[An Nahar] The United States' federal government shutdown could endanger the fragile world economy, British Prime Minister David Cameron ... has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite, which means he's not. Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ... warned on Tuesday.
"It is a risk to the world economy if the United States can't properly sort out its spending plans and its deficit reduction plans," Cameron told BBC radio after the U.S. Congress failed to agree a budget, forcing the first federal government shutdown in 17 years.
Economists have warned that the shutdown, forcing 800,000 federal workers to go on leave and closing museums and national parks until the row is resolved, could slow growth in the world's largest economy.
Cameron added: "I think also it's a reminder to us here that you have to have a multi-year, long-term plan for getting deficits down."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
..and the economic collapse of the US along the lines of Greece or Argentina doesn't place the world economy at risk? Or are you gambling you won't be around when the music stops, just like the city fathers of Detroit?
#3
The effect on the Global Economy will be much worse iff China opens fire on US Allies in East Asia, + the Bammer pulls a feel-good, pro-UN Mediation/Resolution "Syria" in response where China gets most or all of what it wants, while the US falls back across the Pacific + getting another Debt-busting QE(S) to boot.
#4
A master of distraction, never at a loss to fill a void with feckless comments. Sorry David. Albion's historical record fails to warrant a right to comment. Please STFU.
[WASHINGTONTIMES] Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in a fiery ...a single two-syllable word carrying connotations of both incoherence and viciousness. A fiery delivery implies an audience of rubes and yokels, preferably forming up into a mob... and dramatic television speech broadcast Monday, accused U.S. diplomats of "acts of sabotage" and ordered them to leave the country.
The socialist leader said government officials had tailed three U.S. diplomats for months, and authorities had witnessed them tampering with the country's electric system, NBC reported.
They now have 48 hours to get out of Venezuela, he said.
"We detected a group of U.S. Embassy officials dedicated to meeting the far-right and to financing and encouraging acts of sabotage against the electrical system and Venezuela's economy," Mr. Maduro said in his speech. "I have the proof here in my hands. ... Yankees go home. Get out of Venezuela. Get out of here. I don't care what actions the government of Barack Obama We're gonna punish our enemies and we're gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us... takes."
He also added: "I'm not going to allow any action that stirs violence in this country."
Among the expelled are Kelly Keiderling, the senior American diplomat in the nation; Elizabeth Hunderland; and David Mutt, NBC reported.
Officials with the U.S. Embassy did not comment. But opposition leader Henrique Capriles laughed at the announcement.
"It's just smoke to cover up that they can't manage the country," he said, in a Twitter posting.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Where's the bumwad (toilet paper) coming from, Nikki?
#6
FAMOUS LAST WORDS?, as I hope Maduro's Govt. reads those blogs whom repor there are South Americans now fighting in Syria agz Assad.
Reminds me of Robin Williams' great post-9-11 skit ...
> WHEN THE GERMANS DON'T INVADE FRANCE, FRANCE = YANKEES GO HOME!
? WHEN THE GERMANS DO INVADE FRANCE > YANKEES, WE LOVE YOU - COME BACK, WHY DID YOU EVER LEAVE US!?
Even before the Assad-Syria Crisis, IRAN + HEZBOLLAH + QUDS FORCE + IRGC SETTING UP BOTH CENTRAL + SOUTH AMERICA.
[MAIN.OMANOBSERVER.OM] Peaceful anti-government protests that shook Turkey in the summer were a sign of the country's democratic maturity but they took a wrong turn by becoming violent, President Abdullah Gul said yesterday.
Gul urged Turks to show respect for other points of view and to work together to strengthen Turkey's democracy.
"Some groups attempted to exploit the peaceful protests by using violence and vandalism. The protests that started with good intentions took on the wrong characteristics in time that disrupted public order," Gul told parliament.
"We must, as a nation, learn the necessary lessons from these incidents and must display sensitivity to understand the feelings of our young people through detailed sociological studies," he said.
