Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney have a long-standing relationship dating back to 1976, according to an article published Sunday in The New York Times.
Romney and Netanyahu both worked as corporate advisers at the Boston Consulting Group and attended the same weekly firm sessions.
The shared history has led to a warm friendship, which included joint meals in Boston, New York and Jerusalem, The New York Times article reported. A network of mutual friends and their common conservative ideologies have further drawn the two politicians together. That's the end for Romney.
#2
More code language and more battle-space preparation.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/08/2012 17:01
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#3
Anti-Jooo Dog Whistle
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/08/2012 17:17
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#4
Read: evil Zionist conspiracy hatched for 36 years
Posted by: European Conservative ||
04/08/2012 17:32
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#5
Makes it sound sinister and nefarious, like "Ahmedinejad, Romney, friends for 36 years." Except, Dinnerjacket would've been like, 12 years old and 3 feet tall.
#7
"Except, Dinnerjacket would've been like, 12 years old and 3 feet tall."
So now Ah-a-dinnah-jacket is 48 years old and 3 feet tall, Random? ;-p
Posted by: Barbara ||
04/08/2012 19:57
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#8
The question is does this help or hurt the money flow out of the Jewish folks who are now disenfranchised with Obama. In a lot of cases I think those folks are pro-Israel but not necessarily pro-Netanyahu.
#3
It's Happy Passover, Barbara. Mazel Tov is for weddings and graduations and such. The Seder was on Friday evening, then we go without bread and cake for eight days.
Thank you for catching the lack! And Happy Easter and/or Passover to all Rantburgers who are celebrating!
In Florida and across the country, "Stand Your Ground" laws -- the same kind of legislation that authorities cited for not arresting a neighborhood-watch volunteer after 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was killed in Florida in February -- have coincided with a sharp increase in justifiable-homicide cases. Which is not necessarily a bad thing. although the WaPo article leads off with a bad incident, which it finally explains at the end of page 2. Maybe some of those justifiable homicide cases took the place of unsolved murders.
Prosecutors still reject many claims of self-defense under the new law, and no long-term studies definitively tie the rise in justifiable killings to the passage of laws that relieve citizens of the responsibility to back away from threats. So why am I reading this article in the Sunday WaPo?
But the Martin case has focused a spotlight on incidents in which the mere statement that people feel endangered allows them to -- depending on your sense of what's right -- defend themselves against thugs or act like vigilantes.
This sharp turn in American law -- expanding the right to defend one's home from attack into a more general right to meet force with force in any public place -- began in Florida in 2005 and has spread to more than 30 other states as a result of a campaign by the National Rifle Association and a corporate-backed group called the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which promotes conservative bills.
Some police chiefs and other law enforcement officials warned that the measure would make it hard to convict people of murder -- defendants would simply claim self-defense and challenge prosecutors to prove they were lying.
But those concerns were heavily outweighed by lawmakers' desire to send a message to taxpayers that the justice system would no longer consider suspect those who defend themselves against attack. Or is it an admission that the State can no longer claim to protect you, from the cradle to the grave?
In the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks and amid images of lawlessness in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, many Floridians -- and Americans generally -- felt less safe and believed the justice system could not protect victims, said a study of Stand Your Ground laws by the National District Attorneys Association.
Hammer told legislators her bill would protect citizens who simply defended themselves: "You can't expect a victim to wait before taking action to protect herself and say, 'Excuse me, Mr. Criminal, did you drag me into this alley to rape and kill me, or do you just want to beat me up and steal my purse?' "
The Florida Senate passed the bill unanimously.
The law says a person "has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm."
In response, a pro-gun-control group put up ads aimed at visiting tourists alerting them to "Florida's Shoot First Law." Sure, now the poor disadvantaged people will be forced to kill you just to take your wallet to feed their family, because they fear you'll defend yourself.
Asked about the Martin case last week, former governor Jeb Bush, initially an enthusiastic backer of the legislation, said, "Stand your ground means stand your ground. It doesn't mean chase after somebody who's turned their back."
Hammer sees no cause to refine or backtrack. Neither she nor NRA officials responded to requests for comment, but Hammer told the Palm Beach Post that officials should not be "stampeded by emotionalism. . . . This law is not about one incident. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the law." Not that some won't use the incident to try to disarm the gun-totin', Bible-thumpin' rubes in flyover country.
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/08/2012
11:44 ||
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#1
Firearm Ownership is Mandatory for All Households in Kennesaw, Georgia
25 29 Years Later, "Gun Town USA" Continues to Maintains Exceptionally Low Crime Stats
#2
nice WaPo handwringing. These are the douchebags that made outlawing guns for noncriminals in DC acceptable, while the criminal class never had a problem getting/carrying/using guns. They are philosophically against a citizen doing anything for themselves without State control, even self-defense
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/08/2012 12:10
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#3
The WaPo element doesn't have a problem either. They have doormen and security systems in their DC-area condos, gated communities, armed security and cops who are quite aware of who is paying their salaries.
#5
Had someone ask me once why I wasn't afraid to have my kids handling guns. I told them the guns are fine, but I won't let the kids use my power tools--those are dangerous!
#6
It is important to jump into a tragedy and force opinions onto people before the facts come out. If you are loud enough and repeat the issues enough people will remember your opinion years later no matter what the reality. This is the game the MSM plays. They had to know the edited tape would be exposed yet did it anyway. They all know the Stand Your Ground did not apply in this situation yet they keep harping it.
#7
Even more battle-space preparation for the fall election. The progressive pols behind Champ's campaign are looking for every 0.1% of the electorate they can get right now.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/08/2012 17:04
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#8
"defendants would simply claim self-defense and challenge prosecutors to prove they were lying."
Isn't that the essence of innocent until proven guilty?
#12
What was a neighborhood watch guy doing with a loaded gun?
Exercising his rights as spelled out in the Constitution.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
04/08/2012 20:04
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#13
Key word: JUSTIFIED. These previously would have gone down as manslaughter charges, and then been dropped or plea bargained down.
What was a neighborhood watch guy doing with a loaded gun?
As opposed to carrying an unloaded one? Do you realize just how much stupidity and bias your question shows?
To answer your question, silly as it is: He was doing the same thing I do with my CCW permit (or no permit at all if you live in Alaska Vermont or similar) - having his chosen legal weapon on his person, to defend against an assailant. I try to be armed at all times that it is legal for me to be so. That is my personal God-given right to self defense, per natural law, and enumerated in the 2nd Amendment.
And yes, I am also on my local Neighborhood Watch. Would you expect me to DISARM because I volunteered to keep an eye on my neighbors houses, and occasionally distribute flyers and crime prevention tips from the local Sheriff? (that's all the NW usually is).
The one thing different is I would have exercised better judgement (and that's the one thing I hold against Zimmerman): I would have simply called 911 from my vehicle and circled the block, keeping a quiet distant eye on things until the PD arrives. I have no desire to jump into a "situation" unless there is a life at stake. In the service, I got enough of putting myself in harms way (and consequently harming others) to last me the rest of my life. Zimmerman is learning the hard lesson that killing another person, even if justified, changes things.
#14
OldSpook: with you 100% both in terms of carrying (you have a 2nd amendment right to do so) and Zimmerman's behavior.
Just because a person is in the neighborhood watch and is carrying does NOT mean that it is prudent to approach someone who you think might be trouble. Call 911, keep a discrete eye on the person of interest and stay the hell out of the way. You intervene only if there is a life on the line, and then you'd better be well trained, capable of reacting, and DAMNED SURE you're right.
Otherwise you're in a world of hurt, both from society and from your own conscience for the rest of your life.
Zimmerman's training? Don't know, haven't seen this in the news. His reactions? Suspect. Sure he's right? Don't know yet, sure hope the special prosecutor answers that correctly.
Now I THINK Mr. Cosby, whom I respect, is trying to get at this, but (of course) in a TV interview he can't lay it all out as you can in print. His complaint about carrying, I think, is not about a right to carry (I don't know if he honors the 2nd amendment or not) but more about being prudent and careful.
IF that's what he meant, then we're all in violent agreement.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/08/2012 21:35
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#15
OS - agreed
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/08/2012 22:55
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#16
by the way - the "following/apprehending" is in question. Purportedly, he'd started to return to his vehicle, when the altercation began, I know jack sh*t other than what we've all read/heard. I won't say anything further til the facts be known
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/08/2012 22:59
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#17
Good points.
What I am interested in, and nobody has ever explained it, is what was Trayvon doing that peaked Zimmerman's interest to the point where he left his vehicle and call 911.
The story so far seems that say that Zimmerman called 911 solely because he saw a hooded figure walking down the street. Is this 'normal' for a neighborhood watch? Or was Treyvon (who had been caught with 'burglary tools and womans jewelery') might have been taking too close a look at the houses along the street.
Is there a situation where a Watch person would leave their vehicle?
Hey we've had some break-ins in my neighborhood, and there's a real suspicious guy, uh, it's Retreat View Circle, um, the best address I can give you is 111 Retreat View Circle. This guy looks like he's up to no good, or he's on drugs or something. It's raining and he's just walking around, looking about.
Dispatcher
OK, and this guy is he white, black, or hispanic?
Zimmerman
He looks black.
Dispatcher
Did you see what he was wearing?
Zimmerman
Yeah. A dark hoodie, like a grey hoodie, and either jeans or sweatpants and white tennis shoes. He's here now, he was just staring.
#19
People getting from point A to B don't really take in the sights. And within these cooker cutter condo complexes, there really isn't much to look at. My guess is that Martin was casing the area, was unhappy at being disturbed, and decided to beat the crap out of Zimmerman. While stomping Zimmerman, he saw the gun, reached for it, and turned a fistfight into a fight to the death.
#20
RandomJD: What was a neighborhood watch guy doing with a loaded gun?
In this instance, Zimmerman was running an errand, not on patrol. Still, neighborhood watches involve night time patrols, and evenings are when criminals come out to play. In addition, neighborhood watch people are looking for trouble, though in the sense of finding and reporting criminals rather than arresting them. If they run into criminals on the job, and the perps are armed or numerous, their lives could be in jeopardy. It would not make sense to have a neighborhood watch without weapons. I've read about neighborhood watches in Third World countries where gun control is pretty strict. They carry fighting sticks or batons in case of attack. The irony is that any neighborhood watch where weapons aren't needed is probably a superfluous neighborhood watch.
#22
People who are against neighborhood watch people carrying guns are a little naive. Criminals who might hesitate to attack cops have no compunction about attacking civilians. Mayberry was 50 years ago.
#1
...I did not agree with his politics and quite often his style, but he had a style...
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/08/2012 11:51
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#2
Sorry, can't generate much sadness except for his family. Wallace helped create the MSM in its current mode of lefty noise machine / DNC propaganda ministry. The closest I can come to a positive comment is that the journos spawned in his wake are lazier, dumber and infinitely more partisan.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
04/08/2012 12:23
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#3
..we do forget somethings. Like exposing the Nation of Islam to the light of day.
#4
With respect, Procopius, I disagree. The piece in question was done in 1959; by 1969 or 1979 Wallace would never have put his name on something like it, even if the network would have allowed it to see the light of day.
This 1996 article from The Atlantic shows Wallace in his full detestable, holier-than-thou, partisan hackery. Money grafs, about a panel discussion / thought exercise on a PBS panel show about ethics:
(Professor) Ogletree pushed Wallace. Didn't (Peter) Jennings have some higher duty to do something other than just roll film as soldiers from his own country were being shot? "No," Wallace said flatly and immediately. "You don't have a higher duty. No. No. You're a reporter!" Jennings backtracked fast. Wallace was right, he said: "I chickened out." Jennings said that he had "played the hypothetical very hard."He had lost sight of his journalistic duty to remain detached.
As Jennings said he agreed with Wallace, several soldiers in the room seemed to regard the two of them with horror. Retired Air Force General Brent Scowcroft, who would soon become George Bush's National Security Advisor, said it was simply wrong to stand and watch as your side was slaughtered. "What's it worth?" he asked Wallace bitterly. "It's worth thirty seconds on the evening news, as opposed to saving a platoon."
A few minutes later Ogletree turned to George M. Connell, a Marine colonel in full uniform. Jaw muscles flexing in anger, with stress on each word, Connell said, "I feel utter contempt." Two days after this hypothetical episode, Connell said, Jennings or Wallace might be back with the American forcesand could be wounded by stray fire, as combat journalists often had been before. When that happens, he said, they are "just journalists." Yet they would expect American soldiers to run out under enemy fire and drag them back, rather than leaving them to bleed to death on the battlefield. "I'll do it!" Connell said. "And that is what makes me so contemptuous of them. Marines will die going to get . . . a couple of journalists." The last words dripped disgust.
And that, my friends, was the real Mike Wallace. "You don't have a higher duty! You're a reporter!" should be engraved on the bastard's tombstone.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
04/08/2012 15:22
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#5
(Professor) Ogletree pushed Wallace. Didn't (Peter) Jennings have some higher duty to do something other than just roll film as soldiers from his own country were being shot? "No," Wallace said flatly and immediately. "You don't have a higher duty. No. No. You're a reporter!" Jennings backtracked fast. Wallace was right, he said: "I chickened out." Jennings said that he had "played the hypothetical very hard."He had lost sight of his journalistic duty to remain detached.
My question would be just what would soldiers be expecting the journalist to do? He isn't armed and he isn't trained for combat, his only tool is a camera.
The most absurd part of the description is the contention of the late Peter Jennings that the journalist remains detached.
Really?
So, in no way can a journalist ever be a part of a story? Ever? Check your local news for any number of incident involving a TV reporter who inserts him/herself into the news.
Check out the next time a tri-letter national news cast features a reporter, like a dumbass, standing in front of a breakwater as a hurricane moves through. Not part of the story, pal?
I bet you become part of the story if one of those ocean swells catch you and take you out to sea.
Big time.
In TV journalism, you are the story, and if you work as though you are detached, you are a dishonest broker of information. Those series of photographs make you the story whether you want to be or not.
#6
The piece in question was done in 1959; by 1969 or 1979 Wallace would never have put his name on something like it, even if the network would have allowed it to see the light of day.
Hey, even Benedict Arnold played a critical part of the Battle of Saratoga for the American side. Doesn't mean one can't go bad after making a valued contribution.
#7
What was not included in the excerpt I saw on Free Republic was the hypothetical whether a US journalist was obliged to tip off his own side if said journalist had come into information that an ambush of his side was about to take place.
Show footage or tell your guardians.
Easy choice.
I can see why the professional soldiers were horrified.
#8
The man recently died. Can't the trash talk wait a few months? No matter what you think of his politics it's down right liberal to slur a man right after his death.
#9
Check out the next time a tri-letter national news cast features a reporter, like a dumbass, standing in front of a breakwater as a hurricane moves through.
No. We don't need to trash talk Wallace right now. But these days the weather reporters are the only ones I respect.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
04/08/2012 17:11
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#10
No. We don't need to trash talk Wallace right now. But these days the weather reporters are the only ones I respect.
Points off for poor reading comprehension.
