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Lahorkabooms kill 49
Today's Headlines
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Page 6: Politix
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--Tech & Moderator Notes
How To Complete A Census - Christopher Walken SNL Video
Tempting......
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 03/13/2010 14:01 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I like the Hannibal effort, complete with fava beans and a fine Chianti
Posted by: Frank G || 03/13/2010 16:05 Comments || Top||

#2  The demanding Bobcat is really realistic there at the end.
Posted by: Charles || 03/13/2010 18:47 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Go White Sox!
Ozzie Guillen has a bone to pick...with Sean Penn?

You can add Sean Penn to the long list of people who have been called out by Ozzie Guillen.

The outspoken White Sox manager called Penn a "payaso" (clown) and "izquierdista estupido" (stupid leftist) on Twitter Friday for his praise of controversial Venezuela President Hugo Chavez.

"Oh my God, Sean Penn defended our President Hugo Chavez," Guillen, a Venezuela native, tweeted. "That's easy when you [don't] live in Venezuela and have money. LOL...shame on [you]."

Guillen, who received his U.S. citizenship in Jan. 2006, obviously disagreed.

"Oh God, you are very crazy," Guillen tweeted about Penn. "Go and move to our country. You will change your mind."
Posted by: Steve White || 03/13/2010 17:12 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
After expelling foreigners for proselytising, Morocco defends religious freedom record
[Maghrebia] Moroccan Communication Minister and government spokesman Khalid Naciri on Thursday (March 11th) discussed the deportation this week of some twenty foreigners. The British, Dutch, American and New Zealand nationals, who worked at an orphanage near the Atlas mountain town of Ain Leuh, were expelled on Tuesday for allegedly trying to convert the children.

Naciri said that such "rare cases" of expulsion from the country are not linked to the practice of the Christian religion but rather to acts of proselytism", adding that "the same severity was used against the fundamentalist Muslims of the Salafia Jihadia group or against the over 100 Qur'anic schools contrary to dominant Muslim practice".

The Catholic Archbishop of Rabat and the head of the Evangelical Church in Morocco released a joint statement about the incident, saying that they "have always been able to act within the framework of the freedom of worship attributed to Christian foreigners", For his part, the president of the Rabbinical chamber of the Casablanca court on Wednesday stated that "all religions, Muslim, Jewish and Christian, are practiced without constraints or limits".

In related news, MAP reported that according to the 2009 Report on Human Rights Practices, released Thursday by the US Department of State, Morocco "supported and facilitated religious activities" of its 4,000--member Jewish community.
Posted by: Fred || 03/13/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Village of Hope Official Statement

The above link is from their website.
Posted by: Shens Dark Lord of the Leprechauns6113 || 03/13/2010 8:14 Comments || Top||


Economy
Times bigs make out big: Proles, rank-and-file hardest hit
Manolo! Break out the Napoleon brandy!!
Top executives at the beleaguered New York Times Company reaped hefty rewards last year, with Chairman Arthur "Pinch" Sulzberger more than doubling his total compensation to $6 million. CEO Janet Robinson got even more, reaping $6.3 million, a 31.9 percent hike. The pay numbers were disclosed in Securities and Exchange Commission filings yesterday.
Fine job, Janet!
Fine job, Pinchy! I toast you!

The increases come against a backdrop of declining ad revenue, layoffs, frozen pension plans, unpaid vacations and a 5 percent pay cut for most of the rank-and-file workers last year. "Our members are really unhappy with what is happening," said Bill O'Meara, president of the Newspaper Guild of New York. "They made a voluntary sacrifice to give up some of their pay to help the company out. People are losing their jobs still."
Feeling like a sap, Bill? Well, you should.
One corporate governance expert warned that even if a publicly traded company's compensation committee OK'd the compensation, it could backfire in the court of public opinion.
Let 'em eat cake!
"I think the board may want to weigh the consequences of rewarding their executives, who may be worthy of the increases, against the damage that may occur to the company's reputation," said William Sannwald, a business professor at San Diego State University.
HA! And who do you think you are? Krugman? Begone with you, hayseed!
Michael Golden, a first cousin of Pinch's who is vice chairman and chief operating officer of the Times' Regional Media Group, took home $2.4 million in total compensation last year, up 71 percent. CFO Jim Folo received a 20 percent boost, earning $1.3 million.
Great job, men! Call girls for everybody!
A Times spokeswoman explained that the pay hikes were driven mainly by payouts tied to performance-based bonus plans with preset goals.
Like what? You're still in business?
Times shares closed at $11.53, up a penny, in Big Board trading.
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/13/2010 12:53 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The model that the ruling caste has for the rest of us, inner party vs outer party.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/13/2010 13:52 Comments || Top||

#2  It's good to be King. Almost as good is owning special class stock with voting rights.
Posted by: DMFD || 03/13/2010 13:57 Comments || Top||

#3  (*shrug*) The execs are bleeding the carcass dry before they sell it- to a fool. A story as old as vampires. But give them a pass- they're libs!!
Posted by: Free Radical || 03/13/2010 14:12 Comments || Top||

#4  ... beleaguered New York Times Company ...

