Authorities said alleged killer Felix D. Rodriguez was disarmed by the victim during a fight inside a Charlton Street basement, but returned the knife to Mr. Rodriguez after he refused to leave without the weapon.
The victim returned the knife to Rodriguez, who then immediately stabbed the victim in the chest with said knife, Detective Sgt. Mark J. Sawyer wrote in an arrest warrant for Mr. Rodriguez issued today in Central District Court.
The victim, identified in court records as 25-year-old Leslie Jones, was found by police about 7:20 last night in the driveway of 25 Charlton St. He had a single stab wound to the upper left chest. Mr. Jones was only in boxer shorts when police found him.
Mr. Jones was taken to UMass Memorial Medical Center University Campus, where he was pronounced dead at 8:10 p.m.
According to Sgt. Sawyer's statement of facts on file in Central District Court, Mr. Jones and two others were inside the basement at 25 Charlton St. when an argument occurred.
The argument was over a woman, the sergeant wrote.
Rodriguez pulled a folding knife and threatened the victim, at which time the victim was able to disarm Rodriguez, Sgt. Sawyer wrote. Rodriguez was ordered to leave the premises and agreed to do so only upon return of his knife.
Mr. Jones gave Mr. Rodriguez the knife back. That's when police allege Mr. Rodriguez dealt the fatal thrust.
Mr. Rodriguez then ran off.
Mr. Rodriguez was described in detail by a male and female witness, police said.
The male witness then positively identified the above named Felix Rodriguez from a photo array presented by Worcester Detectives, Sgt. Sawyer wrote.
Police located the 51-year-old about 10:30 this morning, according to police spokesman Sgt. Kerry F. Hazelhurst. Detective Chris Murphy made the arrest. This morning, a description of the suspect was transmitted to area police departments. Police said the man was armed.
He had a last known address of Howard Street in Lawrence. He is a suspect in other cases, including one in which a warrant was issued for assault and battery of a child under 14.
Through its partnership with the Iraqi military, coalition forces have made progress in marginalizing many of the most egregious practices of the old regime. Brutal interrogation methods are no longer the norm, and blatant bribery has at least been stigmatized to the point where it takes place behind closed doors. But despite the best efforts of advisor teams and training initiatives, many of the same problems continue to plague the Iraqi Army (IA) senior leadership: a lack of detailed planning, an inability to trust and encourage initiative in subordinates, and a high level of corruption at the expense of the enlisted soldiers.
Despite being in the "new army," Iraqi generals and field grade officers have still spent a majority of their careers in the "old army." Not surprisingly then, the Saddam-era tendencies manifest themselves most prominently amongst these officers, who view themselves as benevolent Bedouin sheiks, graciously bestowing patronage on their tribesmen (their troops) and competing for prestige amongst the other prominent tribal leaders (other officers).
While they pay lip service to the idea of serving their country and their fellow Iraqis, their actions reveal that they have very little genuine concern for anyone other than themselves. In short, it seems that their reasons for being in the IA are simply the paycheck and the social prestige accompanying their rank and position. We therefore need to shift our advisory efforts away from these incorrigible senior officers and focus instead on the still malleable company grade officers. Otherwise, the poisonous, old-order mentality will inevitably seep into the minds of these young officers still learning what it means to be leaders and soldiers.
As an advisor to an IA colonel over the past 10 months, my experiences have strongly spoken to these points. My counterpart constantly insists on offering me tea, food, and gifts as a way of demonstrating his great generosity. I find that I am always the one initiating any kind of work-related conversation, and whenever I do, he seems forlorn that I have ruined our social time together by injecting such a depressing subject. Despite my title of advisor, my counterpart has curiously never once asked for my advice.
When he fails to produce a convenient excuse to avoid acting on one of my recommendations, he simply ignores it. Although his performance has been tolerable, or "Iraqi good enough," he is far from what I would objectively describe as professionally competent, hard working, or even honest. He sleeps for the better part of each afternoon, so I have made it a habit to not bother visiting him then. Whenever I do visit, I rarely find him engaged in anything work related but rather socializing with other officers or watching television.
To be sure, my counterpart maintains his appearance as a staff officer by attending required meetings and doing what few tasks the division commanding general assigns him. As long as he fulfills these minimal requirements, he will continue to enjoy the benefits of his position, to include a well-furnished, air-conditioned office; his own air-conditioned living quarters with satellite television; his own shower and toilet; three soldiers who act as his personal servants by attending to his every need; and 7 days of paid vacation per month. With so few real responsibilities and so many benefits, what incentive does he have to heed my recommendations? Despite the fact that I enjoy a very amiable relationship with my counterpart, he and I both know that he does not have to listen to my suggestions, so he ignores them.
The difference in rank between my counterpart and me can only minimally account for this problem. I have watched officers of similar rank to their counterparts encounter the same obstacles. Some advisors may disagree with this analysis based on their successes with their Iraqi counterparts. I will concede that, as mentioned above, advisors have successfully reduced or marginalized the most blatant fraud, waste, and abuse of the IA senior leadership. But regardless of rank, no advisor will be able to alter the fundamental mindset of an Iraqi senior officer: what's in it for me?
Conversely, consider the IA's company grade officers, who have spent most of their careers in the new army. Unlike the Iraqi senior officers, whose attitudes toward the advice of their advisors ranges between indifference and annoyance, the Iraqi junior officers are still openminded and eager for instruction. Outside influences have acted upon these officers early enough in their lives to broaden their perspectives. They do not necessarily accept the defeatist worldview of the older generation--life is not necessarily a zero-sum game, individuals can effect change in their lives, there is reward in sacrificing for a larger purpose. While still proud of their Arab heritage, they are nonetheless more willing to shun the aspects of their culture that prove to impede progress of their nation. In general, they are more punctual. They are more willing to admit when they are wrong or when they do not know how to do something. Like their senior officers, they are very hospitable. I am always offered tea and food when I am the guest of a junior officer. But when the time comes to discuss business, I have found that they devote their attention entirely to the matter at hand. My experience with one Iraqi first lieutenant exemplifies the remarkably more receptive and openminded attitude of Iraqi junior officers.
When I approached this lieutenant about conducting intelligence training with some of his soldiers, he was more than interested; he was enthusiastic. On the first day of training, he had his soldiers seated in the classroom 15 minutes early, note-taking materials out and ready to receive instruction. The 13 soldiers he brought with him were attentive throughout the class, asked questions, and were actively engaged in the training. Toward the end of the training, I conducted a practical application exercise with the class on questioning techniques in which I acted as a "source" and the Iraqi soldiers asked questions. When a soldier would ask poor questions, I would stop the exercise, providing constructive criticism so that the rest of the class could learn from his mistakes. Unlike what would happen if an advisor ever constructively criticized a field grade officer in front of others, these soldiers did not get their feelings hurt or feel like I was making a personal attack on them. The class' professional atmosphere--as set by the Iraqis themselves--prevented such pettiness and was a direct reflection of the lieutenant's composed demeanor. At the end of the day, the lieutenant's reward for his efforts was his fly-infested living quarters, shared with another lieutenant. The stench that surrounded his crowded living area from the combination of rotting food, standing water, and burning trash was nauseating. And yet, despite having no running water, intermittent electricity, and only a small fan for relief from the stifling heat, the lieutenant was as gracious a host as any Iraqi colonel or general.
With these factors in mind, why then is the brigade level and above the focus of our advisory effort in Iraq? What motivation to change are we giving the senior officers of today's IA, comfortable in their ornate offices and entrenched in the top-down, centralized system of the old regime? Life is good for the average senior Iraqi officer, and he has no intention of risking all that he has attained for the sake of such lofty ideals as service to country. Unfortunately, I fear that no amount of advising will ever change this mindset. Thus, instead of doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, our partnership with the IA should move forward with a new direction and purpose. The future of the IA and, consequentially, the future of American strategic interests in Iraq, lie in the next generation of senior officers, or those currently serving as company grade officers. Unlike their alleged "leaders," Iraqi junior officers are willing to receive criticism constructively, allowing advisors to offer honest recommendations without the fear of transgressing upon the Arab cultural norms designed to protect egos. Unfortunately, they receive hardly any attention from our advisor teams. Thus the primary influences on Iraqi company grade officers are the corrupt and incompetent field grade and general officers above them. As long as this continues to be the case, these junior officers will learn from the example of their predecessors and adapt their practices. In 20 years the result will be an IA with the same type of leaders and the same problems of today. To a degree, the old army mentality has already begun to permeate the junior officer ranks as an inevitable result of the example set by their leaders. Influencing Iraqi junior officers today so they are better senior officers tomorrow will be a critical step toward preventing this outcome.
Singer Amy Winehouse was charged Wednesday in connection with an assault at a theatre after disrupting a Christmas pantomime, police said.
Thames Valley Police charged the 26-year-old with common assault and a public order offence following an incident at Milton Keynes Theatre on Saturday.
Winehouse is alleged to have attacked a theatre manager after disrupting a performance of "Cinderella", which stars US actor Mickey Rooney.
The singer was arrested after she voluntarily attended the police station in Milton Keynes, southern England.
Winehouse was freed and is due to appear at Milton Keynes Magistrates' Court on January 20.
Winehouse rocketed to fame after winning five Grammy awards off the back of her 2006 second album "Back to Black" and the hit single "Rehab", but has since been engaged in a well-documented struggle with drugs.
Consider the energy it takes to send a .50 cal bullet 1000 yards downrange. Consider the energy dissipated in flight, then the energy absorbed by the target plate. And there's supposed to be enough energy left over to come 1000 yards back, hit the dirt, fly up and put a good-sized nick in his earpiece?
I don't buy it. Somewhere here with much more education and experience in ballistics please educate me why I should.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/23/2009 18:03
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#7
It's not ballistics, Doc, it's physics.
But you got it right.
Posted by: Bobby at the Kids Place in Texas ||
12/23/2009 18:12
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#8
looks like Mr. Bobby is tapping the wi-fi at an Odessa Chuck-E-Cheese? Or perhaps I have that wrong :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/23/2009 18:19
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#9
Here is what the vid creator says: 6-27-07: BOOM HEADSHOT! This is amazing. Willie, the father of Tina, who made the sandbag rests fires a .50BMG, an Armalite AR-50 and it ricochets off of a steel plate that it should have easily penetrated. The bullet comes straight back and hits him in the head. You can see it hit the dirt about 15 feet in front on him before it clobbers him. Luckily he was uninjured. He's a bit sore today, but otherwise fine. Lucky lucky bastard. He has been advised to buy lottery tickets while he still has so much luck. I don't know about the timing, but you can hear the hit on the steel plate. Time that till the impact on Willie's head... how fast is that 750 grain slug traveling? The range is 100 yards. Amazing.
Damn lucky the bullet/frag hit his ear protector and not the forehead.
Posted by: ed ||
12/23/2009 19:13
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By Michael Crowley
The US Embassy in Islamabad is a tense and embattled place. The embassy complex is fortress-like, sequestered in a secure area to the east of the city known as the "diplomatic enclave," whose approaches are guarded by multiple security checkpoints. The compound's outer perimeter is festooned with barbed wire and towering walls. Arriving vehicles are stopped for bomb-checks, sealed into a quarantined area with high walls on either side and heavy iron doors at front and back. Embassy visitors are required to wear visible badges at all times--and they are checked frequently.
This is understandable in a city where anti-Americanism is on the rise, despite Congress's recent pledge of $7.5 billion in U.S. aid to Pakistan. (Indeed, that aid package, bizarrely enough, is part of the problem.) I heard one American (who does not work at the embassy) say that if he ever had a car accident in Islamabad, he would flee the scene if possible; the risks of being an American at in a place where a racuous crowd would inevitably gather are just too great. And when the entourage of staff and reporters traveling with Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Mike Mullen arrived at a Pakistani Air Force base on Wednesday evening, we were subjected to a nearly hourlong delay, as every one of our bags was passed through an x-ray bomb detector for reasons that seemed more about harassment than security. (Who ever heard of screening the bags of people getting off the plane?)
At the heart of this problem is the anti-Americanism and conspiracy-mongering of Pakistan's media, which I saw first-hand when I read through a large stack of local papers at the embassy. So I was glad to find on my return to Washington this week that the latest print issue of TNR features a really top-notch article by Nicholas Schmindle about Shireen Mazari, a Pakistani journalist who's been dubbed "the Anne Coulter of Pakistan," and who has been responsible for countless stories like the one that recently speculated about whether a Wall Street Journal reporter in the country is actually a CIA spy, potentially endangering his life. When I was Islamabad, one newspaper (I believe it was Mazari's The Nation, which is generally the worst offender) ran a story which included the wacko claim, attributed to Seymour Hersh, that a "death squad" backed by Dick Cheney was behind the 2007 assassination of Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto as well as the 2005 murder of Lebanese prime minister Raffik Hariri. (It seems this nutty rumor has been floating around since at least May, even though Hersh himself has publicly denied saying such a thing) In Islamabad, American officials told us about another story that identified--complete with photograph--a building in the city purportedly housing workers for the security contractor Xe (nee Blackwater). In fact, the building was home to Western aid workers--at least until they fled to safer environs that same day.
Stories like this fan the rising flames of anti-Americanism in Islamabad. A reporter traveling with me had hoped to meet a colleague at a coffee shop in central Islamabad, until embassy workers warned him that the shop was known to be under surveillance by people who might like to kidnap a Westerner. One embassy official told me that he enjoys dining out at Islamabad's restaurants--but when pressed admitted that he never lingers for coffee and dessert. "You try to be out within an hour," he said. (The same goes for activities like grocery shopping.) The Pakistani media surely also contributes to the growing harassment of U.S. embassy officials, who are finding their visas inexplicably denied and their vehicles pointlessly searched at security checkpoints around the city. So it's understandable that the vibe within the embassy compound--a deceptively bucolic place of walking paths and tennis courts that seems more college campus than embattled diplomatic outpost--feels so tense. After all, even behind the barricades and razor wire safety is not guaranteed. We all remember the 1979 storming of the U.S. embassy in Tehran. But less remembered is the way an angry mob overran and torched our embassy in Islamabad that same year. One U.S. Marine was killed, and it was a miracle that dozens more American lives weren't lost. (As Steve Coll recounts in his masterful book Ghost Wars, the Pakistani government barely lifted a finger to help.)
The cause of that deadly riot? False Pakistani media reports that the U.S. had orchestrated an attack on Mecca. Lies have consequences--sometimes deadly ones.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/23/2009
12:29 ||
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#1
tnr contributed to the anti Bush attitude the aided the anti american paranoia but now that their guy is in the white house it suddenly bothers them
note also the gratuitous comment about ann coulter. I am unaware of any conspiracies she has pushed.
My father subscribed to tnr for 20 years. When he died, my mom kept the subscription for another 9 years. I dropped it.