My point was that TV journalists are part of the story whether they wish to be or not. The point had been raised by the late Peter Jennings, which I addressed. If that is trash talking Mike Wallace then it sucks to be Mike, you and me.
As one group of rebels proudly proclaimed the independent state of Azawad in the "liberated" north of Mali last week, their allies were preparing for jihad by cutting off the hand of a "criminal" and forcing women to wear the veil.
The rebels, armed with weapons stolen from Muammar Qadaffy ... who is now cavorting happily with Himmler and Heydrich... 's formidable arsenal, took over an area of the Sahara as big as La Belle France in an astonishing 72 hours, taking advantage of the chaotic aftermath of an army coup.
Few of the people they promised to free waited to find out what freedom would be like. Instead, an estimated 250,000 people left their homes, terrified families fleeing with their children and possessions. Many told tales of looting and rape by rebels who now control a vast area in the heart of Africa.
Foreign governments were left scrambling to find out exactly who the rebels were, amid fears that a base for al-Qaeda will now be set up in the Sahara similar to ones in lawless parts of Pakistain and Somalia.
"Our law is a legal war, a sacred war, in the name of Islam," a bearded leader of the Ansar al Din militia called Omar Hamaha told his supporters in Timbuktu soon after they took control of the ancient caravan town. With its blue men, spectacular mudbrick mosques, and annual music festival under the desert stars, Timbuktu was a fashionable destination for the well-heeled tourist looking for an experience of the Sahara, until 2007 when kidnapping started.
Even more worrying than Ansar al Din were the supporters of al-Qaeda in the Maghreb (AQIM) who streamed into northern Mali with ambitions of setting up an Islamic state. They included men who have made millions of pounds of ransom money by kidnapping foreigners.
They put up their black flags over the three main cities of the north, Timbuktu, Gao, and Kidal, and strutted in the streets. Rare television pictures shot in the northern cities showed tough-looking men in turbans driving pick-up trucks, armed to the teeth with automatic weapons as crowds looked on nervously.
Some rebels grabbed the chance to loot, setting fire to buildings and abducting young women, according to refugees. Others -- or perhaps the same ones - were determined to impose a Taliban-style Islamic rule, ordering men into the mosques to pray and closing bars and discos.
Communication with the north was difficult, but reports from people contacted by telephone were alarming. Youssouf Maga Touré, a manager at a transportation company in Gao, described desperation as shops were looted and food supplies ran out.
"Thousands of people will die in the coming days by hunger," he said.
"We have hundreds of people, mainly women, trying to escape. Our buses will not come here. Drivers are afraid for their own lives."
Rebels patrolled the streets, he said. "They don't speak with the local people. They just put their flags on the main government offices. Some of them don't even speak our language."
With the government gone, it was not clear exactly who had seized power -- "nobody knows who is in control", said one worried resident of Timbuktu. But most of the rebels seemed to be ethnic Tuaregs loyal to the Mouvement National de liberation de l'Azawad (MNLA), who may not number many more than 1000 fighters. They say they want a free, independent, but not religious state, which they call Azawad.
Their core was formed by a group of Malian Tuareg soldiers who had been part of Colonel Qadaffy's army for years, and in some cases decades. Last summer they realised that he was doomed and deserted his army, with large amounts of his weapons which they secretly transported across the desert to Mali. There they set up the MNLA, reviving a moribund Tuareg rebellion against Mali's government which started at independence from La Belle France in 1960. In January they launched an insurrection under the command of Mohammed Ag Najm, a former officer in Qadaffy's army.
His men had fought Qadaffy's losing wars in Chad, Leb and against rebels in Libya last year. This time they wanted to fight for their own state, but not for religion - but they needed the support of Tuareg jihadis who were fighting the Mali government. At a tense meeting last autumn the Qadaffy deserters became allied to a group of jihadis led by a rebel called Iyad Ag Ghali, a shadowy figure who some are now calling the master of the Sahara, perhaps permaturely.
Mr Ghali, believed to be in his fifties, has been a power in Tuareg politics for decades, but became shunned by the mainstream after finding Allah in the 1990s under the tutelage of Pak preachers who may have been linked to the late Osama bin Laden ... who is now neither a strong horse nor a weak horse, but a dead horse... He refuses to shake hands with a woman, and has a reputation for stern religious fervour, although he is also regarded as hospitable and generous like most Tuareg. His links to gunnies are troubling; he was thrown out of Soddy Arabia because he was regarded as too extreme.
Back in Mali he carved out a role as a negotiator in some of the Sahara's high-profile kidnappings of recent years -- where the usual ransom for a European has been between 3 and 10 million.
Since he became a middle man, helping resolving kidnappings, he has become a wealthy man.
In the Tuareg rebellion he was the junior partner, yet his prestige has grown. After the MNLA refused his offer of leadership last year, Mr Ghali set up his own smaller militia, Ansar al Din. It is not clear how big a role they have played in the fighting, but Mr Ghali has proved adept at political theatre, arriving in both Gao and Timbuktu ahead of MNLA leaders and stealing their glory.
With the government ejected, his relationship with them is clearly under strain. "I am not for independence," Mr Ghali has said. "It is Sharia I want for my people."
His natural partner is al-Qaeda, and in Timbuktu he arrived with three of the senior emirs of AQIM - Abou Zeid, Mokhtar Ben Mokhtar, and Abou Hamame, men who have carved out reputations for ruthlessness and greed.
They sense their chance in the chaos. But the desert may not be fertile territory for them. Youssou Guindo, a shop owner from Gao contacted by telephone, said: "Mali is a secular country, we do not need Sharia. We are free to pray. If they want Sharia they can apply it where they want, but not in Mali." Peter Tinti, who was until 2008 a United States Peace Corps volunteer in Gao, said some of his old friends had been in touch by twitter, expressing fear about their new masters.
"Most people, even most Tuareg, are probably not going to be enthusiastic about the rebels," he said. "Malians are proud of being a democracy. Trying to turn it into an Islamic state, that is going to be anathema to most people. Gao is a small, conservative town, but it also has bars and hotels and people are pretty tolerant."
As the dust settles in the desert after its most extraordinary week in decades, there is growing sense of dread about what happens next. Neighbouring governments fear the contagion of rebellion will spread to their own Tuareg minorities. Foreign governments fear al-Qaeda getting established in the desert.
Mali's government in the capital Bamako is in total chaos after the coup, and nobody expects its soldiers, chased out of the north, to be back any time soon. The rebel leaders are jubilant, but some think the MNLA may have declared independence prematurely. The jihadis want to march on the south, but that seems far-fetched.
The jihadis are under pressure, with imams in Timbuktu, one of the leading Islamic cities in Africa, telling the faithful that Mr Ghali is an upstart with no credibility as a religious leader. The MNLA fighters are now reportedly making ready for a showdown with AQIM and Ansar al Din. Mali's bloodletting may have only just begun.
Continued on Page 49
[AFP] - An online video shows Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri, Saddam Hussein's vice president and the highest-ranking member of his regime still on the run, in what appears to be his first video message since 2003.
The authenticity and date of the clip posted on YouTube on Saturday could not be verified.
It is the first message in years alleged to be from Duri, 70, who was the king of clubs in a US decks of cards showing the most-wanted members of Saddam's regime.
The Baath party, the ruling party in Saddam's Iraq, said Duri had died in 2005, but audio messages attributed to him were broadcast in 2006, 2008 and 2010.
The hour-long clip was posted online on the 65th anniversary of the 1947 founding of the Baath party, which came to power in Syria in 1963 and in Iraq in 1968, in both instances following coups.
At the beginning of the video, a man in a military uniform introduces Duri and calls him the "high commander of jihad (holy war) and liberation ... and the general secretary of the Baath party."
Duri, dressed in a drab green military uniform and black beret, reads remarks from sheets of paper, his hands shaking, and sometimes stumbles over the words.
"Our Baath (party), on its 65th anniversary, is in a major historic war," he said. "I call on this ... occasion for all the progressive resistance forces and all the national Islamic resistance forces to work for the liberation" of Iraq.
He alleged that "the political process today is ... for the benefit of Iran, which is carrying the most dangerous project for the Persians, with the intention of taking over Iraq and then destroying the nation."
Duri also spoke about Syria, criticising the reaction of Arab states against Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators... 's regime, which has been carrying out a bloody crackdown on an uprising against his rule.
"We are with the Syrian people and with its legitimate rights, and with its peaceful uprising," he said.
But addressing Arab states, he said: "What is wrong with? You did everything against the Syrian regime, and you reached the point of calling for armies to invade Syria and erase its people, as happened in Iraq and Libya."
Around 60 members of the beleaguered GKI Taman Yasmin Protestant church held a clandestine Easter service at one of its members houses in Bogor on Sunday. The worshipers spread the invitation to the service among church members and a few journalists but withheld the information from the police, who they regard as useless in safeguarding them.
Church-goers took a lesson from last years Christmas celebration, where they were disrupted by dozens of hard-liners from the Reform Movement (Garis) and the Muslim Communications Forum (Forkami).
Bona Sigalingging, the churchs spokesman, said, "The police were there, but they did not do much to help us. Ever since, we have found no point in telling the police about our activities."
Bona said that limiting information to worshipers and trusted journalists was the best way to conduct religious activities without interruption or intimidation. He said, "For this Easter service, we just announced the location on Saturday."
Since Bogor Mayor Diani Budiarto suspended the churchs building permit in 2008, the churchs members have gone from one house to another to perform their religious activities.
Bona said that some worshipers couldn't bear the uncertain situation and had decided to move to other churches. He said, "We used to have 600 members who regularly came to our church. Now we have only 70 [active] members."
#3
I respectfully disagree newc. This could indeed be a prophetic sign! A man cornered with no escape or 'way out' can be very dangerous. I'd be perfectly delighted if he left politics and took up the cross.
#4
The question you should be asking Besoeker, is how long before Jesus (or Allan) comes to him in a dream and tells him to declare a state of emergency while suspending elections.
#5
..oh about the time the party apparatchiks tell him that the amount of ballot stuffing needed in their districts exceed the eligible voter populations of those districts.
#8
Hijack the meaning of Easter and replace it with Socialism? What a dark and evil piece of trash Obama is.
Jesus was about to take on a horrific series of torturous experiences even to the point of death as atonement for the sins of those who chose to believe in Him and the Father so that they could experience eternal life after death. The Real Easter message.
Has nothing to do with Obama's destructive policies which are completely opposite and are an afront to many of Biblical laws and statutes. Obama is now gathering together liberal church leaders to give his Socialism a false sense of "Christian" support. The sanme thing Hitler did in Nazi Germany.
Look up what Hitler did to true Christian leaders such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Posted by: George Ebbeamp4828 ||
04/08/2012 15:16
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A car bomb blew up in the north Nigerian town of Kaduna on Easter Sunday, killing several people, after security officers stopped the driver from approaching a church.
Tony Udo, a Kaduna resident, said, "A suicide bomber in a vehicle was moving towards the ECWA Church and the All Nations Christian Assembly. Security agents accosted and repelled him. While he was driving away, the bomb went off at Junction Road, near the Stadium roundabout, killing the bomber and some commercial motorcyclists.
"The blast from the bomb also shattered the windows of the church, some nearby houses and vehicles parked nearby. The area has been condoned off by security agents."
Nigeria has stepped up security across the largely Muslim north before Easter because of fears of a repeat of attacks by Boko Haram that killed dozens on Christmas Day last year.
In the remote northeast town of Maiduguri, a Boko Haram stronghold, the military outnumbered the public on some streets on Sunday.
In Nigerias second biggest city Kano, where coordinated attacks in January killed 186 people, authorities deployed trucks of soldiers and a helicopter to try to prevent violence.
Jenifer Paul, a housewife in Kano said, "I will stay away from church because we have been told by our pastor to be careful. We are afraid, everybody is afraid because we dont know when the next attack will come."
#2
On a totally unrelated subject. Anybody compiled a list of all the individuals/organizations condemning Israel for closing "Palestinian territories" for Passover?
Oklahoma authorities arrested two people early Sunday in connection with a deadly spree of random shootings in Tulsa. The police identified the arrested men as Jake England, 19, and Alvin Watts, 32. They were taken into custody from a house in Tulsa.
Capt. Jonathan Brooks said, "We're not exactly sure what their relationship is to another; whether they are friends or extended family members,"
The pair will be charged with three counts of murder and two counts of shooting with intent to kill. Detectives were interrogating the two men Sunday morning and do not yet know their motive.
Take that, monkey wrench. :-)
State environmental police are investigating the dumping of decapitated fowl alongside a trail at Pachaug State Forest this week. You just know there's gotta be more to it than that ....
Donna Fenter, of Griswold, said she came upon the pile of 11 decapitated ducks and one rooster Thursday while hiking the blue trail near the Pachaug boat launch between Pachaug State Forest and Hopeville Pond State Park. On top of the animals were used condoms and torn condom wrappers, she said. Urp. OK, now you've got my attention.
"It was gruesome," she said. "Who would ever think of something like that?" Can't be too careful these days.
Since she encountered the grisly scene, she said neighbors and friends have come up with their own theory theories.
"One suggested it could be some sort of ritual," she said. "But I don't know. I can't even think like that." Neither can I. Of course.
Dennis Schain, a spokesman for the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, which is investigating the incident, said the fowl were domesticated, not wild. So they were bred for foul play...
The site has since been cleaned up by park maintenance, and the investigation is ongoing. Maybe we can get some investigative guidance from Obean.
In the meantime, Fenter said the discovery has shaken her sense of safety in the town where she has lived for 11 years. You have nothing to fear, Donna. You're not a duck. But is she also not a rooster?
"I figured, it's Griswold. It's a small town. Of course it's safe," she said. "When I made the discovery on my way back (to the car), I sat in my car and just sobbed thinking that it really isn't so safe. There are very terrible, horrible people out there. I'm just thankful that a child -- mine or someone else's -- didn't have to see that." See that? Hopefully they weren't part of that.
But Fenter also said she plans to keep going out on the trails with her Labrador retriever, Cooper. Better keep that retriever on a short leash, Donna, or you might have to teach that dog how to gargle with Listerine. Pretty cruel, Donna. Naming your dog Cooper. What were you thinking?
Griswold First Selectman Philip Anthony, too, said he was shocked by the discovery. Such a thing has never happened in town, he said. Have there been any liberal events in the area lately? In the unincorporated areas, but never in town...
"I'm a bit alarmed. I was born and brought up here, so I'm fairly confident it is not a local resident," he said. No, no, certainly not!
"No local resident I know -- and I know most of our residents -- would do that sort of thing." At least you thought you did.
#1
Obviously they haven't been to Miami. Sounds like Santeria to me.
Ain't freedom of religion grand.
"In 1993, the issue of animal sacrifice was taken to the United States Supreme Court in the case of Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah. The court ruled that animal cruelty laws targeted specifically at Yoruba were unconstitutional.[25] The Yoruba practice of animal sacrifice has seen no significant legal challenges since then."
#2
Y'all live in a dream world, If for one second thst the used Condoms were coincidental.
You know damn well what happened there.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/08/2012 8:48
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#3
It's in Connecticut.
