The Civil Rights Commission did warn that they would do so if a willing response was not quickly forthcoming. Quick, Barbara, fire up the popcorn machine!
The United States Civil Rights Commission, an eight-member agency that investigates accusations of discrimination, has launched its latest offensive against a most unusual target: the Justice Department.
The United States Civil Rights Commission, an eight-member agency that investigates accusations of discrimination, has launched a new offensive against a most unusual target: the Justice Department.
That's the amusing part: half of the commissioners are Democrats.
The commission is investigating why the Justice Department dropped charges in May against three members of the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense in a voter intimidation case that the government won.
The Justice Department has defended its actions, saying it obtained an injunction against one member while dismissing charges against the others "based on a careful assessment of the facts and the law."
But that explanation hasn't satisfied the commission or Republican lawmakers, who say the dismissal could lead to an escalation of voter intimidation.
Three members of the radical group were accused of trying to threaten voters and block poll and campaign workers by the threat of force in November 2008 -- one even brandishing what prosecutors call a deadly weapon.
The three black panthers, Minister King Samir Shabazz,
One of the miscreants was a minister? Better and better... well, worse and worse, actually.
Malik Zulu Shabazz and Jerry Jackson were charged in a civil complaint in the final days of the Bush administration with violating the voter rights act by using coercion, threats and intimidation. Shabazz allegedly held a nightstick or baton that prosecutors said he pointed at people and menacingly tapped it. Prosecutors also say he "supports racially motivated violence against non-blacks and Jews."
OMG -- he's a racist as well as a badman?!?!
The Obama administration won the case in April but moved to dismiss the charges in May without explanation.
After Republican lawmakers pushed in the summer for an internal investigation, the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility obliged, starting a probe that the department has said should conclude before it cooperates with the commission's investigation.
Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., announced Thursday that he had inserted language into the annual Justice funding bill that requires the OPR to provide results of its investigation -- a resolution that has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee and must be voted on within 14 legislative days.
"I regret that Congress must resort to oversight resolutions as a means to receive information about the dismissal of this case, but the Congress and the American people have a right to know why this case was not prosecuted," Wolf said in a written statement.
"Time and again over the last year, the department has stonewalled any effort to learn about the decision to dismiss the case," he continued. "I have written Attorney General (Eric) Holder on six occasions asking for an explanation for the dismissal of this case. To date, I have received no response from him."
The commission feels it is being stonewalled, too, and has filed subpoenas with the department for the information as well as to interview career attorneys that handled the case.
"They've never given a satisfactory answer," said Todd Gaziano, a member of the commission and director of the conservative Heritage Foundation's Center for Legal and Judicial Studies. "There is a heavy burden on the Justice Department to explain why those facts in the complaint do not constitute voter intimidation."
When asked about the commission's repeated requests for information, Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler said, "We're reviewing the commission's request."
Wouldn't it be fun if this ended up in front of the Supreme Court? Although of course it would be a dreadful use of the Court's limited time.
She told FoxNews.com that the civil division at the department reviews "these types of requests in accordance with longstanding guidelines governing the disclosure of internal department information."
The commission is likely to hold a public hearing on the case early next year and could have a report out by September, Gaziano said.
Before the next election, then. Clever.
The commissions sent two inquiries into the Justice Department's dismissal of the case in June and received what it called a "largely non-responsive letter" from the Justice Department in July and none of the documents requested. The commission sent another inquiry in August and September when it said it received notification from the Justice Department that it would not provide any information until its internal investigation was complete.
That prompted the commission to issue subpoenas and send its latest missive this month, a response to a Justice Department letter in November that that the commission said challenged its authority to subpoena the department or its employees.
"While your letter refers to an ongoing 'dialogue' between the Department and the Commission, it is the dearth of cooperation on the part of the Department that has resulted in the Commission's need to issue subpoenas," David Blackwood, general counsel for the commission, wrote.
"We are both mindful of the sensitivity of the subject matter involved and aware that, in response to similar requests, the department has raised various concerns and matters of privilege," Blackwood wrote. "While such considerations carry weight, cooperation with commission investigations is a mandatory statutory obligation."
"Moreoever, due to the unique investigative role of the commission -- akin to that of a congressional committee -- disclosure to the commission of the information sought it is both proper and required,' he added.
Wolf said in his written statement that the attorney general has instructed his department to ignore the subpoenas.
"The nation's chief law enforcement officer is forcing these career attorneys to choose between complying with the law and complying with the attorney general's obstruction," he said, adding that one of the attorneys has been compelled to obtain private counsel.
"The House must not turn a blind eye to the attorney general's obstruction," he said. "He has an obligation to answer the legitimate questions of the House and the Civil Rights Commission."
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/20/2009
16:40 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[12 views]
Top|| File under:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who may be unaware that he is currently enjoying his final term in the U.S. Senate, claims to have the 60 votes he needs to muscle ObamaCare through his chamber. God help us if he does.
The current iteration of ObamaCare is classic Mussolini-style Fascism (i.e. corporatism). It forces Americans at gunpoint to purchase health insurance, a requirement never before imposed on the American people. The big insurance companies and the federal government have combined to subject the public to this tyrannical mandate that Americans overwhelmingly oppose. This is the economic essence of Fascism.
Shame on them on all.
Nonetheless, William Kristol of the Weekly Standard offers some words of encouragement to the patriotic Americans who still believe in limited government.
Keep fighting on health care. Fight for the next few days in the Senate. Fight the conference report in January in the Senate and the House. Start trying to repeal the worst parts of the bill the moment it passes, if it does.
After all, never before has so unpopular a piece of major legislation been jammed through on a party-line vote. This week, Rasmussen showed 57% of voters nationwide saying that it would be better to pass no health care reform bill this year instead of passing the plan currently being considered by Congress, with only 34% favoring passing that bill. 54% of Americans now believe they will be worse off if reform passes, while just 25% believe they'll be better off. Making the 2010 elections a referendum on health care should work--if Republicans don't let up in the debate over the next year.
Indeed ObamaCare may be the Democrats' undoing. They are betting it all on their healthcare plan, which won't kick in for years to come. A public backlash before then could halt the program in its tracks and kill it, leading to a Bastille Day-like slaughter at the polls for the Democratic powers that be.
Of course, it would be better to abort this monstrosity while in the womb, but the beauty of politics is that the fight is never really over. There will be more battles to come.
As Kristol writes, "Fight on with respect to health care. Fight on other fronts. And recruit new fighters. In a word: Fight. "
Amen. If we quit, they win.... You bet. Keep fighting. And if they manage to jam it through, keep fighting. Americans are going to figure this out. Bambi, Reid and Pelosi will try to keep blaming everything on Bush. We won't let that happen.
#1
"Years to kick in" This is crap. It kicks in the day it is signed. Ya, we might not see socialized meds for a couple years but all that pork and spending start the very second Obama passes it! hell, if he was smart he could pass the bill, take the pork then tell the dumb Americans this bill needs to be redone, thus dolling out even more pork..
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/20/2009 21:20
Comments ||
Top||
Why the young democracy is sending nearly 1,000 troops to the war effort.
By MIKHEIL SAAKASHVILI
Following President Obama's speech on our common mission in Afghanistan, NATO members and other countries pledged about 7,000 additional troops. My country committed just under 1,000, which makes Georgia the highest per-capita troop contributor to the war effort.
Some might be surprised that a small country not yet in NATO--and partly occupied by more than 10,000 hostile Russian troops--would make this commitment to an Allied mission abroad. Let me explain why it makes perfect sense.
As President Obama pointed out, the threat of violent extremism endangers all nations that subscribe to the principles of liberal democracy. Those principles made America the target on 9/11. Spain was hit on March 11, 2004, and Britain on July 7, 2005. Any of our countries could be next.
We see ourselves as firmly allied with the values of the U.S. and the trans-Atlantic community. That is why we are sending serious forces--a heavy battalion and two light companies--with no restrictions on the kinds of missions and combat in which they can participate. Almost 800 will be deploying with the U.S. Marines into Helmand Province, where some of the most intense fighting has occurred.
Georgia is making contributions in other ways. The U.S. and NATO have already started using Georgian ports, rail lines and roads to transport nonlethal supplies to Afghanistan. American military experts have concluded this is a safe and cost-saving transit route, and we stand ready to expand its use.
Less than a decade ago, Georgia was considered by many to be a failing state. But with the support of our friends in the West, we were able to make dramatic changes.
Our experience as a young democracy gives us confidence that success is possible on the political and civil fronts in Afghanistan, and we will do everything possible to help strengthen Afghanistan's institutions. Our reform know-how could help in training Afghanistan's police forces and other civil servants, an effort that is crucial to achieving long-term stability and a more transparent government.
The test of the bonds among nations is not what we do when it is easy, but rather what we do when it is hard. Georgia has been grateful for the extent to which the U.S. and Europe have stood alongside us over recent years. Now we are proud to stand--and fight--alongside you.
Mr. Saakashvili is president of Georgia.
'Tis said those who think they run America read the New York Times; those who read the Wall Street Journal actually do.
H/T Lucianne.com The Ending:
It was almost unthinkable. The president of the United States walked into a meeting of fellow world leaders and there wasn't a chair for him, a sure sign he was not expected, maybe not even wanted.
Barack Obama didn't pause, however. "I'm going to sit by my friend Lula," he said, moving toward Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
A Brazilian aide gave the U.S. president his chair, and Obama spent the next 80 minutes helping craft new requirements for disclosing efforts to fight global warming. Along with India, South Africa and Brazil, the key member in the room was China, which recently surpassed the U.S. as the world's top emitter of heat-trapping gasses.
At the table this time for China was Premier Wen Jiabao, not an underling as before. Obama was bent on striking a deal before flying home to snowbound Washington.
How it Happened:
Obama's 15-hour, seat-of-the-pants dash through Copenhagen was marked by doggedness, confusion and semi-comedy. Constrained by partisan politics at home, and quarrels between rich and poor nations abroad, he was determined to come home with a victory, no matter how imperfect. All his "victories" are becoming imperfect
Obama was thrown off schedule almost from the moment he landed Friday morning in Copenhagen, where the summit's final-day talks seemed to be collapsing.
Instead of attending a planned meeting with Denmark's prime minister, he plunged into an emergency session of about 20 nations, big and small, wealthy and poor. Right away there was a troubling sign.
China was the only nation to send a second-tier official: vice foreign minister He Yafei instead of Premier Wen, who was in the building. The snub baffled and annoyed delegates.
For months, Obama had been pressing China to put into writing its promises to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Obama later seemed unusually animated when he alluded indirectly to China in a short, late-morning speech to the full conference.
"I don't know how you have an international agreement where we all are not sharing information and ensuring that we are meeting our commitments," he said. "That doesn't make sense." And just how much money has China "donated" to you, and you snub them?
Things then appeared to turn for the better, as Obama and Wen met privately, as scheduled, for 55 minutes. A U.S. official said they took a step forward as they discussed emissions targets, financing and transparency.
The two leaders directed aides to work on mutual language, and Obama's team proposed specific wording meant to solidify China's promise to be more forthcoming about its anti-pollution efforts.
A short time later, however, the U.S. team was more baffled and irked than before. At a follow-up session of the morning's big meeting, the Chinese sent an even lower-ranking envoy in Wen's place.
An irritated Obama told his staff, "I don't want to mess around with this anymore, I want to just talk with Premier Wen," according to a senior administration official who spoke on background to discuss sensitive diplomatic issues.
By now night had fallen, and it was clear Obama would be late getting home. He kept an appointment to discuss arms control with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Meanwhile he asked aides to try to set up a final one-on-one meeting with Wen, and a separate meeting with leaders of India, Brazil and South Africa. He hoped these fast-growing nations, which had been loosely aligned with China on many of the key issues, might influence the Chinese.
Confusion reigned. Chinese officials said Wen was at his hotel and his staff was at the airport. The same was said of top Indian officials, but nothing was clear.
South African President Jacob Zuma agreed to meet with Obama, then canceled when he heard the Indian leader was away, and Brazil would attend only if India did.
The Chinese said Wen could meet with Obama at 6:15 p.m., then changed it to 7 p.m. Obama used the time to talk strategy with the leaders of France, Germany and Great Britain.
Meanwhile, a four-nation negotiating team known as BASIC gathered. The modified acronym reflected its members: Brazil, South Africa, India and China. This is beginning to sound like the game Chinese Fire Drill we played as teenagers: An old game that you play while driving. Your car needs to be full of people. When you stop at a red light, you put the car in park then ALL passengers (driver included) get out of the car and quickly switch into random positions elsewhere inside the viehicle. The object is to pull this off before the light turns green...Otherwise you're screwed.
Obama was unaware, however, thinking he was going to meet alone with Wen. After some confusion about who had access to the room, White House aides told the president that Wen was inside with the leaders of the three other countries, apparently working on strategy. Humm wondering if the Secret Service had checked out the room? some staffer knew he wasn't invited?
"Good," Obama said as he walked through the door. "Mr. Premier, are you ready to see me?" he called out. "Are you ready?" Maybe he gave lessons to the White House state dinner party crashers. Seems he knows just how to "walk right in."
Inside he found startled leaders and no chair to sit in. Maybe they were expecting Bush, thus no chair, but for The Won to descend into their presence unannounced? What a supremely embarrassing moment that must have been for these world leader. No chair for The One. /sarc
U.S. officials denied that Obama crashed the party, saying he simply showed up for his 7 p.m. meeting with Wen and found the others there. The no chair should have been his clue. But lacking certain social skills, and wearing his Doctorate in "The Chicago Way," barge right in, he did.
Whatever the meeting's original purpose, Obama used it to help strike an agreement on ways to verify developing nations' reductions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases, a good U.S. ending to their talks with the Chinese. And the Chinese continue to just keep laughing as they again play the game of "Yanking Obama Around." What is the score now? Chinese 10 Obama 0? Hard to keep track of scoring in a fast moving game, and the Chinese has experience on their side.
#3
By CHARLES BABINGTON and JENNIFER LOVEN
Associated Press Writers
Ay Pee. Ms Loven is apparently married to an AGW environmental activist, and as an AP writer we can assume has been enamored with President Obama since some time in 2008. The spin is obvious, but there are tells that she is becoming uncomfortable, even in the second sentence. I mean, how could it be that The One is ever unwanted? And later, his dash through Copenhagen was marked by not only doggedness but confusion and semi-comedy -- not words that should be associated with the Prez of Cool Charm and High Intelligence.
From the Kopenhagen Komedy Kabaret
The lead negotiator for the small island nation of Tuvalu, the bow-tie wearing Ian Fry, broke down as he begged delegates to take tough action. What's the deal with environmental men, tears and environmentalism? Do men's tears enable cheap hippie sex, or something?
"I woke up this morning crying, and that's not easy for a grown man to admit," Mr Fry said on Saturday, as his eyes welled with tears. But a breeze for Ian, eh?
"The fate of my country rests in your hands," he concluded, as the audience exploded with wild applause.
But the part-time PhD scholar at the Australian National University actually resides in Queanbeyan, NSW, where he's not likely to be troubled by rising sea levels because the closest beach at Batemans Bay is a two-hour, 144km drive away. Asked whether he had ever lived in Tuvalu, his wife told The Australian last night she would "rather not comment". The Missus is still trying to deal with Ian's crying spell this morning...
#3
Slightly drowned islands are fabulous fish nurseries and bases for coral reef. The technology for starting reefs is well understood: cut pieces of coral off living reefs and glue them to rocks at the appropriate depth in the new location or to ships sunk at the right depth off-shore. Add a luxury hotel or two on pylons and a really good scuba/snorkling dive company, move the native population to picturesque fishing boats, and voila! a tourist trap to match some of the best in the Caribbean, with a sentimental veneer none of the current places can match. If I might recommend, put in glass floors in the hotel lobbies, so the guests can look down at the gorgeous fish swimming by, and guided swimming tours of the drowned, picturesque ruins -- although that last might have to wait a millennium or two until the water is too deep for wading...
