Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
06/30/2014 18:14
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#4
Another bullshit event. Hobby Lobby did not want all contraceptives off the insurance. They only wanted certain items off. Most notably the morning after pill. They considered this abortion. Now both sides, like clowns in a soap opera, are screaming. This is just another Roe v Wade event where our politicians are screaming to polarize the American public over a trivial event.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
06/30/2014 21:53
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#5
abortifacients
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/30/2014 22:52
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Eyal Yifrah 19, from Elad; Gilad Sha'ar, 16, from Talmon; and Naftali Frenkel, also 16, from Nof Ayalon, went missing on June 12th, and officials soon identified Hamas as the culprits. Their bodies were found near between the Arab village of Halhul and the Jewish village of Carmei Tzur, near the city of Hevron, where the search operation for them - dubbed Operation Brother's Keeper - had been focused.
The bodies were apparently found together, bound and buried in a shallow grave in a field at approximately 5 p.m. The families of the boys have been informed of their tragic loss.
That sounds cool Eh? Send in the drones, hellfires for the lot of them!!
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
06/30/2014 14:44
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#2
D-9's (or larger) aren't quite as elegant as drones, but perhaps more effective for clearing a defensive perimeter to the south and east of Carmei Tzur.
About a 3.5 kilometer swath should be sufficient for this week. Next week, who knows?
Might need a couple D-11s.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
06/30/2014 15:05
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#3
so we've established Gilad Shalit alive was worth 1,027 Paleo alive prisoners. I'd say 3 dead Israeli teens are worth 9,081 dead Paleo prisoners. Start the executions
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/30/2014 15:18
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#7
In AFG, the 110lb head statisticians were satisfied that about 75% of the IED emplacers lived within 7k's of the site of bomb emplacement. Just saying.
Still think, based on the information in the article, that it's too early to attribute it all to the minimum wage hike, not when Obamacare, economic conditions, etc., are in the mix. It'll likely be at least a year or two before there's be some concrete evidence.
#9
Funny why this article isn't referenced in the SeattlestanTimes.
And While Pappy may have a point, I have seen enough anecdotal stuff that makes me think its already in play: fewer people in line at food court at the airport, restaurants have fewer cars in the lot; I have decided to buy nothing more in Sea-tac (the city) or the airport. and when the $15 min wage comes into play in Seattle, I will not spend any food $$ there either.
#4
The Supremes are beginning to act with some wisdom. The decision regarding the penalty vs tax decision on ACA(ObamaCare)was a debacle. They should have driven a nail in that coffin then. Three good decisions in a row, NLRB recess appointments, Hobby Lobby and religious beliefs, and SEIU union decision. Can't say much for the liberals on the court; they marched in lock step with the Donk talking points and agenda on the last two decisions. However, they did go along on the NLRB decision.
#5
In my read, it was narrowly applied to smaller family owned companies not publicly traded corporations which Hobby Lobby is rather than say Walmart.
In the labor case, the state of Corruption Illinois had forced independent home care providers into unions and thus the extraction of protection money and reelection kickback union dues. The court left open the issue when dealing with full time traditionally classified government workers.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
06/30/2014 15:10
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#10
So Hobby Lobby employees can't get four types of abortion pills free, but do get 16 other types of the Pill for free. Just think this had to go all the way to the SC to decide that religious rights are covered in the Constitution.
A prime example of a First World Problem politicized and lawyered up to death.
Posted by: regular joe ||
06/30/2014 15:33
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#11
The Amish have long been exempted from military service due to their religious beliefs. The public funding of genocide as a birth control mechanism is permissible for Ginsberg and the other liberals. Strange, very strange.
#14
The wholesale slaughter of innocent people [Jews, the elderly, women and children] was a convenient outcome for some during the 20th Century as well. Why is the connection so illusive ?
#15
Hey - how about starting a Constitutionalist Religion?
Or maybe the Church of the Productively Employed? Attend 4-5 days a week, so much more religious than those others. Of course, government workers wouldn't qualify.
#16
"Might be a good idea, Iblis. But you'd have to go to church every Sunday to prove that you are sincere."
Sincerity is not an issue. As for worship, didn't Franklin say that beer is proof there is a God and that he loves us? I feel a spiritual moment coming on...
[FP] The Regime is poised to abandon its pick to run the sprawling Defense Intelligence Agency amid two ongoing investigations into whether programs she had overseen have been marred by questionable and potentially illegal spending, according to administration officials and congressional sources with knowledge of the matter. The revenge of Palantir software, it hath arrived.
#2
Seems the good general has a few other 'leadership issues' in her portfolio. Any of those issues would have had her relieved of command - in a line unit.
[AP] Seeking to turn around a troubled agency, President Barack Obama I've now been in 57 states -- I think one left to go... will nominate former Procter & Gamble executive Robert McDonald to lead a Veterans Affairs department gripped by reports of treatment delays and cover-ups.
An administration official said Obama planned to nominate McDonald to the Cabinet post on Monday. If confirmed by the Senate, the 61-year-old McDonald would succeed Eric Shinseki, the retired four-star general who resigned last month as the scope of the issues at veterans' hospitals became apparent.
McDonald's nomination signals that the president put a premium on management experience as he sought a new VA secretary. McDonald also has a military background, graduating near the top of his class at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and serving as a captain in the Army, primarily in the 82nd Airborne Division.
See Bob McDonald's P&G bio here. In my opinion this is an inspired choice. The man has a military background, ran a Dow Jones Industrial Average company after making his way up from the bottom (P&G is one of those rare 'promote from within' companies), and is blazingly intelligent while lacking the need to feed his ego. Mr. Wife speaks very highly of him from personal experience. If he cannot turn around the VA, it cannot be done.
#1
To be successful, Mr. McDonald will need hiring and firing tools similar to those he had at P&G. I doubt he'll see them anytime soon. Responsibility without authority is generally a recipe for disaster.
#2
He doesn't necessarily need to get rid of people, Besoeker, just be able to move them to where they can't do any harm, though carrying myriads of such peope would impact his overhead costs. They do that with teachers in New York City, I understand.
Here is more about the man, from the local newspaper: link
#3
They do that with teachers in New York City, I understand.
The rubber room. Non-productive who collect pay and pension but do no service for the income (aka parasite).
Much more effective to give the guy the ability to fire five people a year without challenge, sort of like voir dire on juries where each party usually gets one veto on any member of the jury pool. Just the existence of such an ability will have the power to 'make friends and influence people'.
#6
I once had a conversation with the Postmaster General -- a mover and shaker in the private sector -- who explained he was basically impotent when it came to his unionized, job-protected, politically connected workforce.
The difference here is the lives of our nation's best are in the balance, rather than delays in junk mail delivery.
Posted by: regular joe ||
06/30/2014 11:30
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All members of 'B Company.'
Be there when you get there. Be there when you leave.
#8
Of course, Besoeker. But first make the thing functional for those who need it, and later we can point and laugh at those who were promoted to the rubber room. This is exactly the kind of thing Congress can be useful for.
#10
TW, I though Congress was already filled with them and they seem rather grouchy and p'ed off when you try to move them along there as well. (see-MS senate race)
Grom: don't use the 'big' tag in formatting. Thanks. AoS.
"It neither helps us nor hurts us, but exactly the opposite," Mexican President Luis Echeverria is supposed to have said ("Ni nos benefica ni nos perjudica, sino todo lo contrario"). In the case of Iraq, as so often, it depends: the winner is the side best able to bear the burden of uncertainty. America should be the winner when our prospective enemies fight each other (as I argued in [a] February 2012 essay). In the language of option trading (see here), we should be long volatility, but instead are short volatility. That is because neither the Obama administration nor the Republican mainstream can admit that Iraq and Syria are not to be stabilized, and are stuck with the onus of apparent policy failure.
Iraq's woes surely are good for the Russians and the Iranians. Russia just delivered five Sukhoi 25s, their nimbler but less powerful competitor to our Warthog close-air-defense fighter (that's the one the Pentagon proposes to eliminate), the first installment on a $500 million contract for a dozen of them. Russia also is selling $2 billion of arms, including attack helicopters, to Egypt, and with Saudi funding. The Iranians meanwhile have sent in special forces and armaments.
All of this makes our leadership in both parties look like idiots, and that is bad for America. Even those of us who think that our leadership are idiots cringe when it becomes obvious to the rest of the world.The American public by a margin of 71:22 thinks that the Iraq War wasn't worth it. They are against any sort of intervention because there is no-one they trust to conduct intervention sensibly.
Putin is not smarter than we are. He is simply unburdened by the illusion that most of the countries in the region should or will succeed, and he is willing to stay one jump ahead of the game, maneuvering for advantage as opportunities emerge. We are fettered by Obama's affirmative-action approach to the Muslim world as articulated in his July 2009 Cairo address and numerous subsequent statements, and the Republicans' ideological belief that the mere form of parliamentary democracy fixes all problems.
The intrusion of reality benefits the likes of Putin, because Putin is a realist It hurts us, because we refuse to accept reality. Our leaders live in ideological bubbles; they are incapable of considering the consequence of their errors, because they believe in their respective causes (the innate goodness of Islam or the innate propensity of people towards democracy) with religious intensity.
#5
Putinist Russia's achilles heel is its perennially struggling, decrepit industrial base which makes it highly vulnerable to either China's andor Soon-to-be-Nuclear Islam's geopol ambitions.
Lest we fergit, IMO VLAD'S REAL REASON(S) FOR ANNEXING THE CRIMEA FROM UKRAINE ...
* CHINESE MILITARY FORUM, WORLD NEWS > [Business Week] RUSSIA'S FORCES ON THE UKRAINIAN BORDER MAY NOT BE AS FORMIDABLE AS IT LOOKS.
* RELATED TIME.COM > WHY IS RUSSIA'S INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTIVITY SO POOR?
* GROONG > ISIS: AZERBAIJANI + TURKY WILL SOON BECOME ISLAMIC STATES | GROUP OF "ISLAMIC STATE OF SYRIA + THE LEVANT" [i.e. ISIS/ISIL] ASKS AZERBAIJANI PEOPLE TO JOIN THEIR STRUGGLE.
* SAME > [ICH] IFF MILITARISM CONTINUES, HUMANITY IS DOOMED.
D *** NG IT, WHATS HUMANITY GOING TO DO IFF RADICAL ISLAM = NUCLEAR ISLAM SUCCEEDS IN TAKING OVER THE WORLD, OR MOST OF IT - LEAVE EARTH???
And thus, little Virginia, we learn once again why God, Madonna, + 1960's-70's = 2014 Guam Taotamonas invented the old new movie
"INTERSTELLAR".
[DAWN] Expressing reservation about the launch of military operation in North Wazoo Agency without timeframe, the all-party conference organised by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... government here on Saturday warned that the continuation of the offensive for indefinite period would be dangerous.
"Launching military offensive without planning and timeframe was not correct. Its continuation for indefinite period will be dangerous," said a joint declaration issued after the conference.
Chief Minister Pervez Khattak presided over the event, where leaders of all major political parties, including Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... , Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam ...the political wing of the Pak Taliban... -Fazl, Awami National Party founded by Abdul Wali Khan in 1986. Part of the PPP-led cabinet 2008-13. The ANP is considered left wing, advocating for secularism, democratic socialism, public sector government, and economic egalitarianism.... , Pakistain People's Party and Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... , were in attendance.
The conference was convened to discuss the launch of the Zarb-e-Azb military operation in North Waziristan and its impact on Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, especially its law and order situation.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2014
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An Israeli drone strike Sunday killed a Palestinian militant in Gaza, Palestinian security officials said, in the latest air raid on the coastal enclave. An army spokesman said the raid targeted "terrorists" who had been preparing to fire rockets at Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier that Israel was ready to expand operations in Gaza in response to a surge in militant rocket fire, and after the air force struck a dozen targets overnight.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/30/2014
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[Legal Insurrection] HEN MAZZIG: I HOPE I MADE A DIFFERENCE
November 21st of 2012, Hen Mazzig was walking down Shaul Ha Melech street in the heart of Tel Aviv when an ear splitting explosion ripped through the air. The gut wrenching sound echoed across the apartment and office buildings for several seconds soon to be replaced by sounds of agony, then sirens. A Dan commuter bus, No. 142, was running its usual route when at twelve noon Muhammad Mafarji used his cell phone to detonate an explosive device packed with nails and shrapnel. Hen was a block away. Hen knows the value of peace. I hope Hen made a difference as well.
A tidbit in the Naharnet news feed focusing on the recent bombings in Beirut, in greater detail yesterday by moderator TW, and here today because it's important for a Monday.
Interrogation with the detained would-be suicide bomber Abdul Rahman al-Shenifi revealed that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is selling oil to finance its terrorist operations, LBCI television reported on Saturday.
"Al-Shenifi revealed that ISIL is selling oil in Syria and Iraq and through this activity has managed to have cash money," LBCI said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/30/2014
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[DAWN] Fresh air strikes in North Wazoo Agency on Sunday have killed 16 hard boyz and destroyed a number of hideouts on the outskirts of Mirali.
The military front man told Dawn.com the air strikes also destroyed a large ammunition dump belonging to the krazed killers.
Few civilians remain in areas of North Waziristan which is being evacuated. Announcements are also being made for the people who have not left the area.
Security forces are also planning for a ground movement, which will only take place after major hideouts are destroyed.
Mirali and Miranshah ... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas... are still under siege by security forces in order to prevent Death Eaters from fleeing.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2014
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Iraq said it received the first batch of Sukhoi warplanes from Russia as it pressed a counter-attack on Sunday against Sunni militants whose offensive threatens to tear the country apart.
The arrival of the fighter jets comes with Iraqi forces, backed by aerial cover, pushing to retake the militant-held city of Tikrit and world leaders urging a speeding up of government formation following elections in April.
The Su-25 ground attack jets are expected to be pressed into service as soon as possible, bolstering Iraq's air power as it combats a sweeping offensive by militants, led by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), that has killed more than 1,000 people and sparked a humanitarian crisis with hundreds of thousands displaced.
