rashidin area of New Aleppo, an activist in the city told Agence La Belle France Presse via the Internet.
"A fire broke out in a (military) research center in New Aleppo after the revolutionary brigades used mortars to shell it," said the activist who identified himself as Mohammad, adding that the rebels were advancing on Rashidin.
The rebels "are focusing on hitting military targets" including a military security branch in the area, he said.
Mohammad said Aleppo's western districts are key because the army has been shelling rebel areas from there.
Saturday's developments come as the military pushed on with its bid to end the insurgency in and around Homs in central Syria, said the Observatory.
While troops shelled rebel-held besieged districts in the heart of Homs city, Assad loyalists also tried to storm the town of Tal Kalakh near the border with Leb.
Saturday's violence comes a day after at least 100 people were killed nationwide, the Observatory added.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
It's one thing to get carrier flight operations exactly right, but it's another thing entirely to have an idea of what to do with the damn thing. China can't do much with one carrier. But let them get another one and they can start chasing the Vietnamese, Filipinos, Malaysians, etc out of the South China Sea and those itty-bitty islets that have all that oil under them.
China on Wednesday successfully conducted taking-off and landing exercises of J-15 fighter jets on the country's first aircraft, the Liaoning. This is the second time the country has conducted such training after a first jet landing exercise passed successfully on the deck in November last year.
The Liaoning, which set sail for a first sea trial this year on June 9, has conducted a series of tests and training regarding carrier-borne aircraft.
The J-15 is China's first-generation multi-purpose carrier-borne fighter jet.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
...Respectfully, Steve speaks wisdom. Right now, the Chinese appear to have exactly one aircraft specifically designed to operate off a CV. They still don't have an AEW bird, they don't appear to have a COD capability, they have yet to show the ability to put together a CVBG with a layered defense, and they haven't yet shown the ability to UNREP the way they will have to do to keep them out to sea and fighting the way we do, instead of bringing them back every few days to replenish.
This is a threat for the future, without question. But right now, the Liaoning is a really high tech raider, like the Graf Spee. She's no Enterprise, and won't be for a long time.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
06/23/2013 8:35
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Right now, the Chinese appear to have exactly one aircraft specifically designed to operate off a CV. They still don't have an AEW bird, they don't appear to have a COD capability
If one uses the carrier as a 'lily pad' during offensive ops, then one worries little about such things.
#6
Harrier is at least technically carrier capable
The Brits operated them off various platforms for years, and the USMC did also on the LPH/LHD/other Gator Freighters.
Ship: you have no idea how much trouble I have gotten in over the years using that non-PC term of endearment to describe the Electric Intruders...
#7
China's main threat remains its PLAA ground forces as supported by PLAAF LR airlift, SPECOPS, etc.
Their history is that they are willing to trade time + mass casualties to achieve a startegic or military objective, + thus far by PLA Officios themselves nothing appears to had changed despite the advent of the Liaoning.
Unless the so-called "powers that be" in the World have already selected POTUS Bammer's successor come 2016 US Elex + post-2015 OWG GFU, it behoooves both China + Iran, etc. to make their moves ASAP AMAP ALAP while the seemingly "weakest US POTUS in history e-v-a-r", i.e. POTUS Obama, is in the White House.
The Soviets ran amok to the US' detriment when Jimbo Carter was in the White House.
[Pak Daily Times] The personnel of police on Saturday escaped terror bid as explosives went off on Qambrani Road of the city. Official sources said faceless myrmidons had placed explosives along the road side which they detonated after police van of Kachi Baig PS passed by the area. Blast caused minor damage to the vehicle. Police personnel escaped unhurt. The area was cordoned off to track the suspects out. Further probe was underway.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
[An Nahar] The time of "an ever closer union" in Europe is over, the Dutch government said in a letter to parliament that also laid out a raft of policy areas that should be left to member states rather than Brussels.
Interesting. The frugal Dutch don't want to pay off the debts of less frugal members, perhaps?
nThe call in a letter published on Friday came after Conservative British Prime Minister David Cameron ... has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite, which means he's not. Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ... called for powers to be wrested back from the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... and for Britannia's reshaped membership to be put to an in-out referendum.
"The Netherlands is convinced that the time of an 'ever closer union' in every possible policy area is behind us," Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans wrote in the letter.
Perhaps they want to name Hizb'allah as a terrorist organization...
The pro-EU government led by Liberal Prime Minister Mark Rutte elected in September said that "this is an issue which strikes a chord with many people across Europe."