The summer protests presented one of the biggest challenges to Erdogan's rule since his AK Party first came to power a decade ago, spiralling out of a demonstration in late May against plans to redevelop an Istanbul park into a broader show of defiance.
Four protesters and a police officer died as demonstrators, some armed with rocks, fireworks and
Molotov cocktails, clashed with police firing tear gas, water cannon and pepper spray in outbreaks of violence around the country.
Erdogan, who remains Turkey's most popular politician despite the protests, branded the protesters as "riff-raff" and coup plotters bent on wrecking
the country's political and economic stability.
He mobilised hundreds of thousands of his supporters at rallies meant as a show of strength and said the public would give their answer to the protesters at the ballot box.
Sporadic protests continued in September, just six months before local elections, the start of a voting cycle which also includes a presidential election next August -- in which Erdogan is expected to run -- and parliamentary polls in 2015.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Turkey's prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has unveiled sweeping reforms in a bid to repair his image, bruised by mass protests and a stalled grinding of the peace processor with Kurdish rebels, analysts said Tuesday.
But Erdogan failed to appease his critics who said the long-awaited reform package did not go far enough and was merely a bid to shore up support ahead of elections next year.
Many of the reforms are aimed at enhancing the rights of minority groups including Turkey's 15 million Kurds, in a bid to revive a deadlocked grinding of the peace processor with the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
However the PKK said in a statement that Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) had not consulted them on the reforms and was merely resorting to delaying tactics with the goal of "winning another election."
The country votes in local elections in March, a presidential election in August and parliamentary polls in 2015.
"The package shows that instead of a solution, the AKP has adopted the lack of a solution as its policy," the PKK said.
Erdogan also announced the lifting of a long-standing ban on women wearing headscarves in most public offices, however judges, prosecutors, police and military personnel will still be forbidden from wearing them.
While the lifting of the ban gives Turks greater religious freedom, it touches a nerve among those who accuse Erdogan of trying to Islamize the predominantly Mohammedan, but traditionally fiercely secular, country where laws on alcohol sales and advertising have also been tightened.
Erdogan's government was hit by a wave of unrest in June as tens of thousands of protesters calling him a "dictator" raged against what they alleged is his increasingly iron-fisted, conservative-leaning style of governance.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2013 00:00 ||
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A group of notable Canadian women has launched a campaign for gender-neutral language in the English lyrics of 'O Canada'. The group says the change would restore Canada's English national anthem to its original gender-neutral intentions.
The coalition -- which includes author Margaret Atwood and former prime minister Kim Campbell -- has set up a website to promote the idea. It calls on Canadians to join the campaign and encourage Prime Minister Harper's government to change the line "in all thy sons command" to "in all of us command."
The group says for no documented reason the lyrics were changed in 1913 from "thou dost in us command" to "in all thy sons command" and that it is time to make a change to reflect the inclusive intentions of the original lyrics.
Atwood said, "The words 'All thy sons command' in the English national anthem suggests that only male loyalty is being invoked. Restoring these lyrics to gender-neutral is not only an easy fix to make our anthem inclusive for all Canadians, but it's also long overdue."
#1
Ahhhhhh Jeeeez! I would love to find Margaret Atwood and/or Kim Campbell and/or any of the others stranded on the road side with say, a flat tire, or such. The discussion would be intense. AND VERY LOUD. Gah!
Maybe I could just invite them to come along on a moose hunt. No, that might lead to something productive for someone, like a meal.
#3
One of the five Normandy beaches, Juno, was Canada's. Carried well above its weight. Weren't too many women among the 50% casualties that first day. Strangely, that's the dirty end of the stick these advocates never demand.
h/t Instapundit
As part of the Honor Flight project, World War II veterans have been taken to Washington DC, cost free, to see the memorial erected in their honor on the National Mall.