Posted by: lord garth ||
12/23/2009 16:09
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DUBAI Six of Osama bin Laden's children and one of his wives, missing since the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, are under house arrest in Iran, newspapers reported on Wednesday, quoting a family member. "Until a month ago we did not know where the siblings were," Omar bin Laden, 29, the fourth son of the Al-Qaeda chief, told the Saudi-owned newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat.
Omar bin Laden, who lives in Qatar, said he only learnt his family members were still alive after receiving a call last month from his brother Uthman, who had been lent a mobile phone by a young Iranian. Saad, 29, Uthman, 25, Fatima, 22, Hamza, 20, and Bakr, 15, along with Hamza's mother Khairiya are under house arrest in Tehran, Omar said, while a sixth sibling, Iman, 17, recently sought asylum at the Saudi embassy in Tehran.
Omar's brother Saad was rumoured to have been killed in a US drone strike 18 months ago in Pakistan. British newspaper The Times reported 11 of bin Laden's grandchildren were also living in the high-security compound outside Tehran.
The group fled Afghanistan just before the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States and walked to the Iranian border, where they were detained and taken to the walled compound by guards, the Times said. "The Iranian government did not know what to do with this large group of people whom nobody else wanted, so they just kept them safe. For that we owe them much gratitude," Omar said. Protective custody, so to speak. Weighing heavy to the custody side.
His relatives are said to be living as normal a life as possible, cooking meals, watching television and reading, but they are allowed out on shopping trips only rarely.
The Times said Iman escaped from the compound during one such trip last month and fled to the Saudi embassy. "Iman has lived for more than 25 days inside the Saudi embassy," Omar said.
Fuad Qassas, the Saudi charge d'affairs at the kingdom's embassy in Tehran, confirmed Iman was staying there, according to Asharq Al-Awsat, which said she has been seeking permission to leave Iran, so far without success.
Omar said five of his father's other children are currently in Saudi Arabia, while three, along with his mother Najwa, are in Syria. He hopes the family in Iran will be granted permission to leave. "We just want to be together as a family. I have now got 11 nieces and nephews, born either in Afghanistan or Iran that I have never seen. Some people may find this story unnerving, but the child can't be judged by the sins of their father," the Times quoted him as saying. True, but we don't have to care either
Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast did not deny that six members of the bin Laden family were in Tehran, at a weekly press conference on Tuesday. Likely not worth much as hostages, but it doesn't cost much to hang on to them either.
Osama bin Laden, now in his 50s and rumoured to be in poor health, is the world's most-wanted man with 25 million dollars on his head. He is thought to be feeding worms hiding out in mountains on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
#2
Please someone tell me what Barry will do when it is discovered the bin Laden residing comfortably and running his entire network from an Iranian safehaven?
The top U.S. commander in Iraq, Major General Anthony Cucolo passed a new policy which may mean time in the brig for soldiers, airmen, and Marines who become pregnant while on active duty in a combat zone. This issue presents so many moral, tactical, and ethical problems I cant possibly cover them all.
There is the issue of personal freedom, the issue of husband and wife deployed together, the issue of rape, the issue of accidental pregnancy
Where do we draw the line? Lets talk about the nature of military service...
#2
we sent a couple females home from our last deployment for this. In the cases where the father was i.d.'d both were taken to NJP. We obviously kept the men in country. So, we sent home about 3-4 Marines and other Marines had to pick up their work or we sent a few Marines from CONUS to pick it up.
This will always be an issue until we get serious and less PC about so called rights in the military. I don't know of any commander who has or would court martial anyone over a pregnancy. Politically a hot tamale. That being said, I don't disagree w/offering the 5 yr birth control plan to females after bootcamp. Yes, I know condoms are better because of their ability to stop some STDs.
#4
I went a couple of rounds with this yesterday on Open Salon, trying to put across a couple of points - such as, yes, this is somewhat of a problem. There are women who deliberately become pregnant to get out of a TDY, etc - and the fact that they have done so is greatly resented.
Of course, some of the nimrods at OS were hyperventilating about birth control, morning after pills, etc not being available (one particular numbskull insisted that this was a policy of the Bush Administration) and that military women were in constant danger of being raped by male servicemen. To hear them tell hyperventilate, one would think they actually gave a damn about military women, and weren't just seizing on another bloody shirt to wave at the DOD.
Sigh ... I hate it when people who don't know the first thing about the military, or even any for-real military people, get up on a soap-box...
#5
Getting pregnant is optional, even IF raped. This is simply one of two things:
1.) People lacking good sense & self-control, as their actions have the possibility of harming their mission & unit. These (both parties) should therefore be courts-martialed for dereliction of duty as the military doesn't pay troops to be screwing each other
2.) People who don't want to do their job & intentionally become pregnant & who should be courts-martialed for dereliction of duty
In either case, it is a failure of the inDUHvidual to do the right thing in the position and duty they swore an oath to uphold and/or perform.
Let's not let anything we say in this thread be construed as to be indifferent to or tolerant of rape. 'K?
#7
Agree with Besoeker- not this again. Soldiers will screw. Give the females intrauterine contraception or the shot and save taxpayers 250k in wasted money for soldiers training. Court Martials cost lots too so an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Done.
#9
dzzrtrock, you obviously have never heard of certain religious traditions (including mine) that object to a woman getting an abortion even if she was raped.
Thankfully we do not live in a barbaric society that REQUIRES abortion (a la the Chinese), and I hope that our armed forces would never ever demand such a thing, regardless of the circumstances.
#10
P2K, thanks for the .pdf from the last thread. It did explicitly cover how pregnancy was handled for pregnant Woman Marines;
It is believed that pregnancy and motherhood ipso facto interfere with military duties...Granting of maternity leave would result in having ineffectives; replacements could not be procured while the woman remained on the active list; and the mother of a small child would not be readily available for reassignment. Necessary rotation of duty assignments would require the family unit to be broken up for considerable periods of time, or at least until the husband made the necessary provisions to establish the home at the mother's new duty station...It is believed that a woman who is pregnant or a mother should not be a member of the armed forces and should devote herself to the responsibilities which she had assumed, remaining with her husband and child as a family unit.
This sort of reasoning, typical of the times, formed the basis for Marine Corps regulations on the subject until 1970. The rules were very strictly enforced and any responsibility for children forced the separation of a woman Marine from the service.
As a male chauvanist pig, I can relate much better to that sort of reasoning. If only we had as much respect for children today.
#12
Right Chunky, the question is how to square that vision with real life here on this planet where humans are the top of the food chain, dont always do what they are told, even soldiers, and upwards of 75% have working plumbing. Short Answer: depo provera.
The five U.S. nationals detained recently by the Pakistani security forces have said that they do not regret planning attacks in connection with jihad against the U.S. forces in Afghanistan, according to a Pashtu-language newspaper.
The five American nationals were recently arrested in the town of Sargodha in Pakistans Punjab province.
Martyrdom is our aim. We will get martyrdom if we are hanged [executed], Usman Anwar, a police investigative officer, quoted the detained U.S. nationals as saying, according to a report in the Pashtu-language newspaper Wrazpanra Wahdat.
Ramy Zamzam, one of the detained U.S. nationals, told interrogators that they had planned to obtain martyrdom but we did not succeed, adding that they do not regret organizing their plan for jihad.
The five Americans, including three of Pakistani origin, one of Egyptian descent and the other of Yemeni origin, were arrested by Pakistan security forces in Sargodha on December 9.
#2
But hanging, done improperly and filmed, can be a great deterrent. Little too much weight on the feet and the head goes . . . POP! Just like the weasels they are.
Posted by: Jame Retief ||
12/23/2009 13:13
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#3
How about if we sew you up in a pig-skin and bury you alive?
#4
Cut their Achilles tendons, tie their hands behind their backs, a noose around their necks, and toss 'em behind a slow garbage scow on its way from Karachi to Mogadishu. Any survivors can be freed.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/23/2009 17:39
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Little too much weight on the feet and the head goes ...
As someone on the Burg noted a long time back, the drop table is expressed in feet, not meters ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/23/2009 18:07
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A man who encouraged his teenage son to marry and rape his 12-year-old cousin has been jailed. The 54-year-old organised a sham Muslim ceremony between his son, then 16, and the girl at his home in Woolwich, south-east London, in March last year.
At Wood Green Crown Court the boy got an 18-month supervision order for rape. 18 years would have been proper. 18 months? He'll be out in time to rape more cousins ...
The fathers of the boy and girl were both jailed for three years for inciting a child to engage in sexual activity following an illegal marriage.
The boy's mother, 54, was given a 12-month jail term, suspended for two years, for the same offence. She was also ordered to do 200 hours of community service.
The case came to light when the mother of the girl, who objected to the arranged "marriage", told police about it. Scotland Yard child abuse detectives then discovered several relatives of the boy had urged him to rape his cousin.
In a statement, the girl's mother said: "What happened to my daughter was a nightmare. These convictions will help us move on."
Speaking after the case, Det Insp Noel McHugh, who led the investigation, called it a "really awful crime".
He said: "This has been an exceptionally challenging investigation and we are grateful to all those who assisted with the case and ensured the convictions. The offences are incomprehensible and the victim is a truly brave girl who suffered at the hands of those who should have offered her protection."
The girl's father, 29, and the boy, now 17, were ordered to sign the sex offenders register. Neither the victim nor any of the guilty parties can be named for legal reasons.
#3
Sham musim ceremony??. heck, to muhammoud muhammud mohammed, this is an old lady. he married a 6 y/o and was boning her when she was 9. ((what a STUD!!!)
#4
Not West Virginia, Sarge, they have a more .. direct .. way of dealing with rape.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/23/2009 13:07
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According to the article, it was Woolwich, south-east London, Cyber Sarge. And the BBC reported it. Note they also used the word Muslim in the first paragraph. What brought that on, I wonder?
Former US President Jimmy Carter on Monday asked for the Jewish community's forgiveness for any negative stigma he may have caused Israel over the years.
Carter, who is not a popular character in Israel, enraged the American Jewish community's in the past with various statements made in his book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid."
In the book, Carter blamed Israel for impeding the Middle East peace process via settlement construction, further claiming such a policy will lead to apartheid.
The former president also accused Israel of interfering with US efforts to broker peace in the region.
"We must recognize Israels achievements under difficult circumstances, even as we strive in a positive way to help Israel continue to improve its relations with its Arab populations, but we must not permit criticisms for improvement to stigmatize Israel.
"As I would have noted at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but which is appropriate at any time of the year, I offer an Al Het for any words or deeds of mine that may have done so," he said.
"Al Het" refers to the Yom Kippur prayer asking God forgiveness for sins committed.
Head of the Anti-Defamation League Abraham Foxman welcomed Carter's apology, saying it marked the beginning of reconciliation.
#8
What next? Is Halfbright going to NK to apologize for 8 years of GW interrupting the 'reconciliation' she thinks she started?
Apology tour onward. Jimma just wants to get concessions out of Israel so Bama can claim a Triple Crown to justify his NPP: Gave Gitmo prisoners US rights, Gave Taliban um...well, US rights, too...and Gave the Palestinians a State.
I wonder: If Iran ever makes good on its threat, when Israel is wiped out, will Jimma's outrage be at Iran for making Palestine uninhabitable to Palestinians?
NICOSIA -- Iran claims its new solid-fuel ballistic missile can evade radar detection. The Defense Ministry said the Sejil-2 was coated with an unidentified material Hummus?
that could foil detection by long-range radar. A senior official said the coating was one of several elements added to the intermediate-range ballistic missile to prevent radar detection.
U.S. government sources have dismissed the Iranian claim. The sources said the U.S. intelligence community tracked the flight of Sejil-2 from launch without disruption. Quick Ahriman, more Hummus!
"The special paint [coating], the substance used in the shell and some special electronic devices used in the missile are the main three factors that provide a radar-evading capability to the missile," Brig. Gen. Mehdi Farahi, director of the Defense Ministry's Aerospace Organization, said.
In a statement to the semi-official Fars News Agency on Dec. 19, Farahi provided some details of Sejil-2, launched in a test three days earlier. Farahi said Sejil-2, with a reported range of 2,500 kilometers, marked an important element in Iran's deterrence posture.
"The optimized missile is one of the important achievements of the Islamic republic of Iran's defense experts, which plays a significant role in increasing the deterrence power of the Iranian armed forces," Farahi said.
For his part, Farahi said Sejil-2 was designed to penetrate missile defense systems deployed by Israel and the United States. He said the missile was coated with a substance that prevented radar lock-on required for interception.
Sejil-2 was described as a two-stage missile with two engines. Officials said the missile featured a larger range and higher altitude than the liquid-fueled Shihab-3, which could travel about 2,000 kilometers.
"Iran successfully tested the second generation of Sejil missiles and brought them into mass production earlier this year," the Fars News Agency reported. "Sejil missiles are considered third-generation Iranian-made long-range missiles."
#7
I wonder how much sh$$ the Iranian generals would generate if one of our Trident boats came down into that part of the Indian Ocean and fired off four or five missiles - all targeting Iran. I'm sure their plans to "wipe out Israel" and develop home-grown nuclear weapons would suffer a slight setback...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/23/2009 16:48
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"coated with an unidentified material" Silly it the same material that causes global warming: AL GORE
A BRITISH judge said today that men who beat women should be paraded through the streets so the public can pelt them with rotten vegetables.
Judge Esmond Faulks called for the medieval punishment as he jailed a man who attacked his girlfriend so badly she later miscarried their baby.
After seeing photographs of 19-year-old Andrew Harrison's assault on Lisa Dinsdale, 17, he said, "It's a pity a judge cannot order someone like this to have these pictures hung around his neck saying, 'I did this to my girlfriend,' and be paraded down the high street so people can throw rotten vegetables at him."
Harrison admitted assault and was jailed for 18 months at Newcastle Crown Court in northern England.
#1
Meanwhile Barry releases and repatriates these scum individually to restart their terrorism careers and slay more innocent civilians and US soldiers. Welcome to the Chicago work-around.
#1
This opens up all kinds of nasty international doors:
What does this mean? It means that we have an international police force authorized to act within the United States that is no longer subject to 4th Amendment Search and Seizure. The "property and assets of [INTERPOL], wherever located and by whomsoever held, shall be immune from search, unless such immunity be expressly waived, and from confiscation."
INTERPOL, an international criminal police organization, is now poised to reside above the United States Constitution - in a place of sanctity beyond our FBI, CIA, DIA, and all other criminal investigatory domestic organizations.
President Obama has just placed our Constitutional rights under international law.
One of the most lightly and egregious assassination of our citizens rights to date. I do not think people know how serious this really is. Yet...
Italy indicts CIA agents in abduction of terror suspects - Europe - International Herald Tribune
By Ian Fisher
Published: Friday, February 16, 2007
ROME An Italian judge ordered the first trial involving the U.S. program of kidnapping terror suspects on foreign soil, indicting 26 Americans Friday, most of them CIA agents, and also Italy's former top spy.
