Ay-Peee
Bombings killed at least 43 people in three different areas of Pakistan on Sunday, just as Britain's prime minister was in the capital pledging to help to fight extremism. "thanks, but we *BOOM* are fully capable of enforcing our sovereign peace"
In the deadliest of the attacks, twin blasts near a Shiite natch Muslim mosque in Quetta, the capital of southwest Baluchistan province, killed at least 22 people, including two women and several minors, and wounded 65 others, said senior police officer Ishtiaq Ahmed. Allan will be pleased
Initial reports indicated a hand grenade caused the first blast, forcing people to run in the direction of the mosque, where a suicide bomber detonated his explosives, said another police officer, Fayaz Sumbal said. Radical Sunni Muslims have stepped up attacks in the past two years against minority Shiites, whom they consider to be icky heretics.
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/30/2013
14:32 ||
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Many of those on the streets feel betrayed by a president who has been uninterested in uniting Egyptians despite once promising to be inclusive. They feel that he has instead governed purely in the interests of his own party.
Boy howdy, who could have seen that coming?
For his part, the president insists he has invited opposition groups to enter into dialogue but that they have not co-operated.
Define 'dialog'...
His supporters say that whatever the considerable problems Egypt is facing, Mohammed Morsi must see out his full term in office for the sake of stability.
"We did a stupid thing, but we have to keep doing stupid things, or else we'll look stupid..."
Some pro-Morsi demonstrators have decided to stage their own sit-ins, an there are fears of clashes between opposing groups.
The coming hours, and the way the situation is handled by the authorities, are likely to give us clear indications about whether or not Egypt's president can survive in office as he insists he will.
WaPo reports on a Wiretap Report 2012 issued by the US Courts which show a 71 percent increase in Federal criminal wiretaps. Talk about duplicate spending, just get extracts from the burgeoning NSA database. Typical government inefficiency. They can't even get wiretaps right...
"This is just one more piece of evidence demonstrating the need for a full, informed public debate about the scope, breadth, and pervasiveness of government surveillance in this country," Mark Rumold, a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said in an e-mail. No kidding.
#1
An 'Explanatory Memorandum' of the North American Brotherhood, dated 22 May 1991, stated that the goal of the Brotherhood movement is to engage in:
'a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying Western civilization from within and "sabotaging" its miserable house by their [own] hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God's religion is made victorious over all other religions.'
It is not possible to engage in such a 'grand project' without concealing one's intentions, including one's doctrines, from public scrutiny.
On the other hand, Salafis are willing to forgo covert means for the sake of maintaining clarity about Islam's authentic teachings before the eyes of their followers, so they openly oppose democracy and western political ideals. Without any apology they openly promote polygamy, violence against women, violent jihad, killing apostates, and other doctrines which western sensibilities would reject. Yet when in a minority position Salafis, while openly teaching aggressive jihad, will restrain their followers from acting out this teaching against the infidels they live among. This they do on principled theological grounds, appealing to the example of Muhammad's early period in Mecca.
What is the difference? Nothing. subterfuge, violence, discord, murder, rape, and on and on and on and...
Posted by: Au Auric ||
06/30/2013 10:15
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#2
Different neck vertebrae to cut on the downward chop?
European officials reacted with fury Sunday after a report that the U.S. National Security Agency spied on EU offices. The European Union warned that if the report is accurate, it will have tremendous repercussions.
"I am deeply worried and shocked about the allegations," European Parliament President Martin Schulz said in a statement. "If the allegations prove to be true, it would be an extremely serious matter which will have a severe impact on EU-US relations. On behalf of the European Parliament, I demand full clarification and require further information speedily from the U.S. authorities with regard to these allegations."
German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger "said if the accusations were true it was reminiscent of the Cold War," ministry spokesman Anders Mertzlufft said, adding that the minister "has asked for an immediate explanation from the United States."
The German newspaper Der Spiegel reported that "the U.S. placed bugs in the EU representation in Washington and infiltrated its computer network. Cyberattacks were also perpetrated against Brussels in New York and Washington."
The information came from secret documents obtained by Edward Snowden, which the paper "has in part seen," according to the report. "A 'top secret' 2010 document describes how the secret service attacked the EU's diplomatic representation in Washington."
Of course we spy on others. So do the Europeans. Wanna bet the French have a similar system? Of course they do. Governments are charged with national security. Of course they'll spy on others to ensure their own safety. It's what they do.
The issue isn't whether the NSA spies on others. It's why the NSA spies on us.
#2
I feel sorry for any NSA analyst required to read top secret internal EU communications. There are only so many possible variations of "What's for lunch?"
Snark of the day
Posted by: Matt ||
06/30/2013 11:32
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#3
"I am SHOCKED, SHOCKED to find that there is gambling spying going on here." :Louis Renault in 'Casablanca'. This is what these guys do. They're a lot like lawyers:They'll find work, even if they have to make it up.
The only issue here is that they got caught publicly. There's apt to be more repercusions on this than over the NSA metadata farm in Utah.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
06/30/2013 13:35
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#4
Sorry, but no, you don't spy on friends.
You don't bug the offices of friends.
You don't watch every communication between friends.
If you regard the EU and EU countries as "target", there will be a price to pay. The price of trust.
Don't tell me that this has anything to do with fighting terror.
Seriously I am not amused, and I really consider myself a true friend of the U.S.
But this is a bridge too far
Posted by: European Conservative ||
06/30/2013 14:05
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#5
But, but, but Wolfgang Schmidt must be green with envy. :-(
#8
Maybe they're just trying to figure out where all those hundreds of thousands 'untraceable' small donations that came out of Europe for the 2008 Obama election came from. Got to send a 'thank you' note. That's the ticket.
#9
The bottom line is this: to the Intel types who do this, there are only two groups in the world: The people whom they cannot do this to, and everybody else. Group 1 is small and actually 'those who we don't DARE get caught by'. You'll note that the publis generis never enters this consideration. And not merely American; the Brits and French have been at this since before there was a US.
Swowden is, however looking more like a troll every day.
Euro Conserv: You're right. The problem is, these guys don't recognize the concept of 'friends'. Just people they can lean on. Remember the KGB's "if you're innocent you've got nothing to worry about"?
Posted by: ed in texas ||
06/30/2013 15:58
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#10
"These" people can't do such things without the approval of the President.
As a matter of fact, we all have things to hide. That's why we wear clothes and shut the door when using the wash room.
We are currently negotiating a free trade agreement with the U.S. Of course certain conditions have to be met, it's a give and take. Now we find out that the U.S. places bugs in places where it isn't supposed to (translation: flagrantly breaking the law). This seriously puts negotiations into jeopardy.
It's about trust and these revelations are very damaging.
The NSA has no business to find out where I'm going, whom I'm talking to, whom I'm trading with etc. Simply no business.
We are in a common fight against terror and of course we cooperate. Cooperation needs trust. If you consider us "targets", then it's time to reconsider our relations.
Seriously, this needs to STOP.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
06/30/2013 16:12
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#11
Le squirrel
Posted by: regular joe ||
06/30/2013 17:53
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#12
"Sorry, but no, you don't spy on friends."
Sure you do. What if you have learned of a spy cell in your country that is connected somehow to a friendly country and you have the means of collecting some further information in that friendly country on behalf of that friendly government?
What if you are able to learn that a company in a friendly company has been penetrated by a third country and is having their technology stolen?
#13
That's called cooperation between intelligence services, not spying.
We're not talking about keeping track of terrorist groups in Germany or other European countries, we're talking about blanket spying on all phone and internet activities of all citizens in my country.
This is unacceptable.
And bugging the offices of our highest political representatives is what in diplospeak is called an "unfriendly act"
I am in favor of a free trade agreement with the U.S., but I'd stop all talks until this is sorted out.
This means a full apology of the President and a binding confirmation that this won't happen again.
I would not have trade talk with a business partner who breaks into my computers.
I'm serious folks.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
06/30/2013 19:28
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#14
Don't hold your breath, EC. this Administration is great at apologizing to our enemies, but when it comes to our friends ... forget about it.
#15
There is a reason why Obama had to buy invite his small crowd in Berlin this time.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
06/30/2013 20:08
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#16
I'm very sorry EC, but you must realize with Tyrant Obama in office, that isn't going to happen. He will stab anyone and everyone in the back to get what he wants or thinks he wants. He has no shame, no sense of honor or decency or any other quality that might come close to qualifying him as a human being. He shits on people and tells them to like it or he'll have our press call them racists and worse.
#17
When you have the conservative, US friendly German press up in arms that means something.
Oh well but Ms. Rice sees no problems. It's going to be a long three years
Posted by: European Conservative ||
06/30/2013 20:19
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#18
EC, the NSA is saying "but we prevented 50 terrorist attacks" and we are supposed to believe them? The government never lies ;-|
This is the problem with all this secrecy. With regular courts, the proceeding are open for all to see. We the people can judge the fairness for ourselves. With the Black Courts (e.g. FISA) there is no public oversight. When the NSA is accused of violating FISA, that is the last straw. If true, that is a violation of the US Constitution.
Of course FISA doesn't help you EC. I agree that friends should be treated as friends. That kind of intelligence gathering needs to be focused (coordinated and shared), not shotgunned for "Big data" analysis.
#19
I see lots of problems: if we're innocent and Snowden's been spewing a bunch of lies and half-truths, and the stuff he's releasing has been carefully massaged by foreign intelligence groups, well, we can't really _do_ anything about that without wrecking what real intelligence capabilities we have.
#21
plus your also massively outnumbered and the technological advance the west has may suddenly turn. Not only that the EU advocated for a world currency (very similar to bitcoin) rather then the dollar. Now if world opinion turned so much against you (and were only past a decade in this century) then you would lose more tax revenue then you could dream of - and the US government would owe the world so quickly so big.
While the west is the west it's good, but we cannot turn on each other because as above financially that would be it. Militarily your strength would be nil and the US people would be on the bad end of the line.
On top of this how do you now think the UK people feel about Europe? They love the US and hate Europe, this is bad bad news. A year and a half before an election.
#22
Thing From Snowy Mountain,
All the more reason for the Intelligence guys to keep that legal line bright and clear as opposed to depending on secrecy to keep transgressions hidden.
I have an operational definition of good and bad. Good is anything you do that benefits you. Bad is also anything you do that benefits you. Hey, are you trying to hurt yourself? Of course not.
The difference is that bad benefits you right now but leads to your long term determent. Good almost always hurts right now but leads to your long term betterment.
Look at the ten commandments and they fit this definition to a tee. If you look at the US Constitution, the same applies.
