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52 Dead in Syria Clashes, Air Raids after Eid Truce Collapses
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
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Europe
Russia promises to make Greece a prospering state in 1 year
Two years ago, Greece missed the chance to extricate from the crisis with Russia’s help. Nowadays, Russian investments in the country grow and give air to breathe to economies of several regions of Greece, such as the north-east. Russian investors are especially attracted by cheap real estate, tourism and the property that they can buy from the state.

“Greece should only give Russia the green light, and the Russian money will come,” said Ivan Savvidi, a businessman and the president of the Association of Greek Public Organizations of Russia said. “If Greece asks Russian business, I can tell you that by October next year, Greece will become a prosperous country,” the BBC quoted Savvidi, a former deputy of the Russian State Duma.

“Russia has never turned its back on Greece in a thousand years, and, of course, it will not now,” the official said.

According to Savvidi, the Greek government has once missed a historic opportunity to get out of the crisis with Russia’s help. “Two years ago, when George Papandreou (former Prime Minister) met with Vladimir Putin, the Russian side was ready to help, but Athens did not raise the issue,” Savvidi said.
Posted by: tipper || 10/29/2012 20:39 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Heh. Just who did invent the Trojan Horse?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 10/29/2012 21:33 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Iran naval task force 'docks in Sudan'
An Iranian naval task force has docked in Sudan, carrying with it a "message of peace and security to neighbouring countries", Iranian state media report.

The vessels, which include a corvette and freighter, set sail from Iran last month, the Irna news agency said.

Their arrival comes six days after explosions destroyed an arms factory in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.

Sudan has complained to the UN that Israel bombed the factory, which is believed to have been operated by Iran.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the inciden
Posted by: tipper || 10/29/2012 20:20 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Target rich enviroment.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 10/29/2012 21:16 Comments || Top||

#2  If I was in the Iranian Navy, I'd want to be as far away from Iran as possible for the next few months, even if it meant docking somewhere off in BFE.
Posted by: SteveS || 10/29/2012 21:44 Comments || Top||

#3  Any Israeli Air Force strikes on Iran or other ships at Port Sudan or at any target in Port Sudan would be coordinated with the Saudis. Iran knows this, but I don't think the BBC does.
Posted by: lord garth || 10/29/2012 22:35 Comments || Top||

#4  Meanwhile, not to be outdone by the Iranian Navy, ....

* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > IRAN EXPANDS MILITARY AND INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES IN AFGHANISTAN.

Tehran must heard the Turkish Army was sending elemental support to Afghanistan.

Add to earlier various MSM-Net Reports on Iran seemingly engaging in new Dipomatic, Econ rapprochement vee the Central Asian -Stans.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 10/30/2012 0:02 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
A Moving Message About The Election From A 97 Year Old And Her Friends
A Michael Moore video. Viewer discretion strongly advised
Posted by: tipper || 10/29/2012 18:01 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Warning - its the moveon.org website.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 10/29/2012 22:31 Comments || Top||


Europe
Europe's Crisis Spawns Calls for a Breakup of Spain
This vibrant northern region of Catalonia has long been known as the "factory of Spain" for generating wealth that helped sustain the entire nation. Now Catalonia, beaten down by years of recession, has become the battleground in what threatens to become an economic civil war. Protesters in Catalonia last month marched for independence in Barcelona.

In protests large and small, hundreds of thousands of Catalans are embracing a stark proposition: Only by breaking ties with Spain and becoming an independent country can Catalonia free itself from economic malaise.

Catalans go to the polls Nov. 25 for a regional parliamentary election, and polls show pro-independence parties in front.

"Madrid has been draining us dry for too long," says Josep Casadella, a corporate human-resources administrator. He became an Internet sensation not long ago after posting a video of himself refusing to pay the fare at a toll booth and complaining that Spain should build free roads for all the taxes it collects.

The region's president, Artur Mas, has called the marriage between Catalonia and Spain's capital one of "mutual fatigue." He has pledged to place an independence referendum before voters.
Posted by: Au Auric || 10/29/2012 14:54 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Politix
U.S. and Europe Have 'Long, Painful History of Violent Extremism'
Speaking at the Institute of Institutional and European Affairs in Dublin, Ireland, on Friday, presidential terrorism adviser John Brennan said that the U.S. and Europe have a "long and painful history of violent extremism" that is not related to the threat from al Qaeda.

"Sadly, the threat of violent extremism did not start--and will not end--with al-Qa'ida," Brennan said. "On both sides of the Atlantic, we have a long, painful history of violent extremism, from violent anarchists to violent white supremacists to neo-Nazis.

"This summer, we saw a white supremacist in Wisconsin kill six worshippers and wound four others at a Sikh temple," Brennan said. "Last year in Norway, we saw Anders Breivik--steeped in a racist and xenophobic ideology--murder 77 innocent men, women and kiddies in a tragedy that truly shocked the world."

Brennan, who was director for the National Counterterrorism Center in the George W. Bush administration, said that the challenge the U.S. and Europe faces is "to meet the full range of violent extremism threats in our communities regardless of ideology."

He then warned that the West should not "stigmatize" Moslems who are "fellow citizens."
Posted by: Au Auric || 10/29/2012 14:49 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Of course, just like the Muslims, we need to figure out why these people are angry and then appease them.

What's that? Won't be happening? Whyever for?
Posted by: gromky || 10/29/2012 21:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Because flying planes into civilian office buildings on 9/11 wasn't something more than a shooting spree of an individual. /sarc off
Posted by: Procopius2k || 10/29/2012 21:32 Comments || Top||

#3  They can do it because they know our "extremists" won't come after them and cut their heads off with dull knives.
Posted by: DarthVader || 10/29/2012 22:40 Comments || Top||


Economy
The Delphi Legacy
Paul Ryan hammers Obama on shady auto bailout pension deal at Ohio rally

Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan slammed President Barack Obama for the Auto Task Force’s treatment of nonunion workers who saw their pensions slashed by 70 percent, while their union coworkers lost no funds thanks to a $1 billion “top-off” by GM, during a rally in Sabina, Ohio, on Saturday.

“The president likes to go around Ohio talking about how he saved the auto industry, how the auto bailout was such a success. Tell you what: He hasn’t talked to these Oak Creek salaried employees, he hasn’t talked to these Ohio Delphi salaried employees, because this is one of those examples of the government picking winners and losers,” Ryan said.

Ryan took the stage after personally meeting with nine Delphi retirees. One of those retirees was Dayton resident Tom Rose, who spent 39 years with GM and Delphi as an engineer; it would have been an even 40 had he not taken a break to serve in Vietnam in 1971. Rose has seen his healthcare costs triple after losing his company medical coverage. He shared his story with Ryan in a 30-minute meeting held before the Sabina speech.

“What we tried to convey was extreme frustration we feel with all of the delays from the administration; he committed to helping fix this issue, to get information about what really happened,” he said, adding, “to have 30 minutes with a vice presidential candidate 10 days before the election was an honor.”

There are few members of Congress more familiar with Delphi’s plight than Rep. Ryan (R., Wisc.). The company shuttered two factories in his Wisconsin district during its five-year bankruptcy, which ended with the auto bailout in 2010.
Posted by: Au Auric || 10/29/2012 14:46 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Politix
America's Nameless War With a Nameless Enemy
In the final presidential debate on October 22, President Barack Obama spoke briefly about the September 11, 2012 terrorist attack on U.S. officials and personnel in Benghazi. He outlined why the U.S. had gone into Libya before the attack. He outlined the answers he is still seeking following the attack. But he did not say why this terrorist attack had occurred or why the U.S. had been ill-prepared to meet it in what is, after all, a volatile city alive with militias recently freed from dictatorial rule. Nor did he tell us why his Administration strenuously avoided calling it a terrorist attack for two weeks, preferring instead to speak of a spontaneous assault in the course of a demonstration of Muslims offended by an anti-Muhammad video.

The implication of this apologetic gloss of the first two weeks is obvious: The Administration was saying that Ambassador Chris Stevens was not murdered by Islamists who hate America and its allies and mean to attack us again; he was the victim of the local reaction to one of the products of American freedom of speech.

Once the attack was acknowledged as the handiwork of terrorists , however, the perpetrators were cited as being the followers of Al Qaeda, virtually the only officially acknowledged extremists. And here lies the problem: The Obama Administration will not acknowledge that an extreme and violent segment of the Muslim world ranging far beyond the confines of Al Qaeda is at war with us. To do so would have required him to explain why the U.S. had been empowering Islamists, including in Libya, some of whom may have been responsible for leaking information that enabled the terrorists to locate and kill the Americans.

Just why and how has this refusal to name the Islamist enemy come to characterize the four years of Obama's presidency? President Obama agrees with the view that Islamists as a force in world affairs are not be shunned and that wisdom dictates coming to terms with those among them who are hot engaged in active hostilities at this moment. This view, however, is defective, because common to all Islamists is Muslim supremacism and the undeviating pursuit to subvert the non-Islamic world.

Yet, since Barack Obama took office, Islamist antagonists, other than those involved in active hostilities like Al Qaeda and the Taliban, whose hostility cannot be denied or ignored, have gone unnamed. Presidential statements on the anniversaries of the 1983 killing of 242 U.S. servicemen in Lebanon by Hezballah or the 1979 seizure by Islamist students of the U.S. embassy in Tehran, to name two examples, failed to even mention the perpetrators of these acts, as it had become U.S. policy to propitiate both Hezbollah and the Islamists.

Indeed, the Obama Administration has refused to associate attacks on America by Islamists with Islam. Administration officials have spent four years speaking about particular terrorists at home and abroad as isolated "extremists," even when Islamist terrorist connections were readily traceable (for example, the connection between the Fort Hood sniper Nidal Hassan and the American-born Al Qaeda in Yemen leader, Anwar al-Awlaki, who advised him).
Posted by: Au Auric || 10/29/2012 14:35 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: WoT
Extremist Imam Holds Fundraiser at Florida Hilton
A fundraiser will be held for Zaytuna College, America’s first Muslim college, at the Hilton University of Florida Conference Center in Gainesville, Florida on Saturday, November 3. The featured speaker is one of Zaytuna’s founders, Imam Zaid Shakir, an Islamist cleric whose extremism has been repeatedly documented by RadicalIslam.org. The lecture is free of charge, but tickets for the dinner reception afterwards are $50.

The New York Times reported in 2006 that Shakir “said he still hoped that one day the United States would be a Muslim country ruled by Islamic law,” and that he supports accomplishing this non-violently. He says that Islam justifies the hijacking of “an airplane filled with the 82nd Airborne” and that the 1983 bombing of the Marine barracks in Lebanon by Hezbollah was not an act of terrorism.

On September 28, Zaytuna College posted a lecture on YouTube that begins with Shakir condemning the murder of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens in Libya, immediately followed by a condemnation of how eight Afghan women were “brutally murdered by NATO bombs.” In April, he published a poem depicting the U.S. as a racist, imperialist country whose soldiers rape young girls and kill Muslim civilians without remorse.

In May 2009, Shakir wrote that the U.S. has a “pattern of demonization, destabilization and the invasion of hapless Third World nations.” Among those “demonized” by the U.S. are Osama Bin Laden, the Taliban, Saddam Hussein, Hugo Chavez and Muammar Qaddafi, he says. He also teaches that the U.S. is run by a “small oligarchy.”

In an article published in October, 2007, Shakir objects to President Bush’s use of the term “Islamic fascists” by arguing that the Bush Administration and “neoconservatives” are the true fascists. He says it is a “big lie” that “so-called Islamic Fascism threatens Western Civilization.” He gives support to 9/11 conspiracy theories, writing that the attacks “occurred under dubious circumstances that have yet to be thoroughly examined.” He criticizes the “process of vilification” against Iranian President Ahmadinejad and characterizes Al-Qaeda, Hamas and jihadists in Iraq, Kashmir and Chechnya as fighters against unjust policies. He has condemned some of their violent tactics but supports their cause.

In 2003, he preached that the U.S. was waging a war on Islam and that the government was systematically persecuting innocent Muslims, saying “they just want a pretext to get another Muslim off the street” and Muslim-Americans should wage non-violent jihad through institution-building in the U.S.

The Hilton conference center is located on the campus of the University of Florida, exposing students to Shakir’s beliefs.
Posted by: Au Auric || 10/29/2012 14:30 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Subsaharan
US drones kill 4 AQAP fighters in rare strike in northern Yemen
Please only post headline links to Long War Journal.
Posted by: Au Auric || 10/29/2012 14:22 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Terror Networks
Al Qaeda leader Rashid Rauf killed in drone strike, family says
A senior al Qaeda operative who had been plotting terror attacks in Europe and had escaped Pakistani custody in December 2007 was killed in a drone strike, according to family members who are planning to sue the British government.

Rauf's family is planning on suing the British government for providing information to the US that aided in targeting him, according to the Birmingham Mail.

"The Americans could not have found and killed him without help from British intelligence officers who shared information," a friend of the Rauf family who has maintained he was innocent told the Birmingham Mail. "The family want answers. They want to see the evidence that Rashid was a dangerous terrorist."
Posted by: Au Auric || 10/29/2012 14:19 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
New York - One of America's 'Most Extensively Contaminated Water Bodies' Is Flooding
Posted by: Au Auric || 10/29/2012 14:08 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Politix
Bayonets still on duty
Note at 4:00 pm CT: This photo was taken in September, 2012, and not just recently as has been stated on several sites elsewhere. We still appreciate the fine young men who stand guard, and we even more appreciate the fine young men entombed.

AoS
Milford Sound in New Zealand
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 10/29/2012 12:32 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Death in combat is not the end of the fight but its peak, and since combat is a part, and at times the sum total of life, death which is the peak of combat, is not the destruction of life, but its fullest, most powerful expression".

General Moshe Dayan, address in honour of Natan Alterman, 1971
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/29/2012 14:00 Comments || Top||


Labor Department May Delay Jobs Report
Probably reasonable but given Benghazigate, suboptimal optically
The U.S. Labor Department on Monday said it hasn't made a decision yet on whether to delay Friday's October jobs report, the final reading on the labor market before next week's federal elections.

A Labor official said the agency will assess the schedule for all its data releases this week when the "weather emergency" is over.

Labor is scheduled to release the employment report on Friday, third quarter employment costs on Wednesday and weekly jobless claims on Thursday.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 10/29/2012 11:53 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Had the reports been good (favorable to the regime)...... they would have been released, right ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/29/2012 12:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Pretty much Besoeker.

There is validity to the statement.... but it is awfully convenient for Obama.
Posted by: DarthVader || 10/29/2012 12:51 Comments || Top||

#3  *Never* allow a crisis to go to waste!
Posted by: CrazyFool || 10/29/2012 12:57 Comments || Top||

#4  You bet your arse they would, even before California turned in their numbers. The only possible answer is that the numbers stink to high hell.
And I'm just waiting for the Admin to "delay" the election because of Sandy.
Prolly take at least a year to get those areas cleaned up and ready for the election.
Posted by: bigjim-CA || 10/29/2012 12:58 Comments || Top||

#5  Aren't they still cleaning up after Katrina Bigjim?
Posted by: CrazyFool || 10/29/2012 13:01 Comments || Top||

#6  Economic and military strategist, caregiver, lightbringer, community organizer, emergency manager, and.... WEATHERMAN !
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/29/2012 13:03 Comments || Top||

#7  Hey, weren't Ayres and Doern Weathermen too?
Posted by: Glenmore || 10/29/2012 13:13 Comments || Top||

#8  Current POTUS looking for a job on Nov. 7th would be good news.
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/29/2012 13:17 Comments || Top||

#9  Take that, Halliburton Hurricane Machine!!!
Posted by: tu3031 || 10/29/2012 16:55 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Early briefings on Libya strike focused on Al Qaeda, before story changed
Two days after the deadly Libya terror attack, representatives of the FBI and National Counterterrorism Center gave Capitol Hill briefings in which they said the evidence supported an Al Qaeda or Al Qaeda-affiliated attack, Fox News has learned.

The description of the attack by those in the Sept. 13 briefings stands in stark contrast to the now controversial briefing on Capitol Hill by CIA Director David Petraeus the following day -- and raises even more questions about why Petraeus described the attack as tied to a demonstration.

The Sept. 13 assessment was based on intercepts that included individuals, believed to have participated in the attack, who were celebratory -- as well as a claim of responsibility.

FBI and NCTC also briefed that there were a series of Al Qaeda training camps just outside of Benghazi, where the attack occurred and resulted in the deaths of four Americans. The area was described as a hotbed for the militant Ansar al-Sharia as well as Al Qaeda in North Africa.

The FBI and NCTC did not immediately respond to a request from Fox News for comment.