The indictments concerned the alleged kidnapping of a radical Egyptian cleric, Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, who disappeared near his mosque in Milan on Feb. 17, 2003. The cleric, known as Abu Omar, was freed this week from jail in Egypt, where he says he was taken and then tortured.
Despite the indictment, issued by a judge in Milan, it is unlikely that any of the Americans will ever stand trial here.
All the operatives, including the top two CIA officials in Italy at the time, have left the country. Moreover, Italy has not requested their extradition; if it did, there seems little chance that the Bush administration would agree.
But the indictment nonetheless was a turning point in Europe, where anger is high at the secret American program in which terrorism suspects were whisked away in a process known as "extraordinary rendition" in contravention of the law after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
In the past week, the Swiss government approved an investigation into the flight that is alleged to have carried Nasr from Italy to Germany, over Swiss airspace. The plane reportedly then flew from an American base in Germany to Egypt.
Late last month, a German court issued an arrest warrant for 13 people suspected of involvement in the kidnapping in Macedonia of a German citizen of Lebanese descent. There are also investigations into extraordinary renditions in Portugal and Spain.
Also in the past week, a European parliamentary committee issued a detailed report on what it said were "at least" 1,245 secret CIA flights in Europe, some of them involving extraordinary renditions.
The report
is particularly sensitive because it suggests forcibly that a number of governments knew of the flights.
"We believe there has been either active collusion by several EU governments or turning a blind eye," said a member of the EU Parliament, Sarah Ludford of Britain.
In Italy, the possible complicity of the government of Silvio Berlusconi, who was prime minister at the time of the alleged abduction, is one of the most difficult issues in the case. Among the Italians indicted Friday were Nicolo Pollari, who until earlier this year was Italy's chief of military intelligence, and his former deputy, Marco Mancini.
Pollari has denied responsibility, saying he cannot defend himself because he would need to use evidence that is classified as state secrets. The implication is that officials outranking Pollari, the nation's chief spy, gave approval for the kidnapping.
"We are very disappointed by the decision of the judge, being convinced that the lack of proof and the acquisition of documents covered by secrets of state demonstrates Pollari's innocence," Pollari's lawyer, Tittal Madia, said, according to the Corriere della Sera newspaper.
The case has several complications for Italian politics.
The government of Prime Minister Romano Prodi asked the Constitutional Court in the past week to review whether the prosecutor in Nasr's case, Armando Spataro, had overstepped his bounds by wiretapping the phones of Italian agents.
On Friday, Spataro said in a statement that he was "astonished" by the government's move and that he had followed all the laws in gathering evidence.
Meanwhile, a member of Prodi's government, Antonio Di Pietro, minister of infrastructure and a former corruption prosecutor, criticized the government for not having requested the extradition of the 26 CIA agents.
Prodi's government has not said whether it will make such a request. But the issue looms as a source of conflict between Italy and the United States.
While both American and Italian officials say the relationship between the two countries remains solid, it has been tested in recent months on several fronts. On Saturday, a big demonstration is planned in Vicenza, in northern Italy, where the Americans have asked to enlarge an existing air base, and Italian officials have recently criticized American actions in Iraq, Lebanon and Somalia.
Earlier this month, an Italian court ordered an American soldier to stand trial for the death in Iraq of Nicola Calipari, an Italian secret service agent killed in 2005 while securing the release of a kidnapped Italian journalist. As with the CIA agents, the serviceman is unlikely to be extradited to Italy.
#3
CD, you're reading it wrong. It isn't that Interpol is immune to the 4th Amendment. It's a diplomatic arrangement that prevents us from seizing their assets and information, and it's common, indeed expected, in other diplomatic arrangements.
The Russian embassy, for example, cannot be searched by the FBI. That doesn't mean that the KGB can search Americans in our country.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/23/2009 14:43
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Interpol is not a sovereign country, however. So giving it diplomatic privileges essentially allows it to act without oversight in the US, whatever the surface niceties.
I agree: CIA, military leaders (remember the Brussels threat to arrest Rumsfeld?) and anyone the Euros don't like.
United Nations Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the Specialized Agencies
21 November 1947
...
(ii) The words "specialized agencies" mean:
a) The International Labour Organisation;
(b) The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations;
(c) The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization;
(d) The International Civil Aviation Organization;
(e) The International Monetary Fund;
(f) The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development;
(g) The World Health Organization;
(h) The Universal Postal Union;
(i) The International Telecommunication Union
These all have immunity in all the countries they have facilities in.
The specialized agencies, their property and assets, wherever located and by whomsoever held, shall enjoy immunity from every form of legal process except in so far as in any particular case they have expressly waived their immunity. It is however, understood that no waiver of immunity shall extend to any measure of execution.
[Section 5]
The premises of the specialized agencies shall be inviolable. The property and assets of the specialized agencies, wherever located and by whomsoever held, shall be immune from search, requisition, confiscation, expropriation and any other form of interference, whether by executive, administrative, judicial or legislative action.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/23/2009 19:12
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The magistrate in the Rifqa Bary case ruled today that the 17-year-old who ran away from her Columbus home in July does not have to sit down for mediation with her parents. There were several issues resolved today at the hearing in Franklin County Juvenile Court, including:
Mediation. Magistrate Mary Goodrich said issues now being discussed would best be resolved with individual counseling instead of group mediation.
Third-party messages. Bary's parents don't want her to receive any cards or letters directly, and had filed a motion that any messages first go to Franklin County Children Services. Omar Tarazi, the family's attorney, withdrew that motion today.
Rifqa's mental health. Assistant County Prosecutor Chris Julian said that a counselor was trying to determine whether 17-year-old, whose full name is Fathima Rifqa Bary, has post-traumatic stress disorder.
In July, Rifqa ran away and moved in with two pastors -- a married couple -- in Orlando, Fla., whom she had met on the Internet. Rifqa said her father, Mohamed Bary, had threatened to kill her for leaving Islam -- the family religion -- for Christianity. Authorities in Florida and Ohio could find no credible threat to her safety, and she returned to Franklin County on Oct. 27 and has been living in a foster home.
A case plan that Franklin County Children Services filed recently with the court says the family should try to work out its differences, with the goal of having Rifqa move back in with her parents. But only Children Services signed the plan, which is not binding unless it becomes a court order. The next hearing is set for Jan. 19.
Terrorists Suspected separatists have shot dead a three-year-old girl and left her older sister seriously wounded in the latest violence to hit Thailand's far south. They said an unknown number of gunmen on foot fired shots into the house where the girls were playing on Monday evening in restive Pattani province.
The toddler was shot in the head and died immediately and her six-year-old sister remains in hospital after being shot in the back. No one else was in the house at the time of the incident.
Eight soldiers were also wounded in two separate attacks, police said. They said in Pattani's Kapho district two soldiers were hurt in a clash with militants as they tried to arrest them on suspicion of carrying out an arson attack at a local school early yesterday. The militants escaped the scene.
Shortly afterwards a roadside bomb explosion wounded six soldiers travelling on three motorcycles patrolling the Bannang Sata district of Yala province.
Today, a 37-year-old Muslim man was shot dead in a drive-by shooting in the Yarang district of Pattani province as he returned from taking his children to school.
U.S. banks that spent more money on lobbying were more likely to get government bailout money, according to a study released on Monday.
Banks whose executives served on Federal Reserve boards were more likely to receive government bailout funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, according to the study from Ran Duchin and Denis Sosyura, professors at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business.
Banks with headquarters in the district of a U.S. House of Representatives member who serves on a committee or subcommittee relating to TARP also received more funds.
Political influence was most helpful for poorly performing banks, the study found.
I don't really understand these things, but if the poorly performing banks had kept their funds in reserves instead of spending it on lobbying, wouldn't they have done better... as functioning banks, I mean.
Depends on whether their return on the lobbying investment exceeded the return they would get on keeping the assets inhouse
Your question was a rhetorical one, right TW?
I'm a simple soul, and my lack of understanding of financial matters gives Mr. Wife many troubled moments. No doubt there are subtleties I'm missing.
"Political connections play an important role in a firm's access to capital," Sosyura, a University of Michigan assistant professor of finance, said in a statement.
Banks with an executive who sat on the board of a Federal Reserve Bank were 31 percent more likely to get bailouts through TARP's Capital Purchase Program, the study showed. Banks with ties to a finance committee member were 26 percent more likely to get capital purchase program funds.
As of late September, nearly 700 financial institutions had received bailouts of $205 billion under the capital purchase program, the study said.
The banking industry has long been criticized for using political influence to obtain bailouts.
Scott Talbott, a senior vice president with industry lobbying group The Financial Services Roundtable, said the study was skewed because it did not exclude nine of the largest banks that were "strongly asked" by the government to take bailouts.
Those banks included Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N), JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), and Morgan Stanley (MS.N) -- all of which repaid their bailouts in June.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2009
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I read a study (no idea where) recently that showed the return on 'investment' of money paid in campaign contributions, lobbyists and other political investment exceeded the rate of return on all other business investment.
reveals clandestine US incursions into Pakistan as part of a secret war in the northwestern tribal region regularly hit by CIA drone attacks.
American special forces conducted multiple illegal raids into Pakistan's tribal areas, which were never declared to the Pakistani government, the unnamed officer told the Guardian.
The incursions, only one of which has been previously reported, occurred between 2003 and 2008, involving helicopter-borne elite soldiers crossing the border in the night.
"The Pakistanis were kept entirely in the dark about it. It was one of those things we wouldn't confirm officially with them," he said.
The revelation comes amid growing anger in Pakistan against the CIA-led drone program that, according to local media, has killed many civilians in the lawless tribal belt along the border with Afghanistan, due to see an additional infiltration of 30,000 American soldiers shortly.
The US publicly acknowledged only one of the raids by its special forces in September 2008, prompting strong condemnation from Pakistan's foreign office, which described it as "a grave provocation." The military also threatened retaliatory action.
But the ex-NATO officer said that was the fourth raid of previous years, adding one of them was to rescue a crashed Predator drone because they did not trust Pakistani forces.
Washington has recently sent several senior officials to Islamabad to ask Pakistani officials for action against alleged al-Qaeda and Taliban-linked militants in North Waziristan, and an expansion of CIA drone strikes into the western province of Balochistan.
But Pakistan's intelligence officials reject such requests and accuse the US of "scapegoating" Pakistan for its own failures in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2009
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#1
If these raids happen (they probably do), and if Pakistan doesn't want them to, and if Pakistan was in control of the region, then it stands to reason that Pakistan would stop the raids.
I figure Pakistan wants them to happen, but can't admit it, and couldn't stop them in any case.
#2
Screw Pakistan. The sooner it ceases to exist, the sooner the rest of the world will experience far fewer problems. As for the "former NATO Officer", s/he really needs to have and up-close-and-personal meeting with an axehandle between the eyes.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/23/2009 17:43
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#3
No doubt the same "NATO officer" that tells Press Iran that the Americans are bombing Iran's Houthi puppets with chemical weapons. Pity PressIR can't even match the accuracy of a stopped clock.
Posted by: ed ||
12/23/2009 18:46
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As previously noted, four veteran Democratic congressmen in districts where Republicans seemed to be launching serious challenges have announced that they are retiring rather than running for reelection. Now comes the news that Congressman Parker Griffith of the 5th district of Alabama is leaving the Democratic Party and becoming a Republican. Griffith has voted against just about every one of the Democrats' high-priority bills this year, and as a physician he has been especially critical of the Democrats' health care legislation. Apparently he has decided that his chances of reelection are better as a Republican than as a Democrat.
The 5th district of Alabama covers the northern part of the state and includes fast-growing Huntsville with its NASA facilities and most of the state's Tennessee River frontage. It has never elected a Republican congressman before; one issue that long benefited Democrats here was support of the Tennessee Valley Authority. But Democrats have had some close calls. Democrat Bud Cramer, a 10-year district attorney in Huntsville's Madison County, was first elected in 1990 when 14-year incumbent Ronnie Flippo ran unsuccessfully for governor. Cramer won the general election that year by 67%-33%, but in the heavily Republican year of 1994 he beat Republican Wayne Parker by only 50.48%-49.47%. Two years later he beat Parker 56%-42% and had no trouble winning relection thereafter from 1998 to 2006. In 2008 he retired to become a Washington lobbyist, and Griffith beat Wayne Parker, once again the Republican nominee, by a 52%-48% margin, even as John McCain was carrying the district 61%-38%.
The 5th district is Jacksonian country, originally secured from Creek Indians by a treaty imposed by Andrew Jackson himself after his 1813 victory at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. Like so much Jacksonian territory, it has become more Republican in this decade: it voted 54%-44% for George W. Bush in 2000 and 60%-39% in 2004. Parker Griffith evidently had no difficulty in reading these numbers, and must have considered that his chances of holding the district against a Republican not named Wayne Parker were not good.
Griffith's party switch reduces the magic number of seats Republicans need to pick up in 2010 to get a majority in the House from 41 to 40. It also raises the question of whether newly elected Democrats in similar seats--Bobby Bright in Alabama 2 and Travis Childers in Mississippi 1--will choose to switch parties. Both could probably win reelection more easily as Republicans than Democrats. I don't expect a switch from Mississippi 4's Gene Taylor, a temperamental maverick who has proved many times that he can win reelection in Republican territory.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2009
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If they retire now they do so on the current benefits package. If they wait those might get cut.
MOSCOW The prime minister of Lithuania, a former Soviet republic that broke from Moscows orbit and is now a member of NATO, accused the United States on Tuesday of using Soviet methods to set up two secret prisons in Lithuania for terrorism suspects.
The prime minister, Andrius Kubilius, said the United States had reached what he contended were clandestine and illegal arrangements with the Lithuanian secret services for prisons that were outside civilian control. Mr. Kubilius made his remarks on the day that the national security committee in the Lithuanian Parliament released a report that determined that the country was the site of two small secret prisons, though it did not indicate how they were used.
The report was based on testimony from politicians and national security officials. It was initiated after ABC News described Lithuanias role in hosting so-called black sites, and other questions were raised about its activities in the fight against terrorism.
Arvydas Anusauskas, chairman of the national security committee, said state security officials received requests from the C.I.A. to establish detention facilities.
He said it was not clear who was housed in the facilities because five planes that apparently transported people to Lithuania were never inspected by civilian officials. The report contended that state security officials never informed senior government officials, like the prime minister, about the prisons, which supposedly could hold a handful of people.
The scandal over the secret prisons has shaken Lithuanias political system and could lead to an overhaul of the security services. The intelligence chief has already resigned.
