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Damascus fighting cuts off airport, Emirates suspends flights
Today's Headlines
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Science & Technology
Drone crashes mount at civilian airports
Posted by: tipper || 11/30/2012 19:05 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336064 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: WoT
'Tipping Point': Obama Lawyer Talks About Ending 'Endless' US War
Posted by: tipper || 11/30/2012 18:47 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336088 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The comments on this website are sheer moonbattery.
Posted by: Secret Master || 11/30/2012 23:17 Comments || Top||


Two Brothers Arrested in Terror Plot
The Federal Bureau of Investigation said Friday it has arrested two brothers in south Florida and charged them with conspiring to support terrorists in a plot to detonate a weapon of mass destruction in the U.S.

Law-enforcement officials were tight-lipped about what Raees Alam Qazi, 20, and Sheheryar Alam Qazi, 30, were suspected of doing. One law-enforcement official said the charges weren't the result of a sting operation. The official said investigators were actively pursuing leads in the case which could lead to further arrests.

The brothers are naturalized U.S. citizens who were born in Pakistan, officials said.

A three-page indictment filed in federal court in Miami said the plot began in July 2011, and continued until the pair were arrested Thursday. Justice Department officials said the brothers conspired to provide property, funding and other services as part of a scheme to use a weapon of mass destruction.

Under federal criminal law, the term "weapon of mass destruction" can refer to anything from a homemade pipe bomb to a much larger explosive.

Lawyers for the two didn't immediately return messages seeking comment. If convicted of the more serious of the two charges, the pair face up to life in prison.

The two suspects were arrested Thursday in Fort Lauderdale. They made an initial court appearance there Friday afternoon, but it wasn't clear if any plea was entered. A follow-up hearing is scheduled next week.
Posted by: tipper || 11/30/2012 18:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336082 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Under federal criminal law, the term "weapon of mass destruction" can refer to anything from a homemade pipe bomb to a much larger explosive.

Goodness me -- how quickly the goalposts can be moved when the "right" party is in the presidency.
Posted by: Thusort Ebbomoting1144 || 11/30/2012 18:55 Comments || Top||

#2  WMD = CBRNE: chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and enhanced (conventional explosive) weapons.

It's been that defined that way for a number of years prior to Obama, Thusort.
Posted by: lotp || 11/30/2012 19:43 Comments || Top||

#3  Yuppers, I remember.
Tiz MSM goalposts I be referrin' to.
Posted by: Thusort Ebbomoting1144 || 11/30/2012 19:52 Comments || Top||

#4 
Posted by: Kildare || 11/30/2012 21:13 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Pastor Terry Jones Gets the Death Penalty (In Absentia)
It appears that the Egyptian law's reach includes the US. Judge Saif al-Nasr Soliman appears unconcerned about any retribution that might come his way for sentencing US citizens to death, even if they are not physically in Egypt.
No doubt the honorable Judge will be placed on an Interpol list so that he can be extradited to the US if he ever leaves Egypt.
The DOJ should also be drawing up writs that will ensure the Judge is nabbed. Also a significant reward for his capture dead or alive, no doubt will also be offered.
Posted by: tipper || 11/30/2012 17:31 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336063 views] Top|| File under:


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Strauss-Kahn lawyers deny $6m deal with hotel maid
Lawyers for former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn have denied reports he has settled a lawsuit with a hotel maid who accused him of sexual assault.

They denied reports that a deal of $6m (£3.7m; 4.6m euros) had been agreed and said negotiations were still under way.

Mr Strauss-Kahn was held in New York in May 2011 after Nafissatou Diallo said he assaulted her in his hotel suite.

Prosecutors later dropped charges amid concerns about her credibility.

Lawyers William Taylor III and Amit Mehta said in a statement on Friday that reports of a settlement were "flatly false".

"The parties have discussed a resolution but there has been no settlement. Mr Strauss-Kahn will continue to defend the charges if no resolution can be reached," their statement said.
Posted by: tipper || 11/30/2012 16:37 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336064 views] Top|| File under:


China-Japan-Koreas
Lair of King Tongmyong's Unicorn Reconfirmed in DPRK
[KCNA] Archaeologists of the History Institute of the DPRK Academy of Social Sciences have recently reconfirmed a lair of the unicorn rode by King Tongmyong, founder of the Koguryo Kingdom (B.C. 277-A.D. 668).

The lair is located 200 meters from the Yongmyong Temple in Moran Hill in Pyongyang City. A rectangular rock carved with words "Unicorn Lair" stands in front of the lair. The carved words are believed to date back to the period of Koryo Kingdom (918-1392).

Jo Hui Sung, director of the Institute, told KCNA:

"Korea's history books deal with the unicorn, considered to be ridden by King Tongmyong, and its lair.

The Sogyong (Pyongyang) chapter of the old book 'Koryo History' (geographical book), said: Ulmil Pavilion is on the top of Mt. Kumsu, with Yongmyong Temple, one of Pyongyang's eight scenic spots, beneath it. The temple served as a relief palace for King Tongmyong, in which there is the lair of his unicorn.

The old book 'Sinjungdonggukyojisungnam' (Revised Handbook of Korean Geography) complied in the 16th century wrote that there is a lair west of Pubyok Pavilion in Mt. Kumsu.

The discovery of the unicorn lair, associated with legend about King Tongmyong, proves that Pyongyang was a capital city of Ancient Korea as well as Koguryo Kingdom."
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 13:26 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336095 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  They're trying to prove they're the legitimate ones and the guys-in-the-south are traitors.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 11/30/2012 15:20 Comments || Top||

#2  The olde Reverse-Onion-Move. Didn't fool me.
Posted by: Shipman || 11/30/2012 15:47 Comments || Top||

#3  Ummm...doesn't it prove that King Tongmyonge had the mindset of a virgin girl, perhaps a touch of teh ghey, as well as anyone claiming heritage?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 11/30/2012 16:34 Comments || Top||

#4  Yes, but did King Tongmyong give out free phones like the modern day unicorn rider?
Posted by: tu3031 || 11/30/2012 16:51 Comments || Top||

#5  D *** NG, I KNEW IT!

[TOM CRUISE vs TIM CURRY IN "LEGEND" here].
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/30/2012 19:10 Comments || Top||

#6  Well SwksvolFF if he was touched, there wouldn't be a lineage, eh?
Posted by: Skidmark || 11/30/2012 22:32 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
Right to Privacy Does Not Apply to E-Mail (just birth control)
Technology voids the Constitutional Fourth Amendment, I guess. That, and six months.
When Petraeus resigned from his post one of the more startling revelations was that the dalliance was discovered when the FBI sifted through his private Gmail account.

More alarming is that the average American could easily be subjected to the same snooping that Petraeus endured. According to current law, police can access email through a provider, like Yahoo or Gmail, without a warrant if the message is more than 180 days old.

The Senate Judiciary Committee met on Nov. 29 to consider an update to the Act which would require police to get a warrant to read email or other electronic communiques.

Citizens might be surprised to learn that their email accounts, their phones and even their houses are subject to warrant-free electronic surveillance.

“The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution was enacted in 1791,” Barket says. “It was enacted at a point of time to deal with government intrusion and searches that they could possibly comprehend. Now we have government searches that nobody up until the last 10 years could even envision. Could you ever envision that the government could track every movement by simply calling up a cell provider?”
Posted by: Glenmore || 11/30/2012 12:24 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336098 views] Top|| File under:

#1  hmm, so just like a fetus, e-mail is only protected by 'privacy rights' for 6 months.
Posted by: abu do you love || 11/30/2012 19:51 Comments || Top||


Economy
Post-US world born in Phnom Penh
It is symptomatic of the national condition of the United States that the worst humiliation ever suffered by it as a nation, and by a US president personally, passed almost without comment last week. I refer to the November 20 announcement at a summit meeting in Phnom Penh that 15 Asian nations, comprising half the world's population, would form a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership excluding the United States.

President Barack Obama attended the summit to sell a US-based Trans-Pacific Partnership excluding China. He didn't. The American led-partnership became a party to which no-one came.

Instead, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, plus China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, will form a club and leave out the United States. As 3 billion Asians become prosperous, interest fades in the prospective contribution of 300 million Americans - especially when those Americans decline to take risks on new technologies. America's great economic strength, namely its capacity to innovate, exists mainly in memory four years after the 2008 economic crisis
Posted by: Beavis || 11/30/2012 10:42 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336063 views] Top|| File under:


Caribbean-Latin America
Hugo Chavez Battling Bone Metastasis, Report Says
Venezuela President Hugo Chavez is now battling bone metastasis from his pelvic cancer, according to a report by Spanish newspaper ABC.
Those are painful. Sometimes even strong narcotics aren't enough.
Citing an unnamed intelligence source, ABC's Washington correspondent Emil J. Blasco says there has been a recurrence and spread of the tumor, which was detected in a test performed on a trip to Havana just after the elections on October 7.
Dios Mio!
Blasco said the metastasis is causing Chavez "severe pain in the left femur and serious walking difficulties."
Femur mets? He's likely confined to bed, perhaps to a chair.
He also says that Chavez passed out twice in August, losing consciousness briefly, and that doctors determined that his situation was deteriorating slowly but steadily.
just like his country
Chavez last appeared publicly during a televised meeting on Nov. 15, prompting some critics to publicly wonder where he went after his election win.
Ima goin ta Didneyland!
Maybe he went golfing. It's all the rage for world leaders of a certain type...
During the electoral campaign, he repeatedly dismissed rumors that he had not been cured of his cancer, and vowed to serve out his six-year term.
"pshah!"
You mean, he lied, and the media there withheld the bad news until after the election? I've never heard of such a thing before!
The treatment that Chavez is said to be undergoing in Havana involves breathing pure oxygen while in a pressurized, sealed chamber. Its value is well-established for treating burns, carbon monoxide poisoning and some other medical conditions, and to aid wound healing and help repair bone and tissue damaged by radiation treatments.
"Michael Jackson still swears by it"
However, the American Cancer Society says there is no evidence the treatment can cure cancer. And Blasco notes that if hyperbaric oxygen treatment were the case, Chavez could have stayed in Venezuela, since the country boasts of having the latest technology on this kind of equipment (his brother Adam presented a "next generation" of those chambers in 2009 as governor of Barinas state).
put him in and weld it shut
Posted by: Frank G || 11/30/2012 10:23 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336066 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "I'm bad to the bone..."
Posted by: George Thorogood || 11/30/2012 11:16 Comments || Top||

#2  Please die in agony. Thank you.
Posted by: mojo || 11/30/2012 12:42 Comments || Top||

#3  I knew someone who had bone metastasis. He will die in agony.
Posted by: Penguin || 11/30/2012 12:44 Comments || Top||

#4  Works for me.

(Other than it's taking too long.(
Posted by: Barbara || 11/30/2012 15:01 Comments || Top||

#5  Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
Posted by: DarthVader || 11/30/2012 15:14 Comments || Top||

#6  The Beard should bring heem fine cigars for the chamber.
Posted by: Shipman || 11/30/2012 15:41 Comments || Top||

#7  He's undergoing "Systemic Cancer Multistep Therapy".

SCMT is an alternative therapy for metastatic cancer that was developed in East Germany. Oxygen saturation is part of the regimen.

Cuban doctors trained in East Germany would likely have been taught SCMT since it doesn't require expensive equipment or medication.

For Chavez who has an unlimited medical budget it is the last straw.
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 11/30/2012 16:26 Comments || Top||

#8  Laetrile. It did Steve McQueen wonders...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 11/30/2012 17:15 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Soldier Opens Fire on a Civilian Bus in Mogadishu,Kills One
[Shabelle] Witnesses said that a government soldier on Thursday opened fire on a civilian bus traveling at Tarabunka square in Mogadishu, Somali capital, killing civilian, injuring 2 others.

The incident took place after the driver of the vehicle ignored to pay illegal money demanded by the driver the soldier that led the death of a woman on the car.

"A government soldier killed the woman and maimed two others who were on board on a civilian bus that was traveling today on Tarabunka Street located south of Mogadishu," a Witness said.

Reports said Security forces reached at the area of the shooting minutes after the soldier managed to escape uncaught.
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336064 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Home Front: WoT
Mumbai attacks plotter faces US sentencing in January
[Dawn] A US national who used his Western appearance to carry out surveillance ahead of the deadly 2008 Mumbai siege will be sentenced on Jan 17, a judge ruled Wednesday.

David Coleman Headley, 52, formally admitted to 12 terror charges in March 2010 after prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty or to allow him to be extradited to either India, Pakistain or Denmark to face related charges.

He is expected to be sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole.

The Mumbai siege, which began on Nov 26, 2008 and lasted nearly three days, saw 166 people killed and was the deadliest cut-thoat onslaught on Indian soil since independence.

The United States came under fire in India for reaching the deal with Headley, but prosecutors said it was well worth it given the valuable intelligence he provided in order to save his own skin.

Headley also testified against his childhood friend, Pakistain-born Chicago businessman Tahawwur Hussain Rana, who was convicted on two terrorism charges last year.

Rana, 51, faces up to 30 years in jail for helping the banned cut-thoat group Lashkar-e-Taiba
...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI...
(LT) plan an attack on a Danish newspaper that sparked outrage by publishing blasphemous cartoons.

However,
those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things...
a jury found there was insufficient evidence that Rana was involved in the Mumbai attacks -- even though Headley described how he had used Rana's immigration services business as a cover while conducting surveillance in India's financial capital. Rana will be sentenced on Jan 15.
This article starring:
David Coleman Headley
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336087 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  Rana, 51, faces up to 30 years in jail
Whatd'ya bet he gets 'time served'?
Posted by: Skidmark || 11/30/2012 11:34 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Convicted former Rep. Mel Reynolds wants Jackson seat in Congress
[Chicago Tribune] Disgraced former U.S. Rep. Mel Reynolds said he will ask voters to focus on his congressional experience rather than his state and federal criminal record as he announced his bid today for the seat held by Jesse Jackson Jr., who has resigned.