Of course they'd have to fight off the European and Japanese fishing fleets, but others have to pay that price, too.
#4
The biggest threat to Tuvalu isn't "glowbull warmening", but the flexing of the seabed. A process called "isostatic rebound", based on the movement of both ocean and land plates, alters the sea bottom. The majority of the rebound is from the last ice age, when the huge weight of trillions of tons of ice on land areas forced them down, and forced ocean areas up. Now that the ice isn't there any longer, the slow process of rebound - rising land areas and sinking sea floor - continues. The only thing that will prevent Tuvalu from eventually drowning is another ice age, which would be extremely inconvenient to the majority of the rest of us.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/20/2009 14:29
Comments ||
Top||
#5
The lead negotiator for the small island nation of Tuvalu
#7
Mizzou - it's not really that difficult.
The Earth's crust is not rigid, but elastic. If you push down on one part hard enough, it forces another part to rise. The glaciers of the last Ice Age pushed down on most of the land areas of the world, especially in the northern hemisphere. It took tens of thousands of years for that weight to cause the interior of most Northern Hemisphere continents to be pushed down (by as much as 60 feet. Greenland is still being pushed down.) As the land in the northern hemisphere was pushed down, other areas - especially the Pacific Ocean basin - rose. The weight's off the northern hemisphere, the land is rising (isostatic rebound), and the Pacific Ocean is settling. Islands are sinking.
Complicating the entire process is the fact that so much ice froze on land that sea levels dropped. In some instances, they dropped 600 feet. When the glaciers started to melt, the water drained back into the oceans and the levels rose. The weight of the water pressed down on the deepest basins and the amount of water increased, and pushed them down. That dragged the islands down with them.
Unless we ARE entering another Ice Age, Tuvalu is screwed, no matter what we do.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/20/2009 20:06
Comments ||
Top||
#8
Tuvalu is coral reef fringing a subsea volcano. Such volcanos settle over time and the reef sinks.
Imagine a pile of sand whose sloping sides are the steepest possible angle for the cohesion of the material, then periodically shake the pile as in earthquakes. The pile will over time settle, and its highest point become progressively lower (and its sides less steep).
That's what happens to volcanos, especially subsea volcanos.
At the same time (and over geological timescales) the coral reef grows upward compensating for the settling of the volcano.
However, the coral growth requires the atoll be submerged.
Periodic submerssion is a a necessary part of the natural growth of fringing coral reefs, which of course is lost on these bozos.
Incidentally Charles Darwin was the first to figure out the origin of these fringing coral reefs.
U.S. President Barack Obama walking uninvited into a meeting of Prime Ministers of China and India and Presidents of Brazil and South Africa proved to be a key moment for striking of a political deal to salvage the Copenhagen Climate Summit.
With hopes fading of a summit draft, in fact, it was a dramatic turn of events last night, which led to a breakthrough when all seemed lost.
Several key world leaders, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had to turn back from the airport to huddle straight into a meeting at the Bella Centre in what was the last ditch effort by Mr. Obama to hammer a deal.
Mr. Obama was keen for a one-to-one meeting with Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao.
It was no less a surprise for Mr. Obama, himself, and the White House team in Copenhagen when he went into a late afternoon bi-lateral meeting with Mr. Wen to find that three other world leaders were already there in the room Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Brazilian President Lula da Silva and South African President Jacob Zuma.
Later, U.S. officials said The only surprise we had, in all our history was...that in that room wasnt just the Chinese having a meeting...but all four countries that we had been trying to arrange meetings with where indeed all in the same room...The Presidents viewpoint is, I wanted to see them all and now is our chance.
Mr. Obama and his team appeared to be taken aback at this as the U.S. President had scheduled a last-minute bilateral meeting with the Chinese Premier, followed by a joint meeting with the Indian, Brazilian and South African leaders. But, it appeared that the Chinese, Brazilian, Indian and South African leaders wanted to meet him together, rather than in separate sessions.
Apprehending that the Copenhagen Summit has almost headed towards a dead end, Mr. Obama postponed his scheduled departure for the U.S. and told his advance team that he wanted to meet the Chinese premier separately; followed by a joint meeting with the India, Brazilian and South African leaders.
The Chinese team, initially reluctant, told the White House officials that most of the team were already on the airport, while Mr. Wen was in his hotel, getting ready to leave.
When they called Indian team, they were told that Mr. Singh is at the airport. This happened around 4 p.m. local time.
I think they thought the meeting was done. I think they thought there wasnt anything left to stay for, in all honesty, a senior administration official said. And, when they called Brazil, White House was told no meeting without India, as they knew that Singh was on his way back.
Mr. Zuma agreed as he did not had the latest information about Mr. Singh.
Brazil tells us that they dont know if they can come because they want the Indians to come. The Indians were at the airport. Mr. Zuma is under the impression that everybody is coming, a senior Administration official said. And when Mr. Zuma came to know that Singh was at the airport, he also backed out of the meeting.
If they (India and Brazil) are not coming I cant do this, Mr. Zuma told the White House.
Meanwhile, the White House received a call from the Chinese team that Mr. Wen wanted to move the bilateral meeting from 6.15 p.m. to 7 p.m. local time.
Mr. Obama, who was personally involved in all these, agreed to the Chinese request and instead went into a huddle with the European leaders, which lasted for about 45 minutes.
Before leaving for his bilateral meeting with Mr. Wen, Mr. Obama had last minutes talks with German Chancellor, Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
The President is beginning to leave. He spends time right before he leaves, this would have been right before 7:00 pm, the President is talking with Chancellor Merkel and Gordon Brown about going for this bilateral meeting with Premier Wen, that they had rescheduled for 7:00 pm, the official said.
All this happened at the Bella Center the venue of the Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change.
And as Mr. Obama was entering the room for his bilateral with Mr. Wen, he and the entire White House was surprised to see the Chinese Premier having meeting with Dr. Singh, Mr. Zuma and Mr. Lula.
We werent crashing a meeting; we were going for our bilateral meeting. We found the other (India, South Africa and Brazil) people (leaders) there, a senior Administration official said.
And when Mr. Obama entered the meeting room, there was no chair for him. Mr. Obama himself was reported as saying that there arent any seats. This is also reflected in some of the pictures of the meeting which shows that there are no chairs.
Mr. Obama said, No, no, dont worry, I am going to go sit by my friend Lula, and said, Hey, Lula. Walks over, moves a chair, sits down next to Lula. The Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, sits down next to him.
Then the meeting started, at about 7:00 pm local time and concluded at about 8.15-8.20 p.m. local time.
Presumably taken aback by the Chinese, Indian, South African and Brazilian meeting, without their knowledge, a senior administration official later said: I will assume that their meeting was to get their ducks in a row. Because at this point, certainly our impression was that a number of these people were either at or on the way to the airport.
And all this while Chinese officials, told the White House that it was going to be a bilateral meeting and did not give an impression that all these leaders were also in the same room.
Presidents viewpoint was Im going to make one last run. When it appeared we couldnt get the Chinese earlier in the day, the President said, well, if we cant get the Chinese then lets get the next three (India, South Africa and Brazil) that are absolutely theyre working as a team. Theyve got similar interests, theres no doubt about that, the official said.
Again, the only surprise we had, in all honesty, was we did not know at 6.15 p.m., when we moved our meeting from 6.15 p.m. to 7.00 p.m., that in that room wasnt just the Chinese having a meeting about their posture going into the 7.00 pm meeting, but in fact all four countries that we had been trying to arrange meetings with were indeed all in the same room, the official said.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/20/2009
10:06 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
Somewhat frustrated by the absence of progress even on the final day of the conference, a weary Obama at one stage stormed into a meeting attended by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and South African President Jacob Zuma.
"Obama and (Secretary of State) Hillary Clinton turned up uninvited, which had one Chinese protocol officer apoplectic," said the observer. "Upon entering the room, Obama assumed the manner of a schoolmaster dealing with truant schoolboys, telling them that he didn't want them 'negotiating in secret'." It was from that 45-minute meeting that a non-binding political accord emerged, which Obama celebrated as a step forward, but which doesn't really pin down India and China to much more than voluntary pledges.
In fact, there had been much wily truancy afoot on Friday. In what was perceived as a calculated diplomatic insult, Premier Wen did not attend two impromptu meetings that Obama had convened earlier in the day; Wen instead sent three Chinese diplomats. Obama gave voice to his exasperation, saying that it would have been nice to negotiate with someone who actually had political authority.
"That was very unusual," said Julian Wong, an energy policy and technology analyst with Center for American Progress. "I wouldn't have thought this was something the Chinese would pull off, since they're very conscious of the concept of 'giving face'."
The latent Sino-US tension manifested itself somewhat more starkly when Chinese officials physically blocked American reporters from entering a room where Obama and Wen were to meet, according to a White House correspondent travelling with the US delegation. An incensed White House press secretary Robert Gibbs was "jostled about a bit in the scrum".
Posted by: john frum ||
12/20/2009 10:13
Comments ||
Top||
#2
*bitchslap*
Teh Messiah thinks the mellifluous sound of his voice will slow the ocean's rise, cause Hindu and Muslim to link arms, cats and dogs will sleep together...if only they'd listen to their master's voice. Apparently, "some" were not as impressed by his "unprecedented" appearance
what a pretentious dick
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/20/2009 11:25
Comments ||
Top||
#3
What did you expect? OBumble has never had a real job - never had to meet hard commitments or be responsible for anything.
And never, ever, ever, ever, been held responsible for his actions (or inactions).
He really does believe his own P.R. with all his heart.
Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has apparently issued an ultimatum to four bishops embroiled in the Irish Catholic Church child sex abuse scandal to either quit or be fired by the Vatican.
Martin also has a new and potent ally: In a dramatic move, Prime Minister Brian Cowen has backed Martin, saying it was "a time for leadership and accountability" from the Catholic Church.
The four bishops were implicated in the escalating scandal by the Murphy Report, which probed the period in which they served in the Dublin Archdiocese. They are Bishop Raymond Field, Bishop Eamon Walsh, Bishop Martin Drennan and Bishop Jim Moriarty.
One bishop, Donal Murray of Limerick, has already been forced out, and Martin is believed to have told the others that their days are numbered.
If the four bishops don't quit, Martin will reportedly petition the Congregation of Bishops in Rome to remove them.
For his part, Cowen stated: "The resignation of Bishop Murray is a welcome indication that those who are in positions of leadership and responsibility in the Church are facing up to their responsibility in the light of the very clear findings of the Murphy Commission."
Martin appears to have a clear mandate from the Vatican to sort out the Church sex abuse issue once and for all, and is moving very aggressively to have those who were in any way implicated in it to be removed.
The Dublin Council of Priests has also admitted that resignations are inevitable. Their chairman, Fr. Joe Mullen. said: "If they don't resign ... then maybe we'll all be retiring, if not resigning."
Martin has also gained support from the organization that represents grade-school principals, which called yesterday for the bishops to be removed.
The warning the bluntest issued by police has underlined an assessment that a terrorist cell may be preparing an attack on London early next year.
Security sources said concerns had been raised by chatter on a prominent jihadist website two weeks ago. One contributor suggested fighters could use automatic weapons to strike places such as nightclubs, sporting venues and Jewish centres. In an online discussion hosted on December 2, another contributor invited suggestions for carrying out guerrilla warfare and proposed a group of mujaheddin raid police stations and fire at them.
Another said: Make sure that all those at the location are of age, that there are no children and so on. Insist on the locations and times where no Muslims or children are to be expected.
It looks like this bunch have accepted at least some of the new thinking on jihad. Goody.
The Met is understood to be struggling to draw up effective plans to deal with the challenge of mass shootings followed by a prolonged siege with terrorists prepared to kill their hostages and themselves. In Mumbai, many victims were killed in the first half hour of the attack. The Met is concerned that it will be much longer before the SAS, which has traditionally dealt with terrorist sieges in London, would arrive from its base at Regents Park barracks.
When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns, indeed.
Clearly, it's time for Londoners to think in terms of defence... although given the draconian gun laws, alternative methods should be the primary option. Any thoughts, O Rantburgers?
#4
When a group of people at one of the Mumbai hotels was lined up to be shot, a Muslim couple complained that they were Muslim. The terrorists demanded proof, so the couple recited one of the suras from the Quran, the only one they had memorized in Arabic (they were Turkish), and they were spared. The others were executed SS style. Since British law forbids self defense, maybe Londoners could bone up on the Quran and claim they are Muslim if caught in a similar circumstance.
Posted by: Number 673927 ||
12/20/2009 10:07
Comments ||
Top||
#5
#1 Copycats: Coming to a city near you in the USA?
Posted by: Hammerhead 2009-12-20 08:39
Watch what happens when Bambi, Holder, et al have their little circus in New York City with Khalid Sheik Muhammad (or whatever his name is).
#6
although given the draconian gun laws, alternative methods should be the primary option.
Yes a few that won't immediately bring the Bobbies crashing thru your doors, Britian did very well for centuries with the English Longbow, A modern Pistol/Rifle equivalent is a crossbow and Quarrels, I've seen Pistol grip small crossbows that are NOT toys, they would be legal, concealable and deadly, but only one shot, (A spur to improving your aim).
I think Bobbies would look askance at Swords, so maybe a sword/Cane.
Anybody else got any better ideas?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/20/2009 12:30
Comments ||
Top||
#7
I think there's a pressing need for self-defense training in Britain, probably in the form of martial arts instruction, the use of improvised weapons, and a penchant for stiff leather clothing, especially vests or jackets (something that will either turn a knife, or reduce its effectiveness). Of course, the most important act that Parliament could pass would be the re-arming of the British subject. Let everyone whose ancestry stretches back over five generations on British soil be allowed one rifle, one shotgun, and one handgun per person, with 500 rounds of ammunition for each. Crime would plummet, and Muslims would become nervous. Reviving the "Home Guard" wouldn't be a bad idea, either.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/20/2009 14:11
Comments ||
Top||
#8
Do bobbies pack nowadays? I've been there a few times, but never noticed.
#9
So, we have to wait for the SAS to get back once this sh starts? Sounds like a green light to go ahead for the Islamic kaffirs. They could knock this place out overnight. Mean-time, I improvise bolts for my pistol crossbow from car ariels, (where did I get that idea, lol), whilst
I work on my design for an extending baton. High profile cops are tooled up, MM, local ones only have spray/tasers, if they're lucky.
I take it all back. Copenhagen was worth it, after all -- if only for the sphincter-bursting rage its supposed failure has caused among our libtard watermelon chums. (That's watermelon, as in: green on the outside, red on the inside).
As Damian reports, on Twitter they're all planning to cleanse Mother Gaia of their polluting presence Jonestown-style.
The Great Moonbat is sounding more unhinged than ever:
Goodbye Africa, goodbye south Asia; goodbye glaciers and sea ice, coral reefs and rainforest. It was nice knowing you. Not that we really cared. The governments which moved so swiftly to save the banks have bickered and filibustered while the biosphere burns.
And Polly Toynbee is blaming the whole fiasco on false consciousness.
Most leaders in Copenhagen were out ahead of their people. Most understand the crisis better than those they represent, promising more sacrifice than their citizens are yet ready to accept -- while no doubt praying for some miraculous technological escape.
Sometimes we're inclined to dismiss Polly as a lovable comedy figure, what with her lovely house in Tuscany contrasting so amusingly with her prolier-than-thou politics, and the never ending japesomeness of her deft, lighter-than-air prose.