Mr. Kubilius did note that Lithuania is a strategic United States ally, and cooperation in many fields, including secret operations and counterterrorism, is very important. But he said it was deeply worrying that security officials established the prisons without oversight from senior civilian officials.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/23/2009
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These so-called Terrorists should have been first given trial in a New York criminal court (or a civil court if they had not been read their rights), and if found guilty they should be fined or imprisoned accordingly (provided you can still find them).
The CIA officials responsible for this should be imprisoned.
Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, responded Tuesday to widespread criticism that Democrats only garnered the 60 votes needed to defeat Republican stalling tactics on the health reform bill by catering to self-interest, saying Democrats are focusing on the big picture; "trying to cross a demarcation line."
Harkin dismissed deals dubbed vote-buying by GOP senators as "small stuff" that distracted Americans from the primary focus of the overhaul bill. "We have to keep our eyes on what we're trying to do here. We're trying to cross a demarcation line," Harkin told "Early Show" co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez. "On one side is health care as a privilege, on the other side is health care as a right. With these votes, with the vote that we'll take before Christmas, we will cross that line finally and say that health care is a right of all Americans."
Asked by Rodriguez whether that meant he would still support the bill if all the bonuses for Iowa were stripped out of it, Harkin responded without hesitation: "Absolutely. Without a doubt."
"The principle of this bill overrides everything; that we're going to increase the number of people who are covered by insurance, we're going to increase affordable care, we're going to crack down on abuses by insurance companies."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2009
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Harkin spends so little time here in Iowa that I doubt he could even find it on a map. No wonder he is more than happy for us to pay for everyone else's little bits of pork. (Don't worry, though....there's enough stupid people out here that he's a sure bet to return to the Senate the next time he runs.)
#2
Those of us who live near Chicago recognize 'vote buying' as a long-standing tradition in Cook County and is a 'feature' of Chicago politics accepted by the locals as 'small stuff'. Perhaps Sen. Harkin has been living too far 'east' of the Mississippi for a while.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
12/23/2009 10:30
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On one side is health care as a privilege, on the other side is health care as a right.
Gotcha. Nowhere in the Constitution does it say that health care is a right. And my understanding is that Congress alone cannot amend the Constitution. So the whole thing really is unconstitutional.
[The News (Pak) Top Stories] Ajmal Kasab, who is being prosecuted by the Indian government in connection with the Mumbai terror attacks, informed the special court in Mumbai on Tuesday he was never given training in Pakistan.
Kasab told the court, which is recording his final statement on the prosecution evidence that he was not a "Jihadi" and had not undergone any training at Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) camp. Kasab said he was a cook with a catering company in "Sara-e-Alamgir" near Jhelum in Pakistan.
What was he doing in Mumbai then? That's an awfully long way from Jhelum. Did he take a wrong turn making a delivery?
Denying any involvement with LeT and JuD, Kasab said he had never met Hafiz Saeed, Zakiur Lakhvi, Abu Kahfa and Abu Hamza.
"I heard the names of LeT and JuD from the police here. Crime Branch officials had shown the photograph of Lakhvi," Kasab said. When judge, ML Tahaliyani asked if he was introduced to one Maj-Gen Saab at the training camp, Kasab said, "This is absolutely wrong."
When special judge referred to his "confessional statement" that Hafiz Saeed had told 30 boys at the LeT training camp that they would have to lay down their lives for liberating Kashmir, Kasab said: "This is absolutely wrong."
He said the police had threatened to administer electric shocks to him if he did not give a statement to the magistrate, Kasab said the police had prepared the confession and forced him to recite it.
Disowning his confessional statement, he said it was given under duress. "The police had taken Rs2,400 from me on November 25, which I had kept for my return ticket. Those currency notes did not have any marks on them. These notes have something written on them," Kasab said.
No doubt the writing says, "Kasab's money." Again, what was he doing in Mumbai, and how does he claim he got there?
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2009
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#1
He shoulda taken a left at Albakoiky.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/23/2009 8:50
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WASHINGTON -- Democrats approved the second of three motions to close off debate on their health bill Tuesday and moved closer to passage on Christmas Eve, while Republicans highlighted their contention that the bill's requirement for buying insurance is unconstitutional. All 58 Democrats and two independents supported the motion to limit the debate, which is now in its fourth week, while 39 Republicans were against it.
The final motion to end debate is expected to win approval Wednesday, clearing the way for senators to vote on the bill itself at 8 a.m. Thursday, which is Christmas Eve. Immediately after that, the Senate is also planning to vote on House-passed legislation increasing the government's borrowing authority.
Convening on Christmas Eve would mark the 25th straight day of debate, bringing the Senate just short of the record for most consecutive days in session. That was set in the winter of 1917 in the run-up to U.S. entry into World War I, when the chamber met for 26 consecutive days.
"The finish line is in sight, said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, the Montana Democrat who is a chief architect of the Senate bill. "Now we know with certainty that we have the will to cross it."
To meet a pre-Christmas deadline for action set by President Barack Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) has pushed his colleagues -- even 92-year-old Sen. Robert Byrd, the West Virgina Democrat -- through a grueling schedule this week, including votes at 1 a.m. Monday and 7 a.m. Tuesday.
With Senate Democrats showing their determination to move in lockstep, Republicans -- who contend that the sweeping bill would impose unreasonable burdens on taxpayers and businesses -- said they would continue fighting even after the House and Senate begin negotiations on a compromise version in January.
"This debate is not over," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.). "The American people are still going to have another month to weigh in."
Republicans are forcing the Senate to vote Wednesday on whether the Democrat-backed bill is unconstitutional. Sen. John Ensign (R., Nev.) raised a point of order Tuesday against the bill, arguing that the Constitution doesn't give Congress latitude to force Americans to buy health coverage, as both the House and Senate bills do. "What's next?" Mr. Ensign said. "Will we consider legislation in the future requiring every American to buy a car? Will we consider legislation in the future requiring every American to buy a house?"
Mr. Ensign isn't expected to succeed. But the effort dramatizes a criticism raised by Republicans and conservative activists. Under the Senate and House bills, Americans who don't receive health coverage through their employers must buy insurance if they can afford it.
That is to say, if a government bureaucrat determines they ought to be able to afford it. Not at all the same thing.
The "individual mandate" is part of broader legislation designed to expand health-insurance coverage to tens of millions of Americans. The bill offers tax subsidies to purchase insurance and widens eligibility for Medicaid, the federal-state program that provides health insurance to the poor.
Conservative critics contend that the provision violates the Constitution's "takings clause," which says "private property [cannot] be taken for public use, without just compensation."
Democrats counter that the mandate is necessary to make the planned overhaul of the health-care system work, and ensure that as many people as possible participate in the system. Under the Senate bill, individuals who don't purchase coverage would face a financial penalty up to $750. Democrats say the courts have given Congress wide authority to impose rules under its powers to regulate interstate commerce.
"We feel very sound in our position," Mr. Reid said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/23/2009
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if it's Interstate Commerce then policies should have portability across state lines. The donks didn't put that in. These bastards should receive an earful during their holiday victory lap. I'm making sure mine do
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/23/2009 7:36
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This damned turkey is going to be shoved down our throats and we are supposed to like it. And this ruling bunch of elitists in Congress feels good about what they have done. We got rid of the king and royalty some 200+ years ago. Guess we will have to do it again.
[Asharq al-Aswat] Al Qaeda militants made a rare public appearance in restive south Yemen on Monday, telling an anti-government rally that the group's war was with the United States and not the Yemeni army, residents said.
The West and Saudi Arabia fear al Qaeda will take advantage of the Yemeni government's focus on a Shi'ite rebellion in the north and rising secessionist sentiment in the south to spread its operations to the kingdom, the world's top oil exporter.
"Soldiers, you should know that there is no problem between us and you. The problem is between us and America and its lackeys," residents quoted one militant as telling hundreds of people gathered to protest against the killing of dozens of civilians in government raids aimed at al Qaeda last week.
Al Jazeera television showed footage of the militant addressing the crowd while an armed comrade stood by as a bodyguard. Both were unmasked.
An explosion killed three people during the protest, held at a suspected al Qaeda training camp bombed during Thursday's raids in southern Abyan province. A security official blamed al Qaeda for the blast, which some reports said may have been caused by unexploded munitions.
Yemen said on Thursday its security forces and warplanes had foiled a planned series of suicide bombings by attacking targets including the al Qaeda training center.
About 30 al Qaeda militants were killed and 17 arrested in Abyan and in Arhab, northeast of the capital Sanaa, it said.
Protesters, including supporters of the Southern Movement which says south Yemen has been marginalized and wants it to secede, say about 50 people were killed, most of them civilians.
The New York Times said on Saturday that the United States gave military hardware, intelligence and other support to Yemeni forces to carry out the raids.
Saudi and Yemeni militants said earlier this year they were uniting under the name Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, using Yemen as their base.
Besides fighting al Qaeda militants and separatist unrest Yemen, the Arab world's poorest country, is fighting a war against Shi'ite rebels in the north.
Political analysts say such conflicts, together with falling oil income, water shortages and a humanitarian crisis, add to instability in a region that includes oil superpower Saudi Arabia and one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2009
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There's never a Predator around when you need one....
Scolds of the world, unite!
Man's best friend could be one of the environment's worst enemies, according to a new study which says the carbon pawprint of a pet dog is more than double that of a gas-guzzling sports utility vehicle. That could also be an indication that gas guzzling SUVs aren't as 'orrid as reported. "My SUV has less than half the environmental impact of the average schnauzer. So shuddup and go hawk yer carbon credits elsewhere!"
But the revelation in the book "Time to Eat the Dog: The Real Guide to Sustainable Living" by New Zealanders Robert and Brenda Vale has angered pet owners who feel they are being singled out as troublemakers. I'd say the authors have draped themselves in the bright colors characteristic of dishpits.
The Vales, specialists in sustainable living at Victoria University of Wellington, analysed popular brands of pet food and calculated that a medium-sized dog eats around 164 kilos (360 pounds) of meat and 95 kilos of cereal a year. Eating! Oh, noze!
Combine the land required to generate its food and a "medium" sized dog has an annual footprint of 0.84 hectares (2.07 acres) -- around twice the 0.41 hectares required by a 4x4 driving 10,000 kilometres (6,200 miles) a year, including energy to build the car. How many hectares does your average African herder take up? Maybe they should be killed... No. Wait. I guess they are. I just didn't realize it was eco-friendly to do so.
To confirm the results, the New Scientist magazine asked John Barrett at the Stockholm Environment Institute in York, Britain, to calculate eco-pawprints based on his own data. The results were essentially the same. "Owning a dog really is quite an extravagance, mainly because of the carbon footprint of meat," Barrett said. The Hmong in Laos, on the other hand, raise doggies for food. On the third hand, the Hmong on Laos were hunted out pretty well in the Plain of Jars, so I guess they've got a carbon surplus for their depleted numbers. Who keeps score for this nonsense?
Other animals aren't much better for the environment, the Vales say. They eat guinea swine in Ecuador, so I guess their eco-pawprints even out in the end.
Cats have an eco-footprint of about 0.15 hectares, slightly less than driving a Volkswagen Golf for a year, while two hamsters equates to a plasma television and even the humble goldfish burns energy equivalent to two mobile telephones. Which I'd say means that we've descended deep into the realm of the meaningless statistic.
But Reha Huttin, president of France's 30 Million Friends animal rights foundation says the human impact of eliminating pets would be equally devastating. "Pets are anti-depressants, they help us cope with stress, they are good for the elderly," Huttin told AFP. I dunno. We've got a new Labrador retriever at home. Depending on what Fido's chewed it can be pretty stressful.
"Everyone should work out their own environmental impact. I should be allowed to say that I walk instead of using my car and that I don't eat meat, so why shouldn't I be allowed to have a little cat to alleviate my loneliness?" Because if you can make your own decisions somebody else is deprived of the mean-spirited little pleasure of telling you what to do.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2009
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the Vales have a huge carbon footprint. I'd suggest a vote by each of them on which should get whacked...for the planet. Better yet, they could volunteer for suicide, if they're really dedicated
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/23/2009 8:32
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After we clean out the Animal Shelters, and the Livestock pens and the barns, we can visit the Day Care centers.
What's the name of the President's little dog? Bring a shovel. Tiffany and little Bruce, get in the car, we are going to the Lake.
The Orphanages are NEXT!
You didnt really mean it, you say? Then why say it, if you dont mean it? Getting rid of a problem means "getting rid" of a problem. Or did you just want someone "else" to do it?
You gonna gas 'em, or shoot 'em? Then there have to be bulldozers and Mass Graves. Will the people in Hollywood volunteer for a worthy cause?
Benji gets it! And Lassie too. A .38 in the ear.
Killing is not an abstraction. Its always PERSONAL. They dont go away by magic, y'know.
MOST of the pets at the Animal Shelter are put in a large Trash can full of water by a teenager who isnt too gentle about it.. and then they bolt the lid down and drown the animal inside by connecting a water hose to a screw in outlet in the lid and turning it on full.
I dont know how you are going to go around Suburbia picking up the pets. You want to use the National Guard? Do you suppose maybe a few families own guns and will "resist"? How much is it worth to you?
It's for the Planet, right? You are either serious or you arent. The SS started out by shooting people in Mass Graves, then they graduated to using Police Vans with a hose attached to the Exhaust pipe. Then they built the camps like Belsen and Dachau, Jews, Gypsies, the Mental Hospitals...and now its the turn of Poochie and the Cat.
Its for the good of the Planet, after all. We could take the world population levels back to 1930 by the year 2050....if... we... REALLY... tried.
#6
look at all the people I employ by having my dog
And every one of them leaving their sooty footprints all over our previously carbon-free landscape. It is a little known fact that before the 1900s when America began to industrialze, our atmosphere was *completely* free of CO2.
(And to those of you who learned about the Carbon Cycle in 5th grade science class, I say "Just SHUT UP!".)
#7
That 164 kilos of meat and 95 kilos of cereal turns into 259 kilos of dog poop which is used by the grass and fire hydrants to grow and sequester carbon. ( OK not the fire hydrants )
#9
I agree with Broadhead. Even as they're sitting there breathing, they're massacring thousands of poor, defenseless microorganisms. Bleedin' savages!
Posted by: Dar ||
12/23/2009 13:28
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#10
Dar, all I ask for is a little leadership by example... :)
#11
On the third hand, the Hmong on Laos were hunted out pretty well in the Plain of Jars, so I guess they've got a carbon surplus for their depleted numbers.
On the fourth hand, the North Vietnamese are ecological heros for destroying the Vietnamese economy, Cambodian economy and Laotian economy.
Think of how many carbon credits they've saved up!
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
12/23/2009 16:26
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#12
They can have my dog when they pry my cold, dead hands offa her leash. (Assuming she doesn't bite them in the ass first.)
What have you learned in seventy plus years?...
that you followed your dick like it was a map all your life?
yay, team. And then you die.