The Liberal-Labor coalition government will now seek to garner support for its list of policy areas that should be controlled by national governments with the European Commission, the European Parliament and member states.
The eclectic list of objectives includes halting further harmonization of social security systems, halting EU regulation of media pluralism, de-harmonizing some European flood risk management and phasing out EU programs for school milk and fruit.
EU cooperation will still be needed in various other areas, including the financial and economic crisis, energy, climate change, asylum and immigration, the letter said.
...at least for now. Later, when the Dutch notice the oceans haven't risen, climate change, energy, asylum and immigration can be renegotiated.
The letter came as the result of a review agreed to after the coalition government was formed last year and is aimed at "creating a European Union that is a more modest, more sober and at the same time more effective."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Interesting. The frugal Dutch don't want to pay off the debts of less frugal members, perhaps?
No, it's the "Closeness", don't want Muslims floating around.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/23/2013 9:43
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Odd to use the word harmony when you're planning setting up a regulatory cartel...
WASHINGTON - The United States said on Saturday it wants Hong Kong to extradite Edward Snowden and urged it to act quickly, paving the way for what could be a lengthy legal battle to prosecute the former National Security Agency contractor on espionage charges.
Legal sources say Snowden, who is believed to be hiding in Hong Kong, has sought legal representation from human rights lawyers since leaking details about secret U.S. surveillance activities to news media.
"If Hong Kong doesn't act soon, it will complicate our bilateral relations and raise questions about Hong Kong's commitment to the rule of law," a senior Obama administration official told Reuters.
No, if Hong Kong hands him over without following their law it will raise questions. If Hong Kong stalls because Beijing interferes it will raise questions. But there's no question at all if Hong Kong simply follows the treaty and their law.
U.S. National Security Adviser Tom Donilon told CBS News the United States had a "good case" to bring Snowden back to America to face trial and expected Hong Kong to comply with its extradition treaty.
"We have gone to the Hong Kong authorities seeking extradition of Snowden back to the United States," Donilon said. He added that U.S. law enforcement officials were in a "conversation" with Hong Kong authorities about the issue.
A senior U.S. law enforcement source said extradition "can, of course, be a lengthy legal process" but expressed optimism that Snowden would be sent back to the United States.
The South China Morning Post reported that Snowden was not detained or in police protection - as reported elsewhere - and instead he was in a "safe place" somewhere in Hong Kong. The paper also quoted Snowden offering new details about America's spy activities, including accusations of U.S. hacking of Chinese mobile phone companies and targeting China's top Tsinghua University.
"The NSA does all kinds of things like hack Chinese cellphone companies to steal all of your SMS (texting) data," Snowden was quoted by the newspaper as saying in a June 12 interview.
Documents previously leaked by Snowden revealed that the NSA has access to vast amounts of internet data such as emails, chat rooms and video from large companies, including Facebook and Google, under a government program known as Prism. They also showed that the government had worked through the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to gather so-called metadata - such as the time, duration and telephone numbers called - on all calls carried by service providers such as Verizon.
On Friday, the Guardian newspaper, citing documents shared by Snowden, said Britain's spy agency GCHQ had tapped fiber-optic cables that carry international phone and internet traffic and is sharing vast quantities of personal information with the NSA.
The United States charged Snowden with theft of government property, unauthorized communication of national defense information and willful communication of classified communications intelligence to an unauthorized person, according to the June 14 criminal complaint made public on Friday.
The latter two offenses fall under the U.S. Espionage Act and carry penalties of up to 10 years in prison.
Scores of Americans have been sent back home from Hong Kong to face trial under the extradition treaty. But the process can take years, lawyers say, and Snowden's case could be particularly complex.
America's use of the Espionage Act against Snowden has fueled debate among legal experts about whether that could complicate his extradition, since the treaty includes an exception for political offenses and Hong Kong courts may choose to shield him from prosecution.
Stephen Vladeck, a professor at American University's Washington College of Law who studies national security issues, said there is no clear definition of what constitutes a political offense under the treaty.
"My intuition says it'll be easier for Snowden to argue espionage is a political offense than (the U.S. charge of) theft of government property," Vladeck said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
US whistleblower Snowden on flight to âthird countryâ via Moscow
A spokesperson from the Hong Kong government confirmed to press that Edward Snowden had "legally and voluntarily" left the country.
The only Aeroflot flight that arrives from Hong Kong into Moscowâs Sheremetevo airport today is at 17:05 local time (13:05 GMT).