On Capitol Hill, Petraeus characterized the attack as more consistent with a flash mob, where the militants showed up spontaneously with RPGs. Petraeus downplayed to lawmakers the skill needed to fire mortars, which also were used in the attack and to some were seen as evidence of significant pre-planning. As Fox News previously reported, four mortars were fired -- two missed the annex, but the mortar team re-calibrated and the next two mortars were direct hits.

Fox News is told that Petraeus seemed wedded to the narrative that the attack was linked to a demonstration and was spontaneous as opposed to pre-meditated.

Fox News is told that Petraeus was "absolute" in his description with few, if any, caveats. As lawmakers learned more about the attack, including through raw intelligence reports, they were "angry, disappointed and frustrated" that the CIA director had not provided a more complete picture of the available intelligence.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 10/29/2012 11:50 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Sept. 13 assessment was based on intercepts that included individuals, believed to have participated in the attack, who were celebratory -- as well as a claim of responsibility.

Always looked for immediately following a serious incident or kinetic strike, and generally found. Not found, is also an important indicator.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/29/2012 14:13 Comments || Top||


-Election 2012
Ollie Stone is tremulous with rage over Champ's failures
And he's shaking his tiny fists in rage.

Oh, that's not the headline at the story but rather my interpretation.
President Obama isn't just getting ripped by conservatives -- he's also taking heat from the left.

Filmmaker Oliver Stone and historian Peter Kuznick criticize Obama's presidency in a forthcoming book called The Untold History of the United States, saying he has too often mimicked Republican predecessor George W. Bush.
We wish...
"The country Obama inherited was indeed in shambles, but Obama took a bad situation and, in certain ways, made it worse," write Stone and Kuznick, reports Politico. "Rather than repudiating the policies of Bush and his predecessors, Obama has perpetuated them."

On Wall Street reform: "The biggest winner under Obama was Wall Street."
And Dave Jon Corzine. Obama and Corzine, Corzine and Obama. I'm just doing that for Google search...
On health care: "Obama's failure to articulate a progressive vision was also apparent in the fight over health reform, which was to have been his signature initiative...Obama's health care reform effort, marked by the inability to even refute Republican charges of death panels, was so unpopular that it became an albatross around the necks of Democrats in the 2010 election."
You do have to wonder why the Dhimmicrats defend BambiCare, since it's a complete total Charlie-Fox program that looks nothing like what a good progressive would advocate.
On a troop surge in Afghanistan: "When it finally came down to decision time, Obama didn't have the courage or integrity of a post-Cuban Missile Crisis John F. Kennedy. He settled on a 30,000-troop increase, giving the military leaders almost everything they wanted and more than they expected."
You see, we haven't lost yet: there are no pics of helicopters landing on the embassy roof in Kabul. Until there are Ollie will be disappointed.
On civil liberties: "Among the greatest disappointments to his followers was Obama's refusal to roll back the expanding national security state that so egregiously encroached on American civil liberties."
My goodness, the stopped clock got one right...
Posted by: Steve White || 10/29/2012 11:49 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Oliver Stone = Richard Cranium
Posted by: Bobby || 10/29/2012 12:40 Comments || Top||

#2  ...inability to even refute Republican charges of death panels...

Because those allegations are true tough, even for Zero, to refute the truth.
Posted by: AlanC || 10/29/2012 14:04 Comments || Top||

#3  err.... John Corzine?
Posted by: Frank G || 10/29/2012 15:45 Comments || Top||

#4  nope Jon Corzine
Posted by: Frank G || 10/29/2012 15:46 Comments || Top||

#5  He's branching out. Now he's writing books nobody's gonna read...
Posted by: tu3031 || 10/29/2012 16:53 Comments || Top||

#6  Fixed. Thanks.
Posted by: Steve White || 10/29/2012 16:55 Comments || Top||

#7  I had it wrong at first, too....

/Spelling Nazi FAIL
Posted by: Frank G || 10/29/2012 18:19 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Riyadh Financing Mossad's Operation against Iranian N. Scientists
TEHRAN (FNA)- A report by a well-known journalist revealed that Saudi Arabia has provided financial backup for the Israeli Mossad agency's terror operations on Iran's nuclear scientists.

The collaboration between Mossad and Riyadh was unveiled by Barry Lando in an article titled "A Strange Alliance: Are the Saudis Bankrolling Israel's Mossad?"

Barry M. Lando, a graduate of Harvard and Columbia University, spent 25 years as an award-winning investigative producer with 60 Minutes. His latest book is "Web of Deceit: The History of Western Complicity in Iraq, from Churchill to Kennedy to George W. Bush."

Lando wrote:

A friend, with good sources in the Israeli government, claims that the head of Israel's Mossad has made several trips to deal with his counterparts in Saudi Arabia-one of the results: an agreement that the Saudis would bankroll the series of assassinations of several of Iran's top nuclear experts that have occurred over the past couple of years. The amount involved, my friend claims, was $1 billion dollar. A sum, he says, the Saudis considered cheap for the damage done to Iran's nuclear program.

At first blush, the tale sounds preposterous. On the other hand. it makes eminent sense. The murky swamp of Middle East politics has nothing to do with the easy slogans and 30 second sound bites of presidential debates.
Posted by: Glinesh Craling7938 || 10/29/2012 11:31 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  At first blush, the tale sounds preposterous. 2nd and 3rd blush too.
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/29/2012 13:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Actually when you think about what an Iranian Nuke would do to the body politik in the MENA region, the house of Saud would be inclined to cut a deal to have the Israelis do the wet work and they continue to tut tut the episode.

It does not sound that far fetched, a nuclear weapon in the hands of some madmen can create strange bedfellows among the rational.
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 10/29/2012 15:57 Comments || Top||

#3  On 4th blush, I'd tend to agree with you.
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/29/2012 16:37 Comments || Top||

#4  At Fifth blush ... I'd agree. It's doubtful.
But if it's real ... heck I would have undercut the Israeli's and done the job for just $800,000,000.00
That's a savings of 20% !!! :-)
Posted by: Raider || 10/29/2012 19:28 Comments || Top||

#5  Historically, Christians allied with Muslims and vice-versa against their co-religionists all the time, both when Islam was in ascendance and when it was in decline. Of course, they did so openly back when the divine right of kings more or less let them do anything short of apostasy.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 10/29/2012 22:29 Comments || Top||


-Election 2012
ACORN whistleblower: Corruption widespread
[WCF Courier] A former ACORN worker who turned whistleblower on corruption in that agency served as guest speaker for a event Friday in Cedar Falls, one of four around the state to address voter fraud.

Anita MonCrief is a former employee turned vocal critic of the now-defunct Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, and its affiliate organization Project Vote. ACORN, created in 1970, disbanded in 2010.

MonCrief sees corruption as rampant in this country, not just in voter fraud, but across Washington, D.C.

"These people out here are trying to take our country away from us," MonCrief said.

She now works with True the Vote, a national organization working against voter fraud. The group has its roots in a Texas "tea party" organization and gained fame this year for fighting to get petitions thrown out for the Gov. Scott Walker recall in Wisconsin.

True the Vote has been recruiting poll watchers in swing states prior to the election this fall.

The Cedar Falls event, attended by about 25 people at the Lampost Theatre Company in Cedar Falls. was conducted by the Concerned Women for America of Iowa. People were asked to sign up for training as poll watchers.

Iowa does not have a law requiring voters to show identification. Such a law has been introduced, but blocked by the Iowa Senate, which is controlled by Democrats.

Conservative groups fear voter fraud could impact the election, while left-leaning groups cry foul, saying the fraud accusations are simply one means to suppress minority and elderly voters.

According to MonCrief, liberal beturbanned goons from the 1960s like Bill Ayers and the Weather Underground learned they couldn't succeed in a revolution by throwing bombs, so they looked to infiltrate the system. She said they have control of the academic world and even have set up roots in the Republican Party.

MonCrief considers herself a reformed liberal whose views are now conservative. When asked about the current state of the media and Fox News, she said Fox has swung too far left for her.

Tamara Scott, state director for the Concerned Women for America of Iowa, said Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz attended two of the Friday meetings.
Posted by: Fred || 10/29/2012 11:05 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Captain Louis Renault foto please. You pick!
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/29/2012 13:07 Comments || Top||

#2  MonCrief, Charlie Brown!
Posted by: Thusort Ebbomoting1144 || 10/29/2012 18:11 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Updated: Project Gunwalker: New Fast and Furious Report Part II of III
Part II of a III part report 911 just released

Click here for report

From the executive summary:

The Criminal Division was not the only component of the Justice Department overseeing Fast and Furious. The Office of the Deputy Attorney General was also involved. Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary Grindler and his staff were briefed extensively on the enormous volume of firearms involved in the case. Individuals in that office, including Ed Siskel, received constant updates on recoveries of large numbers of weapons connected to Fast and Furious.

Though many senior Department officials were keenly aware of Fast and Furious, no one questioned the operation. The Southwest Border Strategy Group asked no questions. The Criminal Division asked no questions. The Office of the Deputy Attorney General asked no questions. No one ordered that Fast and Furious be shut down. Instead, senior Department officials let it continue to grow.

This is just the first summary to come out of the lengthy report

Update: 2:30 CST

A new congressional report on the investigation into Operation Fast and Furious finds several senior Department of Justice officials at fault for their roles in the scandal.

According to a release, the report finds fault with five senior DOJ officials -- Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, Acting Deputy Attorney General Gary Grindler, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jason Weinstein and Associate Deputy Attorney General Ed Siskel -- "for failing to supervise and for missing basic red flags."

"Attorney General Holder's Deputy Chief of Staff Robert 'Monty' Wilkinson also bears some responsibility for the poor management that lead to Operation Fast and Furious," the release adds.

The report is the second installment in a three-part series from Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Sen. Chuck Grassley and House oversight committee chairman Rep. Darrell Issa.

In the report, the congressional investigators say Grindler, Siskel and others "attended a detailed briefing on Operation Fast and Furious in March 2010."

"Despite the evidence presented at the briefing of illegally-purchased firearms being recovered in Mexico and in the U.S., Grindler and Siskel failed to ask probing questions or take any significant follow-up action to monitor and supervise the conduct of the case," the release accompanying the report adds.

The congressional investigators also said that both "Monty Wilkinson and Gary Grindler were informed about the connection between Operation Fast and Furious and U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry's murder. Grindler received detailed information about the connection. He took no additional action, however, to properly supervise the operation."

In addition, they said "no one at Justice Department headquarters have provided complete and accurate answers to the Terry family. During their respective transcribed interviews, Monty Wilkinson stated 38 times that he 'did not recall' or 'did not know.' In a similar fashion, Gary Grindler did so 29 times, and Ed Siskel 21 times. In two different transcribed interviews, Dennis Burke said he 'did not recall' or 'did not know' a combined total of 161 times."

Issa said in a statement that this report "discloses widespread management failures within the hierarchy of the Justice Department."

"The Justice Department has yet to evaluate these management issues and implement structural changes to prevent another disaster like Operation Fast and Furious from occurring," Issa added. "Furthermore, the Justice Department has taken limited action against these negligent managers."

Grassley said the report shows DOJ officials "saw any number of warnings and some even had the gunwalking information right in front of them, yet nothing was done to stop it. Countless people may be murdered with these weapons, yet the Attorney General appears to be letting his employees slide by with little to no accountability. The Attorney General needs to make changes to ensure that department leadership provides oversight of the agencies they are tasked with supervising, instead of pointing fingers at somebody else."
Posted by: Sherry || 10/29/2012 10:58 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Excerpt from page 21:

The document went on to recommend “intelligence-based, prosecutor-led, multi-agency task forces . . . .”16 It suggested that under its new model, “we develop priority targets through the extensive use of intelligence,” which would allow it to “build cases, coordinating long-term, extensive investigations to identify all the tentacles of a particular organization.”17

Same failed "pattern-of-life" strategy used in AFG. Picking winners and losers (one cartel over the other) again. I read until I couldn't stand it any longer.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/29/2012 15:01 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Romney Sweeps Iowa In Newspaper Endorsements
And yes, I know people who still vote based on an editorial by a local newspaper. Probably some like that in Iowa.
As far as newspaper endorsements are concerned, Mitt Romney made a clean sweep in Iowa: all four major newspapers, including the state's largest paper, The Des Moines Register, backed Mitt Romney.

The Register's editorial board said it engaged in a "vigorous debate" over whom to endorse this election. Ultimately, the newspaper that hasn't backed a Republican since Richard Nixon in 1972, decided to throw its weight behind the Republican nominee. ...

Newspapers elsewhere also threw their support behind the president this weekend. The Detroit Free Press editorial board called Mr. Obama's record "stunning." They pointed to the auto bailout, the Affordable Care Act health care law and the end of the war in Iraq and the near end of the war in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Sherry || 10/29/2012 10:34 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Nashville Tennessean has also endorsed Gov. Romney for president. The Tennessean, historically, has leaned left.
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/29/2012 16:57 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
BREAKING: HMS Bounty Sinks Off N.C. Coast, 2 Crew Missing
The HMS Bounty, a 180-foot, three-mast tall ship, was last marked about 90 miles southeast of Hatteras. The ship has sunk, according to the Coast Guard at 8:45 a.m. Monday.

Just before 8 a.m., the Facebook page for the HMS Bounty says 14 of the 16 people who had to abandon their ship have been hoisted to safety.

There have been conflicting reports on how many people were onboard. The manifest reportedly listed 16 people, and that's the number the Coast Guard has."

Seventeen people aboard a replica of the HMS Bounty abandoned ship early Monday while stranded at sea off the North Carolina coast, the U.S. Coast Guard said in a press release.

"The 17 person crew donned cold water survival suits and life jackets before launching in two 25-man lifeboats with canopies," the Coast Guard said in a statement.

The ship issued a distress signal late Sunday after taking on water, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

The owner of the 180-foot, three mast ship -- which was built for the 1962 Marlon Brando movie, "Mutiny on the Bounty" -- lost communication with the crew and alerted the Coast Guard to the situation.

The Coast Guard then received a distress signal from the ship showing its position. It sent out an aircraft to speak with the crew, which reported that the vessel was taking on water and had no propulsion. It's currently located about 90 miles southeast of Hatteras, N.C.

The ship, which is still floating upright and intact, is surrounded by 18-foot seas and 40 mph winds as Hurricane Sandy moves through the area.

The Bounty makes frequent trips around the country, offering a glimpse into maritime history, according to the ship's website. It was originally a British transport vessel, and the replica has appeared in several films, including the 2006 movie "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Mans Chest," with Johnny Depp. Its last stop before its winter hiatus in Galveston, Texas, was to be in St. Petersburg, Fla., on Nov. 10.

It is unclear why the boat set out to sea with Sandy bearing down. Sandy could be the largest storm ever to hit the United States, according to NOAA's website.
Posted by: Beavis || 10/29/2012 09:55 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  14, 16, or 17? I'm confused.
Posted by: Bobby || 10/29/2012 12:44 Comments || Top||

#2  Little late in the season to be chasing down galleons, isn't it?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 10/29/2012 13:43 Comments || Top||

#3  "It is unclear why the boat set out to sea with Sandy bearing down."

They're idiots?

Hope everyone survives OK, including the Coast Guard members who had to go get them.
Posted by: Barbara || 10/29/2012 14:10 Comments || Top||

#4  If it's not possible to pull a ship into drydock, my understanding is that chances are the ship is more likely to survive if it's off shore than close to land where it can be smashed ashore ....

But perhaps Pappy or another of our Navy vets can correct me if I'm mistaken.
Posted by: lotp || 10/29/2012 18:06 Comments || Top||

#5  They departed Cape Cod end of last week. While they may be safer at sea, why not loiter off to the east instead of heading for their Florida destination right through the biggest storm in a century. Hubris mixed with idiocy.
Posted by: KBK || 10/29/2012 18:27 Comments || Top||

#6  Normally it's better heading out to sea.

The question is whether they took a course that allowed them to skirt the storm or put them into the worst of it (hurricanes in the northern hemisphere go CCW)
Posted by: Pappy || 10/29/2012 18:36 Comments || Top||

#7  50 years old? There's always the insurance angle. Call the man with the action packed expense account...Johnny Dollar.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 10/29/2012 18:43 Comments || Top||

#8  I don't think anything like this happened when Bligh was captain.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 10/29/2012 18:58 Comments || Top||

#9  The ship left him, he didn't abandon ship.
Posted by: Glenmore || 10/29/2012 20:01 Comments || Top||

#10  It is true that usually modern ships do better at sea in a hurricane than in port. It isn't pleasant at sea, but at least you don't get smashed against the piers and other obstacles.

I do know that the US Navy had all the ships in Norfolk head out.

