Less than three months after Saudi Arabia said it would permit women to participate in the London 2012 Olympic Games, it has reportedly reneged on their agreement, barring women from entering the Games.
The move will also threaten the country's overall participation in the Olympics, with the International Olympic Committee saying that all countries must field female athletes as part of their teams.
The decision has been roundly criticized by human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch (HRW), which said in a press release that the move is counter to the Olympic Charter, which says, "The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit."
HRW said it shouldn't be too surprising, however, as state-run schools offer no physical education for girls and only men belong to sports clubs in the country.
"In fact, government restrictions on women essentially bar them from sports," a new report says, HRW reported.
#1
Bar the men too and any of their fans. I'm sure that the level of play will be the same in any meaningful competition.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/19/2012 14:28
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And, any Saudi women who might be entered into the Olympics would never satisfy the performance standards to be eligible, of course. I think they've gotten a bit picky since Eddie the Eagle.
Of course, Human Rights Watch doesn't really care about deadlier forms of discrimination against women. I mean, 90% of Egyptian women have been mutilated....
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
02/19/2012 14:55
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[MEMRI] Tehrik-e-Taliban Punjab recently announced the launch of jihad in India's Jammu & Kashmire state, which witnessed two decades of Pakistain-sponsored Islamic militancy since 1989. However, man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them... in the years after 9/11, the bad turban activities in Jammu & Kashmire have declined significantly.
The Tehrik-e-Taliban Punjab, which is part of the Pak Taliban's umbrella group Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP), includes non-Pashtun hard boyz from various jihadist organizations based mainly in Pakistain's Punjabi province.
According to a report published by an Indian website, several officials of Tehrik-e-Taliban Punjab announced the launch of jihad in Jammu & Kashmire, stating that while previously they had been backed by Pak intelligence agencies, this time they would fight on their own.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2012
13:21 ||
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A U.S. shipping company with ties to the Iranian oil industry has spent years donating money mostly to Democrats, as have family members of one of its founders.
Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc. (OSG), the world's second largest publicly traded oil tanker company, recently capitulated to public pressure and said it would cease business dealings with Iran. Until last week, however, several of the company's crude oil vessels were docking at Iranian ports, thereby skirting U.S. sanctions meant to limit American companies' interaction with the regime, Bloomberg reported.
Members of OSG's founding family--as well as its political action committee--are prominent financiers of the Democratic Party, donating nearly $1 million to various candidates and causes over the past decade. Their disbursements raise questions about the prevalence of Iran-tainted money in the political sphere.
Together, the Recanati clan--whose now-deceased patriarch Raphael Recanati co-founded the company and which still owns a significant portion of OSG's stock--has contributed nearly $1 million to prominent Democrats such as President Barack Obama Why can't I just eat my waffle?... and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, ... sometimes described as The Heroine of Tuzla and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another William Jennings Bryan ... and to organs such as the Democratic National Committee.
Michael Recanati, the son of Raphael, is perhaps the most prolific Democratic funder giving more than $805,000 to Democratic candidates and organizations over the last decade, public documents reveal.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/19/2012
13:17 ||
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#2
Also on Video, DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > US TO IRAN: WE WILL END YOU NUCLEAR PROGRAM [WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT].
DPK POSTER/BLOGGER = opined that Iran will likely first acquire the technology to domestically produce Nuclear Weapons, BUT WON'T BUILD ANY IMMEDIATELY???
* SME > IRAN POISED FOR BIG NUCLEAR EXPANSION [at Fordo], DIPLOMATS SAY, under the auspice of NucEnergy.
To possess the COVERT ABILITY/CAPABILITY to quickly produce Military-related NucWeaps WIDOUT ACTUALLY DOING SO [for now].
* SAME > COALITION TO KICK AMERICA OUT OF THE REGION. Iran-Afghan-Pak Trilateral Summit in Islamabad.
* SAME > IRANIAN PRESIDENT URGES UNITY AMONG REGIONAL STATES AGZ WESTERN PLOTS.
For a map, click here. For a map of Nuevo Leon, click here. El Sol de Mexico reports 44 dead, information from the prison warden, Updating to add new information
A riot in a Nuevo Leon prison has killed 44 inmates and has wounded several others according to preliminary Mexican news accounts.
The riot took place at the Centro Readaptacion Social CERESO) in Apodaca, Nuevo Leon, which is a suburb of Monterrey.
The riot started at about 0200 hrs, according to anonymous accounts, because inmates were unhappy they were being transferred to other prisons. Fighting broke out between incarcerated Los Zetas and Gulf cartel inmates. Authorities are still searching for bodies.
Problems started when inmates in Cellblocks D set mattresses and personal items afire. The riot then spread to other Cellblocks including C. Inmates took one guard hostage, but later released him. The prison houses about 3,000 inmates. Elements of Nuevo Leon's Fuerza Civil along with state police agents assisted in quelling the riot, which took those elements two hours to accomplish.
An official news conference is expected at about 1300 hrs CST.
Nuevo Leon governor Rodrigo Medina de la Cruz is expected to attend an Army Day Army ceremony Sunday afternoon at a new Mexican Army base for the 22nd Infantry battalion only 200 meters from the CERESO. It is unknown if he will make remarks about the riot.
TEHRAN - Iran has stopped selling crude to British and French companies, the oil ministry said on Sunday, in a retaliatory measure against fresh EU sanctions on the Islamic state's lifeblood, oil.
"Exporting crude to British and French companies has been stopped ... we will sell our oil to new customers," spokesman Alireza Nikzad was quoted as saying by the ministry of petroleum website.
Sounds like an opening for middlemen...
The European Union in January decided to stop importing crude from Iran from July 1 over its undisputed nuclear program, which the West says is aimed at building bombs. Iran's oil minister said on February 4 that the Islamic state would cut its oil exports to "some" European countries.
The European Commission said last week that the bloc would not be short of oil if Iran stopped crude exports, as they have enough in stock to meet their needs for around 120 days.
Thank goodness they deposed Daffy. Imagine what he'd do with Libyan oil if he were still around for this...
Industry sources told Reuters on February 16 that Iran's top oil buyers in Europe were making substantial cuts in supply months in advance of European Union sanctions, reducing flows to the continent in March by more than a third - or over 300,000 barrels daily.
France's Total has already stopped buying Iran's crude, which is subject to fresh EU embargoes. Market sources said Royal Dutch Shell has scaled back sharply.
Among European nations, debt-ridden Greece is most exposed to Iranian oil disruption. Motor Oil Hellas of Greece was thought to have cut out Iranian crude altogether and compatriot Hellenic Petroleum along with Spain's Cepsa and Repsol were curbing imports from Iran.
Iran was supplying more than 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) to the EU plus Turkey in 2011, industry sources said. By the start of this year imports had sunk to about 650,000 bpd as some customers cut back in anticipation of an EU ban.
Saudi Arabia says it is prepared to supply extra oil either by topping up existing term contracts or by making rare spot market sales. Iran has criticized Riyadh for the offer.
Iran said the cut will have no impact on its crude sales, warning that any sanctions on its oil will raise international crude prices.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/19/2012
11:25 ||
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Saudi Arabia says it is prepared to supply extra oil
It'll be interesting to see if the Soddies step up to the plate and do the right thing or just do their usual posturing like a Thai prostitute making out with an Iranian assassin.
And the British and French can buy their oil from where Iran's "new" customers were previously buying it. The problem is that oil is pretty much oil with a few exceptions. So when Iran decides to sell to someone else, that frees up the oil that "someone else" was buying to be bought by others. It doesn't change the amount of oil in the market.
The director of a community hospital in Pattani province was gunned down in his own home on Sunday night.
The Mayo district police chief said the incident occured at about 9 p.m. when two terrorists men knocked on the door of the house of Saman Masae, 42, director of Tambon Thanon community hospital, asking to buy medicine. The house also served as a clinic. When Mr Saman opened the door, one of the two terrorists men opened fire at him at point-blank range, striking him in the head and the chest. The terrorists assailants fled on a motorcycle.
Mr Saman was seriously wounded and died on the way to Mayo hospital.
A suicide bomber blew himself up in front of a Baghdad police academy Sunday, killing 15 people and injuring more than 20 others. An interior ministry official said, "A suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt blew himself up at the entrance of the police academy on Palestine Street."
A top Indonesian terror suspect captured in the Pak town where the late Osama bin Laden ... who sleeps with the fishes... was later killed insists he was unaware of the al-Qaeda leader's presence there, according to the video of his interrogation obtained by The News Agency that Dare Not be Named.
The man has been singing like a bird for a while. Someone ought to buy him a nice dinner.
Alleged master bomb maker Umar Patek also described his frustration in re-establishing myrmidon ties in his quest to go to Afghanistan and fight American soldiers. His remarks, if true, would further bolster evidence that Southeast Asia's Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist movement, responsible for the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings, is now largely cut off from its long-standing al-Qaeda sponsorship, thanks in part to a relentless crackdown that has largely decimated their ranks.
A top Indonesian terror suspect captured in the Pakistani town where Osama bin Laden was later killed insists he was unaware of the al-Qaeda leader's presence there, according to the video of his interrogation obtained by The Associated Press.
Alleged master bomb maker Umar Patek also described his frustration in re-establishing militant ties in his quest to go to Afghanistan and fight American soldiers. His remarks, if true, would further bolster evidence that Southeast Asia's Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist movement, responsible for the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings, is now largely cut off from its long-standing al-Qaeda sponsorship, thanks in part to a relentless crackdown that has largely decimated their ranks. (AP)
The Iranian finance minister announced that Iranian Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi has suffered from a heart attack, Fars news agency reported Sunday.
All those who'd bet it was time for a stroke, pay up. Also whoever was plumping for an airplane crash. Better luck next time, guys.
Does no one in an Islamic state die of acute cirrhosis anymore?
#1
If he is still alive, it is "bad luck", so doesn't count. Being the finance minister, he's under a bit of stress right now. The police probably have his picture at all airports, in case he tries to bug out.
Iran has pretty much entered "evil overlord" rules territory. In this case, where the big boss says he will now "demonstrate the price of failure", just before he shoots the flunky *next* to the flunky who has screwed up.
Israel ranked eighth on Gallup's list of Americans' favored countries; Iran ranked last
Something for President Obama and the Democrats to ponder, a story consider their options in this election year.
A Gallup poll found that Americans are feeling more favorably toward several of the United States' major allies in 2012 than they have in the past.
This year's ratings for Canada (96%), Australia (93%), Germany (86%), Japan (83%), and India (75%) are all record highs for those countries in Gallup trends that stretch back at least a decade.
The survey found Great Britannia (90%), La Belle France (75%), and Israel (71%) rated near their all-time highs.
More generally, the survey showed, nearly all of the countries that garner majority unfavorable ratings are located in the Mideast or in Asian countries outside of that region.
Egypt's rating recovered somewhat to 47%, after slipping to 40% in 2011 from 58% in 2010.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Alamo, Davy was counting their remaining cannon balls and not liking the results... Soddy Arabia's rating has increased to 42% from 37% a year ago and is the highest for that country since February 2001, when it was 47%.
Surprisingly, Cuba's favorable rating rose to a new high of 37%, placing it well ahead of Libya (25%), Iraq (24%), the Paleostinian Authority (19%) and Syria (17%).
Countries appearing at the bottom of the favorability list include Pakistain (15%), Afghanistan (14%) and (13%).
Iran is the least well-regarded country measured this year, with 10% of Americans viewing it favorably and 87% unfavorably.
#1
I'm not so sure about Canada. After years of oppressing America with a surfeit of Canada geese, they are now sending down waves of snowy owls to oppress our mice and miniature poodles.