There are reports that Moscow will not be Snowdenâs final destination and that he may fly on to Ecuador or Iceland where he has allegedly applied for asylum. --
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/23/2013 9:56
Comments ||
Top||
#5
A senior U.S. law enforcement source said extradition "can, of course, be a lengthy legal process" but expressed optimism that Snowden would be sent back to the United States.
[Pak Daily Times] A young Pashto actress suffered burn injuries in an acid attack in northwest Pakistain on Saturday, her relatives and police said.
The 18-year-old, known as Bushra and popular in the northwest for her film, television and theatre appearances, was attacked while asleep at her home in the town of Nowshera, 148 kilometres (92 miles) northwest of Islamabad.
"A man climbed the wall of our house in the early hours, threw acid on my sister and fled," Bushra's brother, Pervez Khan told AFP.
A local police official, Sultan Khan also confirmed the incident. The teen was immediately taken to Lady Reading Hospital in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. where Dr Suhail Ahmad said she had suffered 33 percent burn injuries, on her face and shoulder, but was in a stable condition.
Her brother Pervez Khan has lodged a complaint against a local TV drama producer, Shaukat Khan, over the incident saying that the producer was unhappy over Bushra's refusal to marry him.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Seems to be a lot of "acid rain" in these muslim countries, like Packisstain, E-jiped, Pail-is-stine, I-rack, I-ran, Libby-yeah.
[Jpost] Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili will visit Israel next week. Before his arrival, he invited the 'Post' to Tbilisi for an interview in which he explained why Israel matters to his country, and why Georgia should matter to Israel.
A single turn of the kaleidoscope, and an entirely new image appears.
[Al Ahram] The United States warned Saturday that it could call on the Taliban to close an office in Qatar unless it shows more commitment to reconciliation in Afghanistan.
US special envoy James Dobbins arrived in the Gulf Arab monarchy and was taking part in talks with Qatar alongside 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...
But Kerry said that the United States was not yet ready to meet the Taliban and accused the rebels of failing to live up to their side of peace efforts.
"It is our hope that this could ultimately be an important step in reconciliation if it's possible. We know that it may well not be possible," Kerry told news hounds in Doha.
If the Taliban do not address concerns, "We may have to consider whether or not the office has to be closed."
"It is really up to the Taliban to make that choice," he said, calling a feud in the past week "the first real test of whether the Taliban are prepared to do their part".
The rebels opened the mission in Doha on Tuesday under the name the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan", and raised the white Taliban flag.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
[An Nahar] Turkish police used water cannon on Saturday to disperse thousands of demonstrators who had gathered anew in Istanbul's Taksim Square, calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Hundreds of riot police backed up by water cannon trucks moved in on several thousand protesters chanting for Erdogan's dismissal.
"This is but a start, the battle continues!" the protesters yelled, throwing red carnations. "It is by resisting that we will prevail!"
The protesters had gathered a week after police evicted thousands of people from the adjacent Gezi Park, the epicenter of nationwide demonstrations that had shaken Turkey for much of June and presented Erdogan and his Islamic-rooted government with the biggest challenge of their decade-long rule.
Following the eviction, the protests that had infuriated Erdogan and earned Turkey harsh criticism from the West had fizzled out as the premier claimed victory over "traitors".
"The people and the AKP (ruling Justice and Development Party) government have foiled the plot... hatched by traitors and their foreign accomplices," Erdogan said on Tuesday.
Confident he has weathered the storm, he warned against any resurgence of the protests.
"From now on, there will be no question of showing any tolerance to people or organizations who engage in violent acts."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[Al Ahram] The head of a top Russian rights group and the leader of an opposition party said Saturday they had been assaulted by riot police during a night-time raid on the non-profit group in the latest crackdown on activists during Vladimir Putin's new term.
In a raid that started Friday afternoon and lasted into the early hours of Saturday, dozens of men swept the offices of rights group For Human Rights and assaulted some 10 people including the group's head Lev Ponomaryov and leader of the Yabloko opposition party Sergei Mitrokhin.
Mitrokhin, who plans to run against incumbent pro-Kremlin Moscow mayor in polls this fall, showed up at the central Moscow offices in support of the embattled group who had been told to vacate the premises in a dispute with the city authorities over rent.
The liberal politician suggested the representatives of Russian special services were coordinating the raid and accused the Kremlin of being behind the attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
He had it coming to him, any body who steals Steve Jobs' logo and company name (Yabloko=Apple in Russian) needs to be taught a lesson.