At a downtown hotel news conference, Reynolds acknowledged having made "mistakes" in the past. For his campaign, he will try to assume the mantle of an incumbent while also seeking redemption from voters. Red and white campaign signs urged voters to "re-elect" Reynolds "so he can finish the work" while another stark red sign with white letters said simply: "Redemption."

Reynolds held the 2nd Congressional District seat from 1993 until October 1995, when a Cook County jury convicted him of several sex-related charges, including having sex with an underage volunteer campaign worker. While serving time in state prison, Reynolds also was convicted on federal financial and campaign fraud charges. President Bill Clinton commuted Reynolds' sentence to time served in 2001.

Under law, Reynolds, formerly a South Side resident who is now renting in Dolton, no longer has to register as a sex offender.

Reynolds sought to downplay his previous convictions, contending "it was almost 18, 20 years ago" and that his past crimes "shouldn't be a life sentence."

"The fact of the matter is, nobody's perfect," Reynolds said, adding that voters should "look at the entire history of me," including what people do "after they make mistakes." Reynolds, however, stopped short of acknowledging guilt for any of his crimes.

Though Reynolds sought to focus on his experience in Congress, where he served on the powerful House Boodle Central, his entry into the contest was yet another sorry reminder of the congressional representation that voters on the South Side and south suburbs have had with their last three representatives.

Reynolds replaced Gus Savage, a controversial and outspoken congressman who was condemned by the House Ethics Committee
...think of a nudibranch pretending to be a vertebrate...
amid allegations of sexual misconduct involving a Peace Corps volunteer while he was on an official congressional visit to Zaire.

After Reynolds resigned, Jackson won a special election in 1995 to succeed him. But after 17 years, Jackson stepped down last week amid federal ethics investigations and a diagnosis of bipolar depression.
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336101 views] Top|| File under:

#1  For a second I thought it was Mal Reynolds.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 11/30/2012 0:12 Comments || Top||

#2  ...he will ask voters to focus on his congressional experience rather than his state and federal criminal record

Wow. Slick...
Posted by: tu3031 || 11/30/2012 1:15 Comments || Top||

#3  My calculations indicate he will need to secure the vote of between 112% to 128% of the registered voters to ensure victory against any rival.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/30/2012 1:20 Comments || Top||

#4  Not a problem...
Posted by: tu3031 || 11/30/2012 1:21 Comments || Top||

#5  You just can. not. make. this. stuff. up.

Read that first sentence again and tell me it doesn't belong on a parody website. Unfortunately, it's all too real.
Posted by: gromky || 11/30/2012 3:56 Comments || Top||

#6  convicted him of several sex-related charges, including having sex with an underage volunteer campaign worker. While serving time in state prison, Reynolds also was convicted on federal financial and campaign fraud charges

Sounds emminently qualified to 'represent' the people of IL 2nd Cong. Dist. What percentage of the criminal vote does he need to get to assure election? (I presume criminals can vote in IL, since dead people can.)
Posted by: Glenmore || 11/30/2012 8:45 Comments || Top||

#7  He's a shoe-in.
Posted by: bigjim-CA || 11/30/2012 11:47 Comments || Top||

#8  having sex with an underage volunteer campaign worker
...
President Bill Clinton commuted Reynolds' sentence to time served in 2001.
They're in the same club.
Posted by: Skidmark || 11/30/2012 12:09 Comments || Top||

#9  Are there no ex-Nazis to elect? A shortage of drug kingpins? A dearth of derelicts?
Posted by: mojo || 11/30/2012 12:47 Comments || Top||

#10  "Are there no ex-Nazis to elect? A shortage of drug kingpins? A dearth of derelicts?"

The voters of that district don't want such high-caliber people of such good character to represent them, mojo. They'd rather select someone more like them and their neighbors. >:-(
Posted by: Barbara || 11/30/2012 14:58 Comments || Top||

#11  He's not a shoe-in. Remember, this is Chicago and the fix will determine who gets the job. It's hard to tell at this point who has the Combines' real backing, but I doubt it's Mel.
Posted by: Spot || 11/30/2012 17:31 Comments || Top||

#12  Mel's there so whoever the Combine picks to run for office will look by comparison.
Posted by: Pappy || 11/30/2012 23:17 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Ex-Feinstein treasurer gets prison term
[SFGate] What started as an attempt to keep a struggling business afloat a decade ago turned into the largest embezzlement of political funds in Caliphornia history, ending Wednesday with an eight-year federal prison sentence for a former campaign treasurer who stole from some of the state's most powerful politicians.

Kinde Durkee received the sentence in federal court nearly eight months after she pleaded guilty to five counts of mail fraud in connection with the scheme whose victims included Sen. Dianne Feinstein, along with other members of Congress and the Legislature.

The sentence was on the low end of the possible range of punishment - Durkee faced a maximum of 20 years for each count. She was also ordered to pay $10.5 million in restitution to her victims, who are unlikely to see much of the money because Durkee already spent it and has few other resources.

Judge Kimberly Mueller of the U.S. District Court in Sacramento called the embezzlement a "significant and egregious offense."

"I think the violation of trust ... can't be understated," Mueller said before sentencing Durkee.

Durkee, 59, who had been out on bail, offered an apology.

"I take full and complete responsibility for what I have done," Durkee told the judge, her voice breaking slightly. She was ordered to surrender to law enforcement Jan. 2.

Both prosecutors and her defense attorney said Durkee didn't use the money to fund a lavish lifestyle, but instead spent it to cover losses in her business and on mostly mundane personal expenses like her mortgage and health care for her parents.
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336067 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Yeah, looks like Boss Dyke's in for some competition...
Posted by: tu3031 || 11/30/2012 1:23 Comments || Top||

#2  During the hearing, Durkee's attorney, Nixon, alluded to an unspecified psychological issue "underpinning this theft." He said Durkee had "a lot of things happen to her" that led to bad decisions.

A dietary disorder (cooking the books, then eating them) along with Jesse Jackson Jr. syndrome ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/30/2012 1:43 Comments || Top||

#3  Emotional or psychological condition caused the crime? How about that the person broke the law and is just a garden variety thief?
Posted by: JohnQC || 11/30/2012 10:18 Comments || Top||

#4  she didn't spend it on haircare (see the pic at the link)
Posted by: Frank G || 11/30/2012 10:57 Comments || Top||

#5  Laws are for little people. Be a Congresscritter and do this daily to the citizenry with the public treasury and it's business as usual.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/30/2012 11:07 Comments || Top||

#6  Most of the money appears to have been spent at Taco Bell.
Posted by: bigjim-CA || 11/30/2012 11:45 Comments || Top||

#7  Democrat accounting. It's a crime.
Posted by: mojo || 11/30/2012 12:46 Comments || Top||

#8  who stole from some of the state's most powerful politicians

She's lucky it's Caliphornia. In the Northeast or Illinois, she'd have been found in a car with the engine running and a hose from the exhaust pipe going into a side window.
Posted by: Pappy || 11/30/2012 19:07 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Feds: $100,000 to teach teen girls 'condom negotiation'
[Washington Examiner] The administration is funding a $100,000 study of pregnant and "at-risk" 14-17-year-old girls on probation in Houston, Texas to determine ways to help them choose safer lifestyles and avoid pregnancy, including better "condom negotiation" tactics.

The National Institutes of Health, part of the Health and Human Services Department, is providing a University of Houston researcher the money because of the lack of study of female teen juveniles in trouble with the law.

The school said the study, "Choices - Teen: A Bundled Risk Reduction Intervention for Juvenile Justice Females," will include 30 at-risk girls, ages 14-17, on intensive probation with the Harris County Juvenile Probation Department.
That works out to $3,333.33 1/3 cents per girlie, by my calculations.
The goal, said the school, is to determine if intervention programs will help the kids make better life decisions.
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336066 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That works out to $3,333.33 1/3 cents per girlie, by my calculations.

Buy a whole lot of Rubbers.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 11/30/2012 1:06 Comments || Top||

#2  Dated, but here is something the kiddies might wish to read:

Texas: "HIV Infection Rate Here 'Alarming'"
Houston Chronicle :: Cindy George ~ Dec 17, 2008

On World AIDS Day, the city Health Department released new figures showing Houston's HIV infection rate is almost twice the national average. Harris County had 44 new infections for every 100,000 people, compared with 23 per 100,000 nationwide. In 2006, around 1,700 county residents became HIV-positive.

"The new estimate is based on direct measurement of new HIV infections using a new technology that can distinguish recent from long-standing infections," said Porfirio Villarreal, a spokesperson for the Houston Department of Health and Human Services. However, the amended figures do not represent an increase in the number of new HIV cases.

The department is currently using the new method to calculate the number of county residents who were infected in 2007, Villarreal said.

"In one year, one in 2,000 Houstonians became infected with HIV. That's a pretty alarming statistic," said Dr. Tom Giordano, a professor at Baylor College of Medicine and medical director at the Harris County Hospital District's Thomas Street Health Center, which provides care to approximately 4,000 HIV patients each year.

The data show that African Americans account for more than half of new HIV cases in the county. Hispanics are also hard-hit by the disease. Villarreal said local health officials have stepped up prevention efforts in these communities in response.

Working with community- and faith-based groups, the city Health Department has expanded HIV testing through mobile vans assigned to areas with the highest HIV rates. Thanks to a CDC grant, the city began offering HIV testing in emergency rooms at Ben Taub General Hospital and Memorial Hermann Hospital-The Texas Medical Center, as well as at Legacy Community Health Services locations, this summer.


Link

Posted by: Besoeker || 11/30/2012 2:25 Comments || Top||

#3  A Federal program custom-designed to provide Sandra Fluke a position after the DNC and MSM kicks her to the curb like a two-dollar Fluke.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 11/30/2012 8:14 Comments || Top||

#4  Condom negotiation? Never heard it called that. Why would condom negotiation training work? What's the incentive if welfare payments are forthcoming for being pregnant and giving birth? Condoms are not that effective. I suppose they are better than nothing. At 14-17 hormones are very powerful for both boys and girls. Another costly government program that has limited effectiveness.
Posted by: JohnQC || 11/30/2012 10:32 Comments || Top||

#5  How about instead funding DNA testing on every pregnancy for 14-17-year-old girls. The sperm donor gets 'fixed' for any further future reproduction capability. Humanely of course. Bets on the drop in teenage pregnancy?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/30/2012 11:04 Comments || Top||

#6  This is easy. OK, girls. We're gonna start deducting money from your welfare benefits for every bastard progeny you and baby daddy pump out. Let's see if that works.
Where's my grant?
Posted by: tu3031 || 11/30/2012 11:39 Comments || Top||

#7  Need to make usage more fun...
I support coating the inside with a cocaine/X solution.
...
Well, never mind. They would just chew them.
Posted by: Skidmark || 11/30/2012 11:58 Comments || Top||

#8  sounds like Elmo was doing the same training for free.
Posted by: airandee || 11/30/2012 16:06 Comments || Top||

#9  Whatever happened to "if it's not on, it's not on"?
Posted by: tipper || 11/30/2012 16:34 Comments || Top||

#10  If their choice is to have a litter of kids and live off the welfare state, then they already have made good decisions. I have in-laws who chose that job. When teh dad isn't drunk and has to qualify for gov cheese, he makes 30x/hour than my working sucker ass. Free board. Free school. $650/month food stamps or wtf they call it. Free my money. And Kansas is considered one of the tough states becuase at one point they talked about drug testing to qualify for gov$.

The child of a 14 year old is a dependant of a dependant in a household full of dependants. Thats cash money first of the month.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 11/30/2012 16:52 Comments || Top||

#11  One teenager talking to another teenager:

"I can't wait until I have a baby and start getting some money for home!"

Having more babies is an income source for them. If they can get the state to pay for childcare while they whore around look for work so much the better.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 11/30/2012 18:16 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syria rebels assault army base as fighting rages
[Al Ahram] Syrian rebels Thursday launched an assault on Wadi Daif, one of the last military bases in northwestern Syria still under the regime's control, while fighting also erupted around Damascus
...Home to a staggering array of terrorist organizations...
, a watchdog said.
Several rebel brigades joined forces for the attack on the fortress-like base in Idlib province, while the army responded with heavy fire and shelling, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Further south, rockets struck areas between Al-Hajar al-Aswad and the Paleostinian refugee camp of Yarmuk in Damascus province, the Britannia-based Observatory said.

It added that warplanes bombed orchards in a rebel-held zone extending from Kfar Sousa near Damascus to Daraya in the southwest, where fighting has been raging for weeks. In video footage the rebels announced on Wednesday they are holding the representative of the interior ministry for the town of Daraya, the de facto local head of police.

Elsewhere, a rebel was killed in festivities in the city of Deir Ezzor in the east, while another was killed in a village near the central city of Homs, said the Observatory which relies on a network of activists and medics on the ground. On Wednesday, at least 158 people were killed in Syria, including 99 civilians, the Observatory said in its daily toll.

The watchdog has recorded more than 40,000 people killed since a popular uprising against the regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Lord of the Baath...
broke out in March last year.
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336063 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Iraq
Iraq Court Sentences Fugitive VP's Guards to Death
[An Nahar] Four of runaway Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi's bodyguards were sentenced to death on Thursday for killing a civil defense officer and his wife, judicial front man Abdelsattar Bayraqdar said.

The sentences were handed down by the Central Criminal Court for the killings in west Storied Baghdad
...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
in 2011, Bayraqdar told AFP.

Death sentences were given to two Hashemi guards on November 8 and six on November 6. The Thursday sentences bring the total number of sentences handed to Hashemi's guards to 12, but it was not immediately clear if some guards had received multiple sentences.