A phrase that warms the deeper, colder cockles of my heart ...
Posted by: Steve White || 03/13/2010 14:16 Comments || Top||

#5  The execs are bleeding the carcass dry before they sell it- to a fool.

That would be Carlos Slim. Rich as he is, he's throwing his money away on this one ...
Posted by: Steve White || 03/13/2010 14:20 Comments || Top||

#6  I doubt he's into it for the money you get from selling issues of the NYT per se; it's more of a loss-leader for the general project of turning the US into a feudalistic society.

And if you don't think that's working... last election the two major candidates both believed in cap and trade, the new Morgenthau Plan for the United States. And the winner has worked very hard at "sealing in" the bank crisis of late '08 so it turns into a decade-long hard depression.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 03/13/2010 15:45 Comments || Top||

#7  True- Mr. Slim would get something out of a controlling stake- a national newspaper that will print anything with a straight face. Walter Duranty is but one postcard-perfect example.
Posted by: Free Radical || 03/13/2010 16:53 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Petraeus to Speak On New Hampshire Campus
Army Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. Central Command and earlier the top U.S. general in Iraq, will visit Saint Anselm College and the New Hampshire Institute of Politics on March 24, N.H.I.O.P. executive director Neil Levesque told The Crier.

The visit, expected at the end of this month, is among the Institute's highest profile and most distinguished guests recently.
Hard to believe they think of The visit as a guest, but the Institute of Politics should be an excellent forum when the General returns to his home state of New Hampshire, where he is registered to vote as a Republican.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 03/13/2010 08:55 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


The Cheney Government in Exile
Good, even-handed piece on the Cheney family, with emphasis on Dick Cheney's continued willingness to mix it up and Liz Cheney's plans for the future.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/13/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I really enjoy the fact that Dick is willing to pick up his mace and shield and go at it with the ninnies in the press and the useful idiots in the white house.

For all of BO's publicized intellect, Chaney can out think him in his sleep.
Posted by: Karl Rove || 03/13/2010 2:28 Comments || Top||

#2  Dick Cheney responds to Zero's Dog and Pony Show

The players carefully chosen will receive marching orders and talking points consisting of distorted data, facts and tainted realities. All will be prepared in advance with script in tow to be acted out scene by scene in the presence of an overly enthusiastic liberal media eager to do their messiah’s bidding.

Dog and Pony Show
Posted by: Shens Dark Lord of the Leprechauns6113 || 03/13/2010 7:49 Comments || Top||

#3  Gimme hope.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 03/13/2010 13:15 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Punjab: Christian Couple Sentenced To 25-years For Touching Koran
Munir Masih and Ruqqiya Bibi are convicted on the basis of the blasphemy law. In January, they were released on bail; now they are in two separate prison facilities. Extremist fringe put pressure, and perhaps corrupted police to find the right evidence to justify the conviction.

A court in Kasur district, Punjab, convicted a Christian couple, Munir Masih and Ruqqiya Bibi, to 25 years in prison. According to the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS), judge Ajmal Hussein convicted the couple for touching the Qur‘an without washing their hands.

Munir Masih and Ruqqiya Bibi were released on bail last January, but were re-arrested after the judge ruled against them. The husband was locked up in Kasur's district prison; the wife was sent to the women's prison in Multan. Both have started serving 25 years behind bars.

CLAAS, an association that fights for the rights of the poor and marginalised, said that the couple was accused of “contaminating' the Qur‘an when they touched it “without washing their hands'.

The incident, which dates back to December 2008, unleashed the fury of Muslim extremists who put pressure on police. Unconfirmed reports suggest that extremists paid off police agents to discover “new evidence' to justify the sentence.

At the end of the police investigation, husband and wife were charged with blasphemy.

The blasphemy law is the harshest tool for religious repression available in Pakistan. It was adopted in 1986 by then dictator Zia ul-Haq to protect Islam and its prophet, Muhammad, from attacks and insults.

In fact, it is actually comprised of sections 295-B and 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code, which respectively punish with life in prison anyone who defiles, damages or desecrates a copy of the Holy Qur‘an, and imposes the death penalty on anyone who defiles the name of the Prophet Muhammad.