But don't tell nobody, okay? 'Cuz it's a secret. Doubly secret since we ran the story yesterday :-)
[Al Ahram] LA Times sources a rebel commander who claims the CIA had already given anti-tank, anti-aicraft covert training in a new desert base before President Obama declared the US would arm rebels
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
The Free Syrian Army traces its origin to early defectors from the Syrian army who refused to shoot unarmed protesters during the Syrian uprising.
Relationship with Islamists
However, some rebels are worried by the extreme beliefs and tactics used by the Islamists.[190][191] The FSA has consistently condemned al-Nusra Front's use of suicide bombs.[190] There is also unease between the Islamists and other rebel groups. In some parts of Syria, "Jihadist and secular rebel groups watch each other's military bases warily, unclasping the safety catches on their guns as they pass".[191] FSA commanders accuse the Islamists of "hijacking a revolution that began as an uprising to demand a democratic system".[191][192] Interviews with the FSA suggest that its top commanders see the Islamists as "a threat to stability post regime change".[192] The leader of a rebel group in Idlib Province said "We are not fighting Bashar al-Assad to go from living in an autocratic to a religious prison".[191] Some members of the FSA believe that, after the Assad government has been overthrown, the next war will be between the FSA and the Islamists.
[Jpost] Lawyers for a group of Musselmen Americans barred from US air travel will challenge procedures surrounding the secretive "no fly" list in court on Friday, arguing they are unconstitutional because those on the list have no real way to clear their names.
If they aren't U.S. citizens then they have no standing. Our government, and indeed every government, has long maintained an absolute right to decide who can and can't enter our country.
But this lot appear to be Americans. There ought, indeed, to be a way to challenge one's name on the list, and to change one's status if one truly is an innocent. Or to be forced to accept the truth if one is not.
Agreed, if they're Americans then there should be some sort of due process.
The 13 plaintiffs in the case, who deny any links to terrorism, said they learned of their no-fly status when they were blocked from boarding commercial flights and complain they were denied any effective means of petitioning the government to be removed from the list.
The American Civil Liberties Union sued federal officials in 2010, saying the government provided no "meaningful opportunity to object" to being on the list, in violation of the constitutional right to due process.
Foreign nationals outside the U.S. have no right to due process.
[Pak Daily Times] Taking notice of firing on Afghan diplomat in the federal capital, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has sought a report into the incident. The Afghan diplomat got injured when unidentified persons shot him up in Sector F/10. The minister directed to ensure security of all the diplomats and ordered action against coppers of the concerned cop shoppe, whose negligence led to the incident.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
[Al Ahram] Attacks north of Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... , including two suicide kabooms, killed 13 people on Saturday, the latest in a spate of violence stoking fears of a return to full-blown sectarian war in Iraq.
The latest unrest come as the country grapples with months of protests by its Sunni Arab minority, tensions in a swathe of territory that Kurdish leaders want to incorporate into their autonomous region in the north and protracted political deadlock in Storied Baghdad.
In the main northern city of djinn-infested Mosul, a suicide kaboomer set off a vehicle rigged with explosives near a police patrol on the city's southern outskirts.
The kaboom killed four people including a policeman, police and medical officials said.
And in Taji, just north of Storied Baghdad, a jacket wallahwent kaboom! at a Shia mosque, killing at least four and wounding 20 others.
In the ethnically mixed town of Tuz Khurmatu, which lies at the heart of the area disputed between the Kurds and Storied Baghdad, gunnies opened fire on patrolling police, killing three and wounding a fourth, security and medical officials said.
The tract of land, which the Kurds want to incorporate over the objections of Storied Baghdad, stretches from Iraq's eastern border with Iran to its western frontier with Syria.
Diplomats and officials say the unresolved row is one of the biggest threats to Iraq's long-term stability.
And in the mostly Sunni Arab city of Tikrit, Death Eaters fired on day labourers waiting near a grain silo, killing two and wounding four, officials said.
Iraq has suffered an upsurge in violence since the beginning of the year, coinciding with rising discontent among Sunnis that erupted into protests in late December.
Analysts say a failure by the Shia-led authorities to address the underlying causes of the demonstrations has given bad turban groups both a recruitment platform and room to manoeuvre.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
[Pak Daily Times] Federal Finance Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar on Saturday warned that facility of loan re-scheduling or moratorium was not available in the IMF, thus non-repayment of loan would be deemed default.