How often does the planet Jupiter perform a Conjunction with the star, Regulus? I have measured that six times in my lifetime...witnessed it four times by memory.
And I am still alive after three wars, as well.
I am not stupid and I have five grandchildren as well. I have loved and been loved. The real meaning of life is in ordinary things...and Viagra isn t one of them.
#3
Thank you, Angleton9. Sometimes you say things too strongly for this little civilian housewife to handle, but that was as perfect as poetry. You have earnt the true joys you've received.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Egypt's three most prominent religious leaders have backed a government ban on the niqab, or full face veil, in dormitories and examinations, saying it had no basis in Islam.
In October, Sheikh Mohamed Sayed Tantawi, the head of al-Azhar, a major seat of Islamic learning, issued a religious edict barring the niqab in Azhar-run all-girl schools and in dormitories.
The minister of higher education subsequently banned it in university examinations.
"Al Azhar is not against the niqab but against its misuse," the government-run al-Akhbar newspaper cited Tantawi on Tuesday as saying. He said it was a social habit that had no roots in sharia (Islamic law).
Earlier this week, Tantawi joined Mufti Ali Gomaa, Egypt's highest religious legal authority, and Hamdy Zakzouk, minister of religious endowments, in a forum on the niqab. Other religious leaders also attended.
Egypt's government has long been wary of Islamist thinking and in the 1990s crushed Islamists seeking to set up a religious state. It also is keen to quell opposition ahead of parliamentary elections next year and a later presidential vote.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2009
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#1
a social habit that had no roots in sharia
That is what we infidels have been saying all along. And it is a very worthy habit in some cases (Rosie O'Donnel comes to mind.)
#3
The thought of Helen Thomas, even in a niqab, gives me nightmares. Why can't that woman do the world a favor and retire - preferably to some place like Rapa Nui?
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/23/2009 16:53
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[Ma'an] President Mahmoud Abbas said in an interview published on Tuesday that he stopped a third Palestinian intifada from occurring during the Israeli offensive against Gaza last winter
Speaking to New York's Wall Street Journal, Abbas also said he would not allow another uprising to take place as long as he stays in office.
"I will not allow a new intifada. As long as I'm in office, I will not allow anybody to start a new intifada. Never never. But if I leave, it's no longer my responsibility and I can't make any guarantees. It could happen," he said.
"It's not my business to follow up. I promise and I can do. And I already promised and I did during the invasion of Gaza. At that time everybody asked me to go to a third intifada, but I prevented anybody from doing it."
Asked? But everybody said the intifadas were a spontaneous expression of the Palestinian popular anger.
In the interview he also denied reports that the CIA is working closely with PA security forces who torture detainees.
Oh no, my dear. That's the kind of thing the security forces -- of the various Palestinian groups -- long ago worked out all by their very own clever selves.
The issue resurfaced last Thursday in an article in the UK daily The Guardian, which reported that, according to western diplomats and other officials, the CIA seemed to be supervising the work of the Preventive Security Organization (PSO) and General Intelligence Service (GI).
"We have no relationship with the CIA at all. We have a relationship with the State Department. The State Department sends us some Americans to train and rebuild the Palestinian security apparatuses. That's it," Abbas was quoted as saying.
"There is US training of our forces," he said, "We don't deny that at all. But not just American. Russia, and Jordan and France and many countries help in training us. And [US security coordinator Kieth] Dayton's team is from a number of countries, not just America. America gives us nothing but training,"
The Guardian's report also quoted PA officials reporting that between 400 and 500 Hamas are held by the security forces.
At least the detainees died in PA custody in 2009.
No doubt they had reason to be grateful for the release.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2009
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#1
"I invented the Internet during the Gaza War." looked too retro, eh....?
[Dawn] Turkey has reached an agreement with Israel to purchase 10 Heron drones from Israel and a deal would be announced within one or two days, Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) said on Tuesday.
'We've reached agreement with procurement office. We expect to announce an agreement within a few days,' TAI Chief Executive Muharrem Dortkasli told reporters.
Turkey and Israel signed a deal in 2005 for the supply of the unmanned aircraft, worth $185 million.
Turkish Defence Minister Vecdi Gonul in July denied reports published in the Israeli media that the deal would be cancelled due to the delay in the project.
Speculation about the project's cancellation had mounted amid escalating tensions between regional allies Israel and Turkey, which had sharply criticised Israel's Palestinian policies, especially the Gaza offensive it launched in December 2009.
TAI is partners in the venture to build the Herons with Air Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Israeli defence manufacturer Elbit.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2009
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A Galt teen is back home for the holidays after the successful, seven-month-long treatment of a brain tumor that was only discovered after he made a dangerous mistake before school one day.
Last May, 13-year-old Evan Hamilton took a dare from his friends at McCaffrey Middle School in Galt last May and downed eight shots of tequila as fast as he could.
He passed out and was rushed to the emergency room to be treated for alcohol poisoning, and a CT scan at the UC Davis Medical Center revealed a tumor in the brain of the unsuspecting eighth grader.
Continued on Page 49
The struggles of the Democrats and the Republicans are making news. The Democrats are learning that it is far easier to make campaign promises than it is to govern. As for Republicans, the party that loses the Presidential election often spends the off-year attempting to refine its message if not find a new message and new messengers. In the watchful eye of 24/7 cable news channels and the Internet, however, such political soul searching can appear rather untidy. As the calendar turns, the process remains unresolved for Republicans to say the least. To say the least. There hasn't been a lot of inspiring leadership coming out of the trunk camp, and none of it from Congressional Publicans.
Worse than mere overexposure, according to Rasmussen polling, despite Obama's falling polls and Democrat divisions, the Republican Party would fare worse in an upcoming election than the Tea Party -- a "Third Party" that, as of yet, does not exist. If it's going to be effective next year it had better influence primaries, rather than trying to field candidates.
It is no minor issue because with the help of Tea Party activists, Republicans certainly can beat Democrats next year -- without them they may not. I think the Publicans could improve their position with Tea Party neutrality, but I think most people who're paying attention would rather see the lot of them turned out, Publicans and Sinners -- a complete inversion of the current Congress. That won't happen because of the number of nailed seats -- we're never going to see the last of Barney Frank or Nancy Pelosi until they die. There are also lots of seats that are close enough that a few judicious truckloads of "found" ballots will tip them. So I wouldn't get too fired up about Congress turning around.
It would seem evident to many that the Tea Party movement should be the natural ally of the Republican Party. Not after the Publicans' record after the first few months of the Contract with America...
After all, the issues that inspire most Tea Party activists should not be inimical to Republican Party leaders. However, the fact that the Tea Party movement is at odds with certain aspects of the Republican establishment belies the greater issue as to why the Tea Party movement -- and its potential to be a 3rd Party movement -- arose at all. That reason being that people have come to the perhaps belated realization that their elected pols could give a spit what their opinions are, whether those pols are Publicans or Sinners.
It is worthy, as part of this discussion, to note that the rise and fall of third party movements and candidates is directly tied to whether voters perceive the existing parties as being successful. In this context, successful means providing effective leadership on the major issues of the day. Third parties are difficult to get off the ground. Both the Dems and the Pubs trace their roots to the original Democratic-Republicans of Jefferson. Effectively we've had one party with "liberal" and "conservative" wings, only the definitions changing. Federalists and Whigs have fallen by the wayside. Most everybody else either never got started or, like the Conservative Party in New York, rides the same rail as the big party.
The Republicans should well know this lesson. After all, the Republican Party came into being because the Whig Party of the 1850's and 1860's was perceived as not willing to provide effective leadership on the most divisive issue of the day -- if not the most divisive issue ever: slavery. Appearing too accomodationist to many voters, a third major party came into being under the leadership of Lincoln and others: the Republican Party -- a party that, in time, took a decisive stand against slavery. The remnants of the Whigs combined with a wing of the Dems, hence the "Republican" name. The Dems were the party of slavery at the time, just as they're the party of the plantation today.
More recently, Ross Perot ran twice for President and gave life to the Reform Party. It is more than arguable that Perot handed Bill Clinton the Presidency by drawing so many votes away from President Bush in 1992. But did he? Yes. No doubt in my miniature mind that he did.
As a matter of history, Perot was more of a symptom of failed leadership by Republicans than cause of Clinton's victory. The errors of the Bush Administration gave rise to a perception that the Republican Party was the party of higher spending and higher tax rates -- a policy that led to burgeoning deficits. Bush 41 was not perceived as a leader in the wake of breaking his "no new tax pledge" and the Democrats were not exactly considered leaders on how to handle the deficit either. It is on such political battlefields that disgruntled voters take interest in a third voice -- in that case, Ross Perot and his Reform Party. Perot had good financing -- his own bankroll, plus donations -- and he had lotsa good points to make. That sucking sound you heard really was your job heading south. But he also ran what was primarily a vanity campaign, and as soon as Pat Buchanan -- now trying manfully to hop the Tea Party bandwagon -- hijacked the party it evaporated. Buchanan had the ego, but not the message, nor the bankroll. Go, Pat, Go, and Don't Come Back...
Of course, the John Anderson presidential run should be noted as well. What's that line about "sound and fury, signifying nothing"? Pretty scary, until he evaporated on election day.
There was little doubt that in 1979 and in the beginning of 1980, the public's view of both the Democrat Party and the Republican Party had dimmed considerably. Amidst double-digit inflation and unemployment, 20+% interest rates, and little in the way of Republican Congressional leadership to contrast Jimmy Carter failings, John Anderson ran as an Independent candidate for President. He came out of the gate with 25% in the polls -- 6% higher than Perot's highest ever finish. He was barely there when it was all over...
Yet Anderson wound up not winning a single precinct. Why? Because Ronald Reagan ran a stirring campaign behind the theme that "Government is not the solution to our problems. Government is the problem." Nobody's singing that song at the moment who doesn't sound like he's reciting something by rote that he doesn't believe. John McCain as a "foot soldier in the Reagan Revolution" my foot...
And with that, Reagan and his strong leadership and policies won two terms (three if you count Bush 41s' first term) and there was no third party challenge until Bush Sr. ceded Reagan's high ground of leadership as referenced above. "Read my lips: No new taxes!... Well, okay. Where do I sign?" I can remember all the editorials in the Washington Post saying how it would take political courage for Bush to sign the tax bill. Once the Dems had siggy there was nary a peep from the Post about how brave he'd been.
All of which brings us to the Tea Party movement. Shall we attemtp to make sense of what's surely a complicated matter?
The numbers of Independents voters is on the rise again. Voters everywhere believe the Democrat Party and the Republican Party are more partisan than effective. The Tea Party movement is an out-growth of that perception. Existing Third Parties don't fill the bill. The Libertarian Party evaporated under Harry Browne -- he was against going to war in Afghanistan in the wake of 9-11 so he was never heard from again. The Reform Party elected Jesse Ventura and didn't elect either Ross Perot or Pat Buchanan, and has since evaporated. There's something called the Constitution Party, which wants to restore the Constitution as well as the nation's biblical foundations, which kinda leaves room for argument with us agnostics and the Jews and the New Agers and what have you. The Greens are red on the inside, with a sniff like Nader wearing the same socks he had in the Army in 1958 or whenever it was, compounded with the smell of burning weed. If there was anything there to run with somebody would have run with it by now.
At its core, the Tea Party movement is a pro-liberty -- limited government movement. Its activists continue to believe in Reagan's cogent message about government. Beneath that over-arching theme, Tea Partiers by-in-large are motivated by four major issues. (1) excessive taxation, (2) out-of-control spending, (3) out of control Legislators who pass bills without reading them, and (4) the apparent lack of adherence/respect for our Constitution. None of those issues should be troublesome for the Republican establishment -- yet there is anything but an easy alliance between the Tea Party movement and the Republican establishment. It is a wonder why that is so. It's no wonder. The Publicans had their time in the driver's seat. They were the reason Bill Clinton finished up his second term pointing with pride at the surplus he'd fought and the end of welfare as he knew it. Even by then they were listening to the Washington Post and all those other fellows telling them to "govern from the center," unwilling to realize that the Dems are better at being Dems than they are. Add in some fairly deep-rooted corruption -- Dennis Hastert springs to mind -- and people were simply disappointed in them. Excessive Taxation. The issue of burdensome taxation has motivated Americans from the time of the Boston Tea Party to today. Always a potent issue, many activists wonder why the Republican Establishment has lost their voice on this important issue. Keep in mind that the issue is not just that people don't want to pay taxes because they are stingy. The issue is why aren't Republican leaders making the case to the American people (1) that high tax rates defeat their own purpose (Keynes), (2) that "that our present tax system ... exerts too heavy a drag on growth ... siphons out of the private economy too large a share of personal and business purchasing power, [and] reduces the financial incentives for personal effort, investment, and risk-taking." (Kennedy), or (3) that through tax relief we can grow the American economy (Reagan). Surely taking up that mantle -- with clarity -- is not a request that is too much for Tea Partiers to ask of Republican leaders. It's not just the taxes. No matter how much we pay in taxes, and it's a bunch, there are always more taxes needed, because there's never any end to the bright ideas pols are coming up with. There are always new programs, and old programs never, ever go away. There is no end to the rapacity of those who regard themselves as a ruling class -- and increasingly as an hereditary ruling class. Out-of-Control Spending. The issue of government waste and spending is of major concern to many activists around the country. Keep in mind that in 1964, the entire federal budget was roughly $130 billion and poverty was approximately 14%. The federal budget is nearly $4 trillion a year now. We currently make social welfare transfers of over $1 trillion per year. Yet the federal poverty rate remains around 14%. Disgruntled Tea Partiers (and Ron Paul supporters) know that intuitively even if they do not always know the statistics. Should not Republican leaders be exposing the stunning level of federal waste (including $1 in every $10 of Medicare spending) at every turn -- even filibustering ever growing budgets which provide little return on investment? Is that request too much to ask? -- let alone insisting they refrain from pork barreling themselves? So not only do the taxes keep trying to go back up, and to appear in new and more inventive guises, but the spending keeps outstripping even the gruesome level of taxes we have. The debt keeps going up every year, we've been effectively in a deficit since... can anyone remember when we weren't? Other than the couple years under the Republican Congress in the last couple Clinton years? And when we did run a surplus, the Dems wanted to spend it. We're looking at a Congress, both Republicans and Democrats, who keep spending without looking at the checkbook, which has been empty. At the same time they're implementing programs that kill our competitiveness and handing out money like it grows in the garden. Which is approximately true, if you regard the taxpayer as a species of vegetable, or a fungus, something like a mushroom. Reading the Bills. Federal legislation now exceeds 1,000 pages at a time. It is well beyond common knowledge that most politicians do not even read the bills upon which they vote. Given that so many congressmen and women are lawyers who would never expect their clients not to read the contracts they sign, is it really an exorbitant request of those same politicians to read bills before they bind us to legislation from which, incredibly, they often exempt themselves? Their staffs write the bills with the assistance of lobbyists, some of whom are subject matter experts, most of whom are owned by Malefactors of Great Wealth. The Constitution. There can be little doubt that our Constitution is not interpreted as our Founders intended. Jefferson and Madison opined that the Constitution did not permit the Congress to tax people to build roads. Now, without so much as an amendment, we tax people to subsidize the purchase of cars that run on those roads built with tax dollars. In that light, many activists well understand Justice Scalia's commentary that "The Constitution is not a living organism, it is a legal document. It says something and doesn't say other things." The question is whether Republican leaders believe the same or are willing to defend the same. They patently don't. The "living document" approach has gutted the 10th amendment especially, while fattening up the commerce clause so that it's eating everything in sight. But the very heart of the problem lies more with congress critters who have no idea what the document actually says.
