The Israeli Embassy in London has made a donation to the Gurkha Welfare Trust at a meeting in central London on Tuesday.
The ÂŁ300 donation was the money returned to the embassy by the Edinburgh International Film Festival in May, after the festival organizers succumbed to pressure from pro-Palestinian activists to return the donation.
At a meeting in Browns Hotel in the Mayfair area of central London, Israeli Ambassador to the UK Ron Prosor presented the donation to Joanna Lumley, the well-known British actress and lifelong campaigner for the Gurkhas - Nepalese soldiers who have been part of the British army for nearly 200 years.
During that period, the Gurkhas have won 13 Victoria Crosses and served gallantly in most of Britain's conflicts.
Posted by: Matt ||
07/09/2009
19:56 ||
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#1
Much better use of their money.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
07/09/2009 20:08
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#2
As we knew it would > some things are just so reliable and effective its become immoral and unthinkable to retire 'em, or go to war widout 'em. EVENTUALLY THESE MUST, BUT TODAY [or TOMORROW, ETC.]IS NOT THAT DAY!
D **NG IT, AMER'S ENEMIES ARE JUST NOT BOMBED UNTIL THEY'VE BEEN "BUFF-ED", when an enemy(s) has to absolutely positively categorically undeniably .........@ has to be obliterated into smithereenies overnite!
U.S. President Barack Obama (C) and France's President Nicolas Sarkozy (R) take their places with junior G8 delegates for a family photo at the G8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy, July 9, 2009. Leaders of the Group of Eight major industrial nations and the main developing economies are meeting in the central Italian city of L'Aquila until Friday to discuss issues ranging from global economic stimulus to climate change and oil prices.
#2
when you go home to Michelle's bootay, you'd be doing some comparative analysis too. Prolly nice to not need peripheral vision to see it all, for once
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/09/2009 19:08
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#3
oh, and via AOSHQ - she's sixteen. Nice job, Teh One
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/09/2009 19:25
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#4
HMMMMM, HMMMMM, dare the Bammer go KARDASHIAN on Michelle??? I doubt it, but its fun to think about.
#6
I've had a lot of fun with this at other sites, but, hey....I'd do it too. Diff is, is I'm not in the public 24/7 and not professing to be Teh One less than a man
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/09/2009 22:06
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#9
One is not ever obvious. I don't remember even President Clinton being obvious like that. Obvious is crass, not the characteristic of a world leader.
Will the UAW workers change their Union affiliation to AFGE American Federation of Government Employees?
General Motors is expecting to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy sometime before Friday morning, with the completion of the sale of assets from "Old GM" to "New GM", FOX Business Network is reporting.
Opponents of General Motors Corp.'s plan to sell the bulk of itself to a new government-controlled company faced a noon deadline Thursday to file appeals and find a way to get the sale halted. A last minute appeal was filed by an unknown plantiff, but it is not expected to block the sale. Then why bother?
GM's lawyers are working to get documents ready to close the sale quickly if the deadline passes and the sale is legally allowed to go through. "We'll do it as quickly as possible," GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson said Thursday morning.
A press conference with GM CEO Fritz Henderson has been scheduled for Friday at 9am in Detroit.
The sale is the centerpiece of Detroit-based GM's government-endorsed plan to emerge from court oversight. Once it becomes final, the automaker will be largely free to emerge from bankruptcy protection.
Gerber issued a ruling approving the sale late Sunday, but gave its objectors a four-day window to file appeals. The ruling followed a three-day hearing the week before during which attorneys for several groups including argued against its approval.
Some of the most vocal objectors included groups of people with product-related claims against the automaker. Under the current sale plan, liability for claims related to incidents that occurred before GM's bankruptcy filing won't carry over to "new GM." That means that those people who claim they were injured as a result of a defective GM product before June 1 will be forced to seek compensation from "old GM," the collection of assets and liabilities leftover from the sale, where they will have to fight with the company's other creditors for a share of what's left.
One of the product liability groups filed papers to appeal Gerber's ruling and asked that the appeal be sent directly to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals for action.
A group of people with asbestos-related claims against GM also filed an appeal, along with a motion in bankruptcy court asking that the sale be put on hold pending action by the U.S. District Court.
Both groups made their arguments in a hearing in front of Gerber late Monday, but the judge denied the motions.
As part of the Obama adminstration-backed sale plan, the U.S. government will get a 60 percent stake in "new GM" in exchange for what's expected to eventually total nearly $50 billion in aid. The Canadian government, which has also contributed billions in aid, will get a 12.5 percent stake while the United Auto Workers union will take a 17.5 percent share to fund its health care obligations. Unsecured bondholders receive the remaining 10 percent.
Existing GM shareholders are expected to be wiped out.
The remaining pieces of the company, including some closed plants, will become the "Old GM" and will be liquidated over the next few years.
Other major groups opposing the sale include a trio of GM bondholders whose holdings represent less than one percent of the automaker's billions of dollars in unsecured debt. One of the members bought his bonds for just 2 cents on the dollar, while the other two spent no more than 20 cents on the dollar for theirs.
A trio of unions have also objected, charging that health care costs for their retirees will skyrocket if the sale goes through.
#1
it appears the judiciary overseeing the bailouts, bankruptcies and other government interventions against all established law (see: preferred shares vs the UAW)have behaved as suitable lapdogs. Expect big things in the future for these useful tools
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/09/2009 18:18
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Israeli intelligence believes that Iran is now increasing production of long range (2,000+ kilometers) missiles, now that it has successfully tested a solid fuel ballistic missile (the Sejil II). Apparently, Iran plans to build a thousand Sejil IIs, and even longer range missiles, over the next six years. There apparently also plan to build up to 500 mobile launchers for these, to make them even more difficult for Israel to spot, and destroy. ... A big reason why Israel attacking Iranian nuclear weapons facilities is wishful thinking.
Posted by: ed ||
07/09/2009
16:54 ||
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Do you think Iran is about to come to their Come to Jesus tent meeting? Well, maybe we are talking Old Testament here if Israel decides to take out Iran's Pee Wee's big dream of nuclear weapons and mid-east domination.
The Egyptian authorities have arrested a terrorist cell of 25 members, 24 Egyptians and one Palestinian, for plotting to carry out terrorist attacks in Suez Canal, Egyptian Interior Ministry said in statement issued on Thursday.
According to the statement, the members of the cell who believe in Jihad (Holy War) were located in Cairo, Alexandria and Daqahlia governorates and communicated through internet with other terrorist groups outside Egypt.
The cell's members, mostly engineers, were developing high-tech and electronic devices like mobile phones to carry out terrorist attacks against vital targets in Egypt such as Suez Canal and oil pipelines, the statement said.
They confessed of plotting to carry out car bombing and that they received money from foreign sources to fund their activities.
The cell is led by an Egyptian man called Ahmed El-Sayyed El-Sharawy, who lives in El-Marg neighborhood in northern Great Cairo.
The police seized some books calling for Jihad, a laser printer used to forge money and a gun used in killing an owner of a jewelry shop in May 2008.
The Obama administration might like to "spread the wealth around," but its proposed "health care reform" wouldn't spread consumer choice around. Rather, it would constrict consumer choice substantially — except for the very rich.
That's the great irony of President Obama's ambitious health care agenda: His administration, which seems to feel little empathy for the rich, is paving the way to a two-tiered system in which only the very rich would have a choice.
Under ObamaCare, the rich would continue to get the care they want — whether here or abroad — by paying for it out of their own pockets. The rest of us would stand in line and wait for rationed care.
Most Americans want consumer freedom. They want to be able to shop for health care value — for the best care, at the best prices. They'd like to have a lot more freedom to shop for such value than they currently have. That's why Democrats are couching their proposed expansion of government-run health care in the language of competition and choice.
Listen to the president as he pitches the centerpiece of that agenda — a "public option," a form of Medicare for all. He says it's merely a way to give Americans another choice: People can buy private health insurance, just like now, or they can instead choose the government option.
But millions of middle-class Americans who are happy with their employer-provided insurance would soon find the choice isn't theirs to make.
The government would make it cheaper for employers to contribute to the government-run option than to keep providing private insurance.
Millions of employers would do the math and pick the government option. The "public option" would provide a choice — for millions of employers, against the wishes of millions of employees.
The Lewin Group, a prominent consulting firm, estimates that a widespread "public option" with Medicare-like reimbursement rates would result in 118 million Americans losing their private insurance and being forced into government-run care. Meanwhile, private insurance wouldn't be able to compete on the uneven playing field that Congress would establish.
In its competition with FedEx and UPS, the Post Office at least has to provide a service. But the "public option" would merely use government's coercive powers to dictate prices and availability of services provided by others — by doctors, nurses, hospitals, etc. Private insurance can't similarly fix prices and would be run out of business.
Lower reimbursement rates, coupled with a dwindling pool of private insurers to whom to pass on costs, would mean lower incomes for medical professionals. The eventual result would be fewer people entering the medical profession.
A two-tiered system would then emerge: The very rich would take their spots like first-class passengers on the Titanic, paying for fine care and not asking the price. The rest of us would take our spots in steerage class, awaiting the inevitable collision between government-run health care and the iceberg of budgetary disaster.
White House budget director Peter Orszag recently opined that "the deficit impact of every other fiscal policy variable" is "swamped" by the deficit-threat posed by Medicare and Medicaid.
Obama's solution? A massive new Medicare-like program!
Medicare may not pay much to doctors, but taxpayers pay plenty to Medicare. As my recent Pacific Research Institute study shows, since 1970, Medicare's costs have risen 34% more, per patient, than the costs of all health care in America apart from Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare's costs have risen $2,511 more per patient.
Across nearly four decades, government-run health care has been far more expensive than privately run care. It comes down to a simple comparison and an obvious verdict: Privately run care offers choice and is cheaper. Government-run care denies choice and is more expensive.
But the particular losers under Obama-Care would be the middle class. The uninsured poor would largely benefit, although they might benefit even more — while hurting others far less — from fixing the unfairness in the tax code and giving them the health care tax-break that millions of insured Americans already enjoy.
The truly rich would be largely unaffected, as they never really needed private insurance anyway. They would continue to pay for the care they want, because they can.
Middle-class Americans wouldn't enjoy that freedom. They would lose their employer-provided insurance and be left with only the government-run "option." And, under a government monopoly, they would get rationed care. And every April 15, they would get a higher tax bill for their troubles, which just might make them feel sick enough to get back in line.
#1
For all BO's talk about providing health care to the masses like the Congress men and women get, it was just pre-election vote-getting blather. Congress exempts themselves from just about everything--many, not all are a bunch of self-serving elitists. If Congress had to live with the laws they pass, they might be more careful about the laws they pass.
A Congressional resolution honoring Michael Jackson isn't necessary, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said today.
Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Tex.) introduced the legislation, H. Res. 600, shortly after Jackson's death. Jackson-Lee held up a copy of that resolution while speaking at Jackson's memorial service in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
"What I have said to my colleagues over the years, and certainly as leader and as speaker, is that there's an opportunity on the floor of the House to express their sympathy or their praise any time that they wish," Pelosi said at her press conference today. "I don't think it's necessary for us to have a resolution."...
Jackson's death has become a political football of sorts on Congress. In addition to Jackson-Lee's resolution, the Congressional Black Caucus held a moment of silence for the late King of Pop.
On the other hand, Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) blasted Jackson as a "pervert" and a "low-life," and Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) said he was "nauseated" by the attention Jackson's death was receiving in Congress.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/09/2009
15:41 ||
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A new study has concluded that geoengineering measures designed to reduce global warming will do little to reduce CO2 levels and, subsequently, ocean acidification. CO2 that dissolves in salt water produces carbonic acid that undermines shell formation in crustations and coral. The world's oceans absorb a quarter of atmospheric carbon dioxide, according to an international oceanography research network.
"This century will see the end of coral reefs for the next tens of thousands of years," said Ken Caldeira, a professor of environmental science in the Department of Global Ecology at the Carnegie Institution of Washington and a co-author of the paper.
In fact, coral depletion has the potential to be a major economic disaster as well as an ecological catastrophe. An essay in the March/April issue of Foreign Affairs noted that approximately 100 million people living in coastal areas worldwide depend on coral reef ecosystems for their livelihoods. The problem is that attempts to artificially cool the atmosphere, though necessary to avert more polar melting and the release of methane trapped in sub-arctic tundra, won't slow the build-up of greenhouse gases.
Geoengineering solutions have received a surge of attention in recent months, even though ideas for mechanically altering the atmosphere trace back to the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson. Some scientists are experimenting with techniques to fertilize oceans so increased plankton growth will absorb excess CO2. Others have studied methods for reflecting sunlight, like seeding white clouds with sea water, launching solar reflectors or painting roofs white, as Energy Secretary Steven Chu famously suggested earlier this year.
Professor Caldeira dismissed most of these approaches as either financially unattainable or, in the case of Secretary Chu's white roof plan, insufficient. On balance, he said the most technically straightforward and cost-effective approach involves attempts to mimic the effect of large volcanic eruptions, like Mount Pinatubo in 1991.
Sulfur-based gases can be introduced inexpensively into the upper atmosphere, where they form sulfate particles that reflect sunlight away from the earth's surface. As the Foreign Affairs essay notes, the cost would be a fraction of emission reduction efforts that take decades to show results.
Except that the human costs would be far higher: the lowering of global mean temperature would shorten the growing season and lead to lower food production, which would cause people to die. But who cares about humans?
"Basically, there was cooling despite an increase in greenhouse gases," he sad. "The earth didn't come to an end." But, Professor Caldeira added, these measures "only make sense in an emergency response context."
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/09/2009
15:22 ||
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"This century will see the end of coral reefs for the next tens of thousands of years"
#2
Ohfergawdsake! All we need do, were the problem as described real, is keep seed stock of the various coral species in aquaria until conditions got back to acceptable, then let the coral spawn freely, creating hundreds of millions of free-swimming coral babies to repopulate the earth. The reason survival of the fittest occurs is that many more are born than the environment can support, so the less fit do not survive to reproduce. In the meantime, leave the fishing grounds unfished for a few years and the stock will rebuild itself for exactly the same reason, after which there will be plenty of work and profit for all.
#3
Yeah, they've only survived for millions of years in climactic conditions both far colder and far hotter than today. But go ahead, doc, sell your book.