It's all the typical antistructuralist, marginal behavior typically found in the BosWash corridor, if you ask me. And naturally it's weakening the fabric of reality in the area.
#7
I find it had to believe this story is real. The clues indicate perversion and if they were smart enough to hide the evidence out i the wild they'd be smart enough to bury it as well. Especially with DNA evidence likely in what might be an animal cruelty crime.
Posted by: Barbara ||
04/08/2012 15:11
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#13
By perversion I assumed they were following the Weimer Republic approved (rumor at least) beastiality combined with beheading the chicken. If that is not defined as perversion the word perversion has no meaning any longer.
#14
Y'all live in a dream world, If for one second that the used Condoms were coincidental. You know damn well what happened there.
No, I have absolutely no idea what happened there. Condoms are to prevent pregnancy and/or STDs, so the purpose they would have served here is . . . ? Please explain.
And please note, I am familiar with United States v. Sanchez 29 C.M.R. 32 (C.M.A. 1960) (conviction for indecent acts with a chicken), affirming the conviction without resolving the question: which came first, the chicken or Sanchez?
#18
The Chicken Protection League is a strong but largely under-the-radar group but with a strong litigious rep. Most of the Google hits are based on rumors and third-party anecdotes
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/08/2012 19:47
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#19
TW: no no, Sanchez was charged under UCMJ Article 134, a general article covering conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline or which discredits the Armed Forces, that is not specifically addressed by other articles (rape, murder, larceny, etc.). Among many other minor offenses, Art. 134 covers sexually indecent acts.
Courts have addressed whether a conviction for indecent acts requires victimizing a woman (no) or even another person (no - the victim may also be, e.g., a chicken or a corpse). So it's the perps' own creativity, assisted by their hapless lawyers and some undoubtedly amused judges, that have defined the scope of "indecent acts" with such specificity.
That said, it has long been a mystery to prosecutors how, precisely, one commits an indecent act with a chicken. Typically the (alcohol-fueled) debate centers on whether or not one would sustain beak and/or claw injuries; and where one would, ahem, stick it. I've yet to hear a plausible account - and perhaps it's better that way!
#20
RandomJD, I need to show this thread to Mr. Wife, who just inquired if I am about to choke to death in front of him. You military types lead much more interesting lives than I ever imagined.
Iran's state TV says the country's navy has rescued 28 crew members of a Chinese ship hijacked by pirates.
The Saturday broadcast says the Iranian navy also detained nine Somali pirates in the operation in the Arabian Sea in the north of the Indian Ocean. And released them. In the middle of the night. Must not have been any political advantage in charging them with spying or something.
The pirates attacked the ship Friday but they surrendered after Iranian navy sent warships to rescue the crew and free the ship. The freighter was carrying iron and was heading to a port in southwestern Iran.
Both the attack and the rescue operations were carried out in international waters.
Iran has clashed with pirates on several occasions in the past and freed ships captured by them.
Thanks, sensational MSM. Sleep well. As noted by Orion in the comments and by Prof. Jacobson in his excellent Legal Insurrection yesterday, this is bogus. I strongly suspect the whole story was planted by some progressive type as part of the campaign to distract America from the real issues of the economy, world affairs and the direction of our country.
Neo-Nazis are currently conducting heavily armed patrols in and around Sanford, Florida and are "prepared" for violence in the case of a race riot. The patrols are to protect "white citizens in the area who are concerned for their safety" in the wake of the Trayvon Martin shooting last month, says Commander Jeff Schoep of the National Socialist Movement. "We are not advocating any type of violence or attacks on anybody, but we are prepared for it," he says. "We are not the type of white people who are going to be walked all over."
Because nothing diffuses racial tension like gun-toting racial separatists patrolling an already on-edge community.
Schoep, whose neo-Nazi group is based in Detroit, tells Riptide the patrols are a response to white residents' fears of a race riot.
A group called the New Black Panther Party recently offered $10,000 for a citizens' arrest of George Zimmerman, Martin's shooter. Schoep said the bounty is a sign that "the possibility of further racial violence... is brimming over like a powder keg ready to explode into the streets."
The patrols are comprised of between 10 and 20 locals and "volunteers" from across the state, including some from Miami, he added. He couldn't go into specifics on what kind of firepower, exactly, the patrols had with them.
"In Arizona the guys can walk around with assault weapons and that's totally legal," Schoep said, referring to the group's patrols of the US-Mexico border. "What I can tell you is that any patrols that we are doing now in Florida are totally within the law."
Asked if the patrols wouldn't just make things worse -- spark a race riot, for instance -- Schoep insisted they were simply a "show of solidarity with the white community down there" and "wouldn't intimidate anybody."
"Whenever there is one of these racially charged events, Al Sharpton goes wherever blacks need him," Schoep said. "We do similar things. We are a white civil rights organization."
He went to great lengths to contrast his organization with the New Black Panther Party, who he blamed for scaring local whites and spurring the need for NSM patrols. Schoep admits that the NSM and the Black Panthers are actually alike in that they are both racial separatists. But he sees a double-standard in the government's treatment of the two groups.
"The Black Panthers have been offering bounties and all that," he says. "But if we called for a bounty on someone's head, I guarantee we'd be locked up as quick as I could walk out of my house."
Schoep was also quick to clarify that he isn't taking sides in Trayvon Martin's controversial shooting. "That's for the courts to decide," he says. Besides, Schoep says, Zimmerman's not even white.
"I think there is some confusion going on," Schoep says. "A lot of people think that this guy who shot Trayvon was white... but he's half Hispanic or Cuban or something. He certainly doesn't look white to me."
To some, sending in the storm troops seems like a sure way to incite -- not prevent -- a race riot. But Schoep says that's way off base.
"We don't wish for things like that," he says. "But there have been race riots in Detroit and L.A... So we know those types of things happen."
"You can either be prepared or you can be blindsided," he adds. "This way, if something were to touch off a race riot, we'd already be in the area."
#1
I believe Professor Jacobson called the Sanford PD and this appears to be totally bogus. They said IIRC that the largest gathering they had was of children and their mothers for an Easter-egg hunt.
No neo-Nazis. Just the usual MSM fanning the flames.
#2
"Whenever there is one of these racially charged events, Al Sharpton goes wherever blacks need him," Schoep said. "We do similar things. We are a white civil rights organization."
Wow and as it turns out both you and Al also happen to be Socialists. Go figure. Hey cant yall just get along?
#9
Neo-Nazis are currently conducting heavily armed patrols in and around Sanford, Florida and are "prepared" for violence in the case of a race riot.
Ever notice that whenever a picture of some "fascist militia" group is posted, it invariably turns out to be a handful of goobers who'd probably have trouble getting jobs stocking shelves at the local Jiffy Mart?
I grew up just outside of Dayton, OH in the 60's and early 70's. One of the fixtures of a Dayton-area summer was an annual Klan "rally" sponsored by a Lebanon, OH farmer named Parkie Scott. In those days, the area civil-rights orgs didn't bother with counter-demonstrations, and the local media didn't bother with sensationalistic coverage...all that was needed was a TV camera with a nice wide angle shot, showing all of seven or eight bedsheet-covered idiots in a fallow field, standing around their burning cross.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
04/08/2012 12:37
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#10
It may be bogus, but I do have a question. People who define themselves as Neo-Nazis, or are defined as such by MSM? I'm asking because I'm a racist (Zionism = Racism).
#12
I can't help but thinking that Al Sharpton hasn't done blacks a damn bit of net good in the last fifty years.
True enough, then again they haven't done themselves much good either. Collectively speaking, there are of course exceptions.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
04/08/2012 17:15
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#13
Ok, bogus. I got it, but perhaps someone could post the marching music anyway.
Okay, filling yer Nazi marching-song needs right here. Soundtrack is from the movie "Battle of the Bulge."
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
04/08/2012 18:17
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#14
My favorite comment is from the Sanford Police:
We have no indication of any such patrols at this point in Sanford. The only large gathering was the children and their parents at the Easter egg hunt.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
04/08/2012 18:42
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Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
04/08/2012 20:14
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#3
since Jimmy Carter V1.0 through the current version Barack "Jimmy" Carter V2.3
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/08/2012 20:17
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#4
Think you Captain Obvious.
I will not forget when I was in Iraq in 2004 and a LTC with the 4ID told me they were killing a lot more Iranians than they were Iraqis in their fights with the insurgency.
I guess we shouldn't forget the Beirut Marine Barracks either.
Iran has been using Afghanistan AND Iraq as a proxy war against us. I don't need some greenhorn with his thumb up his butt to tell me that.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
04/08/2012 21:47
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#5
It would make a great first thing for everyone to see as no one has memory anymore.
#6
May not be a Proxy War too much longer, as Mama Russia is antipating a US-Israeli attack on Iran sometime this Summer.
More ...
* ION DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > USA ORDERS IRAN TO [immediately] DISMANTLE ATOMIC PLANT| US, EUROPE TO "DEMAND" IRAN CLOSE NUCLEAR FACILITY, espec at Fordo.
* SAME > PRESIDENT [Ahmadinejad]: IRAN WILL CONTINUE ITS [Nuclear] PATH EVEN IFF [entire] WORLD WOULD STAND UP AGZ IRAN. Iran's national dignity more important than NucWeaps.
* TOPIX, SAME > IRAN REJECTS WEST'S DEMANDS BEFORE EXCLUSIVE TALKS.
* SAME > [ IRAN DISMISSES TALKS WID US DUE TO WAHISNGTON'S UNCHANGED [poor] ATTITUDE | [FNA = Farsi News] EC SECRETARY DISMISSES .... ...
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [Mehr News] USS ENTERPRISE MUST OBTAIN IRGC PERMISSION TO ENTER PERSIAN GULF. The "BIG E" must first answer the IRGC questions/inquiries at "Sabah Station".
USS COLE redux???, or will the IRGC sink the "Big E" internally outside the Gulf like the "weak/declining" US sinking strategic Pacific Island(s) wid "EARTHQUAKE/TECTONIC BOMB(S) to deny to Rising China???
IIRC TOPIX > CAN PEOPLE [Govts] CAUSE EARTHQUAKES INTENTIONALLY?
[1960-70'S GUAM TAOTAMONAS, UNDER SIEGE II:DARK TERRITORY here].
The Ghosts say Yes, Yes they can = will.
D *** NGED "FRACKING"!
* SAME > IRAN AHEAD OF NORTH KOREA IN ROCKET TECH | NORTH KOREA'S ROCKET LAUNCH DRAWS MORE WORRY THAN IRAN.
Israeli official: Deployment coordinated with us; move follows Katyusha fire at Eilat; IAF strikes rocket launching cell in Gazoo.
Egypt announced Saturday that it was launching an operation in the Sinai Peninsula aimed at restoring the state's security control in the region, which has been overrun by terrorist and bad turban elements since Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... 's downfall last year.
An Israeli official in Jerusalem said the Sinai operation had been coordinated with Israel. It came after a Katyusha rocket was fired from Sinai into Israel before dawn Thursday, exploding in Eilat.
On Saturday evening, IAF aircraft struck a terror cell attempting to fire rockets into Israel from the southern Gazoo Strip, according to the IDF Spokesman's Office. Two Paleostinians were maimed in the strike, which targeted a cycle of violence near Rafah, according to Paleostinian sources.
The IAF strike marked the first such action in Gazoo since last month, when Paleostinians launched more than 200 rockets into southern Israel, prompting a number of Israeli retaliatory strikes.
After the rocket landed in Eilat, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen.
Benny Gantz said Israel viewed the attack with gravity and that it had been the work of terrorist organizations operating in the peninsula.
"Anyone who tests us from near or far will find himself facing a strong and smart military prepared to defend Israel and defeat our enemies," Gantz said.
The Egyptian Interior Ministry said 150 special forces coppers would be deployed in northern Sinai to help increase Egypt's illusory sovereignty in the region, the Paleostinian news agency Ma'an reported.
The deployment would be aimed specifically at protecting the pipeline in Sinai that delivers natural gas to both Israel and Jordan. Saboteurs have attacked the pipeline 13 times since the uprising against Mubarak began last year.
The police reinforcements were also meant to prevent ambushes on army forces traveling between the cities of El- Arish and Rafah, according to the Egyptian statement.
Police bomb squad personnel in Eilat found the shell of a second Grad rocket just west of the city on Saturday. The rocket had been fired together with a number of others at Eilat on Thursday, when several kabooms were heard in the Red Sea resort.
"It had a 122-millimeter diameter. Police found it west of Eilat just outside of the city," police front man Micky Rosenfeld said.
Last week, shortly after the rocket attack, a police bomb squad dispatched to track down rocket blast sites found the remnants of one Grad rocket near residential buildings. It removed the projectile from the scene.
Following the attack, Military Intelligence chief Maj.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi revealed that the IDF had thwarted 10 different terrorist plots to attack Israel from Sinai in the past two months.
Speaking at a graduation ceremony for new Military Intelligence officers, Kochavi said that the rocket had been a warning about the changes sweeping the Middle East.
"It could be that the change will bring new opportunities, but in the short term the risks are increasing," Kochavi said.
The rocket strike on Eilat did not come as a surprise for the IDF, which has been closely tracking Paleostinian terrorist activities in Sinai since an attack along the Egyptian border in August left eight Israelis dead. IDF assessments are that the perpetrators of Thursday's attack were either a Paleostinian rocket cell from Gazoo -- affiliated with either Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, or Islamic Jihad ...created after many members of the Egyptian Mohammedan Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the liquidation of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah... -- or Beduin working for the Gazoo-based organizations.
Eilat Mayor Meir Yitzhak-Halevy said his city would continue functioning as usual despite the attack.
"We have no intention of changing our daily routine," he told Army Radio. "I call on all Israeli citizens to come enjoy the warm weather in our city this Passover."
Israel has called on Cairo to increase its efforts to restore order in Sinai and to prevent attacks, but the Egyptian military has held back from dismantling the Hamas infrastructure in the peninsula.
In December, The Jerusalem Post reported that Hamas had established rocket production lines in Sinai and was also moving some of its weapons caches there to protect them from Israeli air strikes.
More than a dozen Egyptian army battalions allowed into Sinai with Israel's permission (required because of limits placed on Egyptian forces there under the peace treaty) are still operating, although with limited success in stopping terrorist activity and arms smuggling to the Gazoo Strip.
Ma'an quoted Egyptian security sources as saying Saturday that Israel had agreed to temporarily allow seven more Egyptian army battalions into Sinai to help with the crackdown on terrorist elements.
Brazilian media is reporting that ailing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will make an emergency trip to Brazil after allegedly suffering intestinal burns during his radiation treatment in Cuba.
Differential diagnosis based on what little we know includes radiation enteritis, an inflammation of the bowel from the radiation beam hitting it, chemotherapy induced colitis (similar), colonic infection (C diff), obstruction (not mutually exclusive with enteritis), bladder inflammation from radiation (cystitis), metastatic spread of his tumor (whatever the primary location was) and certain other things. The enteritis could be significant, particularly if he has an obstruction, and metastatic spread would be ominous for him.