#4
The bacon makes up for the geese and snowy owls. Other than that, Canada doesn't export their problems over the border. That's nice too.
BP: Being such an esteemed, august Professor of Constitutional Law, B.O. ought to be aware that there was a time when Americans were not too keen on Britain either. In fact, I think some shots were fired, possibly in anger, and then that Constitution-thingy came about. If for no other reason, you'd think he'd show a bit more enthusiasm for it.
The New York Police Department monitored Mohammedan college students far more broadly than previously known, at schools far beyond the city limits, including the elite Ivy League colleges of Yale and the University of Pennsylvania, The News Agency that Dare Not be Named has learned.
Police talked with local authorities about professors 300 miles (480 kilometers) away in Buffalo and even sent an undercover agent on a whitewater rafting trip, where he recorded students' names and noted in police intelligence files how many times they prayed.
Detectives trawled Mohammedan student websites every day and, although professors and students had not been accused of any wrongdoing, their names were recorded in reports prepared for Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.
Asked about the monitoring, police front man Paul Browne provided a list of 12 people tossed in the slammer or convicted on terrorism charges in the United States and abroad who had once been members of Mohammedan student associations, which the NYPD referred to as MSAs.
"As a result, the NYPD deemed it prudent to get a better handle on what was occurring at MSAs," Browne said in an email. He said police monitored student websites and collected publicly available information, but did so only between 2006 and 2007.
Oh. We are getting the vapours over something that briefly occurred half a decade ago. Have the reporters nothing more important to do?
#1
This was actually "over colorful" in its description of stereotypes, which in retrospect was all too common in the first half of the 20th Century. Especially in such things as eugenics.
"How to tell who will become a criminal/homosexual/defective based on their background", is actually a pretty nasty way of thinking.
Especially since after the war, some of those same people described as "Nazi types", heroically fought against the Nazis, with many dying in the process.
The article was published in August of 1941.
What the author was probably trying to do was not to talk of Nazi stereotypes as much as to criticize the Roosevelt administration's New Deal embrace of "fascist economic models", and "socialist realism".
Again, in retrospect, America had only seen the tip of the Nazi iceberg. No one at that time could have imagined the eventual horrors that were discovered about the Nazis; such horrors that to even suggest a fellow American had such sympathies would be a horrific slander, beyond the pale and universally condemned.
Something the Democrats of today seem to have forgotten.
Were this article written today, it would still not be a good comparison. Perhaps to use the Italian fascist model would be better, because it was both more personality driven and seemingly "softer". (Only due to Italy still being crippled from World War I.)
#3
I see prejudice is alive today just as it was 70 years ago. Of course, the Southerner is "The Other" and naturally will join the Nazis given half a chance.
#4
This was actually "over colorful" in its description of stereotypes, which in retrospect was all too common in the first half of the 20th Century. Especially in such things as eugenics
I'll grant that point on the article's overall tone, 'Moose. But check out the description of "Mr. L," the powerful labor leader:
L makes speeches about the third of the nation, and L has made a darned good thing for himself out of championing the oppressed. He has the best car of anyone in this room; salary means nothing to him because he lives on an expense account...No one has ever asked him what are the creative functions of a highly paid agent, who takes a percentage off the labor of millions of men, and distributes it where and as it may add to his own political power. (Emphasis mine-RbR)
That's no stereotype - it's an excerpt from Andy Stern's resume.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
02/19/2012 14:08
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"That's no stereotype - it's an excerpt from Andy Stern's resume."
I was thinking of Bambi, Ricky. >:-(
Posted by: Barbara ||
02/19/2012 14:32
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#6
Andy Stern--Another(and F-uglier)knuckle-dragging, progressive thug prince-ling with an inflated sense of entitlement. Prolly a 3rd-Generation labor-union "motivator" scum-bag.
Zero Hedge has presented the work of Bulgarian modern artist Yanko Tsvetkov previously, both in 2010 and 2011. We are happy to see that his work which is meta irony on the weakest link of European culture: centuries worth of stereotype formation and development, has finally made its way into the mainstream media with the Guardian's "Stereotype maps: Is that what they think of us?" We are even happier to see that Tsvetkov has released a new one: a Crystal Ball view of Europe in 2022 which is his cartographic exercise in forecasting the political layout of Europe. While it is mostly an exercise in irony, we have to admit that the probability of him being spot on is high to quite high. We would however point out that by 2022 the "Europe Union" will be a satellite region of Russia, or as it will be better known then, Gazpromia.
* RENSE > DEPLETING THE SEAS OF FISH, widin our Lifetime as per Marine Biologist Boris Worn, among other Artic Perts, as due to GWCC, Overfishing, + OverPollution, etc + our OWG-NWO's inability to control or regulate same.
The World's Oceans = Fish Specias/Biomass are akin to a "WATERY DESERT" STEADILY INCREASINGLY "EVAPORATING" + LIKELY TO CRASH WIDIN A FEW YEARS.
HMMMM, HMMMMM, does help to explain some weird feelings or instincts I had as per old Dreams/Visions, WHERE I "OBSERVE" PEOPLE ON THE OCEAN/SEAS DOING PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES BUT YET I ALSO SENSE AT THE SAME TIME THAT SOMETHING IS WRONG OR NOT QUITE RIGHT WID THE WATER.
Little to no Fishies = no Seaweed, Plankton, Corals, etc. either.
Peak Oil + Peak Water + Peak Food [land] + Peak Trees/Wood + Peak Fish + ........???
D *** NG IT, JUST ANOTHER OWG-NWO GOVTS, PERTS CONSENSUS THAT THERE IS NO CONSENSUS, ERGO THE WORLD IS SAFE.
----------
FYI TOPIX/WORLD NEWS > NEW SCIENTIST: OCEAN CURRENT SLOWDOWN MAKES EARTH SPIN FASTER.
* SAME > "ISLANDS-ON-LAND" COULD MAKES TOWNS TSUNAMI-PROOF. Whole "Archipelagos" may equate to Cities.
Wid [post]GPS + Green, Space Techs.
D *** NG IT, HOW CAN CARABAOS CONTACT THE MOON COLONY WIDOUT THEIR HEADSET LASER ANTENNAS!
OTOH, SE ASIAN + LOWER AMERICAS' OFFSHORE OR RIVERINE VILLAGES-ON-STILTS MAY WANNA SEE, HIRE COPYRIGHT ATTORNEYS.
Iff my Dreams/Visions of the future hold true, GUAM may see this on its shores one day.
#5
Hi Joe, You've outdone yourself here tonight, my Brother.
I've always loved the zany wackiness of many of your comments. They can be so cryptic and obscure at times, but always affirm our mutual commitment to preserving the USA as we knew it prior to Pharaoh 3 years ago.
Up to 50 British "volunteers", including white Christian converts and British-Somali men, have been recruited to fight for Al Shabaab, the al-Qaeda inspired Somali terrorist group.
Intelligence experts believe the British volunteers form the core of an international force of foreign fighters drawn from the United States, Canada, Europe and East Africa.
Government officials now fear that the failed state is rapidly becoming a recruiting ground for British Jihadists in much the same way as Afghanistan was in the 1990s.
MI5 already ranks Somalia as one of the top three countries in the world, alongside Yemen and Pakistan, that poses a potential terrorist threat to Britain.
The Security Service fears that British volunteers who survive the bloody civil war may return home as hardened terrorists eager to launch attacks against the UK.
More
Check out the beautifully coordinated lad leading off the front of the line in the photo, all done off the colours of the rows of bullets artfully twined around his body. And if my eyes can be believed, that overshirt has been starched and ironed a treat! That one, my dears, will not be soon walking home to terrorize the natives. And the ones who do won't have the look of Joe Tourist back from safari, I should think.
#3
Since it is near impossible to deport even the most egregious of such scum without costing the crown a million pounds, they would save a boatload of money by encouraging thousands of them to join the struggle in Somalia.
Hell, the government should pay for their one-way, non-refundable tickets, after issuing them rapidly biodegrading passports that turn to dust after a week.
The West Bank and Gaza Strip is home to hundreds of tech companies, creating everything from websites to smart phone apps
"In the hip Ramallah coffee shop ZAMN, Yousef Ghandour laments the slow Wi-Fi as he launches the beta version of one of his many start-ups, a social networking site that allows users to travel through time to find connections.
Mr. Ghandour, who never wastes a moment, shares the e-books he is currently reading on his iPhone (among them, "Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap ... and Others Don't"), shows off his blog, and lingers for a moment on his latest vision for a social networking site for Muslims called AnaBasili, or "I'm praying."
"People are really passionate about entrepreneurship and putting Palestine on the map using technology," says Ghandour, a software engineer who is helping to create and brand an emerging community of technology entrepreneurs in the Palestinian territories. They call themselves Palestinian geeks, or peeks."
Hip Coffee shops? Entrepreneurs? Palestinians High tech starts ups? But, but, but... What about the open air prison? What about the humanitarian crisis? What about the starving Palestinians?
For some, the commitment to helping the Palestinian people goes beyond the BDS cult, beyond the literal attacks on Israel. For some, helping the Palestinians means building infrastructure and creating jobs, with the goal of building a nation.
"The Sadara Fund, the first venture capital fund focused on the Palestinian territories, launched last year with an initial $28 million to invest in Palestinian start-ups. At the time, Sadara estimated that more than 300 tech companies were operating in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, employing about 3,200 people."
Actually, I have no problem with colleges offering classes on the Occupy movement. What's pissy is how the progressives have championed a violent, hateful movement that so far has had zero political impact, in contrast to the tea party, which clearly had a dramatic impact on the 2010 election and is still significant, despite media claims to the contrary. The push for an Occupy curriculum is just one more depressing example of how badly radicalism has infected higher education.
#1
I think it would be hilarious if someone created the rumor that OWS was turning into a suicide cult, like "Heaven's Gate" cult, and were planning a "mass event", that would "Show them. It will show them ALL!"
Most of the OWS attendees are spoiled slackers and freeloaders, and the idea that the free food and drink they would get might be poisoned would be a major turn-off.
#3
Anonymoose good thought. Flees and lice are a good and current problem in the cities. I remember in emergency waiting room the staff sprayed everything down because a person was loaded with all manor of evil nasty things. Makes you think about public transport or services.
#4
Clolump: I disagree. It's in direct conflict with universities' financial self-interest. By the time a student graduates with debt, the university has already been paid. Thus, forgiving government subsidized/guaranteed student loans would seriously threaten that continued stream of boodle. Which happens to be the only reason universities have enough cash to fund such useless garbage to begin with. The administrators are smart enough to know this, but the professors are not.
So I read this as just more of the same old 60's radical perfectability-of-man navel-gazing: "let's make some trouble, bitch and scream about some discomfort - hardly matters anymore - call it a movement, then go back to university to teach everyone about how righteous we were!"
A BOMB blast in Pakistan's troubled northwest killed six members of a tribal militia set up to combat militants, and wounded three others, an official said.
The bomb, in the lawless Khyber tribal district on the Afghan border, was planted by local militant group Lashkar-e-Islam, which is led by warlord Mangal Bagh, said local government official Khalid Mumtaz.
"It was a planted bomb and was detonated when the anti-militiamen reached a private checkpoint" run by the militants, who had deserted the checkpoint, Mumtaz said.
Islamist bombers and gunmen have killed more than 4,800 people across Pakistan since government troops raided an extremist mosque in Islamabad in July 2007.
The Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, is warning against an Israeli pre-emptive military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities. In an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS, which will air on Sunday and of which portions were released Saturday, Dempsey said, "I think it would be premature to exclusively decide that the time for a military action was upon us."
an honorable mention at the Tony awards. Good theater is so under-appreciated.