But you know what? When she reveals her true colours, as she does here, I think she's really, really scary. Her whole article teeters on the brink of demanding an eco-fascist world government to save us all from ourselves.
She yearns, like a woman wailing for her demon lover, for the righteous apocalypse which will teach us the error of our ways:
What would it take? A tidal wave destroying New York maybe -- New Orleans was the wrong people -- with London, St Petersburg and Shanghai wiped out all at once.
What she really wants, though, as you see from the plaintive, yearning tone of this sentence is global dictatorship:
As things stand, politics has not enough heft nor authority.
One day, Polly dear. One day.
UPDATE: Christ on a bike! You thought Moonbat and Pol-Pot were barking. Wait till you read Johann Hari's tearful summation in the Independent.
Throughout the negotiations here, the world's low-lying island states have clung to the real ideas as a life raft, because they are the only way to save their countries from a swelling sea. It has been extraordinary to watch their representatives -- quiet, sombre people with sad eyes -- as they were forced to plead for their own existence. They tried persuasion and hard science and lyrical hymns of love for their lands, and all were ignored.
Does he mean the man in the bow-tie from Tuvalu who wept openly for his island's fate but on closer cross-examination -- as Andrew Bolt reported -- turned out to live nowhere near Tuvalu (whose sea-levels, in any case, have not risen in several decades)?
Iran's senior dissident cleric, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, has died, official media reported on today. He was 87. Montazeri, who branded Iran's disputed election in June fraudulent, was an architect of the 1979 Islamic revolution who fell out with the present clerical leadership and spent five years under house arrest until 2002.
He had been named to succeed late revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as Iran's supreme leader, but quarrelled with him in 1989 over the mass execution of prisoners. Instead, the current supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, succeeded Khomeini after he died later the same year.
"Hossein Ali Montazeri passed away in his home last night," the official IRNA news agency said in a report that did not mention his title.
Tripped and fell down the stairs? Sudden cardiac arrest? Acute cirrhosis? Shot himself twice in the head?
He lived in the holy Shi'ite Muslim city of Qom, south of Tehran, and was one of the Islamic Republic's most senior clerics.
In August, he described the clerical establishment as a "dictatorship", saying the authorities' handling of street unrest following the June presidential poll "could lead to the fall of the regime".
Montazeri was among the government's harshest critics in a clerical establishment whose splits have gaped during turmoil triggered by the disputed election six months ago. The pro-reform opposition says the poll was rigged to secure hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election.
The authorities have denied the charge and portrayed the huge opposition protests that erupted after the election as a foreign-backed bid to undermine the clerical leadership.
The semi-official Fars News Agency said another senior pro-reform cleric, Grand Ayatollah Yusof Saanei, visited Montazeri's home on Sunday to express his condolences.
IT is getting harder for governments to buy United States Treasuries because the US's shrinking current-account gap is reducing supply of dollars overseas, a Chinese central bank official said yesterday.
The comments by Zhu Min, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, referred to the overall situation globally, not specifically to China, the biggest foreign holder of US government bonds.
Chinese officials generally are very careful about commenting on the dollar and Treasuries, given that so much of its US$2.3 trillion reserves are tied to their value, and markets always watch any such comments closely for signs of any shift in how it manages its assets.
China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange reaffirmed this month that the dollar stands secure as the anchor of the currency reserves it manages, even as the country seeks to diversify its investments.
In a discussion on the global role of the dollar, Zhu told an academic audience that it was inevitable that the dollar would continue to fall in value because Washington continued to issue more Treasuries to finance its deficit spending.
He then addressed where demand for that debt would come from.
"The United States cannot force foreign governments to increase their holdings of Treasuries," Zhu said, according to an audio recording of his remarks. "Double the holdings? It is definitely impossible."
"The US current account deficit is falling as residents' savings increase, so its trade turnover is falling, which means the US is supplying fewer dollars to the rest of the world," he added. "The world does not have so much money to buy more US Treasuries."
China continues to see its foreign exchange reserves grow, albeit at a slower pace than in past years, due to a large trade surplus and inflows of foreign investment. They stood at US$2.3 trillion at the end of September.
#1
Yeah, well we know the world is financially screwed, what else is new. Don't buy the bonds, treasuries and financial instruments and you will kill the ONEs programs. You would not do that to a fellow "Progressive" would you ?
#4
That's ok - We'll just print more. After all -- we still have checks left!
That's what the Treasury has been doing when it can't sell bonds, it in turn buys them with more printed money. The bonds mitigate the debt over a number of years [hoping inflation will eat some of it] whereas the purchase makes the debt and debasement of the currency immediate.
#5
"The world does not have so much money to buy more US Treasuries."
I think he is saying China's surplus has peaked and is now falling.
International currency flows are always automatically in balance. There is always enough USD outside the USA to buy treasuries to fund the trade deficit.* Although not of course the budget deficit.
Apologies for my being so dense, but could you please expound on your words, "International currency flows are always automatically in balance. There is always enough USD outside the USA to buy treasuries to fund the trade deficit.* Although not of course the budget deficit". Not being an economist, I'd just like to understand the nuance of your words.
Thank you, Sir.
On orders from President Barack Obama, the U.S. military launched cruise missiles early Thursday against two suspected al-Qaeda sites in Yemen, administration officials told ABC News in a report broadcast on ABC World News with Charles Gibson.
One of the targeted sites was a suspected al Qaeda training camp north of the capitol, Sanaa, and the second target was a location where officials said "an imminent attack against a U.S. asset was being planned."
The Yemen attacks by the U.S. military represent a major escalation of the Obama administration's campaign against al Qaeda.
In his speech about added troops for Afghanistan earlier this month, President Obama made a brief reference to Yemen, saying, "Where al Qaeda and its allies attempt to establish a foothold -- whether in Somalia or Yemen or elsewhere -- they must be confronted by growing pressure and strong partnerships."
Until tonight, American officials had hedged about any U.S. role in the strikes against Yemen and news reports from Yemen attributed the attacks to the Yemen Air Force.
President Obama placed a call after the strikes to "congratulate" the President of Yemen, Ali Abdallah Salih, on his efforts against al Qaeda, according to White House officials.
#1
Shades of Clinton's approach to problems. Let them eat TLAM's.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
12/20/2009 4:17
Comments ||
Top||
#2
President Obama placed a call after the strikes to "congratulate" the President of Yemen, Ali Abdallah Salih, on his efforts against al Qaeda, according to White House officials.
No discussion regarding the phone call or negociations and pay-for-play with Ali Abdallah Salih prior to the strike, asking for permission. Only publicized was the obligatory congratulatory follow-up call. Note also the absence of the usual Mooslim outrage, bodies of exploded women and children, etc? Appears Ali Abdallah Salih is now qualified to be a Senator from Nebraska.
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/20/2009 10:58
Comments ||
Top||
#4
#3 Obama who?
Posted by: Bobby 2009-12-20 10:58
My sentiments exactly. Whodda' thunk he had the stones to not only order it, but publicly take credit for it? The whiners on the left will definitely have their knickers in a twist.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/20/2009 12:44
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Yeah - tell another country what they're supposed to do with their money in their country.
No, no arrogance here....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/20/2009 13:07
Comments ||
Top||
#3
Anyone who has ever spent more than 30 minutes in Japan understand how difficult it is to sell US autos there, even when there's a market. The Japanese still drive "left", their city streets are narrow and crowded, and parking spaces are at such a premium they can be "inherited". Lot of ballyhoo and no common sense - typical of the political class in this nation.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/20/2009 14:37
Comments ||
Top||
#4
They also believe that their snow is different and non-Japanese skis don't work properly on Japanese snow. Rationalizing or truly gullible, you decide.
Instant comment:
"This can be a catalyzing moment. It's a powerful signal to see President Obama, Premier Wen, Prime Minister Singh, and President Zuma agree on a meeting of the minds. These are the four horsemen of a climate change solution. With this in hand, we can work to pass domestic legislation early next year to bring us across the finish line."
#1
Will someone please put Kerry back on his medications or change his precriptions, he is so whacked! Calling Barney Frank--- Take hold of your fellow Massachusetts representative to Congress and get him help.
#4
To what did Premier Wen agree? All I saw on his part was studied insult (of President Obama, he was right to be angry about that) and refusal to accept the conditions others claimed are required.
#5
Body Language: When your head is lower than the person you are speaking with, you are the supplicant - a person who requests or seeks something such as assistance or employment or admission - Score: Zero
#7
The look on Wen's face Angomorong Tojo9337
says
"But Barry, I already gave you a one trillion dollar allowance ... and you blew it .... now you want more ? ..... no."
#8
Rest assured that the Chinese got the message loud and clear. There is no equality, only inferior/superior, teacher/student, master/slave. Obama has told Wen who he considers himself.
#1
This article is depressing. One person (ostensibly) has re-written history, and it stands today, as re-written, intact. His censure by Wikipedia is hidden, but his impact lingers on. Hiding the censure signals implicit agreement. It is unreasonable to assume that writing the Wiki board will correct the situation, insofar as they are complicit and are trying to hide the problem. It follows then that everything you read on Wikipedia is suspect.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
12/20/2009 4:42
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Wikipedia is absolute crap for anything having to deal with politics or social norms.
#3
Consequences for the misbehaviour are piling on. From the article's comment thread:
From the wattsupwiththat site:
In September 2009, the Wikipedia Arbitration Committee revoked Mr. Connolleys administrator status after finding that he misused his administrative privileges while involved in a dispute unrelated to climate warming. This has now been added to his article.
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/20/2009 11:34
Comments ||
Top||
#5
#1 This article is depressing. One person (ostensibly) has re-written history, and it stands today, as re-written, intact. His censure by Wikipedia is hidden, but his impact lingers on. Hiding the censure signals implicit agreement. It is unreasonable to assume that writing the Wiki board will correct the situation, insofar as they are complicit and are trying to hide the problem. It follows then that everything you read on Wikipedia is suspect.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike 2009-12-20 04:42
#2 Wikipedia is absolute crap for anything having to deal with politics or social norms.
Posted by: lex 2009-12-20 06:04
This is why (when I was teaching Social Studies/History/Civics) I refused to accept Wikipedia as a source for any papers and projects I assigned my students.
The Lockerbie bomber had £1.8m in a Swiss bank account when he was convicted eight years ago, it has been revealed. The Crown Office, Scotland's equivalent of the Crown Prosecution Service, has confirmed it refused to grant bail to Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi as recently as November last year because of concerns he might try to gain access to the money.
The existence of such a large sum in a personal account casts doubt on claims by the Libyan government that Megrahi was a low-ranking airline worker. The disclosure also raises further questions about the wisdom of the Scottish government in releasing the bomber, who it was claimed has terminal prostate cancer, on compassionate grounds in August.
Sources close to Megrahi's defence team said they were aware of the bank account and had several explanations prepared ahead of his trial in the Netherlands in 2000. They included the claim that he had been given the money by Libyan Arab Airlines, his employer, to buy aircraft parts abroad in breach of the western trade embargo in place against his country at the time of the 1988 bombing of the Pan Am plane over Scotland, in which 270 people died.
Another explanation would have been that Megrahi had been entrusted with the funds to finance an attempt to include Libya in the Paris to Dakar rally. The issue of the account was never raised by the prosecution because it came too late to be introduced as evidence at his trial.
A source close to Megrahi said: "The crown would have said that the money was being used to buy explosives and pay bribes to people. It would have undermined his position as being a simple employee and that he had no big connections with anybody because someone with that status in life wouldn't have that kind of money in bank accounts."
Ben Wallace, Conservative MP for Lancaster and Wyre and a member of the Scottish affairs committee, which is inquiring into the circumstances of Megrahi's release, said the existence of the account was a "startling" revelation. "Had this been known at the time, the financial web that linked Libya and Megrahi to international terrorism would have been a major plank in the crown's case," he said. "Far from being the wrong man, I think this suggests Megrahi was an international co-ordinator of terrorism for Libya."
Last month, The Sunday Times revealed that Megrahi was implicated in the purchase and development of chemical weapons by Libya, according to documents produced by the American government. The papers also claimed he sought to buy 1,000 letter bombs from Greek arms dealers while working as a Libyan intelligence officer.
The Crown Office said details of Megrahi's bank accounts were received from the Swiss authorities in June 2000 and were a factor in the crown's opposition to Megrahi's bail application last November.
#3
I spent a year and a half in England in the 1980's - would have stayed longer if I could. I have great respect for Queen Elizabeth. She understands the wants and needs of her subjects, and probably HATES what is happening to her country. On the other hand, I'm sure she's doing everything in her power to live long enough to bypass Charles as the next King, and will probably offer the crown to one of Charles' sons - IF they ever grow up.
Britain's Labour government is only slightly more corrupt than our Democratic government. Brown and Barry make a pair destined for Hell. I wish no one harm, but the sooner both of them make the trip, the better the world will be.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/20/2009 14:00
Comments ||
Top||
At a retirement party last week for the head of the FBI's Washington field office, Muslim and Arab leaders presented the guest of honor with a crystal plaque. It thanked Joseph Persichini Jr. for reaching out to the local Muslim and Arab communities. Yet even as the tribute on Capitol Hill went on, his agents had a different mission. They were flying to Pakistan to interrogate five Washington area Muslim men arrested in a terrorism probe. The outcome of that investigation threatens to undermine the very relationships their boss tried to foster.
Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, FBI agents from the same office have met with Muslim leaders, fielded questions at mosques and participated in Ramadan feasts. The outreach might well have resulted in the families of the five men coming forward to the FBI to report them missing. But that action now has agents and prosecutors facing a dilemma as the case has morphed from a missing persons investigation into a counter-terrorism probe. As U.S. officials consider whether to file criminal charges against the men and how aggressively to prosecute any potential case, some Muslim leaders are calling for leniency, saying the tough approach often used by the Bush administration would alienate a community whose relationship with law enforcement is uneasy.
"Charging them and throwing them in jail is not the solution," said Nihad Awad, national head of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which approached the FBI on behalf of the families. "The government has to show some appreciation for the actions of the parents and the community. That will encourage other families to come forward."
The men, ages 18 to 24, traveled overseas just after Thanksgiving without telling their families and were arrested near Lahore on Dec. 8. A Pakistani court this week ordered them held for up to 10 more days of interrogation, but officials say their likely return to the United States could take months. Pakistani officials say the men were in touch with a Taliban recruiter and were aiming to join up with al-Qaeda and battle U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
Federal prosecutors in Alexandria, where any criminal case would probably be brought, declined to comment. But law enforcement sources say prosecutors are likely to consider charges that include providing material support to terrorist organizations. Prosecutors face complexities that include whether the men's reported admissions to Pakistani authorities are admissible in a U.S. court and whether any statements were coerced.
But the law enforcement imperative could clash with President Obama's desire to improve relations with Muslims abroad and in the United States. When asked about the arrests in Pakistan, Obama praised "the extraordinary contributions of the Muslim-American community." U.S. law enforcement also views relations with Muslims as critical for its mandate to prevent terror attacks. The Northern Virginia families "alerted their community and the authorities immediately when they knew there was something wrong with their sons," said one federal official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the case is unfolding. "That's a very positive step."
Current and former law enforcement officials said the families' actions will not affect the FBI's intensifying investigation. "When you come upon information that the law may have been violated, the way you receive that information does not change your obligation to respond to it accordingly," said Michael A. Mason, who preceded Persichini as head of the FBI's D.C. field office.
Other officials said cooperation could affect any decision on whether to file charges and what penalties to seek, although that might depend on whether the five men cooperate. The key factor, officials said, is always the evidence. "Cooperation typically does not override public safety," said Paul J. McNulty, who as U.S. attorney in Alexandria oversaw many terrorism cases, "but it does play a role."