#4
I reject the idea of ocean acidification. To start with, ocean pH varies radically, depending where you look, when you look, and at what depth. Very easy to fudge.
There is a big chunk of ocean North of Sicily that is highly acidic, sulfuric acid from volcanic activity. Other parts of the ocean are tremendously basic.
Add to this that just one year ago, it was discovered that the oceans were neutralizing 50% more ozone and 12% more methane than previously believed. That is, scientists are still more ignorant about the processes involved than knowledgeable.
#8
And yet 450 million years ago when corals and sponges ruled the earth atmospheric carbon dioxide levels were so high that land animals (not evolved yet) could not survive. Yet: As a natural consequence, a good deal of attention has been focused on the causes of the Ordovician Ice Age. In fact, it is not easy to see how an ice age could have occurred. Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are believed to have been 8 to 20 times their current values. This ought to have prevented anything approaching an ice age. Sea levels were high through most of the Ordovician. They dropped, dramatically (about 50 m), in connection with the ice age, but it is hard to tell whether this was cause, effect, or both.
Or current climate models are inadequate.
Posted by: ed ||
07/09/2009 21:54
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"inadequate" as in "lying propaganda to sell this book/get my tenure" but I play the game the way it's offered I'm a grant-whore?
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/09/2009 22:01
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U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg seems to have made a stunning admission in favor of cleansing America of unwanted populations by aborting them. In an interview with the New York Times, the judge said that Medicaid should cover abortions, and that she had originally expected that Roe v. Wade would facilitate such coverage in order to control the population of groups "that we don't want to have too many of."
The judge also praised the advent of earlier abortions with the wider distribution of the morning-after pill, saying "I think the side that wants to take the choice away from women and give it to the state, they're fighting a losing battle. Time is on the side of change."
When the Supreme Court upheld the partial-birth abortion ban in 2007, Ginsburg wrote a scathing dissent, saying the court's reasoning "reflects ancient notions about women's place in the family and under the Constitution - ideas that have long since been discredited."
#1
She admitted to what legal abortion is all about. It's Politically Correct Ethnic Cleansing.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
07/09/2009 14:53
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And who, pray tell, makes the decisions about who gets the Hoover and who gets to be born? What is their authority, and where do they get it? And who is to prevent somebody from assuming authority and deciding who serves no more purpose and must be put to sleep, including SCOTUS justices?
We see who these advocates truly are.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/09/2009 15:20
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#3
The problem is that it was the middle class that opted for full application rather than the Margret Sanger target of immigrants and blacks.
#4
How can the reporter hear that and not ask a followup question?
Posted by: Matt ||
07/09/2009 15:30
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#5
Conservatives catch a lot of crap when they try to equate Darwin and modern progressive liberalism. But one part of that connection is most assuredly true: that of 'social Darwinism', which led to eugenics, which the progressives of the early 1900s (and their successors, the socialists and the fascists) enthusiastically embraced. There's a strong history of people like Sanger, those in and out of our government, on the European side, and elsewhere who embraced birth control and abortion as ways of removing 'unwanted' or 'inferior' (pick your term) people.
Progressives, socialists and fascists back then had the disturbing tendency to describe such unwanted and inferiors in terms of class and/or race and ethnicity. Those thoughts persist today. It's why all such intellectuals attack the Catholic Church which (correctly) rejects the notion of inferiority and class distinction and which makes clear that all humans are equal in the eyes of God.
The progressive movement in the U.S. favored abortion and contraception PRECISELY because it would remove those individuals who were judged to impede the progress towards a perfect society.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/09/2009 15:40
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#6
How can the reporter hear that and not ask a followup question?
You would think that would be quite a bombshell. Unless the reporter implicitly understood, and perhaps, agreed with the meaning.
#7
cleansing America of unwanted populations by aborting them
Little known fact:
2) 80% of the Asian babies aborted in California are female. Isn't Feminism grand?
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
07/09/2009 16:49
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#8
But, but, but, it's the logistics! No huge facilities or railways are needed and Rowe VS Wade is much cheaper than Zyclone B. "Choice" ist der Lebensborn! Get over it. [angry snark]
#9
I like the way she just cavalierly tosses that out there, without even thinking about the implications of what she said, like she won't even get called on it.
Of course, that's easy to when you know you won't...
#11
and a refresher on when Juice were "population of groups 'that we don't want to have too many of.'", but then she's comfortably ensconced in a nation without immediate danger of religious cleansing, protected by security. What does she care about others? Her high moral ground precludes us from speculating she's a tool
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/09/2009 20:00
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A Russian woman has set a new world record, lifting a 14-kg. glass ball with her vagina muscles. Tatiata Kozhevnikova of Novosibirsk, aged 42, has been exercising her intimate muscles for fifteen years, and has already made her entrance into the Guinness Book of Records as the possessor of the worlds strongest vagina, she proudly told Life.ru.
“After I had a child, my intimate muscles got unbelievably weak. I read books on Dao and learned that ancient women used to deal with this problem using wooden balls,” she said. “I looked around, saw a Murano glass ball and inserted it in my vagina. It took me ages to get it out!”
The embarrassing first experience did not scare Tatiana off. She developed quite a taste for vagina fitness, and now she has her exercising balls custom-made. “You insert one of the balls in your vagina, and it has a string attached to it with a little hook at the very end. You fix a second ball onto this hook.”
The Russian recommends vaginal exercises to all women who want to improve their sex life. “Its enough to exercise your vagina five minutes a day, ladies, and in just one week youll be able to give yourself and your man unforgettable pleasure in bed,” she says.
#3
Dude, at least, tonight, I'm off to bed after having learned something new. Don't know if I'm really smarter from that new tidbit of knowledge, though. Thanks, Rantburg U.
WASHINGTON -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday she expects Democrats who have accused senior CIA officials of repeatedly misleading Congress to further pursue the allegations.
"I've seen the letters from the members and obviously they have concern," Pelosi said about the letters written by Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee and revealed Wednesday.
In the letters, Democrats said that CIA Director Leon Panetta told Congress last month that senior CIA officials have concealed significant actions and misled lawmakers repeatedly since 2001.
Panetta said earlier this year that the CIA did not mislead Congress. Was he right then or is he right now?
"The Intelligence Committee has the oversight responsibility for intelligence in the House and its equivalent committee in the Senate," Pelosi said at her weekly news conference. "I'm sure they will be pursuing this in their regular committee process and that's the way it will go."
But Republicans say the allegations are just political maneuvering to protect Pelosi, who has been under constant fire since alleging that the CIA lied to her about enhanced interrogation techniques.
Exactly what actions Panetta disclosed to the House Intelligence Committee on June 24 is unclear, but committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, said the CIA outright lied in one case.
"These notifications have led me to conclude that this committee has been misled, has not been provided full and complete notifications, and (in at least one case) was affirmatively lied to," Reyes wrote to Michigan Rep. Peter Hoekstra, the committee's senior Republican. A copy of his letter was obtained by The Associated Press. Reyes said in the letter that he is considering opening a full investigation.
Continued on Page 49
#2
The head of the CIA has powers to attack his enemies not available to us ordinary mortals and Leon knows how to use them. Up against him is another great Titan, The Speaker of the House. Let the games begin.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
07/09/2009 14:49
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When the president travels out of country, his secretary of state customarily follows.
Not so with Hillary Clinton.
More and more, President Obama is ditching his top diplomat when he travels abroad. By the time Obama returns from Ghana on Sunday, the last stop on his latest three-country tour, he will have visited nine countries without Clinton.
That's highly unusual for a new secretary of state. Though Clinton has accompanied Obama on several key international visits this year, including Egypt and Trinidad and Tobago, Obama has spent far more time than his predecessors without his foreign policy point person.
Some analysts say this could be a product of Obama's acute interest in diplomacy and international affairs, or perhaps his wariness to promote on the world stage a former rival whose star power could detract from his.
But they wonder whether Clinton, who as first lady traveled the world, is being used to her fullest potential at a time when crises are flaring all over the globe.
Continued on Page 49
#1
Anybody have an over/under on when she resigns? I can't see that humongous ego putting up with this for more then a coupla years.
And I don't think crushing his head between her massive thighs is an option any more...
#2
Ogabe is using the presidency as his chance to see the world. This is why the itinerary for most of his visits includes mainly private time, rather than meeting with foreign dignitaries. If Clinton traveled with him, he'd have to schedule a lot more meetings. It's not Ogabe's ego that's getting in the way - it's his latent laziness.
In one email, Nye said I will be pleased to know the bill passed, praising it as "a comprehensive approach that charts a new course toward a clean energy economy" and "will create jobs, help end our dangerous dependence on foreign oil, and combat global warming" (without ever mentioning that he voted against it).
In the other email, Nye said I will be pleased to know that he voted against it "because we do not need another tax on American families during this time of economic hardship."
Oops! Nye can't have it both ways.
Look, whatever your position is, you can be reassured that Nye agrees with you.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/09/2009
12:31 ||
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Let's see, if you combine "nay" and "aye" then you get "nye" which is another way of voting "present". If Virginians continue to swallow this bilge then they deserve him. Unfortunately, we all get a piece of him since he's in Congress and we can't throw him out. Wake up Virginia!
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
07/09/2009 13:03
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#2
Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Clause.
Cause if you're going to act like a child and not a responsible adult of a republic, you too can believe in fairy tales, and keep reelecting them. Oh and a pony too.
#3
There's a lot of that in Washington. "I was for it and then I was against it" syndrome. Do you supposeNye checked with his constituents to see what they actually wanted in the way of legislation--if any? Indeed, I'd say this is seedy as well as sleezy politics.
Her father had just won agreement from the Russians to cut back on the world's stockpiles of nuclear weapons.
And Barack Obama's eldest daughter was obviously keen to make her own statement on the issue - even if it was merely a fashion statement.
Just 48 hours after the U.S. President signed agreements with Russian president Dmitry Medvedev to reduce weapon stores, 11-year-old Malia Obama was spotted wearing not one, but two T-shirts with an anti-nuclear message.
She wore the tops emblazoned with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament's famous logo as her father prepared for three days of G8 talks in Italy.
First there was a grey T-shirt bearing the CND logo to visit the Colosseum in Rome with her mother Michelle and seven-year-old sister Sasha. Then during the visit she swapped it for a mottled white and grey top also bearing the logo.
The symbol, designed for the CND in 1958, is now widely used to signify peace and is also an international sign for anti-war protesters.
Mr Obama spent two days in Moscow this week meeting president Dmitry Medvedev and prime minister and former president Vladimir Putin.
There the American and Russian leaders agreed a landmark deal to reduce their stockpiles of nuclear weapons.
The 'joint understanding' would see the two countries - which between them have 95 per cent of the world's nuclear firepower - cut the number of warheads to around 1,500 from current levels above 2,200. At the height of the Cold War both sides had some 40,000.
Mr Medvedev agreed to the weapon reduction targets despite the lack of a U.S. promise to scrap plans - vehemently criticised by the Kremlin - to deploy missile defence facilities in former Soviet satellite states.
Malia is apparently a fan of her father's work, though the deal is simply a 'guide' for negotiators as the nations work toward a replacement pact for the START arms control agreement, which expires in December.
The CND, a British campaign, aims to rid the world of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction.
In April, Mr Obama made a speech in Prague committing to nuclear disarmament which was 'warmly welcomed' by the CND.
It has also welcomed this week's agreement between Russia and the U.S., claiming the 'first step has been taken' in abolishing nuclear weapons.
Mr Obama's family are accompanying him at the G8 summit in the Italian town of L'Aquila for three days of talks on global issues such as climate change, trade and financial reform with Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan,and Russia.
#2
Mr Obama's family are accompanying him at the G8 summit
Wife, kids, granny, personal secretary, cooks, doc, dog, photographer, guide, Secret Service detail, Dip Security Detail, extra limo's, second plane and third plane, NO PROBLEM!
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/09/2009 14:49
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#4
Because everyone pays as much attention to unemployed pre-teen girls as English newsies do. Let's just hope she doesn't get her father in as much trouble as the wife of the Moroccan ambassador to Italy did him.
#8
It's such a small thing, but at JammieWearingFool, the Obots arose "to her defense!" After Palin and her children were savaged with the most pernicious despicable lies (yes, Andi "Milky Loads" Diseased-brain. I'm talking about you), I won't stand by for that double-standard, and NO, talking about their t-shirt emblems doesn't compare to talking about bastard parentage, pre-teen rape, nor anything else you p*ssy libs refused to condemn when said about the Palins. It's war and you just lost the "Whinging" rule. Eat it
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/09/2009 23:28
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A top aide to President Barack Obama provided a keynote address at last weekend's 46th Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) national convention, a gathering that attracted thousands of people and also featured anti-Semitic, homophobic rhetoric and defense of the terrorist group Hezbollah.
In her remarks, Senior Advisor for Public Engagement and International Affairs Valerie Jarrett noted she was the first White House official to address ISNA. She spoke in general terms about interfaith dialogue and cooperation. She praised her hosts for "the diversity of American organizations, and ideas that are represented and will be debated" at the convention.
And she openly invited ISNA President Ingrid Mattson to work on the White House Council on Women and Girls that Jarrett leads.
ISNA is an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas-support conspiracy and maintains significant leadership ties to its foundation 28 years ago by members of the Muslim Brotherhood in America. A more pointed statement by Jarret would have stood as a powerful retort to extremist sentiments offered in other segments of the conference.
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Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/09/2009
12:00 ||
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#2
We could have real fun with those curs. To start with, we should ident them so heavily that it will scare the heck out of them. Fingerprints, footprints, retinal scans, voice prints, DNA, urine and stool samples, hair sample, and several nonsense devices just to intimidate them.
Then they should each have several "episodes", that if they tell their security forces, they will assume they have been turned, and will probably shoot them.
#3
Unfortunately, we will do none of the wonderful things suggested by Black Bart and Anonymoose. Pity.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
07/09/2009 14:57
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#4
If we had a CIA that could keep its mouth shut, we'd be spreading stories about how one of these fellows (can't say which one of course) helped us ID some Paserdan ops in southern Iraq. Let them explain to Tehran that it wasn't them ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/09/2009 15:58
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#6
There was some speculation a few weeks ago that a deal had been made to release 5 villians from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Don't quite remember the details, but do recall the outrage at the suggestion.
#1
Literacy is a goal in Afghanistan? Who would have known? It is almost like non-literacy is a goal of the Taliban. It seems the Taliban are vested in keeping the country primitive and undeveloped.