I don't know about sailing ships. A powered vessel can keep the bow pointed into the wind, so the waves generally wash over you. It would be harder on a sailing ship. The last thing you want to do is to take the wind on the beam - you can capsize very quickly. I don't think that was what happened to the Bounty, though.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 10/29/2012 20:07 Comments || Top||

#11  I can't speak for severe storms, but for mid-range storms (Gale, etc.) and small boats (30' sloop) open water beat the heck out of anchor - where you drag anchor and run aground or into other boats; in a good marina and well-secured was better yet. At some point it becomes a toss-up for smaller craft, but at least in the marina I could tie it up, drive home, and call the insurance company later.
Posted by: Glenmore || 10/29/2012 21:02 Comments || Top||

#12  I watched Master and Commander at least half a dozen times, that makes me a cinematic expert, I would.....
Posted by: Frank G || 10/29/2012 21:22 Comments || Top||

#13  The ship left him, he didn't abandon ship.

Kinda like me and the Democratic Party.
Posted by: SteveS || 10/29/2012 21:41 Comments || Top||

#14  Whoa, so it is Marlon's BOUNTY, not Clark Gable's.

Were Bligh's tropical plant samples saved or do I have to send Paula Abdul down there???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 10/29/2012 22:48 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Newsweeq: Was Benghazi Attack on U.S. Consulate an Inside Job?
Long article I've only skimmed with lots of reporting I hadn't seen before, but no firm conclusions:
In the dimly-lit street, he told his men the Americans would sit inside the pick-ups and they would all have to climb up on the flatbeds. It was about 4 a.m. As they did so, a small-caliber single shot rang out. Febrayir froze; so did his men. Within seconds there was a whooshing sound of several rocket-propelled grenades being fired. Then a mortar hit the annex roof with startling accuracy, killing former Navy SEALs Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods. The accuracy of the mortar round points to an experienced hand. “But then we have many fighters nowadays who fought in the rebellion and who are experienced with mortars,” Febrayir says.

“Before we even showed up they were there waiting,” Febrayir says. He remains convinced that the security for the rescue was compromised and that attackers were not only eavesdropping on radio chatter but were fed by someone from inside the operations room. He never found out who was exactly in the Chevys. They sped off—as did the two Libyan Shield cars. He never saw them again.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 10/29/2012 09:48 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Excerpt:
Certainly, some of the discrepancies could be explained by the confusion of battle or the faulty recollection of men under extreme stress. Miscommunication between Washington, Tripoli, and Benghazi almost certainly plays a part. Militia commanders on the ground had no direct contact with senior U.S. officials in D.C. or with the Marines who had arrived to evacuate their compatriots. In Tripoli, army chiefs were talking with U.S. military officials—Libyan Army Chief of Staff Yussef al-Mangoush was overseas but on the conversation by cellphone—while the Libyan civilian leadership was in contact with senior State Department officials and the White House. With so many cooks in the kitchen, it is hardly surprising there was confusion.


But there are other holes in the story. No one has come up with a definitive explanation of how armed militants managed to gain entry to the consulate’s six-acre compound so easily—which is critical to figuring out whether the Benghazi attack was an inside job....U.S. State Department briefers say the diplomatic security agent manning the CCTV monitors raised the alarm when he saw armed men already pouring through the compound.


Who were these attackers? In the immediate aftermath of the assault, Libyan leaders produced startlingly conflicting statements. They blamed the “men of the Gaddafi regime” and al Qaeda in quick succession. Then, after eyewitnesses fingered local extremists, they focused on a Benghazi-based Salafist militia called Ansar al-Sharia, which had been founded after the toppling of Gaddafi. The adviser to GNC President al-Magarief, who had initially blamed al Qaeda, now says Ansar al-Sharia is indeed behind the attack. “They look to al Qaeda and have some contact with them,” he says.
The Benghazi commanders were reportedly startled and disbelieving of the men’s claims at first, but then grudgingly accepted their persistent disavowals. Still, an ops-room source stresses that the militiamen did not say whether others in their group may have been involved, and later showed no sadness over Stevens’s death. There are scant signs of any serious investigation into Ansar al-Sharia at the moment...

Lt. Col. Tony Schaeffer has sources that say the President was in the Situation Room watching and other reports say this was a gun-running op to arm Syrian rebels. An inside job by AQ as they are being armed by the US, would certainly explain the confusion over who was friendly. I also note this is an independent foreign correspondent usually reporting in the Times of London and surprised Newsweak even picked up the story--maybe the public will finally pick up on how big this really is.
Posted by: Lumpy Elmoluck 5095 || 10/29/2012 12:44 Comments || Top||

#2  An inside job?

Ya think?
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 10/29/2012 16:05 Comments || Top||

#3  When you have a local national guard force, you assume a great deal of risk. The Brit from "Blue Mountain Security" who held the security contract, unassed the AO a week or so prior to the attack. Might be instructive to lift a pint or two with him and his people. As of today, NO HEARD from him or them.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/29/2012 16:11 Comments || Top||

#4  Besoeker ... I actually passed a comment to him about the possibility of an inside job. I don't know him myself - but it went thru a third party. He's a sharp individual and I expect he will look into it.
Posted by: Raider || 10/29/2012 22:32 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Lack Of Strike Force Impeded Benghazi Response
As U.S. Africa Command waited for any order to rescue Americans on Sept. 11 at the besieged consulate and CIA annex in Benghazi, Libya, it was missing a key unit that the Pentagon gives every regional four-star commander — an emergency strike force.

The new command’s lack of such a unit is another piece in the unfolding Benghazi timeline that shows an overriding theme: As radical Islamic extremism swelled in the chaotic coastal city, U.S. security assets in Libya diminished.

From the State Department’s denial of diplomats’ requests for more security in Libya to Obama administration officials repeatedly saying the military-style attack on the consulate resulted from “spontaneous” protests, the events before, during and after the Benghazi assault reflect the political, diplomatic and military confusion that is post-Gadhafi Libya.

Each U.S. geographic combatant command, whether it be in the Middle East, the Pacific or, in this case, Africa, is entitled to a special operations rapid-response team — a group of Green Berets to perform instant combat in situations like the Islamist militants’ attack on the U.S. Consulate.

But on that day, AfriCom, the Pentagon’s newest geographic combatant command, which is still in the building phase, lacked what is called the “commander in-extremis force,” said a senior special operations official.

“All geographic combatant commands have one allocated to them, except AfriCom,” the senior official said. “AfriCom’s is in the process of being established.”

The gap shows that while North Africa has become a growing battleground for Islamic extremists, the U.S. regional command in charge of operations there is still not at full strength.

“We cannot discuss the availability of specific capabilities in order to protect our operational security,” AfriCom spokesman Benjamin Benson said.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, Utah Republican and chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee on national security, told Fox News that ArmyGen. Carter Ham, who heads AfriCom, received no request from any government entity to intervene in Benghazi during the seven- to eight-hour fight.

As it turns out, some special operations troops, likely from U.S. European Command, were moved to a naval air station at Sigonella, Sicily, but were never ordered to go farther. The Pentagon has declined to say exactly at what hour they arrived in Sicily or whether the battle was over by then.
Posted by: Sherry || 10/29/2012 09:43 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Not buying this one. AFRICOM stood up at Stuttgart in Oct 2008. Assumption of NEO plans and safeguarding US Missions abroud would have been a specified task and resourced appropriately.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/29/2012 11:56 Comments || Top||

#2  I have heard that US Africa Command not only had a commander in-extremis force, but it deployed to Southern Italy in preparation to going into Benghazi.

In addition, I heard that Delta Force was conducting a training mission in Europe and had troops ready to go. (They cancelled their training and prepared to go operational).

This article is the White House throwing out an excuse to see if anyone buys it. The point is to last until election day.

Al
Posted by: Frozen Al || 10/29/2012 12:16 Comments || Top||

#3  Besoeker and others keep on asking questions about BenghaziGate. This is far worse than Watergate. If people don't question everything we will never know what happened. The four who died, embassy staffs abroad, our military, Americans, and voters deserve truthfulness about this rather than some convenient narrative that attempts to get Obama re-elected.
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/29/2012 12:20 Comments || Top||

#4  Not buying this either. Like Besoeker said: AFRICOM was set up about four years ago. Lots of assets and attention thrown at this command. Even if there was no “in-extremis” force, there should have been contingency plans, even if they were borrowed from another reqional command.

Perhaps it's true that no one in charge wanted a repeat of Operation Eagle Claw (or as we called it, "Rice Bowl"). And it looks like they got their wish but replaced it with something worse.
Posted by: Pappy || 10/29/2012 14:17 Comments || Top||

#5  It's not just "Africom." Benghazi's on the Mediterranean. I thought there would be a lot of available forces there.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 10/29/2012 15:44 Comments || Top||

#6  The 173rd is still based in Italy, right?
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 10/29/2012 15:46 Comments || Top||

#7  This is going to be shown to be a Charlie Foxtrot that begins with indecision and irresolution at the top flowing down hill to commanders playing CYA or risking insubordination. Bummer didn't want that coming out before the election, so now he's got something much worse. But in the end, it will just be stupidity and incompetence for all to see. For the second time, Bummer could regret winning.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 10/29/2012 16:04 Comments || Top||

#8  Most of the 173rd. is in the Stan. You wouldn't send them anyway, you would send the Marine strike force or Delta, both would be on station 24/7.
Posted by: bman || 10/29/2012 17:38 Comments || Top||

#9  Based on what I could find online, about 2/3 of it is in Germany and 1/3 of it is in Italy, and their last deployment to Afghanistan ended at the end of 2010.

I don't know how accurate that is.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 10/29/2012 22:29 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Madonna Booed for "Vote for Obama"
Midway through Saturday night's performance: “Who's registered to vote? I don't care who you vote for as long as you vote for Obama.”

Drawing boos, Madonna followed: “Seriously, I don't care who you vote for ... Do not take this privilege for granted. Go vote.”
I can agree with that. I maintain voting is an obligation if we are to keep our republic.
Posted by: Bobby || 10/29/2012 08:07 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'll take urban dictionary titles for $ 500.

A derogatory term for a (usually younger) female, implying trashiness or tackiness, lower-class status, poor hygiene, flakiness, and a scrawny, pockmarked sort of ugliness. May also imply promiscuity, but not necessarily. Can apply to any race, but most commonly used to describe white trash.

What is a skank ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/29/2012 8:49 Comments || Top||

#2  If she believes in communism so strongly she has a lot of ill-gotten gaines and property-that-is-theft and there's a lot of welders who spent a couple years out-of-work at the direction of her fucking boyfriend.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 10/29/2012 9:19 Comments || Top||

#3  The 30 minutes of fame for this aging idjut are about up.
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/29/2012 10:37 Comments || Top||

#4  If Obama has lost the MTV generation, what does he have left?
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 10/29/2012 11:31 Comments || Top||

#5  I disagree. Go vote if and only if you have made the effort of keeping yourself reasonably informed (say, by reading Rantburg) so you can cast an enlightened vote. But if you are like these Obama voters in 2008 who had spent 4 years watching sport and sitcoms and believed that the Republicans controlled Congress then you would do a favor to democracy by not going to vote: the price of freedom is eternal vigilance and you have been asleep.
Posted by: JFM || 10/29/2012 11:38 Comments || Top||

#6  Good point JFM - Voting may be a right (for citizens) but along with that is a responsibility (apologies to those liberal readers for using a foul word) to be properly informed so you can make a reasonable judgement.

Far too many fail that responsibility. Too busy watching American Idol, Sitcoms, and (sadly) the mainstream media.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 10/29/2012 12:13 Comments || Top||

#7  A lot of those, CF, woke up in 2008 to feel a tingle running down their leg and voted for the Lightbringer. I hope they have been lulled back to their prior stupor. We'll see.
Posted by: Bobby || 10/29/2012 12:37 Comments || Top||

#8  I don't look for the conga-line of Obama apologists to dissipate any time soon.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/29/2012 12:41 Comments || Top||

#9  I'm mobilizing Americans in Germany to vote, too.
OK, the right stuff only.
Posted by: European Conservative || 10/29/2012 16:25 Comments || Top||

#10  Sometime during the eighties Madonna gave a concert in Paris and threw her panties at yje public. In fact she was wearing another pair undernaeth. Distateful, hypocrite and calculating b..ch.

Posted by: JFM || 10/29/2012 17:56 Comments || Top||

#11  JFM - we really didn't have to know that.

Bobby - I'm hoping they went back into their self-imposed stupor as well.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 10/29/2012 18:14 Comments || Top||

#12  the price of freedom is eternal vigilance and you have been asleep.

Well said, JFM. I know Joe M will hate to hear it, but Madge done jumped the shark.
Posted by: SteveS || 10/29/2012 18:16 Comments || Top||

#13  Thank you, #9 EC.

#10 JFM - Ewwwwwwww. :-(
Posted by: Barbara || 10/29/2012 19:40 Comments || Top||

#14  Why....why did you choose that picture!? My dreams, forever haunted!
Posted by: Charles || 10/29/2012 19:46 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Guess now Obama's got Bayonets-the 7th is back
Headquarters, 7th Infantry Division uncased its colors during a reactivation ceremony on 10 October 2012 on Joint Base Lewis McChord's Watkins Field. The unit had been formally activated on 1 October 2012.
Posted by: Skidmark || 10/29/2012 04:15 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hmm...check the patch of the 10th Mountain Division.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 10/29/2012 10:56 Comments || Top||

#2  Those definitely resemble the Crusader swords of my youth.
Posted by: Solomon Protector of the Texans5923 || 10/29/2012 13:29 Comments || Top||

#3  When you run out of ammo bayonets will work.
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/29/2012 16:04 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
China Blocks NY Times Website Over Story on Wen Jiabao
Chinese government censors moved quickly to block the New York Times website Friday after it published a blockbuster story detailing the massive wealth accumulated by the family of Prime Minister Wen Jiabao. The report threatened to shatter the public image of Wen, who is known as a compassionate, reformist leader with a modest background. The Times says a review of corporate and regulatory records indicate the prime minister's relatives control assets of at least $2.7 billion.

Just hours after the article was posted, access to the paper's English and Chinese-language websites was blocked throughout China. Censors also hurried to delete references to the prime minister and his family on China's Twitter-like Weibo microblog, while the Times' Chinese social media accounts were also deleted.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei condemned the article on Friday, telling reporters that it was meant to "smear China" and had "ulterior motives."

Eileen Murphy, the paper's spokeswoman, expressed disappointment and said she hopes full access is restored soon. But she said the Times refuses to compromise its journalistic standards. Following the June launch of its Chinese-language site, the paper made a similar commitment, vowing not to tailor its content based on "the demands of the Chinese government."

In a move suggesting it anticipated China's anger at the Friday article on Wen, the Times made the Chinese-language version available for download in PDF format, making it much easier to distribute.
Posted by: Au Auric || 10/29/2012 03:51 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Mugabe learned his indoctrination well.
Posted by: Solomon Protector of the Texans5923 || 10/29/2012 13:25 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Mali Troop Deployment Nears Reality: ECOWAS Official
A senior official of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said the deployment of an African-led military force to Mali is only a matter of weeks, probably by the end of November or early December, once a final authorization has been made by the UN Security Council.

Abdel Fatau Musah, ECOWAS director for external relations, said it has taken this long to reach a consensus on the troop deployment because ECOWAS has been trying to take into consideration the concerns of all stakeholders, including neighboring countries Algeria and Mauritania.

His comments followed the adoption by the African Union last week of a strategic concept for military intervention and they also come as all stakeholders in the Mali crisis begin a two-day meeting in Bamako Tuesday, October 30th.

Musah said the purpose of the meeting is for all the stakeholders to harmonize the different proposals about military intervention in Mali.

“We all agreed, based on the ECOWAS proposal, that all the parties, including the government of Mali, the African Union, ECOWAS, bilateral and multilateral partners, neighboring countries, including Algeria and Mauritania agreed to assembly in Bamako in Mali from the 30th of October to the first of November to finalize the concept of operation based on the draft concept that has been developed by the ECOWAS chiefs of Defense staff,” he said.

Musah said it has taken this long to reach a consensus on the troop deployment because ECOWAS has been trying to accommodate the concerns of all stakeholders, including neighboring countries Algeria and Mauritania.
Posted by: Au Auric || 10/29/2012 03:49 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Excellent, excellent! Afri solutions for Afri problems I always say.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/29/2012 9:02 Comments || Top||

#2  Another ECOMOG? (Every Car Or Moveable Object Gone)
Posted by: James || 10/29/2012 14:47 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
South Korean Activists Float Leaflets Into North Korea
South Korean activists have sent tens of thousands of anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border by balloons into North Korea, one week after warnings from Seoul and threats of retaliation from Pyongyang.

Around a dozen activists attached 50,000 leaflets to seven balloons Monday and sent them floating over the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two countries. Some local residents fearing reprisal from the North scuffled with the activists.