In the last two months, there were two more convictions against Christians in Pakistan.

On 11 January, a court in Faisalabad sentenced Imran Masih, a 26-year-old Christian man, to life imprisonment for insulting and desecrating the Koran. He was accused of deliberately burning Qur‘anic verses and an Arabic book in order “foment interfaith hatred and hurt the feelings of Muslims.'

On 25 February, a court in Karachi sentenced Qamar David, also a Christian, to life imprisonment for hurting the religious feelings of Muslims when he sent blasphemous SMS.

CLAAS announced that it was filing an appeal with the High Court in Lahore to have the 25-year sentence against Munir Masih and Ruqqiya Bibi overturned.
Posted by: john frum || 03/13/2010 11:53 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That reminds me. I must replace the Koran in my bathroom.
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/13/2010 13:43 Comments || Top||

#2  no doubt tu3031. They might as well dropped a deuce on the damn thing. I'm sick of pakistan and all its b.s.
Posted by: Broadhead6 || 03/13/2010 16:25 Comments || Top||

#3  Damn I hope they don't find the one on my garage floor under my car.
Posted by: Hellfish || 03/13/2010 17:22 Comments || Top||

#4  What a sick, pathetic little god....
Posted by: CrazyFool || 03/13/2010 18:03 Comments || Top||

#5  Some may be curious as to why it was assumed that the couple had not washed their hands

Being Christian, Pakistanis assume them to be garbage or sewage workers. That is their lot in life. They are not forced to convert because their labor is essential to the Muslim majority. They perform jobs the Muslims will not do.

Christians are under heavy pressure in Pakistan. It is estimated that 75% of Christians are marginalised in the lowest strata of society, working in brick-kilns, as sweepers, sewer cleaners or labourers.
Posted by: john frum || 03/13/2010 18:23 Comments || Top||

#6  "touching the Qur'an without washing their hands"

Funny - I'd want to wash my hands after touching one.


"I must replace the Koran in my bathroom."

I've got more respect for my bottom than that, tu. (I'm presuming it's not in there for reading material....)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 03/13/2010 21:43 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
U.S. Sitting on Mother Lode of Rare Tech-Crucial Minerals
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 03/13/2010 10:31 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  National Park announced on the site in 5... 4... 3...
Posted by: Grenter, Protector of the Geats || 03/13/2010 11:58 Comments || Top||

#2  Don't get too excited - Ogabe will just declare the area a "protected national monument" to block any development of these resources.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) || 03/13/2010 12:00 Comments || Top||

#3  Ricky has it. Just another move to ensure our continued enslavement to the oil rich Muslim world.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/13/2010 12:14 Comments || Top||

#4  So once they cut us off it'll take eight years or so to get the ball rolling on a plant of our own?

(SO they'll be able to screw us over for seven and a half and then flood the market for six months and derail the plant).
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 03/13/2010 13:25 Comments || Top||

#5  Rare Earths aren't.

The world buys rare earths from China for the same reason they buy steel and TVs - cheap labor and weak enviromental regs. There are ample reserves outside China.

Lithium is a much bigger problem.

Analysis of Lithium's geological resource base shows that there is insufficient Lithium available in the Earth's
crust to sustain Electric Vehicle manufacture in the volumes required, based solely on LiIon batteries.
Posted by: phil_b || 03/13/2010 18:13 Comments || Top||

#6  Actually, my worry would be that 0 would give the particular areas as a collateral to Chinese to further fund the gummint largese. So, in the end China would have truly a monopoly, till end of times or until some badass merkin ninjas wrestle these from them.
Posted by: twobyfour || 03/13/2010 18:14 Comments || Top||

#7  Lithium - Major producers: Canada, Australia, and believe it or not, ZimBobWe (I am not sure about the current state, I would presume a profound mismanagement).

Significant recently discovered reserves: Chile, Western China and Tibet.

Concerns regarding lithium availability for hybrid or electric vehicle batteries or other foreseeable applications are unfounded.
Posted by: twobyfour || 03/13/2010 18:22 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Bangkok remains peaceful as rally under control
BANGKOK, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The overall situation in Thailand 's capital Bangkok has remained peaceful on the first day of a mass anti-government rally as the government has attempted to ensure that no violence will occur amid the continued rally.

Thailand's weekly cabinet Tuesday decided to impose the ISA law in eight provinces to ensure law and order during the rally by the United front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) group from March 12 to 23. Of the total eight provinces, the ISA imposition has been enforced in the whole area of capital Bangkok and Nonthaburi, which is next to Bangkok, while it is imposed in some 21 districts of the six other provinces nearby Bangkok, including Pathum Thani, Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon, Chachoengsao, Nakhon Pathom, and Ayutthaya.