Short term expediency, in secret, leads to distrust by the American people. I call that a bad thing.
BTW, my rule of thumb is that if I think that I can survive a good decision, I will take it. The cost of a bad decision is that eventually, you have to make another decision. The fallacy is that, like the man jumping off the building, they always think that there will be that opportunity to make another bad decision.
I always admired the US Constitution, because in this constitution it's not the government telling people what they can do but the people telling the government what it can do.
And what it friggin' cannot.
This kind of secrecy leads to abuse of power and tyranny.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
06/30/2013 22:04
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#27
Devilstoenail,
China, being a dictatorship, suffers from severe handicaps. In a war game, economic or shooting, I wouldn't want to trade places.
You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else. ~Winston Churchill.
We are still exhausting all the bad possibilities. :-(
#35
Funny you should mention past abuses by Germany. It's one of the reasons I'm actually reluctant to engage in the sorts of public disclosures that would essentially amount to intelligence disarmament. We did that in the aftermath of WW1 and it didn't work out that well. I think the catchphrase used then was "Gentlemen do not read each others' mail."
#36
We're on the horns of a dilemma, IMHO. I don't feel particularly trustful of the current administration. I also don't feel particularly trustful of people like your government who basically shut down _their_ energy infrastructure in favor of Gazprom. Finally, I think we have real problems with both foreign-government-sponsored-groups that not only support random violence in the form of terrorism, but are attempting nuclear proliferation.
As a Kansas City man learned, joining the global jihad against godless imperialism is harder than you'd think. Especially when the al-Qaeda leaders you're dealing with are just as adept at conning their own recruits as they are at instigating mass murder.
The FBI's recent disclosure that a Kansas City man's terror cell once had cased the New York Stock Exchange was meant to demonstrate that the government's electronic surveillance programs have disrupted real threats to the homeland.
But the case's hundreds of pages of court records in Kansas City and New York also show that federal investigators broke up a long-running fraud scheme in which an al-Qaeda leader in Yemen was less interested in stoking his recruits' passion for holy war than exploiting their bank accounts for his own gain.
In a recent letter to a New York federal judge, the lawyer representing cell member Sabirhan Hasanoff acknowledged that his client once had dreamed of jihad glory, only to get rolled by a Yemeni bunco terrorist.
"The defendants never had any authentic access to terrorism networks or Islamic extremists, and were victims of a rudimentary fraud," the lawyer wrote.
Fraud or not, the defendants had contributed money, time and material to men involved in global terrorism, government lawyers responded in their own letter to the judge.
Six Taliban accidentally blew themselves up with their own bombs June 27 in separate incidents, Bakhtar News Agency reported, citing an Afghan Interior Ministry statement.
They were trying to plant bombs to target security forces, but the devices detonated prematurely, the statement said.
The incidents occurred in the Tanay District of Khost Province, the Zankhan District of Ghazni Province and the Zhamkani District of Paktia Province.
We don't need Jahwn to 'confront' doubters. We need him to win them over. In other words, we're doomed...
Secretary of State John Kerry heads to talks in Asia trying to quash fears that the vaunted US refocus on the region is not serious as he puts a personal priority on peace in the Middle East. Kerry plans to attend Southeast Asian talks in Brunei from Monday, which has become his unofficial deadline to wrap up his latest Middle East trip in which he is shuttling between Israeli and Palestinian leaders to revive peace talks.
Even in Brunei, his focus will not be solely on Asia as he is expected to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on tensions over the Syria war and the mysterious presence in Moscow of US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden.
What's "mysterious" about it?
Kerry has visited the Middle East five times in as many months. His second trip to Asia since taking office in February -- he earlier went to China, Japan and South Korea -- is again part of a larger tour.
Kerry dismissed suggestions he was uninterested in Asia, saying that he planned to travel "shortly" to Indonesia and Vietnam and believed in President Barack Obama's so-called "pivot" of putting more of a focus on Asia.
Is he traveling upriver to Cambodia?
Kerry said that the United States has always been capable of "dealing with more than one crisis in more than one part of the planet at the same time".
"People should not think that, because we are trying to bring peace to an area that has been struggling for 30 years now under the yoke of conflict and dissension, that that means we can't also pay attention to these other issues," Kerry told Voice of America during his latest trip.
Diplomats and some analysts have voiced concern that the United States is shifting back to older priorities after the departure of Kerry's predecessor Hillary Clinton, who prided herself on paying attention to Asia.
She prided herself on a whole lot, in fact, not that her performance matched...
Clinton sought to develop a broader relationship with a rising China and spearheaded US outreach to Myanmar, which has surprised even many critics by embracing democratic reforms in the past three years.
Clinton was the first secretary of state to visit all 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, with her aides arguing that the previous administration of George W. Bush neglected the economically dynamic and mostly US-friendly bloc due to preoccupation with the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
If visiting is all it takes to accomplish something, send Jahwn on a tour of Mauritania...
A senior US official acknowledged that Asian nations voiced doubts about the Asia commitment as Clinton left. But he said that at a substantive rather than symbolic level, the United States is stepping up spending on its Asia projects at a time of belt-tightening.
The official noted that Obama has welcomed to Washington in recent months the leaders of Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Brunei and -- for the first time in half a century -- Myanmar. Asian nations that were concerned a few months ago were now asking "more of what we bring to the table than whether we are at the table," the official said on condition of anonymity.
Because he didn't want to be laughed at behind his back for making such a stupid statement on record...
Some observers said it was natural that a new secretary of state would try to be different. Kerry may face fewer risks in delving into the Middle East as, unlike fellow former presidential candidate Clinton, he is virtually certain not to entertain future political ambitions.
Oh really. Jahwn has no political ambitions? Hah. He might not but Teresa sure does, and we all know who wears the pants in that relationship...
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/30/2013
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#1
Secretary of State John Kerry heads to talks in Asia trying to quash fears that the vaunted US refocus on the region is not serious as he puts a personal priority on peace in the Middle East.
If we were serious, we wouldn't send this fool. Or Biden
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/30/2013 9:19
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#2
FIRE HIM, (Best for ALL)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/30/2013 9:29
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#3
Simply another useful idiot and like rest, very wealthy. He's following instructions, ie, out of Champ's way.... burning blade time.
"One of the major, and little mentioned, revolutions in air combat is the availability of more powerful and reliable helmet mounted displays and sights. This enables a pilot to "look and shoot" as well as keep their heads up more of the time and more quickly make decisions in air-to-air combat."
"In the last three decades these helmets have come to handle more data and chores while also being easier to wear. But these helmets are still heavy. That's why the better balance of JHMCS II is important. Even so, six years ago the U.S. Air Force introduced a new neck muscle exercise machine in air force gyms frequented by fighter pilots. This was because the new helmets weighed 2 kg (4.3 pounds), which was about fifty percent more than a plain old helmet. That extra weight may not seem like much but when making a tight turn, the gravitational pull (or "Gs") makes the helmet feel like it weighs 17.3 kg (38 pounds). You need strong neck muscles to deal with that. For decades now fighter pilots have had to spend a lot of time building upper body strength in the gym, in order to be able to handle the G forces. Otherwise, pilots can get groggy or even pass out in flight, as well as land with strained muscles."
"In the air combat community the innovation is recognized as real and, for those not using it, a deadly disadvantage."
#1
Study the exercise regime of NASCAR and Formula Uno. It's all about the neck muscles, with the exception of Litter Dale, who head is made of muscle.
#4
"Elite drivers will put up with 4 to 5 G's sustained in a corner for between five and 15 seconds, maybe even 20," says physicist Brian Beckman, a software architect with Microsoft in Redmond, Wash., and an amateur sports car racer. Since 1990 he has authored a series of articles on the physics of racing. "If you weigh 200 pounds, at 5 G's you're being pushed sideways at 1,000 pounds."
#5
Although the concept is great for immediate requirements, the long-term pull (no pun intended, but accepted) is for remotely-piloted platforms w/computer assist. G-force limitations will increasingly apply more towards airframes + systems and less to pilots - working towards the 89-degree sustained hypersonic bank - (imho)....
[Pak Daily Times] LAHORE: Former advocate general Punjab, Ashtar Ausaf narrowly escaped when two robbers opened fire on his vehicle in Garden Town police area here on Saturday. Police has registered a case against unknown persons on the complaint of ASI Muhammad Ashraf under section PPC 393/186/353. However, sources said that CIA police has arrested two suspects near Bund Road who could be involved in this incident. Earlier, Ashtar Ausaf was traveling in a car from Garden Town to his residence in Defence when the incident took place. The car has been damaged due to the firing. Police said two robbers were looting a woman, when Ashtar Ausaf's police guards intervened, which triggered shooting by the robbers. Police said that window of his vehicle was smashed in firing by unidentified persons. Police said that the unknown persons fled the scene immediately afterwards. The police further said that assailants had previously robbed large sum of money in two separate incidents in Garden Town area. Upon being informed, home secretary, senior police officers and other officials reached the residence of former advocate general. DIG Operations Rai Tahir said one bullet also hit the vehicle of Ashtar Ausaf, however, the former advocate general remained safe.a
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2013
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[Pak Daily Times] KARACHI: Rangers personnel conducted targeted operation at Central Jail Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... (CJK) on receiving information about gunnies operating a network from inside the jail.
There was report that terrorist operating from jail had planned the attack on senior Judge of Sindh High Court on June 26 at Burns road, which claimed at least nine lives of rangers and police personnel, several others were maimed. As per detail, Rangers recovered cell phones, knifes and other materials from the possession of prisoners. Extra contingent of rangers' personnel participated in the operation here on Saturday, they also interrogated the inmate who along with his lover companions had planned to attack senior judge in 2011. Rangers' personnel also questioned several other krazed killer outfit members including outlawed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi ... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ... former chief Akram Lahori. CJK's deputy superintendent Nazeer Shah said six cell phones, knives, mp3 players and Jihadi material was recovered from the possession of prisoners, adding that he denied the recovery of any laptop found during the operation. Shah also denied that no mobile related to be used for the kaboom on Justice Baqar Maqbool was found from the prisoners. According to CID officials, two alleged members of the outlawed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Farhan and Azeem Sheikh after their arrest during interrogation confessed to have attacked the senior judge Maqbool Baqar in 2011, adding that one of them, Sheikh, was later released in June 2011 while Farhan remained imprisoned at CJK. CID officials further said, besides attacking senior judge the accused persons had also confessed to have attacked various senior coppers including chief of the Anti-Extremist Cell SSP Chaudhry Aslam Khan and SP Khurram Waris. Sources said that the analysis of the cell phones and contact numbers of the key suspects involved in the attack is underway.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2013
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[An Nahar] Two people were killed on Saturday and six others were wounded in clashes in the northern city of Tripoli after clashes erupted between al-Baqqar neighborhood and Jabal Mohsen.