Chavez, who in June of last year revealed that Cuban doctors had removed a cancerous tumor from his abdominal region, has been going back-and-forth from the island nation for treatment. The Venezuelan leader had returned to his country on Wednesday night from radiation treatment in Cuba.
"So far, fortunately there hasn't been any adverse reaction to the treatment," Chavez said Wednesday, according to The Associated Press. "All the exams that have been carried out have shown positive results of physical recovery."
However, the Brazilian daily O Globo reported a rumor from Venezuelan journalist Nelson Bocaranda that Chavez could be headed to the hospital Sirio e Libanês in Sao Paulo.
One wonders why his own country can't take care of him. They used to have decent health care for the middle class and wealthy...
"People close to Chavez fear that it is too late for a new treatment here in Brazil, which could have started long ago with the offer made by President (Ignacío Lula da Silva) and President Dilma (Rousseff)," O Globo reporter Merval Pereira wrote.
Chavez refused treatment in Brazil due to the Brazilian hospital not being able to provide the level of security and privacy he wanted, including blocking off hospital doors and searching all hospital visitors while Chavez was interred.
He could have pretended to be a Saudi and gone to the Cleveland Clinic...
Wait -- interred? It's a Fox News report, so that can't be a language issue...
The rumors of Chavez's trip to Brazil cast not only his chances in Venezuela's upcoming presidential elections in jeopardy, but more so his chances of winning his battle against cancer. While he has given little details about his treatment or his condition, Bocaranda seems to believe that the radiation applied in Cuba could have been improperly aimed and caused the burns.
There is also speculation that Chavez suffered intestinal problems that could have originated from the metastasis of his cancer.
Yup, either or both. He just might not make it to election day. That means there's going to be a shooting war in Venezuela real soon, as his Marxist pals will do everything and anything to stay in power.
#2
"and metastatic spread would be ominous for him."
Metastasis will likely occur in the places with the greatest blood supply: liver, lungs, brain.
There is a real possibility of dementia as the brain becomes involved. At this point he should be replaced as leader or at least relinquish his role as commander in chief of the military.
#3
Chavez refused treatment in Brazil due to the Brazilian hospital not being able to provide the level of security and privacy he wanted, including blocking off hospital doors and searching all hospital visitors while Chavez was interred.
Chavez refused treatment in Brazil due to the Brazilian hospital not being able to provide the level of security and privacy he wanted, including blocking off hospital doors and searching all hospital visitors while Chavez was interred.
Sorta makes me wonder if they did that on purpose.
There is a real possibility of dementia as the brain becomes involved.
#5
"There is a real possibility of dementia as the brain becomes involved."
He's already there, cp - and has been for many years (or at least crazy).
Let's hope Yugo "emerges" in a coffin.
Posted by: Barbara ||
04/08/2012 11:42
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#6
Hugo knew he was a marked man, but having an insatiable ego, he hoped to will the cancer away, like he did everything else. Having come face to face with his mortality, he still does not relinquish his power, but keeps in denial. Such it is with tyrants. What a legacy.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/08/2012 13:11
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#11
Off to Brazil like OWG PAULA "DELILAH/BATHSHEBA" ABDUL, is He???
* "Suffered intestinal problems" - iIMO not speculation but fact, as once again AFAIK Hugo has had the cancer = "the Problem" since Milwaukee. Even then he couldn't handle certain foods. IFF 'OLE HUGO WANTED IT TO BE A MILITARY ANDOR STATE SECRET, ETC. HE NEVER ASKED OR SAID SO - OOOOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPSSSSSIES, HIS BAD.
#12
As Dennis Miller pointed out, you are welcome here for treatment, Chavez, except most of the awesome Doctors may be JOOS, and we are also the Great Satan. But it could save your life from obamacare, or whatever you installed in your own country.
I know you asked for Mercy, but it is kind of like not popping off to Father right after HE cursed you.
Anyways, good luck with all that man.
Best thing about this letter to you, Chavez, is, it does not cost a stamp.
But Pay off Fred next time you see Breitbart! Both quality of the same solid cut of stone.
#13
In Cuba, the pleasant, subtle lingering odor of sulphur is still gently wafting through the streets of Havana since Hugo Chavez humbly returned to his beloved Venezuela after having been the recipient of the total Chi-Com organ-harvest re-set .
Yugo reportedly contacted fellow demon George Soros to say that he felt wonderful and was robustly preparing to oppress anyone and everyone everywhere.
Stay tuned
George Galloway, the firebrand socialist recently re-elected as an MP, has become the latest Left-wing politician to face questions over his tax affairs.
The Sunday Telegraph has established Mr Galloway has channelled his substantial media earnings through one service company and set up another such structure just seven weeks ago.
New details of Mr Galloways financial arrangements follow a dispute over a similar arrangement used by Ken Livingstone, Labours London mayoral candidate, who was found to have lowered his tax bill legally by receiving some payments though a personal company.
Mr Galloway, who has previously served as an MP for constituencies in Glasgow and London, was elected to represent Bradford West in a by-election 10 days ago.
Records filed at Companies House show that he is the sole director of Molucca Media Ltd, a company founded on Feb 17 this year. It is thought that it takes its name from a group of islands in Indonesia the politicians fourth wife, whom he married last weekend, is of Indonesian extraction.
Mr Galloway has used another company, Miranda Media Ltd, to receive his sizeable earnings as a journalist, author and public speaker for more than four years.
#2
Could be worse, wonder if he owns a rooster. Or a duck...
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/08/2012 9:57
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#3
I always thought this guy was off his rocker. But to have an affair with taxes is just plain sick
But maybe he has a potency problem and that is the only way to achieve, uh, success. After all, isn't it well known that 'everything's bigger in taxes?'
[AFP] - The trial opened in Soddy Arabia on Saturday of 50 Al-Qaeda suspects accused of carrying out and plotting attacks in the kingdom, including US and British interests, state news agency SPA reported.
It said 47 Saudis, a Syrian and a Yemeni national went on trial in the specialised criminal court in Riyadh.
They are accused of "joining a terror cell in the country belonging to Al-Qaeda terrorist network, plotting ... to blow up" residential compounds and a public building, and killing an American citizen.
They also face charges of plotting to "blow up the US and British embassies in Riyadh, planning to assassinate a top Saudi state official and top security officers, as well as opening fire on security forces," SPA reported.
The defendants, five of whom appeared in court on Saturday, allegedly possessed weapons and smuggled heavy arms from Iraq into the kingdom "to serve the terrorist network," it added.
In June last year, 85 suspects facing similar charges also went on trial in a special Saudi security court.
In April 2011, a judicial source said 5,080 terror suspects either faced trial or had already been tried before the special court which has come in for criticism from lawyers.
Soddy Arabia was the target of a wave of deadly attacks by Al-Qaeda between 2003 and 2006, prompting authorities to launch a crackdown on the local branch of the jihadist network.
Al-Qaeda remains active in neighbouring Yemen, where the Saudi and Yemeni franchises of Al-Qaeda has joined forces under the banner of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
It is classified by the United States as the most active branch of the global terror network.
EGYPT'S powerful spy chief under the deposed president Hosni Mubarak has roiled the country's presidential race by announcing his candidacy and presenting himself as the best choice for restoring security and prosperity.
Omar Suleiman's announcement was widely seen as a game changer in the landmark election scheduled for next month. The prospect of his return to power would have been laughable a year ago, when he vanished from public view after sombrely announcing the country's long-time autocratic ruler was stepping down.
But much has changed since that afternoon of February 11 last year. Islamists have thrived in the country's newly open political system, alarming secular Egyptians and Western nations that would like to see non-Islamists leading Egypt. In addition, a large segment of Egyptian society has come to yearn for the safety and relative prosperity that prevailed until the popular uprising sent the economy into a tailspin and eroded the pillars of the country's police state.
Mr Suleiman's candidacy broadens a field of front runners dominated by Islamists. Political analysts said his entry, coming just days after he publicly ruled out a presidential bid, suggests the ruling military council opted to anoint him as a contender, possibly in response to the Muslim Brotherhood's decision to field a candidate and robust support for more hard-line Islamist candidates. It offers Egyptians their clearest choice yet between the old order and the new: a contender who is an old hand of the Mubarak-era security establishment facing off against Islamists who were banned from politics under the government he served.
''It just became a more interesting race, because it has become increasingly clear the regime has not collapsed,'' the chairman of the history department at the American University in Cairo, Khaled Fahmy, said. ''This represents the realisation that the stand-off with Islamists in parliament is very serious to them.''
Mr Suleiman, a former army general, has remained largely invisible since the final days of Mr Mubarak's rule, during which he served briefly as vice-president. Unlike the ousted president and several of his senior loyalists, Mr Suleiman has not been put on trial.
The balding former spymaster was among Washington's closest backers in the Middle East in recent years, championing Egypt's unpopular alliance with neighbouring Israel. The agency he ran played a big role in the rendition of US terrorism suspects.
ANKARA, Turkey: Turkey's prime minister says the country will wait "patiently" to see if Syria abides by a cease-fire deadline, but may take certain "steps" if the violence does not stop after that.
How fascinating! I wonder what they will do, given the top ranks of the military are now languishing in jail. Are the middle ranks ready to take over and execute whatever bright ideas Prime Minister Erdogan might have?
Recep Tayyip Erdogan did not specify Saturday what measures Turkey would take. But Ankara has in the past floated the idea of creating a buffer zone inside Syria if refugee flows become overwhelming.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/08/2012
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#1
Note to self. Lay in lots of popcorn, dipping condiments.
WASHINGTON: The United States released satellite images on Friday that it said showed Syria has artillery poised to hit residential areas and has moved some forces from one town to another despite calls for a withdrawal.
The point of this little exercise: Pencilneck lied. But then, you knew that...
I imagine they have similar images of Iran. Are they sharing those, too?
Robert Ford, the US ambassador to Syria, posted the commercial satellite images on Facebook in what seemed an effort to pressure Syrian President Bashar Assad to pull back forces as called for in a peace plan devised by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. While Ford said Syrian forces had indeed withdrawn from some areas, he cited media reports that they had fired artillery at residential areas in several towns over the last two days and had carried out "arrest sweeps" in Damascus suburbs.
"This is not the reduction in offensive Syrian government security operations that all agree must be the first step for the Annan initiative to succeed," Ford, who left Damascus when the US embassy was closed in February, said on Facebook.
"The regime and the Syrian people should know that we are watching. The regime cannot hide the truth," he added.
Annan's plan, accepted by Assad two weeks ago, calls for Syria to "immediately cease troop movements toward, and end the use of heavy weapons in, population centers, and begin pullback of military concentrations in and around population centers."
Annan has set April 10 as a deadline for the Syrian troop withdrawal and April 12 a cease-fire. On Thursday, Annan said he was told by Damascus that troop withdrawals were underway from Idlib, as well as Zabadani and Daraa. But UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday the conflict was worsening and attacks on civilian areas persisted.
It is not easy for an untrained eye to see the details in the satellite images Ford posted on Friday on the Facebook page. A US official who asked not to be identified said the images were provided by a commercial satellite. The images were marked with arrows and tank symbols that Ford said indicated the presence of armored vehicles.
Ford said the images showed the withdrawal of tanks from Dael in Daraa province as well as from Taftanaz, a village east of Idlib city in Idlib province. However, Ford said "the Syrian government simply moved some armored vehicles out of Taftanaz to the nearby town of Zirdana."
Other images carried arrow markings and a caption that said the Syrian government had "kept artillery units near residential areas" such as in Homs and Zabadani "where they could again fire upon them."
It was the second time Ford has posted satellite photos to try to show proof of Syria targeting residential neighborhoods. The earlier images were released on Feb. 10.
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#1
I thought Obi Wan annon was there to spread peace and gummy bears? Or was he just there to move his companies out?
#2
As per FREEREPUBLIC + DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS, Assad = Syria is refusing to initiate any major troops withdrawals unless the Rebs formally agree to stop fighting.
IIUC, SYRUH JUST GAVE THE US-NATO + UN "THE BIRD" [Finger]???
The Jamaat-ud-Dawa ...the front organization of Lashkar-e-Taiba... (JuD) chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed ...who would be wearing a canvas jacket with very long sleeves anyplace but Pakistain... called for people to wage jihad against America during a Friday sermon, saying it was needed to save Pakistain and Islam.
"Come to us. We will teach you the meaning of jihad... The time to fight has come," he said, according to AFP.
"This is the same jihad which caused the USSR to break and now America is failing because of it. Analysts and journalists don't realise why America is failing, the only reason is jihad."
"There are many parties in Pakistain, but America has only sent a message to Jamaat-ud-Dawa, because we do jihad," he said.
The sermon was held at the JuD head office Jamia Markaz al-Qadsia in Lahore, where Saeed had his own security.
AFP reported that some of the security personnel were also seen carrying weapons with silencers. A box was placed at the exit of the mosque and those present were asked to give funds for jihad.
He recently became the centre of attention after the US announced a $10 million reward for information which would enable him to be prosecuted and convicted in a court of law.
After Friday's sermon, a rally was taken to the Lahore press club which was joined by union traders, some Pakistain Mohammedan League - Nawaz leaders, other Difa-e-Pakistain Council (DPC) leaders and was led by Convener of Hurmat-e-Rasool Committee Ameer Hamza. Saeed himself did not participate in the rally but is one of the leaders of Difa-e-Pakistain, a an umbrella political party for many of Pakistain's hardline religious groups.
Hundreds of DPC activists protested the US "bounty" on Saeed, taking to the streets Friday while calling for "holy war" and torching a US flag.
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said Thursday that the $10 million reward for information on Saeed would "further widen the trust deficit between the two countries," while opposition politicians also condemned it, calling it "mind boggling."
The reward for Saeed was announced by US Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman in India on Monday.
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/08/2012 17:45
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#10
The Islamist Jihad was always GLOBAL/UNIVERSAL in its true scope - the only thing Hafiz is doing is overtly DEMANDING, CALLING, OR STATING WHAT THE HARD BOYZ ARE GOING TO DO ANYWAY.
For a map, click here For a map of Nuevo Leon state, click here. For a map of Monterrey city click here
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
Four Monterrey, Nuevo Leon police agents, presumably Monterrey city Policias Regales were shot to death in Monterrey Friday night, according to Mexican news accounts.
The officers were identified as Roberto Lara Cruz, Juan José Ines Alamilla Martinez, Rigoberto Martinez and Javier Eduardo Vazquez Gonzalez. The officers were all from assigned sectors in eastern and southern Monterrey.
An armed group dismounting from a Ford Crown Victoria and a Volkswagen Beetle sedans entered a residence on Calle Nueva Rosita in Madero colony in Monterrey, started firing their weapons in the area, and then took the four officers from the home. Authorities found several spent shell casings for AR-15 assault rifles at the scene.
A fifth unidentified police agent was also at the residence when the assault took place, but was not taken by the armed suspects.
The suspects then drove the four to calles Julian Villareal and Nardo near a warehouse in Cementos colony, where the suspects fired on the officers, killing three. The fourth victim survived the shooting but later died a university hospital.