#2
FTA:He also says the British have returned to steal uranium from Helmand
You were planning on doing something with it? No roads, no electricity and no one can read. Dude, one of your best options is for the British to build the infrastructure they would need to steal your uranium.
HELMAND PROVICE, Afghanistan — t's the middle of the night at the east corner guard post of Fiddler's Green, a Marine fire base in Afghanistan's Helmand Province, along the border with Pakistan.
Corporal Ryan Joseph Bernal is on perimeter security duty.
Armed with an M-4, night vision binoculars and an array of high-powered automatic weaponry, the 22-year-old U.S. Marine and several others keep watch for activity just outside the concertina wire, which conveys the powerful message “DO NOT ENTER” in a universal language Marines, civilians and the Taliban all understand.
Behind the sentries are the 3rd Battalion, 11th Marines, out of 29 Palms, California. They are relatively safe, and mostly sleeping.
As the American military's summer offensive into Taliban territory gains strength, the number of U.S. soldiers who have been wounded or killed in action has increased. But just as disturbing for these Marines is a new concern: the recent security breach in the area that led to the kidnapping of an American soldier.
"Being taken hostage is not an option," says Bernal.
A tiny red flare warns potential intruders not to approach — but it's the figures you can't see who pose the greatest threat to Fiddler’s Green, located at what commanders call a “chokepoint to Taliban activity.”
Yesterday, an IED was found on Route 605, a main supply route not far from the entrance to the base.
But despite the recent spate of American deaths, the Taliban kidnapping of a soldier in the Northeast and the many local opportunities for danger, the 3/ll Marines remain calm.
“I’m confident the Marines have my back,” says Sgt. Scott Whittington, a combat correspondent who routinely ventures outside the wire to capture images of Marines in different war zones. Like many of his fellow Marines, Whittington has combat experience in Iraq and a calm confidence that comes with having been in similar situations.
But Afghanistan is no Iraq.
Bernal is the first line of defense on a barebones base where many Marines are sleeping in hand-dug pits to avoid being wounded by indirect fire. He puts his trust in his unit, and in its mission, which is to secure and hold strategic ground. "I have total faith in our commander," he says.
“One hundred percent accountability is key,” Captain Chad Altheiser, commanding officer of Battery “I,” told FOXNews.com. He has never been to Afghanistan, but he has completed two tours in Iraq. The experience shows.
“We keep security tight here at the camp,” says Altheiser, whose focus on personal safety is only partly explained by the fact that he is expecting a newborn son within days.
Throughout Afghanistan, troops have been killed in action, but that hasnÂ’t been a major concern. News doesn't reach Fiddler's Green 24/7, and because of a lack of Internet and phones, most of the 3/11 Marines are using pen and paper to send letters to loved ones back home.
“No media out here, not sure what’s really going on out there,” Corporal Tyler Ledbetter told FOXNews.com.
Ledbetter, who is three months into a 7-month tour in Afghanistan, refused to comment on the possibility of abduction, but was quick to explain why the rising death toll did not faze him.
“We’re the best trained fighting force in the world,” he said.
Throughout the day, redundant checks are designed to account for Marines. “Accountability. Eyes on every Marine, pre-combat checks, pre-combat inspections,” said battalion commander Lt. Chris Lewis. “Physical and visual accountability, nothing less."
The battle-hardened command is much more stoic than the younger grunts with guns at the gate.
“Personally I have no fear of being kidnapped. Accountability is very strong for the Marines,” said Sgt. Christopher Rye, a 26-year old Marine combat camera photographer.
In the Combat Operations Center, one of the few areas with electricity and some climate control, Battalion Adjutant 1st Lt. Adam McLaurin is brief and blunt. “I’m not focused on casualties,” says the Gainesville, Fla., native, who is on his first deployment.
“We really are just focused on what lies ahead.”
#1
In that is probably easier to kidnap a really pissed off wolverine than a Marine, some confidence is warranted. However, hopefully the Marines will set up some observation towers as were used to great effect in Iraq.
Andrue Malcolm, "Top uv teh Tikkit" blog @ Lost Angelis Timez
Somebodie -- hopefilly, not the prezdent hisselff -- doesn't no how to spell hiz furst name.
The White House this week released a copy of a new agreement between the United States and Russia on how to re-start the START arms reduction treaty talks to save the world from nuclear holocaust.
And according to the illustration provided by the sharp-eyed blogger Eric Zimmermann, in the Hill's must-read Blog Briefing Room, the official diplomatic document was signed on behalf of the United States of America by "Barak Obama."
Presumably closely related to the Barack Obama who moved into 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. way back on Jan. 20. Seems longer than four months ago.
Teh expurts and pun dits told me thet if I votered for Sarah Palin it wud elevat an unedjumacated unprepeared persun uv no intellijence to nashinul orifice who wud mak dum mistaykez in diplomercy an make Amerrika look schtupd to the wurld. I votered for her any way. Look whut happend!!
Posted by: Mike ||
07/09/2009
11:22 ||
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Will this cause Obama to be misunderestimated?
Is the agreement with Russia about nucular warheads? Inquiring minds want to know
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
07/09/2009 11:40
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Dupe because the link is the same. It's the flag we mods use to find dupe articles -- if you re-use the same link it's flagged.
Works most of the time because most news links are unique. But for the Rasmussen poll it will be flagged since the daily poll link is the same every day.
We mods will be aware of this if you post another one of these in the future.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/09/2009 15:47
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It is a back country wanderer's worst nightmare; arriving at a remote trailhead to find yourself accosted by two growling, snarling off-leash dogs, and then their owner, who threatens to kill you for having taken action to deter the approaching canines.
That's what retired Arizona teacher Harold Fish told investigators in May 2004 at the end of a dayhike in the Coconino National Forest that put him in a deadly confrontation with a man named Grant Kuenzli. Fish said he yelled a warning to Kuenzli to call off the dogs--a warning apparently ignored--then drew his 10mm Kimber semiautomatic pistol and fired one round into the ground when the dogs were about seven feet from him. The dogs split up, one to each side of Fish.
At the sound of the gunshot, Fish said, Kuenzli became enraged and rushed toward him "yelling profanities and swinging his arms" according to court documents. Fish "thought (Kuenzli) was going to kill him and he had nowhere to run because the dogs were at either side of the trail," the court documents said. "At one point (Fish) yelled to (Kuenzli) to stop or he would shoot."
When Kuenzli was between five and eight feet from Fish, still advancing and yelling, Fish shot him three times in the chest. Kuenzli died at the scene. Fish made his way to a highway, flagged down a motorist and asked for help.
Fish was prosecuted and convicted, and sentenced to 10 years in prison, but last week, the now-incarcerated 62-year-old ex-teacher was granted a new trial by the Arizona Court of Appeals, which reversed the verdict and remanded the case back to the trial court.
There is a great deal about the Fish case, and the appeals court ruling, that raises more questions than answers.
Posted by: Everyday a Wildcat(KSU) ||
07/09/2009
10:19 ||
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#1
Sounds to me like a direct court driven attack on Self defense, thwarted by (Higher) cooler heads.
If he hadn't called police himself, he'd really be screwed.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/09/2009 14:59
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Billions of dollars in federal aid delivered directly to the local level to help revive the economy have gone overwhelmingly to places that supported President Obama in last year's presidential election.
That aid -- about $17 billion -- is the first piece of the administration's massive stimulus package that can be tracked locally. Much of it has followed a well-worn path to places that regularly collect a bigger share of federal grants and contracts, guided by formulas that have been in place for decades and leave little room for manipulation. "There's no politics at work when it comes to spending for the recovery," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says.
Counties that supported Obama last year have reaped twice as much money per person from the administration's $787 billion economic stimulus package as those that voted for his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain, a USA TODAY analysis of government disclosure and accounting records shows. That money includes aid to repair military bases, improve public housing and help students pay for college.
The reports show the 872 counties that supported Obama received about $69 per person, on average. The 2,234 that supported McCain received about $34.
Investigators who track the stimulus are skeptical that political considerations could be at work. The imbalance is so pronounced -- and the aid so far from complete -- that it would be almost inconceivable for it to be the result of political tinkering, says Adam Hughes, the director of federal fiscal policy for the non-profit OMB Watch. "Even if they wanted to, I don't think the administration has enough people in place yet to actually do that," he says.
"Most of what they're doing at this point is just stamping the checks and sending them out," Hughes says.
The stimulus package Obama signed in February includes about $499 billion in new spending, and to date, the Obama administration has allocated about $158 billion to specific projects and programs. Most of that money has gone directly to state governments, which then disperse the money to prevent school layoffs, repair roads and fund social services. That contrasts with the $17 billion that Washington distributes directly to local communities.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2009
09:41 ||
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The Obama Doctrine is finally coming into focus....Obama himself insists that he’s guided by nothing other than a cool-headed pragmatism. Indeed, Obama has a grating habit of describing any position not his own as “ideological,” as if his is the only sober, practical understanding of the problems we face. Just days before he was inaugurated, he gave a speech in Baltimore in which he proclaimed, “What is required is a new declaration of independence, not just in our nation, but in our own lives — from ideology and small thinking, prejudice and bigotry — an appeal not to our easy instincts but to our better angels.”
So ideologues — i.e. millions of Americans who disagree with his policies on principle — belong in a list along with bigots and dim bulbs. At home, this attitude has allowed him to dismiss opponents of socialized medicine and the government takeover of various industries as “ideologues,” and critics of trillions in debt-fueled spending as small-minded cranks.
Joshua Muravchik, a scholar at Johns Hopkins University and a leading advocate of democracy promotion around the globe, demonstrates in the current issue of Commentary that Obama has a similar attitude toward those who say America should advance the cause of liberty and democracy worldwide. Again and again, the administration has made it clear that spreading freedom is so much ideological foolishness....
The past four weeks show how ideological Obama’s un-ideological view really is. In response to the revolutionary protests in Iran, Obama initially favored stability and preserving the fantasy of negotiations with the Iranian clerical junta. Not “meddling” was his top priority. Over time, the rhetoric improved, but the policy remained just as cynical.
Then, events in Honduras revealed that Obama really has no problem with meddling when a left-wing agenda is advanced. Manuel Zelaya, the president of Honduras and a Hugo Chávez wannabe, illegally defied the Honduran Congress, the Supreme Court, and the Constitution in an attempt to repeal term limits (which help sustain democracy in Central America by preventing presidents-for-life). The Supreme Court ordered the military to remove Zelaya from office and expel him from the country. A member of Zelaya’s own party replaced him, and elections were announced. But suddenly, Obama — taking much the same position as Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez — thought America should join the coalition of the meddlers demanding Zelaya’s return to power. In Iran, Obama was terrified to do anything that might lead to a coup to bring about democracy. In Honduras, Obama was unwilling to let stand a coup that preserved democracy.
It sure seems like Obama has an ideological problem with democracy.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/09/2009
09:37 ||
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#1
And many Christian dhimmis view islam as nothing but a variant faith. They project their own tolerance onto inherently aggressive muslims.
#2
"What is required is a new declaration of independence, not just in our nation, but in our own lives -- from ideology and small thinking, prejudice and bigotry -- an appeal not to our easy instincts but to our better angels."?
What's wrong with the old Declaration of Independence? It has served our country well from its inception. It served well until many politicians, lawyers, and others quit adhering to it--and they replaced it with "political correctness" and other such nonsense.
The last time the CIA and Nancy Pelosi were in the news together, the House Speaker was accusing the agency of lying about its briefings to Congress on the interrogation of al Qaeda detainees. This week, the Speaker's fellow Democrats are set to block public disclosure of what Ms. Pelosi was really told and when.
Democrats recently marked up the 2010 intelligence bill, and Republican Pete Hoekstra offered an amendment in committee to require the CIA to make public an unclassified version of its records on Congressional briefings. It also would have required the CIA to disclose the information gleaned from those interrogations.
Democrats have spent years demanding a "truth commission" into interrogations, so you'd think such public disclosure would be welcome. Ah, that was when a different guy was in the White House and before Mrs. Pelosi had made her own veracity an issue. Suddenly, she's all for secrecy. And sure enough, Intelligence Committee Democrats lined up to protect their leader and defeated the Hoekstra amendment on a party line vote. This follows Democratic rejection of a resolution by Utah Republican Rob Bishop to initiate a bipartisan investigation of Mrs. Pelosi's accusation.
CIA employees weren't so lucky. Chairman Silvestre Reyes's Intelligence Democrats passed a new requirement that the CIA videotape all detainee interrogations. This is a sop to the anti-antiterror left, which wants heads to roll because the CIA destroyed tapes of the interrogations of the likes of terrorist Abu Zubaydah. CIA clandestine chief Jose Rodriguez ordered those tapes destroyed precisely because he worried they might leak and compromise U.S. methods. Republicans offered an amendment to strip the videotape provision but lost on another partisan vote.
This fits the Pelosi policy that the wartime decisions of CIA agents can and will be second-guessed years later, but Congressional acquiescence in those decisions is off-limits. Philip Mudd, a respected career intelligence officer, was recently blackballed by Congress for a Homeland Security job because he knew about harsh interrogations. The message to CIA operatives is don't take any risks for national security, and better have a lawyer on speed dial. All of which belies President Obama's promise that there would be no political recriminations for CIA actions taken after 9/11. Meanwhile, CIA Director Leon Panetta has so far said nothing publicly about the House's videotape provision.
Democrats intend to bring the intelligence bill to the House floor this week, and Republicans are preparing a new set of amendments. At least on the videotapes, Mr. Obama ought to spend some political capital in the cause of protecting the spies we need to defend the country.
#1
Red on Red. All the backstabbing and leaks during the Bush II era are now starting to get their due, but not in the way the players thought. Those who knew who were doing it and said nothing or acted can equally inherit the consequences. For every perceived favor they'd gain by playing the other side in the game, they've alienated just as many to protect them later when the 'purges' begin. You really think that the players of power were going to allow such an unreliable and unfaithful group retain a position of influence after they took the reigns? [rhetorical question]. They can either take their lumps or they can play hardball back. Just remember Honduras - if you strike at the king, you must kill the king.