One person was killed by an explosive device he was handling, a security source told Agence France Presse.
The dead man, Abdullah al-Shmaytiyeh, died when the home-made bomb detonated prematurely, the source said adding that two other people were wounded in the blast in the west Tripoli neighborhood of al-Baqqar.
Following the incident, gun battles broke out between Baqqar, a Sunni Muslim neighborhood, and Jabal Mohsen, an Alawite district, wounding four residents.
Another person was killed, identified as Khaled al-Trabulsi, in the sniper activity that took place between the two neighborhoods.
The state-run National News Agency reporter earlier that the clash initially started as a dispute with the army, but escalated into an armed clash when gunmen intervened to resolve it.
was killed and an unidentified woman wounded in the ensuing shootout in Tripoli's al-Baqqar neighborhood.
Soon after the incident, youths blocked the main road in al-Baqqar.
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[Jpost] In face of soaring anti-Semitism, La Belle France's Jewish Defense League showcases its activities, putting itself on collision course with country's Jewish establishment.
"Now they know the price of Jewish blood," said Yohan, the nom de guerre of Joseph Ayache, one of LDJ's young bosses.
With scooter helmets in hand, a man called Yohan and six buddies stroll around Gay Paree' 20th arrondissement. The seven look much like a typical group of French students -- until they locate a group of Arab men they suspect of perpetrating an anti-Semitic attack the previous day.
Using their helmets as bludgeons, members of La Belle France's Jewish Defense League, or LDJ, set upon the Arabs and beat them. Several of the Arabs attempt to escape in a blue sedan, but the LDJ members pursue the vehicle, causing it to crash into a stone wall.
Continued on Page 49
[Pak Daily Times] US President Barack Obama I am the change that you seek... called on Egypt's government and opposition on Saturday to engage each other in constructive dialogue and prevent violence spilling out across the region.
Bloodshed on Friday killed three people, including an American student, and mass rallies are planned for Sunday aimed at unseating Islamist President Mohamed Morsi.
Obama said he was "looking at the situation with concern".
Hundreds have been maimed and at least eight killed in street fighting for over a week as political deadlock deepens. On Friday, a bomb killed a protester at a rally by the Suez Canal. Washington is pulling non-essential staff out of Egypt.
"Every party has to denounce violence," Obama said at the other end of Africa, in Pretoria. "We'd like to see the opposition and President Morsi engage in a more constructive conversation about how they move their country forward because nobody is benefiting from the current stalemate."
He added that it was "challenging, given there is not a tradition of democracy in Egypt".
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#1
"a more constructive conversation about how they move their country forward because nobody is benefiting from the current stalemate"
Funny - "I won" was your response during your first two years in office, followed by another two years of less-than-constructive conversation.
And we won't talk about your frequent use of the 'Hawaiian good luck sign'...
#3
Young innocent that I am, I gotta ask: Have we ever, in living memory, had a president so unprepared to act on the world stage? Hell, never mind the 'living memory' bit, have we ever since the founding of the Republic?
Good answer. Current holder title holder for Worst President Ever. From some reason, when mentally reviewing all the presidents in my lifetime, I completely skipped over him. Go figure!
#6
Champ's personal guide while in South Africa is/was Ahmed Mohamed 'Kathy' Kathrada. How fitting.
Wikipedia: After the unbanning of the ANC in February 1990, Kathrada served on the interim leadership committees of both the ANC and the South African Communist Party. He resigned from the latter position when he was elected to the ANC National Executive Committee in July 1991. During the same year, he was appointed as head of ANC public relations as well as a fellow of the University of the Western Cape's Mayibuye Centre.
Kathrada went on the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in 1992.
In the first all-inclusive democratic South African elections in 1994, Kathrada was elected as a member of parliament for the ANC; in September 1994 he was appointed as the political advisor to President Mandela in the newly created post of Parliamentary Counsellor. In June 1999, Kathrada left parliamentary politics.
In 1994 and 1995, Kathrada was elected as chairperson of the Robben Island Council. Currently, he still serves as the chairperson of the Robben Island Museum Council.
Kathrada's life partner is Ms Barbara Hogan, a recent Minister of Public Enterprises.
#7
[Change or correction to the above post: Kathrada may have only acted as a guide on Robben Island, where former inmates actually do run the former institution.]
[Pak Daily Times] Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor. If he'd stuck with it he'd have had a good practice by now... 's forces launched a major offensive on Saturday against rebels in Homs, a centre of the two-year uprising, in their latest drive to secure an axis linking Damascus to the Mediterranean.
Activists said jets and mortars pounded rebel-held areas of the city, which have been under siege by Assad's troops for a year, and soldiers fought battles with rebel fighters in several districts.
"Government forces are trying to storm (Homs) from all fronts," said an activist using the name Abu Mohammad.
There were no immediate details on casualties but video uploaded by activists showed heavy kabooms and white clouds of smoke rising from what they said were rebel districts. Loud, concentrated rounds of gunfire could also be heard.
Syrian state media said the army was "achieving great progress" in Khalidiyah neighbourhood.
The attack on Homs city follows steady military gains by Assad's forces, backed by Lebanese Hezbollah krazed killers, in provincial Homs villages and towns close to the Lebanese border. Three weeks ago Hezbollah spearheaded the recapture of the border town of Qusair, a former rebel bridgehead for guns and fighters smuggled into Syria, and last week secured another border town, Tel Kalakh.
Those gains have consolidated Assad's control over a corridor of territory, which runs from the capital Damascus, through Homs, to the traditional heartland of his minority Alawite sect in the mountains overlooking the Mediterranean.
They have also alarmed international supporters of the rebels, leading the United States to announce it will step up military support. Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... has accelerated deliveries of sophisticated weaponry, Gulf sources say. The interventions by Sunni Moslem Saudi Arabia, a staunch backer of the mainly Sunni rebels, and Shi'ite Hezbollah highlight how the 27-month-old uprising has divided the Middle East along sectarian lines.
Gulf Arab States, Turkey and Egypt support the rebels while Shi'ite Iran and Hezbollah are actively helping Assad's military. Assad's family, which has dominated Syria for four decades, is from the Alawite minority, an offshoot of Shia Islam.
More than 100,000 people have been killed in the civil war, which has driven 1.7 million refugees abroad and displaced another four million within Syria's borders.
Hopes of holding a U.S. and Russian-backed peace conference have faded, with rebels reluctant to negotiate while they are on the defensive militarily and tensions between Moscow and Washington exacerbating their deep differences over Syria. Despite losing ground around Damascus and Homs, rebels registered a symbolic victory on Friday when they overran a major military checkpoint in Deraa, the southern city where the uprising first erupted.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2013
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#1
I still wonder if it's Syrians doing that are doing the flying.
* ION BHARAT RAKSHAK > TWITTER: ASSAD OFFCIAL SAYS IRAN, RUSSIA, + CHINA SEND $500.0MILYUHN [US$6.0Bilyuhn per annum] PER MONTH IN THEIR CURRENCIES TO AVOID SANCTIONS.
* Earlier on BHARAT RAKSHAK > [Financial Times] RUSSIA, CHINA, + IRAN PRIOP UP SYRIA ECONOMY [aka Assad Regime-Govt]: GOVT OFFICIAL SAYS.
So it comes down to the KSA versus Same as per war $$$???
GAROWE, Somalia - Political associations registered with the Transitional Puntland Electoral Commission (TPEC) have began holding massive public rallies in Puntlands major cities, Garowe Online reports. The public rallies commenced on June 27, when Wadajir political association held public rallies in Garowe and Bossaso, while UDAD political association held similar public rallies on June 28 in Garowe, Bossaso, Galkayo and other towns.
On June 29, Horseed political association consisting of the ruling party in Puntland held its public rallies in Bossaso, Garowe, Galkayo, and Badhan, among other cities.
Thousands of people gathered in peaceful public rallies across Puntlands cities, showcasing support for the different political associations competing for District Council elections slated for July 15.
A press release issued by Puntland government on June 29 noted the governments willingness to support democratic elections in Puntland. According to the statement, the Puntland government encourages peaceful public rallies organized by the different Registered Political Associations in major urban centers.
Continuing, the statement read: The Government reaffirms its strong commitment to rule of law and orderly elections, and calls upon the law-abiding citizens of Puntland to demonstrate to Somalia and to the world the peace- loving nature of the Puntland people, by attending peaceful public rallies and voting in District Council Elections peacefully next month.
"So that you don't look to the world to be like your crazy cousins to the south."
The statement appreciated the international communitys support to Puntland elections, while encouraging independent media to promote peaceful exercise of democratic practice and encouraging the political associations to use government-run Puntland State Radio for public outreach.
Puntland is scheduled to hold first-ever District Council elections whereby four registered political associations will compete for over 700 seats across Puntland on July 15, followed by parliamentary elections later 2013.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/30/2013
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Jubaland's elected president, Ahmed Madobe, is currently in Addis Ababa and has engaged in meetings with Somali President's right hand man, Mr. Farah Sheikh Abdulkadir, a Kenyan citizen who is State Minister of the Presidency in Mogadishu.
The meetings, which occurred at an Addis Ababa hotel on Thursday and Friday, have "come to an inclusive end" after the Somali President's representative refused to recognize the Jubaland conference and its election of Ahmed Madobe as president, sources tell Garowe Online.
Jubaland President Ahmed Madobe has refused to engage in dialogue with the Somali Federal Government until the federal government recognizes the Jubaland process and its legitimate outcome, in line with the Somali Federal Constitution.
Since his election in Sept. 2012, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and his allies have focused on fighting against the Jubaland process and established administration.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/30/2013
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[Pak Daily Times] Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... on Saturday said that the government had been pursuing a policy of friendship and cooperation with India during its previous stints in power, and the same policy of amity would be followed to promote peace and prosperity in the region.
Nawaz expressed these views in a meeting with Pak-India Joint Business Council at the Prime Minister's House.
The PM said that it had always been his utmost endeavour to bring the people of the two South Asian countries closer to each other so that they could benefit from each other's experiences.
Expressing satisfaction over the visit of Indian businessmen under the auspices of Pak-India Joint Business Council, the PM said, "It is reassuring that both sides are sitting together and talking to each other."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2013
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[JewishPress] "We will approve the meeting on condition there are no Jews."