Posted by: abu do you love ||
02/19/2012 19:48
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#3
Sanctions and premature shouldn't even be included in a US CJCS vocabulary...I'm feeling even MORE screwed day-by-day as we become ripe for almost total anarchy here in The Land of The Free and the Home of The Brave...(tiny dots=Troll poodle droppings)
#3
a few days ago Hillary made a statement against FGMutilation; if Hillary makes a statement against anti gay violence in UN context which makes it plain that it applies to the Islamic world, it should certainly raise our opinion of her a bit
of course, shouldn't Obama be making these statements too and in the same context
Posted by: lord garth ||
02/19/2012 8:16
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#4
I have to give some kudos to the homosexuals living in some Muslim countries for having the guts to challenge the regime, but doing it smart enough to get away with it.
For example, in Egypt, a whole group of homosexuals would rent a "party barge" that would float in the middle of the Nile. Then they would hold a party.
When the police showed up in boats to bust the "homosexual party", they would see it coming from a long way away, destroy any evidence, and all deny that they were homosexuals and demand the police show evidence that they were.
When the police would point out that the only obvious evidence was that they were all men, they would to the police, and later in court, loudly protest, that to have a mixed gender party, by Sharia law, is clearly *immoral*, and they would never do such a thing.
Very crafty. And if found guilty by the Sharia court, while their punishment was not particularly great, they could then proclaim that both the police and the Sharia court were demanding illegal conduct between unmarried people of different genders.
#8
Islam is a gynophobic religion. So what does that tell you about the men who subscribe to that faith?
Not to mention that sexual abuse is rampant in madrassas.
And of course Mohammed was not only gay, but he was a disgusting pervert
Posted by: Barbara ||
02/19/2012 14:37
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#15
"So bed-room monitoring is a legitimate role of the state?"
Apparently Bambi thinks so, BP. :-(
Not just Bambi; Santorum also has his panties in a wad...
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/19/2012 15:07
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#16
I think the difference between B.O. and Santorum hinges on the extent to which they believe the state may legitimately interfere with personal sexual preferences. Santorum may have his panties in a wad, but I don't hear him calling for MORE regulation.
#17
@ tipper (#8) so you're telling us that Mo'who had 12 wives, some as young as 10 years old, was actually gay?
It would appear so according to the hadiths at the link I provided.
Also he married Aisha when she was 6. He would perform frottage on her (placing his penis between her thighs and rubbing until he ejaculated) until she was nine then he commenced penetrative sex with her.
#2
Years ago, some hacker type suggested what was called an "assassination pool".
When such a pool is created, it appears as a website on some server in a third world country, and appears to be a benign and ordinary text page. Word about it and where funds are to be sent is spread only by word of mouth, never electronically.
The anonymous "host" puts up a text page listing the name of potential assassination targets and a number representing a dollar amount. That is all. Anonymous individuals electronically send $500 (or more) bets along with a date/time when they think the assassination will happen. In exchange they get a code number.
If they just want to contribute to the pool for a particular victim, they set the date/time within a few days, forfeiting their bet to drive the amount up. Then, a real assassin sends in a date/time, unknown to anyone but the host, and if the target dies closest to that, then the assassin gets the pooled funds.
Thus one or many individuals can anonymously create, with an anonymous assassin, a contract to kill a target, with a known amount of money.
Importantly, while the *assumption* was that this would be directed at political leaders, nothing prevents *excluding* political leaders, and going after known terrorists and terrorist backers.
This changes the entire character of the pool, from assassination, per se, to a "private bounty", to take out such people, who often governments refuse to either pursue or eliminate.
A senator from the state of Veracruz has filed another complaint with the Procuradoria General Republica (PGR) over the MP $25 million (USD $1.9 million) in cash seized at a Mexico state airport last month.
Partido Accion Nacional (PAN) senator Juan Bueno Torio filed a complaint Thursday demanding the PGR investigate the origins of the money seized January 24th at Toluca, Mexico airport.
Bueno Torio's complaint is the second one filed by a PAN politician. PAN president Gustavo Madero Munoz filed a complaint with the PGR January 31st requesting an investigation into the origins of the money.
Two Veracruz state political operatives were caught by Policia Federal agents attempting to transport the money aboard a Veracruz state owned aircraft January 27th. The Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) governor of Veracruz state, Javier Duarte de Ochoa has protested from the start the money was intended for a private promotions company in Mexico to be used in three upcoming festivals. A contract was later produced by the company putatively receiving the cash showing an option for payment to be in cash.
However, since the two operatives, identified as Miguel Morales Robles and Said Sandoval Zepeda, were caught travelling on a Friday night, the explanation of a payment to be delivered on a Saturday doesn't track. Additionally, neither of the operatives were listed in the government directory of Veracruz state, which is a legal requirement.
Since the arrest, a standoff has developed between the Veracruz government which has requested return of the cash and the PGR which now has a second complaint demanding investigation into the origins of the cash.
PAN party operatives seem to be focussing on the nexus between the destination of the money, Mexico state,and its former governor frontrunning PRI presidential candidate Enrique Pena Nieto. Nieto has been the target of charges in the past in which he allegedly used public funds to help political campaigns in other states.
Mexico state is among the top five most heavily indebted states in Mexico, the same with Coahuila state ruled by another top PRI operative, disgraced PRI president Humberto Moreira Valdes, who oversaw an unprecedented run up in public debt -- the highest per capita in Mexico -- during his tenure as governor.
Moreira has also been charged by his political opponents with using part of the money to fund PRI political campaigns in 2010.
It was Madero Munoz piling on pressure along with other PAN politicians in Coahuila that eventually led Moreira to resign his post after only 10 months.
Governor Duarte de Ochoa has been charged in the past in Mexican press with being a part of a scheme of receive public monies from his predecessor, Governor Fidel Herrera Beltran, to aid in Duarte de Ochoa's run for governor of Veracruz in 2010.
Impeachment proceedings were implemented, it is said at the urging of president Felipe Calderon Hinojosa, but ultimately too late to stop Duarte de Ochoa's election.
Durate de Ochoa has also been charged by a writer from Proceso leftist weekly, for hiring operatives to engage in "black propaganda" against his rival, PAN candidate Miguel Angel Yunes Linares. The funds allegedly used in that part of Duarte de Ochoa's campaign was routed through Argentine banks.
In Mexican elections, negative campaigning is illegal.
Ships from Iran's 18th fleet cross Suez Canal, dock in Syria for second time in a year, Mehr reports.
Two Iranian warships that passed through the Suez Canal earlier this week docked in Syria on Saturday, Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency reported.
The ships from Iran's 18th fleet - which is comprised of a Khark supplier and Shahid Naqdi destroyers - had stopped in Jedda, Soddy Arabia earlier this month, according to Iran's state Press TV.
Earlier Saturday, Iranian Admiral Habibollah Sayari told a crowd of military leaders and naval personnel that the ships had crossed the Canal for the "second time since the Islamic revolution," according to the Iran's official IRNA.
Iran and Syria agreed to cooperate on naval training a year ago, and Tehran has no naval agreement with any other country in the region.
Two Iranian warships sailed along the strategic waterway on February 17 last year, in a move that Israel called a "provocation".
#1
Iff Iran's Navy hopes to achieve its dream of a formal Mediterranean + Atlantic presence, then it has a stake in Baby Assad in Syria + Hezbollah in Lebanon staying put, + of course 'Arab Spring" = destabilz taking place in Saudi Arabia.
#2
What a golden opportunity. If there was any possible way for anybody to sink one of these ships while at dock, attributing it to the rebels, it would be the intelligence coup of the decade.
It would humiliate Assad, piss off and hurt the Iranians, upset the Russians, and there are so many ways to enhance the effect for "extra points" that it would take a day just to figure them out.
It wouldn't matter who did it, the Israelis, US Navy SEALs, the Brits, the French, or even private contractors. As long as the rebels were Johnny-on-the-spot to claim responsibility, the efforts to blame Israel and the Jews, the automatic response, would be seen as laughable throughout the Mideast.
#3
The Iranian navy is irrelevant. If their ships are to be sunk, sink them while they are underway so that nobody is ashore. Whatever you do, don't have the Seals board the Iranian ships. I expect that then smell really funky.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/19/2012 14:14
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Since February 13 Mexican Army units have seized or destroyed 12,093.6 kilograms of marijuana, 1,000 kilograms of unprocessed marijuana, 14 kilograms of opium gum, 19.8 kilograms of poppy seeds. eight kilograms of glass methamphetamine and $154,862.00 (USD $12130.37) in cash.
A Mexican Army unit of the 7th Military Zone on patrol arrested five unidentified individuals with firearms in Monterrey municipality February 13th. Included contraband seized were 10 rifles, 121 weapons magazines, 1,085 rounds of ammunition and 31 grenades.
As part of the Veracruz Seguro security operation in Veracruz state, an army unit with the Mexican 26th Military Zone, while on patrol in Xalapa, Veracruz, February 13th, arrested 13 unidentified individuals in possession of arms and munitions including eight rifles, ammunition, weapons magazines and tactical gear.
A Mexican Army unit with the 6th Military Zone, while on patrol in Allende municipality of Coahuila February 13th located an abandoned truck loaded with marijuana. The total amount seized was 4,140 kilograms in 409 packages.
Army units with the Mexican 8th Military Zone seized nearly two metric tons of marijuana in Tamaulipas state February 13th in two separate incidents.
An army road patrol near the village of Rancherias in Camargo municipality found 150 packages of marijuana underneath a tarp in a pasture. The total weight of the drug seizure was 1,150 kilograms.
On Libramiento Presidentes near the village of Los Guerra in Miguel Aleman municipality, a Mexican Army unit located 303.6 kilograms of marijuana hidden in some brush
February 14, a Mexican Army unit with the 13th Military Zone on a road patrol near the village of Venado in Nayar municipality in Nayarit state executed a traffic stop seizing 14 kilograms of opium gum and 19.8 kilograms of poppy seeds. Soldiers also seized one handgun, one handgun magazine, seven rounds of ammunition and one vehicle. One unidentified individual was detained.
One armed suspect was killed, four other armed suspects were wounded and a Mexican Army soldier was killed in a firefight near the village of El Camaron in Anahuac municipality in Nuevo Leon February 13th. Soldiers had been fired on by an armed group of unknown size. An unidentified kidnapping hostage was also also released by the soldiers. Seized in the aftermath were 13 rifles, one hand grenade, 139 weapons magazines, 1,973 rounds of ammunition, and tactical and communications gear.
In Veracruz state, units with the Mexican 19th and 29th Military Zone detained four unidentified individuals and seized a number of weapons and munitions in several incidents February 14th. Contraband seized included three rifles, three handguns, weapons magazines, one telescopic sight, communications gear and two stolen vehicles.
An army unit with the Mexican 9th Military Zone while on patrol near the 7 Gota ejido in Culican municipality of Sinaloa state seized more than 1.5 tons of marijuana February 16th. The unit found the drugs in 168 packages totalling 1,700 kilograms hidden in bushes.
A Mexican Army unit with the 5th Military Zone came under small arms fire from armed suspects travelling aboard three vehicles near Julimes municipality in Chihuahua state. Soldiers returned fire and initiated a pursuit after suspects abandoned their vehicles and fled into the bush. Seized following the encounter were three rifles, one handgun, six weapons magazines, 132 rounds of ammunition and one stolen vehicle.
A detachment with the Mexican 45th Military Zone found a tractor trailer rig in Nogales, Sonora with more than two metric tons of marijuana inside. Soldiers detained one unidentified individual and seized marijuana totalling 2,300 kilograms,which was hidden inside boxes containing chili peppers.