Hashemi, a top Sunni official and a prominent critic of Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
... Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party....
, has himself been handed four death sentences on twelve systems in absentia. He dismisses the charges against he and his staff as politically motivated.

Hashemi, his secretary and his guards were originally accused of running a death squad in mid-December 2011 as the last U.S. troops left the country.

He fled to Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, which declined to hand him over to the federal government, and then embarked on a tour that took him to Qatar and 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...
, and finally to Turkey.
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336093 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq

#1  LOL

Soddy Arabia. Like it.

A country that is permitted to kill 3000 people in NYC city and the US "retaliates" by attacking several of their regional rivals, while making not a single strike on Saudi itself.

Saudi inmates released from Gitmo at insistence of Saudi Govt, then sent on "art therapy" classes - promptly rejoin Al Qaeda in Yemen.

The US won't touch Saudi. Can't touch it. US president bows to their King.

If Saudi did that to Israel, it would retaliate and the Saudis know that.
Posted by: ChuffingChuffChuff || 11/30/2012 7:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Chuffing's got a good point - POTUS does bow to King Soddy.
Posted by: Glenmore || 11/30/2012 7:56 Comments || Top||

#3  Its not just Obama. Bush was good friends with them all. No airstrikes on them on his watch either.
Posted by: ChuffingChuffChuff || 11/30/2012 8:17 Comments || Top||

#4  A country that is permitted to kill 3000 people in NYC city and the US "retaliates" by attacking several of their regional rivals, while making not a single strike on Saudi itself.

Saudi Arabia did not kill 3000 people in NYC. Al Qaeda did. Note that the Chinese government killed 100K GI's in Korea and Vietnam, and no retaliatory strikes were mounted in China proper. The animus against the Saudi royals is misplaced. They're a bunch of skirt-chasers hiding behind a facade of religious piety, while a simmering cauldron of religious zealots in and out of Saudi Arabia snipe at their every move - accusing them of corruption at every opportunity because they - as custodians of both the Muslim holy places, and owners of unimaginable oil wealth - have not mounted the go-for-broke jihad to conquer the world that Muhammad insisted was the sacred duty of every Muslim.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 11/30/2012 19:07 Comments || Top||

#5  Hush, Zang. You'll harsh his mellow.
Posted by: Pappy || 11/30/2012 23:03 Comments || Top||

#6  Hush, Zang. You'll harsh his mellow.

I was merely pointing out that the Saudi royals are doing about as much as they can to help us, given the nest of vipers/den of troglodytes over which they rule. Desert Storm was the only war of necessity we mounted in which an ally covered all our expenses. The Saudis and the Kuwaitis covered close to 90% of the $60b it cost for us to mount the operation. After WWI and WWII, the Brits paid us back what they had borrowed from us, but they never covered our expenses. Apart from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, I can't think of any other ally that has ever covered our expenses for a war in its defense. In looking at the actual facts rather than the windy rhetoric coming from the misinformed, the Saudi royals have been better than the average ally.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 12/01/2012 0:05 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Susan Rice’s Enrichment Program
The portfolio of embattled United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice includes investments of hundreds of thousands of dollars in several energy companies known for doing business with Iran, according to financial disclosure forms.

Rice, a possible nominee to replace Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
...not clear if this is a downgrade...
when she steps down, has come under criticism for promulgating erroneous information about the September 11, 2012, attacks in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans.

Rice has the highest net worth of executive branch members, with a fortune estimated between $24 to $44 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Her biography at Wiki does not seem to support the activities that go with making a lot of money, but perhaps she worked for Bain Capital and I missed it...
A Free Beacon analysis of Rice’s portfolio shows thousands of dollars invested in at least three separate companies cited by lawmakers on Capitol Hill for doing business in Iran’s oil and gas sector.

The revelation of these investments could pose a problem for Rice if she is tapped by President Barack Obama to replace Clinton. Among the responsibilities of the next secretary of state will be a showdown with Iran over its nuclear enrichment program.
Who better than an insider? In both capitals...
“That Susan Rice invested in companies doing business in Iran shows either the Obama administration’s lack of seriousness regarding Iran or Rice’s own immorality,” said Michael Rubin, a former Pentagon adviser on Iran and Iraq. “Either way, her actions undercut her ability to demand our allies unity on Iran.”

The companies in question appear to have conducted business with Tehran well after Western governments began to urge divestment from the rogue nation, which has continued to enrich uranium near levels needed to build a nuclear bomb.

Financial disclosures reveal that Rice has had $50,001-$100,000 in Royal Dutch Shell, a longtime purchaser of Iranian crude oil. Royal Dutch Shell currently owes Iran nearly $1 billion in back payments for crude oil that it purchased before Western economic sanctions crippled Tehran’s ability to process oil payments, Reuters reported.

Rice has additional investments in Norsk Hydro ASA, a Norwegian aluminum firm, and BHP Billiton PLC, an Australian-based natural resources company, financial disclosure show. Norway’s Norsk Hydro was awarded in 2006 a $107 million exploration and development contract for Iran’s Khorramabad oil block, according to the Wall Street Journal. Rice’s portfolio includes an investment of up to $15,000 in the company.

Rice has up to $50,000 invested with another Iranian partner, BHP Billiton, which was probed by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2010 for its dealings with Cuba and Iran, according to reports. The company, which had leased office space in Tehran, admitted to making more than $360 million from the Iranians, according to The Australian.
Nice investments if you can get them...
Posted by: Steve White || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336090 views] Top|| File under:

#1  her father was a big shot banking exec and was on a lot of corporate boards; he died in 2011

these investments may be inherited
Posted by: lord garth || 11/30/2012 1:02 Comments || Top||

#2  Her biography at Wiki does not seem to support the activities that go with making a lot of money, but perhaps she worked for Bain Capital and I missed it...

No, but if you had a cover story and wanted to turn to someone with media credentials to get it released or published, she'd certainly be the one.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/30/2012 1:11 Comments || Top||

#3  She should be nominated for a Secretary of Energy position, not State! And I thought my portfolio was too heavy in oil, gas, and coal.

Additional

Posted by: Besoeker || 11/30/2012 2:09 Comments || Top||

#4  "That Susan Rice invested in companies doing business in Iran shows either the Obama administration's lack of seriousness regarding Iran or Rice's own immorality,"

No reason it can't be both.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 11/30/2012 7:58 Comments || Top||

#5  Bit of a radical was our Suzi.
Susan Rice in 1986 book: Make white students learn black history

I suppose they could start here
Posted by: tipper || 11/30/2012 8:31 Comments || Top||

#6  Or closer to the motherland, here.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/30/2012 8:48 Comments || Top||

#7  Now you both know that there is no black history outside of the worse of the slavery of the old south. Any other so-called 'black history' just doesn't exist. Just ask any liberal history professor.
Much like no other instances of slavery have ever existed in the entire history of the universe EXEPT in the old south.

(That is what Susan Rice meant by 'Black history'...)
Posted by: CrazyFool || 11/30/2012 10:05 Comments || Top||

#8  I'm thinking Susan Rice has enemies in both Donk and Pub camps. Look for John Fn Kerry to be next Secretary of State.
Posted by: JohnQC || 11/30/2012 10:26 Comments || Top||

#9  But, but, but...what about global warming?
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 11/30/2012 11:45 Comments || Top||

#10  Her book on "Black History" is 86 pages long. How do you create an entire major out of that. Just wondering.
Posted by: Total War || 11/30/2012 16:04 Comments || Top||

#11  Thats how the ivy league does fake classes. Your, hummp, puuhblic college fake classes do not even have books.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 11/30/2012 16:24 Comments || Top||

#12  I'm thinking Susan Rice has enemies in both Donk and Pub camps

Yes.
Posted by: Pappy || 11/30/2012 23:12 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Two Austrian Soldiers Wounded in Damascus Shooting
[An Nahar] Two Austrian soldiers stationed with the U.N. force on the Golan Heights were shot and maimed in Syria while their convoy was traveling to Damascus
...The capital of Iran's Syrian satrapy...
airport on Thursday, the defense ministry in Vienna said.

The two troops, whose lives were not in danger, were part of the Austrian contingent of the United Nations
...the Oyster Bay money pit...
Disengagement Observers Force (UNDOF) on the Golan Heights and were traveling to Damascus airport to fly back to Austria after their tour of duty, the ministry said.

Two more soldiers in the Austrian convoy were lightly injured by fragments, it added.

It was unclear whether the shooters were Syrian government forces or rebels fighting to overthrow Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Scourge of Qusayr...
's regime, according to a ministry front man.

One soldier was shot in the arm and the other in the shoulder, but both were quickly treated by an accompanying doctor and the convoy was now at the airport.

Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger and Defense Minister Norbert Darabos condemned the attack, adding they would file a loud protest with the U.N. Security Council.

"That Austrian peacekeepers are shot at must be condemned in the strongest terms and demands appropriate consequences," they said in a joint statement.
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336064 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


India-Pakistan
US drone appears to miss target in South Waziristan: officials
[Dawn] A US drone fired two missiles into open fields in Pakistain's northwestern tribal belt on Thursday, causing no apparent damage or casualties, local security officials said.

It is highly unusual for no casualties to be reported when unmanned American aircraft target Taliban and al Qaeda-linked gunnies in Pakistain's semi-autonomous tribal belt.

The attack came in the Shin Warsak area of South Wazoo about 20 kilometres (13 miles) from the Afghan border.

The area is a stronghold of Pak warlord Mullah Nazir, who officials said was maimed in a suicide kaboom in the district's main town of Wana earlier on Thursday.

"Two or three gunnies were walking in a cultivated field. A US drone fired two missiles but no one was hurt," a security official based in the northwestern city of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
told AFP on condition of anonymity.

A second security official in South Waziristan confirmed the drone strike and said that "so far" there was no report of any damage.

DawnNews earlier reported that two suspected gunnies were killed in the strike.

The majority of US drone strikes target gunnies in the neighbouring district of North Waziristan and the last reported attack in Pakistain was on October 24.
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336063 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan

#1  The two militants were walking in a field and originally reported killed, but now they say no one was hurt? Does that mean the militants were not hurt or that they cannot find any pieces of them?
Posted by: Glenmore || 11/30/2012 7:59 Comments || Top||

#2  Maybe an idiot on the stick?

Or, misguidance, as reported in the Indiana explosion.
Be interesting if there is a embedded, immediate 'go to ground' command when C2 drops.
Posted by: Skidmark || 11/30/2012 11:30 Comments || Top||

#3  Or real innocents wandered into the line-of-fire, if such exist in South Wazoo.

Posted by: Shipman || 11/30/2012 15:37 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Official: Egypt To Crack Down On Gaza Tunnels
[Ma'an] Egyptian security services are planning an "extraordinary" crackdown on smuggling tunnels under the Gazoo border, a security source said Wednesday.
There's a lot more 'we're gonnas' in that part of the world than there are 'we dids.'
The Egyptian security official said tunnels were operating at 5 percent of previous levels, and were mostly smuggling guns and ammunition construction material to Gazoo.

Israel bombarded the tunnels area in the southern Gazoo Strip during its eight-day war which ended with a ceasefire on Nov. 24.

The official said Egypt's planned campaign to end smuggling was part of the truce agreement brokered by Cairo.
Plus, it's hard to get a Fajr missile through the tunnels...
Israel bans the import of construction materials for bunker construction the private sector in Gazoo, so residents seeking to rebuild their destroyed homes and businesses are reliant on building materials smuggled through tunnels.

According to Israeli NGO Gisha, around 47 percent of civilian goods entering Gazoo arrive through the tunnels, including cement, snack foods, spare parts, electronic equipment and fuel.

Since 2007, Israel has closed three out of four crossings to deliver goods to Gazoo, leaving only Kerem Shalom open.

"Despite the fact that the capacity of this crossing has been increased, it cannot meet the needs that would arise if the tunnels were to close and Rafah Crossing were to remain closed for the transport of commercial goods and fuel," Gisha says.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336063 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Do it, don't talk about doing it.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 11/30/2012 1:13 Comments || Top||

#2  I read about the tunnels, then I look at the city (thank you Google Earth) and think this tunnel nonsense is diversionary.
Posted by: Skidmark || 11/30/2012 11:38 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
15-Year-Old Afghan Girl Beheaded For Rejecting Marriage Proposal
[Washington.CBSLocal] Afghan police arrest two men for allegedly beheading a 15-year-old girl after her father turned down a marriage proposal.

According to BBC News, the two men who proposed the arranged marriage and attacked her are relatives of the girl.

"Our investigation shows those who killed her were people who wanted to marry her," a Kunduz province police official told the BBC.

The father did not want his daughter to get married because she was "too young to be engaged."

CNN reports the girl was killed near her family's home while bringing back water.
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336068 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Well if that old hag didn't get married at 15, she might as well be dead.

the two men who proposed the arranged marriage and attacked her are relatives of the girl.
I think I'm seeing part of the problem with islam as a generational way of life.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 11/30/2012 17:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Why would pops want her to marry into family that apparently can't even afford a coupla gallons of acid?
Posted by: tu3031 || 11/30/2012 17:21 Comments || Top||

#3  Why would pops want her to marry into family that apparently can't even afford a coupla gallons of acid?

That hurts on a number of different levels, tu3031. Well done!
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/30/2012 17:38 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Attacks against Shiites kill 31 in Iraq
[Al Ahram] Bombs targeting Shiite Mohammedans in areas south of Storied Baghdad
...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
on Thursday killed 31 people and maimed 98, security and medical officials said.

The attacks marked the second wave of bombings against Shiites this week after three car booms went kaboom! near their places of worship in Storied Baghdad on Tuesday, killing 12 people and wounding 50.

In Thursday's attacks, two roadside kabooms targeting a group of Shiite pilgrims in the city of Hilla killed 26 people and maimed 85, police and medical sources said.

The dead included two women, three children, two medics and a civil defence member, they said.