Speaking at the National Assembly session, he said the IMF authorities had expressed regret that why such a huge loan for Pakistain was sanctioned in the past as its repayment had become difficult.
He mentioned that government needs foreign inflows only for repayment of huge loans obtained by the previous governments. He mentioned it was in the best interest of Pakistain to meet debt repayment obligation on time as facility of loan re-scheduling or moratorium was not available in the IMF, adding non-repayment of loan would mean default.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
Senator J. Phogbound Pettibone, There's no other way? (That has as much graft and kickbacks,) Profit, profit(MOOLA< MOOLA, yea)
Let's see,vacation where it's most expensive, (I'm not paying) now where is that?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/23/2013 9:51
Comments ||
Top||
[Al Ahram] Turkey on Saturday called in Germany's ambassador to Ankara as tensions have flared between the two countries following Turkey's violent crackdown on protesters.
Berlin and Ankara on Friday both summoned each other's ambassadors in tit-for-tat moves as fresh obstacles have also emerged over the past week linked to Turkey's bid to join the European Union. ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
News channel NTV said Ambassador Eberhard Pohl spent over an hour in his meeting with foreign ministry undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu, but that neither of the two sides had wished to comment on the discussion afterwards.
On Monday, German Chancelor Angela Merkel ...current chancellor of Germany. She was educated in East Germany when is was still run by commies, but in 1989 got involved with the growing democracy movement when the Berlin Wall fell. Merkel is sometimes referred to by Germans as Mom... said Turkey's violent crackdown on demonstrators protesting against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamic-rooted government had been "much too harsh".
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
[Pak Daily Times] An Assistant sub inspector (ASI) and two bad boyz were potted during a police-criminals encounter in Buner on Saturday. On a tip-off regarding presence of terrorists, police and security forces launched joint operation that continued for six hours in the area at Ambela Phari of Buner. The police and security forces reached Ambela area and clamped curfew in adjoining area and after six hours operation two bad boyz were potted and one beat feet from the scene. During an exchange of fire, one bullet fired by the bully boyz hit ASI Ameer Aurangzeb and he was struck down in his prime. Two bully boyz were also killed in resistance and one passers-by including one cop sustained serious injuries amid firing. Police have registered the case and started further search for other terrorists.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/23/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
[Jpost] Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, leaders said they had hanged two Paleostinians found guilty of spying for Israel over a decade, making them the first to be executed since the end of a month-long amnesty for informants in April.
Sixteen Paleostinians have been executed in Gazoo for spying since Hamas seized the territory in 2007.
Hamas, which rejects any recognition of Israel as a legitimate state, says the executions are aimed at discouraging Paleostinians from impoverished Gazoo selling Israel information such as the whereabouts of top Death Eaters or weapons depots.
Human rights activists say such executions violate Paleostinian Authority law which says that any cases of this sort must be reviewed by PA President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... , but Hamas does not recognize the Western-backed Abbas as having authority in Gazoo.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The Internal Revenue Service sent 23,994 tax refunds worth a combined $46,378,040 to "unauthorized" alien workers who all used the same address in Atlanta, Ga., in 2011, according to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).
[Al Ahram] Egypt's opposition figure 
[Al Ahram] Commenting on the demonstration organised by Islamist forces Friday under the banner "Rejecting Violence," President Mohamed Morsi said during a conference organised by the Arab Engineers' Union Saturday that the rally reflected the Egyptian people's rejection of violence.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[Al Ahram] A Shia man was 
Nawaz Sharif
[Al Ahram] Syria's army on Saturday pressed a fierce assault launched four days ago against rebel areas in northern and eastern Damascus, killing three children with mortar fire, a monitoring group said.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[Chicago Tribune] At least three people were killed and 10 others wounded in shootings in Chicago Friday, the first day of summer.
[Al Ahram] The 
[An Nahar] Syria's army on Saturday pressed a fierce assault launched four days ago against rebel areas in northern and eastern Damascus, killing three children with mortar fire, a monitoring group said.
David Cameron
[Pak Daily Times] A young Pashto actress suffered burn injuries in an acid attack in northwest Pakistain on Saturday, her relatives and police said.
[Al Ahram] The head of a top Russian rights group and the leader of an opposition party said Saturday they had been assaulted by riot police during a night-time raid on the non-profit group in the latest crackdown on activists during Vladimir Putin's new term.
[Al Ahram] Attacks north of Storied 
![Floor Cover Design](http://davidsfantasyteam.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/mens-health1.jpg?w=750"){kind=link}