In a briefing organized in Congress in July of 2007, I submitted a plan to the U.S. House Caucus on Counter Terrorism called "Freedom lines" suggesting a second phase in the American military campaign in Iraq. This plan was suggested as of 2004. After having analyzed the long term goals of al Qaeda and the Iranian regime in Iraq and discussed them with CENTCOM officials and National Defense University professors, the proposed plan projected a rapid training and expansion of the Iraqi armed forces followed by a gradual redeployment of U.S. and Coalition forces out of the cities and urban zones. Today we see the first phase of withdrawal beginning to take place. It is in this redeployment stage, where Iraqi forces will be taking over from Americans and allies in all cities and most towns. Two crucial questions arise immediately: Will Iraqi forces be able to control their own urban zones? And as a corollary, what should be the next phase for U.S. and Coalition forces on Iraqi soil?
According to the plan I have suggested the answer to the second question can determine the success or failure of the first. Indeed, for Iraqi forces to win the battle against their security challenges, it will depend on what kind of strategic mission U.S. armed forces will be tasked with in the next stage of their new deployment. Here is why:
The two main forces the U.S. and the West are facing in the region, and which are threatening the rise of democracy amongst local civil societies have been and continue to be the Salafi Jihadists led by al Qaeda on the one hand and the Ayatollahs' Pasdaran on the other hand. These two threats -- regardless of how various U.S. administrations perceive them or project them -- are the main challengers to Iraq's national security. And thus their intentions towards Iraq's future will determine the fate of the post redeployment stage. What are al Qaeda's and Iran's plans with the completion of American pull out from the cities? The combat Jihadists (often called "the extremists" by the U.S. Administration) are clear in their intentions: attack Iraqi forces, civil society and foreign presence mostly in Sunni Arab areas and when possible across the country. There will be no change in strategy for al Qaeda but an increase of activities in an effort to crumble the government's presence in what the Salafi Jihadists would want to transform into a future "Emirate." The Iranian factor is more complex: Tehran's influence in Baghdad is projected to increase. Behind the scenes, the pro-Khomeinist politicians in Iraq will pressure the Shia-dominated government to lessen their alliance with the United States and tighten their cooperation with the "Islamic Republic of Iran." The real battle will be within the Shia community of Iraq. The Pasdaran's tentacles will attempt to eliminate the anti-Iranian cadres and consolidate the pro-Iranian groups, including the armed ones. The far goal is undoubted: Spread Iranian indirect control from border to border to connect with Syria's.
Can Iraq's government and armed forces resist the post U.S. redeployment assault by al Qaeda and the further infiltration by the Iranian regime? The answer is yes, if. If the country's national leadership stays united, closely allied to the United States and aware of the two threats, it will be able to ride the dangerous waves and reach stability by 2011 and beyond. But if the Iraqi government -- and its successor after the fall's elections -- fail in meeting the three above mentioned conditions, the threats will prevail. Do Iraq's army and security forces have enough numbers, equipment and training to respond to al Qaeda? Technically yes. If backed by their government, they can withstand terror strikes as long as needed and deny a repeat of Fallujah. Violence will take place, and might even increase, but the measurement is by the ability of the armed forces to deny the terrorists a territorial control, not to stop the bombings. However, Iraq's ability to maintain unity against al Qaeda is based on its ability to deny further Iranian infiltration. And to do so, Iraqis need to be shielded from penetration coming from the east and the west: Iran and Syria. This is where U.S. role becomes critical.
If the U.S. forces leaving cities would regroup in large bases and await calls from Baghdad's government to help when needed, they risk missing the bigger of the threats: a strategic penetration by Iran from border to border. Americans may be called to assist against al Qaeda while the Pasdaran will be subtly occupying the country. In short we will be doing the dirty job for the next dominant power: Iran. Hence, all depends on the deals already cut: If the Obama administration has accepted the idea of a future influence by Iran in Iraq, in return for a deal on regional issues, then expect U.S. "neutrality" towards Iranian influence in urban Iraq. But if Washington perceives Iran's role in Iraq as a threat, then it should use its redeployment as deterrence against the Khomeinists. Everything else will unfold quickly.
In military history, deployments have constituted half of most victories. In my 2007 plan, I suggested a withdrawal from the center of Iraq and a deployment along the borders with particular focus on the frontiers with Iran and Syria. The thick presence along the two rivers should be remodeled into thick massing along the borders to the east and to the west, leaving most of the country to its armed forces. By redeploying as two buffers facing Tehran and Damascus, significant dividends will emerge: One, Iraqis will be able to pacify the center at will without main concerns about trans-borders penetrations; two, the Iranian regime will be deterred from a thrust into its neighbor; three, the Syrian regime will lose the land bridge it hoped to access with Iran; four both the Assad and Khamanei regimes will have to focus on their growing domestic issues, instead of "meddling" in a post withdrawal Iraq.
Although such a strategic move should have been the next logic step in U.S. plans in Iraq, Washington decision makers have been advised in an opposite direction: "Engage" Iran and Syria and cut a deal with them as to the future of Iraq. The next stage of U.S. redeployment, if directed at deterring Iran can lead to Iraqi victory over terror. But if deterring Tehran's regime is not on the agenda, Iraq will be challenged by al Qaeda in its center and penetrated by Iran from both borders.
#1
Tehran's influence in Baghdad is projected to increase.
Perhaps. Unless the Mad Mullahs™ are overthrown by the Iranian people. Unless the ayatollahs in Qom decide that the mad leaders are violating the basic tenets of their faith. Unless the Iraqi Shi'a, led by the religious leaders of Najaf, reject rabid Kohmeini-ism, which it sure seems like they're doing.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/09/2009 10:43
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#2
There was a football game a few years back, I think it was KC vs. Cleveland. Time running out, Chiefs driving, needed a field goal to win or else they lose. Defense made a stopping play and a player took his helmut off to celebrate - but there was still time on the clock. Taking helmut off was a 15 yard penalty, puts Chiefs in range kicked the field goal and Cleveland lost. Lets not take our helmut off too early in Iraq.
(Might need a spot from sports fanatics with the opposing team to KC, might have been Cincinatti, it made the blooper rounds for quite a while)
#2
He was sponsored by the Illinois Democrats who are also indifferent to Democracy. Pity no one would get off a plane and ask us quaint, colorfully costumed, clog dancing for our betters, natives of Illinois BEFORE THE ELECTION.
#3
Very little one can correctly label "astonishing" about a man schooled nearly since birth in the tenants of Liberation Theology.
Lets skip the next 5 chapters shall we? I think you are familiar with those. The more difficult algebraic challenges are further to the back of the book.
#4
He came to prominence in a one-party system in Chicago. He won his Senate election because the opposition party couldn't be serious enough to field a proper candidate (and because his fellow-travelers in the leading newspaper in the state ran out the candidate who was to challenge him). He won the nomination by winning caucuses rigged by his fellow-travelers. He won the election because his fellow-travelers ran interference for him.
It's not astonishing at all.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/09/2009 10:46
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#5
“Genuine democracy is hard work.”
The perception of a free and fair election process is an important component in a democracy. However, its the heavy lifting that follows that defines a true democracy. If, and only if, an elected government is held to account can a democracy flourish. If Obama was to bring attention to the deficiencies of other countries it would certainly invite criticism of his own lack of accomplishment. Not unlike when average looking girls bring the fat chick along when they go out dancing.
#6
Not surprising the indifference toward demcrocacy. A Marxist ideology doesn't allow much room for democracy. For all the talk of change, the change is rooted in failed 1930s concepts.
A police unit and a Kfir Brigade force arrested a Palestinian woman carrying two commando knives at the Einav checkpoint in the northern Samaria region on Thursday.
The security forces received information of the woman's plans prior to her arrival at the place. As the suspect arrived at the checkpoint by vehicle, the forces ordered her to step out of the car. During a routine search they found two commando knives on her person. The 27-year-old Tulkarm resident was turned over to the security forces for further questioning. Security sources estimated that the woman was planning to carry out a terror attack against Israelis.
Earlier Thursday Palestinians opened fire at an Israeli vehicle moving near the West Bank settlement of Ofra. No injuries were reported in the incident. IDF forces canvassing the area recovered several shell casings. The search for the perpetrators continued. Local Jewish residents criticized the army for taking several hours to arrive at the scene and begin searching for the terrorists.
French lawmakers opened hearings Wednesday on whether to ban the burka, calling in experts who said France should act to discourage Muslim women from wearing the head-to-toe veil. President Nicolas Sarkozy has proclaimed the burka "not welcome" in secular France, drawing a warning from Al-Qaeda's north Africa wing that it was ready to "take revenge for the honour of our daughters and sisters."
Home to Europe's biggest Muslim minority, France has set up a special panel of 32 lawmakers to consider whether a law should be enacted to bar Muslim women from wearing the full veil, known as a burka or niqab. At the first hearing, two academics described wearing the burka as a throwback to a form of archaic Islam and a type of cult-like behaviour, incompatible with modern France. Islam expert Abdennour Bidar called the full veil a "pathology of Islam" embraced by hardline Salafists who tell Muslim women to cover themselves as a way to "get back to their roots."
"It's up to the republic to help Islam in our country choose its destiny and help French Muslims resist this pressure," said Bidar. "We must find ways to prevent the burka from spreading. Whether that would be a law or something else is not for me to say."
Anthropologist Dounia Bouzar said young women had in recent years taken to wearing the full veil after being indoctrinated by "gurus" who pervert Islam's teachings. "Even imams are having difficulties countering this type of message," she said, adding that there was nothing in the Koran that dictated to women that they must fully cover themselves. "The niqab entered Islam's history a little more than 70 years ago while Islam dates back 14 centuries," noted Bouzar. She suggested that measures be adopted under France's security laws barring citizens from concealing their identities by covering their faces, be it with a niqab, a ski mask or even a paper bag. Such a measure would apply equally to all citizens and ensure that France's five million Muslims do not feel stigmatized for their religion, she argued.
As the hearings got under way, the leader of the governing right-wing majority in parliament came out in favour of a law banning the burka but said it should be preceded by a period of "dialogue" of six months to a year. "We must prohibit what should be prohibited but only after having explained why," said Jean-Francois Cope, a leading figure in Sarkozy's UMP party, in an interview to Le Parisien newspaper. The parliamentary task force will also hear from women's groups, Muslim associations, educators and mayors in the coming months before presenting a report at the end of January.
#1
I don't think it should be prohibited - except for things like drivers lisences (or even driving), check or credit card ID, photo line-ups, court testimony etc. If I can't wear a Richard Nixon Halloween mask for it, then they can't wear their burka. And that would be true even if the burka WAS a religious requirement. Religious freedoms DO have limits in our society - except that the Church of Glenmore has a religious requirement that banks give me 10% of the Failout money they get.
A German judge voiced surprise on Wednesday that four young Muslims accused of a terrorist bomb plot have suddenly confessed in extraordinary detail.
Police arrested two German converts to Islam and a third man in 2007 to thwart car bomb attacks on US bases. The accused only decided last month to tell police everything in a plea bargain. "Their evidence is much more comprehensive than we expected at the start of the interrogations," presiding judge Ottmar Breidling told the court as the four accused listened, visibly relaxed.
Observers said the evidence is likely to keenly interest intelligence agencies seeking an insight into how Islamist groups based in Pakistan and Afghanistan mount attacks. Fritz Gelowicz, Daniel Schneider, Adem Yilmaz and Attila Selek were allegedly members of the Islamic Jihad Union, a shadowy group believed to be allied to al-Qaeda.
The compilation of testimony would be finished late this week, and was likely to extend to 1000 pages, which will be read aloud to the court when it resumes hearings on August 10, Breidling said. Breidling promised the men a month ago they would receive a "tangible reduction" in their jail terms as an incentive to confess to police investigators. A federal prosecutor, Volker Brinkmann, confirmed the men had offered exhaustive details of the plot, calling it the most extensive confession he had seen in his career.
Wednesday's courtroom atmosphere was almost harmonious, as defence lawyers withdrew most of a series of objections designed to hold up the trial and prepared for an agreed settlement of the terrorism charges. However Breidling rebuked the accused once for switching into Arabic when they spoke to one another. The accused will no longer have to sit in an armoured-glass cell inside the courtroom when the trial resumes next month, but will be allowed to sit with their lawyers like ordinary criminal defendants.
#2
Nor will they attack Black Fundamentalist Churches, but the Mormons are a target of opportunity. All 'christianists' are not the same even though they take the same or similar stand on the issue.
#4
PC is a "if one falls, we all fall together" kind of thing, since any mechanism that allows someone to see through the guff and free themselves from one form of it is enabled to free themselves from another.
If the PC about the "noble non-westerner" fails, then they may be next!
Shin Bet, Lachish Subdistrict Police arrest two Palestinians in Gan Yavne murder case of 56-year-old Gregory Rabinowitz. Suspects confess act, say it was payback for death of Islamic Jihad operative killed by IDF in 2007
Gregory Rabinowitz, 56, a taxi driver whose body was found in May near the community of Gan Yavne, east of Ashdod, was killed in a terror attack. A joint investigation of the Shin Bet and Lachish Subdistrict Police revealed that Rabinowitz, a resident of Ashdod, was mugged and strangled to death by two Palestinians. Mahmad Maraneh and Muhammad Khaledi, two residents of Arranah, a Palestinian village near the West Bank city of Jenin, were arrested and later confessed to the act.
Rabinowitz's body was found bound on the city's outskirts, with evidence suggesting he was subjected to severe violence. The state of his remains suggested a nationalistically-motivated act. The defense establishment was able to ascertain the premise two week later, as it arrested two 22-year-old Palestinians as murder suspects. The two were arrested by the IDF's Haredi Nahal forces and a SWAT team.
Maraneh and Khaledi confessed to the act during their interrogation, telling security forces that they entered Israel as illegal aliens, "picked" Rabinowitz as a random target, had him drive to a secluded location and murdered him. Their motive, they said, was the fact that he was Jewish and that they wanted to avenge the death of a relative – an Islamic Jihad operative who was killed by IDF forces in February 2007.
A soldier was killed by a bomb and a Muslim civilian was shot dead in the latest violence in Thailand's restive south, police said on Thursday.
The bomb was detonated as troops travelled in a pickup on a patrol in the town of Yarang in Pattani province. Five soldiers were wounded. In a separate incident, police found the body of a Muslim man in a pickup in the same district. Police told Reuters he had been shot by terrorists insurgents, probably late on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, in the neighbouring province of Yala, three soldiers were wounded by a roadside bomb.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Chinese President Hu Jintao abandoned plans to attend a G8 summit in Italy on Wednesday, returning home early to deal with ethnic violence amid Turkish accusations that China staged a "massacre" of its Turkic-speaking Muslim Uighurs.