Iraqi security forces cordoned off the area of the blasts and set up checkpoints in the city to search cars, an AFP correspondent said, adding that shops near the site were shuttered after the attack.

In the shrine city of Karbala, a car boom went kaboom! under a bridge, killing five people and wounding 13, a police front man and a medical official said.

The front man said that security forces closed off all roads leading to the old city, where Imam Hussein, one of the most revered figures in Shiite Islam, is buried, and were searching for a second car boom.
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336061 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq


Africa Horn
Gov't soldiers battle Al shabab in Gedo,southwest Somalia
[Shabelle] Heavy battle between Somali government troops backed by Kenyan army serving under AMISOM force and Al shabab Death Eaters broke out Thursday in the southwestern province of Gedo.

Locals say the fighting ignited when Somali forces moved closer to Burdhubo, a rebel-held city near Garbaharey town, the scenic provincial capital of Gedo. Reports said Kenyan warplanes were seen taking part the combat against Al shabab.

Lieutenant Col.Aden Hirse Rufle, has told Shabelle Media station by phone that several training camps and arms caches belonging to the Death Eaters were destroyed in the aerial attacks by Kenyan defence forces (KDF) during the skirmish.

"The offensive was a preplanned and took place at an Al shabab stronghold area called Burdhubo. So far, the exact number of the casualties is yet unclear as the fighting raging on," he added.

Al shabab officials have not yet released any word or comments on the Thursday's warfare in Gedo region, southwest Somalia.
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336064 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israelis will flee occupied Palestinian lands in next war: Hamas
[Iran Press TV] A senior Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, official says Israelis will escape from the occupied lands if another war breaks out between the Paleostinian resistance movement and the Tel Aviv regime.

Atallah Abu al-Sabah, the Hamas minister for prisoners, said on Thursday, "The fabric of Israeli society has been torn apart in the face of the resistance's strength."

He added that thousands of Israeli citizens fled to the north to escape from the retaliatory rockets and missiles fired by Hamas during the recent war on the Gazoo Strip.

Over 160 Paleostinians, including women and kiddies, were killed and about 1,200 others were maimed in the Israeli attacks on Gazoo that were carried out during the eight-day period of November 14-21.

In retaliation, the Paleostinian resistance fighters incessantly fired rockets and missiles into Israeli cities, killing at least five Israelis.

The Tel Aviv regime will rely on short-term offensives "because it is not able to lead long-term wars of attrition," Sabah said.

"Paleostinian fighters fought with a strong belief and high morale, [while] the Israeli soldiers fought with a defeatist spirit."

The Hamas minister also hailed the countries that supported the resistance movement during the Israeli war.

"Gazoo has united the Arab nation and solidified its existence as a political entity."

Sabah also quoted Hamas Political Bureau Chief Khaled Meshaal as saying that the resistance "will soon occur in the West Bank too."

Meshaal had earlier attributed the absence of "resistance" in the occupied West Bank to "security pressure by all parties," saying that the participation of Hamas in a ceasefire with the Tel Aviv regime was not meant to imply that the movement gave up "resistance to achieve the liberation of Paleostine."
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336063 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  Meanwhile, Vampire fans, not to be outdone by the HAMAS PR Politburo ...

* TOPIX > HEZBOLLAH: WE WILL HIT ALL OF ISRAEL IN NEXT WAR!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/30/2012 0:13 Comments || Top||

#2  Israelis will flee occupied Palestinian lands in next war: Hamas


but..but the Israelis have already left Gaza.
Years ago if I recall.
Posted by: Mikey Hunt || 11/30/2012 2:03 Comments || Top||

#3  he means Israel proper
Posted by: Frank G || 11/30/2012 12:03 Comments || Top||

#4  Running this thru the DeBloviator, I get this:
Man, not only did the Juice kick our asses, but they whacked a Fearless Leader or two. AND the sumbitches blew up all those fine-ass rockets we got from our new BFF, the Persians. Dang!
Posted by: SteveS || 11/30/2012 12:34 Comments || Top||

#5  but the Israelis have already left Gaza

They consider all of Israel 'occupied territory'. Much like Muslims consider all non-islamic countries 'occupied territory'.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 11/30/2012 12:58 Comments || Top||

#6  I think they're rather more likely to stomp you boys into a little greasy spot.
Posted by: mojo || 11/30/2012 13:59 Comments || Top||

#7  "they're rather more likely to stomp you boys into a little greasy spot."

That would be acceptable, mojo - Dawn® dishwashing liquid does a steller job eliminating grease. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara || 11/30/2012 15:07 Comments || Top||

#8  right...like the Paleos have soap
Posted by: Frank G || 11/30/2012 16:51 Comments || Top||

#9  A senior Hamas

Why is it that, whenever the press solicits the rantings of a "senior" member of Hamas, or the Muslim Brotherhood, or any of these chuckle-headed groups, the guy is either "retired", or "former sub-secretary" or has some make-work title like "minister for prisoners"?
Posted by: Pappy || 11/30/2012 18:54 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Zebra, Pony Run Loose on Staten Island
[NBC New York] A wild scene unfolded on New York's Staten Island Wednesday when a zebra and a pony were spotted running along a busy roadway after they apparently beat feet from a Christmas tree seller.
I already seen dis movie...
Part of their journey was captured on video by Zachary Osher, who was busy at work when he looked out the window of his shop and saw the animals on Victory Boulevard.

"Is this actually happening to me, am I finally losing my mind. This can't be happening," Osher told NBC 4 New York he remembered thinking. "This is a zebra on Staten Island. On the street!"

Osher used his phone to film the pair as they dodged traffic just after 9 a.m.

They had apparently beat feet from a nearby Christmas tree business, where they were used as an attraction, according to Giovanni Schirripa, the owner of the business.

The animals were later returned to the property, he said.

Both the pony and the zebra, a 4-month-old male named Rozzy, are doing fine, he said. They will be sent to live in a barn in New Jersey after the holidays.
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336085 views] Top|| File under:

#1  D *** NG IT, FIRST NORTH KOREANS IN THE NW, THEN TURKEY JIHADIS RUNNING AMOK IN NEW ENGLAND, NOW HOOFED HOSS VARIANTS IN NEW YORK - WE'RE DOOMED, I TELL YA, DOOMED!

Does this mean Vlad's mind control vee Siberian Cranes actually worked???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/30/2012 0:23 Comments || Top||

#2  I just wish I could put in the photo of the appropriate scene from Ghostbusters, with Bill Murray saying, "Zebras and ponies, running loose together!"

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 11/30/2012 5:44 Comments || Top||

#3  Probably Mates, horses are colorblind.
Maybe Zebras are too, Don't know.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 11/30/2012 11:17 Comments || Top||

#4  If so the zebra's precocious, since he's only 4 months old according to the story.
Posted by: lotp || 11/30/2012 11:54 Comments || Top||

#5  When are foals weaned? A little googling suggests four to six months. The guy bought this zebra when it was two months old. I hope he's taking good care of it. Next Christmas, it won't be so cute and adorable; what will happen to it then?
Posted by: Angie Schultz || 11/30/2012 15:16 Comments || Top||

#6  This is New York. You flush it down the toilet.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 11/30/2012 15:41 Comments || Top||

#7  Zebra will kick your head off then eat it. Nasty creatures.
Posted by: Shipman || 11/30/2012 15:46 Comments || Top||

#8  They make nice rugs too.
Posted by: Thusort Ebbomoting1144 || 11/30/2012 19:41 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Palestinians win UN state recognition
[Al Ahram] The UN General Assembly on Thursday voted overwhelmingly to recognize Palestine as a non-member state, handing a major triumph to president Mahmud Abbas in the face of fierce US and Israeli opposition
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336066 views] Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority

#1  Call them a state, tell them the very next attack will be considered a declaration of war and when it happens, destroy them utter and claim the land as spoils.
Posted by: Silentbrick - Schlumberger Squishy Mud Division || 11/30/2012 0:46 Comments || Top||

#2  All that land was gifted by the creator to the Jews. It says that in the christian bible, but still the vermin claim some rights to it.

They won't get it. The UN has no troops to match the IDF.

Backward Christian soldiers! :)
Posted by: Deadeye Snamble1967 || 11/30/2012 2:38 Comments || Top||

#3  A state that

- uses Israeli currency because they have none of their own
- a President whose term ended 5 years ago and who never seems to get around to authorizing a new election
- a President whose life would be ended if he entered Gaza - which is supposedly part of the state
- a State that gets about 60% of their national income from donor countries
- a state that names streets and town squares after suicide bombers
Posted by: lord garth || 11/30/2012 6:42 Comments || Top||

#4  "a President whose term ended 5 years ago and who never seems to get around to authorizing a new election"

To be fair that applies to most of our allies in the region - Saudi, Bahrain, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, etc
Posted by: ChuffingChuffChuff || 11/30/2012 7:32 Comments || Top||

#5  To be fair that applies to most of our allies in the region - Saudi, Bahrain, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, etc

Hereditary monarchies and sultanates and such don't elect their leaders, as I recall, and all terms of office are for life.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/30/2012 12:58 Comments || Top||

#6  Separately, Israel has responded to the UN vote by approving building permits for 3,000 units in the West Bank and Jerusalem. link
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/30/2012 13:07 Comments || Top||

#7  pure coincidence, TW, since cause-and-effect has no place in Paleo Culture
Posted by: Frank G || 11/30/2012 14:30 Comments || Top||


Arabia
'Dangerous' Qaida Leader Arrested in South Yemen
[An Nahar] Security forces on Thursday placed in long-term storage
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
a "dangerous" al-Qaeda chief in southern Yemen who took part in several attacks, state news agency Saba reported.

The agency, citing police, said Suleiman Hassan Mohammed Morshad Awadh, also known as Abu Ussama al-Abiye, was "one of the most dangerous members of al-Qaeda and involved in several terrorist operations."

Awadh, whose name figured on a wanted list, was arrested in Zinjibar, capital of 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...
province, it said, without giving details.
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336065 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia


Africa North
Egypt's opposition protest on Friday to reject constitutional declaration, draft constitution
[Al Ahram] Leftist, liberal, and independent political forces met Thursday at the headquarters of Egypt's Socialist Popular Alliance Party (SPAP) to comment on the current political crisis and planned weekend protests.

The protests were called for in a number of governorates to demand Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi to withdraw a controversial constitutional declaration he announced last week. The declaration gives him sweeping powers and shields the Constituent Assembly -- tasked with drafting the new constitution -- and Shura Council (Egypt's upper house of parliament) from being dissolved.

Both bodies are accused of being unrepresentative of Egyptians on the lam and dominated by Islamist groups.

Attendees of the meeting included members of the SPAP, the Constitution Party, the Popular Current movement, the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, the Free Egyptians Party, the Free Egypt Party, the 6 April Youth Movement, National Front for Justice and Democracy, Lotus Revolution Coalition and Maspero Youth Coalition, among others.

In a joint press statement released after the meeting, attendees called on Egyptians nationwide to take to the streets on Friday in planned demonstrations to demand that Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi reverse last week's "authoritarian" presidential decree.

Morsi's decisions are protected from judicial oversight by his constitutional declaration.

"The only way to break the current impasse is to listen to the pulse of the street, as opposed to following a group that has attempted to steal the revolution," the statement read.

They further called on protesters to avoid clashing with pro-Morsi rallies by the Moslem Brüderbund and Salafist parties on Saturday, which were originally planned to be held in the same location as a sit-in by groups opposing the declaration, Cairo's Tahrir Square.

The statement went on to accuse Morsi of adopting the methods of ousted president Hosni Mubarak
...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011...
"This is certainly proof of the quivering regime, which cannot withstand such public outrage and uses force," the statement read.

"Morsi has exceeded Mubarak by attempting to drive the country into civil war, of which only he will be held responsible for," the statement warned.

Groups planning the Saturday protests, including the Moslem Brüderbund and the Salafist Nour Party, changed the venue to Cairo University in Giza.

The joint-statement also commented on the constitutional draft currently being voted on by Egypt's Constituent Assembly, the groups claimed the draft charter was declared "void." Thus, could not be put before public referendum.

"This is a constitution drafted by an illegitimate assembly that represents only one political current and is not representative of Egyptian society on the lam," the statement read.

The head of the Constituent Assembly, Judge Hossam El-Gheriani, announced Wednesday that the final vote on the draft constitution will be held on Thursday, despite numerous withdrawals by mostly non-Islamist political forces from the assembly.

The announcement comes despite an extra two-month period, until February, given to the assembly, by Morsi's declaration, to complete the draft.

Egyptians opposing the decision accuse the assembly members of rushing the process and entrapping Egyptians to pass the constitution in order to remove Morsi's "dictatorial" declaration, which becomes void once the new constitution is in place.

"The Moslem Brüderbund's move [from which Morsi hails] to force people to choose between an already rejected constitution or accept the constitutional declaration will prolong the current political crisis," prominent 6 April member, Mohamed Adel, told Ahram's Arabic news portal.
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336063 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


U.N. Chief Backs Mali Intervention with Conditions
[An Nahar] U.N. leader the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
said Wednesday the Security Council should approve a military attack on Islamic beturbanned goons in Mali only if African nations can answer "fundamental questions" on their proposed force.

The U.N. leader said in a report that any operation in northern Mali carries major humanitarian and human rights
When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much...
risks even though it is becoming necessary because of mounting abuses by the "terrorist and affiliated" turbans.

Ban said the Security Council had to demand stronger military plans from African backers of the operation and added that the United Nations
...the Oyster Bay money pit...
could not offer financing for the enterprise.

Tuareg rebels and Islamists linked to al-Qaeda took over northern Mali in March, seizing on the chaos after a military coup in the capital Bamako. West African nations want to send a military force to retake the territory if talks to end the crisis fail.

The Islamists have destroyed Moslem shrines and been accused of carrying out summary executions.