The reality of today is that the Tea Party movement is more than skeptical of whether the Republican establishment is willing to take a stand on those issues or whether they are more interested in playing Let's Make a Deal with American principles. In other words, they do not believe that they are providing effective leadership on those important issues. Instead, they do things such as offering a Presidential candidate who wanted to buy up all the bad mortgages that government encouraged in the first place. A government response to a government problem -- Reagan would not be pleased -- and neither are Tea Partiers. If Republicans were providing effective leadership on those important issues, I would hazard a guess that there would not be a Tea Party movement today. McCain was sadly representative of how the public sees the party: not quite clean -- the Dems didn't bring up the Keating 5 very much because it was relatively small potatoes -- and willing to get along with the opposition. Compromise might be the essence of politix and maverick politicians, but there are times when you have to stand up for what's right. Congress is really good at nibbling at the edges of what's right until there's not much left to it at all.
In the final analysis, Republicans never do so well as to defend freedom and the expense of government -- when they run against City Hall instead of defending it. Not coincidentally, Americans never do so well as when freedom is protected from government. Reagan understood that and that is why he ran against the Washington establishment instead of encouraging it. Unless Republicans regain that understanding, rather than winning next year with Tea Party support amidst the troubles of the Democrats, Republicans may well be alone wearing the Whigs of long ago.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2009
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#1
No third party ever won.
Grab the conservatives, and storm the republican headquarters. Tell them I am not impressed and then get some good people back up there.
#6
A very clear article by Mr. Del Beccaro, and excellent commentary Fred.
Fred said " There is no end to the rapacity of those who regard themselves as a ruling class -- and increasingly as an hereditary ruling class."
Bingo. This has ALWAYS been the problem in Republics, as illustrated by Livy and expounded on by Machiavelli. The ruling class (in Rome it was the nobles) oppress the people. That's what they do. Some of the people love this, for any number of reasons. The problem today would seem to boil down to how to punish the governing-class- who have become arrogant and tyrannical, WITHOUT appointing a dictator(s), who usually become tyrants in fact.
#7
Can't speak for other Tea Parties, but the San Antonio Tea Party is basically beating the bushes for aspiring new candidates to run in both parties, and for all levels of office. We're looking to hold candidate forums, and meetings - it's been my sense that most of the other SATP supporters agree (well, as much as we can agree on anything!)that a third party is a non-starter. Better to push for new blood, for strict constitutionalists and fiscal conservatives coming up within the established party/parties.
The anger against the entrenched politicians, who vote for their own continuance in office, rather than the good of the nation at large is gathering, rather like a tsunami out at sea. I am thinking that it will crash into Washington with the 2010 election season, and a lot of pundits and political aristocrats will be left shattered, because they had no idea of the depth of that anger...
#8
The Tea Party must reformulate its message, that government over-reaching, extravagance, and over-taxation are ultimately the same issue, and that there ain't no such thing as a free lunch.
#9
The Tea Party is not a Party. It is not a single organization of any kind. Each local entity is independent. At least in ours, actions are only 'suggestions' of time, place and theme where members and non-members might choose to gather - no leaders to be arrested. And since members are largely gainfully employed, arrest or black-listing are of real concern. I don't know that the Republicrat/Demican Party would take kindly to serious threats to its turf.
#11
newsc, the third party has won in the past. About 150 years ago, the Republican party WAS the third party. Just ask the Whigs. I have given up on the republicans and I'm just waiting for the chance to jump at a viable alternative. It takes a crisis (like the desire to banish the evils of slavery) for a third party to rise. Unfortunately, things will have to get much worse before enough Americans wake up enough to bring the next party to power. With today's complete lack of competent leadership, however, it's only a matter of time.
#13
In many ways the task of re-making government today is as daunting a task as was that of creating a government some 200 plus years ago. Voter dissatisfaction may be great enough to bring about the change that is really needed.
#14
the time to fight is in the primary. Third party candidates give the election to the Donks. Fight fiercely and support the winner in the main election contest, otherwise you've helped elect our socialist Donks.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/23/2009 19:59
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A senior Iranian lawmaker says Tehran does not take rumors of US Senator John Kerry's proposed visit to Tehran seriously.
The American bimonthly, Foreign Policy magazine on Friday reported that Kerry had "offered" to travel to the Iranian capital to broker "a last-ditch agreement" with Tehran over its nuclear program.
He has all the charisma of Bambi in negotiating agreements ...
"American senators have time and again wanted to visit Tehran or to negotiate with members of the parliament," Iranian MP Alaeddin Boroujerdi said.
"Their policy with regards to Iran, especially during [Barack] Obama's term ... has not changed at all," he added.
This attitude "has left Iran with no reason to believe in negotiations," the lawmaker continued.
Last year, Hossein Taqavi, a member of the Majlis National Security Commission, said the US congresswomen have requested a meeting with female members of Iran's Majlis. Iran had also made public another official US request for talks between the American congressmen and the Iranian parliamentarians.
While attending the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in October 2008, the Iranian lawmakers reportedly received a letter from the US officials in Washington, asking for a meeting.
The West accuses Tehran of pursuing a military agenda with its nuclear program, despite the UN nuclear watchdog's constant monitoring of Iran's nuclear facilities. The two sides came close to ending the dispute through a nuclear deal back in August, but the powers' refusal to appease Iran's concerns over details of the agreement led to a temporary break down in talks over the issue.
The UN-backed proposal, which was first floated by the Obama administration, required Iran to send most of its domestically-enriched low-grade uranium out of the country for further refinement of up to 20 percent. Iran needs the fuel for the Tehran reactor, which produces radioisotopes that are used in cancer treatment procedures in over 200 hospitals across the country.
Despite having accepted the general aspects of the draft deal, Iran refused to officially accept the proposal, as its concerns about the other side's commitment to its obligations were not addressed.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2009
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#3
Merry Christmas to Fred, all the mods and all the other Rantburgers. Had to wait until today to hit the tip jar for you. But thanks for letting me vent and thank you very much for providing an alternate source of information in these days of yellow journalism and alphabet TV news. They don't have to lie. All they have to do is be very, very selective in what little of the truth they're willing to share.
And, oh, BTW, thanks for all the DS&TP cheesecake.
#1
Tough hitting short article. As the old saying goes, "Hope is not a method." To be successful, the republicans must develop a plan of recovery from all of this Obama spending and debt. It is encouraging however, to see the dems already conceding potential defeat in 2010.
#2
Deciding to drive in the knife is Strategy. Sticking it in here and NOW is tactics.
Ten inch blade, right under the sternum and lean on it hard, again, AGAIN. get a towel and a large industrial sized trashbag. Put him in the trunk in the garage. Then a fifty gallon drum and a trip to Home Depot for the 90 pound bag of cement mix. Roll, dont lift, the drum onto the pickup flatbed. Drive to the lake at 3 in the morning. Pick a spot where the bank is suitable for rolling the drum and make sure the water is deep at that point. Getting rid of the body is harder than the killing usually. Think it through.
Hope is not a method, you cant "improvise" some things. And some people truly deserve it.
Savor and remain silent. No warning, no threats.
He's right about having a plan to undo what Obama has done. Just cut the whole thing out with an electric chainsaw in the tub, slice it up in the garage ...and feed it to the dog.
...and get rid of the chainsaw.
Metaphorically speaking, of course. Unless you think we should have civil and tolerant thoughts for our Democratic Party associates...reasoned debate with Harry Reid and House Speaker Pelosi..and then coffee afterwards?
Metaphorically speaking , of course.
Smile, keep smiling. All ten inches of Solingen steel.
#3
The Republican's most successful 1980s thru 2000s strategy is to get a lot of people to invest in the stock market via their IRAs, 401ks, etc.
The new investors have slowly begun to see what hurts them and what helps them.
The Republican's other successful strategy (1990s) was to pass the welfare reform bill. The success of welfare reform has undermined a generation of Dem Welfarists.
The Dems most successful strategy has been to take control of the culture (the 'news' networks, Hollywood, etc.).
Posted by: lord garth ||
12/23/2009 11:14
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#4
The Third Parties are thinking Financial Logistics.
[The News (Pak) Top Stories] Seven militants were killed and five others sustained injuries when jet fighters targeted their hideouts in upper part of the Orakzai Agency on Tuesday.
Official sources said the hideouts of militants in Ghiljo, Dabori and Mamozai areas of the tribal agency were targeted, in which seven militants were killed and five others injured. Meanwhile, security was beefed up in Orakzai Agency, particularly in Kalaya, Ibrahimzai, Mela, Zera, Manikhel, Merobak and Sra Mela areas.
All routes leading to the Imambargahs in the area were sealed and security was tightened Meanwhile, six militants were killed in a clash with security forces in Elam area in Buner district on Tuesday, official sources said.
Sources said that six militants opened fire on security forces while approaching a checkpost. The sources said the forces returned the fire and six militants were killed in the clash. The dead militants included Kherati Gul, Raza Khan, Rehmatullah, Zahid Hussain and Nasir while the name of one militant could not be ascertained. Among the killed, four militants belonged to Swat while two were from Buner district.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2009
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In the aftermath of the economic collapse and the election of a glamorous new, young president who seemed to many people as a fresh force, unentangled with entrenched special interests (emphatically not my view, during the election or afterward) - the country could have gone one of two ways: Fearing the rigors of economic hard times, people could have sought shelter under the wing of a stronger government (as Americans did during the Great Depression), or, fearing the power of government, they could seek shelter in freedom - come what may economically.
It may turn out to be one of the most important facts of the 21st century that the American people - as exemplified by, but not limited to, the tea-party fighters - came down on the side of freedom over fear. I don't know if there is another people on the planet who would have had a similar impulse and judgment. It is, to use a word, exceptional (as in "American exceptionalism").
It is why we live in hope this Christmas season that we may yet claw back our government in time to protect our grandchildren's freedom and prosperity.
"Yet, Freedom! yet thy banner, torn, but flying, streams like the thunderstorm against the wind." - Lord Byron.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2009
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Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson, after securing a sweetheart deal for his state as part of the health insurance reform bill, said Tuesday that three other senators have told him they want to bargain for the same kind of special treatment.
"Three senators came up to me just now on the (Senate) floor, and said, 'Now we understand what you did. We'll be seeking this funding too'," Nelson said.
But the Democratic senator, who has faced a heap of criticism for appearing to trade his vote on health care for millions in federal Medicaid money, said he's considering asking that the Nebraska deal be stripped from the bill.
Though he defended the exemption as a "fair deal," he said he never asked for the full federal funding that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid ended up granting his state. Nelson said he instead asked that states be allowed to refuse an expansion of Medicaid.
"This is the way Senate leadership chose to handle it. I never asked for 100 percent funding," he said.
Nelson has maintained that the only reason he even brought up Medicaid was that Nebraska Republican Gov. Dave Heineman put him up to it.
After Nelson sent a letter to the governor offering to kill the Medicaid deal, Heineman acknowledged that he and other governors had "expressed concern" about the state burden for Medicaid patients. But he rejected any suggestion from Nelson that he asked for the kind of deal Reid struck.
"Under no circumstances did I have anything to do with Senator Nelson's compromise," the governor said in a written statement. "The responsibility for this special deal lies solely on the shoulders of Senator Ben Nelson."
He urged Nelson to reconsider his support for the overall health care bill and, in response to the Sunday letter, said his state expects "a fair deal, not a special deal."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2009
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Now we know Ben's Festivus complaints...."Harry was too generous, Guvner Dave won't back me up, and other Senators think I'm sleazy...."
President Barack Obama on Monday touted the federal government's efforts to become more efficient, highlighting a new report that shows billions of dollars in savings on contract costs.
The report by the Office of Management and Budget shows that agencies have identified more than $19 billion in contract savings for fiscal year 2010, which began Oct. 1. Mr. Obama said that puts the government on track to meet its goal of saving $40 billion annually by fiscal year 2011.
The administration has said the savings will come from terminating unnecessary contracts, ending an over-reliance on contractors and reducing the use of high-risk contracts. Federal spending on contracts has doubled since 2002, reaching $540 billion last year.
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[Geo News] President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday said, as the monster of militants and extremists was created by the international community in the past to fight the rival ideology, it was their responsibility to help Pakistan in this fight and contain its negative fallout on the country.
Well golly, I thought that's what we were doing with our Predator and Special Forces attacks.
He said that non-state actors wanted to push sovereign countries to go to war. To guard against it, the international community needs to join hands, he said.
The President was talking to General Jean-Louis Georgelin, Chief of Defence Staff French Armed Forces, who called on him here at Aiwan-e-Sadr today.
During the meeting matters relating to militancy and defence cooperation between Pakistan and France came under discussion.
The President said that Pakistan attaches great importance to its relations with France and stressed on comprehensive up-gradation of bilateral ties with enhanced trade, investments, sustainable market access and deeper mutual cooperation in other areas that could prove beneficial for both the countries.
The French Chief of Defence Staff appreciated Pakistan's role in the fight against militancy and the sacrifices of the armed forces and law enforcing agencies.
Minister for Defence Ch. Ahmed Mukhtar, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Tariq Majeed, Secretary General to the President Salman Faruqui, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir and Spokesperson to the President former Senator Farhatullah Babar also attended the meeting along with senior officials of both the countries.
French Ambassador Daniel Jouanneau was also present in the meeting. President Zardari on the occasion also conferred Nishan-i-Imtiaz (Military) on General Jean-Louis Georgelin.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2009
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[Asharq al-Aswat] Two Shiite worshippers were gunned down on Tuesday close to the town of Baquba while leaving a mosque after carrying out rituals as part of the Shiite religious commemoration of Ashura, police said.
"Men in a car opened fire on worshippers who were leaving the mosque, where they were participating in flagellation as part of preparations for Ashura, killing two of them," said a police officer.
The shooting occurred in the village of Berginiyah, east of Baquba and northeast of Baghdad.
The 10-day Ashura rituals commemorate the killing of Shiite Imam Hussein by armies of the Sunni caliph Yazid in 680.