The Foreign Ministry said Hu had left for China due to the "situation" in isolated, energy-rich Xinjiang that has left 156 dead, 1,080 injured and 1,434 arrested in the latest unrest between Han Chinese and Muslim Uighurs since Sunday.
State Councilor Dai Bingguo will attend the G8 summit instead of Hu, the ministry added.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2009
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This is NOT good for either side. Hu has lost face. He won't take that very well. Expect to see some VERY rough "justice" in Urumqui, against both Uigurs and Han.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/09/2009 14:16
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[Iran Press TV Latest] A car bomb explosion at a wedding party in Iraq has left two people dead and more than eighteen others wounded, police say. Are we sure this wasn't part of the festivities?
The bomb attached to a well-wisher's car exploded outside the house of the groom in al-Mussayab town, 75 km (47 miles) south of the capital Baghdad on Wednesday as guests gathered there before heading to the bride's house. The blast also damaged nearby buildings and other parked cars. I think they would've settled for a nice place setting...
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2009
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[Geo News] Intelligence agencies have advised to bring basic changes in the security procedures for passenger planes in view of concerns of hijacking. According to a report, the militants could hijack planes for fulfillment of their evil motives. The arrested militants have disclosed that they use planes for traveling.
Whoa - "evil motives"? My dears, that's just too, too judgemental!
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2009
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#1
WORLD NEWS > NUCLEAR TREATY EMBOLDENS ENEMIES, WEAKENS THE US. World "Sole Superpower" USA is WEAKENING ITSELF while many other lessor nations strive to modernize and expand their nuclear arsenals.
#4
I don't fly now, and this will make TSA even more idiotic?
No thanks.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/09/2009 14:38
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I suspect this is tied to the problems with flights coming out of Turkey on July 4th. We had reports here of the entire passenger list being pulled aside and searched.
[Geo News] The operation in Swat and Buner has been completed and these areas have been cleared of militants. "Great news, honey! I've killed all the cockroaches in the kitchen!"
Addressing a press conference accompanied with Federal Information minister Qamar Zaman Kaira, military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said a meeting with Army chief Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani was held to discuss the issue of IDPs.
He said the army had 'credible' information that Fazlullah was hit, Major General Athar Abbas said giving no further details about the hardline cleric's condition. 'In one of the strikes, Mullah Fazlullah has been injured,' he said, adding that the air strike wounding the commander hit two days ago in Swat. That's about a half dozen times he's been reported hit or killed. He must look like a Swiss cheese with a turban.
Armed Taliban marched into the district of Buner in April, putting FazlullahĂŻ's fighters within 100 kilometres (60 miles) of the national capital Islamabad, and Pakistan unleashed its fresh military offensive. Abbas said that the operation in Swat and two other northwest districts was almost over, but said the top leadership remained elusive, with many simply disappearing into the mountains of the rugged region. When conducting counterinsurgency operations, what's really important isn't how many cannon fodder get killed, wounded, or captured. What's really important is how thoroughly the leadership is destroyed. I don't have the feeling that the Pak Talibs' top leadership has been damaged.
'We are constantly targeting militant leaders. They always keep themselves protected,' Abbas said. Given minimally competent intel they should be able to root out the leadership, especially the ones who drive around broadcasting on the FM band from their cars.
Kaira told the same press conference that the area had been cleared of 'terrorists', but a military statement issued Wednesday said that some pockets of resistance remained. The military claim to have killed about 1,600 militants in their northwest operation, but such tolls are impossible to verify. I'd guess the number's much lower, and I'd also guess most of these are cannon fodder with a few mid-level commanders for seasoning.
As Swat operations wrap up, military and government officials have vowed to open up a second front against Pakistan's main Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud, who is holed up in the lawless tribal areas along the Afghan border. They do talk a great offensive...
The Army Spokesman said that there are terrorists in some areas conducting terrorists activities, adding the extremists are being chased and their training centers have been razed. He added the process of targeting the hideouts of extremists will continue for some time and the Pak Army will stay in Swat. 'The real heroes of Malakand Division are its people,' he said adding there are pockets of resistance in some areas including Shah Dherai and Shamozai, the military action is underway to end this resistance. Abbas said all the large thoroughfares have been opened.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2009
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#1
Well, Swat's clear of militants wearing uniforms anyway.
[Maghrebia] Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb on Tuesday (July 7th) claimed responsibility for killing 28 Malian troops and kidnapping 3 other during weekend skirmishes in the Wasra region of northern Mali, AFP reported. In a statement published on a jihadist forum, the terrorist group said the action was in retaliation for the Malian army offensive mounted against al-Qaeda after the assassination of a British hostage in early June, Tout sur l'Algerie noted.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2009
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#1
See also STRATEGYPAGE > SOMALIA: CRIES GO UNHEEDED [AU STILL not yet ready or willing to fight MilTerrs]; + MALI IN THE MIDDLE OF ISLAMIC MADNESS. The Islamist Battle for the SAHARA/MAGREB.
#2
It seems like AQ activity has increased a lot in North Africa. Does this mean thay are retreating from Afghanistan.Pakistan? The African countries don't seem to be welcoming them, so where next? South Chicago?
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
07/09/2009 11:27
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[Al Arabiya Latest] A top Egyptian preacher has called on the government to allocate more land for Christian's to build churches and blamed sectarian tension in Egypt on extremists from both sides, press reports said Tuesday.
Someone please fetch the fainting couch, and douse a handkerchief with cologne to dab at my temples -- I feel decidedly faint.
Sheikh Khaled al-Gindi said in an interview with the London-based Asharq al-Awsat that the government should allow Christians to build churches the same way Muslims expect to be able to build mosques in the West.
Decidedly quite faint.
"As we demand that the West allows us to build mosques, we have to do the same here (in Egypt) with churches"
Sheikh Khaled al-Gindi
"All citizens have the right to practice their religious rights," Gindi said. "As we demand that the West allows us to build mosques, we have to do the same here (in Egypt) with churches. This is what Amr ibn al-Asdid."
Gindi went on to say that the tension between Muslims and Coptic Christians in Egypt does not mean there is a sectarian strife but rather communication problems, for which he held extremists on both sides accountable. "These problems have always existed, but did not come to the surface before. Extremists who incite hatred are more dangerous to Muslims than they are to Copts," Gindi said, adding extremists were behind the clashes that have erupted over the years between Muslims and Copts.
"Extremists have caused the Muslim mind to be afflicted with psychological disorders. Therapy is what Muslims need now. Islam has become torn between the ignorance of its followers and the helplessness of its scholars," Gindi--who is regarded as a moderate--said.
W
hat brought on this outburst? Has Sheikh Gindi had a brainstorm or a mid-life crisis of some sort... or is it merely that we just noticed him?
Married to a Christian
" Islam allows a Muslim man to marry a Christian woman. As for the schools, if I trust a Christian woman enough to marry her and have kids with her, then I will definitely trust schools she came from with my kids. Otherwise, I will be contradicting myself "
Gindi
In response to a question about whether he really married a Coptic woman and enrolled his children in Coptic schools, Gindi said it is true. "Islam allows a Muslim man to marry a Christian woman. As for the schools, if I trust a Christian woman enough to marry her and have kids with her, then I will definitely trust schools she came from with my kids. Otherwise, I will be contradicting myself."
Gindi added that Muslim children in all Arab countries join Western schools to learn foreign languages, which is the case with his two daughters who speak English and French fluently. Gindi divorced his Coptic wife a few years ago.
Gindi also criticized some scholars at Egypt's al-Azhar University, the leading institution of Sunni Islam, for not standing by him as he plans to launch an Islamic channel. Al-Azhar has refused to supervise the channel, set to start broadcasting in the holy fasting month of Ramadan, which bears its name and accused Gindi of trying to make a profit by using its name. "I belong to al-Azhar in spite of all of them," he said, adding he would be launching a channel called Azhari, Arabic for affiliated to al-Azhar, and said "I will not allow anyone to obstruct its success."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2009
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I expect we will be reading about the late Sheikh Khaled al-Gindi in short order.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Two car bombs have exploded within minutes of each other in the Iraqi city of Mosul, killing nine people and wounding 29.
The first bomb detonated in a residential area of northern Mosul, home to the minority Shabaks, wounding seven, Reuters reported.
According to the local police, the second car bomb went off about 10 minutes later near a mosque in the Bawiza district, another Shabak area, killing nine people and wounding 22 others.
The Wednesday attacks come just two days after another car bomb explosion in the northern Iraqi city.
10 people were wounded in Monday's car bomb attack; a week after US forces withdrew from Iraqi cities and handed over the security to Iraqi national forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2009
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Great read about an English-speaking defector. Perhaps he's only telling us what we want to hear, but ...As they crossed the airport in Singapore that day in 2003, heading for the plane that would take them to Seoul -- and a new life of freedom -- North Korean defector Kim Kwang Jin and his wife and son all feared for their lives. "My wife was very frightened," recalled Kim, a high-ranking banker for the North Korean regime who was stationed in Singapore at the time. "She told me afterwards that...every step through the airport was like walk[ing] to [her] slaughtering....It was not easy to make such a decision."
Now a visiting fellow with the Washington, D.C.-based Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, Kim is described by veteran analysts as the first English-proficient defector ever to escape the Hermit Kingdom. Trim and sharply dressed, his bushy head of hair dyed jet black, the 42-year-old Kim, once an English professor at a computer college in Pyongyang, speaks polite and fluent English, albeit in a halting style and with a heavy accent.
An interview with FOX News in late June marked Kim's first with an American TV news channel. Kim recounted his extraordinary experiences working for the Northeast Asia Bank and Korea National Insurance Corporation, where he handled accounts worth hundreds of million of dollars.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/09/2009
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Re NK media: radios are pre-set to receive only national government communication. Thus, the people are unaware that NK's elite are the biggest importers of French Cognac. Buying Kim's non-belligerence in non-productive. We should effect complete disassociation.
[Iran Press TV Latest] The wife of Heshmatollah Attarzadeh, an Iranian diplomat who was kidnapped in Pakistan nine months ago, has pleaded for the speedy release of her husband.
In a Wednesday meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari, the wife and daughter of Attarzadeh appealed to Pakistani authorities to ensure his return.
Zardari expressed deep regret over Pakistan's failure to secure the release of Attarzadeh, but asserted that Pakistani authorities have done and will continue to do everything in their power to free the Iranian diplomat.
Reports indicate that he is 'alive and in good health.'
Tehran has held Islamabad responsible for the abduction, urging Pakistani authorities to tighten security measures to secure the safety of Iranian diplomats in the region.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2009
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[Maghrebia] Nine candidates are competing for the presidency in Mauritania, in a campaign that runs from July 2nd through the polls on July 18th. Observers believe a balance between majority and opposition leaders in the election -- agreed in June's Dakar Agreement -- will ensure transparency.
After 10 months of turmoil brought on by the August 2008 coup, political leaders committed to the power-sharing arrangement in the interest of stability. Ousted president Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdellahi submitted his resignation willingly and signed the decree appointing the transition government of national unity.
Also on July 2nd, the members of Independent Elections Committee were sworn in to serve the electorate, in the presence of Constitutional Council President Abdallah Ould Ala Salem. He urged the committee members to discharge their duties with "integrity and a spirit of responsibility".
Campaign workers set up camp across Nouakchott and other regions to promote ten candidates, but one -- Askir Ould Embarak -- withdrew from the race on Monday (July 6th). Of the remaining nine, six represent parties and three are independents.
One camp supervisor, Toumn Mint Saydat, said the campaign began peacefully. "Everyone sits together regardless of their political affiliation," she told Magharebia. "I think that Mauritanians are currently living in an encouraging democratic atmosphere."
Observers identified a great deal of overlap between the different candidates' platforms.
While candidate Massoud Ould Belkheir undertook to guarantee "justice and to enhance democracy", Mohammed Abdulaziz promised "to get rid of corrupters and to reform the administration".
Abdul Aziz, former junta leader and presidential front-runner, told supporters in Atar on Tuesday that he would put an end to corruption. "I shall bring to justice all those involved in stealing our public money, and I shall be firm and strong in dealing with them," he said.
Belkheir promised voters on Monday that he would support democracy and human rights and work with trade unions. "Democracy is the only way to enhance our national unity," he said. "It's no longer acceptable that man take advantage of his fellow man or to live on the results of his sweat. If I'm elected president, I shall work hand in hand with all trade unions in the country."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2009
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The son of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has taken control of the militia being used to crush the protest movement, according to a senior Iranian source. The source, a politician with strong connections to the security apparatus, said that the leading role being played by Mojtaba Khamenei had dismayed many of the country's senior clerics, conservative politicians and Revolutionary Guard generals. We may have seen this movie before. Mojtaba Khamenei is playing the role of Reichsfuhrer Heihrich Himmler.
But these conservatives are reluctant to challenge the Khameneis openly out of fear that any conflict would destabilise the Islamic Republic and weaken Iran in the region. Instead they will use their positions in the organs of state to make it hard for the supreme leader and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to govern.
"This game has not finished. The game has only just started," the source said, on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of his own position in Iran.
He said Mojtaba had played a leading role in orchestrating Ahmadinejad's disputed election victory on 12 June and had led the backlash against protests through direct control of street militias, known as basiji. The basiji playing the part of the Schutzstaffel, better known as the SS.
The official death toll from that backlash is less than 20 but, according to a Tehran doctor who has given his account to the Guardian, the actual number is much higher -- 38 in the first week at his hospital alone. He said the basiji covered up the deaths and pressured doctors not to talk.
"Mojtaba is the commander of this coup d'etat. The basiji are operating on Mojtaba's orders, but his name is always hidden in all of this. The government never mentions him," the Iranian politician said. "Everyone is angry about this. The maraji [Iran's most senior ayatollahs] and the clerics are angry, the conservatives are very angry and strongly critical of Mojtaba. This situation cannot continue with so many people on the top against it."
Very little is known about Mojtaba Khamenei. He is the supreme leader's second son, reportedly being groomed to succeed his father. Such a dynastic succession would be very hard under present circumstances as the leader is supposed to be chosen by a clerical assembly of experts on the basis of the candidate's religious standing. Mojtaba wears clerical robes but by no means has the theological status to rise to the top job. A major upheaval in the clerical establishment would be required to arrange it.