A total of seven other individuals were killed or found dead in Nuevo Leon state including in Monterrey city.
Two unidentified inmates, one male and one female were found dead at the Topo Chico Centro de Readaptacion Social (CERESO) in Monterrey city early Saturday morning at about 0130 hrs. The male inmate was apparently attacked and stabbed to death. Prison authorities did not disclose the cause of death of the female.
An unidentified woman in her 30s was found dead on the road to Tampico and Calle 21 de marzo in Madero colony at around 0830 hrs Saturday morning. The victim had been kidnapped and gagged by tape before she was killed. The victim was bludgeoned and then shot to death.
An elderly couple were found shot to death in Cadereyta late Friday afternoon by relatives. Noel Lorenzo Abreu, 60 and Diana Valez Castro, 50 were found in their home on the Cadereyta to Santiago road at about Kilometer 10, apparent victims of a home invasion robbery.
Two unidentified men were found dead and in a state of advanced decomposition near a farm in Hidalgo municipality Saturday morning. The find was made by a Mexican Army patrol. The victims were in a shallow grave near the intersection of calles Vicente Fox and Fernando Canales in Crescenciano Lozano colony.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
BAMAKO - Malis coup leader said on Saturday the junta would hand power to civilians within days in a deal under which neighbouring nations agreed to lift sanctions and help tackle Tuareg rebels who have seized much of the north.
The March 22 coup by soldiers angry at ousted President Amadou Toumani Toures handling of a two-month-old rebellion backfired, emboldening the Tuareg nomads to seize the northern half of Mali and declare an independent state there.
After three days of negotiations and growing international pressure to step down, Malis junta announced late on Friday it would begin a power handover in return for an amnesty from prosecution and the lifting of trade and other sanctions.
It is the will of the committee to quickly move towards the transition, coup leader Captain Amadou Sanogo said at the barracks outside the capital Bamako which has been the headquarters of his two-week-old rule.
In the next few days you will see a prime minister and a government in place, Sanogo, sitting in an armchair in the middle of his cramped office, said in an interview with Reuters, Frances i-tele and the Spanish-language channel Telesur.
A five-page accord agreed by Sanogo and the 15-state West African bloc ECOWAS for a return to constitutional order did not specify when the handover would start. The agreement calls for Toure, who is still in hiding, to formally resign. Sanogos junta must then make way for a unity government with Malis parliament speaker Diouncounda Traore as interim president.
Sanogo won't exactly go away, however...
Elections would follow as soon as allowed by the widespread lack of security in the north, now mostly overrun by Tuaregs accompanied by groups of Islamists with links to Al Qaeda.
In an interview with Burkina Faso state radio before he flew back to Mali on Saturday, Traore said the top priority was to restore order to Malis state institutions after the coup and to deal with this problem of the north.
Our goal is the territorial integrity of Mali and the pursuit of our democratic project, Traore said of a state which had been viewed as one of the regions more stable democracies. He made no comment to reporters as he arrived in Bamako later.
Sanogo, dressed in battle fatigues and showing signs of tiredness, called on ECOWAS countries to help the Malian army with transport and logistics rather than send ground troops as they are discussing.
The Malian army still needs help precisely on logistics and air support but not ground troops to help us solve the security problem in northern Mali, he said.
We have to sit and talk. If they want to help us it should be according to our needs, added Sanogo, surrounded by aides and sitting beneath a large portrait of himself on the wall.
The African Union, ECOWAS and foreign capitals from Paris to Washington all dismissed Fridays declaration by the Tuareg-led MNLA rebels of the independent state of Azawad, a desert region bigger than France in Malis north. Neighbours fear secession would encourage such movements in their own countries, while the presence of Islamists among the rebels has raised fears of the emergence of a rogue state with echoes of Taleban-era Afghanistan which sheltered Al Qaeda.
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Ten Hindu families are said to migrate every year from Pakistain to India. But what of the poor Pak Hindus who don't have the means to escape?
Pandit Bhagat Lal Khokar shivers as he tightly clutches his little sack of timber and carefully siphons kerosene. He squats on the dark courtyard and prepares a large bonfire for Holika, the night before Holi. Amid the struggle, the old man informs me, "Bonfires purify the air of evil spirits."
Loh's Lahore has hosted Panditjee's family for six generations. Priesthood is inherited, and today, Bhagat Lal Khokhar is the pandit of the Valmik Mandir situated in Old Anarkali. His generation may be the last one here, as his children find solace in regular jobs and not temple duties. Living in a land obsessed with Islam, he's had to run the temple and his house without any government support by doing odd roadside jobs.
Hindus whispering in the temple are distracted by the sight and sound of Bhagat striking a match against the ancient brick floor. As the fire towers high, we follow him into the temple.
The main room of the dimly lit temple is preserved for the worship of Baba Guru Valmik Swami (Valmiki), the supreme 'Untouchable' deity, and the author of the Ramayana. The other houses a prayer room with mini statues and posters.
Excited Hindu children worship the statue amid squeals of innocent cheer and laughter. Once done prostrating, they crawl and rest against the wall. Anu, a 6-year old, starts reciting a naat she said she heard at school. The pandit's wife rushes in and silences her, warning her of dire consequences and unforgivable punishment if the Maharaaj (Panditjee) finds out. But the maharaaj is busy, immersed in praying and blessing everyone.
As the pooja ends, we exit the room and surround the bonfire. All ears turn towards Panditjee as he explains the origin of Holi. His frail hands tremble in the evening breeze as he tells the story of Holika and Prahalad.
According to Ratnaval, a 7th century Hindu drama, Holika was a female demon and the sister of Hiranyakashyap, the demon king. Hiranyakashyap considered himself ruler of the Universe, and higher than all the gods.
The percentage of Hindus in Pakistain has dropped from 16 percent in 1947 (after Partition and the exodus of non-Mohammedans) to 2 percent in 2010
The demon king hated his son Prahalad because he was a faithful devotee of Lord Vishnu. One day the king asked him, "Who is the greatest, God or I?" "God is," said the son, "you are only a king." The king was furious and decided to murder his son. But the king's attempts at murder went in vain. Prahalad survived being trampled by elephants, being thrown over a cliff, bitten by snakes, and attacked by soldiers.
Hiranyakashyap consulted his demon sister, Holika, for help in killing Prahalad. Holika made Prahalad sit in her lap as she settled in the middle of a fire. Holika's magical robe made her immune to fire, so she thought Prahalad would burn to death while she remained safe. But because Holika was indulging in evil, the divine powers made a fierce wind blow across the land, blowing both Pralahad and the magical robe away. Holika's immunity vanished and she was burned to ashes. Prahalad stayed true to his God Vishnu, who had protected him, and survived.
Later, Vishnu killed King Hiranyakashyap, and Prahalad ruled as a wise king in his father's palace. To celebrate this story, Hindus ignite large bonfires a day before Holi, often burning a dummy of Holika. The story established the moral that good always wins over evil, and those who seek to torment the faithful will be destroyed.
That moral now seems as remote as the 7th century itself. Today, evil wins over good and the faithful are destroyed and tormented.
How is it that the minorities of Pakistain, despite being promised equal rights by the founding father, continue to be reviled and tortured in the name of faith? Pandit Bhagat Lal Khokar's face reflects the sad reality and screams a thousand stories of discrimination and regret.
When I ask the Mohammedan shopkeepers for directions to the temple, they misguide me. Some want to know the reason for my 'visit'
He remembers a painful childhood filled with stories of how Mohammedan traders in his neighbourhood always fussed about sharing utensils with his family, yet never minding the money they gave them.
Almost every Hindu at the temple has a similar story of persecution to tell. To avoid dampening our spirits, Pandit Bhagat Lal resumes the rituals and starts running around the towering fire, singing Vedic chants and screaming 'Holika', his people following him in unison.
As Mohammedans, we elevate Arabic, an alien language, to unattainable heights of reverence. And yet witnessing the ancient Vedic texts of our land come to life in this way also stirs up emotions. The majority of Mohammedans in Pakistain are Mohammedans by birth, not by choice. Most of our ancestors were Hindus. Can it be so easy to kill the Hindu inside you?
How do I explain this feeling to Pandit Bhagat Lal Khokar?
It is only when a trusted mutual friend refers me to him that Panditjee agrees to meet me. While the temple is nestled in Anarkali, one of Lahore's most densely populated places, it is difficult to find. When I ask the Mohammedan shopkeepers for directions to the temple, they misguide me. Some want to know the reason for my 'visit'. When I inform them of my intention to photograph the temple and interview Hindus over there, they recommend me not to "waste my time". A call to the Panditjee reveals that the entrance is in a passageway, once called the Valmiki Street, neatly camouflaged behind a cart selling old clothes.
The Valmiki Mandir lacks the common statues found in most Hindu temples, and December 7, 1992, a day after the Babri Mosque was "martyred", explains everything.
On that fateful day, Bhagat Lal Khokhar and other Hindus prepared for the worst at the temple.
The ancient temple was attacked by men with sticks and hammers. Valmik's jewel-encrusted pre-Partition statue, built by a student of Punjab University, was destroyed. A white marble statue of Krishna was also destroyed. Surprisingly, no Hindus were harmed. The temple collapsed within minutes and the entire structure was set on fire.
Bhagat Lal Khokhar hid for fear of his life and many assumed that he had decamped to India. Six months later, he reopened the temple and resumed his duties amid the rubble.
The authorities were kind enough to allot them money for reconstruction. The remaining money came from members of the community. A part of a wall from the original construction as a reminder of what had happened has been preserved. A new Valmiki statue has replaced the original, whereas framed pictures continue to represent the idol of Krishna.
Panditjee is reluctant to talk about "forced conversions", but sums it up by saying that they've been taking place ever since Muhammad Bin Qasim and his men brought "Islam" upon the people of this land.
A Human Rights Commission of Pakistain (HRCP) report from 2010 informs us that at least 25 Hindu girls are kidnapped and converted by force in Pakistain every month. According to the report, the percentage of Hindus in Pakistain has dropped from 16 percent in 1947 (after Partition and the exodus of non-Mohammedans) to 2 percent in 2010. Yet three million Hindus continue to be the largest religious minority in Pakistain. The report states how in 1947, there were 428 functioning temples in the country, and now there are only 26. According to Indian sources, around ten rich Hindu families migrate from Pakistain to India every month. But for poorer Hindus like Bhagat Lal Khokar, escaping reality seems like a distant dream.
Continued on Page 49
A group of soldiers had a close call on Saturday afternoon when terrorists insurgents set off a bomb on a road in Narathiwat province as their pickup truck passed by. Six members of the 3rd Special Forces Regiment were on the road when the bomb, which had been buried by the side of the road, was detonated.
The blast badly damaged the left side of the vehicle and left a big hole in the road, but no one was injured. The device was concealed in a 20-kilogram cooking gas cylinder and set off by a mobile phone signal.
In a related development, a southern intelligence agency said a group of separatist terrorists militants active in Tua Ngor village had made two bombs, one attached to a motorcycle and another hidden in a 20-kilogram cooking gas cylinder, and were preparing to take them out of the area. The terrorists militants intended to use the devices to carry out separate attcks in Narathiwat during Songkran holiday.
Security forces have manned checkpoints on all routes in and out of the village and are gathering further information to identify the whereabouts of the bombs.
* ION DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > RUSSAI TO FLATTEN GEORGIA IFF IRAN ATTACKED | RUSSIA EXPECTING ATTACK ON IRAN BY SUMMER [2012], PLANS TO MOVE TROOPS TO PROTECT INTERESTS, POSSIBLE ISLAMIST ENCLAVE [agz US? Israeli? Milfors = attacks].
Methinks its more correct to say Russia is for Russia as usual + will "improve" its Borders vee perceived threats from Nuclear? Iran + Radical Islamist MilTerrs, Caucasus + CentAsia Insurgency, ISLAMIST-led? AFPAK, etc. by unilaterally forcibly extending it???
Lest we fergit, ROGOZIN = IRAN ATTACK IS A DIRECT MILITARY THREAT TO RUSSIA.
* SAME > IRAN TO LINK CASPIAN SEA WID PERSIAN GULF, as per Energy trade vee prosed 680-kms long Iran-Caspian Canal system.
Iran Energy Minister Majid Namjou.
IIUC, IRAN IS GIVING RIVAL TURKEY "DA BIRD" [Finger] AS PER TURKEY'S SIMILAR CANAL PROJECT.
#2
The $$$ Russia spends on acquiring Drone Techs would be a serious change vee below.
* WORLD MIL FORUM > US EXPERTS SAY CHINA MAY BE DEVELOP "UNMANNED AIRCRAFT CARRIERS" TO SUBVERT TRADITIONAL NAVAL + AIR, OTHER WARFARE, POTEN IN TIME TO BECOME THE NUMBER ONE THREAT TO THE US NAVY. RUSSIA + INDIA MOSTLY DISINTERESTED IN DEV UNMANNED OR DRONE TECHNOLOGIES FOR PRIMARY/MAJOR COMBAT ROLES.
* SAME > CHINA COULD ASYMMETRICALLY COPY? DURING THE US-USSR COLD WAR IN THE EARLY 1960'S, TAIWAN'S MILITARY MULLED PROCURING BOEING + GENERAL ELECTRIC'S PROPOSED "SUBMARINE AIRCRAFT CARRIER" TO HELP THE US INTERCEPT SOVIET OR RED CHINESE STRATEGIC BOMBERS IN EARLY-STAGE/PHASE
"POINT DEFENSE". POST-COLD WAR MODERNIZATION OF CONCEPT AS "SUBMARINE DRONE STRIKE-BOMBER CARRIER" TO SINK THE US NAVY.
* SAME > EXPERTS: US-CHINA WORLD WAR MAY OCCUR IN 2027.
The US seemingly gets a 9-10 Yarn breather vee 1990's Net + then Sino-Russian "War agz US not only Possible but Desired circa Year 2018" - 9-11 + GWOT + NUCLEAR IRAN, NUCLEAR RADICAL ISLAM/MILTERRS NOTWITHSTANDING???
QUETTA: Three people, including a police official, were killed in separate incidents of firing in different parts of Balochistan on Saturday.
Assistant sub-inspector Abdul Samad Jan was gunned down in Kalat, about 145 kilometres from Quetta. The motive behind the murder could not be ascertained.
Um, he was an assistant sub-inspector?
In another incident, the driver of a passenger bus, identified as Rahim Bakhsh, was shot dead on Saryab Road in the provincial capital on Saturday morning. According to witnesses, an armed man boarded a bus, which was coming from Karachi. As the bus reached a stop in Quetta, he opened fire on the driver, killing him instantly.
The shooting sparked protest on Saryab Road where scores of transporters gathered and staged a noisy demonstration. The angry protesters, most of whom were drivers, blocked the road and set tyres on fire. They demanded the government arrest culprit and bring him to book.
Nice idea but you'll have to jug half your countrymen to make a difference...
In Barkhan district, a security man was killed and another sustained injuries when their checkpost was attacked by a group of armed man. The two security personnel were manning the checkpost when armed men opened fire on them. Resultantly, one of the officials died on the spot while the other received bullet wounds.