The case is unfolding against a backdrop of increased tension nationally between the FBI and the Muslim community. A coalition of two dozen Muslim groups in March suspended most contacts with the FBI over what it called inappropriate infiltration of mosques.
Relations between the FBI and Muslim groups are generally less strained in the Washington area, where the field office -- the bureau's second largest, with about 800 agents -- is continuing its intensive outreach to the region's estimated 250,000 Muslims. "They've made a very sincere effort," said Rizwan Jaka, a board member at the Sterling-based ADAMS Center, the area's largest mosque. The center has held FBI town hall meetings and hosted agents during the breaking of the daily Ramadan fast.
Yet tensions remain, and local Muslims still decry the prosecution of terrorism cases in Northern Virginia after Sept. 11, especially the conviction of 11 men in what prosecutors called a "Virginia jihad network."
Nawar Shora, legal director for the American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee -- who, with a representative from a Muslim group presented the award to Persichini -- said the Arab and Muslim communities will accept any charges against the men arrested in Pakistan as long as they are treated fairly. Yet he indicated that tensions could flare, depending how the government approaches a case. "If the FBI and the prosecutors say these were five Muslims and they were trying to commit jihad, and they throw out all of these incendiary religious terms, that's different," Shora said.
#1
"If the FBI and the prosecutors say these were five Muslims and they were trying to commit jihad, and they throw out all of these incendiary religious terms, that's different,"
So, we can agree then that we try them as traitors and just leave out the religious motivation? No? Then let them rot in Pakistan, let them try them in Pakistan, and let the Pakistani's make an example of them, IN PAKISTAN.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
12/20/2009 4:16
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Every Western nation should send all Muslims back to a Muslim country of their choice. Every Western nation has nothing but trouble with this nasty, sick excuse for a religion. They are the new 5th columnists, they are conquering by immigration, our ruling elite seem incapable of stopping it, we need to break out of the " Iron Cage " of " Political Correctness "
Posted by: Dave UK ||
12/20/2009 4:47
Comments ||
Top||
#3
DAVE UK: there are liberal votes in every minority group or cause so reality never sets in for the government. All all third world immigrants groups cozy up to the liberals and at the same time despise what liberalism represents and work in various ways to destroy it...this is the great paradox of our time.
#4
Hammerhead,
This sort of thing has been going on in the UK for many years, only the growing popularity of Right Wing political groups, is forcing the government of the UK to try and show the electorate, that they will confront radical Islam. They will not, and Sharia law will rule our once proud country, unless we take action.
Posted by: Dave UK ||
12/20/2009 9:47
Comments ||
Top||
#5
Sucking up to muzz is a form of PC snakehandling...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/20/2009 10:08
Comments ||
Top||
[Iran Press TV Latest] Houthi fighters say Saudi warplanes have fired some 1,011 missiles on the borderline with Yemen where the Shia population is already under heavy state-led and US-aided bombardment.
The fighters also said on Saturday that the warplanes had carried out nearly 60 air assaults on the residential areas in the northern Al-Jabiri, Al-Dukhan and Al-Malaheet districts.
Saudi Arabia joined Sana'a's months-long fierce armed campaign against the Shia fighters in November.
The Houthis are accused by the central government of breaking the terms of a ceasefire agreement by taking foreign visitors hostage. The Saudis, on their part, claimed that the fighters had attacked one of their border checkpoints.
The fighters denounce the offensives as a discriminatory campaign against the Shia minority under Riyadh's auspices.
The offensives, meanwhile, have been taking their toll on the locals with the Saudis reportedly venturing beyond the Houthi positions, targeting civilian areas and using unconventional weaponry including flesh-eating white phosphorus bombs.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that since 2004, the conflict has forced up to 175,000 people in the Shia-dominated northwestern province of Sa'ada out of their homes and into overcrowded camps set up by the United Nations.
The US military equipment and intelligence have reportedly entered the equation in the recent days.
The US special forces have reportedly been sent to Yemen to provide the national army with training services. The US Air Force is also said to have been sporadically pounding the northern areas since Monday.
The Houthis said US attacks on Thursday killed 120 civilians, among whom were women and children. Also on Saturday, a report on the Houthis' website said that three civilians, including a woman and a child, had been killed in fresh air raids carried out by US warplanes.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[13 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
AWWWWW BULLSH!T
"The Houthis said US attacks on Thursday killed 120 civilians, among whom were women and children."
ENEMY PROPAGANDA ALERT.
Amazing how fast they get these accurate totals of deceased civilians.
Posted by: Mike Hunt ||
12/20/2009 0:07
Comments ||
Top||
#2
It really sucks to be Iran's ally. You watching, Hugolito?
Posted by: ed ||
12/20/2009 0:44
Comments ||
Top||
#3
I wonder who uses IranPress-TV articles besides Rantburg and Hizb'allah newspapers in southern Lebanon... DoD intelligence analysts and the CIA would have other sources, one would think.
#4
TW, the US intelligence community uses every source available to it, including "news" agencies in foreign countries. Knowing what they're saying in public and also knowing what they say in private provides some very interesting tidbits now and then.
I just wonder where "US Air Force" aircraft could be flying from to target Yemen. It's a long way to US bases in Iraq. The US does have some forward basing deals in the southern portion of the Arabian peninsula, but I doubt they'd be using them for something as volatile as this. Carrier operations is a possibility, but I even doubt that much. Any "missile" attacks are probably coming from some of the US warships on anti-piracy patrol. Tomahawk missiles have VERY long legs.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/20/2009 13:24
Comments ||
Top||
#5
is amazing how they get such accurate numbers killed when there usually wouldn't be too much left or multiple pices of several bodies
Posted by: chris ||
12/20/2009 14:17
Comments ||
Top||
#6
It's always a pleasure when an expert weighs in on one of my little ideas, Old Patriot. Thank you!
As for the American aircraft, it seems to me this is an IP-TV exaggeration. Yes, the Saudi air force uses American planes, but how on earth would the Houthi fighters be able to see exactly what is firing missiles at them from waaaaay up in the air?
#7
There is some second hand acknowledgement by Admiral Mullen that the US has been providing some "assistance" and "fire power" to the Yemeni government...what ever that means.
Posted by: Karl Rove ||
12/20/2009 17:27
Comments ||
Top||
This era is like no other in American journalism: People are consuming more news than ever before, but they're also far more critical of its purveyors than they've ever been. We remain generally agreed that a free press is democracy's cornerstone, but there's less consensus than ever on what the news media ought to be -- or, for that matter, what rapid technological, economic and demographic change will allow it to be.
That makes three sets of little-noticed numbers released this week of more than passing interest.
The first set has to do with the audiences of the three cable news networks. For the first time, CNN's prime-time broadcasts will finish the year in third place, behind Fox and MSNBC among the 25- to 54-year-old viewers advertisers regard as the desirable television audience. To some, that seems to suggest that the television news audience is increasingly split along ideological lines. Fox has made itself king of the prime-time ratings hill by programming a slate of right-wing commentators, while MSNBC has set itself up as the progressive alternative. CNN's attempt to play it down the journalistic middle looks like a ratings loser.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[19 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
FTA: "Fox has made itself king of the prime-time ratings hill by programming a slate of right-wing commentators, while MSNBC has set itself up as the progressive alternative. CNN's attempt to play it down the journalistic middle looks like a ratings loser."
CNN is down the middle? I think I would take this analysis with more than a grain of salt.
#3
The question now is whether, once the recession recedes, U.S. papers will be in a position to satisfy it
Answer: What U.S. papers, the majority are sliding down into bankruptcy, pulling back their correspondents, loosing advertising revenue.
Loose the bias LA Times, New York Times, San Franciso Gate, Chicago Tribune and all you other Zero supporters. You have lost the trust of your American readership.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/20/2009 10:25
Comments ||
Top||
#5
Chomosh -
"Loose the bias LA Times, New York Times, San Franciso Gate, Chicago Tribune and all you other Zero supporters. You have lost the trust of your American readership."
They would rather fly their papers and everything they are supposed to represent into the ground, rather than change their outlook. They are desperately hoping - and in some cases actively negotiating - for the same kind of bailout the auto industry got, believing that the One cannot live without them.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/20/2009 10:32
Comments ||
Top||
#6
Loose Lose the bias LA Times, New York Times, San Franciso Gate, Chicago Tribune and all you other Zero supporters. You have lost the trust of your American readership.
This is the same thing liberals said to newspapers and other businesses when they wanted to gain more power. It wasn't true then and it isn't true now.
I think the bias present in all news organizations is the symptom rather than the cause of the disease. It is a symptom of a diseased organization which has gone in size beyond a certain point that its product becomes diminished in value. When that malaise sets in, elements in the organization seek to change the inputs, rather than examine the cause of the decline, ( the large unwieldiness of the institution ) which is a very human and understandable error.
And the institution may not have changed at all in size to be affected. Other institutions may have also come into the market to market the same product. The size may not have changed but the institution has because its share of the market has declined, making the institution too large for the market it is in.
The internet has changed the game forever, and news organizations being in many cases large and unwieldy institutions are slow to react positively to the changes instead preferring to rattle their lawyers' briefcases about intellectual property, or to purchase a property they see assisting them in their drive to remain competitive and profitable.
The world is flooded with media of every type imaginable.
Fox is successful because they are marketing editorial viewpoints which appeal to a larger segment of the potential audience than the other news institutions. They are meeting demand.
CNN and MSNBC are not meeting anything but the exit, Stage Left
#7
The death of "dead-tree media" isn't the result of people not paying attention, but of the fact they ARE paying attention. The same thing is killing newspapers that is killing many other businesses - a strong left-wing slant in the training of the people entering the field. That goes right back to our universities and colleges. There is no "middle ground" in any non-scientific field - it's either hard-left, or it's ignored and the non-compliant professors finding themselves without a job.
Our colleges are training a bunch of people to approach every problem from one direction, and one direction only. The fact that many such problems CANNOT be solved from the leftist viewpoint is ignored. Eventually, online colleges and universities will overwhelm the ivory-tower bastions of "classic" education, and they, too, will die, just as most of today's true journalism occurs online. Rantburg is a much better "newspaper" than the LA Times could ever be.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/20/2009 15:01
Comments ||
Top||
[Al Arabiya Latest] Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Saturday criticized as unacceptable remarks by the spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians that he feels "crucified" and "second class" living in Turkey.
"We regard the use of the crucifixion simile as extremely unfortunate.... I would like to see this as an undesired slip of the tongue," Davutoglu told reporters here when asked about Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I's comments in an interview with US television network CBS.
" We regard the use of the crucifixion simile as extremely unfortunate.... I would like to see this as an undesired slip of the tongue "
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu
"We cannot accept comparisons that we do not deserve," the minister added.
He rejected criticism that the Islamist-rooted government in Turkey was discriminating between its citizens on religious grounds.
"If Patriarch Bartholomew I has complaints on this issue, he can convey them to relevant authorities who will do whatever is necessary," he said.
In an excerpt from the interview, which will be broadcast in full on CBS on Sunday, Bartholomew I says that the tiny Greek minority in Turkey is not treated equally.
" This is the continuation of Jerusalem and for us it is equally holy and sacred land. We prefer to stay here, even crucified sometimes "
Patriarch Bartholomew
"We are treated... as citizens of second class. We don't feel that we enjoy our full rights as Turkish citizens," says the patriarch, who represents the world's 250 million Orthodox Christians.
He ruled out the option of leaving Turkey. "This is the continuation of Jerusalem and for us it is equally holy and sacred land. We prefer to stay here, even crucified sometimes," the patriarch adds.
The CBS website quotes Bartholomew I as saying that the Turkish government "would be happy to see the Patriarchate extinguished or moving abroad, but our belief is that it will never happen."
The Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul dates from the Greek Orthodox Byzantine Empire, which collapsed in 1453 when the city fell to the Ottoman Turks.
Though Ankara does not interfere with the patriarchate's religious functions, it withholds recognition of Bartholomew's ecumenical title, treating him only as the spiritual leader of some 2,000 Orthodox Greeks still living in the country.
Turkish authorities also keep closed a theological school on an island off Istanbul, depriving the church of a means to train clergy.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
[Al Arabiya Latest] Somalia's Islamist al-Shabaab rebels on Saturday ordered men to grow long beards, shave their moustaches and wear their trousers above the ankle.
It is the first time in the lawless Horn of Africa country that the insurgents, who seek impose a strict form of Islamic Shariah law, have focused on men's appearance, having previously ordered women to cover their entire bodies, and banned bras.
"In order to ensure the complete implementation of the Islamic Shariah law in the region, we call upon all men to grow their beard and shave their moustache," Sheik Ibrahim from the Shabaab group told reporters in Kismaio.
"Anybody found ignoring the rules or breaking it will be punished accordingly."
He said the order will be implemented in three days in the port town of Kismaio.
"People already started practicing the Shariah as the Shabaab ordered and with the new rules, every adult is keen to grow beard in order to avoid punishment", Mohamed Sakiin, a resident told AFP by phone.
"You must look like them otherwise you are likely to be in trouble", another witness said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[10 views]
Top|| File under: al-Shabaab
#1
Beardfros?
Posted by: ed ||
12/20/2009 0:57
Comments ||
Top||
#2
That'll make it a lot easier when we finally decide to put a stop to this sh$$hole. Just kill every male wearing a beard.
The US MUST develop a carrier-based A-10, to put the fear of the REAL God into this bunch of goat-bangers.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/20/2009 13:55
Comments ||
Top||
A decision to ordain actively gay clergy has caused deep fissures in the nation's largest Lutheran church group, with some traditional Lutherans saying they have been subjected to threats and retaliation as they consider breaking away.
Several disaffected members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) say the decision made at the church's national convention in Minneapolis in August could prompt a major exodus from one of America's biggest Protestant denominations.
"I wouldn't even begin to tell you how many thousands [of calls] I've gotten," said Paull Spring, chairman of Lutheran Coalition for Renewal, or CORE, a national coalition based on traditional values. His group said last month that it cannot remain inside the 4.7-million-member ELCA and will form a new synod.
He is not alone.
"I am receiving every single week dozens of phone calls, e-mails, from pastors of the largest Lutheran churches in ELCA," said the Rev. Walter Kallestad, senior pastor of Community Church of Joy in Glendale, Ariz., who left the synod after having been "rostered" as a minister with the ELCA for 31 years. "I've answered hundreds ... from congregations looking to transition out of the ELCA."
For reasons of church structure - Lutheran congregations retain their property as long as they are affiliated with a Lutheran synod - the fallout from the ELCA's decision isn't likely to lead to the kind of court fights that followed the U.S. Episcopal Church's 2003 ordination of an openly gay bishop.
But the splits within the ELCA, which is more than twice the Episcopal Church's size, are getting ugly in their own way. Pastors taking their churches out of the ELCA are making charges of "unethical, immoral and in some cases, illegal" acts by bishops and other officials, Mr. Kallestad said.
"I'm talking to some pastors and leaders from many states around the nation, whose [ELCA] bishops are becoming very hostile," Mr. Kallestad said.
The Rev. Mark Gehrke, of Faith Lutheran Church in Moline, Ill., said that "if you do not agree with the direction of the ELCA, you are ... bullied or ostracized or threatened. The threat has been to even remove me and suspend me from ministry," he said.
In early September, he said, he was leading meetings and seeking ways to leave the ELCA. His bishop heard of this and sent a three-man team to address the problem.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[15 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Sounds like union tactics.
And is anyone else getting the "you have commented 1 times on Rantburg" thing? This has been going on for days.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
12/20/2009 4:46
Comments ||
Top||
#2
According to my dad (the retired rev) there are only 2<->3 male gays waiting to serve but a huge boatload of Lesbians.
#4
so, plaid flannel robes, walletchains, and comfortable shoes will be the new holy attire?