Within Iran, Mojtaba is widely believed to control huge financial assets. There are claims on Iranian dissident websites that the current anti-British campaign in Tehran is motivated in part by Britain's announcement on 18 June that it had frozen nearly ÂŁ1bn in Iranian assets, in accordance with UN and EU sanctions. The frozen funds included a lot of Mojtaba's money, it is claimed.
Mojtaba's name does not appear on the Treasury's list of targets of those sanctions, but one British official said the supreme leader's son may operate through state-run enterprises that are listed. "I'd be amazed if some of the money wasn't his," the official said.
The Iranian politician who spoke to the Guardian said the supreme leader had long been leaking support among the religious hierarchy on which his powerbase was once built and had now virtually lost it altogether. Among the roughly 20 maraji ("sources of emulation", from whose ranks the supreme leader is supposed to be chosen), he said Khamenei could only rely on the support of a handful.
He said that an axis of lay conservatives in important positions would also try to hinder Ahmadinejad's efforts to wield power. That axis includes Ali Larijani, the parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the Tehran mayor, and Mohsen Rezai, one of the defeated presidential candidates and the secretary of the expediency council, which mediates disputes between the clerical and lay state institutions. They would be supported by the opposition's most powerful backer behind the scenes, former president Hashemi Rafsanjani, head of the expediency council and the assembly of experts.
The Iranian source also claimed there were splits in another pillar of the Islamic Republic, the Revolutionary Guard. The overall commander, General Ali Jafari, and the Tehran province commander, General Ali Fazli, were opposed to Mojtaba's power grab. If we look at the Revolutionary Guard as the first Iranian paramilitary force, then there is a direct comparison with the Sturm Abteilung or SA. The Ali's would then be playing the role of Ernst Roehm. I wouldn't sleep if I was them.
He said the hardline statements issued in the Revolutionary Guard's name, threatening a "decisive confrontation" with protesters, were the work of the political and public relations departments, which are under the direct control of Ahmadinejad, and did not represent a united position. That is a controversial claim. Most analyses have presented the Revolutionary Guard as monolithic and entirely behind the regime.
For revolutionary stalwarts uneasy over the direction of the regime, open rebellion was unthinkable, the politician said. "For them, the red line is the stability of the country," he said. "They will continue softly." Until a tipping point is reached, then someone will try for their own Night of the Long Knives. We know who won that one.
He said this hidden internecine struggle would last a considerable period and the outcome was far from clear. The only certainty was that the Khameneis and Ahmadinejad had not yet won. "They control things on the surface," he said. "But Iranians are not sheep."
#2
Instead they will use their positions in the organs of state to make it hard for the supreme leader and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to govern.
If this is true, then these people are morons, and the Khameneis and Ahmadinejad will cut them off from each other, isolate them, and kill them one by one.
But I rather think that this report smells of clever fiction. A distinct aroma of improbable omniscience, if you will.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
07/09/2009 12:20
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I should probably elaborate on *why* they're morons. Because if you hold back from publicly attacking the coup for fear of undermining your country's security, while doing all you can to undermine the existing government & its ability to govern, then you've traded the appearance of security for the substance of actual insecurity. It's utterly foolish from the vantage point of a loyal Iranian Islamist.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
07/09/2009 12:23
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Khamenei would like his second son, Mojtaba Khamenei, to succeed him. Mojtaba does not have a strong public political profile. Most reports say that he is not known as a particularly sharp Islamic jurist, and he does not hold the rank of ayatollah. What Mojtaba does have: the full support of his father, and a high position in the Revolutionary Guards.
under Ahmadinejad's presidency, the Revolutionary Guards have gained increasing control over the economy and the country as a whole. Under former President Khatami, 3 of 21 cabinet posts were held by men with ties to the Revolutionary Guard. In Ahmadinejad's cabinet, 13 posts are held by former Guard or Basij commanders. By controlling government bids, contracts, and tariffs, particularly in the oil and gas sector, they've managed to siphon billions into private accounts. Some have suggested that the sharp anti-British response by the Iranian government was due to Britain's freezing over $1 billion in Iranian assets, much of which belonged to high ranking Guardsmen.
The re-election of Ahmadinejad is critical to both Khamenei's succession and the Revolutionary Guard's continued looting of the Iranian economy. Ahmadinejad would continue to serve as a front-man for the operation -- in return for fixing his re-election, he would support Mojtaba's succession, and allow the Guard to continue its crooked deals. If Mousavi were elected, both of these projects might be stopped.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
07/09/2009 14:09
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya has prepared to meet the country's interim leader for the first time since his ouster late last month.
Zelaya and interim leader Roberto Micheletti are due to start two days of talks on Thursday to be mediated by the Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, at his home in San Jose.
The United States has been a prime mover in trying to resolve the political impasse triggered when Honduran troops, backed by a court order, roused Zelaya from his bed on June 28 and whisked him out of the country.
The coup -- the first in years in Latin America -- triggered global alarm and the 34-member Organization of American States expelled Honduras from its regional grouping.
The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has backed Costa Rica's mediation after meeting with Zelaya in Washington, but stopped short of demanding that he be reinstated as urged by the White House.
"There needs to be a specific mediator and, to that end, we are supporting the efforts of President Arias of Costa Rica to serve in this important role," Clinton told reporters on Wednesday.
Supporters of both Zelaya and the coup leaders were planning to take to the streets of the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa, again on Wednesday, after days of violence which has rocked this Central American nation of some seven million people.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2009
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COUP lie repeated.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/09/2009 15:01
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[ADN Kronos] A hand grenade targeted a police vehicle, killing one civilian and wounding 28 others in Afghanistan's eastern Khost province on Tuesday, a day after 10 foreign soldiers died in violence across the country. The grenade attack in Khost province targeted police officers in the provincial capital, but the victims were mostly civilians, said Tahir Khan Sabari, the provincial deputy governor.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
ION RUSSIA TODAY > DEFENSE ANALYST: HELPING THE USA IN AFGHANISTAN = AFPAK] MAKE MAKE RUSSIA A TARGET FOR AL QAEDA, as AQ has a habit of attacking Amer's Allies, and NOT "faraway America" itself.
Seventeen Senate Republicans on Wednesday sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urging the Obama administration to reverse its rhetoric and support the removal of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya.
Good for them. More Pubs should have signed.
The GOP senators disagree with the administration’s use of the term “coup” for the events in Honduras, saying that Zelaya was removed properly. The senators also urge Clinton to meet with a delegation of Honduran officials currently in Washington with whom they met earlier Wednesday.
Zelaya was removed from power last week after moving to hold a non-binding referendum to change the countryÂ’s constitution to allow him to remain in office. Obama and Clinton have reacted strongly, but the Republicans say Zelaya was corrupt and that the U.S. should not seek to return him to power.
“It appears that the Honduran government operated under constitutional authority and that the removal of Mr. Zelaya from power was legal and legitimate,” the senators wrote to Clinton.
Four of the letter’s signers held a press conference Wednesday to press their case, with Sen. Mel Martinez (Fla.) leading the comments to charge that Zelaya was “moving in a direction that was contrary to the country’s own constitution and rules and laws.”
Martinez said the Honduran officials with whom he met Wednesday want the U.S. to “stand with the democratic institutions of Honduras.”
The letter to Clinton was signed by Republicans Jim DeMint (S.C.), Tom Coburn (Okla.), John Cornyn (Texas), David Vitter (La.), Saxby Chambliss (Ga.), John Ensign (Nev.), Jim Bunning (Ky.), Minority Whip Jon Kyl (Ariz.), Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), Roger Wicker (Miss.), James Inhofe (Okla.), Jeff Sessions (Ala.), Mike Johanns (Neb.), Jim Risch (Idaho), Pat Roberts (Kan.), Kit Bond (Mo.) and John Thune (S.D.).
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/09/2009
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Missing in action: Johnny-boy, putative Arizona rancher.
[Maghrebia] Libyan leader and current African Union Chairman Moamer Kadhafi, who is in Italy for the start of the G-8 summit on Wednesday (July 8th), erected his Bedouin tent in a sports field belonging to Italy's tax police, AKI reported. This is Kadhafi's second trip to Italy within one month.
He does like posturing.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] After using police raids, arrests and gun battles in its fight against Islamist insurgents, Algeria is now deploying a new, more subtle weapon: a branch of Islam associated with contemplation, not combat.
The government of this North African oil and gas producer is promoting Sufism, an Islamic movement that it sees as a gentler alternative to Salafism espoused by many of the militants behind Algeria's insurgency.
Sufism places a great focus on prayer and recitationThe authorities have created a television and radio station to promote Sufism and the "zaouias" or religious confraternities that preach and practice it, in addition to regular appearances by Sufi sheikhs on other stations. All are tightly controlled by the state.
Sufism, found in many parts of the Muslim world, places a greater focus on prayer and recitation and its followers have tended to stay out of politics.
In Algeria it has a low profile, with most mosques closer to Salafism -- though not the violent connotations that sometimes carries.
Exact numbers are hard to come by, but George Joffe, a research fellow at the Centre of International Studies, Cambridge University, estimates there are 1-1.5 million Sufis in Algeria, out of a total population of 34 million.
Salafism has its roots in Saudi Arabia and emphasizes religious purity. Adherents act out the daily rituals of Islam's earliest followers, for example by picking up food with three fingers and using a "Siwak" -- a toothbrush made out of a twig.
" We are doing a lot to encourage people to come back to our traditional Islam: a peaceful, tolerant and open-minded Islam. And thanks to God, people are much more attracted by our message than by the Salafi message "
Mohamed Idir Mechnane
Officials believe Sufism could help bring peace to Algeria, a country still emerging from a conflict in the 1990s between government forces and Islamist rebels that, according to some estimates, killed 200,000 people.
"I disagree with the Salafi ideology because it doesn't take into consideration the particular nature of Algeria," said Mohamed Idir Mechnane, an official at the Ministry of Religious Affairs. "We are doing a lot to encourage people to come back to our traditional Islam: a peaceful, tolerant and open-minded Islam. And thanks to God, people are much more attracted by our message than by the Salafi message," he told Reuters.
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#4
two specific Sufi practises will likely tick of many Algerians
1. they make pilgrimage to the tombs of Sufi sages and consider these pilgrimages to be more important than the Haj
2. Sufi poetry is loaded with hymns celebrating wine (written at a time before the muslim world realized that the koran was prohibited alcohol.
and to add to what jfm said, Maulana Masood Azharwho leads Jaish-e-Muhammad, is also believer of Sufis
Posted by: lord garth ||
07/09/2009 9:01
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#5
The Sufi are pretty ok.
IIRC, sufism was anyway already the major brand of everyday people's islam in north africa, uturkey, large part of central asia, large part of india,... before the islamic revival of the last century, back to "pure islam".
Hell, algeria was a sufi area (not a country), didn't prevent it from being part of the Barbary coast whose only productive industry was piracy, didn't prevent any of the atrocities of the independence war, didn't prevent islam being a driving forve even behind the national-marxist FLN.
What's funny is that sufism was the traditional form of islam, because IIUC it is more sustainable and "bearable" than the "straight islam" from the arab peninsula, so, basically, to make islam workable, you've got to infuse with with Christian spirtituality, how droll... also, the push toward salafi islam in algeria was done... by the algerian junta, along with its arabization program. So, now, they are pushing sufism, how droll (again).
Anyway, from what I've read, and a small bit of common sense re the history of sufi islam as a very widespread "folks religion" (islamic law + Christian spirituality + pre-islamic superstitions & traditions) vs the big trends of the islmaic world when it comes to dealing with non-believers,... sufism really seems "overrated" as a Peace&Love kind of islam IMHO.
#6
Oh, well, sorry for the dupes, got really frustrated*, as I was redirected to RSA dure to some of those damn keywords, didn't think comments were posted as I tried to find what was the itchy bit by elimination.
*But, then again, my whole life is a long, endless string of frustrations, with some failures then and now to break up the monotony.
Fixed it for you, cher a5089. Sorry about the delay -- I had to get to the computer with the Mod applications.
#7
Well, they may be violent assholes, but many of today's Americans' ancestors and much of the rest of the world today are both have heavy representation by violent assholes.
(It's how humans evolved; believe me, it's no fun being stuck on a planet full of 'em).
The big question is, are these violent assholes we can live with more easily than the current predominant strain of violent assholes over there?
Possibly so.
(BTW, I notice that when Izzat Ibrahim Al-Douri (if that's the guy I'm thinking of; I may be wrong) 'converted' to Al Qaeda he both renounced Sufism and pledged personal fealty to the AQ chain of command all the way up to OBL. SO it appears the violent assholes who are obsessed with fighting us think that the creed of Sufism is incompatible with their goals.)
ISLAMABAD: Swat Taliban chief Maulana Fazlullah has been reported injured during an offensive, said the army on Wednesday. The army had “credible” information that Fazlullah was hit, military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told a press conference in Islamabad. He said the airstrike that wounded the commander was carried out two days ago in Swat.
We want the severed head ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/09/2009
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#1
really
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
07/09/2009 13:05
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Tehran's Governor-General has warned people against participating in any rallies in the city on Thursday, saying no permit has been issued for such rallies.
"No request was made for any permit for rallies on Thursday and no permit has been issued," IRNA quoted Morteza Tamaddon as saying.
The comments come as some groups predicted that there could be some rallies in the capital city on Thursday.
"The enemies of the Iranian nation are angry with the post-election calm in Iran and try to damage it through their TV channels," he said.
Tamaddon noted that the Iranian nation's vigilance would foil the enemies' moves.
He stressed that those who follow the statements by the enemies' TV channels will receive a "crushing response" from the people.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2009
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#1
Uh, uh, yookay, I had no plans for Thrusday anyway!?
An American veteran who said he parachuted into Normandy as part of the D-Day landings in June 1944 has been exposed as a liar.
Howard Manoian, 84, had been awarded the prestigious French award the Legion d'honneur for bravery. He claimed he had landed in Sainte-Mere-Eglise in France - the setting of a fierce battle immortalised in the John Wayne film The Longest Day.
But his military records reveal he spent the war behind the front line.
Mr Manoian was a local war hero in Sainte-Mere-Eglise, with a plaque erected in his honour.