"I am profoundly aware that if a military intervention in the north is not well conceived and executed, it could worsen an already fragile humanitarian situation and also result in severe human rights abuses," Ban said in his much-anticipated report.

"Fundamental questions on how the force would be led, sustained, trained, equipped and financed remain unanswered," he added.

"A military operation may be required as a last resort to deal with the most hard line bully boy and criminal elements in the north," Ban said.

"But, before that stage is reached, the focus must be on initiating a broad-based and inclusive political dialogue aimed at forging national consensus around a roadmap for transition," Ban warned.
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336063 views] Top|| File under: Ansar Dine


Salafist support for Morsi limited to recent constitutional declaration
[Al Ahram] Salafists
...Salafists are ostentatiously devout Moslems who figure the ostentation of their piety gives them the right to tell others how to do it and to kill those who don't listen to them...
groups claim at a presser on Thursday that recent Tahrir Square protests against Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi's constitutional declaration are "counter-revolutionary." Yet, their support for President Morsi is limited, as the proposed constitution falls short of their approval due to the lack of Sharia law as the "main" source of legislation.

"This is a call for genuine revolutionaries to abort their collaboration with members of the old regime and to collaborate with Islamists to continue with the revolution," said Osama Ezz El-Arab, collaborator of Revolution Front to Support the Revolution.

During the presser different spokespersons and Salafists activists explained why they support President's Mohamed Morsi's recent constitution decree.

Members of the Moslem Brüderbund were not present in this presser, in spite of the fact that they announced taking part in Saturday, 1 December protests to support Morsi's decisions.

Some Salafists argue revolutionaries are currently collaborating with so called felol or remnants of the old regime in protest against the recent presidential constitutional declaration and for some against what they call the "Brotherhoodization of the country."

"For the most part, what is taking place in Tahrir Square against Morsi is a counter-revolution orchestrated by remnants of the old regime. They are using revolutionaries to reach that," said Alaa Abul Nasr, Secretary General of the Salafist Construction and Development Party.

Moreover, various Salafists argued that those in Tahrir Square are mobilized by some who have "special agendas" and are lacking any critical arguments against President Morsi.
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336062 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Southeast Asia
Monywa, Burma: Copper Mine Protesters Burned Out in Police Raid
I'm linking this to provide some background to the recent events in Myanmar/Burma. It's a recent oppressive incident that happened in Burma that doesn't appear connected to anything having to do with the Rohingya, or any of Burma's other ethnic conflicts. To get a sense of the location click here.
RANGOON--Protesters demanding a complete shutdown of a Chinese-backed copper mining project near Monywa in Upper Burma were forcefully dispersed by police using tear gas and water cannons early on Thursday morning in a raid which led to dozens of people being badly burned.

In the most violent government response to civil disobedience since tentative democratic reforms were introduced last year, riot police descended on six protest camps at around 2:30 am with a raft of aggressive measures that reportedly left large areas ablaze.
I'm trying to remember other incidents that involved use of "tear gas" that wind up having incendiary effects.
"At 2:30 am, the main gate of Wanbao suddenly swung open and police charged in. Ten monks at our camp stood up to protect the rest of the protesters but the monks were knocked down by water jets. Then the fire bombs came in. They set our motorcycles on fire. We had to run for our lives," said Aye Net, one of the protest leaders.

"Monks dragged me away. Otherwise, I would have been killed or arrested," she added.

"We have 10 injured protesters, including monks," said Thaw Zin, an anti-copper mine activist at another camp, adding that 15 people from his area are still missing and were likely arrested.
To summarize, they're not sure how many were injured or how badly, how many were arrested, etc. The attack happened on the eve of Aung San Suu Kyi's visit to the area. One notable statement:
"When the raid started, we didn't believe that [the police] would use that kind of violence as we are no longer under military dictatorship. We were shocked," said Thaw Zin. "We weren't disturbing law and order. We were unarmed people who were just asking for our rights."
There's also a heavy security cordon around the major hospital in the area.

They save the initial cause of the protests for the end of the piece.
The mining project, a joint-venture between the military-owned Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd and China's Wan Bao Company, has come under fire since August after more than 300 residents from 12 villages in the Letpadaung mountain range staged protests to demand its closure, citing environmental destruction, forced relocations and illegal land confiscation.

More than 7,800 acres of land from 26 villages under the shadow of the mountain range have been seized to make way for the project that began last year. Since mid-November, protesters have been disrupting workers by linking arms to block the path of trucks at the construction site, and erecting camps nearby.

"I feel very sad. I never thought they would respond to us like that. We are the Burmese and [the police] are Burmese too," added Aye Net. "But on witnessing that they are protecting Chinese interests by using force on their fellow Burmese, it has caused me a great deal of heartache."
I think this illustrates a really bad situation the modern deindustrialization of the United States has put us in. We can buy from and support the people who committed this or we can forego any modern consumer electronics and much modern industrial equipment.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336099 views] Top|| File under:

#1  forcefully dispersed by police using tear gas and water cannons
Reminds me of the '68 DNC in Chicago.
Wait! Chicago...?
Posted by: Skidmark || 11/30/2012 11:51 Comments || Top||

#2  "tear gas" that wind up having incendiary effects.

That would be David Koresh's compound near Waco.
Posted by: Glenmore || 11/30/2012 12:58 Comments || Top||

#3  That one, yes, but there are also others... whatstheirnames in Philadelphia?
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 11/30/2012 20:39 Comments || Top||

#4  Move
Posted by: Frank G || 11/30/2012 20:48 Comments || Top||

#5  I was thinking more of their recent visitor.
Posted by: Skidmark || 11/30/2012 22:35 Comments || Top||


Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336085 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I don't think they have Proms (short for Promenade, I assume) in Italy.
Posted by: mojo || 11/30/2012 12:44 Comments || Top||

#2  Birthday Gam Shot

Elisha Cuthbert [Canuck][Filmography](age 30)


Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 11/30/2012 13:05 Comments || Top||

#3  Ballroom Dancing jeans ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/30/2012 13:07 Comments || Top||

#4  I wonder less about the prom and more about catching my breath!
Posted by: Skidmark || 11/30/2012 14:15 Comments || Top||

#5  Is that while dancing, or while staring at the wimmins, Skidmark?
Posted by: Angie Schultz || 11/30/2012 15:38 Comments || Top||

#6  "Everything you see I owe to spaghetti."

- Sophia Loren

Posted by: Pappy || 11/30/2012 17:52 Comments || Top||

#7  I knew there was a reason I love spaghetti.

(unfortunately it has the opposite effect on me :( )
Posted by: CrazyFool || 11/30/2012 18:22 Comments || Top||

#8  CrazyFool I loved that, same thing.:(
Posted by: Dale || 11/30/2012 18:29 Comments || Top||

#9  Birthday Gam Shot

Charlene Tilton [Filmography](age 54)


Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 12/01/2012 4:34 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Man held in Lakki with 'would-be bombers'
[Dawn] Police on Wednesday placed in durance vile
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
a man in Naurang town as he was taking three boys to North Wazoo Agency allegedly for training as jacket wallahs.

Police officials claimed that the man, Yahya, basically belonging to Wazirgai Mehsud area of South Waziristan Agency was currently living in Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
's Sultanabad Colony.

They said the boys, including Shah Hussain, Rehan and Mukhtiar Ahmad, were the residents of South Waziristan Agency and were currently settled in Bloody Karachi's Awan Colony.

The boys aged between 12 and 14 years, they added.An official said the arrests were made by personnel of Shaheed Asmatullah Khan Khattak cop shoppe during a raid on a bus terminal on a tip-off when the four were riding a passenger coach.

He said police had learned during interrogation that Yahya belonged to a terrorist group, which consisted of some Mehsud rustics settled in Bloody Karachi.

The official said members of the group kidnapped boys before shifting them to North Waziristan Agency for training as suicide bombers.

He said the three boys were to be taken to a Taliban training camp of suicide bombers in Miranshah
... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas...
Police started the paperwork but haven't done much else under sections 364A, 120B, 121, 34 and 7ATA in Shaheed Asmatullah Khan Khattak cop shoppe and began investigation.
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336065 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syria shuts off internet access across the country
[Guardian.CO.UK] Syrian officials shut down nationwide internet access on Thursday and closed Damascus
...The place where Pencilneck hangs his brass hat...
airport as rebels mounted offensives nearby and tried to advance on the capital from four directions. Phone networks were also crippled in much of the country, causing fear and confusion on both sides and fuelling claims that a new rebel push was gaining momentum.

Syria's information minister blamed "terrorists" for the outage, but the communications shutdown was seen as an attempt to stymie rebel moves as militias try to co-ordinate an assault on Damascus. It was also thought to be aimed at thwarting any plans for advances in other towns and cities.

Opposition groups have also been advancing in northern Syria, particularly near the second city, 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...
, where the downing of two regime aircraft with surface to air missiles this week has given impetus to a rebel campaign that had become a series of attritional battles.

While officials have frequently shut down internet and mobile phone access to opposition-held areas since the uprising began in March 2011, sometimes for weeks at a time, they have never before cut web and voice communications nationwide.

Soon after noon on Thursday, all 84 of Syria's ISP address blocks were unreachable, web specialists Renesys said. Five ISP addresses did continue to function. Renesys analysts said they were used to deliver malware to anti-regime activists earlier this year, a fact that would appear to link the addresses to the government.

Landline phones began to slowly come back on line later in the day.
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336063 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  No loss, stay shut for all I care.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 11/30/2012 1:19 Comments || Top||

#2  Why are we calling them rebels?

Normally when Islamists blow up buses and let off car bombs in market places we'd call them something else?
Posted by: Deadeye Snamble1967 || 11/30/2012 2:41 Comments || Top||

#3  it's teh Grauniad news - you're lucky they didn't call them Freedom Fighters
Posted by: Frank G || 11/30/2012 9:47 Comments || Top||

#4  Hey, where's the LEVANT these days? Don't we usually get treated to his smug little boasts whenever there's a dust up in that neck of the woods?

LEVANT!!! How's it going, dude? No internet? Too bad.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 11/30/2012 11:27 Comments || Top||

#5  WHAT? No more orders for RPG's on Ebay? This could be quite a setback :-)
Posted by: Raider || 11/30/2012 13:31 Comments || Top||

#6  Making the case against government control of the internet.
Posted by: mojo || 11/30/2012 13:57 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Revolution veterans hold protest against government in Tripoli
[Iran Press TV] Libyan veterans of last year's revolution, which ousted dictator Muammar Qadaffy
...a proud Arab institution for 42 years, now among the dear departed, though not the dearest...
, have once again gathered outside the Zawiya Oil Refining Company in 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...
to protest against the government, calling on authorities to send them abroad for medical treatment.

According to reports, a large crowd of maimed veterans attended the demonstration on Thursday.

The protesters also forced Zawiya's officials to shut down operations at the refinery.

"We are in a state of total shutdown...the demonstrators are preventing employees from entering the refinery and fuel trucks are unable to leave," said refinery front man Essam al-Muntasir.

"Many of them (the veterans) want the government to send them abroad to receive treatment or they want to get more money from the government as compensation for their efforts," he noted.

On November 5, a similar protest was held in the same region where angry veterans prevented the employees from entering the company.

According to Libya's Deputy Oil Minister Omar Shakmak, the protest outside the refinery can cause fuel shortage in the North African country.

"We have enough fuel stored in Tripoli to last us 25 days, but the problem is that protesters are not allowing trucks in or out of the fuel storage areas of the refinery, which could cause a shortage," he said.
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336063 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


India-Pakistan
Fresh US drone strike kills four in northwestern Pakistan
[Iran Press TV] A fresh US liquidation drone strike has claimed the lives of at least four people and severely injured several others in Pakistain's northwestern tribal belt near the mostly non-existent border with Afghanistan.

The causalities come after the aerial strikes targeted a vehicle and a residential compound in the Shane Warsak area of Wana, the capital town of South Wazoo on Thursday evening.

Local security officials say the CIA-operated unmanned vehicles also fired multiple missiles into open fields across the volatile region.

Witnesses say the drones were still hovering over the troubled region, triggering an unprecedented scale of horror and panic among the local residents.

The aerial attacks were initiated by former US President George W. Bush, but have escalated under President B.O..

Pak tribal regions are the target of US terror drones, with Washington claiming that its unmanned aircraft are targeting thugs. However,
it's easy to be generous with someone else's money...
casualty figures clearly indicate that Pak civilians are the main victims of the assaults.
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336095 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan

#1  See also DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > US VIEWS MIDDLE EAST [Arab-Muslim World] AS TEST SITES FOR DRONES, ARMS: ANALYST.

versus

* CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > CHINA TO REPLACE CARRIER PILOTS WID SOFTWARE, i.e. Drones.

ARTIC = AGE OF MANNED AIRCRAFT OPERATIONS FOR CHINESE CV'S COULD VERY WELL BE A SHORT ONE, US hopes to be able to begin unit-sized, routine UAV flightops aboard USN CVNS come 2014.

Year 2014 strikes again.

["THE TERMINATOR" DA ARNUULD + "WAR OF THE MACHINES" here].

Civil War II + Robot War???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 12/01/2012 0:10 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Ban Says Israel-Palestinian Peace Process on 'Life Support'
[An Nahar] U.N. leader the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
warned Thursday ahead of key vote on U.N. recognition of a Paleostinian state that the Middle East grinding of the peace processor is on "life support".

But he told a U.N. meeting that only "direct negotiations" between the Paleostinians and Israelis can lead to a permanent settlement.

Ban called on the Israeli and Paleostinian leaders "to breathe new life into the grinding of the peace processor which is now on life support" because of the negotiations deadlock between the rivals.

"What is needed now is political will and courage. Leaders must show a historic sense of responsibility and vision. Israelis and Paleostinians must break out of the zero-sum mentality," Ban told a meeting on Paleostinian rights

The U.N. General Assembly will vote later Thursday on a resolution granting Paleostine observer state membership of the U.N. It is certain to win despite opposition from the United States and Israel.