This is what you are likely to hear these days if you request a meeting with any senior Paleostinian Authority official in the West Bank.
Paleostinian journalists who try to arrange meetings or interviews with Paleostinian Authority representatives for Western colleagues have become used to hearing such things almost on a daily basis.
Just last week, for example, a journalist who requested a meeting between Western journalists and a top Paleostinian Authority official was told "to make sure there were no Jews or Israelis" among the visitors.
The next time U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visits Ramallah, will he actually violate U.S. law to make sure there are no Jews among his entourage, lest he upset his Paleostinian hosts?
The official's aide went on to explain: "We are sorry, but we do not meet with Jews or Israelis."
Another Paleostinian journalist who tried to arrange an interview with a Paleostinian Authority official for a European colleague was turned down "because the man's name indicates he is a Jew."
In yet another recent incident, a Paleostinian Authority ministry instructed its guards to "prevent Jewish news hounds" from attending an event in Ramallah.
There were days when Israeli and Paleostinian journalists used to work together and help each other in reporting the news. But those days were long before the Paleostinian Authority and its representatives started promoting boycotts against Israelis..
The next time U.S. Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... visits Ramallah, will he actually violate U.S. law to make sure there are no Jews among his entourage lest he upset his Paleostinian hosts?
Iraqi officials say a bomb has gone off in an outdoor market in west Baghdad, one of two attacks in the country that have left seven dead. Police officials say that the blast on Saturday morning in the capitals western suburb of Abu Ghraib killed four people and wounded 12 others.
Also, police said that attackers using guns fitted with silencers killed three off-duty policemen in a drive-by shooting near Fallujah, 65 kilometers (40 miles) west of Baghdad.
Health officials confirmed the casualties. All spoke anonymously because they were not allowed to brief reporters.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/30/2013
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[Pak Daily Times] A Sri Lankan man suffered a fatal heart attack after being presented with a shocking electricity bill, a media report said Saturday.
The 61-year-old victim had protested at the Ceylon Electricity Board in Colombo Friday that his bill had suddenly spiked, the Ceylon Today newspaper said.
It said the man was told that the bill was due to a hefty tariff increase from last month and suffered a heart attack on the news, collapsing at the electricity board headquarters.
The newspaper did not give the victim's bill amount, but said it was in line with the new 50 percent tariff increase. The man identified as S P Samaradasa collapsed on a chair, the newspaper said in a front-page report headlined: "Electricity tariff claims first victim."
"The cause of death was identified as a heart attack," the paper added. He was dead on arrival at hospital. Sri Lanka is one of the most expensive countries in Asia for electricity with a kilowatt- hour costing up to 47 rupees ($0.37).
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2013
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#1
What no Defibrillator at the Ceylon Electricity Board ?
(defibrillator n. An electrical device used to counteract fibrillation of the heart muscle and restore normal heartbeat)
How ironic an electrical bill killed him at the electricity board and he could have been saved by another "jolt of electricity".
Hears to you S P Samaradasa `~~~~~~ Zap !
Posted by: Au Auric ||
06/30/2013 0:18
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[Bangla Daily Star] US President Barack Obama I am not a dictator!... yesterday called for Zim-bob-we's government to stop harassing its citizens and to implement reforms ahead of landmark elections expected later this year.
Free square on the Bingo card...
"Harassment of citizens and groups needs to stop and reform needs to move forward so people can cast their votes in elections that are fair and free and credible," he said during a visit to neighbouring South Africa.
Veteran president Bob Muggsy Mugabe Octogenarian President-for-Life of Zim-bob-we who turned the former Breadbasket of Africa into the African Basket Case... has set elections for July 31, drawing fierce criticism from his political foes.
Critics accuse Mugabe of attempting to push through a vote before reforms that would clean up the electoral roll, free the media and limit the military's political role.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai -- who will face Mugabe in the polls -- has threatened to boycott any unilaterally declared election date.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2013
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#1
Er huh.....excuse me. Calling for "Zim reforms" from a country that opening supports the Mugabe regime with funding, food, and arms. Please read your morning intelligence briefings you lazy kaffir. You might bloody learn something about what is going on in the region.
[Pak Daily Times] KARACHI: Law enforcers tossed in the calaboose Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! around one dozen suspects during targeted operations in different parts of city on Saturday. As per detail, the raids were conducted in Lyari, Usmanabad and Garden against alleged culprits involved in firing and killing five people, including a woman, and wounding several in Kharadar, Agra Taj Colony and Machar Colony. The officials claim to have detained about one dozen suspects and recovering weapons from their possession. The suspects were shifted to some holy man's guesthouse an undisclosed location for further interrogation.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2013
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KISMAYO, Somalia - Armed clashes erupted in Somalia's southern port town of Kismayo on Friday afternoon as Jubaland government forces clashed with an illegal militia, Garowe Online reports.
The armed confrontation began after an armed gang of hard boyz illegal militia attacked Jubaland forces in Kismayo, with local reports saying that the illegal militia was angered by the arrest of Col. Abbas Ibrahim Gurey (Abbas Dheere), who was detained by Kenyan-AMISOM troops in Kismayo on Friday morning.
"Cheez, they nabbed the Colonel!"
"We shall have dire revenge!"
Some reports tell Garowe Online that Col. Abbas was detained and transported to Wajer, Kenya, by AMISOM forces with local sources reporting that AMISOM forces suspected Col. Abbas of involvement in yesterday's roadside bombing that led to AMISOM casualties in Kismayo.
Col. Abbas is leader of a armed gang of hard boyz militia that came from Gedo region earlier 2013 and Somali Federal Government recently appointed him as commander of Jubba regions. Col. Abbas recently travelled to Mogadishu and returned to Kismayo, and was involved in "meetings against Jubaland administration of President Ahmed Mohamed Islam" sources in Kismayo tell Garowe Online.
Col. Abbas is a close ally of Col. Barre Hirale, who arrived secretly in Kismayo earlier 2013 claiming to "visit his family" and surprisingly declared himself as Jubaland president in May 2013. Political groups accuse Col. Hirale, a former warlord, of fomenting violence and destabilizing the Jubaland regions.
Not that he had to work very hard at that...
There were no reliable reports of casualties from Friday's armed clashes, but local sources confirmed that Jubaland forces removed the armed gang of hard boyz illegal militia from Kismayo and the militia fledran awayskedaddled was chased to the outskirts of the port town.
Some 200 Al Shabaab masked fighters were "fighting alongside Col. Abbas militia" witnesses in Kismayo reported. Jubaland Vice President Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail Fartag had previously accused the political opposition in Kismayo, "funded" by Somali federal government, of cooperating with Al Shabaab militants in attempting to fight the Jubaland administration.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/30/2013
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Abbas Dheere -- inventor of the styrofoam plow.
[An Nahar] Attacks in Sunni Arab towns surrounding Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... killed six people on Saturday, the latest in spiraling violence that has left more than 420 dead this month and sparked fears of renewed sectarian war.
The surge in unrest comes as Iraq grapples with a prolonged political deadlock and months of protests by the Sunni Arab community alleging discrimination at the hands of the Shiite-led authorities.
Analysts warn that the political standoff may persist until general elections due next year.
In Abu Ghraib, just west of Storied Baghdad, a bomb in a market killed three people and maimed at least 10 others.
In nearby Garma, gunnies opened fire on a group of coppers and killed three of them before fleeing, security and medical officials said.
Another bombing at a vehicle repair garage in Taji, north of the capital, maimed at least five people.
Three anti-Al-Qaeda snuffies were also maimed by a blast in Sharqat, north of Storied Baghdad, a day after a series of attacks targeting the militia fighters killed at least eight of them.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2013
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If Obama were asked his opinion of his foreign policy he would respond with absolute conviction that his foreign policy is a total success -- everywhere. And by his own metrics, he'd be right.
[Jpost] US foreign policy is failing worldwide.
The Russian and Chinese embrace of indicted traitor Edward Snowden is just the latest demonstration of the contempt in which the US is held by an ever increasing number of adversarial states around the world.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Au Auric ||
06/30/2013 0:33
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Ms. Glickman, Maybe Mr. Obama tangentially cottons up to Anti-Colonialism to guide his foreign policy. And overall he seems to gravitate to some vague Social Justice cause. But in the end hes really not much of an ideologue at all. Now just because he always chooses the path of least resistance doesnt qualify him as a pragmatist either. Its really quite simple. He is a textbook narcissist. ALL decisions are made with what is in HIS best interest. BTW; regarding Mr. Kerry - dont waste your time searching for something that isnt there either. Yeah he really is that much of an incompetent dullard.
#3
FYI RUSSIA TODAY > [EIR Editor Lawrence K. Freeman interview] OBAMA HAS "NO VISION, NO FUTURE" FOR AFRICA.
ARTIC > FREEMAN = IHO THE BAMMER = USA HAS DONE NOTHING FOR AFRICA AS PER INVESTMENT-N-DEVELOPMENT, ETC. SAVE FOR INDIRECTLY SUPPORTING "GENOCIDE". Despite being a "Son of Africa", i.e. descended from Black Africans, the Bammer has done much less for Africa than either White former POTUS' Dubya or Bill Clinton.
and
* IIRC STARS-N-STRIPES > AFRICANS: OBAMA HAS NOT KEPT HIS PROMISES.
* FOX NEWS' "THE FIVE", CNN > opined that under the Obama Admin, US' credibility on the world stage is being seriously damaged.
OOOOOOOOO, you know its NOT good for the Bammer when even the Commie News Network = DemoLefties are confused about his policies + rank agz him.
#7
A "Perfect Storm" for China + Iran, Other versus the Bammer + Debt, Sequester-ridden US of A ...
Where oh where to begin, but I do'd it ...
To wit,
* TOPIX > [Evening Star] US MUST PREPARE FOR A NUCLEAR IRAN, DESPITE REGIME SHAKEUP.
* CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > [Science & Technology Annual 2012 = July 01, 2013] SCIENTISTS: "LOOK, ONE-THIRD OF THE HUMAN RACE HAS TO DIE [ASAP = Now?] FOR CIVILIZATION TO BE SUSTAINABLE SO HOW DO WE DO THIS". SCIENTISTS SAY 2.0BILYUHN DEAD BODIES WILL BE BURNED + CONVERTED INTO FOSSIL FUELS.
You first???
* SAME > THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC [of China = PRC] WARN PHILIPPINES OF COUNTERSTRIKE IN SCS | [Yahoo News] CHINESE MEDIA WARN PHILIPPINES OF [inevitable Military] COUNTERSTRIKE IN SOUTH CHINA SEA.