But it remains unclear who will fly them — executed dictator Saddam Hussein's air force had Su-25s, but even if they were both trusted and willing, those pilots are unlikely to have had time in the aircraft in more than a decade.
Wonder if any Iranian 'volunteers' have air time in the Sukhoi...
#2
Did they include a trainload of ordinance, or will the Iraqis be buying from Fingerhut?
Posted by: ed in texas ||
06/30/2014 8:13
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#3
The SU-25 was designed to counter the US A-10. It's good, but nowhere near as effective as the A-10 (no GAU-8). It will work well enough against Islamic snuffies. The Russians used them in Afghanistan, but not very effectively.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/30/2014 11:44
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#4
It does have a nice 30mm cannon on it, but as OP says... nothing replaces the GAU-8.
For operations against 3rd world enemies, the SU-25 is a pretty decent aircraft. Nice load, nice handling and rugged.
BELEDWEYNE, Somalia June 28, 2013 (Garowe Online)-Suspected Al Shabaab militants launched attack on Somali Government and Djibouti forces base in the outskirts of Hiraan regional capital of Beledweyne of central Somalia overnight on Friday, Garowe Online reports.
Beledweyne residents tell GO that heavy gunfire could be heard in Beledweyne neighborhoods. No casualty figures have so far been disclosed to the media but Somali army commanders said they have repelled militant attack on their base.
Gun battle triggered when the clock ticked towards high noon 12:00 PM in the night after militants targeted the base with pre-planned assault, sources noted.
This here town ain't big enough for both of us, ya stinking Æthiops!
Security forces commenced search operation in Beledweyne town in pursuit of assailants on Saturday morning.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/30/2014
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Five churches, including COCIN, EYN and Deeper Life Bible Church, in Kwada village about 10 kilometres from Chibok town, were on Sunday attacked by Boko Haram insurgents. The attackers, according to report from locals in Chibok, targeted the time when worshipers were ready for the Sunday Service.
"They killed and burnt houses after attacking worshipers in five churches in Kwada; after that, they advanced to Kautikari, less than 8 kilometres to Chibok town, whey they equally killed people and destroyed properties.
"I'm not sure security agencies have gone to rescue the villagers, but I learnt that the insurgents are still in pursuit of the remaining villagers", Mallam Yahi told DailyPost.
I think the town needs killer bees...
It was gathered that residents of Chibok town have also fled their homes, following the news of the attacks in Kwada and Kautikari.
DailyPost recalls that few weeks ago, there was panic in Chibok Local Government Area of Borno State, following a letter purportedly written to them by the sect members. A top local government official in Chibok town, who did not want his name in print revealed this to newsmen in Maiduguri the Borno State capital on Sunday.
According to him, when they met the police with the letter, they were assured of maximum protection. He, however, said the police were also complaining of fuel for their vehicle. He said the local government had also assured the security operatives that they were going to buy fuel for them.
He said, "whenever Boko Haram members tell you that they are coming, they never fail to come. Our fears now is that we don't know when and how they are going to come.
"We are calling for prayers as well as on government to provide us with adequate security in Chibok".
I think it's time for the Christians of Nigeria to praise the Lord and pass the ammunition...
On the ongoing attacks in the area, it was gathered that a police officer, Peter Maina was called out during Sunday service in Church in Maiduguri, to be informed that his brother was killed at Kwada.
Meanwhile, the Chibok Community in Maiduguri broke into a session of prayer on Sunday after receiving the news of ongoing attacks on the two villages.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/30/2014
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Armed gunmen shot dead two Somali traffic cops from the Somali Federal Government at the Dabka intersection in the Hodan district of Mogadishu.
In civilized countries the cops react poorly to this sort of thing...
Witnesses reported to Shabelle that the armed assailants were armed with pistols and they shot dead the cops in broad daylight. He also added that the murderers managed to escape by fleeing the crime scene immediately although other government troops reached the scene soon after.
There has been no comment from Somali Federal Government officials regarding the murder of the traffic cops.
As if they care...
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/30/2014
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The Al Qaeda breakaway group that has seized much of northern Syria and huge tracks of neighbouring Iraq formally declared the creation of an Islamic state on Sunday in the territory under its control.
In a sign of the group’s confidence, it has now expanded its claim of leadership to encompass all the world’s Muslims.
They did that well before they were 'confident'...
The spokesman for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Abu Mohammed Al Adnani, made the announcement in an audio statement posted online. The extremists have long dreamed of recreating the Islamic state, or caliphate, that ruled over the Middle East for hundreds of years.
Abu Mohammed Al Adnani said the group’s chief, Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, is the new leader, or caliph, of the Islamic state. He called on those living in the areas under the organisation’s control to swear allegiance to Al Baghdadi and support him.
And only him. He's a jealous god, you see...
“The legality of all emirates, groups, states and organisations becomes null by the expansion of the caliph’s authority and the arrival of its troops to their areas,” Al Adnani said.
He said that with the creation of the caliphate, the group was changing its name to just the Islamic State, dropping the mention of Iraq and the Levant.
It was unclear what immediate practical impact the declaration would have on the ground in Syria and Iraq, or among the wider global community.
It'll stop Champ cold...
The group gained international attention this month, when its fighters and those from other militant groups swept through the northern city of Mosul, then overran major areas of five provinces north and west of Baghdad.
“The Shura (council) of the Islamic State met and discussed this issue (of the caliphate)... The Islamic State decided to establish an Islamic caliphate and to designate a caliph for the state of the Muslims,” Adnani said.
Isil has also sought to appeal to non-Arabs, publishing English-language magazines, after having already released videos in English, or with English subtitles. The group claims to have had fighters from the Britain, France, Germany and other European countries, as well as the United States, and from the Arab world and the Caucasus.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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#1
I'd think that the Soddies would have a problem with that. ISIL(S) moving to Mecca any time soon?
#2
and speaking of the soddies, some reports have ISIL (or ISIS or the Caliphate) declaring that the Kaaba stone creates idolatry and needs to be destroyed.
This should get the dialogue off to a good start
Posted by: lord garth ||
06/30/2014 18:22
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Hopes of celebrating the first day of Ramadan in peace in southern Thailand were quashed when Narathiwat's Tak Bai district was hit by violence. In a midnight shootout between six policemen from Takbai district and ten armed men for a half-hour, two policemen were killed and their rifles and pistols stolen. Two civilians were also wounded in the incident.
Takbai's police chief said the attack was launched when six policemen were on patrol on three motorcycles. He said the terrorists separatists spread out in three groups, with one attacking the police, the second keeping guard and the third scattering nails and others materials to block assistance from other nearby security forces. He said the group was believed to be terrorists separatists active on Satol Takbai Island.
Meanwhile, at 7:25 a.m., two bombs went off at two locations, a rubber wood sawmill and on an electric pole, but no casualties were reported. Witnesses said the bombs were placed by four to six men who had come on three motorcycles.
Egypt will restrict Ramadan sermons to topics of faith and morality, the state's top official in charge of religious affairs said on Sunday, in the latest move limiting political speech in the deeply polarised country.
Mohammed Mokhtar Gomaa said the decision should ensure that sermons during holy month of fasting "unite people, not divide them," compared to what he described as a more politicised past when the country was run by an Islamist president.
"The religious speech was politically driven, which affected the moral side," he told reporters at a news conference on the first day of the observance. "Now we're in a race against time trying to restore morals."
Pious Muslims spend longer times at the mosques during the month, which they devote to prayer, charity and good deeds.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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#1
One would think Muslims would enjoy the novelty.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed open support on Sunday for Kurdish independence. Netanyahu said that among the challenges facing his nation was the need to build cooperation with moderate countries in the region to help face the threat posed by extremists such as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. He also said Israel must back efforts to support Jordan so that the insurgency doesn't spread there.
Netanyahu said, "It is upon us to support the international efforts to strengthen Jordan, and support the Kurds' aspiration for independence," adding that the Kurds are a "fighting people that have proven political commitment and political moderation, and they're also worthy of their own political independence."
This was Netanyahu’s first explicit comments on the subject after other Israeli officials hinted at this broadly. In talks with US Secretary of State Kerry last week, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was quoted as saying that "Iraq is breaking up before our eyes and it would appear that the creation of an independent Kurdish state is a foregone conclusion."
President Shimon Peres also mentioned the topic in a meeting with President Obama last week. He said, "The Kurds have, de facto, created their own state," adding that the Kurdish entity already was democratic.
These comments came amid media reports that Israel recently received a shipment of crude oil from Iraqi Kurdistan, shipped via tanker that was loaded in a Turkish port.
[DAWN] The army gave a final call on Saturday to all tribal people stranded in North Wazoo to leave the area as air force planes carried out bombings and artillery shelled hideouts, leaving 19 suspected Death Eaters dead. The army claimed arresting a man suspected to be an Al Qaeda hard boy.
"Most civilians have been evacuated from North Waziristan. To make sure that there are no innocent civilians still left in the area, announcements are being made that any tribal person who may have stayed back for any reason should leave," a statement issued by the Inter Services Public Relations said.
According to the Fata Disaster Management AuthÂoÂrity, 456,508 displaced persons have been registered at Sadgai checkpoint so far.
There are reports that some civilians have stayed back to protect their property.
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[DAWN] In 2007, during the height of the so-called 'Lawyers' Movement', I received a call from BBC Radio's World Service.
A news hound from the station who was probably directly covering the movement asked for my comments on the subject, especially on the Emergency Rule imposed by the embattled government of General Parvez Musharraf.
I told her that I kind of supported the Emergency. She was clearly taken aback: "Please, can you repeat that?' I repeated myself, triggering an almost 5-second silence on the other end of the phone.
Continued on Page 49
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[An Nahar] Dutch King Willem-Alexander on Friday officially reopens the renovated Mauritshuis museum, home to Vermeer's iconic "Girl with the Pearl Earring" and a treasure trove of other Golden Age masterpieces. I've never seen the original, but I've been in love with her for fifty years or so.
The elegant 17th-century mansion in The Hague has undergone a 30-million-euro ($40-million) revamp and more than doubled its floor space thanks to an art deco extension accessed through a light-filled underground atrium.
The king will be welcomed by a real-life "Girl with the Pearl Earring", who will hand him a key to officially declare the museum open to the public again after more than two years.
Museum director Emilie Gordenker will give the king a guided tour of the Hague city center museum, which will be broadcast live on giant television screens outside.
Queen Maxima will not be attending, the palace said.
Entry on Friday evening is free until midnight, with city center shops offering a range of activities to mark the occasion.
During the renovation, which began in 2012, many of the museum's best-known pieces, including "Girl with the Pearl Earring", have been touring the world, drawing millions from New York to Tokyo.
"'The Girl with the Pearl Earring' has become an icon, she's become the 'Mona Lisa' of the north, and she does belong here," Gordenker told AFP last week.
"There's something very special about the painting which maybe in a way is a bit like the Mauritshuis: we're small, we're intimate," she said of the museum that is also known as "the jewel box".
Posted by: Fred ||
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On June 27 the office of Texas Governor Rick Perry (R) announced a Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF) investment of $300,000 for shotgun maker Maverick Arms.
The TEF investment will be added to Maverick Arms own "$3.4 million in capital investment" to expand their Eagle Pass, TX, manufacturing facility.
According to Perry's office, Governor Perry said "[the] TEF investment in Maverick Arms will help create jobs and opportunity in Eagle Pass, while reaffirming Texas' longstanding support of the Second Amendment."
"Maverick Arms is a subsidiary of Mossberg Corp.," which is "the oldest family-owned firearm maker in America."
Mossberg CEO Iver Mossberg commented on the Texas expansion: "Investing in Texas was an easy decision. It's a state that's not only committed to economic growth but also honors and respects the 2nd Amendment and the firearm freedoms it guarantees to our customers."
The expansion will create 50 new jobs at the manufacturing facility on Eagle Pass.
#1
Wonderful. Knocking out riot guns a quick 20 minute drive from Laredo. At least it'll be convenient for the shoot outs with the Sinaloas.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
06/30/2014 8:00
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#2
Food, check.
Energy, check.
Banking, check.
Next on the agenda, defense industry.
When everyone suddenly realizes that the 'United States' no longer exists (see-Pelosi on the border "We're all Americans now"), best to have the fundamentals close to home for the ensuing chaos and storm.
The Jerusalem Post has reported an 'unverified' video which purports to show a super-precision Israeli airstrike somewhere in the Gaza Strip yesterday.
The footage, which appears to be piece together from a number of CCTV cameras, shows how accurate Israeli targeting is when the country's armed forces strikes at terrorists in Gaza despite terrorists placing infrastructure and weaponry close to schools and in civilian buildings.
The website reports that "Security cameras near the Shati refugee camp in the Gaza Strip allegedly recorded the assassination of two terrorists by the Israel Air Force."
The car can be seen being struck with an almighty explosion following. A man walking just a few metres behind the car at first seems dazed, but unhurt.
#1
If this is legit, that car was hit by something even smaller than a Hellfire, maybe one of those proposed guided 2.5" Folding Fin Rockets. The IDF may have something even smaller than that, but I can't remember the name.
#3
Ima thinkin' workplace accident/self-kaboom. Not an airstrike IMNSHO.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy ||
06/30/2014 5:14
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#4
Yes, upon closer inspection it appears the floorboard of the car, undercarriage, tires, etc. were undamaged [note the post-blast rolling stop]. This might indicate a suicide vest or bomb cushioned by a seat [explosives not sitting on the floorboard or total penetration and roadway cratering]. Cams appear to be mounted on light poles.
#13
Regardless of how it happened (IDF said they did it) gotta love the Wile E. Coyote Super Genius rollout at the end.
"Osama Hassumi and Mohammad Fatzih, who were targeted in this assassination, were responsible for many of the recent rocket barrages and planned more (they did not belong to Hamas, rather the PRC).
Both the IDF spokesperson and Palestinian official sources confirmed that this was an airborne assassination of these 2 terrorists."
Posted by: Bangkok Billy ||
06/30/2014 18:10
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#14
No matter how it happened, it got very good results!