Ban noted that the General Assembly vote comes 65 years to the day after the assembly voted a resolution on the division of the Paleostinian territories into a two-state solution that "remains tragically unfulfilled".
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336063 views] Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority

#1  The resolution that created the Jewish state did not creat a Muslim or Christian one. Abbas, the ayatollah and the pope can whine all they like, won't change a thing
Posted by: Deadeye Snamble1967 || 11/30/2012 2:44 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Karachi polio case 'Boy got virus in Mardan'
[Dawn] The 18-month-old boy suffering from polio
...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set...
and living in Liaquatabad town acquired the virus from during a visit to relatives in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
, not Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
, Dawn learnt on Wednesday.

Sources in the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that after observing the genome sequence of the virus, the authorities were convinced that the polio case belonged to Mardan and not Bloody Karachi.

"Though the child is a resident of Liaqatabad's union council 11, in view of the findings of WHO it would now be counted in the tally of Mardan," said the source.

"Two polio cases have already been reported in Mardan while no cases have been reported from Bloody Karachi this year. The number of polio cases in Sindh remains at four."

The senior polio coordinator for WHO said that the polio eradication initiative confirmed that 18-month-old SLearned Elders of Islamn, son of Abdur Rehman, was the 55th polio case reported all across Pakistain till Nov 21 this year. He said that the genomic sequence of the Bloody Karachi/Mardan case showed that the virus was from Khyber Pakhtunkwa and matched viruses from Charsada and Bajaur closely.
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336087 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So the 'Oo can sequence the genome of this Pakistani polio virus, identify which town that strain came from, but can't get Pakistanis to take the vaccine.
That is beyond sad. As is Pakistan.
Posted by: Grunter || 11/30/2012 19:20 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Indonesian Hizbies Demand Russia Release Members
[An Nahar] Around 200 Indonesians from the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir rallied Thursday outside Russia's embassy, demanding the release of six of its leaders and accusing Moscow of planting weapons to smear them.

Women in black robes and white headscarves, men and children held portraits of Russian President Vladimir Putin
...Second President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Because of constitutionally mandated term limits he is the current Prime Minister of Russia. His sock puppet, Dmitry Medvedev, was installed in the 2008 presidential elections. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law. During his eight years in office Russia's economy bounced back from crisis, seeing GDP increase, poverty decrease and average monthly salaries increase. During his presidency Putin passed into law a series of fundamental reforms, including a flat income tax of 13%, a reduced profits tax, and new land and legal codes. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile...
above the words "The real terrorist".

Police in Moscow said on November 12 they had tossed in the slammer
Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up!
six leaders and active members of Hizb ut-Tahrir (Party of Liberation) after finding they were "leading active recruitment work in Moscow mosques, and spreading thug literature".

Hizb ut-Tahrir has been outlawed as a terrorist organization in Russia and several other countries but remains legal in Indonesia.

"We are calling for the release of locked away
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
Hibz ut-Tahrir members in Russia and for the revocation of Russia's vicious accusations," Hizb ut-Tahrir Indonesia said in a statement.

Police in Moscow said they had confiscated grenades, weapons, ammunition and "extremist" literature in raids on the members' homes.

"This is a vicious fabrication by Russian agencies who planted materials in the homes of Hizb ut-Tahrir members," the statement said.

"Our pursuit is to return to the Islamic way of life under a caliphate, so we have no need for weapons and ammunition."
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336069 views] Top|| File under: Hizb-ut-Tahrir

#1  And iff Russia doesn't???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/30/2012 0:15 Comments || Top||

#2  Yeah, lets see how far that goes.
Posted by: Skidmark || 11/30/2012 11:33 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
N. Korea's Defense Chief Replaced with Hawkish General
[An Nahar] North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has replaced his defense chief with a hawkish general in a shakeup apparently aimed at tightening his grip over the military, a report said Thursday.
There's such a thing as a 'non-hawkish' Nork general?
Vice Marshal Kim Jong-Gak was sacked as defense minister after just seven months in office, Yonhap News Agency quoted an unnamed senior South Korean presidential official as saying.

He was replaced by Kim Kyok-Sik, a hawkish general believed to have orchestrated the North's sinking of a South Korean warship and an artillery attack on a border island in 2010, it said.

Analysts said the re-shuffle, if confirmed, was the latest in a series of top-level personnel changes ordered by Kim Jong-Un since taking over after the death of his father, Kim Dear Leader Jong-Il
... hereditary dictator of North Korea. His definition of reunification isn't the same as the definition in Seoul...
, a year ago.

"Kim has tightened his grip over the military by replacing top military generals with those loyal to him," Yang Moo-Jin, a professor of the University of North Korean Studies, told Agence La Belle France Presse.

In July, Hyon Yong-Chol, a little-known general, became chief of the general staff, a powerful post that controls the North's 1.2-million-strong military.

He replaced Ri Yong-Ho, who had been regarded as one of Kim's inner circle but was relieved of all his posts -- officially because of "illness."

Ri was a highly visible figure who helped support Kim following the death of his father, and his sudden departure sparked speculation that he might have been purged.
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336086 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  "Orchestrated the North's sinking of a South Korean warship ..." > NOT good news for the USS GEORGE WASHINGTON CVN.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/30/2012 0:16 Comments || Top||

#2  Indeed. A missile launch against an American CV would be a *major* propaganda coup.

Sure, it would likely|hopefully get shot down, but the Americans would not do anything about it, other than a sternly worded warning, for fear of starting a war.
Posted by: SteveS || 11/30/2012 12:46 Comments || Top||

#3  We need a 'team america' like puppet for Junior.

Perhaps dress up the Philsbury dough boy in drag.

As for the CVN - It's not unreasonable for the North Korean leadership to believe that Obama would not do anything if a missle was fired at the CVN. And if they are lucky he might confuse the issue ("Wait. don't do anything yet - I haven't decided what to do. Where's Valorie?") enough for the missile to do some damage.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 11/30/2012 13:52 Comments || Top||

#4  How would the Norks be able to localize a CVN to within 500 miles? Unless they aimed at Yokasuka of course.
Posted by: Shipman || 11/30/2012 15:44 Comments || Top||

#5  If Kyok-Sik has been given a top post - then it's reasonable to expect a lot more trouble from this bunch. Whatever dirty moves they can dream up ... there's a chance they will put them into play.
Posted by: Raider || 11/30/2012 23:32 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
U.S. Birth Rate Hits Record Low
[National Journal] The U.S. birth rate dropped to its lowest level since the beginning of the Great Depression, led by a drop among immigrants, according to a report data released Thursday by the Pew Research Center.

In 2011, the overall birth rate was 63.2 per 1,000 women of childbearing age, the lowest since at least 1920, Pew reported, citing numbers from the National Center for Health Statistics. The birth rate reached 122.7 in 1957, the peak of the Baby Boom. After the mid-1970s, the birth rate stabilized at about 65 to 70 births per 1,000 women annually, until the beginning of the Great Recession.

Since 2007, both the U.S. birth rate (the number of live births per 1,000 women ages 15-44) and the number of births have dropped significantly, according to the report.

Overall, the birth rate declined 8 percent from 2007 to 2010. Among U.S.-born women, the birth rate dropped 6 percent. The decline among foreign-born women was 14 percent. Among Mexican women, the birth rate fell even more, to 23 percent.
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336068 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Have the Wimin given up already - we're not even formally a Commie-Socialist Secular Totalitarian State yet???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/30/2012 0:09 Comments || Top||

#2  #1 Have the Wimin given up already - we're not even formally a Commie-Socialist Secular Totalitarian State yet???
Posted by JosephMendiola


Formal recognition is pending Joe.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/30/2012 1:27 Comments || Top||

#3  In modern America the role of men has become almost insignificant - government has replaced them as the family provider, enforcement of any kind of family discipline is illegal, and turkey basters or the medical equivalent remove their biological necessity (except for a few breeding bulls in a pen somewhere.) Further, their percieved tendency towards violence makes them untrustworthy around civilized society, except for the metrosoxuals and other pseudo-castrati (perhaps female hormones in so much of the food supply contributes to the increase in such semi-men.)
Add to the above 1) the belief that humans are the cause of world problems and really should exterminate themselves, 2) the delay in starting families until one can 'afford it', 3) the focus of the breeding generation on 'me, me, me', and 4) the harmful effect of @bortions on ferti1ity and it should be no surprise at the birth rate reduction.
Posted by: Glenmore || 11/30/2012 8:13 Comments || Top||

#4  Maybe they all decided to "have careers" instead.
Posted by: bigjim-CA || 11/30/2012 8:28 Comments || Top||

#5  Maybe they all decided to "have careers" instead. Or paying off their student loans at the Mustang or Chicken Ranch in Nevada.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 11/30/2012 8:56 Comments || Top||

#6  The birth rate will climb again following the revolution.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/30/2012 9:14 Comments || Top||

#7  The 14% drop among foreign born women would indicate it is not a culture, or pollution, reason.

*unless that stat has to do with fewer people immigrating to the USA, still it matches with the overall trend.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 11/30/2012 10:46 Comments || Top||

#8  U.S. Birth Rate Hits Record Low...

...among the makers educated working class, however the takers Springerville is popping with random reproduction.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/30/2012 10:59 Comments || Top||

#9  I disagree.

If the Government would document all the illegals they would see a huge bunch of unaccounted anchor babies, compound that number exponentially, daily.
Posted by: Whaick Dingle4526 || 11/30/2012 11:18 Comments || Top||

#10  NOBODY likes Zero.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 11/30/2012 11:19 Comments || Top||

#11  We have record highs in UK thanks to muslim immigration.

You guys need more muslims LOL
Posted by: Hupusosing Grinese3585 || 11/30/2012 12:14 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Strong Egypt Party warns of 'second Camel Battle' Saturday
[Al Ahram] The Strong Egypt Party, founded by former moderate-Islamist presidential contender Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh, has called on President Mohamed Morsi and Egypt's Moslem Brüderbund on Thursday to "listen to the voice of reason and avoid the danger of more bloodshed."
In a Thursday statement, the party blamed Morsi for the recent polarisation of Egypt's political scene, slamming plans by Islamist parties and groups to stage rallies on Saturday in support of the president and his contentious constitutional declaration.

"We greatly condemn the decision by the Brotherhood and other Islamist groups to take to the streets in Tahrir Square, where opposition forces have been holding a sit-in for almost a week," the statement read.

The statement went on to assert that the Brotherhood's "reckless" actions represented an "assault on Egyptians' right to peaceful protest."

The party further warned that Saturday's planned protests could turn into a second 'Battle of the Camel,' in reference to 2 February 2011, when Mubarak loyalists converged on Cairo's Tahrir Square where they viciously attacked anti-regime demonstrators.

"Opposition to the constitutional declaration has been turned [by Islamist groups] into an issue of good vs. evil," the statement concluded. "This is a very dangerous act; they're playing with fire."
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336084 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

#1  With the right venue,and a little promotion, this could revive Egyptian tourism.
Posted by: Grunter || 11/30/2012 16:43 Comments || Top||

#2  if they adopt the Paleo foot-shootin' craze, it could become the "Second Camel Toe Battle". That should help marketing.


I'll go to my room
Posted by: Frank G || 11/30/2012 16:55 Comments || Top||

#3  And so you should, Frank.
Posted by: lotp || 11/30/2012 17:45 Comments || Top||

#4  Look everybody be calm - there is plenty of Camels around for everyone. Let the party begin. Leave the one with the lipstick for Morsi. No need for fighting.
Posted by: Chief || 11/30/2012 20:47 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
U.N. Security Council Warns North Korea on Missile
[An Nahar] The U.N. Security Council on Thursday warned North Korea against carrying out what the international community believes could be an imminent long-range missile test.

"We all agree it would be extremely inadvisable to proceed with the test," the head of the North Korea sanctions committee at the council, Portuguese Ambassador Jose Filipe Moraes Cabral, told news hounds.

Asked if there was specific information pointing to a missile test, Cabral said he would not disclose what had been said inside the Security Council. But he added: "There is concern about that, it's obvious."

Satellite operator DigitalGlobe Inc. recently released new images showing increased activity at North Korea's Sohae (West Sea) Satellite Launch Station that suggested a possible missile test in the next three weeks.

DigitalGlobe said the type of activity was consistent with preparations observed before North Korea's failed launch of its Unha-3 missile in April.

South Korean military officials have also cited intelligence reports pointing to a test sometime in December or January.

Pyongyang insisted the April launch bid was aimed at putting a satellite in orbit, but the United States and United Nations
...an organization whose definition of human rights is interesting, to say the least...
denounced the mission as a disguised ballistic missile test.

North Korea is known to have an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) in development -- the Taepodong-2 -- but it has never been tested successfully.
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336086 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  ION, as per FREEREPUBLIC the US has given Iran until March 2013 to comply + be suborned under the UN IAEA, to which IIUC Iran has responded by demanding that Israel's NucWeap arsenal be formally acknowledged by Tel Aviv, + that both it + any Israeli Civie NucEnergy progs also come under UN IAEA supervision.

US-IRAN WAR = SUMMER 2013???

versus

* TOPIX > BEIJING: ISLANDS STANDOFF DOMINATES CHINA-JAPAN TIES.

ARTIC > YANG BOJIANG, Professor of Japanese Studies at University of International Relations = BELIEVES THAT JAPANESE NATIONALISM WILL NOT ACCEPT OR TOLERATE BEING IN SECOND-PLACE BEHIND CHINA, NOR IS IT WILLING TO GIVE UP GOAL OF JAPAN BEING A MAJOR POLITICAL POWER IN THE WORLD.

* SAME > NEW CHINESE LAW ALLOWS FOR SEARCH, EXPULSION OF FOREIGN SHIPS, in + around HAINAN + SOUTH CHINA SEA ISLANDS.