Units with the Mexican 7th Military Zone seized a number of contraband items and rescued an unidentified kidnapping victim in four separate operations February 16th and 17th in Nuevo Leon state.
In Apodaca city seven unidentified suspects were detained and a number of contraband items were seized including one vehicle, four weapons, 32 weapons magazines, 1,878 rounds of ammunition and 10 cell phones at a raid on a residence. One unidentified female kidnapping victim was rescued.
In Galeana city, two unidentified suspects were detained in possession of two computers, one computer printer, two computer hard drives, MP $4862.00 (USD $388.42) and USD $9.00 in cash.
In Cadereyta-Jiminez and in Salinas Victoria soldiers detained eight unidentified suspects, one stolen vehicle, telecommunications gear and personal quantities of marijuana.
Army detachments with the Mexican 15th Military Zone discovered a hidden drug laboratory in Jalisco state February 16th. The lab was found in Duraznera colony in Tlaquepaque municipality. Seized items included eight kilograms of glass methamphetamine, 1.100 kg of caustic soda, 800 liters of chemicals, 540 liters of formalin, 400 kilograms of ammonia hydrochloride, metal containers, two welding machines, one oxygen tank and eight vehicles.
Units with the Mexican 24 Military Zone seized a number of contraband items in two separate operations February 17th in Morelos state.
Acting on a citizen's complaint, an army detachment was dispatched to Ocotepec municipality where soldiers found an abandoned vehicle. Included materiel seized were heroin weighing about one kilogram, eight handguns, 19 rifles, 4,075 rounds of ammunition, 153 weapons magazines, one stolen vehicle and tactical and communications gear.
In Coatlan del Rio an army detachment detained two unidentified individuals who were reportedly extortionists. Soldiers seized MP $150,000 (USD $11,741.95)
A Mexican Army detachment with the 12th Military Zone in cooperation with Policia Federal and San Luis Potosi state police intelligence units dismantled a Los Zetas criminal group cell in the village of Mexquitic in Carmona municipality. Eight unidentified gang members were detained including the leader identified only as La Guera.The group had been engaged in a panoply of criminal activities including kidnapping, extortion, illegal evictions and co-optation of local police authority. Seized following the arrests were six rifles, three handguns, 72 rounds of ammunition, three weapons magazines, personal quantities of cocaine and marijuana, four vehicles, two safe houses, MP $4,770.00 (USD $373.39) and six cell phones.
Badanov's Burnt Blunt Special
Mexican Army units attached to the 13 Military Zone raided a location in Nayarit destroying two marijuana growing operations. The raid took place February 18th hear the village of Las Varas in Compostela municipality, where soldiers found and destroyed by fire five hectares of marijuana, as well as 2,500 kilograms of marijuana and 1,000 kilograms of unprocessed marijuana.
And there was great rejoicing. Also great mourning, but it serves them right.
It has been left to others, most notably Woolsey and Ridge, to make the substantive case for the NYPD's anti-terrorist policies. In an op-ed in The New York Daily News (and rejected by the Times), the two argue that the NYPD's undercover terror prevention program, including intelligence-gathering within the Mohammedan community, has been one of the prime tools allowing the NYPD to foil several credible threats that have arisen from within the community. And given that even one successful terror attack in New York City could claims tens of thousands of lives, the NYPD cannot afford to decrease its intelligence-gathering activities.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations ... the Moslem Brüderbund's American arm ... is calling for the dismissal of New York City Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly and the appointment of an outside inspector-general to run the police force. CAIR and other so-called "mainstream" Mohammedan groups have a long-standing grievance with Kelly and the NYPD arising from a 2007 NYPD Intelligence Report entitled "Radicalization in the West: the Homegrown Threat" and the NYPD's ongoing surveillance of radical Islamic organizations, including mosques.
But the immediate club being used to hammer Kelly is his participation in a documentary entitled The Third Jihad. The New York Times ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... has devoted numerous news stories and two editorials to The Third Jihad, which is described as "anti-Islam" and "a dark film on US Mohammedans" whose producers seek to advance a pro-Israel agenda.
The Times coverage failed to mention the long roster of authorities interviewed for the film, including the director of the CIA under president Bill Clinton, James Woolsey, the first secretary of Homeland Security, Gov. Tom Ridge, and a host of former US government intelligence officials. The title The Third Jihad was provided by the most eminent living historian of Islam, Professor Bernard Lewis.
Continued on Page 49
ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan is optimistic that regional power Pakistan will help the Kabul government advance a reconciliation process with the Taleban, the Afghan president's spokesman said on Saturday.
Pakistan, seen as crucial to efforts to end the war in Afghanistan, has repeatedly said it wants peace in its neighbor. Afghans, however, have always correctly been suspicious of Pakistani intentions because of historical ties between Pakistani intelligence and insurgent groups like the Afghan Taleban.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan were strained for months after the assassination in September of Afghan peace envoy and former president Burhanuddin Rabbani. Afghan officials blamed Pakistan's intelligence agency, allegations angrily denied by Islamabad.
But talks this week between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani leaders in Islamabad were encouraging, said Karzai's spokesman, Aimal Faizi.
"We noticed a big change among the Pakistanis. The atmosphere is much better," Faizi said in Islamabad. "We are more optimistic than before that they will support us." Faizi said Karzai made several demands when he met top Pakistani officials.
All that says is that the Paks are up to something. I'd double the bodyguards and get an extra food-taster...
He would not list them but Afghanistan is known to want access to Taleban leaders belonging so the so-called Quetta Shura, named after the Pakistani city where it is said to be based. They would be the decision makers in any substantive peace negotiations.
Pakistan has consistently denied giving sanctuary to insurgents and denies the existence of any Quetta Shura, or leadership council.
"Lies! All lies!"
Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said after a recent trip to Kabul that a lot of ill will between Kabul and Islamabad had eased.And she indicated Pakistan would encourage militant groups seeking to topple the US-backed Kabul government to pursue peace if asked by Afghanistan.
The apparent change in mood comes at a critical time when the Afghan government is exploring ways to reach the next stage of reconciliation - negotiations with the Taleban. So far, there have only been contacts, Afghan officials say.
The Afghan Taleban announced last month it would open a political office in Qatar, suggesting it may be willing to engage in negotiations that could likely give it government positions or official control over much of its historical southern heartland.
Karzai's government supports any talks that take place in Qatar, but it wants to widen the reconciliation process to other countries because that could make the effort more comprehensive.
Faizi said Afghanistan had a preference for holding the next phase of the reconciliation process in Saudi Arabia and Turkey. "We want these two countries to facilitate the real (formal) talks," he said.
Might as well talk in Saudi-controlled Arabia. That way the financiers can be in at the ground level of talks...
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/19/2012
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#1
I'm sure that the Taliban will accept any deal brokered that they perceive as a step toward the Taliban being able to execute anyone that disagrees with them, a return to all women wearing the turquoise sofa covers and mandatory thong underwear for all little boys.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/19/2012 14:04
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#2
"Paks, Afghans continue to yammer about peace which piece who will get"
FTFY.
Posted by: Barbara ||
02/19/2012 14:28
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DAKAR, Senegal: Senegalese riot police fired tear gas at protesters Friday on a main commercial boulevard in the capital, after the countrys opposition went ahead with a protest in defiance of a government ban.
Demonstrators are calling for the departure of 85-year-old President Abdoulaye Wade, who is running for a third term in next weeks election.
His actuarial survival is about five years starting at age 85. How long is the term of office?
The increasingly tense atmosphere on the ground has many concerned that there may be unrest if Wade is declared the winner of the vote. He has told reporters he expects to win with a clear majority.
On Avenue William Ponty, police used grenade launchers to throw volleys of tear gas down the wide boulevard, at one point hitting a mosque full of worshippers. Small groups of youths tried to defy them, with a dozen or so braving the police cordon.
They held their arms up in an X, a symbol used by the opposition to denote the bound hands of the people in this normally placid nation of 12 million. Liberate the people, they screamed, before being chased back by the police.
Senegal is just a week away from a much-anticipated presidential election, the first in five years. Electoral law allows candidates to hold rallies in the pre-election period, but the interior minister issued a statement this week saying that he had refused to authorize the protests because of the threat to public order. He described the various demonstrations that have disrupted daily life in Senegal for the past two weeks as a crime spree by vagabonds.
On Wednesday and Thursday, police sparred with the packs of protesters who set fire to tires, pulled down lamp poles, smashed signs and set alight the wooden tables used by market women to sell their wares. Abdoul Aziz Diop, a spokesman for the M23 coalition of opposition parties, said that their supporters had refused to respect the ban because it is unconstitutional.
A 61-year-old woman who is part of the opposition was led away by police, screaming as reporters crowded around to interview her. Madiguene Cisse had fought since the 1980s to help get Wade elected, and voted for him in 2000 when he first came to office, in an election that marked the end of 40 years of socialist party rule.
Its not easy to uproot a baobab tree that has been there for 40 years, she said outside the central commissariat, after she was released. At the end of our pain, we expected things to change. Wade when he was in the opposition used to tell the youth, if you dont have a job raise your hand. Well, our hands are still in the air.
The president, who is a few months shy of his 86th birthday, has angered the population by refusing to step aside at the end of his second term. If he wins the Feb. 26 election, he will be in office past his 92nd birthday in a nation where the average life span is 59. He is also running for a third term, even though he oversaw a revision of the constitution in 2001 that imposed a two-term maximum.
And just revised again. Funny how that works out in dictatorships. There's always a reason why the country needs the stability and leadership that only El Jefe can provide. Ask Pencilneck and Saleh...
Compared to demonstrations elsewhere in Africa, the ones in Senegal have been restrained. Four people have been killed in two weeks of unrest, compared to the death toll in election violence last year in Ivory Coast, in which dozens were killed in the same period of time. The violence here is jarring, though, because of Senegals history, which has long been a model of stability in the region.
Unlike in Ivory Coast, in Congo, in Guinea and in Nigeria all countries where recent election violence led to a brutal crackdown resulting in a high death toll police in Senegal generally use only tear gas and rubber bullets to control the crowds. Even after a policeman was stoned to death with cinderblocks at a recent protest, security forces did not retaliate with anything more than truncheons, tear gas and water cannons.
But in a worrying sign on Friday, reporters saw a policeman open fire with a pistol after rioters hurled rocks at a police truck, causing one of the officers to fall off the side on Lamine Gueye Avenue. No one was hurt by the live rounds. People later retrieved the bullets, holding them up angrily in front of TV cameras.
Shopkeepers barricaded their stores and the vendors who normally hawk their wares on William Ponty were standing to the side, their goods bundled up.
We are people that make ends meet by selling things on the street, said 60-year-old Mountaga Diallo, a plastic bag full of plastic bottles hoisted over his shoulder. Our country isnt rich. Theres no gold. Theres no diamonds. ... This entire week, Ive earned nothing. ... We can be poor, but if we dont even have peace than we are really in trouble.
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Egypt stops smuggling of fuel into Gazoo Strip resulting in semi-shutdown of Gazoo power station. Paleostinians refuse Israeli oil deal offer
Gazoo is suffering a major energy crisis. Since Tuesday and in the midst of plummeting temperatures Gazoo's power station has been operating for only several hours a day, as locals are subjected to power cuts lasting as many as 12 hours a day.
Israel has recently approached bigwigs in the Paleostinian Authority offering to sell the PA enough diesel oil to keep the power plant operating, but the Paleostinians are refusing, Ynet learned.
The Gazoo Strip is entirely dependant on the oil-fired power station. Egypt has recently closed smuggling tunnels through which fuel was smuggled into the Strip.