Posted by: chris ||
06/30/2014 19:14
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[Tolo News] Local officials of eastern Khost province ... across the border from Miranshah, within commuting distance of Haqqani hangouts such as Datta Khel and probably within sight of Mordor. Khost is populated by six different tribes of Pashtuns, the largest probably being the Khostwal, from which it takes its name... on Sunday have raised concerns about a number of Pak refugees who have entered the province armed, asking the Afghan cops to confiscate their weapons.
"We don't want Pak refugees to have weapons and are asking to them handover their weapons to the Afghan cops," Deputy Governor of Khost, Abdul Wahid Patan, said. "The Afghan forces will provide security for them."
Residents of Khost have expressed their share of concerns asking the government to take care of the issue.
"We want the responsible parties to take care of this issue and the concerns of the residents," said Farid Ahmad, a Khost local.
The Pak refugees have confirmed that they are, indeed, armed and explained it was for personal and defensive reasons.
Ahmad Afridi, a Pak refugee, said they "have weapons, but since we have come to Afghanistan we will hand over our weapons to the Afghan cops."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2014
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The attorney for embattled former IRS official Lois Lerner said that Republicans are denigrating an innocent woman for purely partisan purposes.
In an exclusive interview with Candy Crowley, attorney William Taylor said it's "convenient" for the GOP to suggest that Lerner's computer crash means something "nefarious" was going on. He said, "This is election-year politics. It's convenient to have a demon that they can create and point to."
Taylor said Lerner walked into her office one day and her computer screen was blue. Her hard drive had crashed. He said, "The truth is this was one of those things that happened. At the time she did everything she could to retrieve it. She reported it right away. And that's all there is to it."
Taylor said the reason he advised his client to plead the Fifth Amendment was because "there was no pretense that this would be a fair process" in the investigation led by Rep. Darrell Issa.
Issa said that Taylor "has said things that are not correct, or disingenuous or outright lied a number of times, it's been shown by e-mails. (An) attorney trying to get his client off the hook after flubbing and taking the fifth certainly will say and do a lot of things. But they're not held accountable."
Taylor maintained his client's innocence on all fronts, insisting that from the start "(Republicans') only purpose to have her there is to vilify her."
He said, "She has to go on living her life. She's been made to be a villain in a way that's very, very unfair."
#2
If the IRS had implemented anything remotely resembling a reasonable, functional and reliable data retention policy any "blue screen" on end user equipment would be totally irrelevant.
If Mr Taylor is telling the truth then the logical conclusion is that the IRS does not keep an archive documenting its activities in any meaningful way.
#4
You bet your ass they archive & have a(n electronic) document retention policy of W-2's, 1099's and the like - seven years in those cases. Any other excuse is 1,000% horseshit.
The next time it comes up with an IRS revenue agent, I'm going to use this 'lost the documents' excuse on behalf of one of my clients whilst mentioning Lois Lerner getting a pass with same. I'll let y'all know how the federal hack reacts to that one, like you really need to guess...
#6
At first, Slientbrick, I thought you had mis-typed "treason", but now I'm not so sure...
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/30/2014 7:43
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#7
Like all political lies, this is true in one sense. If she hadn't been caught breaking the law (after the fact), they wouldn't be bothering her. Bear in mind, the memos about the activities in question came out after the hard drives were allegedly damaged. So, she's basically set up on a paper crime.
The whole point of this was to smother the investigation, let her take her retirement, and go back to a 'no problems here' front. What they're basically admitting is that it's real easy for any supervisor in the IRS to single out anybody at random for persecution, and there aren't any checks in place to stop them. (Which people have been saying for years, but we're always told "it can't happen".
Posted by: ed in texas ||
06/30/2014 7:45
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#8
Attorney: Lerner John Mitchell vilified by GOP Democrats out of convenience
Remember - One set of rules for me, another set of rules for thee.
#11
In an exclusive interview with Candy Crowley, attorney William Taylor said it's "convenient" for the GOP to suggest that Lerner's computer crash means something "nefarious" was going on.
#12
Would the alleged 'hard drive crashes' at least represent 'material evidence" under the law ?
Material Evidence: Such evidence as is material to question in controversy and which must necessarily enter into the consideration of the controversy and which by itself or in connection with other evidence is determinative of the case.
#13
$1,000,000.00 ($1 Million Dollars) Texas Rep Gohmert wants to reward any IT guy confidentially would get a geeks attention. Guaranteed. Pass the Bounty Bill.
#14
Five years ago, Sonasoft promoted its data-retention services by claiming that the IRS trusted the company to back up its servers, and the agency contracted with Sonasoft for something until 2011. Last week, however, Sonasoft backed away from its 2009 claims, and now says that the contract never included services that would have archived e-mail servers.
Very suspicious.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
06/30/2014 12:18
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#16
#13, that sort of fails without adding tax free (cause you know who's going to go after the weasel informant) and relocation to a country of his/her choice.
#17
Did the computer EVR have a crash BEFORE the current troubles, No. Then arrest her and try her for "Willfull Computer Tampering" bet the computer won't crash again.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/30/2014 16:01
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#18
I'd like to see Sonasoft prosecuted for a violation of Truth in Advertising laws.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
06/30/2014 19:25
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#19
I thought I had typed treason actually. And in a way, it is treason. By their failure to properly keep records in accordance to the law, they are undermining the government of the United States. So if they can't cough up the emails, they should be punished. How about this if death is too much...one year in jail for every day they fail to turn over the emails.
Prosecutors in Russia have asked a court to sentence the former mayor of Makhachkala, the capital of the Russian republic of Dagestan, to 13 years in jail. Said Amirov is charged with involvement in plotting a missile attack against a plane carrying Sagid Murtazaliev, the head of the Russian Pension Fund's branch in Dagestan, and of organizing the 2011 murder of Investigative Committee official Arsen Gadzhibekov.
Amirov was arrested in June 2013. He denies the charges.
Amirov became Makhachkala’s first elected mayor in 1998. He has survived more than a dozen assassination attempts, one of which, in 1993, left him paralyzed.
The leaders of Shiite Iran and Sunni Qatar vowed Sunday to cooperate to fight "terrorism in the region," President Hassan Rouhani's office reported. The pledge to play a "constructive role to establish security and stability" came in a phone call between Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and Rouhani, a statement from the Iranian president's office said.
The quoted words mean something different in Arabic, and a LOT different in Farsi...
Rouhani said that in order to defeat "the hurdle of terrorism and extremism all Muslims should come hand in hand and cooperate," it said. Iran is ready, he said, to do just that and "fight security problems and instability in the region" that benefit only "Zionists and the enemies of the Muslim world."
He did not elaborate.
Predominantly Shiite Iran has vowed to support ally Baghdad against the Sunni insurgency led by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), whose fighters have overrun swathes of five Iraqi provinces since launching an offensive in early June.
Iranian leaders insist the Iraq crisis is not sectarian but a fight against terrorism. Iranian media, however, have accused Qatar and Saudi Arabia of supporting the jihadist Sunni fighters. Without naming anyone, Rouhani himself warned on June 22 that Muslim states which funnel petrodollars to "these savage terrorists" of ISIL would become their next target.
There's a grain of truth to that...
Sunday's statement said the Qatari emir noted "the necessity for cooperation between Muslim nations to prevent the further spread of (the Iraqi) crisis in the region."
"We should all cooperate together against terrorism in the region because the current crisis is very dangerous," he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/30/2014
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[DAWN] Religious segments from Shia and Barelvi sects have demanded that the government reopen the Bari Imam shrine, located in the federal capital.
"We do not want to make a fuss over the matter in the wake of the military operation, otherwise we would give a protest call from our mosques," G-6 Imambargah ...since Pakistain is very religiously correct™, Shia Moslems can't call their houses of worship 'mosques,' which are reserved for Sunnis. It's not clear if imambargahs are used for explosives storage like mosques are... Information Secretary Naeem Abbas said.
Speaking at a presser here at Markazi Imambargah in G-6, members of the management committee demanded that local administration should open the shrine to the public immediately.
"The shrine has been sealed since May 29, when an bomb was discovered there," Abbas said, and continued, "So it is for security reason — but then why not shut down ministries, cop shoppes and even the roads, since bombs have been found everywhere."
He said that the Imambargah management has contacted various mosques and seminaries belonging to the Barelvi sect and held a meeting with the local administration.
He added that a protest call is the last option, and also expressed support for the ongoing operation in North Wazoo. He said that the elimination of dangerous forces is an urgent requirement.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2014
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MOGADISHU -- Federal Government of Somalia's Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed Mohamed who Sunday returned to Mogadishu called on residents to keep vigil on Al Shabaab activities during the holy month of Ramadan, Garowe Online reports.
Nothing like a little starvation and dehydration to work up the 'boobs...
Prime Minister said, he received intelligence briefings disclosing that Al Shabaab is planning bombings that could harm ordinary residents of Mogadishu.
"I call on Somali people to remain vigilant against Al Shabaab threats during Ramadan. The apparent rampage aimed at targeting worshippers during Ramadan is leaking but we shouldn't expose ourselves to threat," said Mohamed referring to Al Shabaab attacks which for the first day of Ramadan claimed at killed two traffic officers in Mogadishu.
Continuing, Somalia Prime Minister urged locals to work with security agencies on the plan of tight security.
Al Shabaab's representative in Banadir Ali Mohamed Hussein unveiled that they would boost their presence with assault on foreigners on Somalia soil and Somali government.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/30/2014
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Top|| File under: al-Shabaab
[DAWN] On April 17, 2013, British newspaper The Guardian published a shocking article titled 'Ship containing 22,000 pounds of dead pangolins crashes into protected reef'. According to the report, a Chinese boat carrying the remains of thousands of illegally killed pangolins crashed into a protected coral reef at Tuhbbataha National Marine Park, a Unesco designated World Heritage site on the Palawan Island in the Philippines. I saw one of these critters at a county fair in Thailand once. I thought it was a fake until it moved. Its scales look like they're whittled out of wood.
Following the crash, Philippines' authorities arrested 12 crewmen. The paper quoted Adelina Vilenna, a lawyer representing the marine park, as saying, "The fishermen face up to 12 years' imprisonment and fines of up to $300,000 (Â196,000) for the poaching charge alone. For possessing pangolin meat, they can be imprisoned for up to six years and fined."
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Wait, the Chinese? There has to be away to blame this on America!
Posted by: ed in texas ||
06/30/2014 8:25
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#2
Waking pangolins pant after ants;
Sticky tongues do not give ants a chance:
Slurped up into dark pokes
Of these stuffed artichokes
Who, pangs gone, spend the day in a trance.
[Tolo News] Debate surrounding this year's presidential election has heightened in recent days following the release of further audio recordings by the Abdullah Abdullah ... the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against Karzai. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun... camp. The recordings released on Saturday allegedly include conversations that show Paktika ...which coincidentally borders South Wazoo... Gov. Mohebullah Samim trying to cover electoral fraud.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2014
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[DAWN] The Taliban have established a foothold in southern Afghanistan in a ten-day battle against Afghan forces, locals said Sunday, as the army and police struggle to prove they can defeat the turbans without NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... help.
A coordinated assault by 800 Taliban fighters on police checkpoints and military posts began on June 19, with Afghan forces rushed in to recapture parts of Sangin district in Helmand
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2014
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Boko Haram insurgents believe the ghosts of their victims are coming back to murder them in the form of killer bees and snakes.
Snakes. Why does it always have to be snakes?
Nigerian newspaper Vanguard is reporting that several Boko Haram insurgents were arrested after fleeing a Nigerian forest because unremitting bee stings and snake bites had become too unbearable. The captured militants claimed they were "mystical bees" and "mysterious snakes" that had killed many of their fellow insurgents.
"We were told that the aggrieved people who had suffered from our deadly mission, including the ghosts of some of those we killed, are the ones turning into the snake and bees," one militant told Vanguard. "Our leaders fled, too."
I see .. opportunity!
The bees and snakes are apparently feared not only for their lethal poisons but their ability to make people disappear.
"We decided to flee when almost all our comrades are leaving the Sambisa [Forest] because of constant attacks by snakes and bees, which we were told was as a result of Chibok abducted schoolgirls," another added.
While the bees and snakes may be doing their job to clear a few out of the forests, it still hasn't stopped the militant group's violence in Nigeria. Just this week, a shopping mall was bombed in the country's capital, killing at least 21 people.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/30/2014
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#1
The wise insurgent avoids the bee with the RPG.
Word on the street has Southern-American Dolichovespula maculata mobilizing. If that's the case it's all over for Boko.
(Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department is expected to announce on Monday a settlement with BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA) involving a record fine of nearly $9 billion over alleged U.S. sanctions violations by France's biggest bank, sources familiar with the matter said.
The penalties, which the sources said may also include a temporary ban on some dollar-clearing business, could hit BNP's dividend payout, regulatory capital ratios and its investment banking targets, analysts say.
BNP is expected to plead guilty to a criminal charge in Manhattan Federal Court on Monday and the U.S. Justice Department is planning a news conference in Washington to announce a deal the same day, sources said.
St. Louis, June 18th -- The pivotal role BNP Paribas played in helping Sudan sell oil in violation of U.S. sanctions is the major reason U.S. authorities are pushing for harsh penalties against the French banking giant, two sources with firsthand knowledge of the matter said."BNP basically was the Sudanese economy.
"They were just huge in helping the government of Sudan evade U.S. sanctions," one of the sources said.
BNP's role involved removing references to Sudanese parties from wire-transfer messages, so U.S. dollar oil payments could clear through New York and move into accounts controlled by Khartoum, the sources said. The sources declined to name the buyers of the Sudanese oil or to say what Khartoum did with the revenue.
BNP provided more oil-related banking services to Sudan than any other bank and "made a determination" that it wanted to bank the U.S.-sanctioned country, one source said. He was unable to say precisely what percentage of Sudan's banking BNP handled, but said it was the "dominant player."
The source added that the bank also violated U.S. sanctions by doing business with Iran and Cuba.