* SAME > CHINA TO PERMANENTLY STATION VESSELS [warships, gunboats] IN DISPUTED SHOAL.

Scarborough Shoal, aka PHIL "Panatag" in SPratleys.

* SAME > CHINA BEING "DICTATORIAL" IN SCARBOROUGH SHOAL, SAYS ALBERT DEL ROSARIO.

* SAME > PHILIPPINES TELLS CHINA: "ALL YOUR SHIPS MUST GO"!

* CHINA DAILY FORUM > [PRC Foreign Ministry]CHINA: SOVEREIGNTY PROTECTION "PROPER" AND
"NECESSARY".

* WORLD NEWS > RECORD 81% OF JAPANESE FEEL NO FRIENDSHIP TOWARDS CHINA, GOVT. SURVEY SHOWS.

* SAME > [CCTV News] CHINA PUBLISHES MAP OF SANSHU, SOUTH CHINA SEAS ISLANDS.

* SAME > PASSPORT MAP ROW: "TERRITORIES BELONG TO CHINA" [anyway], argues Global Times Newspaper.

* SAME > US DOES NOT ENDORSE "STRAY" CHINESE PASSPORT MAPS.

* CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > CHINA TAUNTS JAPAN WID "AIRCRAFT CARRIER EXERCISE". PLAN surface flotilla escorting "large surface warship" thru Okinawa's Miyako Strait.

* SAME > CHINESE POLICE PLAN TO BOARD VESSELS IN DISPUTED SEAS.

* SAME > "LIAONING" CV TO SAIL PASS HUANG-YAN ISLAND WHILE IN WESTERN PACIFIC OCEAN.

* WORLD MILITARY FORUM > CHINA WARNS US, JAPAN NOT TO INTERVENE IN PLAN AIRCRAFT CARRIER EXERCISE NEAR GUAM.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/30/2012 0:56 Comments || Top||

#2  OOOOOPPPSSS, forgot CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > [Reuters] ANALYSIS: AS CHINA SHOWCASES CARRIER, GLOBAL NAVAL BALANCE SHIFTING, towards emerging economies.

ARTIC = US in future may either no longer have the capability to project significant or decisive military power in certain strategic areas of the world; or in alternate won't be the only nation capable of doing so, ESPEC VEE GEOPOLITICAL RIVALS.

Lest we fergit, GUAM + CNMI = are poten one of those areas where Rising China in future may declare as "NO GO" ZONE = LINE OF DEMARCATION for USN CVBGS + other, espec in times of US-China confrontation + not unless the US is willing to risk MAJOR NUCLEAR WAR AGZ CHINA.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/30/2012 1:07 Comments || Top||

#3  Go ahead and shoot, bit don't be shocked when the nation dissapears under you, we have long tempers and short patience with Mouthy assholes, look at Germany, Poland, and the European Campaign, Or to be closer , Look to your south, people Dying to get there, and NOT your "Paradise", which Isn't.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 11/30/2012 11:28 Comments || Top||

#4  On a not necessarily unrelated note ...

ION WORLD NEWS > CHINA WILL NOT ACCEPT JAPAN'S "CONTROL" OF WATERS NEAR DIAOYU ISLANDS: FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESWOMAN.

* SAME > ABE: LET RETIRED SDF WARSHIPS [ + SDF Reserves] DEFEND SENKAKUS.

ARTIC > ABE = ...
- Japan recognizes that China is trying to wrest away the Senkakus [China = Diaoyus]. OKINAWA???
- Japan needs to modernize the armed capabilities of Japan Coast Guard [JCG] vessels, but won't be able to for two more years [2014] even iff the Japan Diet approved a budget for such today.

* SAME, CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > JAPAN, FACED WID RISING CHINA, SHIFTS ITS STRATEGIC PRIORITIES. Japan desires to create a "Coalition of the Willing" in East Asia that will help it stop China from overwhelming Japan.

* CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > IS CHINA TRYING TO IMPLODE JAPAN'S ECONOMY? [oer the Senkakus] IT APPEARS THAT CHINA HAS A PLAN, AND ITS WORKING.

* PACIFICNEWSCENTER [Guam K-57] US SENATE APPROVES WEBB AMENDMENT TO REAFFIRM US COMMITMENT TO JAPAN ON SENKAKU ISLANDS, as per Article Five of US-Japan security treaty.

* Also from WORLD NEWS > CHINA TAKING THE GLOVES OFF IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA BY BOARDING [any] SHIPS ANYPLACE IT LIKES.

* SAME > CHINA WILL NOT KEEP QUIET IFF OTHER COUNTRIES USE FORCE AGZ IT IN THE SOUTH, i.e. the South China Sea region + China-claimed islands.

CHINA WILL NOT "NOT USE MILITARY FORCE", as pertinent, albeit it prefers diplomacy-led solutions to the above.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/30/2012 23:32 Comments || Top||

#5  More ...

* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > ASEAN CHIEF VOICES ALARM AT CHINA PLAN TO BOARD [foreign] SHIPS IN DISPUTED WATERS.

Could spark regional naval clashes + retaliatory, counter-retaliatry economic responses.

* SAME > CHINA EXPANDING ITS NAVAL CAPABILITIES [strategic reach/force projection] IN WESTERN PACIFIC, vee its "East Sea Fleet".

ARTIC > EXPERTS = China's first CV + Escort group reflects ...
- China's "Global Navy" agendum, i.e. its desire to be able to conduct effective LR FleetOps despite poor climate conditions andor non-traditional/routine sail periods. ANYPLACE, ANY TIME, ANY WEATHER, FOR OR AGZ ANY COUNTRY.
- Growing Political + Media Public Relations + Propaganda = Media-saavy.
- Chinese + PLAN achievements as per Navy-related Techs, e.g. CV Escorts armed wid increasingly advanced AEGIS-style AAW + BMDS.

* SAME > FIRST VIETNAM-JAPAN STRATEGIC DEFENSE DIALOGUES.

Vietnam + Nippon SDF versus China's new extensive Railway into LAOS???

Methinks we found a hint as to why POTUS Bammer didn't visit Laos???

* WORLD NEWS > CHINA SEEKS "MARITIME POWER", NOT HEGEMONY.

SSSSHHHHHHHH ...PCCCCCCCCC-orrect Wink-wink.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/30/2012 23:52 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Case against Tunisian Woman Raped by Police Dropped
[An Nahar] The case against a young Tunisian woman allegedly raped by two coppers has been dropped, her lawyer said on Thursday.

The case was dismissed "against the woman and her boyfriend," lawyer Emna Zahrouni said.

The 27-year-old rape victim faced possible indecency charges with her fiance based on the testimony of the alleged rapists, coppers who say they took the couple by surprise in an "immoral position" just before the attack purportedly took place.

The case sparked a storm of protest in Tunisia, with NGOs, media and opposition figures saying the proceedings had transformed the victim into the accused and reflected the Islamist-led government's policy towards women.

Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali, from the ruling Islamist party Ennahda, said in October that the coppers, enjugged
Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'!
shortly after the incident, would be "severely judged."

But he also said there may be a case of indecency to answer.

However,
if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well...
Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki in October offered a state apology to the woman.

"The Tunisian president received the young woman raped by the coppers... and after listening to the details of this painful case... he expressed total sympathy (with the woman) and offered a state apology," a statement from his office said.
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336066 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Executed 'Gaza war collaborators' were already in jail
[Ma'an] Seven Paleostinians who were accused of spying for Israel and publicly executed during the latest assault on Gazoo were already in jail when the war started, and several had been held for more than a year.

Masked gunnies shot the alleged collaborators in two public attacks at the height of Israel's eight-day bombardment of Gazoo, killing one person on Nov. 16 and another six people on Nov. 20.

At the time, security officials said one man had confessed to aiding Israel while the six others "were caught red-handed" and "possessed hi-tech equipment and filming equipment to take footage of positions."

A Ma'an review of publicly available records as well as interviews with experts in Gazoo show that all of these men had been in the custody of the Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, government for months and in one case years before Israel launched its "Pillar of Cloud" operation.

Ashraf Aweida, the first victim, had been held on suspicion of spying but had not been formally convicted before his body was dumped in the street outside Shifa hospital along with a note claiming he had confessed to assisting in Israeli liquidations, according to human rights
When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much...
activists in Gazoo. The six others who were killed Nov. 20 had all been formally sentenced to death no later than September.

Paleostinian human rights activists and a senior Hamas official have condemned the killings as illegal, saying the men should have been brought to justice under the law.

According to public records maintained by the Paleostinian Center for Human Rights and other groups, six of the seven men had already had their day in court by the time Israel launched its assault Nov. 14.

Three of them -- Amer al-Aef, Zuheir Hamouda and Ghassan Asfur -- were sentenced to death in 2012. Two others, Ribhi Bedawi and Fadel Abu Shalluf, received the same sentence in 2011. The sixth victim, Naim Ashur, was convicted of treason in March 2010, according to the Independent Commission for Human Rights, the Paleostinian Authority's official rights ombudsman.

"Prior to the attack on Gazoo they were all in jug," said Handi Shakura, the director of the Paleostinian Center for Human Rights' democracy development unit, in an interview.

"We have no information as to whether they were released or handed to hard boys. We are waiting for the results of the government committee. We are hopeful we will see a real investigation and action by the government," Shakura told Ma'an.

Images of the victims -- including one showing a man's lifeless body chained to a cycle of violence and being dragged throughout the streets of Gazoo City -- underscored the sentiment toward informants after Israel launched its brutal air assault, which killed over 170 people and injured hundreds.

Officials in Gazoo also used the images to warn would-be spies against cooperating with Israel. After Aweida's body was found outside Shifa hospital, a security official cited the killing as evidence the government was not lowering its guard against "those who mess with the security of our homeland."

A week since the ceasefire, the circumstances of how these seven men were removed from their jail cells and ended up dead on Gazoo City's streets remain unclear.

Taher al-Nunu, a front man for the Hamas government, promised a full investigation into the killings, which he described as unlawful.

However Hamas big turban Mahmoud al-Zahhar dismissed criticism from Paleostinian human rights groups.

"We will not allow one collaborator to be in Gazoo, and let human rights groups say whatever they want. A human has rights if they have honor and not if they are a traitor," he said Saturday.

The remarks followed condemnation by the deputy chief of Hamas, Mousa Abu Marzouq, who said the killings were "not acceptable at all," and demanded that those responsible be held accountable.

Such an incident "must never happen again," he said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336062 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  that made them easier to find
Posted by: Frank G || 11/30/2012 12:11 Comments || Top||

#2  And to settle all family business...
Posted by: tu3031 || 11/30/2012 12:25 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
TTP vs media
[Dawn] IF certain sections of the media were still attempting to justify the TTP's agenda or divert attention from it, the attempt on television anchor Hamid Mir's life should leave no journalist or media outlet with any excuse to continue serving as apologists for the Pak Taliban. The TTP's claim that it was behind the attack is not solid proof, but in the absence of any denials from the group, one can only take it at face value. And so it appears the Taliban have reached new levels of boldness when it comes to targeting the media. Going beyond just sending personal threats, which they have done with other journalists in the past, this time they have publicly announced that a particular journalist is a target -- and that they plan to continue targeting him. The same unrepentant message of defiance came through recently when the TTP claimed the attack on Malala Yousufzai and some sectarian attacks: they have said they will continue trying to kill the young girl and Shias.

In the case of the media in particular, the Pak Taliban's antagonism is alarming because it underscores that they cannot stomach any criticism. Simply speaking out against them is a crime in their eyes, one for which the only punishment is death. As such, they stand against everything that Pakistain's hard-won media freedom represents. On a practical level, intelligence agencies must ensure that journalists are made aware of any threats to their lives; while the odd interior ministry notification is issued from time to time, there are instances of direct threats not having been communicated to the journalists they are made against. But more importantly, recent events should serve as a red flag for journalists -- and politicians -- who support, defend or excuse the TTP's actions that they do so at the cost of their own freedom of expression.
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336068 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Eight killed in Karachi violence; police arrest 15 suspects
[Dawn] At least eight people were killed on Thursday in separate incidents of firing in Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
, DawnNews reported.

In the most recent incident today, a man and his wife -- both doctors -- were killed when armed gunnies shot up their clinic in Bloody Karachi's Abulhasan Ispahani road.

Meanwhile,
...back at the sea battle, the Terror of the Baltic's career had come to an abrupt and watery end...
the biggest incident of murder today took place in Quaidabad area when gunnies rubbed out four people traveling in a taxi. All four victims were activists of a political party.

Earlier, one person was killed when unknown gunnies opened fire on him on the Hub River Road in Bloody Karachi's Baldia Town area.

Another man was rubbed out in the Baldia Town's Abidabad area.

Separately, the police claimed arresting 15 people, including two suspected bank robbers.

The city's East Zone police conducted different operations and tossed in the clink
Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit!
13 suspects, including three proclaimed offenders. The police also recovered weapons from the arrested individuals.

Moreover, Gulistan-e-Jauhar police arrested two suspects allegedly involved in a bank robbery.

According to police sources, the suspects looted a private bank on Bloody Karachi's University Road and managed to flee with Rs 36 million.
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336069 views] Top|| File under:


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Lindsay Lohan arrested. Again.
[NY Daily News]
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336083 views] Top|| File under:

#1  She hates orange people...
Posted by: tu3031 || 11/30/2012 1:08 Comments || Top||

#2  No seriously ... I think the cops are paying her to pull these stunts - just so they can boost their arrest records for the year :-)
Posted by: Raider || 11/30/2012 13:34 Comments || Top||

#3  I have to admit I like her new hair color.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/30/2012 19:11 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Roadside Bomb Kills 10 in Afghanistan
[An Nahar] A roadside kaboom killed 10 civilians, including a woman and five children, and maimed eight when it destroyed a van in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, officials said.