Until 2010, the Paleostinian Authority purchased diesel oil from Israel through a deal with Dor Alon paid for by the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... . Ramallah and Gazoo began fighting on energy supply after Europe stopped its funding of the deal.
Paleostinian sources are pointing to three explanations for the cessation of fuel supply: Recent attacks by Bedouin tribes and terror cells against Egyptian elements; Egypt's desire to increase profits on fuel; and an attempt by Cairo to signal to Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, to accept the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... as head of the provisional Paleostinian government. They explained that Cairo knew what points in Gazoo to pressure when dissatisfied with Hamas' conduct.
Meanwhile, ...back at the precinct house, Sergeant Maloney wasn't buying it. It was just too pat. It smelled phony... reports suggesting that the energy crisis is a sham are starting to surface in Gazoo. Khalil Abu Shamala, director of the Addameer Center for Human Rights said that Gazoo has enough diesel oil to operate the power station and that a large amount of fuel was transferred into the Strip earlier this week. Gazoo's energy authority denied the claims.
#1
4th explanation: Everyone, including Egyptians, are getting tired of the Paleo's shit. They are parasites and irritants, 'specially Hamas
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/19/2012 11:06
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#2
I doubt that anyone other than the US and Israel are frustrated with the Paleo's to the extent of changing their outlook or policies. The EU will tolerate the shenanigans in the same way that the Democrats tolerate Kucinich, Maxine Waters, the SEIU or Occupy Wall Street. More likely that post-Mubarak bribing norms ahve not been established.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/19/2012 13:46
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QUETTA: Two security personnel were killed and nine others wounded in a remote- controlled blast near Dera Bugti on Saturday. The banned outfit Baloch Republican Army (BRA) claimed responsibility for the attack that targeted security forces. Sources said unidentified people had planted an explosive device in the Sangsela region of Bugti Tribal Territory. They detonated it using a remote control when a vehicle of paramilitary troops was passing by.
Two security personnel died instantly while nine others sustained injuries. The vehicle was also destroyed in the explosion. A heavy contingent of security forces rushed to the spot and launched a search operation in the area. No arrest had been made until the filing of this report. BRA spokesman Sarbaz Baloch telephoned newsmen from an undisclosed location and claimed his organisation had carried out the attack.
Meanwhile, a police van was partially damaged in another remote-controlled blast in Chatter area of Nasirabad on Saturday, police said.
The van of the Mir Hasan police station was on its way from Chatter to Dera Murad Jamali when it met a remote-controlled blast. No casualties were reported, although the vehicle was partially damaged in the blast. Police cordoned off the area following the explosion and registered a case against unidentified people.
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Eight judges looted in Bahawalnagar
Reported in Jinnah eight civil and district judges were looted by seven dacoits in a singUule attempt in Bahawalnagar in Bahawalpur. The brother in law of the local district and sessions had died and all the judges flocked to his house for condolences. The seven dacoits stopped them on the way back on gunpoint and looted all their belongings. One dacoit was killed after the police intercepted him while the rest got away. This was considered a record in the history of lower judiciary anywhere in the world.
Aitzaz Ahsan lost his honour
Daily Pakistain reported that a number of religious scholars including Sajid Mir were of the opinion that Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan had lost the honour he had won during the lawyers' movement to restore the judiciary when he undertook to defend the presidential immunity because in Islam there was no immunity to any head of the state.
Nawaz paying Mansoor's lawyer
Opposition PPP leader in Punjab Assembly Raja Riaz was quoted by Express as saying that Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... was actually paying the fee of Akram Sheikh representing Mansoor Ijaz after reaching secret understanding with the latter who was perceived to be very effective in the Supreme Court, which Mansoor Ijaz had no way of knowing. He said Mansoor should be placed on ECL and not allowed to leave Pakistain.
Presidential office threatened by judiciary
Lawyer-leader Asma Jahangir told daily Pakistain that if the Court did not accept the immunity of President Zardari under the Constitution, no president would be safe in his office. She was of the opinion that the government should have approached Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell... courts and raised the question of immunity there. If the judiciary did not speak in a vacuum then the Supreme Court should realise that there was a state within the state in Pakistain, she said.
Taliban kill if the opinion ignored
Daily Pakistain reported a Taliban spokesperson Ehsanullah that if the Taliban point of view was not reported by journalists then they would be killed just as Mukarram Khan a news hound of Voice of America was. Mukarram was told a number of times that he should also report the point of the Taliban.
Wukla persons shout support for Chief Justice
Daily Jang reported that while Prime Minister was appearing before the Supreme Court to defend himself against contempt of court a group of wukla persons outside the court shouted support for Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and condemned the prime minister and his lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan. Unruly lawyers called wukla in Pakistain have been known to indulge in rowdy behaviour, at times also threatening the judges and throwing flower petals on killers.
Bungalow for Musharraf's killer
Quoted in Jinnah Shahzain Bugti stated that whoever would kill Musharraf upon his arrival in Pakistain would paid by him $100 million worth of bungalow with complete security. Ex-president of Pakistain had meanwhile announced that he had postponed his arrival in Pakistain on the advice of his friends because of the distraction offered by the PPP-judiciary row.
Nawaz's son-in-law condemns minority community
Reported in Mashriq senior PMLN leader Captain (retd) Safdar stated that the martial law of General Musharraf was not military but Qadiani hinting that it was a conspiracy unleashed by the minority community condemned in Pakistain as non-Mohammedans. He said Pakistain was threatened by conspiracies the day a Qadiani was made foreign minister, pointing to Pakistain's first foreign minister Sir Zafrullah Khan.
Khosa calls Musharraf 'purani jooti'
Senior Adviser of the chief minister of Punjab Zulfiqar Khan Khosa was quoted by Mashriq as saying that General Musharraf had become an old shoe (purani jooti) which had been discarded by Pakistain as being of no use any more. He said he was a part of the country's past while the real crisis today was the delay in the holding of fresh elections.
Iran specifies stones for killing women
Monthly magazine Naya Zamana reported that in 2002 the chief justice of Iran had banned stoning of women to death (rijm) but still the punishment was carried out. According to the penal code of Iran a woman has to be buried up to her neck before she is stoned by a crowd of righteous citizens. The size of the stone should be big enough to hurt her but not too big so as to cause immediate death. The stoning should last from 20 minutes to two hours.
Ijazul Haq's wealth
Writing in monthly Naya Zamana Syed Naseer Shah referred to ex-air chief Zafar Chaudhry's memoir in which he described that when General Akhtar Abdur Rehman, late head of the ISI was in college, he protested at the hostel's overcharging him five rupees. Later the sons of General Zia and Akhtar Abdur Rehman were friends after their fathers' death together in Bahawalpur crash but soon there were differences during which one son of General Rehman disclosed that Ijazul Haq had only $40 million.
Ladies with fake degrees in Punjab Assembly
According to Mashriq cases had been registered against five lady members of the Punjab Assembly because their BA degrees were found to be fake, on the advice of the Election Commission of Pakistain. One lady belonged to the PPP while four belonged to PMLN, the majority party. There were further 14 cases with the Election Commission.
Benazir didn't want Zardari in politics!
Quoted in Express ex-PPP member Naheed Khan said that because of her closeness to Benazir she knew that she never wanted her husband Zardari to come into politics. She added that she was shocked by Zardari suddenly being stricken by love for Aitzaz Ahsan.
Mian Bashir rescues Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the sharpest bulb on the national tree...Writing in Jang Haroon Rasheed stated that it was clairvoyant Mian Bashir who always told Imran Khan that he would succeed in completing his cancer hospital even after the rich donors had retreated and the hospital was threatened as a project. At this time Mian Bashir sent Imran to the common man who gave him $3 million. Today, people like Ahsan Rasheed had arrived from Soddy Arabia as helpers.
Veena gets wooed by 95,000 men
Famous star Veena Malik told Express that 95,000 men had proposed to her for marriage through applications. She said her opponents were spreading wrong propaganda against her but she was intent on her achieving her goals.
Gas from Thar coal not feasible
Writing in Jang Dr Mirza Ikhtiar Beg said that he had welcomed Dr Mubrakmand's project of extracting gas from the deep beds of coal in Thar region in Pakistain but had been corrected by experts who said that such a deep gasification was not feasible given the level of technology in the world. Dr Mubrakmand who is a nuclear scientist was earlier attacked by the father of Pakistain's nuclear bomb DR AQ Khan saying in his article that Thar coal electricity would not be commercially feasible.
Lateef Khosa attacks Imran!
Governor Punjab Lateef Khosa was quoted by Mashriq as saying that Imran Khan was saying that politicians should bring their wealth back from abroad (read President Zardari) but he was not able bring his two sons back from the UK. He said PPP government was unfazed by rumours that it was going.
Continued on Page 49
Well-known playboy and occasional critic of his father's regime, Kim Jong-nam has been kicked out of luxury hotel in the Chinese gambling hub of Macau, according to a Russian newspaper. The Arguments and Facts weekly claimed Jong-nam ran up a bill of £9,500 but was unable to pay because his credit card had been cancelled.
Jong-nam's decadent lifestyle saw him ditched as the heir-apparent in favour of his younger half-brother Pudgy Kim Jong-un.
"He gave us his Visa Gold card but it ended up having no money on the account," the mass-circulated paper quoted an unnamed source at the hotel as saying. The management of the five-star Grand Lapa Hotel, run by the Mandarin Oriental chain, then expelled the 40-year-old from his 17th-floor room, the paper said.
I'm just a little surprised that the Norks didn't send an assassination team, but then this is Chinese soil so perhaps they didn't want to offend their leash-holder...
Bloody the carpet of a five star hotel chain? Not wise. Wait until he's moved into something considerably downmarket, like under a bridge. It won't be long -- his life experience does not point to a talent for practical decisions.
"We have no comment on this issue at this moment. Our PR department people are not here and they are not dealing with this," the duty manager of the hotel told the Daily Telegraph on Friday.
They won't be dealing with this when they do get there...
When pressed, the duty manager, who gave his name as Marcos, abruptly put the phone down.
Jong-nam's cash flow problems follow a recent interview he gave to a Japanese newspaper in which he claimed his father, who died in December last year, was against passing on his power to a third generation.
"[Heredity succession] does not fit socialism and my father was against it," he told the Tokyo Shimbun last month.
Speculation is now rife that Pyongyang's politburo severed the state funds awarded to the country's infamous prodigal son, who is a frequent visitor to the southern Chinese special administrative region of Macau and well known in the small territory's numerous casinos and plush restaurants.
Jong-nam was being groomed to succeed Kim Jong-il - but he deeply disappointed and embarrassed his father in 2001 when he was caught trying to visit Japan's Disneyland on a false passport. Can ya blame him? Tokyo Disneyland really is a Magic Kingdom(tm)!
The same official said Jong-nam's luxury apartment that he rented for his wife was paid for by the Chinese secret service while his spending money came primarily from North Korea.
If we had a CIA worth anything at all, we'd put him up in a suite in Vegas for at least as long as it took us to squeeze him dry of everything he knows. I'd even let him see a Wayne Newton floor show if it would help...
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/19/2012
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Perhaps the CIA could FORCE him to watch the Wayne Newton show until he talked.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
02/19/2012 0:14
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#2
Maybe he could become Michael Moore's gay lover and make money on the leftist lecture circuit.