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/20/2009 11:49
Comments ||
Top||
#5
#1 Sounds like union tactics.
And is anyone else getting the "you have commented 1 times on Rantburg" thing? This has been going on for days.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike 2009-12-20 04:46
Time for SEIU to step in and work their magic.
Whiskey Mike, I've seen the "comment header" for some time also. I figured the Mods were trying to weed out the more odious trolls.
#6
I've ben coming here for years now, it's been here all along, you just now noticed it is all.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/20/2009 12:47
Comments ||
Top||
#7
""you have commented 1 times on Rantburg" thing?"
One time, WM?
You're a piker. ;-p
I'm up to 10,765.
Of course, that's because I've got a motor mouth keyboard - your mileage may vary. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/20/2009 12:58
Comments ||
Top||
#8
mine says:
"you have commented 34395 times on Rantburg. 272 were funny. 87 were intelligent."
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/20/2009 13:47
Comments ||
Top||
#9
This kind of crap is why I won't belong to any "organized" faith. It doesn't take more than a few years before the "organized" part overcomes the faith-based part. Jesus said "wherever two or three shall gather in my name, there I will be also". He never said anything about the Second Orthodox Holy-Roller Ecumenical Church of Whatever being a part of it.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/20/2009 14:44
Comments ||
Top||
#10
Frank, that's Fred's super neat code in action LOL
#11
Whiskey Mike, are you on a new computer, or did you perhaps clear your cookies? That might have reset your comment counter, maybe, perhaps. (I don't actually have a clue how Fred's code works -- my own moderator handbook kept to the basics: how to dump trolls, how to send naughty posters to the sinktrap, that kind of thing.) Because I know you've been commenting, however sparingly, for years, my dear.
#12
Whiskey Mike - I've been getting that for the past few days as well and I've been commenting here for years. Right now the counter is at '3' and has been for days. I haven't cleared by cookies or anything. I do, however, post from a number of different computers.
I also get the 'We're sorry, but only human beings are allowed to comment on Rantburg. If you're a human being, please take this simple test to prove it. If you're not, get lost.' Comment Panel. (however it will post if I don't select a picture description.
File this story under the pot calling the kettle black.
Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.), prone for throwing his own political bombs at Republicans, has threatened a local critic with five years in jail for creating the website "mycongressmanisnuts.com."
The Orlando Sentinel reports that Grayson wrote a letter this week to Attorney General Eric Holder demanding that the federal government imprison Republican activist Angie Langley for five years because of her website criticizing him.
The website, designed to raise money against Grayson, catalogues videos and news clippings that portray the provocative congressman in an unfavorable light. It courts donors to donate money to help elect his Republican challenger next year -- collecting $3,725 to date.
Grayson accuses the activist of misrepresenting the fact that she's a constituent of his (she lives outside his district).
"Ms. Langley has deliberately masqueraded as a constituent of mine, in order to create the false appearance that she speaks for constituents who don't support me," Grayson wrote in the letter.
It's awfully ironic that Grayson is demanding to silence one of his critics, given his history of red-meat rhetoric against a host of powerful Republicans. Earlier this month, he told MSNBC's Chris Matthews he wished Dick Cheney would "STFU."
Earlier in the year, Grayson referred to conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh as a "has-been hypocrite loser" who "was more lucid when he was a drug addict."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[13 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Maybe Rep Grayson should submit a resolution to repeal the first amendment. Or at least the part about freedom of speech.
See how far that goes.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
12/20/2009 1:58
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Rambler, don't tempt the idiots in this Congress. (Don't look to the courts to strike it down if they did do something like that, either. The Wise Latina might come to a conclusion you wouldn't understand, due to the richness of her experience....)
I find it amazing that a sitting Congressman - who has taken a sacred oath to uphold the Constitution feels he can cast aside one of its primary tenants on a whim. This is a clear violation of his oath and office.
And about the self-proclaimed 'Wise Latina': Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. (Romans 1:22)
A senior Iranian commander on Saturday took a hit at the former UN nuclear watchdog director-general, saying he has to apologize for creating misconceptions about Iran's nuclear activities on the global stage.
Deputy Head of Iran's Armed Forces Headquarters Brigadier-General Seyyed Massoud Jazayeri said all intelligence agencies and in particular the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) "is well aware of the fact that the use of nuclear energy by the Islamic Republic is a legal and peaceful move."
He, however, explained that domineering powers make every attempt to reverse facts and manipulate public opinion, seeking to deprive Iran of its right to have access to nuclear energy.
The Iranian commander was referring to Western pressure on Iran, calling on the Tehran government to halt its nuclear enrichment under the allegation that the program is aimed at building a nuclear bomb.
Tehran, however, says nuclear weapons have no place in its defensive doctrine and has called for the removal of all weapons of mass destruction from across the globe.
Jazayeri went on to implicate former IAEA director-general Mohamed ElBaradei in what he described as reversing the reality about Iran's nuclear program.
"Without a doubt, the former IAEA director-general had a role in reversing the reality about this issue; therefore he should apologize for this matter to the people of the world and in particular to the Islamic Republic," Jazayeri said.
The remarks come as the IAEA, in ElBaradei's last days in office, passed a resolution calling on Iran to stop all construction work at its new enrichment plant -- Fordo -- and confirm there are no more nuclear sites that the agency must be aware of.
The Tehran government, however, rejected the resolution as politically-motivated and without any legal basis, arguing that Iran's activities are not in breach of the nuclear pact.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[12 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
[Al Arabiya Latest] Tehran and Baghdad pledged on Saturday to pursue a diplomatic solution to a border dispute over accusations that Iranian troops seized an oil well inside Iraq.
The Iranian flag was flying over the disputed oil well in a remote desert area southeast of Baghdad early on Saturday and an Iranian military tent was pitched nearby.
"We call for calm and for a peaceful solution to this matter, far from any military escalation," Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told Reuters Television in Baghdad.
Iran on Saturday acknowledged its takeover of the oil well but insisted the well lies on its land, playing down the fallout from the first such incident since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
"Our forces are on our own soil and, based on the known international borders, this well belongs to Iran," Iran's armed forces command said in a statement, quoted by Iran's Arabic-language al-Alam satellite television.
On Friday, Iraq's state-owned South Oil Co in the southeastern city of Amara said "an Iranian force arrived at the field ... It took control of Well 4 and raised the Iranian flag even though the well lies inside Iraqi territory."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Once the Iranians get the bomb, you will see more of these types of "border disputes"...maybe even in Trinidad.
#2
" "We call for calm and for a peaceful solution to this matter, far from any military escalation," Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told Reuters Television in Baghdad."
translation: They have us scared.
Try parking an Iraqi Platoon and a Tank beside the well under the Iranian Fort's walls. See if they will fire on it. Have an air strike ready for five minutes later.
say it was all a "misunderstanding" which will be true. Make sure there are no survivors in the Fort. Occupy the ruins. Build a road out to it and run up the flag. If they want to fight let them show their stuff.
See if Iran can get the support of anyone inside their young people or if the whole world gives a sh8t. Iraq can see if their military is worth anything or if its full of the "usual" Moslem soldiers.
Of course if the Iraqi military IS full of Islam that would explain the smell of piss coming from Baghdad.
[Ma'an] Minister of the Interior with Gaza's de facto government Fathi Hammad promised efforts were being made to control the actions of gunmen shooting an Egyptian workers constructing a steel wall along the Egypt-Gaza border.
Hammad's promise came Saturday following the second report from Egyptian security of Gaza gunmen firing shots at workers. Construction of the 25-meter-deep and 1 ten km long steel wall is said to be an attempt to stifle the proliferation of smuggling tunnels running beneath the Rafah border.
The promise was made by Hammad over the telephone with Egyptian government officials, as he expressed concern over the recent events at the border.
Earlier in the day Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum announced to Egypt that they had less to be scared of from Gaza as from the Israeli occupation. He condemned what he called the Egyptian support of Israel's blockade of Gaza, which spurred the growth of the dangerous tunnel industry.
During his talk with Egypt, Hammad also inquired about the construction of the wall. He further requested the government do more to help lift the siege on Gaza, and echoed Barhoum's words, saying Gaza will never be a threat to Egyptian security.
"Palestinians cannot bare the pressure of a tightened blockade," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
"Palestinians cannot bare the pressure of a tightened blockade," he said. .
..Then they should stop all terrorism and violence against the State of Israel and the borders will soon open to normal trade and commerce.
It's that simple.
You fate is in your own hands, Gazans
Posted by: Mike Hunt ||
12/20/2009 0:12
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Gaza doesnt like it? yeah?
They can make peace with israel or sh*t in their hat.
Hold their face in the toilet until they do.
Tell em to sing or gargle "Palestine shall be ours" while they swim.
#3
"We'll quit shooting at you, but the Juice are worse!"
nice Paleo logic macro
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/20/2009 9:43
Comments ||
Top||
#4
Eventually the world will grow tired of the paleostains and wipe Gaza from the face of the earth. It's one thing to "hate the Juice", but it's another to thumb your nose at everyone. The stench is hard to bear now, and it will only get worse as the noose tightens.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/20/2009 14:19
Comments ||
Top||
#5
Compare wid WAFF > SETTING UP [State of] ISRAEL-PALESTINE.
[Al Arabiya Latest] The United States gave military hardware, intelligence and other support to Yemeni forces who raided suspected al-Qaeda hide-outs this week, U.S. media reported on Saturday.
Officials in Washington familiar with the operations said the U.S. help, approved by President Barack Obama, had been given at the request of the Yemeni government, The New York Times reported.
The support was intended to help Yemen prevent al Qaeda from mounting attacks on American and other foreign targets inside its borders, the Times reported.
"Yemen should be commended for actions against al-Qaeda," Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, told the newspaper.
Yemeni said on Thursday its security forces had foiled a planned series of suicide bombings by attacking targets including a Qaeda training centre in the southern province of Abyan and sites in Arhab district.
About 30 Qaeda militants were killed and 17 arrested in Abyan and in Arhab, northeast of the capital Sanaa, it said.
Several fighter planes took part in the raid and hit a civilian area by mistake, a local official in Abyan told AFP. Abyan is a part of the former South Yemen republic authorities say has become a regrouping base for Islamist militants.
Raids also took place in the capital Sanaa and the neighboring district of Arhab, to the northeast, a defense ministry official.
Some of the strikes against suspected Qaeda hideouts in Yemen this week were undertaken by local forces alone, U.S. officials told the Times.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[12 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia
[Asharq al-Aswat] Iran's hard-line judiciary acknowledged for the first time Saturday that at least three prisoners detained after June's disputed presidential election were beaten to death by their jailers, confirming a key claim by the country's opposition movement. The surprising acknowledgment followed months of repeated denials by police and other authorities that the deaths of protesters in Iranian custody were caused by abuse.
In a statement, the judiciary said 12 officials at Kahrizak prison were charged, three of them with murder. The prison, on the southern outskirts of the capital, Tehran, was at the center of the opposition's claims that prisoners were tortured and raped in custody.
The claims embarrassed Iran's clerical rulers and forced Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to order the closure of the facility.
Police and judiciary officials had for months rejected the claims, saying the deaths were caused by illnesses, not physical mistreatment. Authorities fired back, accusing the opposition of running a campaign of lies against the ruling system.
"The coroner's office has rejected that meningitis was the cause of the deaths and has confirmed the existence of signs of repeated beatings on the bodies and has declared that the wounds inflicted were the cause of the deaths," the Web site of Iran's state TV quoted the statement as saying.
The opposition says at least 72 protesters were killed in the postelection crackdown, but the government puts the number of confirmed dead at 30. Iran's police chief, Gen. Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam, said in August that protesters were beaten by their jailers at Kahrizak, but he maintained the deaths were not caused by the abuse.
The opposition's criticism was implicitly aimed at the elite Revolutionary Guard, which operates with some autonomy from the ruling clerics and led the harsh crackdown and detention of protesters in the tense weeks after the election.
The unrest broke out after Iran's opposition leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi, claimed he was robbed of the presidency through massive fraud in the vote.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[18 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#2
The diagnosis came a little too late for the whistle-blowimg doctor.
Posted by: ed ||
12/20/2009 0:55
Comments ||
Top||
#3
A leadership that flaunts its accumulation of nuclear weapons is hardly worried about paper wads from the pseudo human rights NGOs. Besides there's no money in going after a regime in Tehran when you make your money denouncing America.
#4
How much popular support for a War would Iran enjoy INTERNALLY right now if one were to break out requiring the young people of Iran to rush to the aid of the Regime?
If Iran were hit from all sides by a US Administration serious about crippling Iran militarily and economically, just trashing the country down to junk and bare pipes. ? And then leaving it to gag on its broken teeth.?
No need to invade it...just draw off after the damage was done and watch it bleed. Hit it again in, say< a year. This time rip off Khuzestan and 80% of its Oil fields.(take its wallet) Then move in about four Divisions to hold that and ruthlessly transport the entire population OUT (just dispossess them) into Iran proper and move in Iraqis to work the Oil fields and repopulate the region.
Use the Zagros Mountains as a shield, take the roads and cover the entire approaches to the new possessions with air assets...nothing moves over those passes and mountain roads without air covering it completely. The Iranians couldnt counter attack unless they bled to death assaulting through those mountain roads. There is no way to come around. Get full Iraqi support with a big cut in ALL of the Iranian Oil.( BUY the Iraqis..they can be bought) Use Iranian Oil to pay for it.
Of course its nasty and greedy...and violent. Use Iraqis to do Occupation. All we have to do is crack and cut and draw the lines...then pull back and let the region bleed while we move up Air superiority for the next phase.
Greed works. And so does Violence. It only fails when you dont have the nerve and will to kill enough and keep it up. You can win any war if you kill enough. The trick is the willingness to pile them up. Like the Mongols took Bukhkara....
Genghis Khan appeared 400 miles BEHIND the Shah's Army already bled dry by three Mongol Divisions at the border by sweeping a two month crossing of a desert thought impassible. He took the city with no defenses, sacked it systematically and drove the population off to work in Mongolia. (have a good time and pack a Lunch).
Then he hunted the Shah down like a rat. If you are ruthless enough wars can be won. The secret is to ignore the UN and piss on the rest. Will they fight to stop you? No. Will they stand there and whine? Who cares?
Screw 'em.
Obama wont last forever. What we want is man who will pull the trigger..even more ruthless than Cheney next time.
There is nothing inevitable about the America's "decline" or the economy as it is. Are the EUroweenies our friends? The answer to anti-American sentiments is take their wallets and pull down their pants. Give as good as you get. Keep the money and give them back the empty wallet. They dont like it... tell 'em to speak French.
Give China a big juicy cut, and let the rest live on the sh*t in their pants. Dont bow, have an attitude.
Speaking from the "Patience my ass, I'm going to kill something" school of counterinsurgency, every time we have taken a punch in the snoot from an insurgency, it is because we did not go after their "safehavens". Right now, ripping Iran a new rectum would solve a lot of problems in Iraq, Israel, Pakistan, etc., I think the Saudis might even appreciate that for about six nanoseconds while they wash their hands in their 24K gold faucets...
We've watched the IAEA and the EU come to the table with Iran and present proposals that the mullah's promptly wipe their butts with, when are the cowards and sissies going to recognize that these nuts think of negotiation as weakness...I think the Spartans had the right idea, its better to fight and die than even think about a world ruled by these animals.
Posted by: Karl Rove ||
12/20/2009 12:13
Comments ||
Top||
#8
I've said on this site for years that it's far better to be feared than to be treated with contempt. Our "leadership" doesn't understand that, and keep feeding the contempt. Take the gloves off, smash completely, and then ask if they want more (being quite willing to give them everything they can take, and then 50% more). Until we get rid of the "internationalists" in State, the cowards in Defense, and the greedy in the rest of our government, we'll keep playing stupid games and soaking up casualties. That kind of behavior is stupid, but it lines the pockets of far too many in Washington. Perhaps our first military strike should be there, rather than overseas.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/20/2009 13:49
Comments ||
Top||
#9
D*amn A-9, I like your style!