In the lead-up to it, some Shiites visit mosques to carry out self-flagellation rituals, hitting themselves on their backs with chains attached to sticks.
Meanwhile, in Fallujah, a former insurgent bastion just west of Baghdad, the head of the town's city council Hamid Ahmed al-Hashim was wounded when a magnetic "sticky bomb" was attached to his car as he left his home.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2009
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Germany has refused Egypt's request that it return the 3,300-year-old bust of Queen Nefertiti, with German officials saying it was acquired legally by the Prussian state nearly a century ago.
However, Zahi Hawass, the Secretary General of the Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, rejects the German claims, saying the bust was smuggled out of Egypt by a German archaeologist in 1913. He said repeated requests by the Egyptian government since 1930 have been ignored by successive German governments.
Hawass says archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt disguised its true value by covering it in a coating of clay.
Queen Nefertiti, the wife of Pharaoh Akhenaton, was renowned as one of ancient history's great beauties. In 1346 BC, Akhenaton started to openly worship Aten and began a religious revolution, in which Nefertiti played a prominent role.
The bust is the star attraction of the Egyptian collection at the Neues Museum in Berlin.
Earlier this month Hawass said he would drop a similar demand for the permanent return of the Rosetta Stone if the British Museum agreed to loan it. The stone is a basalt slab dating back to 196 BC which was key to the modern deciphering of hieroglyphics.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2009
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Earlier this month Hawass said he would drop a similar demand for the permanent return of the Rosetta Stone if the British Museum agreed to loan it.
I suspect if this is a "loan" with no return provision.
A large winter storm with the potential to dump a foot or more of snow is grinding its way toward Minnesota, and its arrival is likely to mess up travel plans, complicate last-minute errands and ensure a very white Christmas.
"It's not definite yet, but it has an uncanny resemblance to the East Coast storm last Saturday," meteorologist Paul Douglas posted Monday on his Facebook page. "I want to see one to two more computer runs, but this could be the snowiest Christmas for Minnesota in 30 years."
According to a winter storm warning issued this afternoon for central and southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin, the mess is expected to begin Wednesday afternoon -- and go on and on.
"This is major," said James McQuirter, meteorologist at the Twin Cities office of the National Weather Service. "It might not get out of here until Saturday."
Douglas said in an interview that, depending on the temperature, freezing rain, sleet and/or ice could enter the picture, particularly to the east and south. Either way, "I think travel conditions Christmas Eve and Christmas Day may be pretty bad," he said, encouraging people to leave earlier on Wednesday if they have that option.
Computer models have been "all over the map," he said, and snow totals approaching 2 feet are not out of the question, though it's "way too early to know" exactly where in Minnesota that would happen.
The heaviest snowfall, 12 to 20 inches, likely will fall in a swath from Minneapolis to the Iowa border and west to the South Dakota border, said National Weather Service forecaster Jim Taggart. Duluth and the eastern part of the state also could see 6 inches or more of snow. The northwest part of the state will probably get clipped with 3 to 4 inches of snow, Taggart said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2009
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Iowa's getting freezing rain and sleet over the next few days, with winds up to 30 mph.
But look on the bright side....we're not burning up those horrid greenhouse gases visiting friends and relatives, and some of the Christianists might stay home instead of practicing their politically incorrect Dec 25th ritual.
This model also quickly incorporates data from radiosonde telemetry so it gets updated quicker that the other models. The rain snow line is about where the 0 degree isotherm is on the 850 mb map (near the Pac Coast, it needs to be about -4C at 850mb for snow, on the high plains, +2C at 850mb will still be snow most of the time).
Posted by: lord garth ||
12/23/2009 12:23
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Don't worry. Just a few adjustments to the temperature readings and Gobal Warming will be fine.
Gives new meaning to "Save the hockey stick!"
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
12/23/2009 12:24
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#4
HIDE THE DECLINE!!
Posted by: Disco Franny G ||
12/23/2009 15:23
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that wasn't me...
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/23/2009 15:32
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No, it wasn't, Frank -- you are someone else altogether. Besides, a Disco Franny would never wear Hawaiian shirts. ;-)
[Ma'an] As rumors of a pending prisoner exchange circulate, Israel's Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth published bios of nine Palestinian prisoners it says are the names holding up a swap deal.
The nine are: Marwan Al-Barghouthi, Abdallah Al-Barghouthi, Abbas Al-Sayyed, Ahmad Sa'adat, Ibrahim Hamid, Yahia Sanwari, Ahlam Tammimi, Amneh Muna and Qahera Al-Sa'di, are allegedly on the list of 450 names specified by Hamas negotiators for release. The other 550 prisoners under the deal would be up to Israeli discretion.
The following is a translated version of the Israeli article:
Marwan Al-Barghouthi -- Accused of organizing the bombing of a Tel Aviv supermarket, a second in a wedding hall in the city of Hadera, a third in Jerusalem's Madrahov Street in Jerusalem and a fourth targeting a car near Ramallah killing a child and a rabbi.
Abdallah Al-Barghouthi -- A Hamas engineer, he is accused of planning the bombing of the Moment Coffee in Jerusalem, the Sbarro pizza restaurant, a disco and an Israeli bus near Tel Aviv. In total he stands accused of killing 66 Israelis.
Abbas Al-Sayyed -- The military commander of Hamas in Tulkarem, he stands accused of orchestrating the bombing of the Park Hotel in Netanya which killed 30.
Ahmad Sa'dat -- General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP); He stands accused of orchestrating the assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rechavam Zeevy. The attack was said to be response to the assassination of PFLP General Secretary Abu Ali Mustafa earlier that year.
Ibrahim Hamid -- Stands accused of planning the bombing of Zion Square, Moment Coffee shop and the Hilel coffee shop in Jerusalem and of bombing a disco in Rishon Litzion and of a bus in Tsarfin.
Yahia Sanwari - Detained since 1988, his brother Mohammed is accused of organizing the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit after he formed Hamas' security apparatus.
Ahlam Tammimi -- The first Palestinian woman to join Hamas, she stands accused of assisting in the bombing of the Sbarro pizza restaurant which killed 15.
Amneh Muna -- Accused of abducting an Israeli youth after luring him into Ramallah via internet chat. She is also accused of killing the young man.
Qahera Al-Sa'di -- She is accused of transporting the man who executed a bombing operation in 2002 on Jerusalem's King George Street.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2009
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One of the public option's most vocal supporters in the House on Monday stressed she and her colleagues would fight "as hard as we possibly can" to ensure its inclusion in the final healthcare bill.
The government plan is sure to be one of the most difficult debates to resolve once House and Senate lawmakers confer and combine their bills early next year. But Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) made clear last night that other liberal Democrats would not accept the Senate's decision to strip its bill of both the public option and a proposed expansion of Medicare.
"A lot of us will be fighting and encouraging our conferees to hold tight for the public option," she told MSNBC. "We haven't given up on that. That's extremely important to a lot of people -- not just Democrats, but I mean Americans throughout this country.
"If we held to our position, it would certainly die in conference," Waters said, adding she was "hopeful" she could vote for the bill but ultimately had not read its most recent revisions.
The forthcoming conference committee to resolve differences between the House's and Senate's healthcare efforts is already shaping up to be a tough battle.
Some House Democrats still believe the chamber cannot pass a healthcare bill without a public option, while Senate Democrats insist that very provision -- or any changes to their current proposal -- could ultimately doom reform.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2009
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I fully expect the some form of public "option" to be in the "compromise" bill. They can probably find 50 votes for it in the Senate and the House has already demonstrated that they'll be no problem.
Don't be surprised if there's a waiver of the budget neutrality provision of the rules covering reconcilliation buried in this monstrosity somewhere. If not I'm sure a hack lefty economist will pop up to claim that socializing medicine will actually be cheaper than not.
#2
Oh they are already claiming its 'Revenue Neutral'. At least in '12 and '13. What they don't mention is that it will be only if they, in effect, rape Medicare and Medicaid of all their funding.
Yeah - right - I don't see that happening. But the promise will get the nose of a 'public option' under the tent and that is all the're need. In '12 and '13 the public would have forgotten the promise (with the help of the MSM) and would be grateful to the Donks for 'saving medicare!'.
#5
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) is a POS socialist racist. She needs to be removed from office. Her and her husband are being investigated for fraud. His bank was given special preference and given bailout money(allegedly) illegally. google it.
Posted by: Mike Hunt ||
12/23/2009 16:57
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view this on Ms Waters
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_Fsndjz9pw
Posted by: Mike Hunt ||
12/23/2009 16:59
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[Straits Times] THAILAND'S fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra has left Cambodia after spending more than a week stepping up his advisory role and meeting Thai supporters, an official said on Tuesday.
Thaksin, who arrived in Phnom Penh on Dec 13 for a second visit as an economic adviser to the Cambodian government, departed on Monday morning, said deputy cabinet minister Prak Sokhon. 'He left Cambodia yesterday at around 10am (0300 GMT, 11am Singapore time),' he said.
Officials would not disclose his destination. Thaksin, who was ousted in a 2006 coup, has based himself in Dubai and travelled widely since leaving Thailand in August last year to escape a two-year jail term for corruption.
During his stay in Cambodia, Thaksin addressed top government officials on how to boost investment, tourism and agriculture.
He also met scores of his 'Red Shirt' supporters from Thailand, where he remains a hugely influential figure, witnesses and officials said.
Relations between Thailand and Cambodia, who have fought a string of deadly gunbattles on their border since last year, plunged following Thaksin's appointment as an adviser last month.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2009
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Take note here. There is also friction between Cambodia and China. The squeeze is coming.
The home of a senior pro-reform cleric Ayatollah Yousaf Sanei was attacked by members of an Islamic militia and "plainclothes men" in the holy city of Qom on Tuesday, a reformist website said.
The Norooz site said attackers insulted Sanei, beat up some of his associates and broke windows. There was no immediate official comment. The reported incident took place a day after the funeral procession of Iran's leading dissident cleric, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri. It said the people gathered at the funeral were chanting anti-government slogans. Earlier on Tuesday, the semi-official Fars News Agency said pro-government theology students had staged a rally in Qom to protest "the insult against sanctities" during Montazeri's funeral procession. The news agency said the demonstration ended outside Sanei's home but it was not clear whether it was linked to the attack on Sanei's house as reported by Norooz.
The demonstrators chanted, "The city of Qom is no city for hypocrites," and signed a statement calling for Sanei to be defrocked, Fars reported. One of the signatories, cleric Ahmad Panahian, said: "The trenches of the hypocrites in Qom must be destroyed."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2009
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A new report on "Judicial Hellholes" arrives just in time, albeit indirectly, to remind Congress that no health-system changes can qualify as real "reform" if they don't include serious lawsuit reforms as well.
The annual report by the American Tort Reform Foundation, released Dec. 15, shows that President Obama's own Cook County, Ill., is the nation's third-worst place for lawsuit abuse. Maybe that helps explain why Obamacare, especially as translated by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, discourages lawsuit reforms rather than promoting them.
For instance, the Pelosi bill punishes states if they implement the most effective tort reform of all, namely a cap (or limit) on the amount of "non-economic damages" such as ever-vague "pain and suffering" awards. It also has a section (257) that encourages even more speculative lawsuits that in turn drive up health insurance premiums.
These issues are important not just for health care, but for the overall economy. As the "Hellholes" report notes in its executive summary, "Not coincidentally, the local or state economies in many of these 'Hellholes' jurisdictions have suffered more than most during the latest recession." Conversely, doctor availability, health care outcomes and economic growth all directly followed constructive lawsuit reforms in places like Texas and Mississippi (although some counties in Mississippi remain lawsuit nightmares).
Even Alabama, long among the worst of the Hellholes and even now on the borderline Hellholes "Watch List," made noticeable economic strides earlier this decade that seemed to coincide exactly with the success of some moderate tort reforms.
In October 2008, the Department of Commerce released a report noting that lawsuit costs as a percentage of gross domestic product are two to three times higher in the United States than in other developed nations. This report cited several major studies that show variations on the theme that "European companies doing business in the United States rank 'fear of legal liability' among their top concerns."
On the other hand, when lawsuit reforms are instituted, the situation almost immediately becomes less damaging. The Manufacturers Alliance and the Manufacturing Institute report that after President George W. Bush signed into law the Class Action Fairness Act in February 2005, annual American business tort costs dropped nearly 8 percent in 2006. These sorts of things make a huge difference in whether American businesses are competitive or not and thus how many people they can hire and how many workers' health care they can subsidize.
All of that leads us back to the "Judicial Hellholes" report for 2009-10: It's well worth a read. It shows that if you live in South Florida, West Virginia, the aforementioned Cook County, Atlantic City, N.J., New Mexico or New York City, your abusive lawsuit system is probably hurting your economy. That's all the more reason for your congressional representatives to refuse to vote for any government health care proposals that, like the House version of Obamacare, make lawsuit abuse even worse.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2009
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At least in many jurisdictions, you are not allowed to recover your legal costs as 'damages' if you win your lawsuit - they come out of your 'winnings'. 'Pain & suffering' tends to be the way the system compensates - you get your actual damages plus enough P & S to cover the lawyers' cut. Or most of it.
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Tuesday shows that 25% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Forty-six percent (46%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -21 That's the lowest Approval Index rating yet recorded for this President (see trends).
Fifty-three percent (53%) of men Strongly Disapprove along with 39% of women. Most African-American voters (58%) Strongly Approve while most white voters (53%) Strongly Disapprove.
Seventy-four percent (74%) of Republicans Strongly Disapprove as do 52% of unaffiliated voters. Forty-seven percent (47%) of Democrats Strongly Approve.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2009
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Most African-American voters (58%) Strongly Approve
Possibly some significance here when you take into account the nearly 95% of African-American voters who were reported to have voted for Barry. If 'voted for' is the same as "strongly approve" then the numbers appear to be down some 37%. My hunch is however, even if 95% strongly DISAPPROVED, they'd still give him a second term.
#3
We may have to call in poll watchers such as Carter or someone from Zimbabwe (sarc) to make sure ACORN or the BP don't keep people from voting or stuffing the ballot boxes.
#4
Rasmussen: Demographic Notes - Barack Obama Approval Index December 14, 2009: Seventy-two percent (72%) of Democrats now offer their approval while 80% of Republicans disapprove. Among voters not affiliated with either major party, just 36% approve.
Seventy-seven percent (77%) of liberals approve while 76% of conservatives disapprove. The bad news for the President is that there are a lot more conservatives in the country than liberals. However, he gets a bit of a boost because 57% of moderate voters still offer their approval.
The President earns approval from 37% of White voters and 98% of African-American voters.
Posted by: ed ||
12/23/2009 19:48
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[Ma'an] Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces opened fire on a car driven by an official in the pacifist Islamist movement Hizb Ut-Tahrir on Monday night, officials said.