The balloons were launched from the Imjingak resort in the border city of Paju, where South Korean police blocked an earlier launch attempt last Monday.

The North's official Korean Central News Agency said before the first attempt that the Korean People's Army would conduct a “merciless strike” without warning if the leaflets were sent.

However, just hours after the launch was aborted, the activists launched balloons from Ganghwa Island, west of Seoul, with no military response from the North.

North Korea has lashed out at previous balloon launches, threatening to shell South Korea in response to such actions, which it calls deliberate provocation by Seoul that could lead to war. Seoul says it has nothing to do with the launches.
Posted by: Au Auric || 10/29/2012 03:44 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Benghazigate and administration gun running - Wash Times
What we do know is that the New York Times -- one of the most slavishly pro-Obama publications in the country -- reported in an Oct. 14 article, "Most of the arms shipped at the behest of The Soodis and Qutar to supply Syrian rebel groups fighting the government of Pencilneck Bashar Assad are going to hard-line Islamic jihadists, and not the more secular, kinder-gentler opposition groups that the administration wants to suck up to."

In short, it seems our Champ and his regime have been engaged in gun-walking on a massive scale (same MO, but dwarfs F&F). The effect has been to equip America's enemies to wage jihad not only against regimes it once claimed were our friends, but inevitably against us and our allies as well. That would explain his administration's desperate and now failing bid to mislead the voters through the serial deflections and misinformation of Benghazigate.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/29/2012 03:42 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I have heard that 1,000's of russian MANPADS were looted from the two warehouses. If that is the case, the number of dead Americans is likely to go up before the books are closed on this disaster.
Posted by: Frozen Al || 10/29/2012 12:22 Comments || Top||

#2  Russian MANPADS
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/29/2012 15:57 Comments || Top||


Two Drones, AC-130 Gunship, and Targets Painted in Benghazi - Breitbart
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/29/2012 03:28 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Besoeker and others, what do you make of the comments last night on Fox (Geraldo interview) by retired 4-Star General Jack Keane yesterday:

“The consulate was stormed”.
“There was no gunships in the region”.
“There was nothing that could have prevented it”.
“It was over in about an hour”.
“Forces got there as soon as possible”.
“To politicize this is very hurtful”.


I have problems with Gen. Keanes comments based on some info released. He said AFRICOM had little in available resources. Two drones were available and used for surveillance. The feed did go back to Washington. He did say forces were available in Italy that got there ASAP (24 hours). It does not seem that nothing could have been done. He also claims that the drone feed was not clear enough to distinguish friends (if there were any) from foes.

It does seem that the most that could have been done would have been in the area of prevention. Emails and security reports indicated that the situation on the ground building up to 911 would indicate that more security should have been made available rather than less. One report that puzzles me that no one has commented on is that there reports of foreign voices among the attackers. It would seem that it would be important what nationality the foreign voices were, e.g. were they Iranian? It would seem that a Tier 1 or 2 force could be staged and scrambled fairly quickly? Does a Tier 1 force come with their own transportation? The claim was that they were at the airport in Benghazi but could not find transportation to the consulate.

I would like to see some basic questions answered such as: Who, what, when, why, where, and how for all players? I don't think we know much about this major clusterphuck. There has been too much obfuscation, disinformation, and ambiguity coming from Washington. I'd like to see more hearings. How about interviewing those 30 people who were saved at the consulate? How about interviewing the decision makers?
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/29/2012 10:29 Comments || Top||

#2  I re-read this posting and realized it was rather poorly organized. Keane did say that two drones were dispatched; one initially which was replaced with another as the first needed fuel. His general take was not much more could be done other than what was done.
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/29/2012 10:42 Comments || Top||

#3  (Geraldo interview) by retired 4-Star General Jack Keane

Says Geraldo found an apologist to shore up his boy's eroding situation.

If these are the facts, just give all the applicable Congressional committees direct access to the players, which we already know has been refused.

Posted by: Procopius2k || 10/29/2012 10:45 Comments || Top||

#4  Beauzeau and Seals

This previewed OK, I sure hope it doesn't blow the boundaries.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 10/29/2012 10:52 Comments || Top||

#5  Ouch.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 10/29/2012 11:00 Comments || Top||

#6  I don't remember whether it was this general or not, but I did hear yesterday that some of the injured from the fight are still in the hospital.
Posted by: Sherry || 10/29/2012 11:02 Comments || Top||

#7  What you are looking for John (what we are all seeking) is a chronological After Action Report (AAR), which would contain wat we used to call the "Five W's" (your who, what, when, where, and how). Not exactly rocket science is it? What would soon follow and be very closely studied at Fort Leavenworth would be... "Lessons Learned".

Ques: Does a Tier 1 force come with their own transportation?Answer: Tier 1 enjoys absolute priority for airlift, to include capabilities not found or available in DoD.

Ques: It would seem that a Tier 1 or 2 force could be staged and scrambled fairly quickly? Answer: All US missions abroad have an on-the-shelf, Non-Combatant Evacuation (NEO) plan. Execution and timing are key, essential elements of a successful planning effort.

Voice intercept comment: Out of 365 dates on the calendar, if asked to pick a date for monitoring signals in a troubled, middle-eastern area, what date might you select ?

Ironically, General Keane used the descriptors "delay and procrastination" regarding the administration's reluctance to action UBL. Gateway Pundit video.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/29/2012 11:11 Comments || Top||

#8  and I will never forget the look on Lt. Col Woods face as his interview with Hannity ended.

Answer to the question "Could you have made a difference?"

With deep hurt on his face and in his eyes, he answered, "I wish we had been there."

Fox has been using it all weekend.
Posted by: Sherry || 10/29/2012 11:13 Comments || Top||

#9  Also interesting to note, virtually the first person to go media-wide with the Mohamaad Video story was United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Ms. Susan Rice.

Coincidence possibly, but perhaps the alleged "host-nation" approval for military action was only one component of the administration's approval process.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/29/2012 11:21 Comments || Top||

#10  Two drones, one AC-130 and the targets were painted but the guy who could give the order to pull the trigger went to bed. He was derelict in his duty and not for the first time either.

Am I wrong? Tell me I'm wrong.

But even if I am then why weren't Marines already there to provide the security that had already been denied several times before the attack? The security that any halfway reasonable person could see was necessary?

Further, why couldn't we have just left Qdaffy alone in the first place? Did anybody really believe that whoever replaces him will be better? Does anybody really believe this Arab Spring thing is anything more than Islamic radicals attempting to impose Sharia on their Caliphate?
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 10/29/2012 11:25 Comments || Top||

#11  If help was available and forces were asked to "stand down," what the hell kind of message is that to our armed services everywhere. The message to me is that when you have your backs up against the wall, don't expect help. That is a terrible message to send to the troops.
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/29/2012 11:30 Comments || Top||

#12  With due respect to the retired general, he was not on the ground. Another point to consider, Gen Carter Ham was returned to Bremerton under "mysterious" circumstances after Benghazi (did he have too much info). FYI, here is a fairly comprehensive timeline from Peter Ferrara at Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/peterferrara/2012/10/25/benghazi-obamas-actions-amount-to-a-shameful-dereliction-of-duty/
Posted by: warthogswife || 10/29/2012 13:27 Comments || Top||

#13  from Michael Yon
Pentagon Statement on General Ham

George Little tweet:

"Let me be clear to those spreading rumors: Gen. Carter Ham of AFRICOM has NOT been replaced. He's an excellent leader, doing fantastic job."
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 10/29/2012 13:58 Comments || Top||

#14  tweet?
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 10/29/2012 14:24 Comments || Top||

#15  It would seem that the drone flying about was armed. Otherwise why would the folks on the ground have painted the mortar target with a laser, which could potentially give away their position? If there was an armed asset overhead, who, specifically, made the decision not to use it?

Two points: This smells a whole lot like when Valerie Jarrett talked O out of taking out UBL, not once but twice. Was she advising the Pres in this situation too?

The nation is incredibly indebted to those retired Navy SEALS and some friendly Libyan militia. Were it not for their actions, the death toll could easily be 34 rather than 4.
Posted by: remoteman || 10/29/2012 14:30 Comments || Top||

#16  #15 It would seem that the drone flying about was armed. Otherwise why would the folks on the ground have painted the mortar target with a laser, which could potentially give away their position? If there was an armed asset overhead, who, specifically, made the decision not to use it? Remoteman.

A telling key and essential piece of information would be the timing (precise chronology of events) of the rescue bird and survivors leaving Benghazi Airport enroute to Tripoli, and the order to Return to Base (RTB) of any persistent surveillance drones, armed or otherwise, as well as any other platforms orbiting the site.

If the RTB of drones coincided with 'wheels up' of the rescue bird..... well, not so good for the stay-behind element. Nor will be looking too good for the decision maker(s) in post analysis phase.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/29/2012 14:39 Comments || Top||

#17  The most noticeable thing about Benghazi - there is still no clear picture of what happened. How long has it been now ... over 6 weeks since the incident.

The most reasonable cinclusion is that a clear picture of events NEVER existed on Sep 11 - even to our top commanders. They knew some details, but did not know others. The whole thing was never pulled together in real time. We don't have a command chain that can respond to a blurry series of events in an attack scenario. We have leaders who demand total clarity before they can reach a decision ... and it doesn't exist.
Posted by: Raider || 10/29/2012 14:55 Comments || Top||

#18  On something of this magnitude there is absolutely no reason that the exact sequence of events is not known. It is also not believable that the what did he know and when did he know it cannot be answered.

Everyone I have heard of has denied issuing a stand down order, BUT, no one has spoken about who should have issued a weapons free order.

Is this all about waiting for President Present and therefore no one moved?
Posted by: AlanC || 10/29/2012 15:06 Comments || Top||

#19  A "Clear picture" ....is constructed over time; minute by minute, event by event. It's called a "Common Operational Picture" or COP and is fed to decision makers via briefings, Situation Reports SITREPs, and hourly or event driven updates.

All intelligence, both stratetic and tactical feed the COP. The line between strategic and tactical is oftentimes blurred, but the COP is constantly updated. The COP of Benghazi continues to be built and assessed this very hour.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/29/2012 15:10 Comments || Top||

#20  I continue to hear the tired, bullshi*, meaningless term... "The Fog of War". Whenever I hear that term I default to assessing the speaker as an obfuscater or as having a paper arsehole.

Unknowns are labled "Ingelligence Gaps". Intelligence Gaps become the commander's Primary Intelligence Requirement or PIR. They usually come in sets of ten. An example might be:

Hybothetical Commander's "Top Ten" PIR
1. How many personnel assaulted the consulate and safe house?
2. Where was the marshalling area for the assault force?
3. To what location did the assault force retire?
4. What types of motor vehichles were used by the assault force?
5. How many members of the assault force were killed in action (EKIA), and where were the bodies taken for burial?
6. What types of weapons were used by the assault force?
7. What ethnic nationalities comprised the assault force.
8. Who many members of the assault force were wounded in action (EWIA), where were treated for injuries, or if flown out of country for treatment, when and to where?
9. Who is now claiming responsibility for the attack.
10. What are open source media reporting about the attack, and when did they begin their reporting.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/29/2012 15:50 Comments || Top||

#21  The "Top Ten" provided above help define the Common Operational Picture (COP). As intelligence "GAPS" are filled, new GAPS of lesser (or higher) priority may be placed on the Top Ten. Effective intelligence efforts are constantly focused on the Commander's PIR and the intelligence GAPS needed to refine the COP. This is (or should be) a continual process and exercise of refinement.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/29/2012 16:01 Comments || Top||

#22  Besoeker .. thanks for the explanation on the COP.

I think what we are seeing is the Fog Of Information - not the Fog of War. There is a very human tendency for human ebings (incl. decision makers) to give high emphasis to live video feeds. It's the same basic reason why people love to see live satellite pix of events on CNN. The human mind "believes" this information is more reliable - because you are seeing it in real time. Therefore, it is quite possible that the COP was set aside, in favor of the live feeds of images from the drones over Benghazi.

But what exactly can a drone TV camera show you in a situation like that? There are figures running around, there is weapon fire, there are buildings on fire and columns of smoke. It's not possible to pick out a demarcation that separates "good guys" from "bad guys". So how do you give an order to engage a target on the ground??

Without clear information from American ground participants - it's quite possible that key decision makers were faced with "information paralysis". Of course, this doesn't guarantee they would have made a call to respond with an aerial gunship ... but you will never know.
Posted by: Raider || 10/29/2012 16:16 Comments || Top||

#23  John 15:13 "Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

At the safe house, after 7 hours of battle, former Navy Seal Woods continued to fight, to paint the motor position with laser, continued to request a strike, over and over again, as the motor team's spotter walked each motor round closer and closer to the annex untl the annex was hit. Woods body was found slumped over the heavy machine gun. Hattip - Mr Wood's father, this afternoon.
Posted by: wr || 10/29/2012 17:44 Comments || Top||

#24  The Panetta Doctrine
Posted by: tipper || 10/29/2012 17:53 Comments || Top||

#25  Sorry, bad link. Try this:
The Panetta Doctrine
Posted by: tipper || 10/29/2012 17:56 Comments || Top||

#26  Well, according to AFRICOM's own website, it was stood up on October 1, 2008..

Four years is an awfully long time for a major command to NOT have a SEAL team ready to go, especially in a region of the world where terrorists and pirates regularly operate.
Posted by: Ptah || 10/29/2012 19:17 Comments || Top||

#27  This incident probably will cause Sec Ops Command to re-think where their forces are positioned.

Still ... there will always be a problem if a wave of terrorists make it over the outside wall and get in amongst the buildings of a US consulate. At that point overhead protection is of limited use. And very likely the jihadists learned that lesson from Benghazi.
Posted by: Raider || 10/29/2012 22:36 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Drunk Swede runs over cop in Segway getaway
The man approached the Crown Nightclub on Amiralsgatan in central Malmö in the early hours of Thursday and attempted to access the premises.

As the club was closed for the evening he was left banging in frustration on the door. He is also reported to have emptied a refuse container with glass bottles outside the entrance. The commotion attracted attention and the police were called, arriving in the form of two plain clothes officers on bicycles.

According to a local police spokesperson when the drunk man saw the police officers he jumped onto a Segway and rammed one of the police officers, running over him.
"Calling all cars. Calling all cars. Be on the lookout for a drunk on a Segway. That is all."
"He is suspected of assaulting a police officer and violently resisting arrest for having driven over a police officers with a Segway," said Anders Lindell at Malmö police to the newspaper.

"It hurt," Lindell added.

The low-speed Segway assault left the police officer nursing bruises and is reported to have evaded serious injury.
The man or the Segway?
The man is furthermore suspected of theft as he was unable to identify the owner of the two-wheeled battery-driven people carrier.
Posted by: Au Auric || 10/29/2012 03:06 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Escape on a Segway? That sounds so Swedish or West Coastish.
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/29/2012 12:08 Comments || Top||

#2  "I thoughtsh it was a... car *hiccup*"
Posted by: Frank G || 10/29/2012 18:16 Comments || Top||


-Election 2012
Do Elections Have Consequences? Ask Brian Terry and Chris Stevens
What may be the money quote:
Our Benghazi facility was a half-baked operation. It was not a consulate. It was a "facility" with an ambiguous purpose, at least as far as the unclassified world is concerned. It had a stunning lack of even basic security despite the rapidly deteriorating situation in Libya, and in eastern Libya in particular. The security level for our facilities in Libya was driven by the political consideration of maintaining the liberal fiction that Obama's war in Libya had succeeded, that the "Arab Spring" was akin to our own Revolution, and that the region "loved" President Obama. When things fell apart on September 11, the number one concern was not to do anything that would damage that narrative. Blame the crisis on an obscure video; blame it on a press release by the Romney campaign; blame it on subordinates. Above all, do nothing that would appear to show that the Obama misadministration had misunderstood reality in Libya and throughout the Muslim word. The result? Mayhem.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/29/2012 03:05 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  We still haven't gotten much on Brian Terry and Fast and Furious from this administration. They stonewalled that investigation rather than tried to clear it up. One begins to think this administration is the enemy of Americans rather than answerable to Americans.
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/29/2012 11:25 Comments || Top||

#2  "Begins"?
Posted by: Barbara || 10/29/2012 12:26 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Mohamed Mohamud lawyers want to limit use of 'terrorist,' to ensure fair Portland trial
The Innocence Of Islam
U.S. District Judge Garr M. King, presiding over the forthcoming trial of Portland bomb plot suspect Mohamed Mohamud, will referee a slew of extraordinary legal requests in coming weeks.

Defense lawyers for the Somali American suspect are asking King to limit the government's use of such terms as terrorist, martyrdom and violent jihad.