#1
I recommend the fines be paid to some worthwhile Christian charities in France. Bringing the money back to the States will only result in the regime frivolously pissing it away.
#3
Actually, their 'investment' was the funding of the American War of Independence. It was among the factors (ie sovereign bankruptcy - in both sense of the words) that lead to him losing his head (literally).
[An Nahar] Turkish President Abdullah Gul said he would not seek a second term in office, further raising the likelihood that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi only they haven't dumped him yet... would run for the top job.
"I will not present my candidacy... my term expires on August 28," Gul told news hounds ahead of a closed-door meeting with Erdogan in Istanbul, adding that he had already informed the premier of his decision before the local elections in March.
Already in his third term as prime minister -- the maximum permitted under the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)'s rules -- Erdogan is widely expected to be unveiled on Tuesday as his party's candidate for August's presidential poll.
Gul, who assumed office in 2007, is tipped as a possible prime minister should Erdogan run in the presidential vote on August 10, the first time voters will directly elect the country's head of state.
Asked whether he would consider the position of prime minister, Gul said: "Those are the things that we will talk about among ourselves later."
Gul, who co-founded the AKP with Erdogan, had previously said he did not have any political plan for the future and had ruled out swapping jobs with the premier.
The presidency has until now been a largely ceremonial role but Erdogan has said he would exercise its full powers if he is elected -- which could be a source of conflict between the premier and the president.
On Sunday, Turkey's two main opposition parties formally backed Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, former head of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), to run against Erdogan.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2014
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[DAWN] GUJAR KHAN: Five people bit the dust after consuming spurious liquor at a village fair held at a shrine in Kanoha village, within the jurisdiction of the Kallar Syedan cop shoppe on Friday.
According to SHO Malik Yar Mohammad, the dear departed have been identified as Akhtar Mehmood, Mohammad Kamran and Sheraz Ahmed, who belong to Dhammali village, and Ayaz and Asif, from Inara Moohri village in the Kahuta tehsil.
When asked about the arrest of the bootleggers selling Kickapoo Joy Juice, SHO Mohammad said that because the victims were highly intoxicated they were unable to give details, which makes it impossible to arrest anyone.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2014
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#1
It's a warning to not drink booze - especially during Ramadan.
Fortunately, I do not observe Ramadan. And I don't buy booze on the black market.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/30/2014 7:38
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#2
On a recent road trip through Kentucky, Tennessee and South Carolina, many of the local-owned gas stations had jars of 'liquid' setting on the counters with price tags in the $20-$30 range. Apparently this was for the tourist trade as one of the clerks told us the 'local' stuff was more 'cloudy'.
Yoikes
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
06/30/2014 12:14
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[DAWN] A young woman was burnt to death in Toba Tek Singh's Chak 296-GB village by her suitor over rejection of his marriage proposal.
Police claimed to have taken the suspect into custody along with the petrol canister used in the attack.
The suspect was moved to some holy man's guesthouse an undisclosed location for further investigations while the registration of a case was underway at a local cop shoppe.
The incident occurred when the young suspect visited the residence of the victim with his marriage proposal, according to the girl's family members who added that the proposal was turned down, upon which the suspect got enraged and lit the girl on fire after sprinkling petrol on her.
The girl was shifted to District Headquarters Hospital at death's door where she succumbed to her wounds during treatment.
Family-members staged protests demanding a postmortem and justice for the dear departed and also claimed that the suspect had been warned several times in the past over eve teasing incidents with the victim.
Area residents said that the suspect had also had an altercation with the victims brother, a day earlier, over harassment issues.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2014
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#1
Islamic Love:
"Will you marry me? Or do I have to throw acid in your face, and set you on fire to assuage my tender Islamic Manhood?"
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/30/2014 21:43
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[DAWN] Prime Minister 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 Sunday visited the Islamabad International Airport to view newly inducted A320 aircraft into fleet of Pakistain International Airlines (PIA) after a period of almost ten years.
On the occasion, the Prime Minster offered his all out support for making PIA as one of the leading airlines of the world.
He said that he would like to see more Paks travelling in the national flag carrier which should be the preferred choice of passengers.
He also emphasised on providing best services to passengers and expressed his best wishes for the success of PIA.
Special Assistant to the PM on Aviation Shujaat Azeem, Managing Director PIA Muhammad Junaid Yunus and Director Flight Operations PIA Captain Qasim Hayat accompanied the Prime Minister during the visit, said a blurb.
Sharing his views the PM said "It's pleasing to see the new aircraft being inducted in PIA fleet and prayed that with the present initiatives being taken, PIA will soon be revived to its past glory".
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2014
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#1
Buy here pay here, one way okay, cash is fine for ID.
[DAWN] The massacre of 10 foreign climbers on Pakistain's "Killer Mountain" a year ago came after a failed attempt Curses! Foiled again! to capture a Chinese-American to use him as a high-value bargaining chip, officials and bully boy sources have said.
The June 22 attack at the base camp for the 8,126-metre Nanga Parbat, Pakistain's second-highest mountain — nicknamed for its treacherous terrain — was the deadliest assault on foreigners in the country for a decade.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
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Philippine security forces were placed on "heightened alert" particularly in two major cities in Mindanao over a potential terrorist threat from a bomb expert with connections to the Abu Sayyaf terrorists extremists.
Officials confirmed the alert was raised for the cities of Davao and Zamboanga where security operations have resulted in the arrest of long-wanted Abu Sayyaf leaders.
In Davao City, Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said that President Aquino personally called him up to warn him about the threat posed by Abdul Basit Usman who was believed to have orchestrated recent bombing attacks in Mindanao. Duterte said the warning prompted him to call an emergency command conference of all police and military units and agreed to set up checkpoints, as well as the deployment of lawmen in plainclothes.
Officials said the same security measures have been adopted in Zamboanga City to foil attacks following the recent arrest of three suspected Abu Sayyaf leaders linked to several abductions from a resort on the island state of Sabah in Malaysia.
Meanwhile, the country’s intelligence community said that Usman continued to pose a serious threat to Mindanao after he was confirmed to have been alive. Usman, who carries a $1 million bounty offered by the US government, had reportedly been killed during an American drone attack at the Afghan/Pakistan border in 2010. But the Philippine military now say that Usman is alive and that he was reportedly training Abu Sayyaf terrorists militants and members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) on the manufacture of improvised bombs used in a recent series of attacks in the area.
Posted by: ryuge ||
06/30/2014
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[An Nahar] The softly spoken, bespectacled intellectual hoping to defeat Turkey's powerful premier in the country's first direct presidential election faces a steep uphill struggle.
Egypt-born Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu is a former head of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the global grouping of Moslem nations, and a scholar who makes no secret of his devotion to Islam.
The selection of an overtly pious Moslem may seem a surprising move for the secular opposition, but it reflects the way in which Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi only they haven't dumped him yet... -- who continues to dominate Turkish politics after 11 years in power -- has made it impossible to ignore the religiously conservative majority.
The opposition hopes Ihsanoglu's calm and professorial demeanor will offer a welcome contrast to Erdogan's volatile outbursts and polarizing style, that have become increasingly evident over the past year as he responds to mass anti-government protests and a torrent of corruption allegations against his inner circle.
Erdogan is expected to formally announce his candidacy on Tuesday for the August elections -- the first time the country has directly elected its president.
Ihsanoglu is known as a brilliant intellectual with a doctorate from Ankara University who went on to found Istanbul University's department of science history, which he headed until 2004.
A respected diplomat during his time as OIC president, he promoted dialogue between Islam and Christianity and has written numerous books.
But his nomination required extensive discussions between the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party, who have often struggled to provide a united front against the Erdogan's supremacy.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2014
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The Yueyang, a Type 054A guided-missile frigate of the People's Liberation Army Navy, is participating in the ongoing RIMPAC 2014 joint naval exercise held in Hawaii, and the country is already underway constructing more frigates of the same class, reports the state-run China News Service.
The Yueyang is in fact the 14th vessel among its other sister ships. With 575 as its hull number, the vessel was launched on May 10, 2012, and began its sea trials in September of that year before eventually entering the PLA Navy in March, 2013. The Yueyang, like other ships of its class, is designed to provide fleet air defense and can also coordinate with other vessels and naval aircraft in battle against enemy warships and submarines, CNS said.
The PLA Navy's Type 054A guided-missile frigates carry HQ-16 medium-range air defence missiles. Fired from the vertical launching system of a Type 054A frigate, the HQ-16 provides area air defence from all engagement angles up to a range of 50 kilometers. At the same time, the vessel can also launch various anti-submarine rockets and even anti-submarine missiles against enemy submarines.
Like many of its sister ships, the Yueyang was constructed at the Huangpu Shipyard located in Guangzhou in southern China's Guangdong province under the supervision of the China State Shipbuilding Corporation.
#1
A frigate, now there's an interesting concept for 'ya. Luckily our LCS can outrun one easily, for 500 miles anyway, I mean if the sea state is acceptable and it's not too windy.
#2
Just remember, frigates are out of date for high seas use, too small to affect an engagement (and too small to build a professional empire). If you look at their likely uses, it appears the PLAN is concerned about (1)quick inshore operation, (2)ASW, (3)mobile anti-air platforms and (4)forward engagement against amphibs.
What a shock; they're not preparing to fight a war in the North Atlantic...
Posted by: ed in texas ||
06/30/2014 7:54
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Ed, imagine a group of three of them, with three more type 52's. and a half dozen missile boats. All as a screen for a couple carriers. We're missing the forest for the trees.
#4
If you look at their likely uses, it appears the PLAN is concerned about (1)quick inshore operation, (2)ASW, (3)mobile anti-air platforms and (4)forward engagement against amphibs.
Exactal! Luckily we don't have to worry about such silliness.
#6
Deemed unworthy the other day, but since we're talking original frigates...
On this date, the Chesapeake, peppered
And boarded by the horrible Leopard,
Was scene of shanghai-ing
And three of us dying
Thanks to old Mother England, that [censored].
KHARTOUM -- Sudanese authorities and U.S. officials in Khartoum are negotiating to allow a Sudanese woman, who married an American and was recently spared the death penalty for converting to Christianity, to leave Sudan, sources close to the case said.
Mariam Yahya Ibrahim, 27, was detained at Khartoum airport on Tuesday, one day after an appeals court overturned a death sentence imposed on her for having converted from Islam to Christianity in order to marry her Christian American husband. Her lawyer Mohaned Mostafa said Ibrahim, her husband and two children had all been staying at the U.S. embassy in Khartoum since her release, which was granted on the condition that Ibrahim remains in Sudan.
"There are talks going on currently between Sudanese and American officials to try to find a way for Mariam and her family to leave the country," a source close to the case said, asking not to be named as he was not authorised to talk to the media.
Seems simple enough to me. Sudan grants an exit visa and the U.S. grants her and the kids refugee status. Then again, I'm not a diplomat...
Ibrahim was detained on Tuesday for trying to use documents issued by the embassy of South Sudan to fly out of Khartoum with her American-South Sudanese husband and their two children.
Despite lifting her death sentence after huge international pressure, Sudan still does not acknowledge Ibrahim's new identity as a Christian South Sudanese because it does not recognise her marriage. Muslim women are not permitted to marry Christian men under the Islamic laws that Sudan applies.
"The talks now are aiming to get her out of Sudan on a Sudanese passport," the source said.
Ibrahim's husband Daniel Wani told Reuters that it was a "misunderstanding" and error when Sudanese authorities said her travel documents were invalid, adding that his wife should have the right to adopt his South Sudanese nationality.
"There is diplomatic work going on and the Sudanese government offers help and cooperates in this matter," Wani said in a phone conversation with Reuters. "We will leave this time in a smooth manner and with travel documents that the Sudanese authorities accept."
A U.S. spokeswoman said on Thursday before Ibrahim's release that Ibrahim had all the documents she needed to travel to the United States.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/30/2014
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#1
perhaps Sudan needs to lose a vital electrical/hydro installation?
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/30/2014 21:02
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The Central Committee of the Korean Workers' Party has recently issued an order that all privately grown crops must be destroyed.
North Korea has a cooperative farming system where individuals are, in principle, banned from owning farms or smallholdings. Nevertheless, many individuals cultivate their own crops, and this is done quite openly.
But there have been serious differences in production success this year, according to sources; it has been a good year for privately owned plots, particularly in the regions of Hamgyong, Chagang and Yanggang provinces; but famine conditions have been witnessed on state-run cooperatives.
State security agents are said to have reported to the Central Committee that 'private agriculture is becoming dangerously widespread.' In response, the instructions given by the Committee has been to destroy all crops on private fields. Labour and student groups have now been mobilised to cut down privately grown crops, as these have been grown on the 'private gardens of capitalism.'
Even recently, Pudgy Kim Jong-un is seen to have expressed worry about the food situation. But with this latest move, which again prioritises the enforcement of the Party's political control mechanisms over providing duty of care, public sentiments regarding the leadership is said to have taken a hit.
Sources report that even in group situations, North Korean individuals are heard asking questions such as, 'How can [Kim Jong-un's] belly be so round when he is reduced to eating potatoes out of concern for his people?'
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/30/2014
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#1
Sounds like the NORKS got a classic infestation of Kulak wreckers. There is only one known cure for this problem.
#2
Viewed in Washington as a missed opportunity. Individual initiative and productivity must always be discouraged through onerous agency permits, burdensome taxation, and fines. What were they thinking ?
[An Nahar] The krazed killer onslaught that has overrun swathes of Iraq is even more dangerous than a brutal period of sectarian killings in which tens of thousands died, an official said Sunday.
"Now, the danger is definitely more... than 2006, 2007," Amr Khuzaie, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ... Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party. Maliki imposed order on Basra wen the Shiites were going nuts, but has proven incapable of dealing with al-Qaeda's Sunni insurgency. Reelected to his third term in 2014... 's national reconciliation adviser, told Agence La Belle France Presse, referring to the height of the Sunni-Shiite sectarian conflict.