The families were on their way to visit a relative who had recently returned from Mecca when their vehicle was hit in Dih Rawud district in rural Uruzgan province, district governor Nematullah Khaliqi told Agence La Belle France Presse.

"Four of the dead are men, one is a woman and the rest are children. Eight others, men, women and kiddies, are maimed," he said.

The corpse count was confirmed by Abdullah Hemat, a front man for the provincial governor.

Roadside bombs are the weapon of choice of hardline Islamist Talibs fighting Afghan forces and some 100,000 NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions...
troops in an effort to topple the government of President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai
... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use...
While the Taliban say their targets are military, civilians using the same roads are frequently the victims.

Earlier this month a roadside kaboom killed 17 civilians -- mostly women and kiddies -- on their way to a wedding party in western Afghanistan.

Afghan weddings are often lavish affairs, drawing hundreds of relatives and guests from far afield in the war-torn land, and the blast took the total toll among wedding guests on the roads to 46 in less than a month.
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336069 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


India-Pakistan
Imambargah trustee gunned down in 'sectarian' attack
[Dawn] A septuagenarian trustee of an Imambargah was bumped off in Nazimabad on Wednesday evening, police said.

Police said that Hasan Mohsin Naqvi, 70, was sitting in a park after offering prayers at Imambargah Jamia Imamia in Nazimabad No 2 when assailants riding a cycle of violence emerged, one of them walked up to the victim and fired three shots and fled.

DSP Iftikhar Lodhi said that the victim suffered two bullet wounds in the head and one in the chest and was struck down in his prime.

Initial circumstantial evidence suggested that the killing was executed by sectarian motives, but it could be otherwise, as the victim had a dispute with another person over the trusteeship, said DIG-West Javed Odho.

The police collected three spent bullet casings of 9mm pistol from the crime-scene.

The body was shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities. Later, the body was shifted to the Rizvia Imambargah where a large number of people had gathered.

Tension gripped the Gulbahar and Rizvia Society areas where angry protesters forced shopkeepers to close down their businesses.

A bus was also set on fire in the Gulbahar area. The incident caused a serious traffic jam during the evening rush hour.
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336087 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Jhangvi

#1  I haven't seen the cycle of violence in a while. Thanks.
Posted by: OldSpook || 11/30/2012 22:17 Comments || Top||


Pakistani Warlord Wounded in Suicide Attack
[An Nahar] Pak warlord Mullah Nazir, who sends men into Afghanistan to fight US soldiers, was maimed Thursday in a suicide kaboom that killed two other people, security officials said.

Nazir is the main warlord affiliated to the Pak Taliban in South Wazoo, one of seven districts that make up the semi-autonomous tribal belt considered a base for al-Qaeda and other Islamist turbans.

The bomber went kaboom!" near Nazir's vehicle as it passed through the market in Wana, the main town of the district, the officials said.

Two people were killed and at least five others were maimed, including Nazir, the officials told Agence La Belle France Presse on condition of anonymity, though accounts differed over the gravity of the warlord's injuries.

"The bomber was a boy aged 13 or 14. Five to seven people were maimed, including Mullah Nazir. His condition is said to be not serious," one of the officials said.

But another official in Wana said Nazir was "seriously maimed" in the attack.

An intelligence official based in the neighboring district of Tank said there had been a suicide attack and that firing subsequently broke out in the main market of Wana.

"The bazaar is closed now. We're trying to get more information," he said.

Sources in Wana said Nazir, who has survived murder attempts in the past, had fallen out with Uzbek fighters he had expelled from South Waziristan several years ago.
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336064 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan

#1  Nazir, guess you're not Holy enough.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 11/30/2012 11:34 Comments || Top||

#2  If he survived the bombing, he ain't holey enough either...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 11/30/2012 17:10 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Jenin Man Sentenced To Lifetime Hard Labor For Collaboration
[Ma'an] A Nablus court on Tuesday sentenced a Paleostinian man to a lifetime of hard labor for collaborating with Israel.

The 21-year-old man from Qabatiya in Jenin, identified by his initials J.A., was convicted of serving a hostile army and of providing Israeli agents with information about Paleostinian runaways who were eventually killed by Israeli forces, a Ma'an news hound said.

He was sentenced to a lifetime of hard labor for serving the enemy under article 110 of the Paleostinian Basic Law, and received another life sentence of hard labor for premeditated murder under article 327.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336066 views] Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority


Africa North
Third day of protests in Tunisia, 250 injured
[Al Ahram] More than 250 Tunisian protesters were injured following clashes against security forces in a the southwestern town of Siliana, revealing public anger against socio-economic failures of the Islamist-led government in Tunisia
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336063 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Damascus fighting cuts off airport, Emirates suspends flights
[Al Ahram] Syrian rebels battled forces loyal to Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
The Scourge of Hama...
just outside Damascus
...Home to a staggering array of terrorist organizations...
on Thursday, forcing the closure of the main airport road, and the Dubai-based Emirates airline suspended flights to the Syrian capital.
Residents also reported Internet connections in the capital were down and mobile and land telephone lines working only sporadically in what appeared to be the worst disruption to communications in Syria since an uprising began 20 months ago.

The past two weeks have seen rebels overrunning army bases across Syria, exposing Assad's loss of control in northern and eastern regions despite the devastating air power that he has used to bombard opposition strongholds.

Rebels and activists said the fighting along the road to Damascus airport, southeast of the capital, was heavier in that area than at any other time in the conflict.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a opposition monitoring group, said festivities were particularly intense in Babbila, a suburb bordering the jihad boy stronghold of Tadamon.

Nabeel al-Ameer, a front man for the rebel Military Council in Damascus, said that a large number of army reinforcements had arrived along the road after three days of scattered festivities ending with rebels seizing side streets to the north of it.

"There are no festivities directly around the airport; the fighting is about 3 or 4 kilometres away," he said via Skype, adding that rebels had taken control of many secondary roads and were expected to advance towards the airport.

He said that he hoped the proximity of the rebels to the airport would dissuade authorities from using it to import military equipment, but the priority now was to block the road.

A Syrian security source told Rooters on condition of anonymity that the army had started a "cleansing operation" in the capital to confront rebel advances.

Residents said the Internet in Damascus crashed in the early afternoon and mobile and land telephone lines were functioning only intermittently.

A blog post on Renesys, a U.S. company which tracks Internet traffic worldwide, said that at 12:26 p.m. in Damascus, Syria's international Internet connectivity shut down completely.

Emirates said it was suspending daily flights to Damascus "until further notice", but other airlines continued operations.

Airport sources in Cairo said an Egypt Air flight that left at 1:30 p.m. (1130 GMT) had landed in Damascus as scheduled.

"The Egypt Air plane has arrived ... and passengers are all safe but the pilot was instructed to take off back to Cairo without passengers if he felt that the situation there is not good to stay for longer," an official at Cairo airport said.

Elsewhere in Damascus, warplanes bombed Kafr Souseh and Daraya, two neighbourhoods that fringe the centre of the city where rebels have managed to hide out and ambush army units, according to opposition activists.

"Not Last Days Yet"

A senior European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
official said that Assad appeared to be preparing for a military showdown around Damascus, possibly by isolating the city with a network of checkpoints.

"The rebels are gaining ground but it is still rather slow. We are not witnessing the last days yet," the official said on condition of anonymity.

"On the outskirts of Damascus, there are mortars and more attacks. The regime is thinking of protecting itself ... with checkpoints in the next few days ... (It) seems the regime is preparing for major battle on Damascus."

In the north of the country, rebel units launched an offensive to seize an army base close to the main north-south highway that would allow them to block troop movements and cut Assad's main supply route to 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...
, Syria's biggest city.

The Observatory said that rebel units from around Idlib province massed early on Thursday morning to attack Wadi al-Deif, a base east of the rebel-held town of Maarat al-Numan.

Wadi al-Deif has been a thorn in the side of rebel units who first besieged the station in October but met fierce resistance from government forces, backed up by air strikes.

Assad is fighting an insurgency that grew out of peaceful demonstrations for democratic reform but escalated, after a military crackdown on protesters, into a civil war in which 40,000 people have been killed.

Most foreign powers have condemned Assad but stopped short of arming rebel fighters as they fear heavy weapons could make their way into the hands of radical Islamist units, who have grown increasingly prominent in the insurgency.

Rebels decry their supporters for not providing them with surface-to-air missiles that they say they need to counter the air force. But recent looting of anti-aircraft missiles from army bases has allowed them to shoot down helicopters and jets.

"So far, there is no evidence that any of the surface-to-air missiles used to date have come from outside Syria," said Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director at Human Rights Watch
... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world...
"The limited number of surface-to-air missiles that have shown up all appear to have come from Syrian military stock captured by the armed opposition."

He said the number of these missiles in rebel hands was probably over 20 but that will rise significantly as rebels are capturing military bases on an almost-daily basis.

The relatively small number of anti-aircraft missiles looted so far means that many rebel-controlled areas of the country remain vulnerable to air strikes. The Observatory said 15 citizens, including children and women, were killed during a bombing in Aleppo's Ansari district on Thursday.

Activist video footage showed the bodies of at least four children, wrapped in red blankets and apparently wearing pyjamas. Another video showed the immediate aftermath of the attack, with the bodies of children in the street and covered in cement dust. Half of one young boy's head was missing.
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336095 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Home Front: Politix
A sordid tale of Chicago politics that reveals how Obama got his start
[News.Investors] It's a beautiful city from the outside. And a political cesspool inside, a seeping source of conniving and corruption that spawned Barack Obama
I am the change that you seek...
and his top aide Valerie Jarrett
...Chicago political hack, now senior advisor to President B.O....
and is now ruled by the president's ex-chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel.

Another amazing chapter in the Windy City's sordid politics began unfolding Wednesday, one whose lineage can actually be traced back to the very beginnings of Obama's political career, which now has an extended expiry date of Jan. 20, 2017. Today, Obama lunches with the man he defeated, Willard Mitt Romney
...former governor of Massachussetts, the Publican nominee for president in 2012. 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....

See if you can follow along now. The details are revealing of the uncompromising history, incestuous inner workings and municipal mores of the place that produced Obama the politician.

Yesterday Mel Reynolds announced his candidacy for the House seat representing Illinois' 2d Congressional District, which includes the city's South Side and -- oh, look! -- Obama's Hyde Park house. So, he'll be eligible to vote in the February Democrat primary and the meaningless April special election.

That special election became necessary after the sudden resignation last week of the district's easy Nov. 6 election winner, eight-term member Jesse Jackson Jr.

Jackson Jr. has been absent from his House duties most of this year during treatment for depression and bipolar disorder. His situation was complicated by revelations that federal authorities are probing allegations of his misuse of campaign funds, not a rare occurrence in Chicago politics.

That resignation and special election is an interesting coincidence because Jackson Jr. was also initially elected in a special election, in December 1995. That followed the sudden resignation of the district's House incumbent after his conviction on 12 counts of sexual assault, obstruction of justice and solicitation of child pornography.

That new convicted felon was Mel Reynolds.
Posted by: Fred || 11/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336107 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Obama's political career, which now has an extended expiry date of Jan. 20, 2017.

A potentially flawed, highly optimistic statement.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/30/2012 1:56 Comments || Top||

#2  Chicago has been a den of political corruption for as long as I can remember. Obama just understood that and rode it into the Whitehouse. I'd say he was just an ordinary crook but that wouldn't be accurate--he is an extraordinary crook. He far exceeds Bernie Madoff. He has hijacked an an entire economy and gotten away with it without jail time.
Posted by: JohnQC || 11/30/2012 10:25 Comments || Top||

#3  now ruled by the president's ex-chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel.
I wonder how ex Rahm really is? More of a 'Sheriff of Nottingham' placeholder waiting for the kings return.
Posted by: Skidmark || 11/30/2012 12:05 Comments || Top||

#4  ION DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > MICHELLE FURIOUS AT FLIRTY OBAMA, vee Thailand's femme fatale? PM.

Why yes, Presidential male-gonads were righteously crushed later in the evening.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/30/2012 23:56 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
23[untagged]
5Arab Spring
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3Commies
3al-Qaeda in Pakistan
3Palestinian Authority
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1Govt of Iraq
1al-Qaeda
1Taliban
1Hizb-ut-Tahrir
1Lashkar e-Jhangvi
1Ansar Dine
1al-Qaeda in Iraq
1al-Qaeda in Arabia

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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
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Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
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trailing wife
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Fred
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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2012-11-30
  Damascus fighting cuts off airport, Emirates suspends flights
Thu 2012-11-29
  Bomb injures top Talibunny Mullah Nazir
Wed 2012-11-28
  Packed Tahrir Square defiant as deadlock prevails
Tue 2012-11-27
  30 Inmates Escape as Gunmen Attack Nigerian Police Unit
Mon 2012-11-26
  Syrian Rebels Claim Capture of Helicopter Base Near Damascus
Sun 2012-11-25
  Thousands of anti-Morsi protesters spend the night in Egypt's Tahrir square
Sat 2012-11-24
  7 People Killed in Pakistan Shiite Procession
Fri 2012-11-23
  IDF, Shin Bet Arrest 55 Terror Operatives In West Bank
Thu 2012-11-22
  Mashaal: I accept a Palestinian state on '67 borders
Wed 2012-11-21
  'Bomb blast' on bus in Tel Aviv
Tue 2012-11-20
  Female Suicide Boomer Targets Qazi
Mon 2012-11-19
  Israeli Strikes Kill 21 Palestinians, Gaza Rockets Wound 10 Israelis
Sun 2012-11-18
  Israeli air strikes pound Gaza as death toll hits 38
Sat 2012-11-17
   Israel air strikes hit Hamas HQ
Fri 2012-11-16
  Israel Warns of Escalation After Tel Aviv Missile Firing

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