Mohamud faces potential prejudice from jurors because he's an African-born Muslim accused of "attempting to bomb Pioneer (Courthouse) Square during a Christmas tree lighting ceremony," the defense team says. To make things fairer, they say, they should get six extra chances during jury selection to reject prospective jurors.

Prosecutors are asking the judge to allow them to give a guided tour of a van -- still loaded with an inert 1,800-pound bomb -- to show jurors that Mohamud meant business at the Nov. 26, 2010, tree lighting. They also want to keep secret the identities of two undercover FBI operatives who posed as terrorists to make friends with Mohamud.

The requests from both sides were included among hundreds of pages of briefs, motions and other documents filed last week in advance of Mohamud's Jan. 15 federal trial. Mohamud, accused of attempting to set off a weapon of mass destruction, faces a potential life sentence.
Posted by: tipper || 10/29/2012 02:51 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Defense lawyers for the Somali American suspect are asking King to limit the government's use of such terms as terrorist, martyrdom and violent jihad.

Obviously they are in receipt of the DoJ Holder, Terms of Reference memo.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/29/2012 4:03 Comments || Top||

#2  How about using terms like banana, apricot and apple?
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 10/29/2012 10:14 Comments || Top||

#3  An even more equal trial would require everyone in the courtroom to change their names to Mo Mo.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 10/29/2012 10:24 Comments || Top||

#4  How about a fair trial, then an execution?
Posted by: Raj || 10/29/2012 11:25 Comments || Top||

#5  Is "poo-poo head" ok?
Posted by: mojo || 10/29/2012 16:24 Comments || Top||

#6  "dirtbag, Islamo-trash, and his attorneys are even worse"
Posted by: Frank G || 10/29/2012 18:15 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
IAF Strikes Back At Gaza Rocket Launching Sites
[Jerusalem Post] Terrorist targets hit after projectiles land in open areas in Eshkol region; further six rockets launched following IAF strike.

The Israeli Air Force hit back at targets in the Gazoo Strip overnight on Sunday, the IDF Spokesperson Office said.

A further six rockets fell overnight on the Eshkol Regional Council area following the IAF strike, Army Radio reported.

IDF spokesmen announced that the IAF struck terrorist targets in Gazoo, including a rocket launching site in the northern Gazoo Strip and a center of terrorist activity in southern Gazoo.

Paleostinian sources announced damage done to two rocket launching squads in Khan Younis and Beit Hanoun, with no injuries reported.

The IDF said that the Arclight airstrike was in response to high trajectory fire into Israeli territory after Paleostinians in Gazoo fired three long-range Grad rockets
...Soviet-developed 122-mm rockets, usually launched from trucks. Newer versions are reported to have a range of up to 30 km....
at Beersheba on Sunday morning, threatening to end a brief period of calm.

The Popular Resistance Committees, one of several smaller terrorist factions in the Gazoo Strip, said it had launched one of the projectiles.

The rockets triggered air raid sirens on the outskirts of the city, and hit in open areas, the Israel Police said.

The Beersheba Municipality canceled school on Sunday as a result of the threat of ongoing violence. Beersheba Mayor Rubik Danilovich noted that in recent years, Paleostinian rockets had hit four schools and kindergartens in the Negev city, adding that casualties were avoided because they were closed ahead of time.

"If there are missiles, there will be no school," said Danilovich, who took the decision to shut the schools despite instructions by the IDF Home Front Command to keep them open. School is to resume as usual on Monday, as no rockets fell in the area overnight.

Earlier on Sunday, two short-range Kassam rockets went kaboom! in the Eshkol region, also striking open areas and triggering rocket alert sirens.

Shortly after that attack, the Israel Air Force struck a rocket-launching cell in central Gazoo.

"We identified an accurate strike, and subsequent kabooms [of rockets in the cell's possession]" the IDF Spokesman's Office said.

Paleostinian sources said the strike killed one Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, man and maimed another. The army said the cell was in the final stages of preparing to fire into southern Israel.

The violence continued later in the day when Paleostinians fired mortar shells at an IDF force on a routine patrol of the Gazoo border.

No injuries were reported.

In the afternoon, three Paleostinian rockets went kaboom! in the Hof Ashkelon region, triggering sirens.

Soon afterward, four rockets struck in the Eshkol region.

The violence follows a three-day lull since last week, when Gazoobased bully boyz fired more than 80 rockets at Israeli towns and cities.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/29/2012 02:38 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  17 Rockets fired into Israel on 10-29 as of early pm local time
Posted by: lord garth || 10/29/2012 8:33 Comments || Top||

#2  "If there are missiles, there will be no school," said Danilovich
What, like a SNOW DAY!

The Israeli Air Force hit back...with no injuries reported.

Somebody needs to upgrade their munitions, and spend more time training on the pickle.
Posted by: Skidmark || 10/29/2012 10:28 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
2 Hamas Leaders Killed In Syria, Sources Say
[Ma'an] Two Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, leaders were killed by the Syrian army in Deraa refugee camp on Saturday, Paleostinian sources said.

Ahmad Khalil Khalil and Ahmad al-Kharoubi were shot by Syrian soldiers in the country's southern refugee camp, sources told Ma'an.

The bodies reportedly lay in the street for several hours before ambulances were able to reach the area.

Syrian opposition activists reported a return to heavy government bombardment in major cities on Saturday, further undermining a truce intended to mark the Mohammedan Eid al-Adha religious holiday.

More than 150 people were killed on Friday, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based opposition organization with a network of sources within Syria.

Earlier in October, Assad's forces bombed Deraa camp killing at least 20 Paleostinians and injuring dozens more, Paleostinian refugees in Damascus
...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world...
told Ma'an. Sources in Deraa camp said that artillery shells and mortars targeted several streets near the area's mosque.

Some 225,000 Paleostinian refugees have been directly affected by the 18-month-old uprising against Assad.

In August, Paleostinian official Muhammad Shtayyeh said around 400 Paleostinians had been killed in the internal conflict, although that figure is estimated to have significantly increased in recent months.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/29/2012 02:38 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  only two? Try harder
Posted by: Frank G || 10/29/2012 18:12 Comments || Top||

#2  It's a start.... (Barely)
Posted by: Barbara || 10/29/2012 19:43 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Egypt forces arrest gunman who fired at police patrol
[Ma'an] Egyptian police on Sunday enjugged
Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out!
a gunman who opened fire on a police patrol in the Sinai peninsula, Ma'an's news hound said.

Two gunnies opened fire on a police patrol in the Sinai, leading to a shootout with Egyptian security forces. The gunnies then hid in a house before police managed to make an arrest. The other gunman managed to escape.

Disorder has spread in Sinai since former President Hosni Mubarak
...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011...
was ousted in a popular uprising last year, with Islamist beturbanned goons stepping up attacks on security forces and the Israeli border. Egypt's President, Muhammad Mursi, has vowed to restore order.

Egyptian forces began two months ago their biggest security crackdown in decades after beturbanned goons killed 16 border guards in the deadliest attack there since Egypt's 1973 war with Israel.

But efforts to impose central authority in the lawless desert region are complicated by the indigenous Bedouin population's ingrained hostility to the government in Cairo.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/29/2012 02:38 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Malaysians Arrested In Lebanon For Al-Qaida Links
[Jerusalem Post] Two Malaysians, suspected of links to al-Qaeda, have been placed in durance vile
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
in Leb, Malaysia's Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said on Sunday.
Just pilgrims. Simple pilgrims. Simple, heavily armed pilgrims...
Local newspapers said the two were believed to have been trying to make their way to Syria to join the 19-month-old revolt against Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Light of the Alawites...
, where Islamist Islamic fascisti are taking an increasingly prominent role.

The two, aged 28 and 21, were placed in durance vile
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
on October 18 and were expected to appear in court on Monday, the foreign minister said in a statement.

In Beirut, a Lebanese judiciary official confirmed that two Malaysian nationals had been placed in durance vile
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
on charges of terrorism and links to al-Qaeda.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/29/2012 02:38 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda


Africa North
6 Hurt In Shooting On Children's Park In South Sinai
[Ma'an] Gunmen opened fire in a children's park in south Sinai on Saturday night, wounding six, officials said.

The al-Fayrouz park in al-Tur city was packed with families celebrating the Eid al-Adha holiday when a group of Bedouin men opened fire, witnesses said. Four children, a man and woman suffered injuries, some serious, medics said. One child lost the fingers on her left hand, they said.

Locals said a Bedouin man had been thrown out of the park for harassing a female child, and return with family members for the shooting. The assailants expeditiously departed at a goodly pace.

In northern Sinai, two girls escaped an attempted kidnapping when an officer with the traffic police intervened, a Ma'an correspondent said.

Nada, 13, and Sabha, 14, were walking down the main street of el-Arish city when three men tried to abduct them.

Officer Ahmad al-Saeedi opened fire on the assailants, and one suffered a bullet wound to the leg. Al-Saeedi was also maimed and transferred to al-Arish hospital.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/29/2012 02:38 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: WoT
The Innocence of Obama
Posted by: tipper || 10/29/2012 02:18 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Innocence? I can think of lots of other descriptive words that could be better used than innocence.
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/29/2012 10:34 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
'Xinjiang militants headed to Syria to take part in civil war'
Beijing: Some of the hardcore Islamic militants from China's troubled Xinjiang province, bordering Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK), are heading to Syria and linking up with organisations like al Qaeda to fight against the Syrian government, a media report said Monday.

"Leaders from "East Turkestan" terror organisations have organised for members to head for Syria to participate in their quest for jihad," state-run Global Times quoted Chinese anti-terrorism authorities as saying.

The organisations include the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and the East Turkestan Education and Solidarity Association (ETESA) that push for "independence" for China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, where Uyghur Muslims of Turkic-origin opposed settlements of Hans.

Since May, ETIM and ETESA members have been going to Syria and linking up with organisations like al-Qaeda to fight against the Syrian government, the report said.

"ETIM is being helped by al-Qaeda and they are collecting funds through drug and gun trafficking, kidnapping and robbery. ETIM selected and recruited separatists, criminals and terrorists who fled from Xinjiang to receive secret terrorism training," an official from the anti-terrorism said.

After receiving orders from al Qaeda, terrorists from China came to Syria to meet with jihadists already on the ground before forming groups on the frontlines, the official said.

ETIM was listed as a terrorism organisation in September 2009 and recognised by the China Ministry of Public Security as one of four "East Turkestan" terrorism organisations.

On April 6, the ministry identified its third batch of "East Turkestan" terrorists with most being affiliated with ETIM.

The headquarters of ETESA, located in Istanbul, are quite extensive and include research, media, social affairs, education and women's affairs departments.
Posted by: tipper || 10/29/2012 02:09 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Quest for martyrdom, more like.
Posted by: gromky || 10/29/2012 3:39 Comments || Top||

#2  Please stand away from Pencilneck's Russian muzzie meat grinder, we're adding new E&E POK's daily. Chunks could go flying everywhere.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/29/2012 3:58 Comments || Top||

#3  Ain't it funny how the Xinjiang Militants can be found anywhere BUT China?
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 10/29/2012 13:30 Comments || Top||

#4  There's some in China; in the prisons and cemeteries (or maybe in the pig food.)
Posted by: Glenmore || 10/29/2012 13:34 Comments || Top||

#5  As per RELATED DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS, ANIT-TERRORISM EXPERT LI WEI = claims that Uighur fighters have taken part in the fighting in Chechnya + Afghanistan, + maintain an active presence in many Muslim communities throughout the Middle East + SE Asia.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 10/29/2012 23:54 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran Hopes To Resist Sanctions By Boosting Production
Bobby's lost article. Herewith the first few paragraphs, though not necessarily the ones Bobby had chosen.
With an economy struggling through some of the most punishing economic sanctions in history, Iran is looking inward to meet its basic needs while attempting to change the consumption habits of a society accustomed to enjoying a range of foreign products.

Iranian officials call it "the resistance economy," reflecting their defiance of Western attempts to halt the country's uranium enrichment program. Efforts to wean Iran from imports and to produce more goods domestically, however, have proved challenging.

While Iran's non-oil exports have strengthened steadily in recent years, its total imports have risen more dramatically. Since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad became Iran's president in 2005, total imports have increased from $39.1 billion to $57.5 billion, according to statistics published by Tehran's Chamber of Commerce.

To reverse that upward trend, the Islamic republic has implemented a policy of reducing what has been deemed unnecessary consumption.

The plan lays out a hierarchy of imports, starting with essential goods, including medicines that Iran does not produce, and ending with luxury items that authorities believe could be produced at home.

But any effort to increase domestic production faces serious head winds.

An immediate issue for local producers is that sanctions have made accessing raw materials impossible or prohibitively expensive, forcing the closure of hundreds of factories and increasing Iran's already high unemployment rate.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/29/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  I like that "head winds" phrase stuff. It's catchy!
Posted by: newc || 10/29/2012 0:17 Comments || Top||

#2  I like the line "some of the most punishing economic sanctions in history"???

Posted by: Bernardz || 10/29/2012 10:26 Comments || Top||

#3  Yeah, punishing the people while the IRGC is strengthened and while Iran's nuclear program still receives ample funding.
Posted by: American Delight || 10/29/2012 12:34 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Italy Monitoring Situation in Bani Walid
[Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of thich is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
Post] Italia's Minister for Foreign Affairs Giulio Terzi has instructed the Italian diplomatic authorities in Libya to monitor developments in the humanitarian situation in Bani Walid, where, according to reports, the toll of the festivities there stands at approximately 25 dead, over 400 maimed and more than 25,000 displaced.

Acting on the minister’s instructions, Italian Ambassador to Tripoli Giuseppe Buccino recently had a meeting with the president of Libya's National Congress, Mohammed Magharief and a number of Libyan politicians, during which he expressed Italia’s strong hope in the timely formation of a national reconciliation government, underscoring that full respect for human rights
When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much...
was a necessary requirement in the pursuit of a new democratic Libya.

Italia's Foreign Ministry said that Italia is willing to supply the maximum in humanitarian support to the population of Bani Walid once the conditions on the ground permit.

Responding to Libya’s request, Italia has made treatment in Italian hospitals available to a significant number of maimed. At the same time, the Libyan authorities expressed high expectations for the facilitated entrance of humanitarian organizations into Bani Walid, particularly the International Red Thingy.
Posted by: Fred || 10/29/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Africa Subsaharan
Guinea-Bissau army arrests alleged coup leader
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Guinea Bissau's military on Saturday tossed in the clink
Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up!
the man accused of being the criminal mastermind behind an attack on an elite army barracks a week ago which the government said was an attempted coup.

Soldiers gathered at army headquarters in Bissau as Captain Pansau N'Tchama was paraded in, throwing a Portuguese flag over his shoulders in apparent reference to accusations the former colonial ruler instigated the foiled coup.

N'Tchama was accompanied by seven heavily armed soldiers, wearing only a shirt and boxer shirts with his hands and bare feet tied.

The captain accused of leading the October 21 attack in Bissau was tossed in the clink
Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up!
on Saturday morning with two suspected co-conspirators in Bolama, the capital of the Bijagos archipelago on the closest of the islands to the Bissau.

General Tomas Djassi said he had lead a unit of 158 men in the hunt for N'Tchama.

The Sunday dawn attack on the army barracks left at least seven people dead, including six of the attackers.

Transition authorities in the west African nation have accused Portugal of instigating the attack in a bid to re-instate former prime minister Carlos Gomes Junior who was ousted in an April 12 coup.
Posted by: Fred || 10/29/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Southeast Asia
20,000 displaced by Rakhine violence
[Bangla Daily Star] More than 22,000 people have been displaced by violence in Burma's Rakhine state, mostly from the Moslem Rohingya minority, the government says.

UN officials who joined a government tour said many of the displaced, who are in squalid camps, boats, or on islands or hilltops, needed urgent aid.

More than 4,600 houses have been burnt.

Earlier Burma acknowledged more than 80 people had been killed and whole villages destroyed in violence between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingyas.

The total number displaced since festivities broke out between the two groups in June is now 100,000.

There is long-standing tension between ethnic Rakhine people, who make up the majority of the state's population, and Moslems, many of whom are Rohingya and are stateless.

The Burmese authorities regard the Rohingya as undocumented Democrats and correspondents say there is widespread public hostility to them.
Posted by: Fred || 10/29/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Horn
Heavy fighting in southern Somalia leaves 5 dead
[Shabelle] A heavy fighting
... as opposed to the more usual light or desultory fighting...
in Somalia’s southern Lower Jubba region has left Sunday at least five people, including soldiers dead, reports said.

Local sources said there has been heavy fighting
... as opposed to the more usual light or desultory fighting...
in the province in recent days between al-Shabaab
... the personification of Somali state failure...
and government troops backing by the Kenyan army.