ARTIC > PEOPLE'S DAILY = the PHIL has committed "7 Sins" agz China + Chinese interests.
RELATED ...
> DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS = PEOPLE'S DAILY: CHINA COUNTERSTRIKE AGZ PHILIPPINES "CERTAIN".
> SAME > [GMA News] DFA: CHINA'S "COUNTERSTRIKE" STATEMENT PROVACATIVE.
> SAME > [PHIL Daily Inquirer] PHILIPPINES SLAMS CHINA FOR RETALIATION THREAT.
> SAME > ABS-CBN] NEW PHILIPPINE BASE [US-PHIL "shared/joint" base = Subic Bay] WILL SEND MESSAGE TO CHINA.
> SAME > [WSWS.org] US, JAPAN TO ESTABLISH MILITARY BASES IN THE PHILIPPINES. Likely under overall = sovereign PHIL control.
> CHINESE MEDIA WARN OF "COUNTERSTRIKE" IN SCS DISPUTE - CHANNEL NEWS ASIA.
* TOPIX > [Various] PHILIPPINES ACCUSES CHINA OF [massive] BUILDUP AT SEA.
---------------
Meanwhile, over in the Middle East.
* TOPIX > AHMADINEJAD: WEST'S PLAN TO PARTITION IRAQ, SYRIA, + AFGHANISTAN [AFPAK] BEING DEFEATED BY ISLAMIC RESISTANCE.
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [Iran Today = Iran Pulse] HEAD OF ANMAR STRATEGIC BASE: SYRIA IS IRAN'S 35TH PROVINCE; IFF WE LOSE SYRIA WE CAN'T KEEP TEHRAN.
* SAME > [YouTubE Video] LEADER OF FSA BATTALION: WE'LL SIDE WID THE US + ISRAEL [only?] WHEN THEY DESTROY IRAN + HEZBOLLAH.
* SAME > US HAS NO "PLAN B" FOR [threats, loss of] BAHRAIN NAVAL BASE: OFFICIAL.
#1
So it finally happened, after 50 + years, somebody copied the C-130 Hercules.
Prediction: Flurry of EU sales, giveaways (discounts) to South America, but after a relatively short operational life, will be quietly retired. And the C-130 (next) will keep on chugging.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
06/30/2013 18:13
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Well, the specs indicate it has twice the payload of a 130-J, and the scimitar propellers are really REALLY "cool" (just remember to turn the prop heat OFF after clearing)....
Gunmen shot dead a senior police officer Saturday in Egypt's volatile Sinai Peninsula, security officials said, dpa reported. Colonel Mohammed Hani was killed in a drive-by shooting outside his house in the city of Al-Arish in northern Sinai, they said.
No one claimed responsibility for the attack.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/30/2013
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On Saturday, an earthquake measuring 4.1 points hit the city of Khoy in the Iranian province of East Azerbaijan, according to the official news website of the Iranian iribnews TV channel.
The tremors were recorded at 01:46 local time, the Seismological Center of the Institute of Geophysics of the University of Tabriz said.
The earthquake affected more than 50 houses in the villages of Khoy, resulting in cracks on the walls. Recall that another earthquake hit Khoy last week, affecting more than 70 homes.
No reports have been made on the earthquake victims.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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Iraqi Turkmens have shared their demands and expectations to set up own armed forces with Ankara, Ershat Hurmuzlu, President Abdullah Gul's Middle East advisor, has said, reminding that Turkmens should find ways to protect themselves if the central government is unable to do so Hurriyetdailynews reported.
Erdogan would love to help. Of course he'd have to have his army occupy Iraq, but that's the price you pay...
Hurmuzlu voiced his concerns over the killing of senior Iraqi Turkmen officials, noting that security, which should be maintained by the state to all its citizens, did not exist in the country. "If the Iraqi central government is unable to protect Turkmens, if the Iraqi army and law enforcement officers can't defend Turkmen citizens, as a matter of course Turkmens should find ways to protect themselves," he said.
Deputy Head of the Iraqi Turkmen Front, Ali Hasim Muhtaroglu, was killed in a suicide bombing in the city of Tuz Khurmatu on June 25. Top Turkish officials have condemned the attacks, with President Gul sending a letter of condolence to Iraqi Turkmen Front head Arshad al-Salihi and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu having a phone conversation with the family of Muhtaroglu.
A declaration released following a bimonthly meeting of the National Security Council (MGK) also particularly expressed "deep sadness" over the killing.
"As we have seen, a planned study was carried out in the Turkmeneli region to wipe out the Turkmen presence and identity," Hurmuzlu said, referring to the violence and terror incidents that have been ongoing for over a month. "They are doing this to force Turkmens to leave, and to stir sectarian clashes," he added.
The advisor said Iraqi Turkmens had shared their demands and expectations with Turkish authorities over the establishment of armed forces, adding that Turkish officials were closely monitoring developments on the issue. "We suggest Turkmens proceed on the issue through legal means. However, the situation is out of control, there is no security of life in Turkmeneli regions," he said, while underlining their prior demands from Turkey.
"We ask Turkey to protect the citizenship rights, introduction of constitutional rights, which they couldn't use, as soon as possible. Turkmens want to sustain their lives, as Iraq's third fundamental element, in a unitary and united Iraq," he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/30/2013
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[An Nahar] Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Wally Jumblat ... Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling... lamented on Saturday the rise of extremism in Leb at the expense of moderation, stressing the need to combat it through backing the state and the army.
He said in a statement: "The recent developments demonstrate that the spread of arms cannot be tackled through more arms ... but through the return to dialogue."
"The recent chaos is tantamount to a crime against the Lebanese army and attempts to build the state," he added.
"It is a blow to the deaders who died while performing their national duties to enforce stability and security," he continued.
Jumblat stressed: "We reject any unjustified attempt to tarnish the army's image."
"It is sad and scary to see the posters of former Premier Saad Hariri Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too. , who is a symbol of moderation, being torn down in the northern city of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... and in late PM Rashid Karami's square, who in turn was also a symbol of Lebanese national moderation," he stated.
"It is sad and scary to see the moderation advocated by slain Premier Rafik Hariri fail as a result of ongoing policies of incitement and the shortcomings of politicians," he added.
"It is unfortunate that the confusion within a major political camp has led to this extent of extremism," he noted in an indirect reference to the Mustaqbal ... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri... Movement.
"The Lebanese are better off adhering to moderation instead of falling victim to the traps of sectarian extremism ... that can be thwarted through supporting the state and its institutions starting with the army and security forces," Jumblat added.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2013
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[Pak Daily Times] KARACHI: An official of the provincial home department was reportedly suspended for making and issuing fake promotion documentation of a police officer, on Saturday. As per details, additional secretary for home Waseem Ahmed has reportedly suspended a section police officer at Sindh home department, namely Abdul Rasheed Jhokio. He was accused of helping Irshad Ali Raza Sehar by making fake appointment as DSP rank and issuance of fake promotion order of SP rank. Sehar is currently enjoying SP rank after getting promotions and serving as the personal staff officer (PSO) of Sindh Inspector General of Police Shahid Nadeem Baloch. Sehar when approached for comments declared it is fake news and a conspiracy against him. However, you can observe a lot just by watching... sources claim that an inquiry has also been conducted against Jhokio.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2013
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Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2013
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#1
Valerie Ritchie Perrine (born September 3, 1943) is an American actress and model. Perrine was born in Galveston, Texas, the daughter of Winifred "Renee" (née McGinley), a dancer who appeared in Earl Carroll's Vanities, and Kenneth Perrine, a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army. Owing to her father's career, Perrine lived in many locations as the family moved to different posts.
She was Carlotta Monti in the biopic W.C. Fields and Me (1976) and one of her best remembered movie roles came as Miss Eve Teschmacher, moll of criminal mastermind Lex Luthor, in Superman (1978). For this role she was nominated for the 1979 Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress. She reprised her role as Miss Teschmacher in Superman II (1980). http://www.valerieperrine.com/
Posted by: Au Auric ||
06/30/2013 0:11
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#2
The hell with Superman. She was Montana Wildhack in Slaughterhouse 5.
[Pak Daily Times] A Pak man who participated in two multimillion-dollar ATM heists targeting debit card processors was sentenced in Brooklyn federal court on Friday to 18 months in prison.
Imran Elahi pleaded guilty last year to access device fraud and conspiracy, largely for his involvement in two precision strikes: a $9 million heist in 2008 involving RBS WorldPay and a $14 million hack in 2011 against Fidelity Information Services.
The cybercrimes were strikingly similar to the $45 million global ATM heist that Brooklyn federal prosecutors revealed last month, when US Attorney Loretta Lynch charged eight defendants with using stolen debit cards at thousands of automated teller machines worldwide over a period of hours in a coordinated attack.
That effort involved MasterCard Inc prepaid debit cards issued by Bank Muscat of Oman and National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah PSC, or Rakbank, of the United Arab Emirates.
In court on Friday, prosecutors praised Elahi for immediately waiving extradition upon his arrest in the Netherlands last May and agreeing to cooperate with the government.
Elahi's case was sealed until recently, and details of his cooperation remain under wraps.
Lynch's office has not indicated whether there is any connection between Elahi's assistance and the case in May. The ringleaders of the Middle East heist, and the country in which they are based, have not been charged or publicly identified by authorities.
Assistant US Attorney Cristina Posa said Elahi had provided "significant assistance" to Sherlocks. When asked by US District Judge John Gleeson what sentence seemed appropriate, she said, "If he was to go home to his family this weekend, I wouldn't be bothered by it."
In so-called "unlimited operation" heists, like those Elahi admitted to joining, hackers gain access to the computer systems of payment processors that handled prepaid debit cards for various financial institutions and dramatically increase the available balance and withdrawal limits on a handful of cards.
Co-conspirators in countries around the world then fan out to ATMs and take out money using the stolen debit card numbers in a coordinated global operation.
The operations can net cybercrime rings enormous sums of money in short amounts of time. In the case revealed in May, "casher crews" were able to withdraw $40 million in just over 10 hours.
Authorities said Elahi was responsible for disseminating the debit card numbers to casher crews in Mexico and elsewhere. Between 2005 and 2012, Elahi's activities earned him roughly $250,000 to $300,000.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2013
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#1
Wonder if under the plea He'll have to pay it back, (They have different rules than us.)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/30/2013 9:16
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[An Nahar] More than 22 million people have signed a petition in Egypt demanding the departure of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi and a snap election, the opposition Tamarod (Arabic for rebellion) group said on Saturday.