Totally, under the ISA law's enforcement there are 50,000 security men, who will maintain security during the mass rally.

According to Police Major General Piya Uthayo, Spokesperson of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, about 6,500 protesters gathered at five main rally spots in Bangkok on Friday, the National News Bureau of Thailand (NNT) under the state-owned Public Relations Department, reported.

The traffic was generally light during the first day of the rally as there was no report of violence. The UDD or red-shirted protesters voluntarily dispersed by 5:00 p.m., local time, Friday after they marched by various routes in downtown area.

They plan to regather at about 17:00 p.m., local time Saturday at Ratchadamnoen Road, open-field Sanam Luang, and King Rama V Equestrian Monument in the center of capital Bangkok.

In a related development, Deputy Prime Minister in charge of security affairs Suthep Thaugsuban is satisfied with the security operations during the first day of the rally, Thai News Agency reported. However, Suthep has repeatedly instructed the security men to be patient and not to use violence to deal with the protesters.

At the same time Metropolitan Police Commander Lt-General Santhan Chayanon has ordered to beef up security at eight check points, which are tasked by army-police forces, the NNT said.

With 24 hours' responsibility, the check points have been set up on areas, which border capital Bangkok and provinces next to Bangkok.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/13/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Culture Wars
South Park to torment Tiger
Golf clubs in hands or not, the children of South Park are ready to take on Tiger Woods.

Creators of the Comedy Central cartoon have long since proven that no subject is sacred to them. So for the opening of its 14th season on Wednesday, the troubled golfer encounters Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Cartman in their animated Colorado town.

"It's such an important issue in America right now -- the sex addiction outbreak," Matt Stone, who makes the series with partner Trey Parker, said. "We're all really concerned about him and hope he gets better."

Sex addiction, the intersection of powerful men and willing women, late-night phone calls to the police and bad public relations gave them so much fodder they could have made an entire Tiger-centric season, Stone said.

Since the Peabody Award-winning show's first episode in 1997, Parker and Stone haven't worried about lines between good taste and bad if they can get a laugh.

"There's a delicacy in talking about (Woods) that we don't have to worry about," Stone said.

He wouldn't give many details about the episode, in part because he and Parker were still writing it. Stone said he was fascinated and disgusted by Woods' public apology, so it's likely that will be worked in.

'South Park' is airing its 200th episode next month. "We can't even believe we're still here doing this," he said.
Posted by: tipper || 03/13/2010 05:02 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Golf clubs in hands or not, the children of South Park are ready to take on Tiger Woods.

The little imps, pulling the tigers tale.

Posted by: Shens Dark Lord of the Leprechauns6113 || 03/13/2010 8:00 Comments || Top||

#2  South Park at its best, can't be topped. 'Whale Whores' this season was awesome, looking at reality television.
BTW, all the episodes are available for free streaming, and they're only 20 minutes long. Just google 'south park studios.'
Posted by: Mizzou Mafia || 03/13/2010 17:13 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
42[untagged]
4Jamaat-e-Islami
2Govt of Iran
2al-Qaeda
1al-Shabaab
1Global Jihad
1al-Qaeda in North Africa
1Govt of Pakistan
1Islamic Jihad
1al-Qaeda in Arabia
1Muslim Brotherhood
1Palestinian Authority
1TTP

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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
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Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2010-03-13
  Lahorkabooms kill 49
Fri 2010-03-12
  Sipah-e-Sahabah Pakistain chief shot up, son killed
Thu 2010-03-11
  Droukdel reportedly ousted as GSPC emir
Wed 2010-03-10
  Dulmatin Confirmed Dead
Tue 2010-03-09
  Bombing kills 15, destroys spy office in Lahore
Mon 2010-03-08
  Qaeda suspect kills guard in Yemen hospital escape bid
Sun 2010-03-07
  Talibs Shoot It Out with Hezbis in Baghlan
Sat 2010-03-06
  Faqir Mohammad believed killed
Fri 2010-03-05
  Yemen says 11 Qaeda suspects arrested in Sanaa
Thu 2010-03-04
  Bomb attacks in Baquba kill 38, wound 48
Wed 2010-03-03
  Mighty Pak Army takes Damadola cave complex
Tue 2010-03-02
  Danish warship sinks pirate ship off Somalia
Mon 2010-03-01
  Chavez Contracted With FARC And ETA To Kill Uribe In Spain
Sun 2010-02-28
  Spain says ETA chief arrested in France
Sat 2010-02-27
  US, Afghan forces clear last parts of Marjah

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