On Sunday, five people, mostly combatants were killed in the main road which links Kismayo to Afmadow city after al-Shaboobs ambushed a military convoy carrying Somali and Kenyan forces.

Reports suggested that Tanks belonging Kenyan forces were visible in the battlefield as the combat continuing in the area. The allied forces were en route to Afmadow city as the ambush attack happened.
Posted by: Fred || 10/29/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab

#1  Heavy fighting and only five dead? I've seen better body counts from doubles tennis. Don't people take pride in their work anymore?
Posted by: SteveS || 10/29/2012 19:20 Comments || Top||

#2  ROFL, Steve. :-D
Posted by: Barbara || 10/29/2012 19:46 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Mali Islamists bulldoze independence monument in Timbuktu
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Lunatics controlling northern Mali on Saturday took a bulldozer to an independence monument in Timbuktu, where they have destroyed many world heritage treasures in recent months, witnesses said.

"At the moment I can see eight Islamists with a bulldozer. They are busy destroying Timbuktu's independence monument," one witness told AFP.

"With the help of a tractor the Islamists are busy destroying the Timbuktu independence monument," said another witness, speaking to AFP by telephone.

The cut-thoats, who seized control of Mali's vast north following a disastrous coup in March, began a campaign of destruction of Timbuktu's cultural treasures in July that prompted an international outcry.

They had already removed the head of a horse alongside the monument, as well as destroying the tombs of ancient Mohammedan saints and the "sacred door" to a 15th-century mosque.

The snuffies consider the tombs to be "idolatrous" and have also threatened to destroy the city's three ancient mosques, one of which dates back to 1327.

Once considered one of Africa's most stable democracies, Mali has slid into chaos since the March 22 coup overthrew the government of president Amadou Toumani Toure.

Tuareg rebels and a number of Islamist groups backed by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) capitalised on the power vacuum in the south to seize an area larger than La Belle France.

But the Islamists then overran the Tuareg and have imposed their strict version of sharia on areas under their control, arresting unveiled women, stoning an unmarried couple to death, publicly flogging smokers and amputating suspected thieves' limbs, according to residents and rights groups.

Western powers fear the zone could become a new haven for terrorists, and are scrambling to help Mali come up with a plan to win back its territory, offering logistical support and training to its weak army rather than troops.

The plans will be presented to the United Nations
...When talk is your weapon it's hard to make yourself heard over the artillery...
in late November

Despite the fragility of the interim government in Bamako, which has failed to assert itself, the African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
this week re-admitted the nation as it seeks to stamp out the cut-thoat threat.
Posted by: Fred || 10/29/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Ansar Dine

#1  Just wait'll they get to D.C. Lotsa monumnets there!
Posted by: Bobby || 10/29/2012 6:08 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Blast Kills Minieh Arms Maker Working on Machinegun for Syria Rebels
[An Nahar] A home-made weapons manufacturer in north Leb was killed in a blast in his workshop on Sunday while trying to make a machinegun for Syrian rebels, a Lebanese security official told Agence La Belle France Presse.

Marwan al-Qassab was working on a DShK heavy machinegun to be smuggled into Syria to support the snuffies when a blast rocked his workshop, the official said on condition of anonymity.

"Marwan al-Qassab had a small, illicit weapons factory in the town of Minieh," 10 kilometers (six miles) north of the coastal city of Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of thich is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
, he added.

"Members of the security forces rushed to the scene, and found his body shredded by the blast."

North Leb is home to many sympathizers -- most of them Sunni Moslem -- of the revolt against Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Supressor of the Damascenes...
.
Posted by: Fred || 10/29/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Bangladesh
Govt won't allow attack on religious institutions: PM
[Bangla Daily Star] Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since 1981. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide...
on Sunday warned that the present government will not allow any attack on any religious institution and categorically said those who attacked Buddhists temples and monasteries will definitely be punished after proper investigation.

“It’s my question who’ve committed this heinous act and with which intention? Thousand years’ of valuable artifacts, idols and cultural relics have lost with these heinous attacks. It’s not only the loss of the Buddhist community, but also the nation,” she said.

The prime minister’s strong remarks came while exchanging greetings with the representatives of the Buddhist community at her official residence Gono Bhaban ahead of Probarona Purnima.

The premier said a vested quarter unleashed the attacks on the Buddhist monasteries and damaged the houses of the Buddhists in a bid to tarnish the country’s image.

Administering a note of warning, Hasina said the present government will not allow any attack on any religious institution or any religious sentiment as it wants to ensure free and peaceful celebration of religious festivals of all religions in the country.

Reiterating that her government has been working tirelessly to ensure the basic and constitutional rights of people, Hasina called upon all, including the Buddhist community, to work together for foiling the evil attempts of the conspirators to destroy the hard-earned democracy.

She said her government has already constructed makeshift houses for the victims and funds have been allocated to reconstruct the damaged temples and Buddhists sculptures and the country’s leading architects of the country have showed interest to redesign those voluntarily.

Hasina said all religions give importance to humanity, preaching the message of peace and showing respect to each others. “But sometimes such suicidal incidents take place in our society harming the fraternity.”

She mentioned that her government has already established the voting rights of people, one of the main constitutional rights. “Holding free, fair, peaceful and neutral holding of over 6,000 elections in nearly last four years is the bright examples of that.”

With the huge mandate of people, Hasina said, her government amended the constitution and restored the spirit of the Liberation War, ensured the equal rights of people of all religions and stopped the path of illegal grabbing of state power through unconstitutional means.

Hasina said her government has been working hard to create such an environment where all, irrespective of their religion, caste and creed, will enjoy equal rights and perform their religious rituals and festivals with full freedom.

The people of all religions in Bangladesh have been living in the country maintaining peace and harmony as they freed it through a nine-month struggle in 1971. “So, all will enjoy the equal rights.”
Posted by: Fred || 10/29/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Mass Evacuations, 100s of Flights Canceled as Hurricane Sandy Nears U.S.
To all Rantburgers in the path of the storm: please stay safe, and check in afterward when you have time.
[An Nahar] U.S. authorities ordered coastal evacuations and airlines canceled transatlantic flights on Sunday as Hurricane Sandy bore down on the east coast after claiming 66 lives in the Caribbean.

Forecasters warned of catastrophic impacts from the mid-Atlantic to southern New England as the historic storm crashes ashore late Monday or early Tuesday, with New Jersey and New York City bracing for particularly dangerous conditions.

Nine days out from election day, the hurricane also threw the U.S. presidential contest into disarray as Barack Obama
They get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them...
and Republican challenger Willard Mitt Romney
...former governor of Massachussetts, currently the Publican nominee for president. He is the son of the former governor of Michigan, George Romney, who himself ran for president after saving American Motors from failure, though not permanently. Romney has a record as a successful businessman, heading Bain Capital, and he rescued the 2002 Winter Olympics from the midst of bribery and mismanagement scandals. More to the point, he isn't President B.O...
canceled events and prepared for the unexpected fallout.

Torrential rain and high waves battered South and North Carolina as the storm moved up the coast. The U.S. meteorological service warned that New Jersey and New York could see record flooding because of the storm surge.

Sandy, which is packing hurricane force winds upwards of 75 miles per hour (120 kilometers per hour), has already claimed at least 66 lives in the Caribbean, most of them in Haiti, where 51 people were reported killed.

New York authorities issued an evacuation order for hundreds of thousands of people in low-lying coastal towns on Sandy's projected route. About 1,100 national guard troops were to be deployed in the towns and villages.
Posted by: Fred || 10/29/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I came to work this morning, up I-95 to the Beltway, even though the gubbamint is closed. Somebody has to feed the 47%.
Posted by: Bobby || 10/29/2012 5:45 Comments || Top||

#2  While your efforts are certainly lauded here Bobby, I wouldn't hold my breath for "gubbamint" accolades or any recognition of your dedication. In fact, I wouldn't even mention it in the lunchroom tomorrow.
:-(
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/29/2012 8:37 Comments || Top||

#3  And advice for anyone deciding to hang out on the beach - be sure to write your name, address and SS# on your chest in indelible marker - it will make things much easier for the Rescue and Recovery teams later.
Posted by: Glenmore || 10/29/2012 8:40 Comments || Top||

#4  When Isaac come crashing down on Louisiana, Barry kept campaigning, but Sandy affects a number of swing states and posh beaches, and its back to the olde' situation room - if that makes y'all more or less comfortable.

I think its because he is a racist who hates the African American communities of New Orleans and surrounding areas; amiright three letter news places?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 10/29/2012 10:31 Comments || Top||

#5  Here near Dulles Airport, we just have a hard cold rain with lots of gusts. I'm staying home today and probably tomorrow. One of my coworkers Friday moaned about how the 'right' people (he meant 'left' people) won't be able to vote next week, that Romney will win, and that we'll be at war within two years.
Posted by: Eric Jablow || 10/29/2012 12:49 Comments || Top||

#6 

About an hour ago someone posted this on the web.
Posted by: Beavis || 10/29/2012 12:58 Comments || Top||

#7  Drive on out Route-50 to Upperville Eric and lift a pint to me at the Hunter's Head.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/29/2012 13:00 Comments || Top||

#8  In a presser about the storm, just heard Pres. B-HO use the phrase "pre-positioned assets" twice. So he isn't entirely unfamiliar with the idea.
Posted by: SteveS || 10/29/2012 13:30 Comments || Top||

#9  Excellent picture Beavis, thank you.

"But where are the horses?"
-preezy
Posted by: swksvolFF || 10/29/2012 13:34 Comments || Top||

#10  In a presser about the storm, just heard Pres. B-HO use the phrase "pre-positioned assets" twice. So he isn't entirely unfamiliar with the idea.
Posted by SteveS


As in the potentally recent usage:

Yes Mr. President, we have "pre-positioned assets" which can reach Benghazi.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/29/2012 13:41 Comments || Top||

#11  I hope someone ties down his empty chair.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 10/29/2012 13:53 Comments || Top||

#12  "I hope someone ties down his empty chair."

Good suggestion, BP. :-D

Actually, I took my empty chair (and signs, and hanging baskets, and wind chimes) in on Saturday. (Central Virginia)
Posted by: Barbara || 10/29/2012 14:08 Comments || Top||

#13  Central Virginia here.

Went to work as usual (raining, but not bad). Firm was then closed at 12:30 (and we're not a firm that normally closes for anything); were told to call tomorrow morning at 10:30 to check on status of office opening. Still raining when I left, but about the same as this morning. Now it's really coming down; guess the bosses had access to better info than we did.

Our offices in New York and Richmond are closed, period. Our offices in Washington, Baltimore, and Norfolk are working "virtually" (meaning not physically open, but expected to work from home if you can). Good luck with working remotely in Norfolk - I expect a goodly amount of Tidewater has lost power already. :-(

I'm going to get off the computer and go do stuff I need to do around here that requires electricity. Will check back later (if I can).

Y'all in the storm's path, stay safe.
Posted by: Barbara || 10/29/2012 14:29 Comments || Top||

#14  Windy, snow and rain mix here in the mountains of east Tennessee.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 10/29/2012 15:36 Comments || Top||

#15  They cut us loose about 3:00. Heavy rain, real bad visibility, wind gusts that bounce the car around like a knuckleball, some minor flooding. Worst of it is supposed to be tonight.
Posted by: tu3031 || 10/29/2012 17:06 Comments || Top||

#16  Dang, Beavis. That pic makes me teary.
Posted by: SteveS || 10/29/2012 17:33 Comments || Top||

#17  That is a wonderful picture.

I am just a few miles south of them. The rain is steady, but fairly light. The wind is ceaseless and the gusts are fierce. A whole night of this is going to do some damage.
Posted by: RandomJD || 10/29/2012 18:05 Comments || Top||

#18  The picture was taken in September. But they're still out there.
Not that I had any doubt...
Posted by: tu3031 || 10/29/2012 18:45 Comments || Top||

#19  First the surge, then “Après moi, le déluge” and then "burn baby burn" (too wet) lootapoolata.
Posted by: tipper || 10/29/2012 19:35 Comments || Top||

#20  Stay safe and well, Rantburgers. My prayers are with you!
Posted by: Frank G || 10/29/2012 20:22 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Myanmar lowers ethnic strife death toll to 64
[Bangla Daily Star] Myanmar authorities have revised downward to 64 the corpse count from this week's ethnic violence in the country's west after warning that the strife risks harming the country's reputation as it seeks to shift to democratic rule.

Rakhine state front man Win Myaing told news hounds late Friday that the previous count he had given of 112 dead in festivities that began Sunday was a mistaken tally of figures that had reached his office.
"112 people have been killed!"
"Wait a minute! I'm not dead!"
"Okay, then. 111."
"I'm not dead, either."
"110 then."

He said that as of Friday evening, 33 men and 31 women had been killed in violence between the Buddhist Rakhine and the Moslem Rohingya communities, with 68 maimed.
"I'm okay. A little bruised..."
"109."

"Many of those who were killed as a result of festivities between the two sides, and at least two died of gunshot injuries," Win Myaing said. Some Rakhine residents in affected areas have told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named they were shot at by government soldiers trying to keep order.
"Hey, really! I'm fine!"
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
"108. Anybody else alive?"
"I am!"
"Me!"
Me, too!"

The figure released by Rakhine officials had been at odds with lower number released by the office of President Thein Sein, but the discrepancy had seemed to be accounted for by the time period covered.
Posted by: Fred || 10/29/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Brought some of them back to life, did they?
Posted by: Glenmore || 10/29/2012 8:38 Comments || Top||

#2  BTW, as a side note, typing " Shan " into the search bar here is probably one of the better ways of looking up previous 'burg entries on the conflict there. You need the spaces around it because it gets used in place names in Pakistan.

To make a long story short: the government in Burma/Myanmar is at least pretending to want to reform and have democratic elections and all that jazz, along with a willingness to have the conflicts in the eastern part of the country die down. This comes simultaneous to an apparent desire to move away from a state of vassalage to China, which most Burmese/Myanmarese/etc thought liked the state only for its strategic position and its natural resources.

So there's this rumor (who knows how credible) that peace is going to break out and the country's gonna stop being yet another vassal state to the Han, and suddenly there's all this conflict going on in Rankine state.

Oh, and suddenly the Arab World cares about ethnic conflicts in Burma. (Facepalm).
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 10/29/2012 11:43 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Former Libyan Ambassador's Ottawa Mansion Listed for Sale at $7M
[Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of thich is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
Post] The former Rockcliffe Park residence of the Libyan ambassador in Ottawa, Canada, then Ahmed Jarrud, has been listed for sale for a week, for just $7 million. Two embassies and one private individual have already expressed interest in buying this home of former Libyan dictator Muammar Qadaffy
...Custodian of Wheelus AFB for 42 long years until he was ejected from the gene pool by his indignant citizens...
's emissaries to Canada, the realtor handling the property says.

A member of the ReMax Metro City real estate agency has been reported describing the villa as, “absolutely gorgeous home and the quality of construction is excellent.”

The residence was built about 10 years ago for a prominent Canadian family. It was bought in 2005 for the same now asking price of $7-million.

The mansion has remained virtually empty since the February 2011 uprising in Libya against the Qadaffy regime. After the uprising, that ousted the former dictator from power after over four decades of iron-fist rule, Qadaffy's family’s assets were frozen.

The estate sits on one of the largest lots in Rockcliffe, on the same block as the residences of the Spanish and Turkish ambassadors and is close to the Chinese ambassador’s home.

Inside it encompasses about 10,000 square feet on the main levels, excluding the finished basement area, and features a main-floor hallway 70 feet long, five grand entertainment rooms that are ideal for embassy receptions, and a convenient elevator that zips visitors upstairs.
Posted by: Fred || 10/29/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

#1  Sure wouldn't want to pay the property tax on that brute!
Posted by: Canuckistan sniper || 10/29/2012 17:49 Comments || Top||


UN Gen Secretary Calls on Libyan Authorities, Bani Walid to Resolve Stand-off Peacefully
[Tripoli Post] Alarmed by the fighting in and around the Libyan city of Bani Walid, the Secretary of the United Nations
...an international organization whose stated aims of facilitating interational security involves making sure that nobody with live ammo is offended unless it's a civilized country...
, the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
, has reminded all parties of their obligations under international humanitarian law and called on all the Libyan authorities and those in Bani Walid to begin immediately a process to resolve the Bani Walid stand-off peacefully.

Mr Ban was particularly concerned about the reports indicating growing civilian casualties due to indiscriminate shelling and said that he is of the firm conviction that the Libyan authorities must be able to extend Libyan illusory sovereignty and state control and services throughout the territory of Libya.

Following their historic July elections, the Libyan people put their trust in the Libyan state, and the UN Secretary-General is urging all Libyans to work together to strengthen the legitimacy and effectiveness of state institutions across the country.