"Our petition has gathered 22,134,465 signatures," Tamarod front man Mahmoud Badr told journalists on the eve of Sunday's first anniversary of Morsi's inauguration when it has called for nationwide protests.
This figure is higher than the number of people who voted for Morsi in last year's presidential election -- 13.23 million, or 51.7 percent of the ballots cast.
Previously, Tamarod said 15 million people in Egypt had signed the petition demanding that the president step aside.
Morsi supporters have dismissed the petition as invalid, insisting that only elections can decide whether a head of state stays or goes. His term of office is due to end in 2016.
Meanwhile, ...back at the wine tasting, Vince was about to start tasting his third quart... a group of secular-leaning deputies resigned also on Saturday from Egypt's acting parliament in support of the people, they said.
At least eight deputies formally resigned from the Islamist-dominated Shura Council, Egypt's traditionally toothless upper house which took over legislative duties after parliament dissolved last year.
Several others had tendered their resignations but they are yet to be accepted, upper house speaker Ahmed Fahmy said in a statement.
The resignations come as Egypt is deeply divided between Morsi's mainly Islamist supporters and a broad-based opposition.
The president is accused of betraying the 2011 revolution that brought him to power, concentrating power in the hands of Islamists and failing to manage the country's affairs.
"We gave them a chance to lead a reconciliation but they didn't. The resignation comes to support the popular trend in Egypt," said outgoing deputy Mona Makram Ebeid.
Ihab al-Kharatt, who heads the human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... council at the Shura Council, said at least 22 deputies had quit.
"We resigned in support of 22 million Egyptians who withdrew their confidence from Morsi," Kharatt told Agence La Belle France Presse.
The country was bracing on Saturday for the protests marking the first anniversary of Morsi's term in office amid violence in which several people have been killed, including a young American.
Opposition protests have sparked counter-demonstrations by the Moslem Brüderbund and its Islamist allies that have triggered often bloody festivities across the country.
Morsi, 62, stands accused by his critics of failing the 2011 revolution that brought him to power and of ignoring nearly half of the electorate of around 50 million who did not vote for him last year.
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06/30/2013
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[Pak Daily Times] Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's approval rating has plunged by nearly 30 points since huge streets protests over shoddy public services and corruption rocked the country, according to a poll out Saturday.
It has gone from 57 percent down to 30 percent since June 6-7, said the Datafolha survey, which added that the percentage of people who think her government is doing a "bad or terrible" job has risen from nine to 25 percent since.
In March, Rousseff's popularity stood at 65 percent. In June, her approval rating dipped in all regions, according to the survey of 4,717 people conducted in 196 cities. The latest poll, which has a margin of error of two percent, comes as a wake-up call for Rousseff and her ruling leftist Workers Party ahead presidential polls scheduled for October 2014. The protests have been largely peaceful but have at times been marred by violent festivities with police and acts of vandalism.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2013
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#1
.. protests over shoddy public services and corruption
You can have inefficiency or corruption and generally muddle your way through. Pushing both at the same time usually cuts the life of a regime that is unwilling to brutally suppress the prols.
#4
Stay out of the Ghettos, Americanos are worth a lot of money to some of the AK47 toting gangs. The people in the Ghettos indeed are impoverished, buses are over crowded, with huge crowds waiting at the bus stops hoping to get on.
Bicycles and small motor bikes are the most common forms of travel for them, a small car with no A/C, manual transmission would take a life time for a family to pay for.
If a guy comes up and tries to steal from you, watch your back, his partner standing off to one side as a lookout will charge in and put a blade in your back if your resist.
The Federals don't put up with thier crap, the went in to the Ghettos near Rio and shot up a lot of gangs.
Been to Brazil to go to the Amazon, you will do fine if you follow the basics above.
[Pak Daily Times] Federal Minister for Interior and Narcotics Control, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has formed a committee to draft a mercy petition on Dr Aafia Siddiqui's ...American-educated Pak cognitive neuroscientist who was convicted of assault with intent to murder her U.S. interrogators in Afghanistan. In September 2010, she was sentenced to 86 years in jug after a three-ring trial. Siddiqui, using the alias Fahrem or Feriel Shahin, was one of six alleged al-Qaeda members who bought $19 million worth of blood diamonds in Liberia immediately prior to 9-11-01. Since her incarceration Paks have taken her to their heart and periodically erupt into demonstrations, while the government tries to find somebody to swap for her... case, which will present its recommendations to the Cabinet to facilitate her repatriation to Pakistain.
The minister has also directed that Interior Ministry's Task Force on Missing Persons should be formed next week for preparing a transparent policy in the light of Supreme Court's orders in this regard and a transparent list of the actual number of missing persons be prepared after due deliberation and consultation with the security agencies and the affected families.
Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan directed that processing of mercy petitions should be restarted as provided under the rules and all processed cases be sent to Aiwan-e-Sadr for decision.
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06/30/2013
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#1
they really want this bitch back, don't they?
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/30/2013 9:08
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#2
Yeah Frank. Chum the waters off Diego Garcia, point the way to swim to Pakistan and put her in the water. Broadcast it 24 hr delayed to Pakistan. (don't want any attempted rescues)
#3
No way. She's the worst - a female Islamist fanatic with a technical education suitable for WMD and the guts to to grab a weapon from her captors and try to kill them. Supermax. Life.
As soon as you let her go, she'll be back in the war, more determined than ever.
[Pak Daily Times] Former president General (retired) Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... on Saturday challenged in the Supreme Court, his disqualification for life in holding a public office.
Musharraf also submitted an appeal in the apex court for his release in the judges' detention case. The former president filed these two appeals in the Supreme Court through his lawyer Ilyas Siddiqui. The Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. High Court (PHC) in April this year placed a lifetime ban on the former military ruler for contesting elections.
In the appeal, Musharraf's lawyer prayed that there is no clause in the constitution regarding life ban and the PHC exceeded its powers by banning him for life from holding any public office.
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The Ayy-Pee slobbers over itself in labeling Rohani a 'moderate'. This is the man who was in tight with the Buenos Aires bombers.
Iran's newly elected president says his election was a vote for change and vows to remain committed to his campaign promises of moderation and constructive interaction with the outside world.
No, the people in 2009 tried to 'vote for change', but it was awfully hard for them to do so given that Rohani and the ayatollahs had their boots on the peoples' necks, and their Kalashnikovs at the peoples' throats...
Hasan Rohani says moderation in foreign policy does not mean surrender or conflict but rather effective and constructive contact with the world. He made the comments in an address to a conference in Tehran on Saturday. His remarks were broadcast live on state TV.
Rohani has already promised greater openness over Iran's nuclear program but at the same time has sided with the Islamic establishment that refuses to stop enriching uranium. He believes it's possible to strike a deal that would allow the Islamic Republic to keep enriching uranium while assuring the West it will not produce a nuclear weapon.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/30/2013
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#1
He believes it's possible to strike a deal that would allow the Islamic Republic to keep enriching uranium while assuring the West it will not produce a nuclear weapon.
[An Nahar] Officials have finally identified the culprit behind a 20-hour Internet and cellphone outage last week in northern New Mexico --an eager beaver.
CenturyLink front man David Gonzales told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named on Friday that a beaver chewed through the fiber line last week. He says the evidence was discovered by contractors who worked to repair the outage.
Officials say more than 1,800 Internet users were affected by the blackout. The number of cellphone users without service during that time is still unknown.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2013
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#1
This beaver --- has he an history of association with Tea Party types?
[An Nahar] Dia's restaurant in the Lebanese resort village of Aley is deserted. Most years, he caters to thousands of rich Gulf Arab tourists and to visiting expats, but this year no one has come.
"Usually, there's so many people here that even finding a parking spot is hard. Now, there's so few people that we let them park right outside the entrance," complained the 27-year-old.
His neighbor, a cake shop owner, said sales are down by 50 percent compared with June last year.
"In other years, we had clients coming in every 15 minutes. Now, it's a miracle if someone enters," he said, hiding his worry behind a smile.
Leb is reeling from the spillover of war in neighboring Syria, with deadly sectarian festivities, elections postponed, the absence of a government and the influx of half a million refugees.
The Mediterranean country's beaches, superb Roman and Phoenician sites and legendary nightlife are barren.
Early this summer, the six oil-producing Gulf monarchies sounded the death knell for this season's tourism when they told their citizens to avoid Leb for security reasons.
Well-heeled visitors from the Gulf normally account for 65 percent of the country's tourists, but the number of Saudis, Kuwaitis and other Gulf tourists this June is 80 percent lower than in June last year.
An already bad situation grew even worse last weekend when news bulletins carried footage of a major 24-hour firefight in southern Leb's city of Sidon, pitting the army against radical Islamists.
Eighteen soldiers were killed.
The port city of Sidon is home to a beautiful old district, fish restaurants, souks (traditional markets) and even a soap museum.
"As soon as you even utter the word 'weapons' you've killed tourism," Paul Achkar, head of the Lebanese hotel association, told Agence La Belle France Presse.
"Three hundred tourism establishments have closed down since the start of the year," he said.
Although confident that the industry will recover, Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud said the figures for the start of the season were pitiable.
"The occupancy rate at hotels in Beirut is barely 35 percent this month, half of the usual at this time of year.
"Outside Beirut, it's catastrophic. We're talking about five percent compared to the usual 35 percent," Abboud told AFP.
The atmosphere in Beirut, dubbed party capital of the Middle East, is not so morose, and Christian areas such as Byblos or Jounieh have also fared better than other areas.
But Hizbullah bastion Baalbek, home to one of the world's most beautiful and best preserved Roman sites, has been hit hard.
It has been targeted by rockets fired by rebels fighting Syria's Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators... , after Hizbullah joined the war fighting alongside regime forces.
The rocket attacks' only but noted victim was the famed international music festival, traditionally held in the temple of Bacchus, and headline act American soprano Renee Fleming cancelling her trip to Leb.
It is now expected to be held at a different venue, but without Fleming.
For now, other music festivals at Byblos and Beiteddine remain on schedule.
Elsewhere, in northern Leb the port city of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... is home to an old souk and a crusader castle.
But today, it is also the scene of frequent sectarian battles between supporters of opposite sides in Syria's raging conflict -- Sunni Musselmens and Alawites, the Shiite offshoot sect to which Assad belongs.
Many Lebanese living abroad are accustomed to crises afflicting their home country but even they have decided to stay away this summer, fearing they may become trapped.
"Nobody in his right mind would go to Leb right now," said Elvira Hawwa, a Lebanese living in Madrid who generally visits relatives every year.
"I won't come this year, and I've also advised my children against going," she said.