Due to the government shutdown, National Park Service police put up barriers preventing access. According to Leo Shane III, White House and Veterans Affairs reporter for Stars and Stripes, the veterans knocked over those barriers.
#2
I'm still telling Guam locals to expect the US, World Econ to remain bad, iff not worsen, until such time the structures, etc. for OWG is permanently emplaced - IMO widin circa 15-20 years???
#5
Now the Park Service is building concrete barriers. There is money for forklifts, workers, and concrete barriers but not any to keep the memorial open? This political pure and simple.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
10/02/2013 12:13 Comments ||
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Those barriers is where the Democrats lose if the Republicans have anyone that can create a decent campaign commercial.
This will be a good show on how we can run with a minimal government and the Democrats know it so they are acting spiteful to give a false impression.
#8
I understand they are bringing in horse mounted patrols to keep the veterans out,
Obama's committing suicide here, Real Vets won't stand for this, they faced Germans and Japanese, a wooden barrier is nothing, a horse is food, and I wouldn't want to be riding one.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/02/2013 15:45 Comments ||
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#9
IIRC, the WWII memorial is basically an open plaza. Putting barriers around an open plaza is beyond stupid.
Maybe Rolling Thunder & their buddies can simply roll into DC and BLOCK THE PUBLIC ROADS UNTIL THE MEMORIAL BARRIERS ARE REMOVED.
#10
Maybe Rolling Thunder & their buddies can simply roll into DC and BLOCK THE PUBLIC ROADS UNTIL THE MEMORIAL BARRIERS ARE REMOVED.
Posted by Anguper Hupomosing9418
YES! RT's time has come. Bring sleeping bags and large capacity personal protection devices as well.
[An Nahar] Where once she welcomed immigrants pursuing the American dream and more recently hordes of tourists, the Statue of Liberty stood alone Tuesday, victim of the U.S. government shutdown.
Thousands of frustrated tourists had the choice of a one-hour boat trip around New York harbor or their money back, with one of the most iconic monuments in the United States closed.
Dozens of people working on the boats taking people to and from Liberty Island, run by U.S. National Parks, were on hand with infinite patience and multiple languages to help marshall the baffled tourists.
"No statue today, nobody is going on the island," said Brian Fahey, who works for Statue Cruises at the Battery Park pier in southern Manhattan.
"But you can join a one-hour harbor cruise that goes by the Statue, Ellis Island, Ground Zero, the Brooklyn bridge," he added.
Large notice boards everywhere repeated the same information.
"The government has temporarily shut both the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Please join our one hour sightseeing tour and see the magnificent sights of New York harbor."
But many visitors were reluctant to be fobbed off with a boat trip.
"I just arrived yesterday from Seattle, I bought my tickets yesterday, they could have suspended the sales, or sent notifications," said Shriram Parameshwaran, a 26-year-old engineer.
He was uninterested in the cause of the shutdown -- the latest ideological skirmish between President Barack Obama and House Republicans over the scope of the U.S. government.
"I have no idea what this is about," he told Agence France Presse.
He wanted his money back. He wasn't interested in the mini cruise.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Traditional symbols of American freedom and greatness are selected for closure whilst simultaneously, gov't linguists assist untold thousands, possibly millions [speaking 150 different languages from who knows where] sign up for medical boodle care. Indeed telling.
#2
This just the Washington Monument strategy writ large: every time Congress threatens to cut the National Park Service's budget, they respond by threatening to close the Washington Monument, rather than Pipestone National Monument in Minnesota. The Park Service knows that more people will complain and Congress won't dare cut their budget.
Obama is doing the same thing here: causing as much pain to as many people as he can, blaming the Republicans, hoping they will complain.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
10/02/2013 11:34 Comments ||
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I went to Europe once to find everything worth seeing covered in scaffolding because the World Cup was coming the following year. They can bite me, that's the risks you run in this big world.