He said that the state and those militias acting in its name also have a responsibility to the people of Libya to act fully in accordance with international law, in particular international human rights
...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless...
law. All those involved in the fighting in and around Bani Walid should be aware that the international community is closely monitoring the situation.
Posted by: Fred || 10/29/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

#1  Mr Ban was particularly concerned about the reports indicating growing civilian casualties due to indiscriminate shelling.....

....former US Navy SEALs, drones and AC-130's over head, etc, etc. How copy over?

Posted by: Besoeker || 10/29/2012 9:40 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
52 Dead in Syria Clashes, Air Raids after Eid Truce Collapses
[An Nahar] Fighting, air raids and a car booming shook Syria on Sunday, monitors said, as the international community looked to pick up the pieces of a failed bid to halt the violence for a Mohammedan holiday ceasefire.

Rebels stormed regime positions in the suburbs of Damascus
...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti...
as air strikes pummeled opposition-held areas on the outskirts of the capital, activists and a watchdog said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a regime air raid strike in the northwestern province of Idlib killed 16 people, including seven children.

The four-day ceasefire proposed by U.N.-Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
envoy Lakhdar Brahimi already collapsed amid festivities, shelling and car kabooms hours after it had been due to take effect with the start of Eid al-Adha holidays on Friday morning.

An army statement on Sunday blamed the ceasefire's collapse on "violations" by rebels. The rebels for their part have said they have only reacted to regime attacks.

With hopes shattered of even a temporary halt to the 19 months of bloodshed in Syria, diplomats said Brahimi is looking ahead to new efforts to tackle the crisis.

He is to go to the U.N. Security Council in November with new proposals to push for talks between Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs...
and the opposition, U.N. diplomats told Agence La Belle France Presse, and will head this week for Russia and China to discuss the crisis.

"The political process will not start until Assad and the opposition have battered each other so much that there is no choice. They are not there yet, but Brahimi has some ideas," an envoy at the Security Council said.

On the ground Sunday, rebel forces seized three military posts in the Damascus suburb of Douma amid fierce fighting and killed four soldiers at another checkpoint in the region, the Syrian Observatory said.

A car boom destroyed Sbeineh southeast of the capital, it said, although there were no immediate reports of casualties.

Regime warplanes hit the nearby towns of Irbin, Zamalka and Harasta, where the military has been trying for weeks to dislodge rebel forces, the group said.

They also struck a building in the town of Bara in Idlib, killing 16 people including seven children and five women, the Observatory said.

At least 52 people were killed on Sunday including 29 civilians, according to a preliminary count compiled by the Observatory, following 114 deaths on Saturday.

The Britannia-based Observatory relies on a countrywide network of activists, lawyers and medics in civilian and military hospitals.

In northern commercial hub Aleppo
...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins...
, fighting broke out in several districts, as the army shelled two neighborhoods including the ancient UNESCO-listed souks in the heart of Syria's second city, it said.

Assad's regime has blamed the rebels for the failure of the ceasefire, with gunnies responding that they have only responded to regime violence.

In a statement released on Sunday, the army said that the rebels sought to "destroy" the country.

"The terrorist groups' ongoing, brazen violations to the declared truce are hard proof that they are complicit in the project to shatter and destroy Syria," it said.

It vowed to hit rebels "with an iron fist in order to eradicate them and to save the nation from their evils."

Brahimi had hoped the Eid truce might lead to a more permanent ceasefire to push for a political solution and allow aid to reach stricken areas of the country.

Rights groups say more than 35,000 people have been killed in the conflict, which began as an anti-regime uprising but is now a civil war pitting mainly Sunni rebels against Assad's regime dominated by his minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

In the Mohammedan holy city of Mina, meanwhile, enraged pilgrims cursed Assad and prayed for his death on Sunday as they hurled pebbles at pillars representing Satan in the final ritual of the annual hajj pilgrimage in western Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face...
Rebel flags billowed among vast crowds of pilgrims headed towards the stoning site amid chanting of anti-Assad slogans.

"Oh God, may we see Bashir al-Assad soon hanged or burnt, kicked out or a humiliated prisoner," one Syrian yelled through a loudhailer as dozens behind him shouted "Amen".
Posted by: Fred || 10/29/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Africa Horn
Senior Somali Military Commander Killed in ambush attack
[Shabelle] A senior Somali government military commander was killed in the latest fighting between the government soldiers and Al-shabab snuffies which took place Sunday in Lower Shabelle region of southern Somalia, an official said.

General Mohamed Ibrahim Farah better known as (Gordan),Commander of sector five was assassinated in an ambush attack by Al shabab snuffies at El Waregow area near the port city of Marko, some 100 Km south of Mogadishu, according to military sources.

The attack was said to be fiercest since the allied forces moved in the region two months ago as the rival sides used heavy and light weapons during the bushwhack attack on Govt. military convoy by the beturbanned goons.

Al shabab, which formally merged to Al Qaeda early this year, has not commented on the murder of Gen. Gordan so far.
Posted by: Fred || 10/29/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Arabia
10-Year Old Dies in Yemen Missile Accident
[Yemen Post] A 10-year old boy died while playing with an extruded missile in Yemen's southern province of Taiz on Sunday, the Yemeni state news agency Saba reported quoting a statement by a local security source.

Mubarak Muhammad Naji died and two girl children, 9-year old Ohoud and 12-year old Asmaa, were maimed in the kaboom of the missile that happened in 6th Street, the source said.

The authorities have and launched an investigation into the accident and warned to avoid such stuffs when found, Saba said.

Taiz was one of the Yemeni cities which turned into open battlefields for fierce battles between pro- and anti-revolution forces last year.

When mass protests erupted against the former regime, the unrest deepened the country's crises and then conflicts killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands of families in the north and south.

Scores have been killed and injured in landmine kabooms since displaced families returned to their homes in Abyan
...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues...
where the army fought and drove Al-Qaeda out of their strongholds this year.
Posted by: Fred || 10/29/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia


India-Pakistan
Three killed, 25 injured in Nowshera blast
[Dawn] Three people were killed and at least 25 injured when an kaboom took place in the Ziarat Kaka Sahib area in Nowshera on Sunday.

According to the Nowshera police, a remote-controlled bomb had been planted on a bicycle in front of the main gate of the shrine of Kaka Sahib.

The shrine houses the grave of a famous Pashtun Sufi saint Kasteer Gul, who is known as Kaka Saheb. The shrine is often frequented by locals and a large number of people were also gathered there today on the occasion of Eid.

Security forces had cordoned off the area and the injured were shifted to local hospitals.

Among the 25 injured, five were reported to be in a critical condition.

SHO Nowshera Mumtaz Khan stated that the bomb weighed between 3-5kg and had been hidden inside a bag of fruits kept on the bicycle.

Mian Iftikhar Hussain, information minister for the Khyber Pakhthunkhwa province where the attack occurred, also confirmed the incident and casualties.

He said: “According to our initial information it was a remote-controlled bomb but we are waiting for a final report from the bomb disposal officials.”
Posted by: Fred || 10/29/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Jhangvi


Afghanistan
International Airport to Open Soon in Mazar: Officials
[Tolo News] Northern Balkh province will inaugurate a number of large infrastructure projects in the near future including an international airport, local officials said this week.

The building of an international airport, a railway, and a 400-bed hospital in the scenic provincial capital Mazar-e-Sharif are underway alongside a number of infrastructure projects funded mostly with money from international donors, the officials said.

The development of the current provincial airport into an international airport is one of the biggest infrastructure projects in the north of Afghanistan with it almost 90 percent complete, deputy governor Muhammad Zahir Wahdat said.

The airport, being overseen by a Turkish company, is being funded with 40 million euros from Germany and 7 million euros from the United Arabic Emirates, he added.

Wahdat said that the projects could not be done without the international donations.

"We want to thank all those who even donate one pen or one notebook, but really we want to thank those who are making the infrastructure and creating sustainable jobs for us because this is the infrastructures which will lead Afghanistan to prosperity," he said.

He also pointed to the importance of the railway to be built in helping transport commercial goods for cheaper rates and improving connections to neighboring Central Asian markets -- also a boost to economic prosperity.

"The Asian Development Bank and the Ministry of Public Works must consider three points while they are contracting: speed, quality and at the same time, a cheap price," Wahdat said.

The Asian Development Bank has also shown an interest in funding for the construction of a railway from Naiab Abad- Aqena and a railway from Tajikistan to Mazar-e-Sharif, he added.
Posted by: Fred || 10/29/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sounds great for a refueling stop as long as you don't have to deplane. But for that they could have just paved a landing strip.
Posted by: American Delight || 10/29/2012 6:39 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Geagea: Hasan's Murder Brings Hizbullah Closer to Taking over Lebanon
[An Nahar] Lebanese Forces
A Christian political party founded by Bashir Gemayel, who was then bumped off when he was elected president of Leb...
leader Samir Geagea
... Geagea was imprisoned by the Syrians and their puppets for 11 years in a dungeon in the third basement level of the Lebanese Ministry of Defense. He was released after the Cedar Revolution in 2005 ...
stressed that his party will go ahead with pressuring Prime Minister Najib Miqati to resign “no matter what the cost,” reported An Nahar daily on Sunday.

He told news hounds: “The liquidation of Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau head Brigadier General Wissam al-Hasan brings Hizbullah one step closer to taking over the state.”

“The resignation of the premier is the only way to topple the cabinet,” he added.

Hasan was killed on October 19 in a car boom in Beirut's Ashrafiyeh district.

The March 14-led opposition and Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Wally Jumblat
... Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling...
blamed Syria for the crime.

The opposition has been demanding the government, which is dominated by pro-Syria forces to resign, in the wake of the liquidation.

“The other camp resorts to violence from time to time in order to impose a new reality in the country and change the political game in Leb,” continued Geagea.

“It then returns to calling for stability and stressing the need for averting strife as if nothing happened,” he remarked.

“We decided to react in a manner that demonstrates that there will be a price to their actions,” he stated.

He accused Hizbullah and Syria of being involved in Hasan's murder, added: “We are not targeting Miqati personally. We are targeting him because he is the head of a government that includes members whom we believe are responsible for murder.”
Posted by: Fred || 10/29/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  Hezbollah already has a functional veto by virtue of their numbers in the cabinet.

But things aren't all rosy. They have managed to tick off non Hezbollah Shiite in Lebanon by virtue of their arrogance, extortion, etc. They have also suffered several hundred fatalities in Syria, many killed while guarding their munitions supply infrastructure. Worst of all, Iran is demanding they do more to more directly help Assad.

Posted by: lord garth || 10/29/2012 0:21 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Earthquake jolts felt in northern Pakistan
[Dawn] Earthquake jolts were felt in different areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Azad Kashmir and Islamabad.
No doubt Allah is sending a message. Equally no doubt the message will be misinterpreted.
The tremors of the earthquake were felt in Peshawar, Haripur, Abbotabad, Mansehra, Swat, Malakand, Mardan, Sargodha, Abbotabad, Charsadda, lower Dir and Khyber agency of the tribal belt.

The metrological department said that the intensity of the earthquake was 5.3 on the Richter scale. Adding that, the department said that the epi-center of the earthquake was at the border of Afghanistan
Posted by: Fred || 10/29/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Subsaharan
10 dead as Nigeria church bombing sparks revenge attacks
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] A suicide kaboomer drove a car boom into a Nigerian church on Sunday, sparking fierce reprisals that saw a Christian mob burn a man alive in day of a bloody of violence that left at least 10 people dead and 145 maimed.

Christian youths erupted into the streets of the northern city of Kaduna with machetes and sticks after the blast, targeting those they believed to be Moslems as anger again boiled over due to repeated church bombings in recent months.
Even good Christians only have so many other cheeks to turn...
Attackers beat a cycle of violence taxi driver near the church, then put his bike on top of him before dousing him with petrol and setting him on fire, an AFP correspondent who saw the violence said.

Two other bloodied bodies apparently killed by the mob were seen near the church.

A rescue official on condition of anonymity also spoke of the man being burnt and said rescuers could not save him because the mob was too violent.

The mob also attacked an ambulance in the ensuing violence, but there was no indication that rescuers were maimed.

"So far we have eight dead and 145 injured from the church blast," Musa Ilallah, regional coordinator for the National Emergency Management Agency, told AFP, noting that his corpse count included the suspected bomber.

The attacker rammed what residents said was an SUV into St. Rita church, shaking the Malali neighbourhood of Kaduna, a city that has suffered a wave of deadly violence blamed on Islamist bully boy group Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
"All of a sudden it drove on high speed and rammed into the church wall, forcing its way into the church premises," said witness Samuel Emmanuel.

"Initially I thought the driver had lost control of the vehicle. Suddenly there was a huge kaboom as the car reached the church building. It was dust, fire and smoke all over."

A front man for Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency confirmed the kaboom and said rescuers had been rushed to the scene.

"A number of casualties evacuated to hospitals," said Yushau Shuaib. The incident was suspected to be triggered by a jacket wallah in a car."

An AFP correspondent said mobs were yelling "why the church?" and some were carrying weapons, including machetes. Local elders were seeking to restore calm.

Residents had earlier spoken of festivities having broken out between Christian and Moslem residents.

The attack came after Friday's Moslem Eid al-Adha holiday, but it was not clear if there was any link.

In June, Boko Haram grabbed credit for three suicide attacks on churches in Kaduna state, where the city of Kaduna is located, which led to deadly rioting. Dozens of people were killed in the violence.

Boko Haram's insurgency in northern and central Nigeria has led to more than 2,800 deaths since 2009.

While Moslems have often been its victims, it has in recent months also specifically targeted churches.
Posted by: Fred || 10/29/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram

#1  Moslem sh!t
Posted by: newc || 10/29/2012 0:22 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iraq Searches Syria-Bound Plane from Iran
[An Nahar] Iraq stopped and searched a Syria-bound cargo plane from Iran for weapons for the second time in a month on Sunday, but allowed it to continue as no banned items were found, an official said.

The United States has been pressuring Storied Baghdad
...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
to ensure all Iranian aircraft flying through its airspace are ordered to land and checked for weapons, but Iraq has said it will only stop planes when it has doubts about the cargo being transported.

"We ordered an Iranian cargo plane traveling to Syria to land at Storied Baghdad International Airport for inspection," Nasser Bandar, the head of Iraq's civil aviation authority, told Agence La Belle France Presse.
Posted by: Fred || 10/29/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Meanwhile, Iraqi Shia fighters are flooding into Syria to boost Baby Assad + Alawites.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 10/29/2012 23:49 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Yemen Raid Kills 3 Militants Including Saudis, Injures Leader
[Yemen Post] Three Al-Qaeda operatives including two Saudis were killed and a key leader injured in an Arclight airstrike in Yemen's northern province of Saada which lies along the border with Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face...
, the state-owned September 26 website reported on Sunday.

The site quoted the governor of Saada, Faris Manaa, as saying Omer Saleh Batais, one of the most wanted leaders of Al-Qaeda, was injured in the strike in the Wadi Al Abu Jabara area.

"Batais had hid the operatives inside his house," he said.

The two Saudis, not named, were responsible for financing terrorist operations in some Yemeni provinces, he said, pointing out the targeted operatives had tried for more than five years to make the Wadi Al Abu Jabara area as a transit route for gun-hung tough guys to infiltrate into the provinces of Marib, Shabwa, Jawf and Abyan
...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues...
Yemen's army launched earlier this year a US-backed offensive and drove Al-Qaeda gun-hung tough guys out of their strongholds, which were seized during the 2011 uprising in Abyan and Shabwa.

In the meantime, the army is continuing a massive hunt for the remaining operatives across the republic, with tens of gun-hung tough guys including big shots and cells tossed in the calaboose
I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece!
in recent months.

US drones have largely contributed to targeting many krazed killers, mainly wanted leaders.
Posted by: Fred || 10/29/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia


--Tech & Moderator Notes
Apology
Apologies to loyal reader Bobby: I accidentally deleted a post of your about Iran sanctions yesterday while working on the Burg. We're supposed to have a fail-safe in place for that, but with me around there is no such thing as fail-safe.

If Fred can find it we'll run it today.

Again, apologies.

AoS
Posted by: Steve White || 10/29/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I see you found the article. Sadly ... the snark is gone [sob] forever.
Posted by: Bobby || 10/29/2012 5:49 Comments || Top||

#2  "Sadly ... the snark is gone [sob] forever."

There, there, Bobby - we emphasize.