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[Jpost] Radical, feminist activists in Stockholm, Sweden staged a topless protest inside a mosque on Saturday, AFP reported.
According to the report, three activists from the hard-line protest group Femen burst into the largely empty mosque and removed their clothes to reveal their bare chests emblazoned with phrases including "No sharia in Egypt and the world" and "My body is mine, not somebody's honor.
Police reportedly escorted the women, who had not explained their reasoning for the location of the protest, away after mosque employees called the authorities.
[Pak Daily Times] At least 75 snuffies have been killed in a 34-day operation that was launched in Kurram Agency ...home of an intricately interconnected web of poverty, ignorance, and religious fanaticism, where the laws of cause and effect are assumed to be suspended, conveniently located adjacent to Tora Bora... on May 11. Briefing news hounds from Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. , Col Wasim Zafar Bhatti said that security forces had cleared the Para Chamkani area and established the government's writ by flushing out forces of Evil from their bastion in the wake of a successful operation in the restive areas of the agency. He said that 21 soldiers had also died in the line of duty, while 86 were maimed in the operation launched against snuffies who penetrated the Para Chamkani area from Khyber Agency on May 6. The forces were deployed on May 8 in the restive areas, while the operation formally started on May 11. He said the operation was conducted in 28 small and big villages falling in Para Chamkani area, and the forces successfully accomplished the task assigned to them. He said that more than 15,000 people of around 1,700 families were dislocated due to the operation, who were accommodated in the New Durrani Camp in Sadda tehsil of Kurram Agency. Col Wasim said that around 1,300 families, consisting of 10,500 individuals, had been repatriated to their native areas after clearance, while 400 remaining families would be repatriated before the start of Ramazan. He said that the families had been provided three-month ration and free transport by the FATA Disaster Management Authority.
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[Pak Daily Times] The police recovered three bodies from the eastern bypass area of the picturesque provincial capital on Saturday. An official from the Satellite Town Police Station said that some passers-by spotted the bodies in Sasti Basti area, located in the premises of Quetta Development Authority (QDA) graveyard, and informed the police. The police rushed to the spot and cordoned off the area. The dear departed were moved to the Civil Hospital. In another incident, two bodies were recovered. The victims are said to be the residents of Pashtunabad. "The dear departed received the bullets in their head and chest," a hospital source said."The bodies were handcuffed and killed in same area," the police officials said and added they recovered a TT pistol and five bullet shells of a 9mm pistol from the area. The police started the paperwork but haven't done much else and started investigation.
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[Bangla Daily Star] Reconstruction and renovation works of 16 out of 19 Buddhist temples either torched or vandalised in Cox's Bazar last year have been completed.
Project Director Lt Col Siddique Md Zulfiker Rahman said beautification works of the remaining three temples were going on.
"The project is about to be completed," he said, adding, the temples would hopefully be ready for inauguration by mid-July.
The cost of the project was initially estimated at Tk 11.98 crore, which was increased to Tk 20 crore, said Zulfiker Rahman, also the commanding officer of the 17 ECB Battalion of Bangladesh Army.
Twelve out of 19 temples that came under attack in the September 29 mayhem at Ramu in the district were reconstructed, while the other seven were repaired, said Project Officer Major Anwar.
Members of the Buddhist community and the locals in the area said they were satisfied with the progress and quality of work so far.
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[An Nahar] A delegation of Mohammedan Ulemas, headed by Sidon Mufti Sheikh Salim Sousan, regained on Saturday control of the southern city's Bilal bin Rabah mosque.
The delegation toured the complex that was damaged in the festivities between the army and the mosque's Imam Salafist holy man Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir on Sunday and Monday.
Sousan said: "This mosque taught the people peace and stability. It will once again regain its role in the Mohammedan community."
"The army and the rest of the city's officials will cooperate in order to restore order and normal life in Sidon," he stressed.
Asked by news hounds about the discovery of weapons at the mosque, the mufti replied: "We oppose the illegitimate arms and support the army. We demand a society of law and order."
Asked about the people's anger about the festivities, he responded: "Aren't they entitled to be angry given the destruction in their city?"
"Israel is our only enemy," declared Sousan.
Commenting on the arrests made in the aftermath of the festivities, he said: "Some of the suspects may be innocent and others may be guilty. I predict that several of them will be released in the upcoming days."
"The fact that someone is religious does not make them a terrorist," he emphasized.
He then announced that the mosque will be reopened in the future and that Sheikh Mohammed Abou Zeid will become its new imam.
Eighteen soldiers were killed and 50 were maimed in festivities between the army and armed supporters of al-Asir in Sidon on Sunday and Monday.
Meanwhile, ...back at the dirigible, Cynthia backed into the galley, the barbecue fork held in front of her. Jack! she called. Where the hell are you?... State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr, who is overseeing the Lebanese Army Intelligence's investigation with the incarcerated Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! suspects, acquitted 29 placed in durance vile Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! men on Saturday and handed over the apartment of al-Asir to its owners.
By this, the number of acquitted detainees has reached 101, while 40 are still in jail.
More than 20 of al-Asir's supporters were killed, according to a security official.
Dozens of them were also arrested, but there was no sign of the holy man.
The Ulemas accused on Wednesday Hizbullah fighters of taking part in the battles alongside the army, despite assertions by various officials that the army acted alone in combating the gunnies.
The army on Thursday handed over a group of soldiers accused of abusing a detainee to the military police for questioning, a military source and the state-run National News Agency said.
The move came after amateur video emerged showing a group of soldiers humiliating, beating and kicking a man suspected of supporting al-Asir.
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[Pak Daily Times] Clashes between ex-rebels and armed civilians killed six people in Bangui as anger mounted over abuses by the Central African Republic's new rulers, police and medics said Saturday.
The violence broke out on Friday in a northern neighbourhood of the capital when a student believed to have been kidnapped by ex-rebels was found dead, a police official said on condition of anonymity.
"Protesters, most of them youths, set up barricades and started burning tyres on the street to voice their anger over the discovery of the body of a student... who was kidnapped in broad daylight by Seleka forces," he said, referring to the former rebel group now in power.
The police source said the ex-rebels then "opened fire on the protesters with live bullets, killing one person."
Shots were fired back at the Seleka men, killing two, the official said, adding that another three unidentified people were rubbed out in the ensuing confusion. Twenty five people were also maimed.
"This is a provisional toll that is likely to worsen because gunfire from heavier and automatic weapons was heard in the neighbourhood later on, soon spreading to much of the city," he said.
Seleka (which means "alliance" in the Sango language) forces ousted the impoverished country's leader Francois Bozize in March. One of its leaders, Michel Djotodia, has since been sworn in as interim president but smouldering violence has continued to plague the landlocked nation. "The maimed keep coming in. Most of them were hit by stray bullets in various Bangui districts," Romain Guitizia, the director of a Bangui hospital, told AFP.
"It's tense here, we're not sure what is going to happen," he said.
Witnesses said a Protestant youth centre and a bank were looted as chaos spread across the capital.
Residents have repeatedly taken the law into their own hands over what rights groups say are executions and pillaging by ex-rebels.
Relief agencies in the Central African Republic warned on Thursday that the troubled nation was facing a serious humanitarian crisis as a result of the coup and its aftermath.
Human Rights Watch ... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world... said Seleka had "targeted and killed at least 40 civilians, and intentionally destroyed 34 villages or towns since February."
Djotodia's administration denies any involvement in the violence but senior Seleka members, including one of the former rebellion's top generals, issued a statement demanding an internal dialogue to tackle ongoing insecurity and rights violations.
Bangui has asked the regional bloc CEMAC to boost its troop presence from 700 to 2,000 in a bid to stabilise the capital.
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[Pak Daily Times] China staged a large military exercise in the ethnically-divided Xinjiang region on Saturday, after dual festivities this week branded as "terrorism," killed at least 35 people.
Tanks, military vehicles, and armed personnel blocked access to streets in Xinjiang's capital Urumqi, where at least 1,000 personnel carried out the exercise, an AFP news hound present at the scene said, with large sections of the city's centre shut down.
"Isn't it obvious? It is being staged because of the latest terrorism attacks," one local woman who did not give her name said of the exercise, which locals said was highly unusual in that scale.
The exercise came ahead of the fourth anniversary on July 5 of riots in Urumqi between members of China's mostly Moslem Uighur ethnic minority and its Han majority, which left around 200 dead.
Saturday's exercise -- which began this afternoon and was expected to last around five hours -- was carried out by members of the People's Armed Police, part of China's armed forces responsible for law enforcement and internal security during peacetime.
China's state-run media on Saturday blamed over 100 people it branded "terrorists" for sparking "riots" in Xinjiang the previous day.
The unrest took place in the prefecture of Hotan, where a group "(attacked) a number of people with weapons after gathering at local religious venues," the state-run Global Times said.
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[Pak Daily Times] Rebels have killed a Russian policeman and injured 14 others in Chechnya, police said on Saturday, a rare clash in the now mostly calm North Caucasus republic, which lies near to the venue for the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Moscow waged two wars against separatist rebels in mainly Musselmen Chechnya in the 1990s but the province has been fairly peaceful in recent years as Death Eaters have turned their focus to the nearby regions of Dagestan ...a formerly inoffensive Caucasus republic currently bedevilled by low-level Islamic insurgency, occasional outbreaks of separatism, ethnic tensions and terrorism, primarily due to its proximity to Chechnya. There are several dozen ethnic groups, most of which speak either Caucasian, Turkic, or Iranian languages. Largest among these ethnic groups are the Avar, Dargin, Kumyk, Lezgin, and Laks. While Russers form less than five percent of the population, Russian remains the primary official language and the lingua franca... and Ingushetia.
This month, President Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... put Russia's security forces on high alert to safeguard the Games due to take place next year in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
A police front man said by telephone from the Chechen capital Grozny that a police patrol had run into a band of rebels in the southern Shatoi district.
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The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that a soldier, missing from the Vietnam War, has been accounted for and will be buried with full military honors along with two of his crew members.