Baloch militants had carried out this attack, sources in security forces said. However, no group had fessed up claimed the responsibility of the incident until the filing of this report.
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An Israeli airstrike Saturday in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah wounded two Palestinian militants riding a motorcycle of violence, medics and witnesses said, dpa reported.
Gaza emergency spokesman Adham Abu Selmeya told reporters that the two casualties were taken to Abu Yousef al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah.
Witnesses and security sources said that an Israeli drone fired one missile at the moving motorcycle carrying the two militants, described as members of the pro-Hamas Popular Resistance Committees (PRC).
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Secularists feared by Sajid Mir
Daily Nawa-e-Waqt reported leader of Markazi Ahle Hadith as saying that if the religious parties went on quarrelling among themselves the secularists of Pakistain might come to power again.
Both are corrupt, as is the Army of the Pure, so the country loses regardless.
If the mullahs got together he said the people will 'give them note together with vote'.
How blasphemers are invented
Monthly Naya Zamana had a report from Nabil Anwar Dhaku Chakwal which told the story of how a Foreign Office clerk Mohammad Ishaq turned saint while in America was named blasphemer in Talagang and sentenced to death for insulting the Prophet PUBH by a judge in Adiala jail Rawalpindi after a scared judge in Jhelum had first gave him death. Ishaq became popular in Talagang as cult figure and his followers chanted 'Ya Rasul-Allah' which was interpreted by jealous Deobandis as insult. A judge refused to take the case because he was scared of the Deobandis but later another scared judge in Jhelum gave him death, confirmed in Adiala jail.
Indian Kashmire attacks Valentine's Day
According to monthly Naya Zamana Mohammedan women's organization led by Asia Andarabi went around stopping what they thought was Valentine's Day in the Valley. They were confronted by a couple in a restaurant who said they were about to be married and had come to the restaurant because it was their right. Asia retorted that even married couples were not allowed by Islam to celebrate Valentine's Day.
Heaven forfend, a Christian holiday celebrating the love of a man for a woman!
American, Iran and Ikhwan are enemies!
Daily Mashriq reported the police chief of Dubai as saying that the enemy of the Mohammedans were America, Iran and Ikhwan al Muslimoon in power in Egypt. Talking to a Kuwaiti paper he said that the region was under threat from the three.
But not the Juices. Why d'you suppose he missed that one?
Kayani as Salahuddin Ayubi
Writing in Jang famous columnist Haroon Rasheed stated that he greatly longed to write books about certain great people he revered and the first among them would be Dr Rafeeq Akhtar of Gujjar Khan known as the spiritual mentor of Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the sharpest bulb on the national tree... . Those who came after him as worthy of books authored by Haroon Rasheed were: Tipu Sultan, Jinnah and Salahuddin Ayubi. He said he had once called General Kayani ... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI... the Salahuddin Ayubi of Pakistain which was not liked by journalist, Ayaz Amir.
Brigadier Ali wanted to kill generals
Monthly Naya Zamana reported that Hizbut Tahrir ...an al-Qaeda recruiting organization banned in most countries. It calls for the reestablishment of the Caliphate... member Brigadier Ali Khan had planned to use Air Force planes to attack a corps commanders' meeting at the GHQ and thus kill all the generals in order to establish a Khilafat in Pakistain. Some Mohammedan civilians were also involved in the plot but all of them were British citizens.
Two kinds of storms
Writing in Jang Hamid Mir said that there were two kinds of storm (toofan): the first was ones created by Nature and they were genuine against which can be no human resistance. The second kind was invented by the human mind which in fact was turbulence of one mind which some wished to transfer to other minds. This storm was a mental storm and was composed of conspiracies. The first genuine storm was desi (home-made) while the second one was valayati and internationally linked. This valayati storm was not understood but every time it appealed to the people as social revolution it brought on the government of military rule.
Afghan Taliban leader killed in jug
Reported in monthly Naya Zamana, Afghan Taliban leader Maulana Ubaidullah Akhund was killed in jug in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... after being locked away in 2007 from Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... . Akhund was army chief of defence under Mullah Umar and belonged to Qandahar. He was released the same year but was relocked away in 2008 and kept in jail in Bloody Karachi where he died of heart attack, according to official sources. (Another commander of Mullah Umar - Dadullah - was locked away in 2010 from Sindh.)
I'm finding it hard to work up the proper level of indignation...
Sindh Assembly and English
Daily Express reported that the Sindh Assembly got hot when one lady MPA Shazia Marri stated that she was offended by the English language used in a draft resolution by an opposition lady MPA named Marvi Rashdi. She told her that her English was wrong and she had no manners. Rashdi responded by saying Marri did not use normal makeup but applied think paint on her face. The speaker had to stop proceedings of the house.
Did they speak in English so all could understand, or did one speak Sindhi and the other Aer?
Mansoor Ijaz and state agencies
Writing in Jang Hamid Mir stated that Mansoor Ijaz was known to him from the past as a plotter against Pakistain but some state agencies were attracted to him despite the fact that he had persuaded Musharraf to declare ceasefire in Kashmire which set the liberation movement against itself and against Pakistain. But those who spoke against Mansoor Ijaz as an enemy of Pakistain were accused by the agencies of being kafir.
Which ends all discussion.
Wife of Shakeel Afridi dismissed
Reported in Monthly Naya Zamana, a health officer with the government Shakeel Afridi was given Congressional Gold Medal for helping the US to get to the late Osama bin Laden ... who no longer exists... in Abbottabad ... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden.... and kill him. He was a surgeon in Khyber Agency but moved to Abbottabad to conduct fake polio ...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set... tests. The government in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar moved - after his arrest and subsequent case of treason against him - to dismiss also his wife who was principal of Darra Adamkhel Girls Degree College from her job.
From 'farangi' slave to 'Amrikan' slave
Quoted in Nawa-e-Waqt leader of JUI Maulana Fazlur Rehman Deobandi holy man, known as Mullah Diesel during the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty ... said that the rulers of Pakistain had converted from Pakistain from the slaves of farangi (British) to slaves of America. After that the country was made insecure and the rulers began to loot it through corruption while extending the begging bowl to enemies of Pakistain.
Why destroy Osama's house so quickly?
Columnist Ishtiaq Beg wrote in Jang that it was perhaps not proper to demolish the house of Osama bin Laden in great haste. Many people may have doubts as to the motives behind the destruction of the house. The place could have been preserved as a school for girls or a public library. But there was also the consideration that the house could become a centre of attention for the lovers of Osama bin Laden.
Government hiding facts about Osama
Famous historian an ex-Intelligence Bureau officer Dr Safdar Mehmood wrote in Jang that the government will not reveal everything about the residence of Osama bin Laden and the incident of May 2 when the Americans came and killed Osama. Likewise Aimal Kansi
...the thoroughly odious man who came to the U.S. on a forged Pakistani passport and shot five CIA employees at Langley in 1993 before escaping back to Pakistan. The Pashtun relatives he fled to sold him to the CIA for the multi-million dollar reward. Mr. Kansi was returned to America, properly tried and convicted. The death sentence was carried out in 2002. All sorts of interesting people attended his funeral in Pakistan, and a mosque was built to memorialize his martyrdom.
was hiding in a remote hotel when the CIA was allowed to pick him up take him to the US and get him sentenced to death.
Wukla go on the rampage
Reported in Express lawyers in Lahore called wukla for their violent conduct beat up a civilian judge in Lahore and threw him out of the court. One lawyer named Iftikhar Bhatti first demanded that the judge give his judgement on his advice. When this was not done he became violent. Other wukla joined and beat up the judge. On seeing this, the judges in other courts got scared and struck work.
Continued on Page 49
#1
Reported in Monthly Naya Zamana, a health officer with the government Shakeel Afridi was given Congressional Gold Medal for helping the US to get to Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad and kill him. He was a surgeon in Khyber Agency but moved to Abbottabad to conduct fake polio tests. The government in Peshawar moved - after his arrest and subsequent case of treason against him - to dismiss also his wife who was principal of Darra Adamkhel Girls Degree College from her job.
TUNIS: Libyan gunmen kidnapped five Tunisian fuel smugglers near the border on Saturday and Tunisian authorities temporarily closed the main crossing of Ras Jder pending negotiations for their release, a Tunisian security source said.
The source said gunmen from the western Libyan town of Zuwara, which saw days of clashes between rival militias last week, were believed to be holding the Tunisians hostage inside Libya.
It is not political, the source said, adding that the incident was believed to be connected to the rampant smuggling business between Libya and Tunisia. He said talks were under way with the Libyan army to secure their release.
The border crossing at Ras Jder has been closed several times over the past year due to clashes or unrest in the frontier area.
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Yemeni air forces on Saturday night carried out two airstrikes against al-Qaida sites in the southeastern province of Shabwa, causing no casualties, a security official said, Xinhua reported.
"The Yemeni warplanes started pounding suspected al-Qaida positions in the Asaed district, 40 kilometres southwest of Ataq, the provincial capital of Shabwa, from 9:00 p.m. (1800 GMT) on Saturday night for one hour," the local security official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
The warplanes also raided a suspected training camp of the al- Qaida terrorist group in the region, the official said, without giving further details about casualties. The al-Qaida militants in the targeted sites were preparing to carry out armed attacks against Shabwa's provincial capital, the official added.
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Among those details is that drone-zaps played an important role:
"A tribal chief told AFP a US drone killed eight Al-Qaeda suspects when it fired a missile at their vehicle in the eastern province of Shabwa on Saturday.
"Al-Qaeda militants were aboard a vehicle on their way from Shabwa to (nearby) Marib province when a US drone fired a missile at their vehicle, killing them all."
It didn't 'faint', it collapsed and died of cardiac arrest...
BEIRUT: Syrian troops pounded opposition areas, activists said, killing 74 civilians in an offensive that has sent thousands of refugees surging into Turkey before next weeks UN-backed cease-fire aimed at staunching a year of bloodshed.
At least 15 rebels and 17 security force members were also killed, raising the death toll in violence to over 100. Each side has accused the other of intensifying assaults in the run-up to the truce due to take effect early Thursday if government forces begin pulling back from towns 48 hours earlier in line with UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annans peace plan.
The military shelled Deir Baalba district in the restive city of Homs, killing four people, the grassroots Local Coordination Committees opposition group said. Thirteen men were also found killed in cold blood in the same area, it said.
Amateur activist video showed scenes of carnage said to be the aftermath of the shelling. Mangled limbs and body parts in blankets were being loaded on a pick-up truck. A second video showed 13 men who appeared to have been tied up and executed.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 53 people had been killed, including 40 in an army attack on Al-Latmana, in Hama province, that began on Friday. In an activist video from the town, mourners held aloft the limp corpse of a child. Bodies were laid out in a row on the ground.
A rocket hit a bus traveling from Lebanon to Syria at Jousa just inside Syria, a Lebanese security source said. Witnesses said six Syrians were killed. Lebanese medics confirmed two dead and nine wounded. It was not clear who had fired the rocket.
Rebels trying to oust President Bashar Assad attacked army posts north of Aleppo before dawn, killing an officer and two men, and assaulted a helicopter base, activists said. Syrian commandos shot dead three rebels in an overnight raid on a terrorist den, Syrias state news SANA agency reported. Country towns north of Aleppo have endured days of clashes and bombardment, prompting 3,000 civilians to flee over the Turkish border on Friday alone about 10 times the daily number before Assad accepted Annans plan 10 days ago.
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#1
From the article: marketing expert Stevens understood he was on the receiving end of a campaign involving a tiny handful of people extremely skilled in making others think dozens were tens of thousands.
Sounds like the entire MSM plus the majority of posts made all over the internet. A handful of people skilled in making everyone else think they are the majority.
#4
Huckabee Stars in RINO Radio...Coming very soon to a Radio Station near you. Always knew that "the Huck-ster" had it in him. He's just such a "swell fellah"... Realty check? Huck sucks!
Translated and rewritten from a Spanish language Associated Press report
The Los Zetas criminal organization recruits Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) AKA Las Maras, gang members for training in paramilitary camps in Guatemala, according to Guatemalan authorities.
Los Zetas use their Las Maras recruits in the Guatemalan capital to distract the actions and resources of the authorities in order to ensure control of rural land corridors used for narcotics smuggling. Las Maras also provide intelligence support through their organization according to Stuart Velasco, chief coordinator of the task forces of the Ministry of Interior.
Las Maras use their training to improve their criminal operations and to make more money. Perquisites include access to military training, high-powered weapons and drugs for sale or own consumption, he added.
"In this nexus with Los Zetas, MS-13 is more capable of articulation, strategy and capacity for maneuver," said Velasco.
"According to our intelligence sources, Los Zetas are looking to recruit 5,000 gang members. Their strategy is to concentrate the MS-13 chaos in the cities to maintain corridors for the shipment of drugs inside the country."
By expanding its operations to Guatemala, the first base of Los Zetas was to recruit soldiers in the country, said Velasco.
He said that the recruitment of Kaibiles, or Guatemalan special forces trained in counterinsurgency operations began in the province of Peten.
"There is a Kaibiles school in Petan, and there are many who live in that area. So, even with what little they earn, it was difficult for Los Zetas to bribe them with money. Additionally, Los Zetas needed the knowledge and training of the Guatemalans to operate in Guatemala" he said.
"The most important and dangerous are Los Zetas because not only do they engage in drug trafficking, they also take control of the criminal structure and completely take over all kinds of activities," said Velasco, who is coordinating police operations against criminal groups in the country.
"They know that the economic benefit is large and that Los Zetas, being a foreign group, need their networks to increase their operational level in Guatemala."
The initial information on the alliance between Las Maras and Los Zetas came after the arrest of 50 people linked to the slaughter on a Petén cattle farm on 14 May last year that left 27 people dead, 25 of them beheaded.
Velasco stressed that despite the close links between the MS-13 gangs, the ideological indoctrination that Los Zetas provides convinces them that if they get into it, Los Zetas can control all criminal activities.
"Obviously they are loyal to their gang members and leaders have to adopt the same mechanisms the Los Zetas have, to ensure the work of their new recruits,'' he said.
By moving to a second phase, integrating the MS-13 gang members, Los Zetas are making a difference within the family structure of gangs, who arrived in Guatemala in the 1990s when the United States accelerated deportations of criminals.
Miguel Angel Galvez, judge of drug trafficking, said the links are increasingly evident in the cases that are processed.
"Los Zetas are a group like the Las Maras and seize complete control (when captured) always carry a notebook where are listed all the people they are paid and what their roles are starting with mayors, judges and reaching the local criminals,'' said Galvez.
Scott Stewart, an analyst with the Stratfor intelligence company and a former diplomat at the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala, said that gangs are increasingly willing to work with Los Zetas and the economic power of the criminal organization.
"Therefore, there is an incentive to belong to the organization or risk going out of business completely," he said.
The President of El Salvador, Mauricio Funes, reported on May 26, 2010, that organized crime groups like Los Zetas were trying to break into Honduras and El Salvador.