Shots were fired at Maher Al-Jabari, one of Islamic Jihad's press officers, moments before he was arrested by PA security services near his office at the Palestine Polytechnic University in the West Bank city of Hebron.
In a statement about the incident, Hizb Ut-Tahrir said Al-Jabari was also assaulted during the arrest. He is now being held at an unknown location.
A PA security official told Ma'an that Al-Jabari failed to obey a police order to stop his car, and while trying to escape crashed his vehicle into three other cars.
The source, who insisted on anonymity, said PA officers fired in the air to force Al-Jabari to stop, he was then arrested and taken to a detention center. The official also noted that there was a standing order to arrest Al-Jabari on sight.
Last Thursday Hizb Ut-Tahrir reported that the PA surrounded Al-Jabari's house in Hebron in a bid to arrest him, but then left the area without doing so.
Hizb Ut-Tahrir's mandate calls for the reestablishment of an Islamic caliphate in Arab countries but shuns the use of violence. The group does not recognize the PA's authority.
The PA has clamped down on Islamist opposition throughout the West Bank since the take-over of Gaza by the Hamas government.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2009
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#1
the pacifist Islamist movement Hizb Ut-Tahrir
Oh, oh! Pinocchio's nose just grew by 3 feet.
Posted by: ed ||
12/23/2009 1:21
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Four Iraqi policemen have died and several others have been injured in the city of Baghdad and the provinces of Kirkuk, Nineveh, and Anbar as the country experiences another upsurge in violence.
A policeman was killed on Monday when he came under attack by unknown gunmen in front of a gas station in southern part of Kirkuk city. The gunmen escaped the scene in a vehicle and their whereabouts are unknown. Security forces cordoned off the area after the attack and launched an investigation.
A police officer also succumbed to injuries sustained last week in Kirkuk. "Lieutenant Mohammad Ahmad from the Kirkuk police department died on Monday at a hospital in Sulaymaniya. The officer had been wounded last Wednesday (December 16) in a sticky bomb explosion in al-Muallemin neighborhood in northwestern Kirkuk," a police official said.
In another incident, unidentified assailants shot dead an Iraqi police officer in Mosul, which is the capital of Nineveh province.
"On Monday afternoon, a policeman was killed by unknown gunmen in al-Majmoua al-Thaqafiyah region in northern Mosul," a local security source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
In addition, two Iraqi police officers were injured on Monday when a thermal bomb targeting an Iraqi army vehicle patrol went off in the al-Islah al-Zeraei neighborhood of western Mosul. The two wounded policemen were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Elsewhere, a policeman was killed when an explosive charge attached to his car detonated and destroyed his vehicle in the city of Fallujah, some 50 kilometers (31 miles) west of Baghdad.
The attack came as insurgent attacks have increased recently in the once volatile province of Anbar. The province has been relatively calm for more than two years after Sunni tribes and some anti-US insurgent groups decided to cooperate with US troops and Iraqi security forces to fight against the Al-Qaeda in Iraq network.
And in Baghdad, two more policemen were injured by a roadside bomb that was detonated as their patrol passing through the al-Adel neighborhood.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2009
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Flight Documents Detail a Complicated Itinerary That Included Tehran; Plane's Cargo Described as 'Oil Industry Spare Parts'
There's a cute little map at the link showing the itinerary. Scroll down to the bottom of the page.
A plane loaded with weapons from North Korea that was recently impounded in Bangkok was bound for Iran, according to documents obtained by arms-trafficking experts.
The destination of the Ilyushin-76, which Thai authorities have said carried 35 tons of armaments, has been unknown. Thai officials said the plane flew to Pyongyang via Bangkok to collect its cargo, then returned to Bangkok to refuel on Dec. 11. It was seized during that stop and its five crew members were detained by Thai police.
#2
Gee, I wonder if Svetlana has any connection to Viktor Bout. The string of shell companies is one of his trademarks but probably common in that line of "work".
#3
A flight plan for the IL-76, obtained by researchers in the U.S. and Belgium, shows that after Bangkok the plane was due to make refueling stops in Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates and Ukraine before unloading its cargo in Tehran.
Um, why would they fly past Tehran to take on fuel in Ukraine just to reverse course and go back to Tehran? Don't they take Discover in Tehran?
Something more here that we don't know about (go figure)....
Two prominent Florida Republicans have withdrawn their endorsements of Gov. Charlie Crist's (R) Senate campaign.
Reps. Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Mario Diaz-Balart had backed Crist in his Republican primary contest against Marco Rubio, at one point heralding the governor as an "effective senator for Florida."
But the two brothers unexpectedly pulled their endorsement weeks ago for reasons still unclear to voters. The Crist campaign removed their names from the endorsement list only Tuesday, reporters discovered.
In an interview with the Miami Herald, which first noticed the rescinded support, Lincoln Diaz-Balart merely said that Crist "left us no alternative and he knows why." He added that the governor's sagging poll numbers had nothing to do with his decision.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2009
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Gov.-elect Chris Christie and his transition aides are compiling plans to slash New Jersey state spending and state programs by as much as 25 percent in response to the continuous flow of dim financial news from the New Jersey Treasury Department, according to an internal document obtained by The Star-Ledger.
Even before he takes office next month, his team is looking for programs that can be eliminated entirely and calling on state administrators to find untapped federal funds to cover whatever they possibly can.
"Absent strong action, revenues and expenditures will likely remain out of balance for the foreseeable future," according to a Dec. 18 memo from the state Office of Management and Budget to all cabinet members and agency directors.
The letter was dispatched "at the request of the governor-elect's transition team" and said the deadline for responses is Jan. 6, nearly two weeks before Christie is to be sworn in. Christie, a Republican, defeated Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine in last month's election and has been critical of Corzine's spending practices and budget forecasts.
The latest cuts, aimed at closing a budget gap Christie estimates at $9.5 billion, would come on top of cuts ordered by Corzine to close a $1 billion hole in the current $29 billion budget. The governor has yet to reveal those plans but expects to do so before Christmas. Corzine has also frozen "discretionary" state aid to municipalities and arts groups, forcing them to scramble to pay bills.
Unlike the federal government, state law requires Trenton's spending and revenue to be in balance; deficits are not allowed.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2009
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Suggestions to make that 25 percent a start and not an end:
1) Eliminate defined benefit public pensions. Switch all to defined contributions plans. All employees without exception get switched to the new plans on Jan 1. That begins to fix your pension plan underfunding. This is one of the biggest drivers of state budgets, so fix it now.
2) Freeze all funds to public education at their current levels. Funding has been going up nationally by what, 8 to 10 percent a year? Are the schools 8 to 10 percent better each year? Didn't think so. Almost all of the increased funding goes into salaries for unionized school employees. I like teachers as much as anyone, but they're doing okay right now. Freeze funds and make the school boards live within their means.
3) Root out every state-level earmark; promise to veto all state legislation that has so much as a single earmark. Time for the legislators to get with it.
4) Freeze Medicaid at current levels. Yup, I'm in health care, but you have to freeze Medicaid at current levels. Most Medicaid money goes to nursing homes, not hospitals and doctors. That system needs cleaning up.
5) Freeze funding to prisons at current levels. Prison cells are a resource: they're expensive to build, expensive to maintain, expensive to operate. Now's the time to go through the prisons and release the people who don't belong (just about anyone convicted of a non-violent crime). Then you can figure out how many prison cells you need for the violent offenders who really need to be put away forever. The non-violent ones get community service, lots and lots of community service.
6) No funding for any pet projects. Period. You want high-speed rail? Wait another generation. You want a new medical school? Wait another generation. You want to buy up land for a new state park? Wait another generation. Now's the time to hunker down.
7) Privatize as much of state administration as possible. Just because you need to offer a public service doesn't mean you need public servants to run it. Indiana spun off the administration of their DMV to IBM. Costs less, better service, people are happy (except the public employee unions).
That's where I'd go if I were Christie, in addition to any other cost savings he has in mind.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/23/2009 13:30
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What percentage of NJ voters are on the receiving end of state spending (direct or indirect)? Can't win elections by cutting or capping spending. Especially when most of the spending is set into contracts. Same story regardless of jurisdiction.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Seventy-three Saudi soldiers have been killed, 470 wounded and 26 are missing since fighting broke out in November between Saudi forces and Yemeni rebels, a Saudi minister said Tuesday.
"The confrontation on the southern border" has resulted in "73 martyrs and 26 missing" soldiers, said Saudi Deputy Defense Minister Prince Khaled bin Sultan in comments broadcast on television from a media conference in Al-Khoba in the southern Jizan province.
"We believe that 12 of (the missing soldiers) were killed, while we do not know about the fate of the other 14," Prince Khaled said.
" The number of wounded has reached 470, the majority of whom have been treated and released "
Deputy Defense Minister Prince Khaled bin Sultan"The number of wounded has reached 470, the majority of whom have been treated and released, while 60 remain in hospitals," he added.
This is the first time Saudi Arabia has given a death toll for the fighting between Saudi forces and Yemeni Shiite rebels, also known as Houthis, which began more than a month and a half ago. On November 3, rebels killed a Saudi border guard and occupied two villages inside the kingdom's territory.
Saudi jets began bombing Houthi positions the following day.
Prince Khaled said that the bulk of operations were now over, but noted that a small border village called Al-Jabiriyah was still under Houthi control.
"They have 24 hours to surrender, or we will destroy them," he said, referring to the rebels occupying the village.
While the conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis began recently, fighting between the rebels and the Yemeni government has occurred sporadically since 2004.
The latest round broke out after government troops launched "Operation Scorched Earth," an all-out assault against the rebels, on Aug. 11.
Saudi Arabia and its U.S. ally worry that al-Qaeda is trying to use Yemen, as a launch pad for attacks in the kingdom and beyond.
There is no evidence supporting Yemeni allegations that al-Qaeda has links to the Houthis, but some diplomats and analysts say the Sunni militant group might try to use the rebels or at least exploit the chaos in the border area.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2009
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"Saudi Arabia and its U.S. ally worry that al-Qaeda is trying to use Yemen, as a launch pad for attacks in the kingdom and beyond."
Gee, what gave us the impression that Yemen could do such a thing? It's not like a safe house in Yemen was used to coordinate between Al Qaeda and the 19 hijackers in America before 9/11. And it's not like Bin Laden's father was Yemeni. Oh..wait..
Posted by: American Delight ||
12/23/2009 6:47
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and the USS Cole happened in a port in Yemen
Posted by: chris ||
12/23/2009 12:11
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BOGOTA, COLOMBIA -- A Colombian governor kidnapped by leftist rebels was killed shortly after he was snatched from his home in a rural southern state, authorities said Tuesday. The acting governor of Caqueta state, Patricia Vega, told local radio that officials had confirmed that Caqueta Gov. Luis Cuéllar had been killed. He was dragged from his home by armed rebels Monday in a nighttime raid.
The kidnapping of Cuéllar underscores how the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC -- Latin America's oldest guerrilla insurgency -- remains capable of high-profile operations despite being battered to its weakest position in decades by President Álvaro Uribe's U.S.-backed military offensive.
Armed rebels dressed in military uniforms blasted through the door of Cuéllar's house in a southern city late Monday, killed a police guard and forced the governor into a vehicle, officials said.
"We felt a blast and a lot of shots," Cuéllar's wife, Imelda, told local radio. "They dragged him down the stairs like he was an animal."
The rural state has traditionally been a FARC stronghold. Authorities said the FARC's Teofilo Forero unit was responsible for the kidnapping, a reminder of the darker days of Colombia's long conflict, when lawmakers and politicians were easy prey for rebel hostage squads.
"Every military and police effort must be made to ensure a rescue," Uribe told reporters. "We cannot be held captive by the whim of terrorists -- terrorists who bathe the country in blood and who trick us everyday."
The FARC once controlled large parts of Colombia, Latin America's fourth-largest oil producer. But urban bombings and kidnappings eased after Uribe sent troops to take back areas from armed groups funded by cocaine trafficking. Foreign investment soared as cities became safer, kidnappings dropped and soldiers took back rural areas once off-limits to petroleum and mining companies for security reasons.
The FARC is still a force in rural areas. But the rebels have increasingly turned to ambushes and the use of land mines as they are driven back deep into the mountains and jungles.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/23/2009
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Um, what are the chances that Chavez sees the FARC as his Viet Cong, and all of his stomping about, fuming about Columbian provocations, are preparing the battlespace for insertion of Venezuelan NVA analogs into Columbia? I mean, he calls his little fascist party "Bolivarian", meaning not the crap-ass Andean country but Simon Bolivar, who certainly thought of all of north-western South America as a single nation, Gran Columbia.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
12/23/2009 9:24
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[Dawn] Four suspected militants were killed in Swat's Karakar area, DawnNews reported security sources as saying Tuesday. Two soldiers were also injured, sources said.
According to the Swat Media Centre, a group of militants were attempting to enter Buner from Swat. However, security personnel intercepted them en route, resulting in a fierce clash.
In the ensuing exchange of fire, four suspected militants were killed while two security personnel were injured.
Two Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), two Klashnikovs, wireless sets and a sub-machine gun were also seized from the militants.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2009
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[Al Arabiya Latest] French judges could release an Iranian agent jailed for the murder of a former prime minister as early as next month, his lawyer said Tuesday, after France accused Tehran of seeking a prisoner swap.
On Monday, France's Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Iran wanted France to free convicted assassin Ali Vakili Rad in exchange for the release of 24-year-old French researcher Coltilde Reiss, who is on trial in Tehran.
Reiss, a young teacher who was accused of taking part in anti-government protests, is due to appear in court on Wednesday in Iran and her family is hoping for a rapid verdict and her return to France.
Iran's ISNA news agency quoted the public relations office of Tehran's Revolutionary court as saying the "second stage of the trial dealing with Clotilde Reiss's charges" would be held on Dec. 23.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/23/2009
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If France wants Coltilde released then grab the spawn of an Ayatollah. There are plenty around sinning their way across Europe.
Posted by: ed ||
12/23/2009 1:26
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
U.S. banks that spent more money on lobbying were more likely to get government bailout money, according to a study released on Monday.
Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, responded Tuesday to widespread criticism that Democrats only garnered the 60 votes needed to defeat Republican stalling tactics on the health reform bill by catering to self-interest, saying Democrats are focusing on the big picture; "trying to cross a demarcation line." 
[The News (Pak) Top Stories] Seven militants were killed and five others sustained injuries when jet fighters targeted their hideouts in upper part of the Orakzai Agency on Tuesday.
Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson, after securing a sweetheart deal for his state as part of the health insurance reform bill, said Tuesday that three other senators have told him they want to bargain for the same kind of special treatment. 
A large winter storm with the potential to dump a foot or more of snow is grinding its way toward Minnesota, and its arrival is likely to mess up travel plans, complicate last-minute errands and ensure a very white Christmas.