Of course, the Ball$ in DC are mostly made of Brie, not brass, so your dream shall come to naught.....
#13
" its better to fight and die than even think about a world ruled by these animals Islamic Mofos."
Ah, definitely. Slightly off topic but some jihadi mofo of M.E. descent has been lurking the bushes on the local village footpath around here trying to jump out and nab runners. He tried three times w/o success before being jailed. He'll be out before long, no doutbt.
If that mofo jumps out on GirlThursday, he will get lit on fire. Literally. I carry a hairspray and a lighter. Plus a knife. Who said you have to put up with Islam when you can attack it right back?
#15
GirlThursday, around here when we do that we say, "Fixed it for you." Perhaps you've noticed the acronym FIFY and wondered what it was. And now you've done it. Congratulations, my dear. As for the other, I'm sure any jihadi who tries jumping out of the bushes at you or any of your friends will be terribly sorry after, regardless from where his ancestors might have come.
[Kyodo: Korea] A plenary session of the U.N. General Assembly on Friday passed a resolution demanding that North Korea resolve the abduction issue by immediately returning the victims to their home countries.
The resolution was backed by 99 nations, including Japan, Germany and the United States. Twenty countries, such as China, Myanmar and Malaysia, voted against it with 63 abstentions.
The latest action marked the fifth straight year that a resolution seeking concrete action from Pyongyang on resolving the abduction issue has been passed by the General Assembly.
The move followed approval by the U.N. Third Committee, which is charged with dealing with human rights issues, on Nov. 19.
Japanese Ambassador Yukio Takasu told reporters after the adoption of the resolution that he is pleased with the high numbers of countries throwing their weight behind the text.
He said support from 99 countries at the General Assembly is ''a significant achievement.''
The Japanese ambassador blasted North Korea for failing to take action after the General Assembly adopted a similar resolution last year.
''Since last year regrettably there was no positive response from DPRK,'' he said, using the acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Takasu expressed concerns about a growing number of Non-Aligned Movement countries abstaining from voting. Among such countries were Bangladesh, Bolivia, Cambodia, India, Zambia and Qatar.
The bloc of more than 120 members are increasingly opposed to handling country-specific human rights issues at U.N. headquarters in New York as many believe that the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva is the more appropriate venue to tackle these issues.
In the resolution, the General Assembly reiterates a ''very serious concern at unresolved questions of international concern relating to abductions in the form of enforced disappearance'' and urges North Korea ''urgently to resolve these questions'' by ensuring ''the immediate return of abductees.''
The document expresses a ''very deep concern at the precarious humanitarian situation in the country'' partly resulting from frequent natural disasters compounded by the ''misallocation of resources away from the satisfaction of basic needs'' as well as increasing restrictions on the cultivation and trade of food items.
The resolution urges Pyongyang ''to respect all human rights and fundamental freedoms.''
The Japanese ambassador also explained how the Japanese mission organized a recent viewing for ambassadors to the United Nations of a documentary about Japanese abductee Megumi Yokota in efforts to drum up global support for resolving the abduction issue.
The movie featured continued efforts by Megumi's parents to get her back from North Korea. She was abducted by North Korean agents in 1977 at age 13.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Commies
#1
So, for the fifth straight year the "stern note" approach has been taken. They are doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different outcome. We need to eject this nest of vermin from our shores. I do not care where they go.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
12/20/2009 4:22
Comments ||
Top||
#2
A minor rant regarding the euphemisms above:
The "abductees" are SLAVES. They were caught in SLAVE RAIDS and have been ENSLAVED ever since.
This is in contrast to the North Korean people, who are mostly SLAVE descendants of SLAVE parents.
Harry Reid has released the manager's amendment that Ben Nelson has reportedly agreed to vote for, meaning that the Senate bill has 60 votes. The abortion language includes the phony segregation of funding language that was rejected in the House. It would allow individual states to opt out of the abortion-funding program--in other words, the default position is to pay for abortions; states would have to pass legislation to not fund abortions. But states where public abortion-funding is mandated by state court rulings would be required to pay for abortions:
''(1) NO PREEMPTION OF STATE LAWS REGARDING ABORTION.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed to preempt or otherwise have any effect on State laws regarding the prohibition of (or requirement of) coverage, funding, or procedural requirements on abortions, including parental notification or consent for the performance of an abortion on a minor.
There are 13 states where the state supreme court has required public abortion funding according to this map from the ACLU (assuming it's up to date). Four states have decided through their legislatures to pay for Medicaid abortions. So Ben Nelson is going to allow federal tax dollars to pay for abortions in California and New York?
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[10 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Very remeniscent of the local option legislative process over the slavery issue way back when.
The race for a Pennsylvania seat in the U.S. Senate in 2010 couldn't get any tighter, according to a poll of state voters released this morning.
Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter and Republican challenger Pat Toomey are deadlocked at 44 percent each, the latest Quinnipiac University poll says.
Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,381 state voters from Dec. 8 through Monday. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.
Pennsylvania voters also gave President Barack Obama a narrow job approval rating, 49 to 45 percent.
Mr. Specter held a 53 to 33 percent lead over Mr. Toomey in the May 4 poll, but Mr. Toomey took a 43 to 42 percent lead Oct. 1.
"Specter has the state's Democratic registration advantage on his side, while Toomey can take heart in the numbers that show problems for Specter in measures in addition to the horse race," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "For example, voters say 50 to 38 percent he does not deserve reelection."
Mr. Specter holds a strong 53 to 30 percent lead in the Democratic Senate primary over Congressman Joe Sestak, up from the 44 to 25 percent margin Oct. 1.
State voters give Mr. Specter a 47 to 45 percent job approval rating; 55 percent say they don't know enough about Mr. Toomey to form an opinion.
President Obama's approval rating is comparable to a 49 to 42 percent score Oct. 1. The president receives a positive rating from 82 percent of Democrats, 45 percent of independents and 17 percent of Republicans. Voters, however, disapprove 50 to 45 percent of Mr. Obama's handling of the economy and disapprove 56 to 37 percent of his handling of health care. On Afghanistan, state voters approve 51 to 41 percent.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[12 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
With all due respect to any 'burgers here from Pennsylvania...the voters there are stupid enough to vote for some guy who promised to make coal economically impossible and raise their power bills (Obama), another guy who dissed them as racist rednecks a week before the election (Murtha), and for a mayor (in Pittsburgh...sorry, don't know his name offhand) who wants to tax tuition because apparently it's not expensive enough.
They'll be dumb enough to return "Snarlin' Arlen", too. Just watch.
#2
With nearly if not more than 50% of the US population on the take rather than being taxpayers, why wouldn't they vote themselves more money, more money. They're on currency crack. Come on, this is the state that keeps sending Murtha back.
#3
How could anyone in good consciousness vote for Specter? He is a chameleon who changes allegiances and parties more often than most of us change underwear.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Colombia has announced that it plans to build a new military base near its border with Venezuela.
That sounds like a wise idea, and of course will help the local economy -- always a good thing in these difficult times.
Colombian Defense Minister Gabriel Silva said on Friday that the base, which is to be located on the Guajira peninsula near the city of Nazaret, will have up to 1,000 troops.
Two air battalions will also be activated in other border areas, he stated. "It is a strategic point from a defense point of view," Silva noted.
The $1.5 million facility, paid for with Colombian tax funds, would also have a care facility for indigenous Wayuu people who live in the area, he added.
How nice: ready-made informers!
Always a good idea to keep the locals on your side ...
Meanwhile, Colombian Army Commander General Oscar Gonzalez announced on Saturday that six air battalions are being activated, including two on the border with Venezuela.
The long-simmering tension between Venezuela and Colombia rose to a boil last August after the US signed a deal with Bogota allowing US forces to run anti-drug operations from Colombian bases. Iranians and leftists Pundits say Colombia's decision to build the new military base will further strain its tense ties with Venezuela.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Commies
[Geo News] President Asif Zardari said Saturday that he would not step down until allegations against him are proved to be correct. Talking to the senior leaders of Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in a meeting of Central Executive Committee held here at the Presidency, he pointed out that in more than a decade's time, not a single accusation was proved correct. He further said despite all the conspiracies against the party, PPP is established and will remain vigorous in the future. PPP was strong after the judicial killing of its founder, and after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, he added. He said the party had faced challenges in the past and it is prepared to face challenges in the future too. He said his party would use democracy and constitution as weapons against conspiracies.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[17 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
Iran's president says it is hard for powers to make changes in the battle against climate change, because the global economic structure revolves around profit.
"Because the economic and political structures that some have made up are based on maximum profit and cheap energy, it is difficult for them to make changes," Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told Press TV's correspondent in Copenhagen on Friday.
"They will have to give up their interests to make those changes or they will have to make new investments," he added.
In an indirect reference to the US, its Western allies and the military campaigns they have waged in the region, Ahmadinejad said "those who start wars for their interests" can not easily reach deals in one meeting.
However, he said that the climate summit could not be called unsuccessful because it was a "step forward."
Ahmadinejad, who was in the Danish capital to take part in the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit, also expressed hope that all countries would eventually make a contribution.
After years of apparent attempts to reach a deal on combating global warming, representatives from various countries around the world finally managed to seal an agreement on Friday.
Analysts believe that the agreement is not sufficient to combat the threat of climate change, as it is not-binding and countries have serious reservations about some part of the package.
Third world countries present at the Copenhagen summit have also spoken out against the deal, calling the process 'fairly undemocratic.'
Lumumba Stanislas Dia-Ping of Sudan, who heads the G-77 group representing 130 countries in the Copenhagen summit, said the deal put forth by Washington is the worst of its kind as it will lock developing countries and poor people into a cycle of poverty forever.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[15 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#3
Humans contribute to climate change by exhaling Carbon Dioxide; the sooner Ahmadinejad aka Dinner Jacket stops contributing to the process, the better for mankind.
#7
Geologically, the Earth is 4.5 billion years old. There has NEVER been a prolonged period during that time when climate HASN'T changed. All the crap about "man-made" climate change is just that - crap. Mankind contributes 4% of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is 4% of all greenhouse gasses. Four percent of four percent is 0.0016% - well within the margin for error of any capability of measurement we currently have. The whole "manmade CO2 will destroy the planet" idea is hoax, and has been from the beginning.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/20/2009 14:48
Comments ||
Top||
[Al Arabiya Latest] Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri arrived in Syria on Saturday on his first visit to the former long-time foe and powerbroker since he took office last month.
The visit looks set to close the chapter on nearly five years of animosity between Damascus and a broad political alliance led by Hariri.
Lebanese political sources expect the two leaders to agree on opening a new page in their personal relationship and on strengthening cooperation between their governments to guarantee Lebanon's stability.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[14 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
Iran has successfully tested today an 'optimized' version of the solid-fuel Sejjil-2 ballistic missile. The recent test builds on the first successful launch conducted in May 2009.
Iran has tested several combinations of propellant compounds to achieve reliable operation. Iranian sources indicate that the current missile has been configured to carry different warheads and uses stealth attributes ('anti-radar material coating').
The use of solid propellant dramatically reduces pre-launch preparations, enabling the missile to be fired immediately after being erected by the mobile launcher. The Iranians claim the solid-powered Sejill-2 is faster during the powered ascent as well as on reentry, and, therefore, more difficult to intercept. It is also more accurate than the former Shehab.
#1
HMMMMM, HMMMMM, wehell, perhaps MOUD = IRAN can follow CHINA's lead, to wit:
CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > CHINA'S UNDERGROUND "GREAT WALL" { China = CSecond Arty Corps building a 3107-mile-and-counting
"hardened" underground missle network in HEBEI, northern China, for covert storage as well as anti-US-Western "ready missle launch" or other prep, + espec to avoid overhead US-SPAWAR RECCE.
D *** NG IT, BOYZ, ALL TOGETHER NOW, WID FEELING, "SINK THE TIRPITZ" {Norway fjords > e.g. Commando crafts, raids].
* ION CHINA > WMF > "ASIA TIMES" MEDIA: HOW THE US LOST THE 2015 CARRIER NAVAL BATTLE [China manages to sink the USS GEORGE WASHINGTON CV]: + THE CREATION OF NEW SUB-STATES IN INDIA WILL FOSTER MORE UNREST.
The money shot: The Reid amendment directs insurance companies to assess the cost of elective abortion coverage (p. 43), and charge a minimum of $1 per enrollee per month (p. 43, lines 20-22). Maybe Nelson will begin his backstroke soon...?
#7
If my math is correct, then if everyone in the country was enrolled in the plan, and an abortion cost $1000, there would be funds to abort everyone in America every year - in most cases very late-term (100th trimester or so), and we'd have to really increase immigration to get past the first year.
#10
Is the fight over? I'm still writing and calling the Senate, especially lieberman and webb, and isn't there an opportunity to peel back some blue-dogs in the house?
I cannot believe we can't scream louder, and by God make these bastards pay in November.
#11
we're basically left to hoping the leftists want too much (public option, single payer, abortion on demand with taxpayer funding) that the conference blows up and there's a Dem Civil War...come to think of it, I'd really like that
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/20/2009 15:16
Comments ||
Top||
#13
I REALLY don't think the people here will fight that hard. Too much trouble. Our young people know how to fight over in Afghanistan and Iraq have been fighting hard for 8 long years to keep us safe. In the meantime, people here state side layed down and let Socialists roll right over them, for the first time in over 200 years of American history. People here would rather ban fighters than fight.
#14
Skunky E: Maybe I'm optimistic but I think people will fight against this socialism. Nearly 60% of the people don't want he so-called health care [or cap and trade or the rest of this cockamie legislation. There have been millions of people getting active in the Tea Party, going to Washington and other locations and flooding Congress with letters and emails. We have had socialistic Presidents and administrations before, e.g. FDR and Lyndon Johnson.
[Geo News] NWFP Minister for Information Mian Iftikhar Hussain has said that the Crime Investigation Cell has the information that the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan leader Hakimullah Mehsud has tasked his men to take out him (Mian Iftikhar) and the entire ANP leadership. He said this while addressing a press conference here Saturday. On the occasion, he said at present it is not possible to hold by-elections on the seat falling vacant following the 'Shahadat' of Dr. Shamsheer.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[18 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
[Dawn] The constitutional provision granting immunity from prosecution to the president was the subject of two petitions filed in the Supreme Court on Saturday. One of the petitions contended that even a foreign court cannot try the president while the other called for doing away with the immunity clause.
The Watan Party filed in the Supreme Court a constitutional petition challenging the reopening of Swiss cases against President Asif Ali Zardari, saying the president also enjoys 'sovereign immunity' against foreign courts, besides constitutional immunity under Article 248 against local courts.
The petition was filed at the Lahore registry of the Supreme Court.
Barrister Zafarullah Khan, counsel for the Watan Party, said that previously the cases were pending in Swiss courts for the recovery of laundered money in favour of state and Mr Zardari appeared in those cases as a private individual, along with his wife Benazir Bhutto. But now Mr Zardari had become the president and state immunity was attached to his office, the counsel said, adding that the president could not be summoned or sued in any case whatsoever by any court of any country during his term as president.
Barrister Zafar said the Supreme Court verdict reopening cases against President Zardari was beyond its jurisdiction.
He requested the court to review its decision and declare it as void because it undermined the sovereignty and independence of the nation.
On Dec 16, the Supreme Court annulled the National Reconciliation Ordinance and ordered reopening of money laundering cases being heard in a Swiss Court. The case was withdrawn under NRO, which was promulgated by former president Pervez Musharraf.