He said he had served with the famous 82nd Airborne Division, and would tell vivid tales of his parachute mission. "Even in the aeroplane I was wondering what it was going to be like. They are going to start firing at us when we get near the land," he said. "One planeload jumped and landed in the square by the church and of course the Germans were already up and they were firing as they came down... Half of them were killed and wounded immediately. That was the first time I saw a person dead face to face."
In fact Mr Manoian served with the 33rd Chemical Decontamination Company, which operated well behind the front line.
He spent most of the war looking after a supply dump in northern France after arriving on Utah beach by supply ship.
Mr Manoian claimed he had been hit by German machine gun bullets in the left hand and both legs during a fire fight on 17 June 1944, and then again by a Nazi plane that targeted the hospital where he was recovering. In fact his only war injuries were a broken middle finger while on standby in England and then heavy bruising to another hand.
The lies came to light when military records were obtained by the Boston Herald. Those had to have been secondary records, as most of the primary veterans records were destroyed in a fire in 1973.
#1
Those had to have been secondary records, as most of the primary veterans records were destroyed in a fire in 1973.
My personnel section was trying to reconstruct a soldier's record when he decided to return to active duty. We dutifully sent off the request for files to receive a reply back they were destroyed in the Great Fire. The problem was the individual separated from service on his previous tour in 1975, years after the fire.
#2
Didn't the big fire turn out to be not so big. I wanted to look at the records of my ancestors who fought in WWI and even WWII. Can these records usually be found or are they indeed lost in the fire?
Thousands of Chinese troops flooded into this city Wednesday to separate feuding ethnic groups after three days of communal violence left 156 people dead, and a senior Communist Party official vowed to execute those guilty of murder in the rioting in western China.
Long convoys of armored cars and green troop trucks with riot police rumbled through Urumqi, a city of 2.3 million people. Other security forces carrying automatic rifles with bayonets formed cordons to defend Muslim neighborhoods from marauding groups of vigilantes with sticks.
"Defend". The journalist forgot his/her scare quotes.
Military helicopters buzzed over Xinjiang's regional capital, dropping pamphlets urging people to stay in their homes and stop fighting. Special police from other provinces were called in to patrol the city.
The crisis was so severe that President Hu Jintao cut short a trip to Italy, where he was to participate in a Group of Eight summit. It was an embarrassing move for a leader who wants to show that China has a harmonious society as it prepares to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Communist rule.
The heightened security came amid the worst spasm of ethnic violence in decades in Xinjiang--a sprawling, oil-rich territory that borders Pakistan, Afghanistan and other Central Asian countries. The region is home to the Uighur ethnic minority, who rioted Sunday and attacked the Han Chinese--the nation's biggest ethnic group--after holding a protest that was ended by police.
Officials have said 156 people were killed as the Turkic-speaking Uighurs ran amok in the city, beating and stabbing the Han Chinese. The Uighurs allege that trigger-happy security forces gunned down many of the protesters, and officials have yet to give an ethnic breakdown of those killed.
More than 1,100 people were wounded in the violence. Dr. Yuan Hong of Urumqi People's Hospital said most of the people treated at his facility were clubbed, while others had been cut by knives.
Li Zhi, the highest-ranking Communist Party official in Urumqi, told reporters that some of the rioters were university students who were misled and didn't understand what they were doing. They would be treated leniently, he said, as long as they weren't involved in serious acts of violence and vandalism. But Li added: "To those who committed crimes with cruel means, we will execute them."
He also repeated allegations that the riot was whipped up by U.S.-exiled Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer and her overseas supporters. "They're afraid to see our economic prosperity. They're afraid to see our ethnic unity and the people living a stable, prosperous life," he said.
Kadeer has denied masterminding the violence, and many Uighurs laughed off the notion that they were puppets of groups abroad. "Not even a 3-year-old would believe that Rebiya stirred this up. It's ridiculous," said a shopkeeper who only identified himself as Ahmet. Like other Uighurs, he declined to give his full name because he feared the police would detain him.
Ahmet was quick to rattle off a long list of grievances commonly mentioned by Uighurs. He accused the Han Chinese of discrimination and alleged that government policies were forcing them to abandon their culture, language and Islamic faith. "After all this rioting, I'm still filled with hatred. I'm not afraid of the Han Chinese," Ahmet said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2009
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#1
"'I'm not afraid of the Han Chinese,' Ahmet said."
Pure bravado. You should be afraid, fella. Be VERY afraid.
#4
More than that I suspect they want the Han to go away. IIRC there was and probably still is a huge colonization effort to spread Han everywhere in China.
Posted by: James ||
07/09/2009 23:06
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Indonesia's voters handed their president a second five-year term on Wednesday, as election results of the world's largest Muslim majority country and the third largest democracy came out showing Indonesians' faith in their leader's promises future reform.
Officials results from the election will not be announced until later this month, but "quick count" results -- which have proved extremely reliable in the past -- showed President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had won enough votes to avoid a second run-off with his nearest rival.
Not known for jumping to a conclusion, Yudhoyono declared his own resounding victory as the results rolled in from across the archipelago of 226 million people.
" The quick counts show our success, thanks be to God "
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
"The quick counts show our success, thanks be to God," the 59-year-old former army general told reporters as jubilant supporters flocked to his home in Bogor, Java island, to congratulate him.
With virtually all of the LSI polling agency's sample of votes counted, Yudhoyono's tally stood at a commanding 60.82 percent. Other agencies put his score slightly lower, but all showed he was comfortably above the halfway mark needed to avoid a second round.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2009
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CHAPAINAWABGANJ, July 8 (UNB): Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) personnel Wednesday recovered six one-shooter guns and 10 bullets from the in-law's house of Islamist leader Selim, arrested Tuesday from the same house at Zaharpur in Sadar Upazila reportedly after an encounter.
Selim, second-in-command of 'Islam and Muslim', a new offshoot of the outlawed militant organisation JMB, was arrested after he was wounded by bullet when RAB and BDR troops raided the house under a hunt launched following the recent arrest of the group's chief and his two sidekicks. A pistol, nine rounds of bullet and two magazines were also recovered during Tuesday raid.
Following the statement of Selim, RAB raided his in-law's house again this morning and dug out six one-shooter guns and 10 bullets dumped under the floor of a room. None was arrested during the arms haul.
Some number two this guy was. One-shooters? Ten bullets? Pah.
More home-made zipguns. These are what we suspect are commonly called "Shutterguns" when found at the feet of a "crossfire" victim. In a world seemingly awash in AK-47's, Bangladeshies make their own weapons. I have no idea why.
Some men like to tie flies, others make shutterguns.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/09/2009
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#1
Ten bullets is a veritable treasure trove of ammunition in Bangla.
[Quqnoos] Elections campaign process is hampered in Balkh province as unknown people tear down posters of Afghan hopefuls.
The evolutionary step between shooting people/blowing up things and actually peacefully voting. By tearing down the posters they acknowledge that the candidates and the votes matter, and that rule-by-violence is not nearly as secure as it was until recently.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2009
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[The News (Pak) Top Stories] Continuing the operation against militants in the war-ravaged Swat district, security forces on Tuesday claimed that a brother of top Taliban leader Ibne Amin was among three commanders killed in the valley.
Also, two more militants were killed in the Bajaur Agency, when security forces targeted the hideouts of the militants with artillery guns. According to the ISPR, security forces carried out a search and sweep operation in selected houses at Shukdarra area of Swat.
"On a tip-off, terrorist commander Muhammad Rasool, brother of Ibne Amin, and commander Akram were killed," the ISPR claimed. Ibne Amin is a senior Taliban commander in Swat, who carries a bounty of Rs10 million on his head but has evaded the major military offensive so far.
Earlier, security forces had also claimed to have killed Ibne Aqeel, another brother of Ibne Amin, during the initial days of the ongoing military operation. However, later the Taliban denied the forces' assertion about Aqeel's killing but conceded that he was wounded. No independent account about the killing of Muhammad Rasool was available.
The ISPR said 13 suspected 'terrorists' were apprehended, along with eight small machine guns, two pistols, four 7-MM rifles and 50 rounds, in the Shukdarra area. Security forces launched a house-to-house search operation to hunt down Taliban militants hiding in houses in the Bararai area near the Khwazakhela town. "A local terrorist commander, Wahab, was killed and 14 other suspects were apprehended in the search operation," the ISPR claimed. The soldiers, it added, also secured the Degree College Matta and sanitised the area straddling on the Matta-Kharirai road.
Security forces carried out a search and clearance operation at Zangai near Mangaltan and destroyed six 'terrorists' houses. A resident from Mingora, the district headquarters of Swat, told The News by phone that the soldiers raided six shops and two houses, allegedly owned by Taliban militants. He added that the people were allowed to take away items and goods from the shops and houses. However, he said some computers and air-conditioners were confiscated by security forces.
In the Bajaur Agency, two more militants were killed and three others injured in fresh military action in the Charmang area of Nawagai Tehsil. Sources said security forces targeted suspected the hideouts of militants with artillery and mortar guns in Ziarat and other areas of the Charmang Valley, killing two Taliban insurgents and injuring three others. Two hideouts were also destroyed in the action.
It was learnt that security forces expedited advancement to capture the strategically important hilltops the in Charmang area. On way to other areas, security forces defused several remote-controlled bombs on roadside. Meanwhile, a militant was killed in Maddi area of Bannu district when security forces clashed with the Taliban during a search operation at Maddi. Seven other suspected terrorists were apprehended, the ISPR said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2009
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Morocco's ambassador to Italy Nabil Benabdallah was sacked from his post after his wife got into a "fight" with the wife of the Kingdom's foreign minister during a fine arts festival in the Italian city of Venice, according to Moroccan press reports on Thursday. Yeah, what's a fine arts festival without a good catfight...
Al-Jarida al-Oula newspaper reported that King Mohammed VI of Morocco discharged ambassador Benabdallah because of an "argument" and a "fight" that broke out between his wife Kawtar Sounni and Fatiha el-Tahiri, the wife of the more powerful Foreign Minister Taib Fassi Fihri during a fine arts festival recently held in Venice. "I curse your moustache, bitch!" "I'll cut ya, bitch! I'll cut ya!!"
The dispute between the wives of the two senior officials broke out when el-Tahiri "tried to prevent" Sounni from sitting in a front seat reserved for first class ladies, according the report, which quoted witnesses as saying the dispute developed into a bitter fight. Excuse me there, baby, but you ain't no "first class lady".
Who the hell are you, Barry friggin White!
By the end of the dispute, the wife of the foreign minister warned Sounni that her husband would soon be sacked as ambassador, which is what reportedly happened. "I'll get you, my sweetie! And your little husband too!"
A few days later when it became clear that Ambassador Benabdallah would be discharged, his wife tried contacting the royal palace's office in order to save her husband from an imminent lay-off, but to no avail . Can I get a rematch? Winner take all.
On Tuesday Ambassador Benabdallah was summoned to the Kingdom and he was seen at the foreign ministry building in Rabat, Al-Jarida al-Oula reported, adding that Hassan Abou Ayoub, Morocco's ambassador to France, was expected to replace him. Hey! I didn't do nuthin!
Next time, bring the junior wife... assuming she knows her place better than the senior one.
The foreign ministry has not issued any official statement about the issue and its press office declined to confirm or deny the news, widely circulated in the Moroccan press. Al-Massa newspaper described the incident as a "disgrace" that tarnished the image of Moroccans, especially women, in international events.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2009
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[Iran Press TV Latest] The US has denied a report that it has reached a compromise that would allow Israel to continue the construction of settlements that has already begun.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2009
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#1
negotiation by leak, or just over excited Israeli newspapers?
Posted by: liberal hawk ||
07/09/2009 13:08
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I think Iran Press TV is a little slow, liberal hawk. Remember when Secretary of State Clinton repudiated the possibility that the U.S. would stand by promises made by President Bush on the subject?
WASHINGTON -- U.S. authorities on Wednesday eyed North Korea as the origin of the widespread cyber attack that overwhelmed government Web sites in the United States and South Korea, although they warned it would be difficult to definitively identify the attackers quickly.
While Treasury Department and Federal Trade Commission Web sites were shut down by the software attack, which lasted for days over the holiday weekend, others such as the Pentagon and the White House were able to fend it off with little disruption.
The North Korea link, described by three officials, more firmly connected the U.S. attacks to another wave of cyber assaults that hit government agencies Tuesday in South Korea. The officials said that while Internet addresses have been traced to North Korea, that does not necessarily mean the attack involved the Pyongyang government.
Because people in North Korea do stuff on their own all the time without telling the government. Sure, ev'rybody know that ...
#5
SPOD may be on to something. I would not put it past the Chicoms to do some DoS attacks and let the Norks take the blame. DoS is a cruder attack than hacking and raising hell inside the server. Death by a thousand cuts, and all that.
Meanwhile, the Big O is trolling for image with meaningless agreements with Pooty-Poot.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/09/2009 13:27
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#6
Because people in North Korea do stuff on their own all the time without telling the government
On their own computers. Which are connected to the power grid. Which is run by Morgan Fairchild. Yeah, that's the ticket!
Seven days after the new fiscal year began, the state of California still appears to be far from a budget solution.
Disabled protesters, angry over cuts to vital services, were arrested outside the Capitol on Tuesday; inside, lawmakers bickered about fruits and juices.
A war of words developed between Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers over the fruit-related focus of three new bills. "The governor is not against condiments. The governor's not against fruits of any kind," said spokesman Aaron McLear. "But he believes we ought to be focused on solving our budget crisis first and foremost."
Assembly bill 606 creates a commission to serve the marketing interests of the blueberry industry. Another bill defines "honey" to mean the natural food product resulting from the harvest of nectar by honey bees, and a third bill adopts regulations establishing definitions and standards for 100-percent pomegranate juice. "Look, we're pro-condiment, we're pro-fruit, but the focus needs to be on the budget crisis," McLear said.
Senate Majority Leader Dean Florez (D-Fresno) called Governor Schwarzenegger's criticism childish and said he is fed up. "The governor's turned from an action hero into just another politician," Senator Florez said. "He should really, really take a course on fundamental government on how the legislature works. The fact that he doesn't understand these things worries me."
McLear shrugged off the criticism. "If others in the building want to level personal attacks, that's certainly their prerogative."