Before, krazed killer groups sparked a "sectarian war, but now (the) war is more organized" and the abilities of the snuffies are greater, Khuzaie said.
"ISIL wants to form a... state from provinces in Iraq and provinces in Syria," he said, referring to jihadist group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... , which has spearheaded the krazed killer offensive that has overrun chunks of five provinces this month.
ISIL is also a major force in the rebellion against Syria's Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Lord of the Baath... , and controls territory inside Iraq's neighbor to the west as well.
Though they are performing better now, Iraqi security forces wilted during the initial krazed killer offensive, in some cases shedding uniforms and abandoning vehicles in their haste to flee.
The withdrawal of federal security forces allowed Iraqi Kurds to take control of a swathe of disputed northern areas that Storied Baghdad has long opposed them adding to their autonomous three-province region.
Iraqi Kurdistan aims to keep control of these areas, with regional president Massud Barzani declaring the territory dispute finished.
Khuzaie had harsh words for the Kurds' actions during the crisis, saying that they "acted as ISIL acts (because) they want to obtain the disputed areas."
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
crises is more dangerous partly because of al Maliki but also for other reasons (e.g., the US Prez)
Posted by: lord garth ||
06/30/2014 0:44
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A radical hate preacher linked to the ‘brainwashing’ of three Welsh young jihadis fighting in Iraq and Syria has outlined his chilling vision of a Nazi-style, Islamic state in Britain on video, describing how non-Muslims will be forced to shave their heads and wear a red sash, in a land where the ringing of church bells is banned.
It's more of the usual nonsense in Britain: a Muslim 'radical preacher' puts his entire family on the dole while he calls for the destruction of the nation. He's not a loonie, he's just plain dangerous, but that doesn't seem to motivate anyone in Britain to do anything about him.
Abu Waleed, 35, a leading preacher for a group banned last week for incitement to terrorism, was seen earlier this month at a barbecue in the Welsh capital where the banner of the Isis terror group – the Al Qaeda splinter group which the trio are fighting for – was flying.
According to friends, former students Reyaad Khan, Nasser Muthana, both 20, and Muthana’s 17-year-old brother Aseel were seen handing out leaflets for a group closely linked to Waleed outside a Cardiff mosque seven months ago. Khan and Nasser appeared on an Isis recruitment video this month.
Jobless Waleed – whose real name is Shahid Janjua – lives in a council house in Hounslow, West London, and claims benefits for himself, his wife and three disabled children. His group Need4khilafah, whose leader is Anjem Choudary, the firebrand who once led the Al-Muhajiroun group – banned after the deadly July 7 terror attacks in London in 2005 – dreams of the flag of Islam flying over Big Ben.
In the films, he calls for the Queen to wear a burka and brands the Duchess of Cambridge ‘a whore’.
In the most recent film, made last January, Waleed rants: ‘The kaffir [non-believer], when he walks down the street, he has to wear a red belt around his neck, and he has to have his forehead shaved, and he has to wear two shoes that are different from one another.
‘He [the non-believer] is not allowed to walk on the pavement, he has to walk in the middle of the road, and he has to ride a mule.’
He adds that Christians can have their churches, but not ring the bells. ‘The kuffar [kaffir, plural] can have their churches, but they are not allowed to ring the bell . . that is, my dear brothers, the Islamic state.’
The preacher adds that when Britain becomes Muslim, a Christian must open his house and accommodate a Muslim at all times, giving up his bed and sleeping on the floor.
In an earlier video, of a lecture that was delivered in April 2011, Waleed is far more inflammatory. He tells the male audience: ‘What is the nightmare on Downing Street? The nightmare on Downing Street, my dear brothers, is when the door of 10 Downing Street is kicked down by one muwahid [Muslim], and the Caliph [Islamic ruler] he walks in, and establishes the sharia.
‘The nightmare on Downing Street, my dear brothers, is when one muwahid pulls a rope, and he raises the banner of “there is no god but Allah” above Big Ben. The nightmare on Downing Street is when one muwahid flies a helicopter all the way to the top of Big Ben, and he removes those numbers and he replaces them with Arabic numbers.
‘That is the nightmare of Downing Street, my dear brothers.’
He says that under a British sharia state, non-Muslims will pay a tax called jiziya for protection. He continues: ‘We are the ones who want to work for the sake of Allah, to establish the manifestation of Islam, and make sure David Cameron comes on his hands and knees, and gives us the jiziya.’
‘Yeah, that’s right, and we cover up all the women and put a niqab on their faces, including Queen Elizabeth and Kate Middleton as well, the whore, the fornicator,’ Waleed says.
Lord Carlile, the Government’s former watchdog on counter-terrorism legislation and a QC, said Waleed’s words border on an incitement to religious hatred, a crime punishable by up to five years in jail. The Lib Dem peer said: ‘The words used are inflammatory, discriminatory, offensive and ludicrous.
The suggestion that a Christian should have his hair shaved and wear a red belt around his neck reminds me of the very worst views and actions of Adolf Hitler.’
Waleed was condemned by moderate Muslim leaders. Inayat Bunglawala, of the Islamic group Muslims4UK, said: ‘These discriminatory and frankly reprehensible views should have no place in modern Islamic political thought.
'Those espousing such bigoted views clearly have no understanding or appreciation for the notions of equality, tolerance and respect for others. These small extremist groups are a disgrace and are rightly shunned by the overwhelming majority of British Muslims.’
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/30/2014
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#1
It's more of the usual nonsense in Britain: a Muslim 'radical preacher' puts his entire family on the dole while he calls for the destruction of the nation.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) militants publicly executed and crucified eight rebels fighting President Bashar Al Assad’s regime, a monitor said on Sunday.
It's how the caliphate rolls...
The report comes amid fierce clashes on the outskirts of Damascus between the Isil, which is spearheading a major offensive in Iraq, and rebels, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
“ISIL executed eight men in Deir Hafer in the east of Aleppo province on Saturday because they belonged to rebel groups that had fought against the group as well as Assad’s forces,” it said.
ISIL then “crucified them in the main square of the village, where their bodies will remain for three days”, the Britain-based monitor said.
Also in Aleppo province, a ninth man was crucified for eight hours as a form of punishment in Al Bab town near the border with Turkey. He survived the ordeal.
So they did it again...
ISIL first emerged in Syria’s war in late spring last year and was initially welcomed by some Syrian rebels who believed its combat experience would help topple Assad. But subsequent abuses
...like crucifying those who oppose them...
quickly turned the Syrian opposition, including Islamists, against the group.
Rebels launched a major anti-ISIL offensive in January 2014, and have pushed them out of large swathes of Aleppo province and all of Idlib in the northwest. However, ISIL remains firmly rooted in Raqa, its northern Syrian headquarters, and wields significant power in Deir Ezzor in the east near the border with Iraq.
Activists say the group’s Iraq offensive and capture of heavy weapons — some of them US-made — appears to have boosted its confidence in Syria.
Until recently, the regime had rarely targeted ISIL bastions, but ever since the group’s Iraq offensive, the air force has intensified its strikes against Isil areas.
“On Sunday, there were intense air raids on Raqa and Buseira” in Deir Ezzor, Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said. “It appears Assad’s regime wants to make the United States, which fears ISIL's advances, see it as a partner in the war on terror."
East of Damascus, “fierce clashes broke out early on Sunday between rebels from the Army of Islam and ISIL near the town of Hammuriyeh”, the Observatory said.
The Army of Islam is a major component of the Islamic Front, Syria’s largest rebel coalition which has been fighting Isil for months, but such fighting in Damascus province is unprecedented.
Regime soldiers and warplanes backed by Lebanon’s Hezbollah, meanwhile, pounded rebel positions near the capital, said the Local Coordination Committees activist network.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/30/2014
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[Iraq Sun] U.S. President Barack Obama Ready to Rule from Day One... says terrorist-fueled militancy in Iraq and Syria is boosting an already-omnipresent threat to America's security at home.
Iraq's beleaguered military launched an offensive against Sunni snuffies in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, as a shipment of Russian military jets arrived in the country that could give the armed forces a tactical edge going forward.
While the bloody sectarian conflict rages on, President B.O. said the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... is attracting radicalized Death Eaters in both Iraq and Syria who could pose a threat to the United States.
"They are gaining strength in some places. We have seen Europeans who are sympathetic to their cause traveling into Syria, and now may travel into Iraq, getting battle-hardened. Then, they come back. They have got European passports. They do not need a visa to get into the United States," said Obama, speaking on ABC This Week program.
The situation calls for preemptive measures, according to Republican Congressman Peter King ...U.S. Representative for New York's 3rd (central Long Island) congressional district, serving since 1993. He is of the Publican persuasion and is known for his active support for the IRA Irish republican movement... .
"[Obama] should be very aggressive on this. Syria is our biggest threat right now, because not only are there thousands of Europeans who have visas to enter the United States, going to Syria, there are also at least 100 or so Americans who are over there in Syria right now. So, any of these people can go back to the United States and carry out the type of attack that they are being trained in, in Syria," said King.
The United States stands ready to act, according to President B.O..
"We are spending a lot of time, and we have been for years, making sure that we are improving intelligence so we can respond to that [threat]. We have to improve our surveillance, reconnaissance and intelligence there. Special forces are going to have a role [to play], and there are going to be times where we take strikes against organizations that could do us harm," said Obama.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2014
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#1
Fear notteth, Amerika, COMMUNISM + TOTALITARIANISM + MORE OBAMA "RED LINES" are coming to save the day from American-empowered Nuclear Hard Boyz.
'Tis why Amerikans will no longer need to privately own any guns.
#2
The situation calls for preemptive measures, according to Republican Congressman Peter King.
Here's a "preemptive measure." Sit back, sip a pint, and let them sort out their own affairs. If they move toward the Jordanians or Kuwaitis, use B-52's in tight formations to carpet bomb the MSR's and staging areas.
#5
I await breathlessly a new round of security financing and the queuing of "homeland security companies" owned by campaign contributors patriotic citizens.
[Ynet] Mousa Marzook addresses PA leader in Facebook post: 'You've abandoned the West Bank'; 'Even if we gave him Gazoo, he wouldn't take it.'
Deputy Head of Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,' Political Bureau Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook sent a threatening message to Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... Sunday about the fragility of the Paleostinian reconciliation agreement.
Marzook addressed the difficult financial situation in Gazoo and warned Abbas of a situation in which Hamas would have to reclaim control of Gazoo, "in order to provide security to the people of our nation."
The letter for Paleostinian leader Abbas appeared on Marzook's Facebook page where he stressed that Hamas is not currently responsible for Gazoo. Sources from the Paleostinian Authority (PA) expressed outrage at the comments, calling them "dangerous".
Marzook's statements come as Hamas faces immense financial pressures due to tens of thousands of former government officials who have not been paid for several months. The government of Qatar volunteered to create a fund for the official's paychecks, but at the moment the money remains caught in the wheels of the bureaucracy.
Marzook hotly blamed the PA and the unity government for only governing in the West Bank as if they had no need for the Gazoo Strip. "The PA has imposed a blockade on Gazoo long before others (Israel) besieged the city."
According to him, Hamas agreed to sign a reconciliation agreement but, "Abu Mazen (Abbas) isn't interested in reconciliation and even if we gave him Gazoo, he wouldn't take it."
He stressed that after the unity agreement Abbas traveled to every place in Paleostinian control besides the Gazoo Strip and never took real responsibility for it. "Who's responsible for the officials in Gazoo at the moment?" asked Marzook.
"Who's responsible for opening the Rafah crossing? Who's responsible for concluding the siege against it (Gazoo), and who's responsible for its electricity?"
Marzook concluded his message with a venomous attack on the PA. "You gave respect to your enemy when three settlers were kidnapped. Haven't you noticed that more than 566 Paleostinians have been taken from you and five have been killed since then? You've abandoned the West Bank."
#1
The government of Qatar volunteered to create a fund for the official's paychecks, but at the moment the money remains caught in the wheels of the bureaucracy.
:) It was there, then it got caught up in the wheels of the bureaucracy, now we have $14.78, 2 subway tokens for the Caracas Metro,, 4 stamps and 9,800 non-neogiable markers in amounts ranging from $47.32 to 194,000 the last stamped Suha.
The good senator pens an op-ed in which he notes that wars tend to go regional faster than politicians can keep them local. This is called "common sense", which is why the current administration is bewildered.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/30/2014
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#1
The American people are too soft to fight. Plus American Leadership is cowardly. The US won't do a damn thing.
Its off to Walmart to lay in the goodies for a 4th of July of eating, farting and beer.
Plus the youth of America are over- weight and don't have any patriotism to speak of anyway. Wanks.
Am I lyin' to 'ya?
Posted by: Big Thromoth3646 ||
06/30/2014 2:24
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#2
We're sick of it. Perhaps the Poms could jump in, or simply convince other to fight on their behalf. Link
#3
Try this, Big Thromoth3646. It's ok, the writer doesn't use a lot of big words or complicated sentences, so you'll be able to understand it. And then you'll understand why you have such ideas about Americans.
#7
Could the reason he came back from Nam be
To wake the American zombie?
Could his indignation
Enliven the nation?
Could the man of the hour be Thromby?
God knows I do, but in this case I'm coming from a place (as some drag queen once said of the great Shirley Q. Liquor) of love. Affection, anyway. One jackal snarling in the desert to another. That said, I share Pappy's bemusement about motive and method, and I only see about half of BT's posts. I'm always mildly annoyed to miss the ones the mods have whacked, but I know it's for the greater good.
#1
the new caliph gets the power to supervise all imans and muftis. The caliph might call (with a decree) for the overthrow of any one of the heads of state in the Islamic world and with this call, he would tell people who disobey him that they are sinners, heretics or apostates
it will be interesting to see how the various Islamic institutes react when this happens
Posted by: lord garth ||
06/30/2014 0:58
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#2
As good Madonna fans know, 'tis the base for the future "Hidden Imam/Islamic Mahdi", aka "The Boy", + Al-Qaeda 5.0.
Personally I blame Milwaukee + Katy Perry's bosom.