Immunity challenged
A former officer of the ISI on Saturday filed in the Supreme Court a petition seeking an end to the protection available to the president under the Constitution, saying the immunity was against fundamental rights.
"Article 248 of the Constitution (presidential immunity) be declared ultra vires as it is in infringement of the fundamental rights of citizens/persons guaranteed in chapter I of Part II of the Constitution, the norms of natural justice as promulgated in Quran and Sunnah," said the petition moved by Khalid Khawaja, chairman of the Defence of Human Rights Organisation.
This is the third such petition filed in the apex court after the Dec 16 verdict on the NRO. The two previous petitions were filed by Engineer Jamil, of the Communist Party of Pakistan, and Syed Mohammad Iqbal, of the Human Rights Commission for South Asia, seeking to do away with Article 248 which provides immunity to the president and governors.
Senior lawyer Naseer Ahmed Chaudhry said that Clause 3 of Article 248 prevented courts from issuing any order for the arrest or imprisonment of the president or the governor during their time in office.
Khalid Khawaja, who will appear in person to plead his case, contended in his petition that Article 248 in its entirety was against the Constitution and the norms of Islam that guaranteed equality, dignity and respect for humankind.
"The protection is also not in consonance with Article 25 (equality of citizens) which guarantees equal protection of law to all citizens. It means that the president and the governor are free to commit any crime or rob the public treasury and could even commit high treason, but they would not be answerable to any court or forum during the term of their office," the petition said, adding that they could even flee the country after committing crimes like former president Pervez Musharraf.
"It is only because of Article 248 and the protection to our rulers, our homeland has been degraded in the eyes of the world."
The nation, the petition said, was divided on this issue as many people, including members of parliament, were agitating against this protection which should not be available to dignitaries. "The Islamic concepts as envisaged by the objective resolution under Article 2-A of the Constitution should prevail to ensure a just political system and an Islamic welfare state."
The petition said that the Supreme Court should resolve the protection issue by declaring the provisions not only in contravention of Articles 227, 25 and 2-A, but also ultra vires of the Constitution and its principles enunciated by the apex court from time to time.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[12 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
Two Iraqi policemen have been killed in the latest string of terrorist attacks to hit the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
In the first incident, one policeman was killed on Saturday by unidentified gunmen in the western part of Mosul. According to a report published by the Aswat al-Iraq news agency, the attack took place in the Hay al-Athar neighborhood.
Security forces cordoned off the area after the attack and launched an investigation.
In another incident in Mosul, an Iraqi police officer was shot dead.
"On Saturday, unidentified gunmen opened fire on a customs policeman who was driving his car in the al-Falah area, killing him on the spot," a local security source said. The victim was visiting his son in Mosul.
A volatile ethnic mix of Sunni Arabs, Kurds, and Christians, Mosul has been the scene of frequent shootings and bombings, and US commanders regard the once cosmopolitan city as the last urban bastion of the Al-Qaeda in Iraq. The capital city of Iraq's Nineveh province is situated some 396 kilometers (250 miles) northwest of Baghdad.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
[Geo News] Twenty-one terrorists have been killed during search operations in South Waziristan and Orakzai Agency while 550 suspects have been apprehended in Kohat along with arms and ammunition.
According to sources, the militants attacked a camp of security forces in Asman Manza area of Tehsil Ladha. The security forces repulsed with firing and killed seven terrorists while seven more were injured. One security man was martyred and two were injured in the clash.
The security forces pounded the militants' hideouts with the help of jet fighters in Upper Orakzai, killing 5 militants. Five more militants were killed in an offensive launched with the of gunship helicopters in Goyan Feroz area of Lower Orakzai.
A clash between militants and tribesman of Satori Khel resulted in the killing of six terrorists and two locals.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[16 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
[Dawn] A deputy superintendent of Balochistan Constabulary, his guard and an assistant sub-inspector were gunned down in an ambush on the Manno Jan road here on Saturday. Two constables were seriously injured in the attack. Sources said a police van, after picking up DSP Habibullah Qasrani from his house in the morning, was going to his office when armed men opened indiscriminate fire on it from three sides.
The DSP received multiple wounds and died on the spot. ASP Mohammad Aslam and the guard were taken to a hospital in serious condition, but they died.
The Baloch Liberation United Front has claimed responsibility for the attack. Talking on telephone from an unspecified place, BLUF spokesman Shahiq Baloch warned that 'if Baloch police officials do not stop supporting state machinery, they will be targeted'.
Police have registered a case against unidentified armed men.
LANDMINE
Two Bugti tribesmen were injured when their motorcycle hit a landmine in Dasht Goran area of Dera Bugti district. They were taken to the PPL hospital in Sui.
In another incident, a police head constable and a passer-by were injured in an explosion at a bus stop in Hub. According to sources, the explosive device had been fitted to a motorcycle parked at the bus stop.
At least seven people were injured when armed men hurled a hand-grenade into a house at Mand town in Turbat district. Sources said that the house was being used for drug trade.
The Baloch Liberation Army had distributed pamphlets a few days ago in Turbat, Mand and Mach towns warning drug dealers to stop the illegal business.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[16 views]
Top|| File under:
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN -- Militants forced to flee their havens in Pakistan's mountainous tribal areas are establishing new, smaller cells in the heart of the country ... U.S. and Pakistani officials say.
The spread of fighters is an unintended consequence of a relatively successful effort by the United States and Pakistan to disrupt the insurgents' operations.
American and Pakistani officials say the militants' widening reach has added to the challenge for both nations' intelligence, which must now track an insurgent diaspora that can infiltrate Pakistan's teeming cities and blend seamlessly with the local population. A Pakistani intelligence official said the offensive had put militants "on the run" but added: "Now they're all over -- Afghanistan, North Waziristan and inside Pakistan."
Pakistan bred the rats, then let them escape. Consequences are a dreadful thing.
The Pakistani intelligence official said the Taliban and al-Qaeda have ruthlessly purged anyone in their organizations accused of being a spy. The markets in Peshawar, capital of the North-West Frontier Province, are full of DVD recordings of beheadings of suspected informants.
Just in North Waziristan, the official said, Pakistani intelligence agencies have lost 30 undercover operatives this year.
Posted by: lord garth ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[16 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
If the Pakis are kept busy at home, they won't have the energy to sponsor another 911 mass murders spree.
Posted by: ed ||
12/20/2009 0:48
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Most Taliban are country yokels who are going to stand out in "the big city", so will be easier to finger.
#3
#2: Most Taliban are country yokels who are going to stand out in "the big city", so will be easier to finger.
The leadership isn't, A-moose, and they're the ones that are the most desired to stop.
This is developing quite nicely. Soon, there will be very little opposition to the dissolution of Pakistan and the incorporation of its former territories into Afghanistan (Muslim) and India (Hindu). Another case of British Foreign Office maneuvering that's come back to bite them - hard.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/20/2009 13:39
Comments ||
Top||
Iran's president says he will soon write to the UN Secretary-General asking for his country to be compensated for World War II damages.
"We will seek compensation for World War II damages. I have assigned a team to calculate the costs," Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said at a Friday press conference in the Danish capital.
"I will write a letter to the UN Secretary-General [Ban Ki-moon] asking for Iran to be compensated for the damages," he added, pointing out that such a move is necessary to ensure that justice was served.
Ahmadinejad told the reporters that the countries that won the Second World War had inflicted a lot of damage on Iran by invading the country and using its resources.
The president added that while the former Soviet Union, the United States and Britain received compensation after the conflict, Iran had been given nothing to make up for the suffering its people had endured.
"During this period, the Iranian people were subjected to a great deal of pressure and the country suffered a great deal of damages but Iran was not paid any compensation," Ahmadinejad explained.
At the start of World War II, Iran declared its neutrality, but the country was soon invaded by both Britain and the Soviet Union on August 26, 1941 in Operation Countenance.
Iran's refusal to give into Allied demands and expel all German nationals from the country was the excuse they needed to occupy the country. Within months of the invasion Iran became known as "The Bridge of Victory" to the Allies.
When invading the Soviet Union in 1941, the Allies urgently needed to transport war materiel across Iran to the Soviet Union.
The effects of the war, however, were very catastrophic for Iran. Food and other essential items were scarce and severe inflation imposed great hardship on the lower and middle classes as the needs of foreign troops were prioritized.
"Not only was Iran deprived of any compensation for World War II, but 10 years later, the Americans even went as far as arranging a coup to reverse a popular uprising that had led to the nationalization of oil," said Ahmadinejad.
In 1953, Washington orchestrated a coup against the popular and democratically-elected Iranian prime minister of the time, Mohammad Mosaddeq, whose efforts led to the nationalization of the country's oil industry.
Almost half a century later, former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright acknowledged the pivotal role that the US played in the coup, coming closer than any other American diplomat to apologizing for the intervention.
"The Eisenhower administration believed its actions were justified for strategic reasons... But the coup was clearly a setback for Iran's political development. And it is easy to see now why many Iranians continue to resent this intervention by America," she said in March 2000.
Ahmadinejad who had travelled to Copenhagen to take part in the Climate Change Summit, returned to Iran on Saturday morning.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[14 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
This rabid dog Ammadinjehead needs to be 'put down'
The sooner the better.
Regime change now!
Posted by: Mike Hunt ||
12/20/2009 0:16
Comments ||
Top||
#2
parts of Iran were occupied during 1942-1946 by the Brits and the Russians
the occupation was ended by treaty
Posted by: lord garth ||
12/20/2009 0:30
Comments ||
Top||
#3
The president added that while the former Soviet Union, the United States and Britain received compensation after the conflict
The US USSR and UK received compensation? From whom?
The Russian occupation of the northern third was ended under threat of nuclear attack by the USA if the Ruskies didn't leave. The Russians didn't have the bomb at the time. The US and the Brits left voluntarily.
#6
It's a smoke screen for their nuclear program, and a time-sink to keep UN resources from being expended no the problem by complicating the simple issue, which the UN is already paralyzed over.
#7
I believe we should indeed compensate him, since the Shah of that time was a NAZI sympathizer. A half-dozen very large nukes on his largest cities should do nicely.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/20/2009 14:50
Comments ||
Top||
#8
we built some BIG airbases there during the war. employed a lot of camel jockeys. maybe we should take them back.
[Iran Press TV Latest] The chief editor of a local newspaper in the northwestern Turkish city of Bandirma has been shot dead after death threats were made against him over his coverage of a corruption scandal.
The 53-year-old editor-in-chief of the daily Life in Southern Marmara, Cihan Hayirsevener, was walking to the newspaper's office shortly after 3 p.m. (1300 GMT) on Friday when he was shot in the leg three times by an unidentified assailant, the Anatolia news agency reported.
The gunman escaped in a car and his whereabouts are unknown.
One of the bullets ruptured a vital artery in Hayirsevener's leg, causing him to lose an excessive amount of blood. His heart stopped several times in the ambulance to Bandirma State Hospital, but emergency medical staff were able to revive him.
He was later moved to the Uludag University Medical Faculty in Bursa, where doctors struggled but ultimately failed to save his life.
The police have launched an investigation to apprehend the murderer.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
[Dawn] A DSP escaped unhurt in an explosion in Peshawar's Afridiabad area on Saturday.
Meanwhile, authorities also arrested a suspected militant commander named Zahidur Rehman from the Peshawar airport while he was trying to escape to Dubai
Police said a remote-controlled bomb planted on the roadside went off as the police mobile drove by. The explosion partially damaged the vehicle of DSP Gulbahar Khan.
No casualties were reported and ambulances and a bomb disposal squad rushed to the site soon after the blast.
According to DSP Bomb Disposal Squad, Tanveer Khan, 700 grams of explosives were used in the blast. Three suspects were also arrested from the scene.
Afridiabad is a sensitive area where a radio transmission centre and JUI-F's NWFP secretariat is located. Police said this was the second such attack in the area in the past two days.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[12 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
#1
PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > PAKISTAN IN CRSIS AS "CREEPING COUP" UNFOLDS [Arrest of PAK Interior Minister sought]; + IMPLICATIONS OF THE HEADLEY CASE [US-PAK-INDIA relations].
Months after the post-vote unrest in Iran, the Israeli military intelligence chief says Tel Aviv had counted on anti-Islamic Republic protests to achieve its long-sought goals.
Speaking at the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies, Amos Yadlin said one of the outcomes of the post-vote turmoil in Iran is that the notion of "an exemplary regime [in Iran] has been shattered."
The Israeli intelligence chief, however, expressed dissatisfaction with the turn of events in Iran, saying, "The bad news is that the Iranian regime has managed to stop the protest for now."
"This protest does not have a classic leadership which is capable of collapsing regimes, as leaders of the protest movements are still the regime's own flesh and blood," Yadlin added.
The report of Israel's unwavering support for creating tensions in Iran comes as earlier in December, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the United States to use the power of the Internet and online social networking websites to counter the Islamic Republic.
"Using the power of the Internet and of Twitter against the Iranian regime is a tremendous thing that the United States can do," Netanyahu told the Israeli parliament's foreign affairs and defense committee.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
[Ma'an] The de facto Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh instructed the Gaza Ministry of Interior and security forces throw out the charges on activists with Jund Ansar Allah, the Salafi group involved in an August take-over of the Rafah Mosque.
A show-down between Hamas and Jund Ansar Allah forces killed 22 including three children, and saw leaders of the movement who sought to declare an Islamic emirate in Gaza, killed or detained. De facto government officials promised to release the remaining members from prison ahead of both the Eid Al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha holidays.
On Saturday Haniyeh ordered the four-month-old file to be destroyed for the sake of Palestinian unity.
The statement announcing the policy shift came following the de facto prime ministers visit to a Gaza prison where the ultra-Islamist members were being held. He said the move showed the keenness of his government to respect the national rights of the people of Palestine and respect commitment to Islamic values.
Hours before the statement was released, sources in Gaza said Haniyeh called off an all-factions meeting to which all factions from the West Bank and Gaza had been invited to discuss unity. A Hamas official said Haniyeh had to deal with an "emergency" and would have to postpone the meeting set for Sunday.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
[Ma'an] Hamas leader in Gaza Ayman Taha said Saturday that the movement's leader Ismail Haniyeh has called off a meeting initially set for Sunday where leaders of all Palestinian factions were to have discussed Egypt's unity plan.
An invitation to the meeting was made public on Friday, but received no official responses from factions. One statement from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said they and other PLO factions were engaged in "serious meetings" in Ramallah, trying to determine their collective response to the invite.
Taha cited an "emergency" behind Haniyeh's calling off of the meeting. He did not announce an alternative date for the meeting.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[10 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
A key House investigating body has dropped its probe of Rep. John Murtha (D., Pa.) and two other members of the House's defense-spending committee, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Office of Congressional Ethics has informed aides to Murtha as well as Reps. Norm Dicks (D., Wash.) and Jim Moran (D., Va.) that it is no longer looking into allegations that they traded government funding earmarks for campaign donations.
Dick's chief of staff, George Behan, said the congressman received a phone call earlier this month from an official at the Office of Congressional Ethics informing him that he matter has been closed.
Dicks was told that the body "found no basis for further action and the matter was closed," Behan said.
The Office of Congressional Ethics could still be looking into several other members of the defense-spending committee. It was already known that the Office of Congressional Ethics was examining the actions of Reps. Marcy Kaptur (D., Ohio), Todd Tiahrt (R., Kan.), Rep. Peter Visclosky (D., Ind.), and Bill Young (R., Fla.).
The Office of Congressional Ethics was created a few years ago to examine possible ethics violations by lawmakers and recommend action to the House Ethics Committee.
The story was first reported this afternoon by Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper.
The development doesn't mean that the lawmakers are in the clear. The Justice Department is looking into several companies that have received earmarks from Visclosky, Murtha and other members of the House defense-spending panel.