#4
I am pretty sure that squeezing him dry of what he knows on any useful subject would take less than 30 seconds. After that you would be boring yourself with what beer he prefers with which wing sauce. He has enough ego and lack of sense for Fox to hire him and team him as Geraldo's underling. He already has the hat for the job. You would probably have to tell them each privately that they are in charge. After the situation gets boring you could deed him over to the Democrats to run in Kucinich's district after he retires. He might be considered a policy wonk in comparison.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/19/2012 11:33
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#5
At least, unlike our out-of-work princes, he isn't making stupid proclamations about global worming or the wonders of Izlam or that government money thrown toward the economy wasn't enough or how their graduate degree is worthless...
#6
His hat has been working on my subconscious. I think he should be Chelsey Handler's side kick. I don't think she would care about his drinking. They could possibly hook-up in the end as neither appears to have high standards.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/19/2012 13:30
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#7
I have a hat kind of like that. Except mine looks much cooler!
Explosive device with unmistakable Iranian trademarks found and dismantled near border fence
Photo of the thing at link.
Engineering Corps officers have spent the past few weeks studying a powerful bomb placed alongside other charges near the border fence and meant to target an IDF force. The explosives were successfully dismantled.
The device was found to contain unmistakable Iranian trademarks similar to previously intercepted weapons with Revolutionary Guards stamps on them which had made their way to the Gazoo Strip.
A military source from the IDF's Gazoo Division explained that the army has previously discovered devices it suspects were manufactured in Iran, but that in this case there was no doubt the explosives were Iranian-made.
"It's interesting but not surprising to find an Iranian device. Most devices are locally manufactured and few are smuggled in. Another 100 or 200 foreign devices will not change the picture," the source said.
The past year has seen in drop in the amount of explosives uncovered by the army in Gazoo with an average of 50 explosive fields detected a year. The majority of the devices did not detonate and were discovered by scouts and Engineering Corps combatants and with the help of the Military Intelligence Directorate.
The devices are usually dismantled by a robot unless there is fear it will detonate, in which case snipers or tanks handle the matter. "The device is the least important part in an explosives field. What is more important is how the devices are placed, disguised and activated."
AMMAN/BEIRUT: Syrian security forces fired live ammunition to break up a protest against President Bashar Assad in Damascus on Saturday, killing at least one person, opposition activists said. The shooting broke out at the funerals of three youths killed on Friday in an anti-Assad protest that was one of the biggest in the capital since a nationwide uprising started.
They started firing at the crowd right after the burial. People are running and trying to take cover in the alleyways, said a witness, speaking to Reuters in Amman by telephone.
The opposition Syrian Revolution Coordination Union said the gunfire near the cemetery had killed one mourner and wounded four, including a woman who was hit in the head.
A shopkeeper told Reuters many protesters were arrested.
Up to 30,000 demonstrators had taken to the streets in the capitals Mezze district, near the headquarters of Airforce Intelligence and that of the ruling Baath Party, witnesses said.
Footage of the funeral broadcast on the Internet showed women ululating to honor the victims. Mourners shouted: We sacrifice our blood, our soul for you martyrs. One, one, one, the Syrian people are one.
Youtube footage from the Damascus suburb of Douma showed several thousand protesters at the funerals of two people said to have been killed there by security forces. The bodies were carried though a sea of mourners waving pre-Baath Syrian flags.
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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Saturday condemned a resolution introduced by a US lawmaker calling for self-determination in restive Baluchistan province.
Only Pakistan is allowed to meddle in the internal affairs of its neighbors. Sez so in the Quran; you could look it up...
"This resolution violates our sovereignty and we condemn it," Gilani told reporters in a televised interaction with media in the port city of Karachi.
Republican Representative Dana Rohrabacher said that Baluchis divided now among Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan should be allowed to choose their status.
Baluchistan province in southwest Pakistan suffers from violence linked to the Taleban, sectarian extremists and Baluch rebels, who rose up in 2004 for political autonomy and a greater share of the region's oil, gas and mineral deposits.
A resolution Friday sponsored by Rohrabacher and two fellow Republicans said the Baluchi people "have the right to self-determination and to their own sovereign country, and they should be afforded the opportunity to choose their own status." There was no sign of significant support for the proposal by Rohrabacher, a longtime critic of Pakistan's government who sought unsuccessfully to cut off all aid after US forces found and killed Osama Bin Laden on Pakistani soil.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar described it as an "isolated move by a few individuals." "It was aimed to create distrust between the peoples of the two countries," she said in a statement.
Khar expressed the hope that "this latest tendentious move will not be allowed to sail through the House by a vast majority of US Congressmen who continued to support friendly relations between the two countries." Pakistan similarly accused the United States of meddling in its affairs after Rohrabacher, who heads an investigative subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, recently called a hearing on Baluchistan.
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Thai police on Saturday found a cycle of violence that may have served the Iranian faceless myrmidons in their plot to attack Israeli targets in Bangkok, the Bangkok Post reported.
A police source said the cycle of violence was bought for 26,400 baht.
More details here, though they may not be important.
A rocket fired by gunnies in Gazoo towards Israel on Saturday instead went kaboom! on a Paleostinian home in the Gazoo Strip, but there were no casualties, AFP reported.
The rocket reportedly went kaboom! prematurely and damaged a house.
The report came after three additional rockets were fired from Gazoo towards Israel, including one Grad-type rocket that was went kaboom! near Beersheba.
No injuries or damages were reported in those attacks.
#1
It says something when you can shoot a rocket at a country from an enclave IN the country, and miss the whole country.
No damage was reported - but then, how could one tell?
RIYADH: A senior Saudi official on Saturday called on the Taliban to lay down their arms and renounce al Qaeda as preconditions for Saudi-mediated peace talks with the Afghan government.
Saudi Arabias conditions for mediation are that the Taliban lay down their weapons, engage in the political process and renounce al Qaeda, the official told AFP. These are our three demands, and they have not changed in three years, he added.
The Taliban, leading a 10-year insurgency against Afghan President Hamid Karzais government, have denied reports of planned peace talks in Saudi Arabia, despite claims by Afghan officials that the two sides would hold talks in the kingdom separate from those planned in Qatar. Taliban negotiators have begun preliminary discussions with the US in Qatar on plans for peace talks aimed at ending the decade-long war. They have also announced plans to set up an office in Doha. In late January, Afghan government spokesman Akim Hasher said, Kabul has always preferred Saudi to Qatar.
A member of the Talibans leadership council has told AFP the idea that the Taliban should have a point of contact in Saudi Arabia was being pushed by the Pakistan and Afghan governments.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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It would be more meaningful if they renounced Islam.
Posted by: American Delight ||
02/19/2012 14:48
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The Taliban are refusing to renounce AQ because it operates in Afghanistan under the banner of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
Besides, as per the Trilateral Summit = Iran-Afghan-Pakistan in Islamabad, in the Taliban's view things in future may get all chummy between the three Govts-States, espec vee Trilateral cooperation + unity, etc. agz "US-led", "pro-Israel/Zionist" "Western Plots".
SEOUL -- North Korea on Saturday rejected South Korea's offer to hold Red Thingy Cross talks on reunions of separated families, saying Seoul should first respond to its demand for an apology for not paying official respect over the death of former leader Kim Jong-il and for a promise to carry out previous summit agreements.
South Korea's Red Thingy Cross proposed Tuesday that the two sides hold working-level talks on Feb. 20 to discuss reinstating reunions of family members separated since the 1950-53 Korean War and other humanitarian issues.
On Saturday, the North's Minju Joson newspaper carried a commentary accusing Seoul of talking about family reunions and exchanges while seeking sanctions on the communist nation behind the scenes in what it calls an attempt to evade responsibility for devastating inter-Korean ties. If the South is truly interested in family reunions and cooperation and exchanges, the newspaper said, it should respond to a "questionnaire" that Pyongyang's National Defense Commission made for the South early this month.
In the questionnaire, the North demanded that the South repent for halting inter-Korean dialogue, apologize for the disrespect showed in response to the death of former leader Kim and pledge to uphold the June 15 joint declaration signed by progressive South Korean President Kim Dae-jung in 2000.
Seoul has said the questions raised by the North did not even merit a response.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/19/2012
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It seems like the only rational thing to do would be to cut off all ties with North Korea including humanitarian aid until NK behaves rationally. From then on, respond only to rational statements and shut off contact again whenever NK makes an incoherent accusation or acts aggressively. As my proposal might actually be effective, it is unlikely that we will choose that policy.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/19/2012 13:54
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Vanna White aka Hostess on "Wheel of Fortune (965 episodes, 1983-2012) " aka Herself in "Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994)" aka Doris in "Graduation Day (1981)" aka Mickey in "Gypsy Angels (1980)" (age 56)
Brooke D'Orsay aka Breanna in "It's a Boy Girl Thing (2006)" aka Paige Collins in "Royal Pains (TV Series 2009 )" aka Deb Dobkins in "Drop Dead Diva (TV Series 2009 )" aka Sasha in "Gary Unmarried (TV Series 20082010)" aka Heather Hanson in "Happy Hour (TV Series 2006)" (age 30)
#12
Bright Pebbles, the cases are separate trials but defined as 'linked', so public discussion is quashed to avoid predjudicing other trials by what comes out in one, and risking having all of them dismissed for tainted evidence etc. Unfortunately, by the time they are all finished and results released, it will not be 'news' and ultimately not reported. Of course by that time lack of reportage may well be the least of the problems....
LAHORE: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani asserted on Saturday that Pakistan would make the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, Tehran Times reported.
Pakistan is currently facing mounting pressure from the US to shelve the pipeline project, while both countries have already signed a sovereign-guarantee agreement on the project, the paper said.
Talking to the media in Karachi, the prime minister said that a rise in oil prices in Pakistan was due to a rise in the international prices and the global recession, and gave his assurance that the National Assembly speaker had formed a committee on the issue and would hold talks with the finance minister. In view of the on-going trilateral meeting between Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan, Gilani said that it was extremely important for the stability of the region that all the neighbouring countries were in a good relationship with each other.
We want to have good relations with all our neighbours, be it China, Afghanistan, Iran or India, he added.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has also said that Pakistan is committed to completing the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project despite pressure from the United States. In a recent statement, President Asif Ali Zardari said Islamabad was determined to completing the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project, Khar told reporters.
Zardari really wants the ten percent this pipeline will generate, both in construction and in pipeline transmission fees.
She made the remarks at the end of the two-day trilateral meeting of the presidents of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Khar said Pakistan would not yield to any foreign pressure against its national interests, given the independent policies of Pakistan.
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Seventeen police and at least seven cut-throats were killed in four days of fighting on the border between the Chechnya and Dagestan provinces in Russia's North Caucasus, police said on Saturday.
The toll among government forces was the biggest in months in the region along Russia's southern border, where it faces an Islamist insurgency more than a decade after driving separatists from power in a war in Chechnya.
For a map, click here For a map of Chihuahua state click here
By Chris Covert
Mexican president Felipe Calderon Hinojosa said Friday that violent crime declined in Juarez by 57 percent owing to a combination of the presence and availability of Mexican federal security forces and a local municipal program, according to Mexican news accounts.
Calderon spent Friday in the border city of Juarez attending antigun demonstrations and other events in support of Somos Todos Juarez, a Juarez city sponsored program intended to reduce drug crime and violence.
Calderon said that during 2010 violent crime declined 45 percent. In 2011, violent crime has declined 57 percent. He also said the federal government has spent MP $5 billion (USD $391,398,500.00) on a strategy to reduce crime.
Violent crime in Juarez has markedly declined. Between April 2010 and April 2011, Juarez press could expect to report on at least one multiple drug related homicide in either Juarez or in Chihuahua city, the capital of Chihuahua state.
While Calderon can point out federal efforts to reduce crime, two definitive events have defined the anti-crime strategy results.