North Korea fired two projectiles Sunday that "appear to be short-range missiles" into the sea off the eastern coast of the Korean Peninsula, a South Korean Defense Ministry official told CNN. The launch took place shortly before 5 a.m. (4 p.m. ET Saturday), according to the official. The projectiles' estimated range is 500 kilometers (about 300 miles).
A U.S. State Department official reacted to Saturday's launch, telling CNN, "We call on North Korea to refrain from taking provocative actions and instead fulfill its international obligations and commitments."
This is the second reported launch by North Korea in recent days. On Thursday, U.S. and South Korean government officials reported North Korea had launched three projectiles from its southeastern coast.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/30/2014
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Security agencies have busted three suicide rings that allegedly have no direct links to the recent bombings that targeted a police checkpoint and the entrance Beirut's southern suburbs.
A security source told al-Mustaqbal newspaper published on Sunday that the Army Intelligence is questioning the first network, the General Security Directorate the second and the Internal Security Forces Intelligence Branch the third ring.
This way no one will know what was said to the others...
The source said that one of the suspects detained in the northern Akkar region of Fnaideq, who is identified as Abou Oubaida al-Asli, is managing the three suicide rings.
The army announced on Saturday that detainees apprehended during raids in Fnaideq over the past week confessed to the existence of a cave in the region where they used to prepare explosives. The confessions were made by Alaa Kanaan and Mahmoud Khaled, members of a terrorist bombing who were recently arrested.
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[An Nahar] An Egyptian and two Israelis, including an intelligence officer, will be tried by an Egyptian court for allegedly "spying" for Israel, judicial sources said on Sunday.
The Egyptian is in jug and the two Israeli "runaways" are to be tried in absentia, the sources said. The date of the trial has yet to be fixed.
Five Egyptians, a Jordanian engineer and seven Israeli intelligence officers are already on trial on charges of "spying" for Israel. The seven Israelis are also being tried in absentia.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2014
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[An Nahar] A Saudi citizen kidnapped in Yemen has been sprung by his abductors and returned home on Sunday after "huge efforts" to secure his release, the foreign ministry said.
In a statement carried by the official SPA news agency, the ministry gave no details on when Ayedh bin Jibran Mikali had been kidnapped or who had kidnapped him.
It said only that he was released "following huge and painful efforts."
Saudi media reported that Mikali had been kidnapped by a Yemeni tribe, but gave no further details.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Ynet] After getting global sanctions off their back, Iranian will continue building nuclear facilities, mainly against Arab countries.
Man works in mysterious ways. Now so long ago — one, two years — we lived here under the threat of the Iranian nuclear bomb.
Day and night — newspapers, radio and television channels, the government, Knesset members, military officials and commentators, a lot of commentators, explained, asked, answered, warned, threatened, created an existential fear, and suddenly poof! Not a word. No smoke and no fire. As if the earth swallowed up the issue.
Have we forgotten? Absolutely not. So here's the "bottom line" of this article, the ones which preceded it and the ones which will follow: The United States is holding negotiations these days to ease the global sanctions on Iran, and Iran will promise in return not to build a nuclear facility.
And what is the real "bottom line?" My guess is that the Iranians will deceive the Americans and the world, and will one day reach the point of building a nuclear facility — which is an easier word on the ears and on the eyes than a nuclear bomb.
The question is, of course, when will this happen. And we are even more interested in knowing whether we are also on Iran's "list of customers"?
My friend and neighbor, Brigadier-General (res.) Tzuri Sagi, who served as the personal military advisor of Kurdish leader Mullah Mustafa Al-Barzani, is very familiar with the Iraqis, the Kurds and the Iranians. A real great expert.
Let's start from the end: He believes that the Iranians are not building an atom bomb because of us and for us, but that "on this festive occasion" a nuclear arms race will begin in the arena, "and in any event, an atom bomb is not a good thing for us, because we are not familiar with their crazy people who believe in their god, and wherever God is involved it's likely not to end well."
Sagi believes that the Iranian nukes were born in the Iranian oil area in Khuzestan, east of Shatt al-Arab. This is Iran's main source of oil and primary source of life. The area is inhabited by Sunni Arabs.
Egypt's leader at the time, Gamal Abdel Nasser, called for the release of Khuzestan's Arabs from Iranian rule, and that's how Israel's amazing alliance with Iran at the time was created. The basis was: My enemy's enemy is my friend. We Israelis were in the capacity of friends then.
The idea at the time was to guide the Kurds on how to confine the Iraqis to the northern part of their country, thereby keeping them — and their coveting eyes — away from the oil wells of Iranian Khuzestan. Today we can already reveal that it was the IDF and the State of Israel which prepared the plans to defend Khuzestan and the oil flowing from its lands.
The Khomeini revolution weakened the Iranian army, which had been involved in everything at the time. The Iraqis, who detected this weakness, seized the opportunity to invade the Khuzestan area. That is where the Iran-Iraq War took place, also over the outlet to the sea, to the Persian Gulf.
The Iranians regained their composure during the war and paid with the lives of a million people for its results, which ended more or less in what is known in the world of soccer as "a tie."
And Sagi says, "Those who lose a million of their people, like the Iranians, look for their real enemies."
The Iranians waited for another round against Iraq after it attacked them with a chemical weapon (gas), and so they began preparing a nuclear bomb as a response.
The Iranians know they cannot rely on Egypt and Jordan, which have signed peace treaties with Israel, and so in the meantime they have taken the road of terror and are helping Hezbollah and Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, hold the Israeli-Paleostinian conflict in abeyance.
Peace in the Arab world is not good for the Iranians, who are building nuclear facilities, mainly against the Arab world, out of farsightedness and thoughts about the future.
In the near future, therefore, the Iranians' goal is to get the global sanctions off their neck, because then the Arab world may also let go of their throat. And upon the sanctions' removal, they will continue building nuclear facilities, i.e. atom bombs.
One has to be completely crazy to use such a bomb against Israel, but one also has to be irresponsible in the State of Israel not to think about it and prepare for it.
I was going to comment a tiny bit on Vanden Heuvel's silliness, but things got out of hand.
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
The left are trying to shut down discussion on Iraq falling to an Islamist enemy, by telling media views that the war in Iraq is a mess, and a sinkhole, begun by George W. Bush and his advisers.
I won't argue the point that Iraq at the very outset was an expensive mess, improved somewhat by the efforts of George W Bush, but eventually, whatever improvements which did take hold were thrown away by Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton.
I will argue that the moment Saddam Hussein's air defense grid lit up American aircraft, the ceasefire that ended the first Gulf War was no longer valid, and, chemical weapons or not, liberating Iraq was the next best option in a slate of terrible options.
And make no mistake, despite all the protestations by the left to the contrary, America liberated Iraq.
We have been watching for nearly 18 months as the security situation worsened with the same kind of sectarian violence that Bush tempered in 2007. Constantly pointing it out in this tiny venue would have done very little to help the matter, but in the pages of Rantburg, this is what we did, constantly, watching as the bumbling, stumbling boobs ran our nation's foreign policy, emphasizing gay rights over security.
So, what little security that Iraq had is being destroyed by a hostile force clumsily helped along by a flatfooted, clownish, leftist American government, which thinks that leaving the field of battle without a victory is the same as victory.
Katrina Vanden Heuvel, a down to the bone leftist publisher of the Nation wants to shut down discussion of options on Iraq using the old antiwar counter that the "old men" who want to send young men to war should themselves first become soldiers. Kristol never enlisted, nor did former vice president Richard Cheney nor a galaxy of others who wanted the war in Iraq prosecuted properly; who did not want Iraq to be a sinkhole for American resources.
So by doing nothing about Iraq as it is being destroyed by an Al Qaeda affiliated Islamic enemy, the left and Barak Obama are about to take the sinkhole that is Iraq and cemented it forever into an enemy state that, like the Islamic republic of Iran, will remain under the political protection of the American left as a constant reminder of the dangers of doing nothing about hostile enemies.
One of the main reasons why an American politician constitutionally has sway over the nation's military strength is that the founders knew that a military class may not have the same stakes in war that a political party or the president could have. Braying like a jackass that only military people should have a say in security policy is as an unhelpful notion as the one which left Iraq to fend for itself.
And you can see where that thought has gotten the nation.
I hope Vanden Heuvel enjoys the photos of pogroms we will see over the ensuing weeks as her erstwhile allies in Iraq enjoy committing them.
Loads.
Chris Covert writes on 2nd Amendment issues for Rantburg.com He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com
#2
"...the old antiwar counter that the "old men" who want to send young men to war should themselves first become soldiers."
Cause 'women' like Ms Heuvel somehow have never found it fitting since the advent of the 19th Amendment to be in the front lines like all those (often drafted*) troglodyte males have been for nearly a hundred years.
* since the inception of the old republic males have been by definition members of the federal militia (see-Militia Act of 1792 to USC Title 10, para 311 Militia), so that along with the franchise (ie vote), they also carried the obligation of service which included the notion of giving of that 'last full measure of devotion'. If you want to shut down the argument then be prepared to be called on that very point Ms. As the Instaprof posted - here is male privilege. /rant off
#3
Katrina is a red-diaper baby from long ago. If she didn't have commmunist support, inherited, foreign and domestic, she'd be peddling her skanky body on the street
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/30/2014 22:39
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Pudgy only has a hammer, and so everything is a nail.
Though contrite North Korean officials humbly bowed after the recent building collapse in Pyongyang, they are offering no apologies for the impending destruction along the Sino-North Korean border. According to South Korean media reports, North Korean authorities are planning to demolish all structures within 200 meters along a 270-kilometer stretch of the border with China. The initiative specifically targets Ryanggang Province and the provincial capital, Hyesan, which has served as a major defection route in recent years. Ostensibly, buildings will be leveled and homes destroyed to make way for a new road, though many believe the true intention is an intensified border crackdown aimed at preventing defections, smuggling and a growing influx of information from the outside world.
North Korean officials are unlikely to be able to provide alternative accommodations for the thousands of border residents displaced by the new road. Thus, the mass demolitions will likely exacerbate mounting tensions in the region and perpetuate the increasing privatization of illicit activities (pdf) by North Korea’s elite, who are “feeding off the suffering and deprivation of the population.”
The border has also become increasingly vulnerable. Some border guards will not only stand watch during defections for as low as $40, they will literally carry people across the river for an extra $20. The North tried installing tens of thousands of CCTV cameras to thwart smugglers and defectors, but the footage can be erased for a bribe. Even more ominously for the regime, top-secret North Korean military data, including wartime plans and electronic warfare guidelines, are being sold to “information traders” in the Chinese border region.
Within the context of these border complications, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is faced with a ceaseless dilemma: the burgeoning private economy and cross-border information flows pose existential threats to his rule, but smuggled goods help stave off economic collapse while accompanying bribes appease corrupt, disgruntled officials.
The young leader seems more preoccupied with the former consideration, and has made tightened border security the hallmark of his new regime. Following the death of his father, Kim Jong-il, in December 2011, 20,000 additional soldiers were dispatched to the Sino-North Korean border, people caught fleeing were executed, and families of defectors were dragged off in the middle of the night amidst a “brutal” border atmosphere. A host of additional measures by North Korean authorities – including enhanced border surveillance techniques and modifications within the security apparatus – appear to be working in some respects, as the number of North Korean refugees reaching South Korea has significantly declined since Kim Jong-un took power.
On the other hand, outside information and smuggled foreign goods have continued to filter into the country via the long, porous border with China for years, despite numerous efforts to the contrary. This made Kim Jong-il so concerned that he initially hatched the border demolition scheme. At the time, however, smuggled goods made up a large percentage of North Korea’s underground market economy, meaning too many North Koreans – including an array of security personnel – would be suddenly plunged into even greater destitution.
Ultimately, the plan was scrapped, but Kim Jong-un has taken it upon himself to revive his father’s idea. In March, Radio Free Asia reported that North Korean authorities appeared to be preparing for the demolition of structures along the border with China, as they began marching into homes and seizing the property owners’ deeds. The justification at the time was to clear space in order to plant grass along the border, but in April, Kim Jong-un reverted to the original plan of constructing a new road.
The regime has mobilized the military to carry out these “urgent” border endeavors, which will supposedly be achieved by September, but North Korean authorities are infamous for failing to complete grand public works projects. In one instance, officials announced in 2009 the construction of 100,000 new homes in Pyongyang, but cut the target in 2011 to only 20,000 homes due to a lack of funds and building materials. By 2013, the project was completely abandoned. Moreover, many people lost their homes to make way for the failed housing project, and some of the poorly constructed buildings collapsed, causing injury and death.
It appears that residents of Ryanggang will soon be (further) afflicted by Pyongyang’s poor planning and utter disregard for the welfare of its people. In a country plagued by a dismal economy, food shortages, and declining foreign aid, one can only imagine how the leadership will justify this new road to nowhere.
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[Iraq Sun] Iraqis aren't alone in wondering if the Sunni Muslim insurgency led by the al-Qaida offshoot the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) can be stemmed. Al-Qaida, once the world's leading terror organization, is being surpassed by its onetime, wayward affiliate and it is none too pleased, say analysts.
In the winter, al-Qaida's top leadership disowned ISIL and its mercurial leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi - a slap down for refusing to obey orders and for his ambition to carve a borderless caliphate across the Levant taking in Syria, Iraq, Jordan and even Lebanon. And al-Qaida's official affiliate in Syria joined Islamist and mainstream Syrian rebels in battling ISIL and pushing its fighters out of some key northern Syrian border towns and the city of Aleppo.
On Sunday, in an audio recording posted online, ISIL declared its chief "the caliph" and "leader for Muslims everywhere" - another affront to al-Qaida, which claims that al-Baghdadi swore allegiance it its overall leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's successor.
According to ISIL spokesman Abu Mohammad al-Adnani the group decided "to establish an Islamic caliphate and to designate a caliph for the state of the Muslims."
He added: "the words 'Iraq' and 'the Levant' have been removed from the name of the Islamic State in official papers and documents."