Army Spc. 5 John L. Burgess, of Sutton Bay, Mich., was the crew chief of a UH-1H Iroquois helicopter that crashed in Binh Phuoc Province, South Vietnam. Also, killed in the crash were 1st Lt. Leslie F. Douglas Jr., of Verona, Miss.; lst Lt. Richard Dyer, of Central Falls, R.I.; and Sgt. 1st Class Juan Colon-Diaz, of Comerio, Puerto Rico. Another crew member, Pfc. John Goosman, survived the crash and was rescued. Remains representing Dyer, Colon-Diaz, and Burgess, will be buried as a group in a single casket, on July 2, at Arlington National Cemetery. The crash site was very close to the Cambodian border and was off limits to investigators for decades. By the time they found remains, there wasn't enough left for DNA matching; but they did find remains. John L. Burgess was adopted. The DPMO & other federal agencies do genealogy research in cases like his, but somehow thoroughly missed the newspaper articles, personal tributes and genealogy-related facts scattered all over the internet, related to him, such as this one. The news media close to his home town were already aware of his natural family & were in fact knocking on their doors for interviews shortly after this press release. His natural siblings were completely taken by surprise. After a lot of phone calls, emails & Facebook posts, this was sorted out. Many of his closest relations will be at Arlington National Cemetery for the interment. I was very impressed by the dedication and sensitivity of those investigating John's case.
[An Nahar] Hizbullah MP Mohammed Raad said on Saturday that the party is keen to preserve civil peace in Leb, calling on the March 14 officials to reconsider their policies.
"We all have an interest in dealing with all matters calmly to maintain the civil peace and to fortify our society," Raad said.
He expressed the party's readiness to rectify all disputes and reach common ground with all foes in order to preserve the country's unity and stability.
"Stop interfering in the resistance's arms... They're not debatable anymore," Raad stated.
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This Wall Street Journal says Glen Greenwald was assisting Snowden before Snowden started at Boz Allen, and was not the innocent journalist who was just sitting around minding his own business when, blam!, a phone call and the rest is history.
If true, Greenwald may be history. You can't charge Snowden with espionage without also charging Greenwald.
Also, I had not realized that Greenwald was on the board of Wikileaks.
From TFA:
Before taking the job in Hawaii, Mr. Snowden was in contact with people who would later help arrange the publication of the material he purloined. Two of these individuals, filmmaker Laura Poitras and Guardian blogger Glenn Greenwald, were on the Board of the Freedom of the Press Foundation that, among other things, funds WikiLeaks.
In January 2013, according to the Washington Post, Mr. Snowden requested that Ms. Poitras get an encryption key for Skype so that they could have a secure channel over which to communicate.
In February, he made a similar request to Mr. Greenwald, providing him with a step-by-step video on how to set up encrypted communications.
So, before Mr. Snowden proceeded with his NSA penetration in March 2013 through his Booz Allen Hamilton job, he had assistance, either wittingly or unwittingly, in arranging the secure channel of encrypted communications that he would use to facilitate the publication of classified communications intelligence.
#1
Open and shut. Means, motive, opportunity: Greenwald aided and abetted a punk whose express desire was to steal and propagate sigint techniques and other intelligence info to our enemies. Note that, Wikileaks' founder is on record as saying they seek to undermine US national security wherever and whenever possible.
Can't wait to see Snowden and Greenwald in the Florence, CO federal pen with the drug kingpins, white supremacists, Mafiosi and traitors like Hansen.
#2
Won't happen Lex. The last thing our Champ wants is a domestic parade of lawyers and testimony into breaches of the 4th Amendment and current cyber collection activities, Google, Verizon, White House, etc. Attacking a member of the leftist press [however treasonous] will not be coming soon either. Eddie Snowden is a virtual 'Benghazi crime scene' crying out for justice which will never come from this administration. Justice and an exercising of the 'rule of law' would end the noise and bring closure. Media noise is an excellent diversion and cover for action. Champ now writes the rules, as well as the law. So there you have it.
#5
Hope you're right Lex, but I suspect Pappy is correct on the timeline. The SLC and the Cool Commie need hard time and perhaps someday it will happen.
On a controlled access installation, utilizing a separate law, the UCMJ, which has numerous articles and provisions that don't apply to civilians. The military judge will never allow excursions into Constitutional issues. That is only addressed after all the military processes are done and the subsequent appeal arrives into civilian federal court. As a civie, the greater possibility is it would end up like the prosecution of Wen Ho Lee.
#9
I am still in shock and awe over the complete and thorough background check that was done on Snowie by the government that uncovered these links and associates. If they had been associate w/ the Right, however, this never would have happened.
#11
Greenwald works for Salon.
Salon has NEVER earned a profit.
Every year it's losses are more than double it's revenue.
Last yr their gross receipts were in the 3.7 mil range and their debt was $118mil.
Who is the SUGAR DADDY subsidizing Salon and by association reporters like Greenwald who are apparently engaged in espionage.
The tree of this relationship set could get quite interesting
[Pak Daily Times] North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator will meet senior Russian officials in Moscow next week, state media reported, amid signs of a new push to get Pyongyang to re-join protracted talks over ending its atomic programme.
Kim Kye-gwan, North Korea's First Deputy Foreign Minister, will meet deputy foreign ministers Vladimir Titov and Igor Morgulov on Thursday "as part of efforts to resume the six-party talks", the RIA Novosti news agency reported.
The isolated Asian state recently warned that hostility by the United States could lead to war at any moment, and vowed not to give up its nuclear power in the face of mounting UN and international sanctions following recent tests.
At the same time, North Korean diplomats have said they want talks with the United States, and Kim Kye-Gwan last week discussed restarting the six-party talks with China, when he met foreign minister Wang Yi in Beijing.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/30/2013
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[An Nahar] Hundreds of Tunisians erupted into the streets of the capital on Saturday to protest against a draft law aimed at excluding former regime officials from taking part in future elections, an Agence La Belle France Presse journalist said.
The Islamist-led government in power since a 2011 uprising toppled veteran dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has been pushing for the controversial law.
But opponents of the government said it is aimed at keeping them out of politics, and protesters gathered outside the National Assembly rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud such as: "No to dictatorship."
"No to exclusion! No to collective punishment!" they chanted.
The moderate Islamist Ennahda party that heads the government and its coalition partners Ettakatol and Congress for the Republic say the draft law is aimed at preventing former Ben Ali officials from taking part in parliamentary elections due later this year.
"No one has the right to deprive Tunisian citizens from exercising their civil rights. Tunisia is for all Tunisians," said Taieb Baccouche, secretary of the key opposition party Nidaa Tounes.
The head of the party has said that up to 60,000 Tunisians could be affected by the law on the pretext that they worked directly or indirectly for Ben Ali's government.
The draft law was submitted on Thursday to the National Assembly which is due to begin a debate on a much-delayed constitution on July 1.
The adoption of a constitution is needed to draw up a schedule for elections which Prime Minister Ali Larayedh has promised to hold before the end of 2013, nearly three years after the uprising.
Posted by: Fred ||
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TFA (as well as other news articles about the pending requests for bids) dances around the fact that the buyer will automatically lose the value of his/her bid because of its pension liabilities, if the $100 million figure is accurate. Helluva a way to run a newspaper, if you ask me.
It used to be shameful to ask buyers of an entity to take such a severe screwing in a proposed purchase. There used to be a concept in business in which even if you stand to lose money in a deal, the least you can do is to walk away with cash and the buyer with a sense he/she received something of value.
My brain used to be good at this, but I am having a hard time with what it is called.
Now I remember: profit.
Seems to me the NY Times would be better off just auctioning off what little value remains in the fixed assets and tell the union to find some other entity to wreck.
From TFA:
The New England Media Group, the division that manages the Globe, has about $110 million in pension liabilities, according to two of the people familiar with the matter. Times Co. would prefer cash to help offset the liabilities rather than bids that assume even part of them, one of the people said. Such bids would be less attractive because in the event a new owner of the Globe were to become insolvent, the Globe's pension liabilities would revert back to Times Co., the people said. Pretty funny. If your business is worth 11 times less than what it was 20 years ago, you ARE insolvent!
#1
Seems to me they would be better of "donating" the Globe to the union and saying, "Here Comrades, You are now Liberated ! You now own the means of Production ! You are no longer Slaves to the evil Master... Capitalism ! We at the NYT Salute You and Set you Free to control your own Destiny!" (no need to thank us, it is the least we could do for you.)
Posted by: Au Auric ||
06/30/2013 0:28
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#2
... a better question : WHY is your business worth 11 times less than what it was 20 years ago?
Could it have anything to do with ideology over profits?
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.
WaPo reports on a 
As a Kansas City man learned, joining the global jihad against godless imperialism is harder than you'd think. Especially when the al-Qaeda leaders you're dealing with are just as adept at conning their own recruits as they are at instigating mass murder.
Six Taliban accidentally blew themselves up with their own bombs June 27 in separate incidents, Bakhtar News Agency reported, citing an Afghan Interior Ministry statement.
"One of the major, and little mentioned, revolutions in air combat is the availability of more powerful and reliable helmet mounted displays and sights. This enables a pilot to "look and shoot" as well as keep their heads up more of the time and more quickly make decisions in air-to-air combat."
[Pak Daily Times] KARACHI: Rangers personnel conducted targeted operation at Central Jail 
[An Nahar] Two people were killed on Saturday and six others were wounded in clashes in the northern city of Tripoli after clashes erupted between al-Baqqar neighborhood and Jabal Mohsen.
[Pak Daily Times] US President 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Nawaz Sharif
[Pak Daily Times] KARACHI: Law enforcers 
On Saturday, an earthquake measuring 4.1 points hit the city of Khoy in the Iranian province of East Azerbaijan, according to the official news website of the Iranian iribnews TV channel.
Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling...
[Pak Daily Times] KARACHI: An official of the provincial home department was reportedly suspended for making and issuing fake promotion documentation of a police officer, on Saturday. As per details, additional secretary for home Waseem Ahmed has reportedly suspended a section police officer at Sindh home department, namely Abdul Rasheed Jhokio. He was accused of helping Irshad Ali Raza Sehar by making fake appointment as DSP rank and issuance of fake promotion order of SP rank. Sehar is currently enjoying SP rank after getting promotions and serving as the personal staff officer (PSO) of Sindh Inspector General of Police Shahid Nadeem Baloch. Sehar when approached for comments declared it is fake news and a conspiracy against him. 
[An Nahar] More than 22 million people have signed a petition in Egypt demanding the departure of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi and a snap election, the opposition Tamarod (Arabic for rebellion) group said on Saturday.
Aafia Siddiqui's
Pervez 
[An Nahar] Officials have finally identified the culprit behind a 20-hour Internet and cellphone outage last week in northern New Mexico --an eager beaver.
[An Nahar] Dia's restaurant in the Lebanese resort village of Aley is deserted. Most years, he caters to thousands of rich Gulf Arab tourists and to visiting expats, but this year no one has come.
Kurram Agency
[Pak Daily Times] The police recovered three bodies from the eastern bypass area of the 
...Second and fourth President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
North Korea