#2
The race war is prolific here. It is worth scurry and maybe some delving. MS-13, Hezbollah, and other loving brands are now going against the Templars - lots of drug war kings arrested, many more to fill their place.
Matters are coming to a head in Pakistain. And, conveniently, elsewhere...
The deadlock in US-Pak relations over resumption of NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... supplies is veering towards confrontation. And the confrontation between parliament-government and supreme court-opposition is edging towards a clash. The net losers are fated to be Pakistain's fledgling democracy and stumbling economy.
Pakistain's Parliamentary Committee for National Security has failed to forge a consensus on terms and conditions for dealing with America. The PMLN-JUI opposition is in no mood to allow the Zardari government any significant space for negotiation. COAS General Ashfaq Kayani ... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI... is also reluctant to weigh in unambiguously with his stance. As such, no one wants to take responsibility for any new dishonourable "deal" with the US in an election year overflowing with angry anti-Americanism. The danger is that in any lengthy default mode, the US might get desperate and take unilateral action regardless of Pakistain' s concern. That would compel Pakistain to resist, plunging the two into certain diplomatic and possible military conflict. This would hurt Pakistain more than the US because Islamabad is friendless, dependent on the West for trade and aid, and already bleeding internally from multiple cuts inflicted by terrorism, sectarianism, separatism, inflation, devaluation, unemployment, etc. Indeed, the worst-case scenario for the US is a disorderly and swift retreat from Afghanistan while the worst-case scenario for Pakistain is an agonizing implosion as a sanctioned and failing state.
A pointer to the direction in which US-Pak relations are headed is provided by the recent US decision to put $10 million "terrorist" head money on Hafiz Saeed ...founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and its false-mustache offshoot Jamaat-ud-Dawa. The United Nations declared the JuD a terrorist organization in 2008 and Hafiz Saeed a terrorist as its leader. Hafiz, JuD and LeT are wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Pak intel apparatus, so that amounted to squat... , the leader of the UN-banned Lashkar-e-Taiba ...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI... and Jamaat ud Dawa. There are two major motives behind this step. First, it reaffirms the US belief that the Defense Council of Pakistain, in particular LeT, is increasingly gearing up to play a significant anti-US role in Afghanistan and is therefore fair game for US policy makers. The US is signaling that if restored NATO pipelines are attacked or violently blocked by the DFC or its adjuncts, the US will consider it an act of terrorism-war by these groups and react accordingly. Second, it endears the US to India which has long demanded some such step and confirms a budding long term strategic relationship between them based on strong defense and economic ties.
A formal clash between the government and the judiciary is also on the cards. If there was any doubt about it, the aggressive speeches of President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari ... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ... and PPP Co-Chairman Bilawal Bhutto on April 4th at Garhi Khuda Baksh signal the readiness of the government to go down fighting rather than kneel at the altar of the Supreme Court. President Zardari's decision to camp in Lahore for a few days is aimed at marshalling his forces to meet the "Punjabi establishment" challenge. A conviction of the prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, for contempt will trigger a series of political actions and reactions all round and provoke a military intervention that leaves political devastation and economic ruin in its wake. A house bitterly feuding and divided is hardly equipped to put up a united front against a desperate and overbearing superpower like the US in a volatile and friendless region.
There is a perverse irony in the developing situation. The generals of the Pakistain Army are solely responsible for formulating and implementing policy towards America, India and Afghanistan. Now those policies have come to grief in one way or another and also engendered anti-India and anti-American sentiment in the bargain. So the generals are asking the politicians to take "ownership" of, and responsibility for, these policies in an environment that is not conducive to rational and pragmatic review and reform.
The twist in the scenario is that the Pakistain military, more than any other institution or social group, is likely to be most adversely affected by any precipitous change in the external or internal status quo. If external relations with America deteriorate, the pipeline for weapons and coalition support funds will dry up and Pak soldiers and weapons could even be pitted against NATO forces in FATA and Afghanistan. Any diminishing of the status of Pakistain as an American ally in the Afghan war would also enable India to carve out a bigger role for itself in the Afghan end-game, which would be nothing short of a nightmare for the Pakistain army. Equally, if the Mighty Pak Army were to be sucked into the internal political quagmire as a result of the clash between the judiciary-opposition and the executive-parliament, it would find itself battling on two impossible fronts whose "ownership burden" would rest exclusively on its shoulders.
This is a moment of reckoning between the military and civilians, between democracy and autocracy, between civil society and thug extremism, between notions of national interest and national honour, between executive and judiciary, between government and opposition, between Pakistain and America, between Pakistain and India. This is Pakistain's moment of reckoning for paradigm change.
While the voluntary seppuku described above is the best known form, in practice the most common form of seppuku was obligatory seppuku, used as a form of capital punishment for disgraced samurai, especially for those who committed a serious offense such as unprovoked murder, robbery, corruption, or treason. The samurai were generally told of their offense in full and given a set time to commit seppuku, usually before sunset on a given day. If the sentenced was uncooperative, it was not unheard of for them to be restrained, or for the actual execution to be carried out by decapitation while retaining only the trappings of seppuku; even the short sword laid out in front of the offender could be replaced with a fan. Unlike voluntary seppuku, seppuku carried out as capital punishment did not necessarily absolve the offender's family of the crime. Depending on the severity of the crime, half or all of the deceased's property could be confiscated, and the family stripped of rank.
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04/08/2012 1:35
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Well, "honor culture" bullshit aside, unlike samurai, even disgraced, these are just turds which need to be flushed...
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A Russian newspaper has reported that the military has begun deploying S-400 mobile surface-to-air missiles in Kaliningrad, the Baltic exclave bordered by Poland and Lithuania.
Izvestia cited unnamed military officials as saying the missiles arrived Friday, but did not say how many. Russia's Defense Ministry declined comment on the report. S-400s, Russia's most advanced surface-to-air missiles, have a range of 120-400 kilometers (75-250 miles).
Once upon a time, not so very long ago as history is measured, the Turks ruled over Arabia with a strong hand. Though Turkey is now but a small rump of her former glory, the Turks have not forgotten that once they were chosen by their god to rule over the others in all the part of the world that mattered.
Turkey's top imam blasted the Saudi grand mufti's call to "destroy all the churches" in the Gulf region, saying that the announcement is in total contradiction to the peaceful teachings of the Moslem religion.
So true. But consonant with the violent teachings of the Muslim religion, which were revealed later and therefore supersede the earlier ones, we are told. But shhhh! Don't say it where the kufrs can hear, lest they become suspicious and wary.
Speaking to Today's Zaman, Mehmet Görmez, head of the Religious Affairs Directorate, said he cannot accept the Islamic religious order --fatwa -- issued by Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Sheikh, adding that the mufti's remarks run contrary to the centuries-old Islamic teachings of tolerance and the sanctity of institutions belonging to other religions.
How fare the Christians in Turkey, Imam Gormez? Have you yet given back the Hagia Sofia? Have you permitted the Halki Theological Seminary to reopen, that new priests might be trained?
He emphasized that Islam has always respected religious freedom.
So long as jizya is paid and the sultan isn't feeling cranky...
"The opinion of the grand mufti also obviously contradicts the agreements that the Prophet of Islam signed with the non-Moslem communities both in Medina and in the region. It also plainly overlooks the right of immunity given by Islam to the holy shrines and temples of other religions on the basis of the rule of law throughout its history," Görmez explained.
Sheikh Abdulaziz reportedly made the controversial statement during a meeting with a delegation from the Kuwait-based Society of the Revival of Islamic Heritage in response to a query about Shariah law concerning the construction of churches in Moslem countries. He issued the fatwa in March, saying that further church building should be banned and existing Christian houses of worship should be destroyed.
Görmez slammed Abdulaziz, stating, "We strongly believe that this declaration has left dark shadows upon the concept of rights and freedoms in Islam that have always been observed on the basis of its sources, and it will not be recorded as an opinion of Islam." He also added, "We, therefore, entirely reject the aforementioned opinion and hope that it will be amended as soon as possible."
Turkey's top Moslemholy man challenged the Saudi grand mufti's assertions on the established principles in Islam. "We believe that the mentioned opinion is evidently against the aims of Islam, especially in a region that witnessed the descent of the Holy Koran and the first application of the Sunnah of the Prophet. It is against the Moslem tradition's established practice of respecting non-Moslems' rights as well," he noted.
#6
An old question, Pappy. I remember as a kid seeing a newspaper photo of protesters waving signs at Eisenhower, saying "Don't sell me to Saud, Ike". A reference to the fact they still acknowledged slavery at the time (as opposed to the unacknowledged slavery they still practice with their "servants". Given such a long-standing distaste for things Saudian, there can be only one reason they're still so favored by DC.... their cute little curly-toed slippers, no doubt.
#7
their cute little curly-toed slippers, no doubt
I think that anyone who reads Rantburg knows why there's still a relationship with the Sauds.
Unfortunately we have this problem where, anyone with half a mind to post here (and unfortunately there's far too many) seems to think that everyone but them is clueless and it is their sacred duty to point that out why there's "only one reason they're still so favored by DC" ad absurdium.
It's the same I-am-the-only-one-with-The-Answer mindset was the "Wake Up America" crowd (which we get all far too often).
International soccer's governing body will consider a prototype of a sports hijab designed by an Iranian-Canadian.
The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), banned the hijab in 2007. Rule 4 of FIFA's rules states that a player's equipment "must not have any political religious or personal statements."
Last month, however, FIFA announced that it will allow women to wear specially designed sport hijabs. The final decision on the new headwear is expected in summer.
Elham Seyed Javad, 28, owner of Montreal-based IQO Design, said that she didn't think twice about submitting her proposal to FIFA after it reversed its decision. She said, "Not even nine hours after my letter was received, the director general of FIFA's board called me."
If chosen, Javad said the financial gain could be "enormous" as Muslim women around the world could be wearing her design. She said FIFA is expecting her prototype in a few weeks.
This is the second time Javad has designed a sporty hijab. In 2008, she created ResportOn, a hijab for female martial arts athletes. The garment looks like a tank top attached to a balaclava.
She said the Australian federal police bought one of her hijabs for its first female Muslim recruit. The Iranian government is considering one of her designs for all of its female athletes for the 2012 Olympic Games in London, as well.
Javad said, "The hijab is often associated in the media with a loss of power for women. However, I think that people understand that in this case, it's more of a form of freedom for Muslim women who want to play sports."
U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver's car wash headache is raging once again.
The bank that loaned the Kansas City congressman
(and head of the Congressional Black Caucus)
and his wife $1.3 million in 2002 to buy the Grandview Auto Wash at 12204 Blue Ridge Extension is now demanding payment of more than $1.5 million, after the Cleavers repeatedly fell behind on repaying the loan.
The suit, filed last week in Jackson County Circuit Court, said the demand for repayment came after three attempts to delay foreclosure. Bank of America also is seeking attorney's fees and a receiver to protect collateral.
According to court documents, the outstanding principal totals $1.2 million with interest totaling $240,545 as of March 6. Late fees have reached $54,587. Both Cleavers had personally guaranteed the debts, according to the suit.
The loan was originally part of a Small Business Administration program. It was not clear Thursday how much money, if any, taxpayers will have to provide if the loan defaults.
Gateway Pundit links to reports that Cleaver voted on a bill raising the SBA loan guarantees from 75% to 95% - i.e. that's how much Cleaver could shift to taxpayers. Can we say 'conflict of interest?'.
A member of an al-Qaeda-linked group who helped finance attacks against Afghan and foreign forces has been captured in northern Afghanistan - the third operative from the group jugged or killed in the past two weeks, NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants... said Saturday.
Separately in the east, three employees of an Afghan construction company died Saturday when their vehicle struck a roadside kaboom, police said.
Isaf said in a statement that Afghan and coalition forces captured "an Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan controller during an operation," on Saturday in the Almar district of Faryab province.
"The controller provided funds for attacks against Afghan and coalition security forces throughout the province," it said.
During the operation the security forces were fired upon by multiple turbans. In response to the "immediate threat", the security forces killed the turbans, jugged another and afterwards destroyed several AK-47s and bomb making materials, according to Isaf.
An exact figure for the number of dead gunnies was not provided by Isaf.
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SANAA: The airport in Yemens capital was shut down on Saturday after forces loyal to a sacked general close to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh surrounded it and threatened to shoot down planes, an airport official said.
Is Yemen becoming the new Somalia?
No aircraft has taken off or landed since these forces made their threat late on Friday, said the official, adding that the troops surrounding the airport were backed by members of the Hamdan tribe that supports former strongman Saleh.
Another official told AFP nine international and seven domestic departing flights had been cancelled, while three incoming Yemenia Airways flights were diverted to the main southern city Aden.
The airport has been encircled by forces loyal to air force chief General Muhammad Saleh al-Ahmar, Salehs half brother, who has refused to step down after being sacked by President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, the source said. Ahmar has refused to go unless the defence minister and other senior officials also leave, a military source said.
In addition to Ahmar, Hadi also sacked on Friday Saleh nephew, General Tareq Muhammad Abdullah Saleh, who heads the presidential guard.
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An bad turban leader was killed in joint Afghan and NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and organization.... troops operation in northeastern Badakshan province on Friday, local officials said.
The operation, launched in Wardoj district of Badakshan province to clear the area of bad turbans, killed the bad turbans' leader and his bodyguard, according to provincial government front man Abdul Mahroof Rasikh.
There were no Afghan, NATO or civilians casualties during the operation, he said.
YANGON: Myanmar's president had a landmark meeting on Saturday with one of the country's biggest ethnic rebel groups, a mediator said, marking one of the biggest steps taken by a government seeking "everlasting peace" after decades of hostilities.
Thein Sein, a former infantry commander and heavyweight in the junta that ceded power a year ago, told a visiting delegation of the Karen National Union (KNU) that his government viewed the rebels as brothers rather than enemy with whom the army had fought since 1949.
The meeting in the capital Naypyitaw was the first time the reform-minded president had met rebel leaders since he issued a call for dialogue last August, embarking on a three-phase peace process with more than a dozen groups aimed at bringing them into Myanmar's new political system.
"The president explained his change of attitude toward ethnic armed groups," a mediator who attended the meeting told Reuters by telephone. "He told them he considered ethnic armed groups as enemies when he was a soldier but after becoming president, he considers them as ethnic brethren."
Peace with the militias has been demanded by Western nations now reviewing economic and political sanctions. The former regime's suppression of ethnic minorities and allegations of human rights violations by troops were a key factor in imposing the embargoes.
The peace process is one of the most ambitious plans by a quasi-civilian government dominated by retired generals of the authoritarian regime who were despised by most Burmese and regarded by the West as pariahs. The new administration has embarked on a wave of social, political and economic reforms that it says are "irreversible" as it seeks to get sanctions lifted to allow a flood of foreign investment into one of Asia's last remaining frontier markets.
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As per TOPIX + DAILY TIMES.PK, at this Metting the Rebels = Ethnic Groups had demanded GENUINE OR REAL "FEDERALISM" + REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY
[Govt-Power Sharing] IN MYANMAR, not just more Junta "lip service" to same.