Caliphate refers to a system of government stretching across most of the Middle East and Turkey that ended nearly a century ago with the fall of the Ottomans.
ISIL's recent successes in Iraq have increased its standing among jihadi groups worldwide and more foreign fighters are choosing to join ISIL rather than al-Qaida, analysts say. "The two groups are now in an open war for supremacy of the global jihadist movement," according to Middle East scholar Aaron Zelin in a research paper published by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a think tank bas in the U.S. capital.
"ISIL holds an advantage, but the battle is not over yet," Zelin believes.
The announcement of the establishment of a caliphate by ISIL will likely exacerbate the feuding between the two terror groups and intensify their fierce competition to secure the loyalty of affiliates and offshoots across the Middle East and Africa. Jihadi religious scholars skirmished in the winter and spring with opposing rulings about al-Baghdadi's refusal to obey instructions and withdraw ISIL to Iraq and allow al-Qaida affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra to assume the lead role in Syria.
Most of the leading jihadist ideologues such as Abu Qatada al-Filistini and Iyad Qunaybi sided with al-Qaida. Abu Qatada al-Filastini, a Jordanian whom Britain deported to Jordan this summer, criticized al-Baghdadi for being power hungry.
Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi - according to the Washington, D.C.-based Middle East Media Research Institute the most senior jihadist ideologue - bewailed the al-Qaida disputes in Syria but condemned al-Baghdadi.
But the ISIL leaders have attracted the backing of his fair share of militant theologians in the continuing struggle for ideological supremacy. Another Jordanian sheikh, Omar Mahdi Zidan, defended the ISIL leader, arguing the mujahedeen (warriors) are entitled to exercise their own judgment and choose which commanders they want to follow.
And in shake-up of the global jihadi order, al-Baghdadi has secured the backing of some al-Qaida affiliates and other jihadist groups.
The Sinai-based Egyptian jihadist group Ansar Bait Al-Maqdis, which claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing of a tourist bus earlier this year in Egypt that left three South Koreans dead and more than a dozen people injured, has been sympathetic to al-Baghdadi. "There are indications that it is allying itself with ISIS (aka ISIL)", says Steven Stalinsky, executive director of the Middle East Media Research Institute.
He says ISIL "is positioning itself as an alternative to al-Qaida."
Ansar al-Sharia groups in the North Africa's Tunisia and Libya have posted pro-ISIL propaganda online. And jihadists in Gaza are siding with al-Baghdadi.
Sunday's declaration of a caliphate by ISIL "poses a huge threat to al Qaida and its long-time position of leadership of the international jihadist cause," says Charles Lister, a visiting fellow with the Brookings Doha Center.
"Put simply, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has declared war on al-Qaida. While it is now inevitable that members and prominent supporters of al-Qaida and its affiliates will rapidly move to denounce Baghdadi and this announcement, it is the long-term implications that may prove more significant," says Lister.
For Lister and other analysts Sunday's announcement demonstrates that al-Baghdadi has no intention of caving in to al-Qaida, and means to pursue a rivalry that they say represents its biggest challenge since U.S. Special Forces killed bin Laden.
Lister adds: "Taken globally, the younger generation of the jihadist community is becoming more and more supportive of ISIL, largely out of fealty to its slick and proven capacity for attaining rapid results through brutality. We will very likely find ourselves in a dualistic position of having two competing international jihadist representatives - al-Qaida, with a now more locally-focused and gradual approach to success; and the Islamic State, with a hunger for rapid results and total hostility for competition," says Lister.
But some analysts say the declaration also risks splitting the Sunni coalition ISIL has managed to pull together for an insurgency that in the last two weeks has swept northern and western Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
you mean I'll now get constant phone solicitations to donate to both al qaida and ISIL
Posted by: lord garth ||
06/30/2014 19:38
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#2
"Declared war on Al-Qaida" > On Ayman + Osama, etal??? Sorry, I'm not convinced, I'll have to hear it from him personally.
[Ynet] Pollution stems from fuel shortages that have halted work at sewage treatment facilities in the Strip.
Consequences. For some people, they're always unexpected.
This summer, access to the cooling waters of the Mediterranean is gradually being closed off to Gazoo's 1.8 million residents, due to pollution stemming from fuel shortages that have halted work at sewage treatment facilities.
Baha al-Agha of the Gazoo Environment Quality Authority said about 100,000 cubic metres of untreated waste water are being pumped into the Gazoo shore daily.
"Swimming is prohibited" signs have gone up at several beaches. But at one of Gazoo's most popular beaches, dozens of people, including children, splashed in the water over the weekend despite the posted warning.
"Things are getting worse day by day in the absence of real and quick solutions," Agha told Rooters. He called on the Paleostinian unity government formed earlier this month to act immediately "before Gazoo beaches are declared a disaster area".
Egypt's closure of most of the estimated 1,200 cross-border smuggling tunnels run by Islamist group Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, has virtually stopped cheap Egyptian fuel coming into Gazoo.
Egypt's military-backed government fear the tunnels are used to take weapons into the Sinai Peninsula, and accuses Hamas of backing the Egyptian Moslem Brüderbund. Hamas denies it helps Death Eaters in Egypt.
Israel has its own blockade on Gazoo, allowing in fuel and restricted imports since Hamas took control in 2007. But the Israeli fuel costs twice as much as Egyptian imports.
Garbage piling up Gazoo residents said they had little to celebrate at the start on Sunday of the Moslem month of Ramadan - traditionally a time for worship but also for family feasts in the evening at the end of a daily daytime fast.
Garbage has been piling up on the streets, with some 75 percent of sanitation trucks idled by the Gazoo municipality's inability to pay high fuel prices.
"Tunnels are closed, crossings are closed, there is no sea port ... and now they are telling us the beaches are closed? Wouldn't it be easier if they just let us die in peace?" asked Ali Abu Hassan, a 46-year-old taxi driver.
Driving along Gazoo's coastal road, the smell of sewage is sharp and waves hitting the beach are yellowish and brown.
Many in the Gazoo Strip are also feeling the pinch of a salary dispute that could test the resilience of the new unity government formed under Hamas's reconciliation pact with Western-backed President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... Some 40,000 public servants hired by Hamas since it seized the Gazoo Strip seven years ago from forces loyal to Abbas have not been paid in full for months due to a cash crunch caused by Egypt's tunnel crackdown.
Hopes of receiving wages quickly under the unity government were dashed when the new administration said it must first vet the employees before paying them - a process that could take months.
#1
Hopes of receiving wages quickly under the unity government were dashed when the new administration said it must first vet the employees before paying them - a process that could take months.
By then even the subway tokens will have disappeared.
#4
And here I was planning to spend 4th of July weekend at the beach in Gaza looking at the girls in their bikinis and hajib robes.
(It's like a Kurt Vonnegut story: "Look, that one's wearing what looks like a complete army tent; she must really be a knockout!")
Posted by: ed in texas ||
06/30/2014 8:04
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#6
I have a place booked called Gaza sous la Merde...I think its French so it must be tray elaganteh. I have the brochure here..yes, there is a very photogenic gentleman in a green helmut. And a large lady, looks like she is singing, so there must be grand theatre nearby. Oh here is looks like spelunking - kids are gonna love that.
Police in northeastern Ohio say an 82-year-old man was cited for flying a kite while he was naked.
Officers say they received calls earlier this week about a bald man without any clothes who was flying a kite at the Summit County Fairgrounds. Police say the man initially denied being naked, but he had to search through a pair of pants on the passenger seat when he was asked for identification. "Ah, but I am wearing clothes! Brand new ones! Of course the common herd can't see them..."
The Akron Beacon Journal reports the Cuyahoga Falls man was cited for disorderly conduct Wednesday and told not to return to fairgrounds. But police say the man went back to the fairgrounds fully clothed the next day. He told officers he was looking for kite-flying spots for his friends. He was given another citation for criminal trespassing.
#2
Had he lived around here, his actions would have prompted an annual kite fly, farmer's market, and car show. I hope I can still drive and locate the Fairgrounds at 82.
An advertisement featuring the model daughter of Mick Jagger has been singled out by followers of a branch of Islam, who said it ‘cheapens’ and ‘degrades’ one of its holiest symbols.
The pictures of Georgia May - daughter of Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall - have triggered demonstrations by Sufi Muslims in London, as well as in Dusseldorf, Germany, and Los Angeles, since they were first released in the middle of last year.
The advertisement shows Miss Jagger with an ornate H-like symbol on her wrist. The sign is similar to one Sufis use to refer to Allah and representatives of the community have said it is ‘heartbreaking’ to see it used to make money.
American student Nasim Bahadorani, one of the protest organisers, said, "To use something that means so much to us for corporate profit cheapens our sacred symbol. It’s disrespectful, offensive and degrading. We have this sign that to us represents blessed peace. It’s a refuge. To see it disgraced like this for a company to make money is heartbreaking."
Italian fashion house Roberto Cavalli, which has used the image in campaigns since 2011, says the symbols are not the same. It is a stance supported by the EU, which last month rejected a request by Sufi groups to ban the company from using the sign.
Despite the ruling, campaigners have kept up the pressure on social media using the hashtag '#TakeOffJustLogo' and have singled out Miss Jagger’s campaign, which includes a video where she refers to the symbol as a 'snakebite' and a 'sign of seduction'.
This is not the first time Roberto Cavalli has gotten into trouble over the use of religious symbols. Ten years ago, they made a line of bikinis which depicted Hindu gods. The company apologized at the time and said any offense was unintentional.
[Ynet] Attack comes in response to 2 rockets fired earlier, both intercepted by Ion Dome; IDF soldiers exchange fire with gunnies over border fence.
One person was reported dead and several were maimed along the Israeli border with the Gazoo Strip Sunday evening as the the Israeli Air Force (IAF) launched a targeted attack against a rocket launching cell in the Gazoo Strip apparently belonging to Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,' military branch.
Muhammad Zaid Abid was confirmed as the terrorist killed by the IAF and at the same time, the IDF spokesperson confirmed over Twitter that gunnies in Gazoo opened fire on soldiers patrolling the border fence. Israeli forces returned fire at suspected enemy positions.
Paleostinian media addressed the same fire from soldiers, reporting that the IDF had attacked a Terrorist cell just East of Khan Yunis in the south of the Gazoo strip.
The military festivities marked Israel's retaliation to two rockets that were fired from Gazoo into Israel Sunday evening, both of which were shot down over Netivot by Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile system. Two mortar shells also fell in Israeli territory causing no damage.
Sirens blared across southern Israel in Netivot, Ashkelon, Sderot, and several towns in the area of Sha'ar HaNegev. An kaboom was also heard in the area.
Sunday's attacks marked more than two weeks of increasing rocket fire from Gazoo since the beginning of Operation Brother's Keeper in the West Bank.
One rocket struck Sderot on Saturday, setting a fire in a factory that burned to the ground.
Meanwhile, ...back at the pie fight, Bella opened her mouth at precisely the wrong moment... Armored Corps brigades were instructed to prepare for the possibility of being transferred to the Gazoo Division as security officials considered all options in response to rocket fire.
Israel has been responding agressively to all rocket attacks, including an liquidation in Gazoo on Friday which killed two senior members of the Popular Resistance Committees, responsible for recent rocket attacks.
[Iraq Sun] In a major counter offensive aimed at taking back territory captured by ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) myrmidons, Iraq's army took control of Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit over the weekend, killing 60 snuffies in the process.
State television reported the governor's office had been recaptured, with plans now being made to move north and re-take djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... , Iraq's second-largest city.
A spokesperson for ISIS, however, has told the BBC that although there is heavy fighting in the city, it has not yet been re-captured. Iraq's military has denied these claims. The counter offensive was launched over the weekend and included thousands of Iraqi troops backed by tanks and air power attacking the city from four directions, according to state TV.
The Iraqi military is reportedly being supported by allied Sunni rustics and Shia militias. The counter offensive comes following weeks of recruitment in Iraq of Shia men to fight the predominantly Sunni myrmidons.
Following the capture of Tikrit, Army front man Lieutenant-General Sabah Fatlawi warned ISIS fighters they "now have two choices - flee or be killed".
Separately, Iraq's most influential Shia holy man, Grand Ayatollah Sistani, called for a new prime minister to be appointed by Tuesday to try to defuse the country's political crisis and create a government more inclusive of Iraq's minorities.
Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ... Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party. Maliki imposed order on Basra wen the Shiites were going nuts, but has proven incapable of dealing with al-Qaeda's Sunni insurgency. Reelected to his third term in 2014... is under building pressure to form a unity government, he is seen by many as having precipitated the crisis through sectarian policies that have pushed Iraq's Sunni minority into the hands of ISIS Death Eaters.
Meanwhile, ...back at the precinct house, Sergeant Maloney wasn't buying it. It was just too pat. The whole thing smelled phony, kind of like a dead mackeral but without the scales... the Archbishop of Irbil, in northern Iraq, has told the BBC that more than 40,000 Christians have fled villages near Mosul in recent days after ISIS snuffies attacked the two large Christian settlements of Karakosh and Karamlaish.
The refugees are reportedly fleeing into the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq, which closed its border with Iraq on Sunday citing the need to protect its own stability.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
No info available on ROE, detainee, or prisoner count eh? I thought not. Please carry on.
Part of an omnibus article from Reuters on the current situation in Iraq.
In a stunning political intervention on Friday that could mean the demise of Maliki's eight-year tenure, powerful Shi'ite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani urged political blocs to agree on the next premier, parliament speaker and president before a newly elected legislature meets in Baghdad on Tuesday.
Saudi King Abdullah pledged in talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to use his influence to encourage Sunni Muslims to join a new, more inclusive Iraqi government to better combat Islamist insurgents, a senior U.S. official said on Saturday.
Abdullah, of course, continues to play both sides in the conflict...
Abdullah's assurance marked a significant shift from Riyadh's unwillingness to support a new government unless Maliki, a Shi'ite, steps aside, and reflected growing disquiet about the regional repercussions of ISIL's rise.
Thinking that their dog might slip its leash...