The first was the hiring of controversial Juarez police chief Julian Leyzaola Perez in March, 2011. Leyzaola Perez came from Baja California, where he had managed to reduce crime in Tijuana, allegedly by favoring one criminal group over the other. Leyzaola Perez was later kicked upstairs to a position in Baja California state government before his hiring as Juarez police chief.
Leyzaola Perez also had garnered special attention from human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch for his intensive efforts to deal with organized crime.
The second, and possibly more important event was the arrest of Jose Antonio Acosta Hernandez, AKA El Diego, last summer. The leader of La Linea, the enforcement wing of the Juarez cartel admitted responsibility for 1,500 murders over his four year reign of terror, including a hit on a deputy attorney general in June, 2010.
Acosta Hernandez's signature hit was the July 16, 2010 car bomb which killed a Mexican federal agent and three other civilians.
In the months before his arrest, his photo appeared on numerous billboards throughout Chihuahua city offering reward money for his capture.
Acosta Hernandez was arrested by a Policia Federal special unit in Chihuahua city following a brief firefight and pursuit. To read the Rantburg.com story on the arrest of Acosta Hernandez as well as links to background material, click here.
More recently, Acosta Hernandez's successor, Arturo Bautista, AKA El Mil Amores, was arrested in December, 2011, along with three others. To read the Rantburg report on the arrest of Arturo Bautista click here.
The current federal security strategy has paid dividends in other border cities as well. For example, Segura Laguna, the joint security operation overseen by the Mexican Army in the La Laguna region between Durango and Coahuila states, has seen a reduction in crime since its start in October 2011, as evident by the reduction in the number of stories in local press.
An invigorated federal effort in Tamaulipas starting in January entailing the deployment of 8,000 Mexican Army troops has yielded benefits as well. Some crime activity has declined in the north, and has been forced father south into states such as Veracruz and Zacatecas. Local Tamaulipas press are beginning to report on counternarcotics activities, where before such reports would not have been published due to drug gang threats.
Calderon lauded Somos Todos Juarez for its comprehensive focus on the social, not just the policing aspect of reducing violent crime in the city.
Calderon also blamed the inflow of weapons illegally smuggled from the United States as a factor in the weakening of the social fabric.
"That translated into a situation of abandonment and vulnerability," he said. Much remains to be done, he added.
Calderon said that the employment record in Juarez city has improved with 92,000 jobs created since the first of the year, according to Mexican federal government statistics.
By Jan Lightfoot Lane Mod note: We don't know who this individual is, but whomever she is, she did bother to write something original and post it at Rantburg.com
Despite the fact that lack of funds is mingled with every other social cause of Homelesness and Hunger, poverty is not counted as a reason for homeless. Poverty equals terror against many.
A battered woman who has no income of her own, and leaves her abuser, is homeless due to lack of funds. A drunk, who drinks to escape pain, or that the drink demands yet another, can scrape together $10 for a pint, but not $1,400 for a rent, is in poverty. Or an underpaid worker who can not pay the rent and utilities both in one month has the qiremire of human lack as a constant scary companion. Social workers surveys do not count poverty as a cause of homelessness. I Count Poverty as a cause of losing owns home.
Seek Kindness, and kind people, as a Tool to Ends Poverty
A small Maine non-profit seems to think their members has the solution to ending poverty. It really not new --just untried. When Christ was asked how much do we give to the poor, he replied, "The Full Need". That is the challenge our society must do. It must "Give the Full Need" to 8 out of 10 workers paid under the liveable wage. And keep prices where they are.
The trick is informing the public about what must be done. Those at Hospitality House Know the means to accomplish such is to run ads in all media for about 6 months. A full page ad in top magazines can go for $100,000. And we would require 40 magazines X 6months. TV announcement goes for 1,000 a commercial. Twice a day for the same 6 months at 5 outlet would barely be enough. Bill boards in states allowing such is another form. That is around $200,000 X 100 posts in the capital cities, and money cities.
Help us in your own way to explain the real causes of poverty. Until society knows the extent of 280 million Americans out of 308 million are unable to pay the simply cost of living. They will think the broken system is working and allow the suffering of 4 in 5 workers.
If you make 1.4 times your monthly rent each week, you are out of poverty with a full, or a real liveable wage. 280 million American do not make this amount.
It little matters if you are an abused person, a drunk, the disabled, a welfare family, or what label you wear, if you make less than the need, you are in poverty. And such should be counted, in order to start to fix the quagmire trap.
It matters little if you are caught but two feet, as in limited lack. or you are sunk up to your neck as in extreme poverty. You are still unable to pay your rent and the other basic. You should be counted as being poor the USA poverty level only counts, Extreme lack. The failed standard fails, to count if you are one pay check away from being homeless.
AMMAN/BEIRUT: A Chinese envoy met the Syrian leader and urged all sides to end 11 months of bloodshed, while backing a government plan for elections. He later held talks with three dissidents.
Assad described the turmoil racking Syria as a ploy to split the country. "What Syria is facing is fundamentally an effort to divide it and affect its geopolitical place and historic role in the region," he was quoted by Syrian state television as saying after meeting Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhai Jun.
Zhai, speaking hours before the shooting at the funerals, said China backed Assad's plan for a referendum on Feb. 26 followed by multi-party elections to resolve the crisis. The opposition and the West have dismissed the plan as a sham.
Which is why the Chinese like it...
The Chinese envoy appealed for an end to violence from all sides, including the government and opposition forces. His comments nevertheless amounted to a show of support against world condemnation of Assad's crackdown on the popular uprising.
"China supports the path of reform taking place in Syria and the important steps that have been taken in this respect," he said.
China's state news agency Xinhua highlighted Zhai's comments that China was "deeply concerned by the escalating crisis." The Syrian TV report quoted him as saying: "The Chinese experience shows a nation cannot develop without stability."
The Chinese Embassy said Zhai held separate meetings with moderate opposition figures Qadri Jamil, Louay Hussein and Hassan Abdulazim, but gave no details.
"We told the Chinese envoy that most of the opposition accept a dialogue if that dialogue is serious and responsible, meaning that the Syrian authorities would implement what is agreed. But the problem with dialogue is that the authorities have lost credibility," Hussein told Reuters.
Beijing and Moscow have been Assad's most important international defenders during the crackdown which has killed several thousand people and divided world powers. The United Nations, the United States, Europe, Turkey and Arab powers want Assad to step down and have condemned the ferocious repression.
Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution on Feb. 4 calling on Assad to quit and also voted against a similar, non-binding General Assembly resolution on Thursday.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/19/2012
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Breaking Russian and Chinese support of Assad seems unlikely. The goal should be to insure that nobody else provides material support to Assad. This should maximize the cost of supporting him for Russia, China and Iran. Eventually they will loose interest in providing him with money to pay his military.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
02/19/2012 14:08
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BAGHDAD: Iraq said on Saturday it had reinforced security along its Syrian border to prevent arms smuggling, after reports fighters and weapons were crossing into Syria where President Bashar Assad has been facing an increasingly armed revolt.
The Shiite-led Iraqi government is worried the unrest in Syria, now nearly a year old, could spill across the porous 600 km (373 mile) frontier and upset its own fragile sectarian balance.
Iraq's Shiites fear a toppling of Assad, himself from a minority Shiite sect,
No, he's an Alawite: a semi-Muslim sect...
A Shiite heresy, but who's counting?
could bring hard-line Sunnis to power, a shift which could threaten Iraqi Shiites' newly-acquired dominance since the 2003 US-led invasion.
A reasonable concern, as it turns out...
James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, told the Senate Armed Services Committee this week that Al-Qaeda in Iraq, which has hard-line Sunni Islamist convictions, may have been behind bombings in Damascus and Syria's second city, Aleppo.
Sowing and reaping, that. Also known as "Consequences are a bitch."
The allegation came as Iraqi officials and arms dealers reported an influx of weapons and Sunni Muslim insurgents into Syria.
All the bad boys leaving Iraq and going home via Syria?
The same road they came in in, only going backwards.
Al Qaeda's leader Ayman al Zawahri has backed the revolt against Assad, in which more than 5,000 people have been killed, according to the United Nations.
"Necessary measures have been taken to consolidate control over the borders with Syria which is witnessing turbulence that encourages infiltration and all kinds of smuggling, especially arms," a statement from Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki's office.
The statement -- which came after Maliki met top security officials, including the acting defense minister, the national security adviser and commander of border forces -- did not explicitly state what measures had been taken.
Relations between Syria and Iraq's US-backed government nosedived when Baghdad blamed Damascus for not doing enough to stem the flow of foreign fighters entering Iraq across the two countries' border during the height of sectarian violence in 2006-07.
Zawahri, whose group has been struggling to regain its foothold since the killing of former leader Osama Bin Laden, has urged Muslims in Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan to join Syrian rebels.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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Ayman al Zawahri has backed the revolt against Assad
I'm thinking Pencil-neck is the best option for Syria - so to help him we should write a strongly-worded letter condemning him.
Canadian universities have signed an agreement that allows Access Copyright access to employee correspondence in searching for copyright violations. The most idiotic aspect of this particular agreement is that sending someone a hyperlink is considered equal to photocopying a document.
If you work at these universities and send someone a link to an article, it is just like photocopying the article and giving it to them.
Officials in key parts of the Obama administration are increasingly convinced that sanctions will not deter Tehran from pursuing its nuclear programme, and believe that the US will be left with no option but to launch an attack on Iran or watch Israel do so.
But there is a strong current of opinion within the administration -- including in the Pentagon and the state department -- that believes sanctions are doomed to fail, and that their principal use now is in delaying Israeli military action, as well as reassuring Europe that an attack will only come after other means have been tested.
If Obama were to conclude that there is no choice but to attack Iran, he is unlikely to order it before the presidential election in November unless there is an urgent reason to do so. The question is whether the Israelis will hold back that long.
However, the Americans are uncertain as to whether Israel is serious about using force if sanctions fail or has ratcheted up threats primarily in order to pressure the US and Europeans in to stronger action.
American officials are resigned to the fact that the US will be seen in much of the world as a partner in any Israeli assault on Iran -- whether or not Washington approved of it. The administration will then have to decide whether to, in the parlance of the US military, "pile on", by using its much greater firepower to finish what Israel starts.
Feeding in to the considerations are the timing of the American election, including its bearing on Israeli thinking, as well as the pace of Iranian advances in their nuclear programme.
"It's not that the Israelis believe the Iranians are on the brink of a bomb. It's that the Israelis may fear that the Iranian programme is on the brink of becoming out of reach of an Israeli military strike, which means it creates a 'now-or-never' moment," he said.
"That's what's actually driving the timeline by the middle of this year. But there's a countervailing factor that [Ehud] Barak has mentioned -- that they're not very close to making a decision and that they're also trying to ramp up concerns of an Israeli strike to drive the international community towards putting more pressure on the Iranians."
The presidential election is also a part of Israel's calculation, not least the fractious relationship between Obama and Netanyahu, who has little reason to do the US president any political favours and has good reason to prefer a Republican in the White House next year.
There is a school of thought -- a suspicion, even -- within the administration that Netanyahu might consider the height of the US election campaign the ideal time to attack Iran. With a hawkish Republican candidate ever ready to accuse him of weakness, Obama's room to pressure or oppose Netanyahu would be more limited than after the election.
#2
Indeed. I wish the Telegraph would be a little more specific about who in the administration is casting such doubts. But it clearly suggests a lack of confidence in the TFI section of the Treasury Department and about the efficacy of sanctions in general.