GAZA CITY: Gaza's Hamas rulers yesterday executed a Palestinian convicted of collaborating with Israel and two others deemed complicit in murder, an Interior Ministry statement said. It said the three men were hanged in a "security center" in Gaza City.
It was the first time this year that the Islamist movement had carried out an execution of someone accused of "collaborating" with the Israelis. The ministry statement did not give the men's names, ages or any other information.
London-based human rights organization Amnesty International said on Thursday that a fourth man was currently on death row.
The last time the death sentence for aiding Israel was carried out was in July 2011, when two Palestinians were executed on the charge. A month later, three more people were executed on charges unrelated to collaboration, rights groups say.
Israeli security forces routinely use Palestinian informers to thwart attacks and assist in the assassination of top fighters.
It sure seems like there must be an awful lot of Palestinian collaborators, given how many attacks are thwarted and top fighters assassinated...
In March, a military court in Gaza condemned to death a 27-year-old Palestinian convicted of "treason" for allegedly cooperating with Israel, but did not publish his name. Since the start of this year, the authorities in Gaza have announced two other death sentences, one against a man convicted of collaborating with Israel and the other found guilty of killing his brother.
It was not clear if either or both of those were hanged yesterday. Under Palestinian law, collaboration with Israel, murder and drug trafficking are all punishable by death. In recent months, Hamas has arrested several alleged collaborators, and warned it would prosecute any "traitor" working for the Jewish state.
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Are these the death sentences that Amnesia International was complaining about yesterday. I could understand about them being worried about a man who killed his brother. But why would they complain about traitors who spied for the Jooos? /sarcasm, in case you couldn't tell
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
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Are these the death sentences that Amnesia International was complaining about yesterday.
Judges are to be ordered by ministers to end the "abuse" of human rights laws which allows foreign criminals to claim the right to a "family life" to avoid being deported.
Theresa May, the Home Secretary, has declared that new immigration rules will be in place by the summer to make it "absolutely clear" that those who have committed a crime, broken immigration rules or cannot support themselves must not be allowed to stay.
The move, which follows a Home Office consultation into Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), represents a victory for The Sunday Telegraph which launched a campaign on the issue last year under the slogan: "End the Human Rights Farce."
Mrs May said in an interview with this newspaper: "By the summer, I will have changed the immigration rules so that we can end the abuse of the right to a family life."
#4
to make it "absolutely clear" that those who have committed a crime, broken immigration rules or cannot support themselves must not be allowed to stay.
Gentlemen, this isn't about you. This is about the muzz. An end to jizya. Don't take it so personally.
Babar Ahmad, who has been in jail on remand without trial for almost eight years, said he helped defend towns in "battles" with Serbs in the 1990s but denied he supported terrorism.
He is wanted by the US authorities for allegedly raising money for terrorists extremists in Chechnya and Afghanistan through a website, and for conspiracy to kill, but said the British police had "outsourced" his case and that he should have been put on trial in the UK.
His claims were made in what is thought to be the first broadcast interview of a serving prisoner, carried out by BBC News, which has led to considerable cost to the taxpaying citizen. The Ministry of Justice refused the broadcasters request to be allowed into the jail to speak to Ahmad but a High Court judge overturned that decision on the grounds that it was an exceptional case.
So far the Ministry has incurred costs of £55,000 but it must also pay the legal fees of the BBC, believed to be around the same amount, and even those of Ahmad himself as he was included as an "interested party".
The interview comes ahead of next weeks decision by the European Court of Human Rights as to whether Ahmad should be sent to a supermax jail in Colorado, or whether this would breach his human rights.
He said, "I am facing extradition to the United States and spending the rest of my life in solitary confinement. It is fair to say I'm fighting for my life and I'm running out of time."
Ahmad told the BBC that he had visited Bosnia several times as a teenager in the 90's. Several other British terror suspects have told courts that they did the same, in order to take humanitarian aid to besieged Muslims.
He said, "I decided I wanted to do more than just giving food and water... I wanted to stop it happening. I went to the Bosnian army and I said I want to help defend your people. It was a moral, human obligation - religion did not come into it.
"I was sent to different towns and villages that were besieged by the Serbs. I spent some time there and I took up arms. There were battles and I helped to defend towns against attacks.
"I absolutely reject any allegation that I have supported terrorism and in any way and in any place - whether in Chechnya, or Afghanistan, or any other part of the world. I believe terrorism to be wrong and I believe targeting and killing innocent people to be wrong."
Ahmad said he had never been formally questioned about the charges against him and claimed that if he had been charged back in 2003 and convicted, he would have been free by now. Instead, he has been held on remand since 2004 as legal procedures have dragged on.
"I have been in this nightmare fighting extradition for the past eight years," he said.
Follow-up from yesterday's story. Read also the very useful Outside Magazine story, link courtesy of Besoeker from yesterday's comments.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani soldiers dug into a massive avalanche in a mountain battleground close to the Indian border on Saturday, searching for at least 117 of their colleagues buried when the wall of snow engulfed a military complex.
More than 12 hours after the disaster at the entrance to the Siachen Glacier, no survivors had been found.
We are waiting for news and keeping our fingers crossed, said army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas.
Hundreds of troops, sniffer dogs and mechanical equipment were at the scene, but were struggling to make much headway into the avalanche, which crashed down onto the rear headquarters building in the Gayari sector early in the morning, burying it under some 70 meters (75 yards) of snow, said Abbas.
Its on a massive scale, he said. Everything is completely covered.
Siachen is on the northern tip of the divided Kashmir region claimed by both India and Pakistan. The thousands of troops from both nations stationed there brave viciously cold temperatures, altitude sickness, high winds and isolation for months at a time. Troops have been deployed at elevations of up to 6,700 meters (22,000 feet) and have skirmished intermittently since 1984, though the area has been quiet since a cease-fire in 2003. The glacier is known as the worlds highest battlefield.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani expressed his shock at the incident, which he said would in no way would undermine the high morale of soldiers and officers.
The headquarters in Gayari, situated at around 4,572 meters (15,000 feet) is the main gateway through which troops and supplies pass on their to other more remote outposts in the sector. It is situated in a valley between two high mountains, close to a military hospital, according to an officer who was stationed there in 2003.
I cant comprehend how an avalanche can reach that place, said the officer. It was supposed to be safe.
More soldiers have died from the weather than combat on the glacier, which was uninhabited before troops moved there.
Conflict there began in 1984 when India occupied the heights of the 78-kilometer (49-mile)-long glacier, fearing Pakistan wanted to claim the territory. Pakistan also deployed its troops. Both armies remain entrenched despite the cease-fire, costing the poverty-stricken countries many millions of dollars each year.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/08/2012
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#1
I cant comprehend how an avalanche can reach that place, said the officer. It was supposed to be safe.
mm maybe it was set off?
Be good to know.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/08/2012 8:42
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Definitely snow djinns. Somebody must have annoyed them somehow.
SANAA/ADEN - Yemens president removed a half brother of former leader Ali Abdullah Saleh on Friday as head of the air force, replacing nearly 20 top officers but leaving Salehs son, nephew and other allies in place as heads of important military units.
Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who had served as Salehs deputy, took power in February after standing as the only candidate in a presidential election, part of a deal negotiated by Yemens Gulf neighbours for Saleh to step down after 33 years in power.
State news agency Saba said Hadi appointed General Rashed Ali Nasser al-Jund as air force commander, replacing Salehs half brother, General Mohammed Saleh Al Ahmar, who was made an assistant to the defence minister. Under the power transfer deal, Hadi is tasked with reunifying the army, which had split during the year-long uprising against Salehs rule, with some units openly siding with protesters.
Saba said that a senior army officer loyal to dissident General Ali Mohsen, who broke away from Saleh after the protests began, was also replaced. The reshuffle did not affect Brigadier General Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, the ex-presidents son and commander of the Republican Guards, or Salehs nephew, Brigadier General Yehia Mohammed Abdullah Saleh, who heads the paramilitary Central Security Forces.
Also replaced were the governors of four provinces, including that of Taiz, a staunch Saleh ally who led a bloody crackdown against protesters, and the governor of southern Abyan province, where al Qaedas regional wing has seized swathes of territory.
This is the largest military shake-up in recent times. It took many by surprise, said Mohammed Albasha, spokesman for Yemens embassy in Washington.
Analysts said Hadi appeared to have tried to be balanced, by replacing officials from both rival camps.
The decisions show that President Hadi is distinguished as a responsible commander. I believe the decisions have been taken in consultation with all political parties, Yemeni analyst Ali Saif Hassan said.
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...but I'm not going to discuss why I think Israel should or shouldn't attack. I'm going to tell you why they will attack. It's already a done deal.
First, Israeli leaders believe that a nuclear Iran poses an existential threat to Israel and the Israeli public agrees. 90% think Iran is building nuclear weapons and 43% of the country support a military strike. Israeli leaders genuinely believe that they have a responsibility to keep the Jewish people safe and take a threat of this magnitude very seriously. The phrase "Never Again" isn't just rhetoric and Israeli leaders aren't just posturing when they say that a nuclear Iran is unacceptable.
Second, Israeli leaders know that world powers will not stop Iran. Israeli warnings have been ignored for a decade. The sanctions being imposed now may have had an impact, if they had been instituted ten years ago when Israel first sounded the alarm. For the Israelis, it's too little too late. By time sanctions take full effect in July, the Iranian nuclear program will be so deep underground that even the world's most powerful munitions may not be able to reach it. The Israelis know that the US is not going to attack Iran. The US fears an increase in Iranian-sponsored attacks on US forces in the Middle East more than they fear a nuclear armed Iran. Israel knows that it is on its own.
#3
Forgot the most important reason. Most Israelis come to understand that
(i) Peace with Muslims is impossible.
(ii) Western powers no longer interested in survival.
#4
Or possibly US leaders believe the Iranian nuclear program is less of an immediate threat than, say, the implosion of Pakistan with a concommitant proliferation of tactical nukes into the hands of various hard-to-trace terror groups.
#5
The loss of Abyssinia was much less important than the reoccupation of the Rhineland. But both should have been opposed. And opposing the first might have prevented the second. The Pakis need to be made to understand that the nukes make them more insecure rather than less. Making Persia an example might help. Pour l'encouragement des autres.
#6
The issue is less what the current Pakistani leaders believe, Nimble, than what might happen if control structures currently in place fall apart. That is a greater-than-zero possibility.
#7
I think the issue is exactly what they think. And they should think that if control structures currently in place fail, they're all dead. And that should be the message from an attack on Israel. We should be trying to make the Paks come to the conclusion they are better off without nukes.
#1
People scoff at these agencies. They are scoffing at responsibility. S&P is probably next after some other people that don't want to lose their asses in sub prime crap.
#3
I'm surprised we even have a credit rating at this point.... :-(
Posted by: Barbara ||
04/08/2012 11:44
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In the absence of legitimate borrowing with the intention of repayment, perhaps we could just.... print all the extra dough we need.
Excerpt below 1)Germany was saddled with HUGE debts associated with being required to pay for the costs of World War One.
2)In order to service this debt, the Germans resorted to printing money.
3)Because of various articles of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany had almost no industry of her own anymore and had to import a large part of its basic needs.
4)In spite of their complete inability to even service their debts, Germany embarked on a series of social programs, most notably paying workers in the Ruhr Valley full wages while they were on strike.
5)As high inflation took its toll, goods and services became more and more scarce. Very few countries would export goods to Germany in exchange for the German currency and the cost of these goods exploded.
6)As the supply of goods dried up, prices skyrocketed.
At least ten forces of Evil were killed and 14 others were captured in joint Afghan and NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... troops' operations in Afghanistan on Saturday, Afghan authorities said.
One other krazed killer was maimed as a result of the military operations.
The joint maneuvers were carried out across southern Kandahar, Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... and Badakhshan provinces to clear targeted areas of krazed killers, the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs said in a statement.
No Afghan or NATO casualties were reported in the joint operations.
Meanwhile, ...back at the dirigible, Jack stuck the cigar in his mouth, stepped onto the gantry, and asked Got a light, Mac?
Von Schtinken stopped short, lowering the dagger and trying to control his features. If you light that thing, Herr Armschtröng, he pointed out, his voice tense, we all die!... Isaf said in a statement that Afghan and coalition forces captured "an Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan controller during an operation," on Saturday in the Almar district of Faryab province.
"The controller provided funds for attacks against Afghan and coalition security forces throughout the province," it said.
During the operation the security forces were fired upon by multiple krazed killers. In response to the "immediate threat", the security forces killed the krazed killers, jugged another and afterwards destroyed several AK-47s and bomb making materials, according to Isaf.
An exact figure for the number of dead forces of Evil was not provided by Isaf.
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.
In Florida and across the country, "Stand Your Ground" laws -- the same kind of legislation that authorities cited for not arresting a neighborhood-watch volunteer after 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was killed in Florida in February -- have coincided with a sharp increase in justifiable-homicide cases.
As one group of rebels proudly proclaimed the independent state of Azawad in the "liberated" north of Mali last week, their allies were preparing for jihad by cutting off the hand of a "criminal" and forcing women to wear the veil.
[AFP] - An online video shows Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri, Saddam Hussein's vice president and the highest-ranking member of his regime still on the run, in what appears to be his first video message since 2003.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Iran's state TV says the country's navy has rescued 28 crew members of a Chinese ship hijacked by pirates.
Brazilian media is reporting that ailing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will make an emergency trip to Brazil after allegedly suffering intestinal burns during his radiation treatment in Cuba.
George Galloway, the firebrand socialist recently re-elected as an MP, has become the latest Left-wing politician to face questions over his tax affairs. 
[AFP] - The trial opened in 
ANKARA, Turkey: Turkey's prime minister says the country will wait "patiently" to see if Syria abides by a cease-fire deadline, but may take certain "steps" if the violence does not stop after that. 
BAMAKO - Malis coup leader said on Saturday the junta would hand power to civilians within days in a deal under which neighbouring nations agreed to lift sanctions and help tackle Tuareg rebels who have seized much of the north.
Ten Hindu families are said to migrate every year from Pakistain to India. But what of the poor Pak Hindus who don't have the means to escape? 
An Israeli airstrike Saturday in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah wounded two Palestinian militants riding a motorcycle 
Secularists feared by Sajid Mir
Maulana Fazlur Rehman
Yemeni air forces on Saturday night carried out two airstrikes against al-Qaida sites in the southeastern province of Shabwa, causing no casualties, a security official said, Xinhua reported.
Asif Ali 
GAZA CITY: Gaza's Hamas rulers yesterday executed a Palestinian convicted of collaborating with Israel and two others deemed complicit in murder, an Interior Ministry statement said. It said the three men were hanged in a "security center" in Gaza City.
Judges are to be ordered by ministers to end the "abuse" of human rights laws which allows foreign criminals to claim the right to a "family life" to avoid being deported. 
SANAA/ADEN - Yemens president removed a half brother of former leader Ali Abdullah Saleh on Friday as head of the air force, replacing nearly 20 top officers but leaving Salehs son, nephew and other allies in place as heads of important military units.