The Office of Congressional Ethics has been criticized for being too aggressive in pursuing ethics inquiries.
After the development, Melanie Sloan, the executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said congressional investigators have not been aggressive enough. "Yet again it appears that the congressional ethics committees exist to clear people of wrong doing," she said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[10 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
So thats it?
The most corrupt of politicians is off scott free.
can they even answer the phones at OCE without giggling at that title? This doesn't stop any FBI criminal investigations. The worst they would've gotten from the "congressional watchdogs" was a censure to hide the bribery better
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/20/2009 10:35
Comments ||
Top||
[Dawn] As the military offensive continues in South Waziristan, six suspected militants were killed during a search operation in Lawara Punga area near Mana in South Waziristan, an ISPR spokesman informed.
Authorities have also arrested a suspected militant commander, Zahidur Rehman, from the Peshawar airport while he was trying to escape to Dubai.
Terrorists fired rockets and arms at security forces patrolling the area, which they effectively responded to.
According to the Inter-Services Public relations spokesman, security forces have so far secured SAIN Tanga and Malik Shahi areas.
Meanwhile, six suspected militants were also arrested in a clearance operation near Pezu while huge cache of arms and ammunitions were recovered in the Shakai Sector.
A search operation is also underway in MiramShah.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[14 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
Rep. Frank Wolf, R.-Va., issued a public statement Thursday saying that President Obama's Attorney General, Eric Holder, has instructed staff attorneys to ignore legal subpoenas by the U.S. Civil Rights Commission (CRC) requesting information about the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case.
This is in stark contrast to Mr. Obama's pledge for transparency in government.
"We understand that the attorney general has instructed his department to ignore these subpoenas," Mr. Wolf said. "The nation's chief law enforcement officer is forcing these career attorneys to choose between complying with the law and complying with the attorney general's obstruction. At least one of the attorneys has been compelled to obtain private counsel."
Mr. Wolf has written the attorney general six times seeking answers as to why the Justice Department (DOJ) dismissed a voter intimidation case in Philadelphia involving members of the New Black Panther Party. He also has written DOJ's inspector general seeking answers.
He has yet to receive a response from him.
The CRC has had a similar experience. They subsequently issued the aforementioned subpoenas for the information and to interview the career attorneys that handled the case.
Because of this, Mr. Wolf introduced a measure December 17 that would require the House Judiciary Committee to deal with this issue. He also announced that he had language inserted in the annual spending bill that funds the Justice Department requiring that its Office of Professional Responsibility provide the results of the investigation it is conducting surrounding the dismissal the case to the House Appropriations Committee.
Mr. Wolf, the top Republican on the Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations subcommittee, and Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, requested the investigation earlier this year.
"I regret that Congress must resort to oversight resolutions as a means to receive information about the dismissal of this case, but the Congress and the American people have a right to know why this case was not prosecuted," Mr. Wolf said in a statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[13 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Maybe DOJ could enlist the assistance of former FBI Director William Webster. Webster could look into the Black Panther issue along with his detailed internal investigation of the FBI's handling of the Hasan case at Fort Hood. I am certain Webster, given time, could arrive at FBI, DOJ, and Obama Administration face-saving, politically correct outcomes for both. The attitudes, perceptions, and votes of the Black Panthers as well as the Mooslim community are at risk here. This stuff is important!
#2
Eric Holder needs to step in front of a moving semi speeding down the Beltway - three or four times. This man has to be the most corrupt DOJ we've ever had.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/20/2009 16:00
Comments ||
Top||
#3
I dunno. Compare with John Mitchell.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
12/20/2009 20:11
Comments ||
Top||
Al Gore's claim last week that the Climategate emails were insignificant relied on two main defences. Both are so flagrantly wrong that it's not enough to say Gore is simply mistaken.
No, Al Gore is a liar.
Last week we showed that the first of his Climategate defences was so preposterously wrong that it was doubtful he had even read the leaked emails he tried to dismiss. You see, five times in two interviews he dismissed the emails as dated documents that were at least 10 years old:
I haven't read all the e-mails, but the most recent one is more than 10 years old.
In fact, most of the controversial emails, as I showed, were from just the past two years - and the most recent from just last month - November 12, to be precise.
So Gore was so wrong on the first count that it was difficult to think of any way an honest man could have made such a mistake. Five times.
But now Steve McIntyre has exploded the second argument Gore made. And now all doubt in my mind is gone. Gore must have simply lied.
Gore's second argument was that these emails which seemingly showed Climategate scientists trying to silence or sack sceptical scientists were taken out of context, since the two sceptical papers they referred to were in fact published, after all.
Here is the relevant passage in his interview with Slate:
Q: There is a sense in these e-mails, though, that data was hidden and hoarded, which is the opposite of the case you make [in your book] about having an open and fair debate.
A: I think it's been taken wildly out of context. The discussion you're referring to was about two papers that two of these scientists felt shouldn't be accepted as part of the IPCC report. Both of them, in fact, were included, referenced, and discussed. So an e-mail exchange more than 10 years ago including somebody's opinion that a particular study isn't any good is one thing, but the fact that the study ended up being included and discussed anyway is a more powerful comment on what the result of the scientific process really is.
That is actually false.
But before I go to McIntyre's evidence on this, first note Gore's rhetorical trick - or deceit.
His trick is to ignore the mountain of emails that clearly suggest a collusion against sceptics, and the hiding of data, and to suggest instead that the allegations boil down to just a single email about a single instance of two Climategate scientists allegedly blocking two papers.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#3
#2 LOL. Indeed. Pinocchio! "This time Al Gore Lied." No, not just this time--constantly. He is an inveterate liar. It is a feature not a happenstance.
Posted by: JohnQC 2009-12-20 11:23
Of course he lied. He fit(s) right in with almost all politicians, especially the Clintons and Obamas.
Not that this will come as any great shock, but Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), the lone Democrat holdout against the current iteration of healthcare reform, announced Saturday he will vote for the bill.
Also unsurprising: much like Mary "Louisiana Purchase" Landrieu (D-La.) before him, Nelson sold his vote and his very soul for some financial benefits to his state.
As Politico reported moments ago:
Sen. Mary Landrieu got the "Louisiana Purchase." Sen. Ben Nelson got the federal government to pick up most his state's future Medicaid tab -- forever.
As part of the deal to win Nelson's support, the federal government will fund Nebraska's new Medicaid recipients. It's a provision worth about $45 million over the first decade. [...]
Medicaid is usually paid for with a mix of federal and state funding, but Nelson's carve out means that any Medicaid beneficiaries who join the program after the bill passes will be funded by the federal government.
It's a sweet deal considering that many governors are worried that the Medicaid expansion will further strain already stressed state budgets.
Great. So states with fiscal problems of their own get their budgets squeezed as a result of this bill, but the man that history will show cast the deciding vote gets his state off the hook!
Amazing!
Beyond this, tax dollars went to bribe two key Democrats so that a bill will be passed that will raise our taxes further!
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
This is the email I just sent to Nelson, my senator (spit):
Damn you Ben Nelson.
Damn you to the 9th circle of hell reserved for traitors and betrayers.
You sold out Nebraskans and all the American people for a mess of medicaid pottage.
You think voting for health control is OK because you were promised lighter weight chains for Nebraska?
#9
Steve, Nebraska's rural population will be hit very hard by hospital and nursing home closings that exist only because of Medicare. Living in rural Kansas has its blessings, but health care is not one of them especially for the elderly which compose about 70% of the population. I find it disgusting that rural Neb. will continue to keep their facilities while we will loose ours.
#10
violates constitutional guarantee of equal protection clause (not that any of these weasels care). What a joke. Vote them all. Better yet, over throw them and start all over.
[Asharq al-Aswat] A military strike on Al Qaeda's network in Yemen killed the deputy commander of the terrorist network's cell in Abyan province, the Yemeni government said. Embassy spokesman Mohammed Albasha identified the dead man as Mohammed Al Kazimi, but said suspected Al Qaeda leader Qasim al-Raymi, the intended target of this week's raid, escaped.
Al-Raymi is one of 23 militants who broke out of a prison in San'a in February 2006 and is at large. Yemeni authorities have said they believe he was involved in the July 2007 suicide bombing that killed eight Spanish tourists and two Yemenis visiting a temple in central Yemen.
Christopher Boucek, a Yemen expert at the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said al-Raymi is deputy commander of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and has managed to escape several previous attempts by authorities to get him.
The U.S. provided firepower and other aid to Yemen for the strike this week against suspected Al Qaeda hide-outs and training sites within its borders, according to a New York Times report.
President Barack Obama approved the military and intelligence support, which came at the request of the Yemeni government. It was intended to help stem growing attacks against American and other foreign targets in Yemen, the newspaper said.
Albasha denied the U.S. launched missiles in the attack. Officials said at least 34 militants were killed in the Yemeni strike on Thursday in what was an unusually heavy assault as the Obama administration presses the unstable country for tougher action against Al Qaeda.
Witnesses put the number killed at over 60 and said the dead were mostly civilians, including women and children. They denied the target was an Al Qaeda stronghold, and one provincial official said only 10 militant suspects died. The United States has called on Yemen to take stronger action against Al Qaeda, whose fighters have increasingly found refuge in the country in the past year. Worries over the terrorist group's growing presence are compounded by fears that Yemen could collapse into turmoil from its multiple conflicts and increasing poverty and become another Afghanistan, giving the militants even freer rein.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[22 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Yemen
Iran rejects reports that its forces have taken over an oil well within Iraqi borders, while a Baghdad official admits the site is in a disputed border area.
In a Saturday phone interview with Press TV, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman described reports about the country taking over an Iraqi oil well as an attempt to harm the close relations between Tehran and Baghdad.
"Some media outlets are using incorrect vocabulary in these reports. This choice of words is not in keeping with Iran-Iraq ties," Ramin Mehmanparast told Press TV.
"Such propaganda is an attempt to harm our close ties with Iraq. Naturally these efforts are part on an agenda that is being followed by some countries which are unhappy about our friendly relations," he explained.
In a separate statement, Mehmanparast said that the two countries have always settled their border disputes through diplomatic means and within the frameworks of the 1975 Algiers Accord, which has clear instructions for times like these.
"Under circumstances where border signs undergo changes as a result of natural disasters or in the aftermath of the 8-year [former Iraqi dictator] Saddam [Hussein]-imposed war against Iran, an Iranian-Iraqi commission will convene to discuss and resolve the issue," read the Saturday statement, citing the Algiers Accord.
Mehmanparast further added that the Iranian Foreign Ministry has already expressed its readiness to convene the commission and is waiting a response from the Iraqi side.
The spokesman's comments came after the Iraqi Deputy Foreign Minister, Mohammed Haj Aziz, claimed that Iranian troops had seized an oil well in the Fakkeh border region on Thursday night.
Prominent Iranian figures including parliamentarian Alaeddin Boroujerdi had already rejected the Iraqi claim, saying that Iranian forces had by no means violated the Iraqi border.
"I strongly reject the claim that Iran has taken over an Iraqi oil well," Boroujerdi said.
He added that the matter was being dealt with through diplomatic channels, while stressing that it would by no means impact the two sides' relations.
Iran's Ambassador to Iraq Hassan Kazemi-Qomi has also described the reports as a futile campaign to harm Tehran-Baghdad ties.
Meanwhile, Iraq's Deputy Interior Minister Ahmed Ali al-Khafaji confirmed that there has been no actual takeover.
"This news is not true. This field is disputed and now it is neglected by both sides. There was no storming of the field, it's empty, it's abandoned, it is exactly on the border between Iraq and Iran," he was quoted by Reuters as saying.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[12 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > IRAQ OFFICIALLY DEMANDS WITHDRAWAL OF IRANIAN TROOPS FROM OIL WELL; + IRANIAN TROOPS MAKE PARTIAL WITHDRAWAL FROM DISPUTED OIL WELL.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Police officers involved in fatal violence at Tehran's infamous Kahrizak facility have been charged with murder, Iran's armed forces say.
A statement from the Judicial Organization for the Armed Forces on Saturday announced that according to forensic information three of the 168 people detained during the country's post-election violence, six months ago, were killed while being held at the Tehran facility.
The three identified as Mohsen Rouholamini, Amir Javadifar and Mohammad Kamrani died from injuries sustained during repeated beatings in the detention center, the statement read.
The Judicial Organization report further dismissed earlier accounts that the three had died of meningitis.
Of the 22 officers under investigation in connection with the Kahrizak case, 12 were charged with murder first degree over "direct involvement in the beatings that led to the deaths."
Tehran's military prosecutor has requested that three of the defendants be sentenced for three counts of premeditated first-degree murder.
The statement added that the date for the Kahrizak trial would soon be announced.
Kahrizak was declared as a 'sub-standard' facility in August, after grim revelations about the state of detention of the inmates.
Consequently, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei ordered the immediate closure of the detention center.
The Leader also called for a probe into the complaints lodged by the detainee, who alleged that they were subjected to harsh interrogation techniques during their time in Kahrizak.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/20/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[16 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The Lockerbie bomber had £1.8m in a Swiss bank account when he was convicted eight years ago, it has been revealed. The Crown Office, Scotland's equivalent of the Crown Prosecution Service, has confirmed it refused to grant bail to Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi as recently as November last year because of concerns he might try to gain access to the money. 
At a retirement party last week for the head of the FBI's Washington field office, Muslim and Arab leaders presented the guest of honor with a crystal plaque. It thanked Joseph Persichini Jr. for reaching out to the local Muslim and Arab communities. Yet even as the tribute on Capitol Hill went on, his agents had a different mission. They were flying to Pakistan to interrogate five Washington area Muslim men arrested in a terrorism probe. The outcome of that investigation threatens to undermine the very relationships their boss tried to foster. 
[Iran Press TV Latest] Houthi fighters say Saudi warplanes have fired some 1,011 missiles on the borderline with Yemen where the Shia population is already under heavy state-led and US-aided bombardment. 
A decision to ordain actively gay clergy has caused deep fissures in the nation's largest Lutheran church group, with some traditional Lutherans saying they have been subjected to threats and retaliation as they consider breaking away. 
Harry Reid has released the manager's amendment that Ben Nelson has reportedly agreed to vote for, meaning that the Senate bill has 60 votes. The abortion language includes the phony segregation of funding language that was rejected in the House. It would allow individual states to opt out of the abortion-funding program--in other words, the default position is to pay for abortions; states would have to pass legislation to not fund abortions. But states where public abortion-funding is mandated by state court rulings would be required to pay for abortions: 
The race for a Pennsylvania seat in the U.S. Senate in 2010 couldn't get any tighter, according to a poll of state voters released this morning.
Two Iraqi policemen have been killed in the latest string of terrorist attacks to hit the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. 
[Iran Press TV Latest] The chief editor of a local newspaper in the northwestern Turkish city of Bandirma has been shot dead after death threats were made against him over his coverage of a corruption scandal. 
A key House investigating body has dropped its probe of Rep. John Murtha (D., Pa.) and two other members of the House's defense-spending committee, according to people familiar with the matter.
Al Gore's claim last week that the Climategate emails were insignificant relied on two main defences. Both are so flagrantly wrong that it's not enough to say Gore is simply mistaken. 
Not that this will come as any great shock, but Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), the lone Democrat holdout against the current iteration of healthcare reform, announced Saturday he will vote for the bill.
[Asharq al-Aswat] A military strike on Al Qaeda's network in Yemen killed the deputy commander of the terrorist network's cell in Abyan province, the Yemeni government said. Embassy spokesman Mohammed Albasha identified the dead man as Mohammed Al Kazimi, but said suspected Al Qaeda leader Qasim al-Raymi, the intended target of this week's raid, escaped.