While the rhetoric escalated inside, at least a dozen protesters in wheelchairs were arrested for physically blocking the entrance to Governor Schwarzenegger's officer to protest his proposed cuts to healthcare. The protesters were cited and released at the scene.
Governor Schwarzenegger said he plans to invite Assembly Speaker Karen Bass back to the bargaining table, but the Speaker's office said no call had come by Tuesday night. Bass boycotted the meeting of the "big 5" lawmakers because she says the governor is demanding reforms instead of focusing on the budget deficit.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2009
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#1
"Look, we're pro-condiment, we're pro-fruit,"
-of course you are, remember which state were talking about here.
Blueberries, honey, - yep all real important shit for the stat govt to get involved in right now. Send'em all an IOU says I.
#4
"He should really, really take a course on fundamental government" TRue I don't think Arnie understand how to spend billions beyond what he is making. My solution would be to have ANYONE getting and government assistance to provide proof of citizenship or they are cut off.
#5
Here's my rant: I'm sick and tired of the threats to cut "vital services". Let's be clear - the politicians deliberately choose those programs to cut first in order to get people worked up. There's no reason that those programs couldn't be saved, they're just a convenient excuse used to justify more taxes. There are billions of dollars of other cuts that could be made first, but don't have the constituency that evokes easy sympathy. So the politicos cry "drastic measures will be taken!" Don't buy it.
#6
Totally agree with Spot. Sebelius tried that line in Kansas - yes the HHS director - when there was going to be a shortfall in money for state employees. She was attempting a crises in order to bypass the Kansas constitution and move money from other budgetary allotments without first going to the state House and Senate for approval. IMHO she knew that if she did so she would lose certain funding for her projects. House and Senate cried foul so Sebelius threatened vital civil service shutdown, "The police will not get paid" and all. It proved so unpopular a statement that she backed down, took the cuts, then had the gall to blame the Republicans for cutting education. In reality if she had been doing her duty instead of jockying for Obama there would never had been an issue.
You see, a lot of people take the approach say what you mean and mean what you say. "No police, well I'm gonna go buy some ammo and canned goods." State employee payroll budget should be fairly predictable so where did the money go to cause the shortfall or was it poor budgeting? Ironically, these threats make people less dependent on the government.
If government cuts its vital services (fire, police, road, etc), then what is the use of the government for ordinary citizen?
By design or accident, proponants for big government turns government into a turtle stuck in a strawberry bucket. Do the really want to take everyone's money and reduce the singular family's prospect of security and feeding itself? Kinda corners a person in a bad way don't ya think?
I understand that this is California and the produce industry is very important, and its nice to know what honey is and the standards for organic cheese, but it just might have to happen that subsidies for people and plants may just have to take a back seat to water, police, fire, roads, schools, so forth.
[Al Arabiya Latest] German chancellor Angela Merkel will talk to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak about the fatal stabbing of a pregnant Egyptian woman in a German courthouse, which has prompted outrage in Egypt, her spokesman said Wednesday.
The talks will take place on Friday when African leaders join the heads of the Group of Eight (G8) industrial nations in the Italian city of L'Aquila, the chancellor's spokesman Thomas Steg told a regular briefing. "The chancellor will meet Hosni Mubarak during the G8 and will speak to him about it on this occasion," Steg said.
Meanwhile in Egypt intellectuals and public figures called on their government to cut all ties with Germany until an official apology was given.
Criticism in Egypt has mounted as many have decried the silence of the German media about the death of 32-year-old Marwa Sherbini, who was stabbed to death by a German extremist as she went to court to testify against him.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[The News (Pak) Top Stories] Asking the media not to glorify militant leaders, NWFP Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain on Tuesday said the provincial government did not know about the arrest or release of Maulana Sufi Muhammad.
The minister while briefing media persons here said that phase-wise repatriation of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the Malakand Division would be formally announced shortly as almost all basic facilities had been restored in the areas 'cleared from the militants' in Swat, Buner and Lower Dir districts.
He said the final decision about the return of the IDPs would be taken in consultation with federal and provincial governments, contradicting the statement of Minister for States and Frontier Regions (Safron) Najmuddin Khan, who had claimed the same day that IDPs from Kalam, Bahrain and Madain in Swat would return their homes via Shangla.
Mian Iftikhar also briefed the journalists on NWFP Chief MinisterĂs Ameer Haider Khan Hoti's visit to Buner, Dir and Swat the other day where civil and military officials briefed him on the latest situation in Malakand.
Mian Iftikhar said that the NWFP government had released about Rs820 million for the displaced persons while 66,326 cash cards of Rs25,000 each have also been distributed among the IDPs in Nowshera and Swabi districts.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Kyodo: Korea] Chief nuclear negotiators from China and Japan will meet Thursday in Tokyo, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said Wednesday, with their talks likely to focus on ways to seek a breakthrough in the stalled six-party talks aimed at denuclearizing North Korea. The visit to Japan by Wu Dawei, China"s vice foreign minister and chairman of the six-party talks, is part of a four-country trip which already took him to Russia and the United States. It also comes after North Korea launched seven missiles toward the Sea of Japan.
Posted by: Fred ||
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WORLD NEWS > YONAGUNI DEPLOYMENTS [US, Japan] RAISES QUESTIONS OF TAIWAN [TWN's strategic direction vee CHINA]; + CAPABILITY, REACH OF NORTH KOREA'S MISSLES IMPROVING.
ALso, BLACK MARKET NUCLEAR ATTACK REMAINS KEY THREAT TO MAJOR NATIONS.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Israel has won an agreement from the United States for the continued construction of 2,500 housing units in Jewish settlements in the West Bank, an Israeli newspaper reported on Wednesday, despite U.S. calls for a settlement freeze.
The unsourced report was splashed across the front-page of the Hebrew Maariv daily that said Washington had agreed to the continued construction of 700 buildings, containing 2,500 housing units, in West Bank settlements.
A report in the Yedioth Ahronoth daily, Israel's most popular newspaper, was more cautious, saying Israel and the United States were "close to an agreement on settlements". It also cited the same housing figures.
Yedioth Ahronoth quoted unidentified cabinet ministers, who attended Barak's briefing, as saying reports of a U.S.-Israeli deal had been sealed were wishful thinking on the part of the defense chief.
The report followed a briefing by Defense Minister Ehud Barak to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his talks in London on Monday with U.S. envoy George Mitchell on ending a rift with Washington over its demand for a settlement freeze.
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(CNN) -- After weeks of silence, the sister of one of the two American journalists imprisoned in North Korea finally got a phone call. "It was only the first time I had heard her voice in weeks. ... I was so relieved but I feel so helpless," Lisa Ling, a CNN contributor, told affiliate KOVR in an interview Wednesday. "Because as an older sister, a best friend, a self-professed 'doer,' it's just difficult to know I cannot do anything to bring her home."
Ling said she spoke to her sister, Laura Ling, over the phone Tuesday night. Laura Ling and Euna Lee were sentenced in June to 12 years in prison on charges of illegally entering the country to conduct a smear campaign.
Lisa Ling is hoping the arrests will push the United States and the reclusive communist nation to engage in diplomatic talks. "I know that our government has been working behind the scenes very hard trying to bring the girls back home," she said. But she added, "Our countries don't talk, and perhaps this could be a reason."
Yes they do, my dear, it's called the Six Party Talks. It'd just that North Korea is not actually good at heart. Sorry.
She said her sister "was very specific about the message that she was communicating, and she said, 'Look, we violated North Korean law and we need our government to help us. We are sorry about everything that has happened, but we need diplomacy.' "
Ling said that without being able to look at her sister, it was difficult to tell how she was doing. She described the past few weeks as being engulfed in a "terrifying and deafening" silence.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/09/2009
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"was very specific about the message that she was communicating, and she said, 'Look, we violated North Korean law and we need our government to help us.
[Al Arabiya Latest] A Muslim center in Australia can no longer hold Friday prayers in Cannington, Perth, a court ordered Tuesday, citing complaints that the faithful jam the neighborhood on a weekly basis and exceed the center's designated limit.
The court complained Muslims attending the congregational prayer, held once every week, exceed their numbers and take over all parking spots in the industrial neighborhood in Perth,western Australia,where the Daawah Association of Western Australia prayer center is located.
An investigation by Cannignton city officials following several complaints that Muslims were bombarding the city on Friday found that Daawah was exceeding its 20 percent person limit every week as Muslims flock to fulfill their obligatory prayers.
Following complaints that the Daawah building had turned into a mosque, the State Administrative Tribunal ruled that Friday prayers contradicted the city's designated zoning of the area as a 'Light Industry' zone, turned it into a "Place of Public Worship."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2009
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#1
Then there is also the building occupancy limit according to the International Building Code.
Good background article. People in Honduras, for the most part, didn't like what Zelaya was doing but think the military made a mistake.
Since the military were operating under direct orders from the Supreme Court, they didn't have much choice, although perhaps they could have allowed President Zelaya to put on pants before sending him via air mail to points unknown.
TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS -- Alejandro Alvarez is no fan of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya. The Internet consultant joined a group of young business leaders, lawyers, and analysts that formed weeks ago to stop Mr. Zelaya from operating outside the constitutional framework. The group, called Generation for Change, formed as self-appointed guardians of the rule of law. They were so angry at the prospect of Zelaya scrapping term limits that they staged an outrageous protest: four men -- wearing nothing but underwear, boots, large cowboy hats, and mustaches - marched on the presidential palace in a clear mockery of their president.
But when Mr. Alvarez awoke June 28 to the news that a coup had taken place in his homeland, his heart thumped. "No, it can't be possible," he thought. "They made a huge mistake."
The Honduran conflict is mostly painted in black and white. On the one hand is a deposed leader, sent to Costa Rica in his pajamas, with a base of supporters at home and world leaders calling for his reinstatement. On the other is a de facto interim government, led by Roberto Micheletti, defending its government as constitutional.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/09/2009
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The lie that won't die COUP.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/09/2009 14:48
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[Al Arabiya Latest] The day after an estimated billion people watched Michael Jackson's star-studded funeral, attention returned Wednesday to the role of drugs in his death with reports that his body was riddled with needle marks when he died.
Did anyone expect anything else?
" I say that anyone who makes someone an addict or gives a person potentially dangerous substances directly to them to use, like propofol is a criminal "
Arnold Klein, dermatologist
The marks could indicate use of a powerful sedative that has been at the center of the investigation into the superstar's death that includes an investigation of five doctors who were treating him.
CNN and ABC News cited unidentified sources involved in the probe as saying multiple track marks and several collapsed veins were discovered after Jackson's body was examined following his death on June 25.
The marks on Jackson's body "could certainly be consistent with the regular IV use of a drug, like Diprivan," CNN quoted the source as saying.
Several bottles of Diprivan, the brand name for the potent sedative propofol that is usually only used in hospitals ahead of major surgery, were reportedly found at Jackson's home after his death.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/09/2009
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Did anyone expect anything else? Apparently the local law enforcement people didn't expect anything like that & so neglected to seal the place immediately after MJ's death until it could be adequately searched for evidence.
#2
Just because he looked like a skinny pincushion it doesn't necessarily mean he was abusing drugs. We don't know what true medical problems he may have had.
#5
Perhaps it was just because his personal doctor had to try over and over just to find a spot of living flesh, one with some vein, to do an hypo??? You can't inject anything if your needle is stuck in a spongy-like necrosed organic matter, can you?
#6
He was videotaped doing dance choreography on the day before his death. He looked healthier than most 50 year olds. I suspect there was some lethal combination of legal chemicals.
#7
Thus far, and all afflictions equal, I've seen nuthin on the MSM-Net to disprove that "the Gloved/Nosed/Moon One" did NOT suffer from massive depression, and twas NOT person/suicidally starving himself to death = back to his CHILDHOOD [WEIGHT = 112-Ibs] WHEN HE WAS LAST A HAPPY JACKSON.
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.
U.S. President Barack Obama (C) and France's President Nicolas Sarkozy (R) take their places with junior G8 delegates for a family photo at the G8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy, July 9, 2009. Leaders of the Group of Eight major industrial nations and the main developing economies are meeting in the central Italian city of L'Aquila until Friday to discuss issues ranging from global economic stimulus to climate change and oil prices.
The Obama administration might like to "spread the wealth around," but its proposed "health care reform" wouldn't spread consumer choice around. Rather, it would constrict consumer choice substantially — except for the very rich.
WASHINGTON -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday she expects Democrats who have accused senior CIA officials of repeatedly misleading Congress to further pursue the allegations. 
Her father had just won agreement from the Russians to cut back on the world's stockpiles of nuclear weapons.
HELMAND PROVICE, Afghanistan — t's the middle of the night at the east corner guard post of Fiddler's Green, a Marine fire base in Afghanistan's Helmand Province, along the border with Pakistan.
by Walid Phares
A police unit and a Kfir Brigade force arrested a Palestinian woman carrying two commando knives at the Einav checkpoint in the northern Samaria region on Thursday. 
French lawmakers opened hearings Wednesday on whether to ban the burka, calling in experts who said France should act to discourage Muslim women from wearing the head-to-toe veil. President Nicolas Sarkozy has proclaimed the burka "not welcome" in secular France, drawing a warning from Al-Qaeda's north Africa wing that it was ready to "take revenge for the honour of our daughters and sisters." 
A German judge voiced surprise on Wednesday that four young Muslims accused of a terrorist bomb plot have suddenly confessed in extraordinary detail. 
Shin Bet, Lachish Subdistrict Police arrest two Palestinians in Gan Yavne murder case of 56-year-old Gregory Rabinowitz. Suspects confess act, say it was payback for death of Islamic Jihad operative killed by IDF in 2007 
[Geo News] The operation in Swat and Buner has been completed and these areas have been cleared of militants. 
[Maghrebia] Nine candidates are competing for the presidency in Mauritania, in a campaign that runs from July 2nd through the polls on July 18th. Observers believe a balance between majority and opposition leaders in the election -- agreed in June's Dakar Agreement -- will ensure transparency. 
CHAPAINAWABGANJ, July 8 (UNB): Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) personnel Wednesday recovered six one-shooter guns and 10 bullets from the in-law's house of Islamist leader 
[Al Arabiya Latest] Morocco's ambassador to Italy Nabil Benabdallah was sacked from his post after his wife got into a "fight" with the wife of the Kingdom's foreign minister during a fine arts festival in the Italian city of Venice, according to Moroccan press reports on Thursday.