[Dawn] Unidentified people attacked a plaza near DHA (Defense Housing Authority) Phase-II with two hand grenades on Monday night, police sources said.
However, a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all... the police refused to officially comment over the incident.
When contacted, the station house officer (SHO) of Sihala cop shoppe, Inspector Masood Kasuri, confirmed that Mohammad Imran, a security guard deployed at the plaza, was injured in the attack.
However, a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all... he neither denied nor confirmed that the plaza had been attacked with hand grenades.
He said the lone injured was shifted to the hospital for treatment and was accompanied by the duty officer of the cop shoppe.
The SHO added that the security guard would be brought to the cop shoppe to record his statement once he healed.
Only then would the police establish whether hand grenades were used in the attack or not.
He also expressed ignorance over the motive behind the attack.
On the other hand, some police officials, requesting anonymity, said the place was owned by Raja Asif, a businessman, who was receiving threats from an extortionist gang which was operating in the area with the support of bully boys.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2013 00:00 ||
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A new fighter plane built by China is drawing more snickers than raves from aviation experts, and the People's Army is now saying the jet was really ticketed for export all along.
The J-31 "Falcon Hawk," likely designed by reverse-engineering a downed U.S. stealth fighter, was supposed to become Chinas next generation of carrier-based aircraft and take its place next to the U.S.-made F-35 Lightning II as the gold standard in air force weaponry, according to a report last month in Peoples Daily. But now it looks like China, which has exactly one aircraft carrier, has scaled back the hype and will peddle the aircraft to second-tier air forces like Brazil, Pakistan and some Middle East countries.
Even the Chinese press has been critical of the jet, with Bejing-based Sina Military Network calling the J-15 a flopping fish, and claiming that the plane could not take off from a carrier with heavy ammunitions which could cripple its attack range as well as firepower.
#3
In all fairness the USN has also had the problem of getting fully loaded birds off the deck. The canceled a12 would have required a fuel top off after the cat shot if it were fully loaded. The cats could not handle the GTOW
#4
It sometimes happens with (capitalist running dog) novices writing contracts to overlook little things like ordnance loads included in the aircraft specs.
#9
It's twin engined; it looks like it's halfway between an F-35 and an F-22, with the F-35's intake and engine nozzles but a F-22 fuselage between them. (with something that looks Sukhoi-ish between the two nozzles).
[Dawn] President Thein Sein traveled to Myanmar's conflict-torn west on Tuesday as a new spate of sectarian violence gripped the state of Rakhine, with police saying Buddhist rioters killed a 94-year-old Mohammedan woman and torched more than 70 homes.
Police officer Kyaw Naing said festivities broke out in Thabyachaing village, about 20 kilometres north of the coastal town of Thandwe, on Tuesday afternoon.
He said the 94-year-old woman, Aye Kyi, died of stab wounds and that between 70 and 80 houses were set on fire.
The visit by Thein Sein to the divided region was his first since sectarian violence broke out more than a year ago. He arrived in the Rakhine state capital of Sittwe and was scheduled to travel to several more towns in the area, including Maungdaw to the north and Thandwe to the south, where Buddhist mobs started torching Mohammedan homes Sunday, a bigwig in the president's office said.
He declined to be identified because he was not authorized to speak about the sensitive trip.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2013 00:00 ||
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It really takes something to set off a Buddhist Monk.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/02/2013 0:49 Comments ||
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It ain't about Buddhism or Islam. It's about a country that's been totalitarian for the last fifty years.
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.
David Cameron
[MAIN.OMANOBSERVER.OM] Peaceful anti-government protests that shook Turkey in the summer were a sign of the country's democratic maturity but they took a wrong turn by becoming violent, President Abdullah Gul said yesterday.
A group of notable Canadian women has launched a campaign for gender-neutral language in the English lyrics of 'O Canada'. The group says the change would restore Canada's English national anthem to its original gender-neutral intentions.