"The next 72 hours are very important to come up with an agreement ... to push the political process forward," said a lawmaker and former government official from the National Alliance, which groups all Shi'ite Muslim parties.
The lawmaker said he anticipated internal meetings by various parties and a broader session of the National Alliance including Maliki's State of Law list to be held through the weekend. Some Sunni Muslim parties were to convene later on Saturday.
Iraqi Sunnis accuse Maliki of freezing them out of any power and repressing their community, goading armed tribes to support the insurgency led by the fundamentalist group ISIL. The president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region has also said Maliki should bow out.
Sistani's entry into the fray will make it hard for Maliki to stay on as caretaker leader as he has since a parliamentary election in April. That means he must either build a coalition to confirm himself in power for a third term or step aside. Sistani's message was delivered after a meeting of Shi'ite factions including the State of Law coalition failed to agree on a consensus candidate for prime minister.
Maliki, whose State of Law coalition won the most seats in the April election, was positioning himself for a third term before the ISIL offensive began. His closest allies say he still aims to stay, but senior State of Law figures have said he could be replaced with a less polarizing figure.
"It's a card game and State of Law plays a poker game very well," said the official from the premier's alliance. "For the prime minister, it will go down to the wire."
Under Iraq's governing system put in place after Saddam's overthrow, the prime minister has always been a Shi'ite, the largely ceremonial president a Kurd and the speaker of parliament a Sunni. Negotiations over the positions have often been drawn out: after the last election in 2010 it took nearly 10 months for Maliki to build a coalition to stay in office.
Divvying up the three posts in the four days before parliament meets, as sought by Sistani, would require leaders from each of Iraq's three main ethnic and sectarian groups to commit to the political process and swiftly resolve their most pressing political problems, above all the fate of Maliki.
Allies of Maliki said Sistani's call for a quick decision was not aimed at sidelining the premier but at putting pressure on all political parties not to drag out the process with typical infighting with Iraq facing disintegration. Even so, they acknowledged Sistani was not happy with Maliki's policies.
“It is other groups telling Sistani they cannot accommodate Maliki for a third term. Sistani doesn't want to get involved in who is the next prime minister, but there has to be progress," said one official from Maliki's State of Law list.
The roadmap is far from smooth. Kurds have yet to agree on a candidate for president and the Sunnis, long riven by intense rivalries and shaken by the loss of their cities to militants, are divided among themselves over the speaker's post.
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[DAWN] Though another foreign airline diverted its 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. -bound scheduled flight to Islamabad on Saturday, the Civil Aviation Authority is confident major foreign airlines will resume flights for the quiet provincial capital next week.
CAA manager (public relations) Abid Kaimkhani told Dawn that foreign airlines, which had temporarily stopped flights for Peshawar, would decide about resumption of flights shortly.
"They (foreign airliners) will make a decision on July 1 and we're waiting for it. We hope they'll resume flights for Peshawar very soon," he said.
Kaimkhani said a few airlines had diverted flights from Peshawar to Islamabad after attack on a commercial flight in Peshawar lately and security had been improved at vulnerable points at and around the city's Bacha Khan International Airport since then.
Three world-class airlines, including Emirates, Qatar Airways and Ittehad, have suspended flights for Peshawar in the wake of a gun attack on Pakistain International Airlines' Airbus A-310 during landing at the Peshawar airport on Tuesday night.
The flight with 196 passengers and 10 crew members on board was coming from Riyadh (Soddy Arabia ...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... ) when it was fired upon on the city's outskirts, leaving one woman passenger dead and two stewards injured.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Only cargo flights with very well insured aircraft. (So, which episode of 'Death Wish' are we doing today?)
Posted by: ed in texas ||
06/30/2014 8:09
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#2
Flights will resume once we figure out how to carve an airplane from a solid block of Kevlar(tm).
Sincerely, the airlines.
The extremist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has appointed an "emir", or leader, over Lebanon and has set up a camp to train would-be suicide bombers and send them to Lebanon, a media report said on Sunday.
According to information obtained by LBCI television, security agencies' investigations have revealed that "the ISIL has appointed Abdul Salam al-Ordoni as an emir over Lebanon."
They'll be needing some more number 3's...
The need for number 3s is infinite -- they're so easily killed, being as they are between those doing the work and those ordering it done.
Ordoni has been giving instructions to Al-Monzer al-Hasan, the Lebanese intermediary between the ISIL and the two suicide bombers who were busted at the Duroy Hotel in Raouche, LBCI said.
The interrogation of detained Saudi would-be suicide bomber Abdul Rahman al-Shenifi, who survived the Duroy blast, confirmed that the duo were sent to Lebanon by the ISIL, the TV network added.
"According to the plan devised for them by Al-Monzer al-Hasan, the attack on al-Saha Restaurant (in Hizbullah's stronghold Dahieh) required one of them to enter the restaurant and open fire from a machinegun at the biggest number of customers before blowing up his suicide vest," LBCI's report said.
"The second suicide bomber would blow himself up when medics and citizens gather for rescue operations," it added.
Investigations also revealed that the Saudi operatives had three suicide vests in their possession, one weighing three kilograms and the other two weighing 10 kilos each.
"Shenifi was the one who noticed the arrival of General Security forces to the hotel. When General Security members arrived at their room's door, (Ahmed Abdul Rahman) al-Thuwani armed the suicide vest and hurled it at the door where it exploded, which resulted in his death and the wounding of Shenifi and the General Security members," LBCI said.
On Saturday, the TV network said Shenifi told his interrogators that a Syrian man informed him and his partners in the Turkish city of Istanbul that their mission was to attack security forces and army troops in Lebanon.
But later, al-Monzer al-Hasan, the man who provided the Duroy bombers with explosives, asked the two Saudi militants to change their target and instead attack al-Saha Restaurant in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
On Wednesday, al-Thuwani detonated a suicide vest at the Duroy Hotel room during a raid by General Security officers.
LBCI reported on Friday that the suicide bomber and his accomplice had arrived in Lebanon from Istanbul where they had spent five days.
The TV network said investigations have highlighted a "key role" for al-Hasan in several suicide bombings. It said al-Hasan receives $50,000 for facilitating the mission of every suicide bomber.
Al-Hasan's picture was circulated by the General Security agency on Thursday.
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[An Nahar] Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the shadowy jihadist fighting in Iraq and Syria, and newly declared leader of a "caliphate" encompassing all Mohammedans, is increasingly seen as more powerful than al-Qaeda's chief.
The leader of the powerful Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... (ISIL) krazed killer group was declared Sunday the "caliph" in an attempt to revive a system of rule that ended nearly 100 years ago with the fall of the Ottoman Empire.
"The Shura (council) of the Islamic State met and discussed this issue (of the caliphate)... The Islamic State decided to establish an Islamic caliphate and to designate a caliph for the state of the Mohammedans," ISIL front man Abu Mohammad al-Adnani said in an audio recording distributed online.
"The jihadist holy man Storied Baghdadi was designated the caliph of the Mohammedans," said Adnani.
Storied Baghdadi, born in Samarra in 1971 according to Washington, apparently joined the insurgency that erupted shortly after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, at one point spending time in an American military prison in the country.
In October 2005, American forces said they believed they had killed "Abu Dua," one of Storied Baghdadi's known aliases, in a strike on the Iraq-Syria border.
But that appears to have been incorrect, as he took the reins of what was then known as the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) in May 2010 after two of its chiefs were killed in a U.S.-Iraqi raid.
Since then, details about him have slowly trickled out.
In October 2011, the U.S. Treasury designated him as a "terrorist," and this year, Iraq released a picture they said was of Storied Baghdadi, the first from an official source, depicting a balding, bearded man in a suit and tie.
U.S. officials said last year that the jihadist was likely in Syria, but information of his whereabouts since has been unclear.
Late last month, Lieutenant General Abdulamir al-Zaidi, who heads a northern security command center, said his forces believed Storied Baghdadi was inside Iraq, but other officials have contested this.
He is touted within ISIL as a battlefield commander and tactician, a crucial distinction compared with al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri ... Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area. That is not a horn growing from the middle of his forehead, but a prayer bump, attesting to how devout he is... , has attracted legions of imported muscle, with estimates pegging them in the thousands.
At the time Storied Baghdadi took over the group in April 2010, when it was ISI and tied to al-Qaeda, it appeared to be on the ropes, after the "surge" of U.S. forces combined with the shifting allegiances of Sunni rustics to deal him a blow.
But the group has bounced back, expanding into Syria in 2013.
Storied Baghdadi sought to merge with al-Qaeda's Syrian franchise, al-Nusra Front, which rejected the deal, and the two groups have mostly operated separately since.
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Top|| File under: Islamic State of Iraq & the Levant
[DAWN] A joint-declaration made after the All-Party Conference (APC) held by Pakistain Awami Tehrik (PAT) on Sunday asked for Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif ...Pak dynastic politician, brother of PM Nawaz Sharif, chief minister of Punjab... 's resignation over Lahore's Model Town incident, where a violent clash had broken out between police and PAT supporters earlier this month.
The joint-notification issued by the APC participants asked for the dismissal of all government machinery involved in the incident and called to for the president to suspend those who fails to do so. It demanded for a commission empowered enough that could summon the prime minister as well.
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[Ynet] Israel cannot trust any other country to protect it from ISIS threat, prime minister says; he also calls for fence on the eastern border.
Israel needs to maintain military presence along the Jordan border so it could defend itself from the threat of murderous Moslem Islamist forces, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserted Sunday at Tel Aviv University's INSS think tank.
Shortly before Netanyahu's speech, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), an offshoot of al-Qaeda which has captured swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria, has declared itself an Islamic "Caliphate" and called on jihadi factions worldwide to pledge allegiance to it.
The group, that has renamed itself "Islamic State," declared its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghadi as "Caliph" - the head of the state.
Charging that Israel could not trust other security forces - such as that of Jordan or the Paleostinians - to stop the Islamist threat, Netanyahu stressed that in any future agreement with the Paleostinians, "Israel will have to remain along the Jordan river for a very long period of time."
Following reports over the weekend that Israel might be called to help Jordan in the war against ISIS, that is now threatening the Hashemite Kingdom, Netanyahu has called for "support in the international efforts to strengthen Jordan."
"Our first challenge is to protect our borders. Extremist Islamic forces are knocking on our doors in the north and south and we've set up obstacles against them, except for in one sector," Netanyahu said, referring to the border with Jordan.
"The first thing we must do is build a fence in the east. While the fence doesn't stop all infilitrations, gun and rocket fire though it or over it, or the digging of tunnels, it dramatically narrows down infilitration to Israel.
"Think what would've happened if we didn't have a fence on the Israeli-Egyptian border. Now it is also clear why I insist that our eastern border is along the Jordan River. We must be able to stop the waves of zealotry on the Jordan border," he added.
Support for Kurdish statehood
Netanyahu also voiced support for Kurdish statehood, taking a position that appeared to clash with the US preference to keep sectarian war-torn Iraq united.
Israel has maintained discreet military, intelligence and business ties with the Kurds since the 1960s, seeing in the minority ethnic group a buffer against shared Arab adversaries.
The Kurds have seized on recent sectarian chaos in Iraq to expand their autonomous northern territory to include Kirkuk, ... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time... which sits on vast oil deposits that could make the independent state many dream of economically viable.
But Iraqi Kurds, who have ethnic compatriots in Iran, Turkey and Syria, have hesitated to declare full independence, one reason being the feared response of neighboring countries.
"We should ... support the Kurdish aspiration for independence," Netanyahu said, after outlining what he described as the collapse of Iraq and other Middle East regions under strife between Arab Sunni and Shi'ite Mohammedans.
Kurds, Netanyahu said, "are a fighting people that has proved its political commitment, political moderation, and deserves political independence".
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[An Nahar] Mauritania's highest court on Sunday confirmed the victory of incumbent leader Mohammed Ould Abdel Aziz in presidential polls, and rejected an appeal calling for the results to be annulled.
"The candidate Mohammed Ould Abdel Aziz was elected President of the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Mauritania in the first round of the presidential election," the chairman of the constitutional council, Sgheyir Ould M'barek, said during an official ceremony.
The chairman added that 57-year-old Abdel Aziz had won "an absolute majority of votes cast" in the June 21 election.
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Eyal Yifrah 19, from Elad; Gilad Sha'ar, 16, from Talmon; and Naftali Frenkel, also 16, from Nof Ayalon, went missing on June 12th, and officials soon identified Hamas as the culprits. Their bodies were found near between the Arab village of Halhul and the Jewish village of Carmei Tzur, near the city of Hevron, where the search operation for them - dubbed Operation Brother's Keeper - had been focused.
Wazoo
Wazoo
Iraq said it received the first batch of Sukhoi warplanes from Russia as it pressed a counter-attack on Sunday against Sunni militants whose offensive threatens to tear the country apart.
morality, the state's top official in charge of religious affairs said on Sunday, in the latest move limiting political speech in the deeply polarised country.
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[An Nahar] Dutch King Willem-Alexander on Friday officially reopens the renovated Mauritshuis museum, home to Vermeer's iconic "Girl with the Pearl Earring" and a treasure trove of other Golden Age masterpieces.
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Wazoo
[DAWN] On April 17, 2013, British newspaper The Guardian published a shocking article titled 'Ship containing 22,000 pounds of dead pangolins crashes into protected reef'. According to the report, a Chinese boat carrying the remains of thousands of illegally killed pangolins crashed into a protected coral reef at Tuhbbataha National Marine Park, a Unesco designated World Heritage site on the Palawan Island in the Philippines.
[DAWN] GUJAR KHAN: Five people 
[DAWN] Prime Minister Muhammad 
[DAWN] The massacre of 10 foreign climbers on Pakistain's "Killer Mountain" a year ago came after a 
The Yueyang, a Type 054A guided-missile frigate of the People's Liberation Army Navy, is participating in the ongoing RIMPAC 2014 joint naval exercise held in Hawaii, and the country is already underway constructing more frigates of the same class, reports the state-run China News Service.
Nouri al-Maliki
Zawahiri