Posted by: American Delight ||
02/19/2012 14:43
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#3
1. Growing view that strike, by Israel or US, will happen
2. 'Sweet spot' for Israeli action identified as September-October
3. Sanctions designed to delay Israel from making a strike
4. White House remains determined to give sanctions time
The White House remains determined to give sanctions time? The sanctions are designed to delay Israel? Why on earth would the U.S. do that if the window of opportunity is Sept./Oct/?
It sounds like the BO administration is kicking the can down the road until after the elections. They've done the calculus of elections and found they don't want to run the risk of possibly losing votes. Moreover, if Israel strikes Iran, it becomes a distraction from the elections. A strike by Israel tamps down BO having to try to defend an administration with failed policies.
IMO that a strike will occur but by Israel in Sept./Oct. Sanctions are merely window dressing to show that everything has been done prior to war. This creates a kind of legitimacy for a strike by Israel. When it comes to survival, Israel tends to operate outside of U.N. criticism and votes; that is they tend to not seek U.N. resolutions because they would most likely be vetoed by China, Russia, and Muslim countries at the expense of Israel.
#4
Iran hears this and will continue to try and kill Israeli Diplos and their families in posts on someone else's sovereign ground. I think they'll escalate (both sides) leading up to actual war. Obama will look feckless, because he won't support the icky Juice
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/19/2012 17:29
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#5
Obama doesn't support the Juice and he would lose the election. Rock & hard place.
The German finance ministry is actively pushing for Greece to declare itself bankrupt and to agree a "haircut" on the bulk of its debts held by banks, a move that would be classed as a default by financial markets.
Eurozone finance ministers meet on Monday to approve the next tranche of loans from the EU and the International Monetary Fund, designed to stave off national bankruptcy while the new Greek government puts the country's finances in order.
But the severe austerity measures being demanded have caused such fury in Greece, and the cuts required are so deep, that Wolfgang Schäuble, the German finance minister, does not believe that any government would be able to implement them.
His pessimism has been tipped into despair with a secret European Commission, Central and IMF report that even if Greece made good on its promises, it would not be enough to reach the target of bringing total debt to 120 per cent of GDP by 2020.
"He just thinks the Greeks cannot do what needs to be done. And even if by some miracle they did what has been promised, he - and a growing group - are convinced it will not pull Greece out the hole," said a eurozone official. "The idea instead is that the Greek government should officially declare itself bankrupt and begin negotiating an even bigger cut with its creditors. For Schäuble, it is more a question of when, not if."
The German finance minister's comments are certain to plunge the authorities in Athens into even deeper gloom. On Saturday they tried to sound optimistic, with a cabinet meeting to thrash out the final details of an austerity package.
#2
I think the cold realism of the German financial types is finally starting to overcome the idealistic fatalism of the internationalist Europhiles.
I still think that once Greece is out of the Euro, recovery will be much easier, with the ECB using the Papiermark => Rentenmark => Reichsmark model to get Greece out of the hole.
Using that model, the ECB could act as the wholesaler of *everything* Greece can export, selling it to the rest of Europe at a markup, which would go to Greece's creditors, yet still get Greece some income.
Then, anything the rest of Europe produces in abundance, say a good crop of something, can be sold to Greece at discounted prices. Thus allowing Greece to use its money for other things.
Once that situation is flowing smoothly, Greece will know what its "absolute income" is; how much money they have in the bank, as it were, and they cannot spend even a single Drachma more than that.
Then the Greek government tells the people to calculate out their budget: who gets what and how much. In the final analysis, then they can work up a dozen different budgets, all with the same bottom line, and have a referendum on it.
#3
That last paragraph sounds good in theory, 'moose, but I'm not sure anybody in Greece knows what a budget is - let alone how to make one. :-(
Posted by: Barbara ||
02/19/2012 10:09
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#4
Barbara and Germany.. let's be honest. Hosting the Olympics was the straw that broke the camels back and started the whole house of cards blowing down. The last industry that Greece had was Onassis shipping. When she married a Russian and then died.... the biz was then Russian. The only other industry is ag and with tradition and small farms... So... house of cards. (oh some call tourism an industry but it's a bit fickle for that... just ask Egypt or Mexico...)
#5
Speaking of which... much American industry is nothing more than rebranding and logos these days so we can't talk. (Dell, HP, even Apple nie FoxConn, the auto companies etc..)
#6
Yeah, whatever. The basic problem is that the Greeks spend more money than they make. Period. No financial wizardry will ever cure that problem. Only the Greeks can do that for themselves, and it's obvious that they are incapable of doing it.
What's lost in this subtext is the responsibility of the lender. Yes, nobody forced Greece to borrow 200 billion euros (or whatever the true total may be), but then nobody forced the lenders to extend the credit in the first place.
Consider an individual who is a visibly poor credit risk. He would like to borrow money to blow on consumption and then stiff the lender, but since he cannot create credit, he has to live within his means.
Now a lender comes along who can create credit out of thin air (via fractional reserve banking) and offers this poor credit risk $100,000 in collateral-free debt at low rates of interest.
Who is responsible for the creation and extension of credit? The borrower or the lender? Answer: the lender.
Tourism is an industry so long as your guests don't go home and talk about how they got screwed and glued on the trip, because the isles are barking feautiful along with many parts of the mainland.
#13
And its the real problem with socialism publically, with communism dear leader can open the book of Mao and say the poor are blessed to toil the soil and should go there...quietly disappearing. This, there are no poor in the effect that all are graduates of star fleet and any sign otherwise is a failure of the core concept of socialism that is all succeed if given the opportunity. Without that fig leaf, those who promote collectivism just look like a bunch of assholes looking for a reason to snatch other people's money.
Two Iranian warships that passed through the Suez Canal earlier this week docked in Syria on Saturday, Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency reported.
The ships from Iran's 18th fleet - which is comprised of a Khark supplier and Shahid Naqdi destroyers - had stopped in Jedda, Saudi Arabia earlier this month, according to Iran's state Press TV.
Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, authorities on Saturday rejected an Egyptian proposal to bring in fuel via an Israeli crossing point to reactivate Gazoo's only power plant, which shut down four days ago when diesel supplies were disrupted.
"This is unacceptable because of our bitter experience with the Zionist occupation (Israel) and the way it controls the delivery of the shipments," Ahmed Abu Al-Amreen of Gazoo's Hamas-run Energy Authority, told news hounds.
I guess that means they'll suffer the dark and cold. But not in silence...
Azeri forces placed in durance vile an Iranian journalist with the Fars news agency, which is associated with the Revolutionary Guard, in Baku.
According to Fars, Azeri forces raided the news hound's house in Baku and placed in durance vile him for "no reason" as part of a crackdown against "political activists." It was also reported that Azerbaijan recently suspended Fars' official representative in what Iranians are calling "anti-Iran steps."
The Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program, designed to enhance security against terrorist attack, was supposed to ID which facilities were the most vulnerable and dangerous and then monitor industry efforts to secure those site and to issue government seals of approval for documented efforts. $480 million and 5 years later, none of the 4200 submitted plans has been approved. Link fixed. AoS.
THI QAR / Aswat al-Iraq: Security sources announced today that the residence of religious leader Ali Sistani's representative in Thi Qar was targeted by a bomb. No human casualties were reported.
Three goats and a fluffy bunny were kaboomed, however...
The source told Aswat al-Iraq that the explosion resulted in material losses in the residence.
Yesterday, demonstrators burnt the offices of a clergyman Mahmoud Al-Sarkhi, charging him with excessive stands.
On the other hand, Sistani's representative residence in Diwaniya was also attacked today by a grenade, with no casualties reported.
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Pic of the body of Ibragimkhalil Daudov at the link. That's pretty darned good confirmation that he's departed this vail of tears...
MAKHACHKALA, Russia: Russian authorities say 20 militants and 11 police have been killed in several days of fighting in the volatile North Caucasus region.
Chechnya's Moscow-backed regional leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, said his forces killed seven rebels Friday near the administrative border with neighboring province of Dagestan. Kadyrov said in a statement that 13 other militants had been killed there earlier this week.
Dagestan's branch of the Russian Interior Ministry said 11 police were killed and 17 others wounded in three days of clashes near the border.
In a separate clash Friday in another Caucasus province of Kabardino-Balkariya, police killed three suspected militants.
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WASHINGTON/ADEN: A US official says Yemen's longtime president will wait until after a vote next week on a new interim president before returning home. Ali Abdullah Saleh has been in the United States since last month to receive treatment for injuries sustained in an assassination attempt last year.
He could always suffer a relapse...
Yes, please.
The Obama administration has pressed the 69-year-old Saleh not to return until after Tuesday's election of Yemen's vice president as the new leader. Opponents fear he will continue to wield power behind the scenes.
A US official says Saleh will wait until Wednesday to return.
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LOWER DIR: District police on Saturday averted a terrorist attack by recovering 25 kilogrammes of explosive material in the Khwar area.
The police received information that miscreants had stashed explosive material in a cave at Balo Khan, Khwar. The police, along with Bomb Disposable Squad (BDS), rushed to the spot and recovered the explosives, which could have been used for terrorist activities. The Zimdara police registered a case and started an investigation.
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SWAT: Police claim to have arrested the uncle of a key Taliban commander in the Chaparyal area of the valley on Saturday.
Police said that number three commander Bakht Ravan, an uncle of key Taliban commander Ibn-e-Amin, had been arrested after they received information from intelligence sources. Police raided a house in Chaparyal area and arrested Ravan who was wanted by the police for his involvement in several terror incidents. It was also claimed that the detained commander was wanted for the Gowalrai Mosque killings in which 14 people from the same family were killed.
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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.
Less than three months after Saudi Arabia said it would permit women to participate in the London 2012 Olympic Games, it has reportedly reneged on their agreement, barring women from entering the Games.
[MEMRI] Tehrik-e-Taliban 
Hillary Clinton,
TEHRAN - Iran has stopped selling crude to British and French companies, the oil ministry said on Sunday, in a retaliatory measure against fresh EU sanctions on the Islamic state's lifeblood, oil.
The New York Police Department monitored 
Eight judges looted in Bahawalnagar
Nawaz Sharif
Well-known playboy and occasional critic of his father's regime, Kim Jong-nam has been kicked out of luxury hotel in the Chinese gambling hub of Macau, according to a Russian newspaper. The Arguments and Facts weekly claimed Jong-nam ran up a bill of £9,500 but was unable to pay because his credit card had been cancelled.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Saturday condemned a resolution introduced by a US lawmaker calling for self-determination in restive Baluchistan province.
A rocket fired by 
RIYADH: A senior Saudi official on Saturday called on the Taliban to lay down their arms and renounce al Qaeda as preconditions for Saudi-mediated peace talks with the Afghan government. 
AMMAN/BEIRUT: A Chinese envoy met the Syrian leader and urged all sides to end 11 months of bloodshed, while backing a government plan for elections. He later held talks with three dissidents.
Canadian universities have signed an agreement that allows Access Copyright access to employee correspondence in searching for copyright violations. The most idiotic aspect of this particular agreement is that sending someone a hyperlink is considered equal to photocopying a document.
Officials in key parts of the Obama administration are increasingly convinced that sanctions will not deter Tehran from pursuing its nuclear programme, and believe that the US will be left with no option but to launch an attack on Iran or watch Israel do so.
The German finance ministry is actively pushing for Greece to declare itself bankrupt and to agree a "haircut" on the bulk of its debts held by banks, a move that would be classed as a default by financial markets.
WASHINGTON/ADEN: A US official says Yemen's longtime president will wait until after a vote next week on a new interim president before returning home. Ali Abdullah Saleh has been in the United States since last month to receive treatment for injuries sustained in an assassination attempt last year.
SWAT: Police claim to have arrested the uncle of a key Taliban commander in the Chaparyal area of the valley on Saturday. 