I'm sure it was wonderful snark. :)
Posted by: Barbara || 10/29/2012 12:21 Comments || Top||

#3  If a snark is not safe on Rantburg, is one safe anywhere?
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 10/29/2012 16:01 Comments || Top||

#4  Heh, Bill, at least Doc Steve fessed up.....
Posted by: Sherry || 10/29/2012 16:08 Comments || Top||

#5  The Bellman had bought them a map of the sea
Without the least vestige of land...
Posted by: mojo || 10/29/2012 17:39 Comments || Top||

#6  I wanna see snarks with friggin lasers on their heads!
Posted by: Frank G || 10/29/2012 17:53 Comments || Top||


Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 10/29/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Birthday Gam Shot

Joely Fisher [After NJ](age 45)



Before NJ
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 10/29/2012 11:24 Comments || Top||

#2  45, more than just my favorite age and pistol.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/29/2012 11:28 Comments || Top||

#3  Something tells me the nose wasn't the only job.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 10/29/2012 11:43 Comments || Top||

#4  Does your doggie bite?
Posted by: Dale || 10/29/2012 11:54 Comments || Top||

#5  Stu Margolin's (Angel, Rockford Files) little sister?
Posted by: mojo || 10/29/2012 16:42 Comments || Top||

#6  Last Embrace. Strange movie...
Posted by: tu3031 || 10/29/2012 17:16 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Grenade attack injures 16 in southern Thailand
In Pattani province yesterday, 16 people including three six-year-old girls were injured in a grenade attack at a food shop which was packed with diners and visitors to a nearby night market during the Muslim holiday.

Eyewitnesses said two men on a motorcycle approached the shop and the rider threw a grenade at tables on a sidewalk connected to the beachfront food shop. The grenade used was an American-made M-61, judging by a safety lever left at the scene.

Police and rescue workers had to wait before securing the scene and treating the injured until an abandoned motorcycle could be checked for explosives, but none were found.
Posted by: ryuge || 10/29/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Thai Insurgency


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian Hajj Pilgrims Curse Assad
[An Nahar] Enraged Syrian pilgrims on Sunday cursed Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Scourge of Qusayr...
and prayed for his death as they hurled pebbles at pillars representing Satan in the final ritual of the annual hajj pilgrimage.

Rebel flags billowed among vast crowds of Moslem pilgrims who heaved towards the stoning site in the Saudi holy city of Mina amid the chanting of anti-Assad slogans.

"Oh God, may we see Bashir al-Assad soon hanged or burnt, kicked out or a humiliated prisoner," one Syrian yelled through a loudhailer as dozens walking behind him shouted: "Amen."

"May Bashar follow (Muammar) Qadaffy," they chanted, referring to the Libyan strongman killed last October 20 in his home town of Sirte by rebels who rose up against his regime last year.

"Please tell the whole world about us. We are under siege in Syria, in Homs. They demolished our homes so we fled to Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face...
," said one old woman, tears welling.

"Tanks were right next to our house. I was alone with my daughter, so we fled.

"I want victory for Syria. I hope to see the free Syrian flag waving in the country and all refugees and all the homeless going back," she added.
Posted by: Fred || 10/29/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Southeast Asia
Three Philippine marines killed in clash with Abu Sayyaf
Three Philippine marines and two Abu Sayyaf terrorists were killed and 10 other government troops were wounded in a clash in a remote village in Sulu yesterday morning.

Troops from Marine Battalion Landing Team 6 were sent to Bakong village after receiving reports that the Abu Sayyaf was holding kidnap victims in the area. At around 6:30 a.m., the troops clashed with undetermined number of Abu Sayyaf members, believed to be under leadership of Radullan Sahiron.

Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang said the group encountered also included followers of Tahil Sali, a commander of the Moro National Liberation Front. He said, "The Marine company was conducting patrol to verify reports of the presence of kidnap victims in the area."

As of 3 p.m, Cabangbang said intermittent fighting was still ongoing between the two sides. He said Maj. Gen. Rey Ardo "has ordered the dispatch of all available air and naval assets to support the engagement troops and to ensure that the KIAs (killed in action) are recovered and the WIAs (wounded in action) are brought to the nearest medical facility."
Posted by: ryuge || 10/29/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Abu Sayyaf


-Election 2012
New York Times endorses Obama for the White House
[Daily Nation (Kenya)]
  • New York Times said it supports Obama because he has achieved the most sweeping health care reforms

  • Times also said Obama, an attorney, would make at least one appointment to the Supreme Court if re-elected

  • Times likewise praised strides in civil rights under Obama
Posted by: Fred || 10/29/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ...because the American public is sooo looking forward to another Obama Supreme Court pick?
Posted by: Secret Master || 10/29/2012 1:02 Comments || Top||

#2  Like this is a shock.

The NYT is the propaganda arm of the democrat party after all.
Posted by: DarthVader || 10/29/2012 8:43 Comments || Top||

#3  Similar to the Atlanta Constipation, they write what the local demographics of their readership wish to hear. It's all about money.

Other disappointments may include the notable absence of 'Bass Pro Shop' adverts in the JET or Instinct magazines.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/29/2012 8:59 Comments || Top||

#4  No big whoop. Now a surprise would be that they have endorsed Gov. Mitt Romney!
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/29/2012 10:36 Comments || Top||

#5  They haven't endorsed a GOP candidate in 60 years according to Breitbart.

That is longer than I have been alive.

And that one Supreme court appointment is why Obumbles *must* not be re-elected.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 10/29/2012 10:44 Comments || Top||

#6  Times also said Obama, an attorney

Didn't he turn in his law license? Can / should you be called an attorney without a license (see Warren, Elizabeth)?
Posted by: Raj || 10/29/2012 11:29 Comments || Top||

#7  I was wondering the same thing, Raj.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 10/29/2012 15:39 Comments || Top||

#8  Romney's a Harvard JD as well as MBA, fwiw.
Posted by: lotp || 10/29/2012 15:44 Comments || Top||

#9  And a Baker Scholar, which is worth a pantload in my book.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 10/29/2012 15:56 Comments || Top||

#10  Good show, chums!
Manolo, bring the fine Napoleon Brandy! And my crack whores!
Posted by: Pinchy || 10/29/2012 16:58 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Al-Nusra Front Denies Carrying Out Damascus Bombing
[An Nahar] Syrian Islamist group al-Nusra Front has denied responsibility
Nope. Wudn't us.
for a bombing in Damascus
...The place where Pencilneck hangs his brass hat...
that dramatically shattered a ceasefire, instead blaming the regime, SITE Intelligence Group reported on Sunday.

Friday's car boom kaboom struck a residential area housing coppers and their families, killing at least eight people and wounding more than 30, on the first day of an attempted ceasefire for the Moslem holiday of Eid al-Adha.

The al-Nusra Front had said it would not abide by the ceasefire but in a statement reported by the U.S.-based monitoring service the group denied any involvement in the blast.

The statement posted on the Internet on Saturday said the group "washes its hands" of the attack, saying it only goes after government and military targets.

It vowed to respond with "strong, destructive action" to what it called "the contemptibility and obscenity of the regime's kaboom".

Al-Nusra Front fights independently of the main rebel Free Syrian Army. It has grabbed credit for many suicide kabooms and deadly bombings.
Posted by: Fred || 10/29/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda


Home Front: Culture Wars
If today's New York Times editors were in charge in 1943
Posted by: Glinesh Craling7938 || 10/29/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  excellent
Posted by: Mikey Hunt || 10/29/2012 0:38 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Two terror suspects killed in Mombasa
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Two terror suspects were on Sunday killed at Majengo, Mombasa in a shootout with police during the 1am incident. Read (Police map MRC strongholds)

Coast Deputy PCIO John Gachomo said two suspects were jugged
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
during the raid but four more escaped.

Police also recovered three grenades, a pistol and 37 rounds of bullet ammunition.

On Saturday, a grenade was found in a bus ferrying passengers to Kaloleni.

Mr Gachomo said that one of the suspects killed in the raid was jugged on Saturday evening in Mariakani while heading to Mombasa.

He said the suspect was in possession of a pistol, a silencer, a mask and a GPS machine.

Mr Gichomo said the suspect assisted the police with investigations leading to raids in Majengo and Mtwapa but he was killed under unclear circumstance during the shootout.
Posted by: Fred || 10/29/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


China-Japan-Koreas
China to Shoot at High Frontier
U.S. Intelligence: China to conduct test of more powerful anti-satellite weapon capable of hitting GPS, spy satellites, but after U.S. election. (Emphasis added.....)
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 10/29/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  They don't want to accidentally get Romney elected.
Posted by: gromky || 10/29/2012 0:30 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Obama's September 11 Phone Call
While Americans were under assault in Benghazi, the president found time for a non-urgent, politically useful, hour-long call to Prime Minister Netanyahu. And his senior national staff had to find time to arrange the call, brief the president for the call, monitor it, and provide an immediate read-out to the media.

I suspect Prime Minister Netanyahu, of all people, would have understood the need to postpone or shorten the phone call if he were told that Americans were under attack as the president chatted.

But for President Obama, a politically useful telephone call--and the ability to have his aides rush out and tell the media about that phone call--came first.

So here are a few more questions for the White House: While President Obama was on the phone for an hour, did his national security advisor Tom Donilon or any other aide interrupt the call or slip him a piece of paper to inform him about what was happening in Benghazi?

Or was President Obama out of the loop for at least an hour as events unfolded and decisions were made? On the other hand, national security staff were obviously with the president during and immediately after the phone call--otherwise how could they have put out their statement right away? Surely his aides told the president about what was happening in Benghazi.

Was there then no discussion of what was or what wasn't being done to help, pursuant to the president's first directive that everything possible be done?
Adding another one: Did he tell Bibi what was going on?
Posted by: Sherry || 10/29/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This story shows he will just blame the Jooos for his non-response to Benghazi
Posted by: Penguin || 10/29/2012 0:04 Comments || Top||

#2  Joe Biden's demented comment to the dead SEAL's father seems to make sense only if he ate popcorn and watched the fire-fight in real time - which would be pretty twisted.

Obama's failure to look the man in the eye also seems to indicate that he watched the part of the video but wasn't interested enough to stay for the end.

Hillary was just happy to console the father with assurance that an innocent dude was headed for a rat mask session in Room 101.
Posted by: Super Hose || 10/29/2012 1:05 Comments || Top||

#3  I kept wondering when we might see the Benghazi terrorist death toll from the actions of former Navy SEAL's Woods and Doherty. An undocumented number and total of 60 was rolled out on a blog yesterday.

How long must we now wait for the Champ's apology to the brave, freedom loving Libyan Islamist for their loss? [sark off]
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/29/2012 2:58 Comments || Top||

#4  Wait! While Obama was apologizing for the video, brave Libyans Freedom Fighters were dying? You're right, B! More apologies are coming up! [Is it snark if you're worried it might come true?]
Posted by: Bobby || 10/29/2012 5:54 Comments || Top||

#5  Joe Biden's demented comment to the dead SEAL's father seems to make sense only if he eat ate popcorn and watched the fire-fight in real time - which would be pretty twisted.

I had the same thought. However, I would add "despicable" and "outrageous."

But, a question: if a Spectre, armed Predator, or other air assets were on site, I cannot imagine how the guys at the controls could have just watched, regardless of what orders from a distance may have been. I know I would have said F it and gladly answered for it later. That help never came suggests that such assets were not on site. Are there possibilities I am not accounting for?
Posted by: RandomJD || 10/29/2012 7:02 Comments || Top||

#6  But, a question: if a Spectre, armed Predator, or other air assets were on site, I cannot imagine how the guys at the controls could have just watched, regardless of what orders from a distance may have been.

The current Rules of Engagement (ROE) for kinetic action drilled into pilots and troops on the ground over the past 10 years, leave little room for second guessing or independent action.
This was not part of a broader campaign here all players knew the tactical situation on the ground. When you are told "weapons free" will come directly from the White House, you hold your fire. I cannot blame Special Operations Wing (SOW) pilots or pred operators.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/29/2012 8:29 Comments || Top||

#7  The more that comes out, the sicker I get. Fox did an interesting timeline, not sure how accurate it is, but these guys held off a well coordinated attack. Had to be QUD, no one else could put this together.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 10/29/2012 9:10 Comments || Top||

#8  Once again, the Pred feeds have a clock. DTG (Date-Time-Group) found at the margin. We'll likely never see any of them.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/29/2012 9:45 Comments || Top||

#9  That picture - of the 'blood-streaked' Obama flag and the blood-streaked wall - should be on the front page of every paper in America.

Should be. But the media has steadfastly ignored it.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 10/29/2012 10:47 Comments || Top||

#10  Had to be QUD, no one else could put this together.

Reports indicated that the attackers were foreigners because they spoke a foreign language. If so, I wonder if they spoke Persian/Farsi?

If Woods and Doherty did kill some number of attackers, where are the bodies? Were they dragged off? If there were bodies and they were not dragged off could this not provide evidence as to where they came from? Any wounded who could be questioned? Did they end up in some local hospital? Blood evidence? If 60 attackers were killed, it would seem there would be a great deal of blood. I'm not in any way trying to detract from their bravery. They went to the fight. They asked for assistance three times and were denied. They were brave and heroic men who provided enough time for some 30 people to be saved. There are just a lot of unanswered questions. If story is kept alive, the truth will come out.
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/29/2012 11:19 Comments || Top||

#11  Listen. This was Lybia not Afghanistan: understand that in Lybia it was not simply a matter of desobeying orders but of engaging the responsibility of the United States. Dragging the United States into a war without consent of the governement or even causing her diplomatic problems is good for the Japanese Army of the 30s (remember this path ended leading to war with the United States and to Hiroshima) not for the American Armed Forces.

The decision to go could origiante of any other than the CinC and the blame is to be put at his feet and none other's.
Posted by: JFM || 10/29/2012 11:26 Comments || Top||

#12  JohnQc

The info I have is that the attackers definitely spoke Arabic but not Lybian Arabic. Understand that the differnces between Arabics of differnet countries are far more substantial than between English or Spanish speaking countriies. From what I have head classic Arabic like spoken in Saudi Arabia is nearly unintelligible for Moroccans or Algerians a bit like Shakespearian English or even Medieval English for an American.
Posted by: JFM || 10/29/2012 11:32 Comments || Top||

#13  Voice recognition, the taal (language), and the infomation contained in actual intercepts, are Essential Elements of Information (EEI). These elements (when available) must be fused with other pieces such as interrogation reports, source reports, photo-imagery, biometric data, captured documents, weapons, etc. If you stroke your chicken and wait a couple of weeks to pull these elements together, they can become contaminated or lost to history.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/29/2012 11:43 Comments || Top||

#14  In that Times interview with 5 of the Libyan guards, one said some of the attackers were dressed like Afgans.
Posted by: Sherry || 10/29/2012 11:50 Comments || Top||

#15  @Sherry

During the Algerian civil war it was not uncommon of some insurgents dressing or acting like Afgans (eg sitting on their heels) despite being Algerians
Posted by: JFM || 10/29/2012 12:04 Comments || Top||

#16  From what I have head classic Arabic like spoken in Saudi Arabia is nearly unintelligible for Moroccans or Algerians a bit like Shakespearian English or even Medieval English for an American.

Hmmmm. Might one conclude from this that Moroccan and Algerians are evolving while the Soddies are stuck in the Seventh Century?
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 10/29/2012 12:04 Comments || Top||

#17  I lived in Morocco for six months in 1977. Classical Arabic sounded more like French (soft, flowing), to me, while Moroccan Arabic was much more like German (harsh and gutteral). I spoke a little bit of each at the time. French and German, that is.

I suppose classical Arabic might be more akin to (dead) Latin, while the local dialects more like French, Spanish, and Italian - from the same root.
Posted by: Bobby || 10/29/2012 12:33 Comments || Top||

#18  Bobby, Latin's not a "dead" language. It's just sleeping!
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 10/29/2012 13:56 Comments || Top||

#19  Therte is all latin radio. It is not in Vatican, it is not in a catholic country, it is not in a country whose language is derived from Latin. It is in Finland.

BTw, one of the reasons the Catholic Church clinfs is precisely because it is a sleeping language; meaning of wors doesn't change.
Posted by: JFM || 10/29/2012 15:07 Comments || Top||

#20  When you are told "weapons free" will come directly from the White House, you hold your fire.

I see your point, Besoeker - a conditioned response - as well as JFM's point that there was also concern for Libyan sovereignty. But Woods and Doherty disobeyed orders. I just can't see how at least one of their brothers-in-arms would not have broken ranks too, if getting a go/no-go was the only obstacle.
Posted by: RandomJD || 10/29/2012 17:50 Comments || Top||

#21  Perhaps we should cut the TOTUS a little slack. The old ad was about a 3AM call when the president is sleeping, not about a 3PM call when he is busy with politics.
Posted by: James || 10/29/2012 21:21 Comments || Top||

#22  Mr. Wife studied Arabic when he was working in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. His tutor was Palestinian, but he was able to practice on the locals. When he went to Morocco he spoke French, because they did not understand his Arabic.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/29/2012 23:23 Comments || Top||



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