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Stop all settlements and we'll talk: Palestinians
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-Short Attention Span Theater-
Tuition Breaks for Illegal Immigrants in CA
California may have dodged a major conflict with Federal law when its voters rejected legalized pot in this month's election, but now a new ruling by the state's Supreme Court is setting up another conflict: this one over in-state public college tuition for illegal immigrants.
Posted by: armyguy || 11/16/2010 12:22 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This should be a simple, two part story.

1) California Supreme Court votes to give taxpayer money to foreigners.

2) Since it was a unanimous decision, recall petitions for every one of them will be circulating soon.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 11/16/2010 17:38 Comments || Top||

#2  Meanwhile, US taxpayer funded food stamps and gov't coupons fly across the checkout counter at Giant Foods in Fairfax County, while a conga line is found 3 meters away at the Western Union counter as US dollars "FLY" south of the border. We are such SAPS!
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/16/2010 20:13 Comments || Top||


Great Christmas Gift for the Americans on Your List


The Bye Bye Obama Countdown Clock
Posted by: Beavis || 11/16/2010 09:54 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
The Vote to Split Sudan
Juba: Everyone around here is getting ready for AfricaÂ’s big divorce.

Sudan, the largest country on the continent, is on the verge of splitting up, with the south about to vote on whether to secede from the north after decades of war, mistrust and marginalization.

On Monday a major step was taken in that direction — voter registration — and judging by the mood here in the capital of southern Sudan, the differences seemed irreconcilable.

The long-awaited referendum on southern SudanÂ’s independence, set in motion by a 2005 peace agreement to stop one of AfricaÂ’s worst civil wars, is scheduled for Jan. 9, fundamentally altering the nearly one-million-square-mile nation of Sudan, which for many troubled decades served as a bridge between the Arab and African worlds.

In Juba, lines of expectant voters snaked through the slums and spilled onto the streets. People waited patiently under a beating sun to stamp a thumbprint in the registrarÂ’s book and walk away with a voting card.

The southerners, many of whom are former bush fighters, are not exactly known for their efficiency. The preparations for the referendum are far behind schedule and the timeline before the vote has been drastically shortened, with little room for error. Complicating matters, the north-south border still has not been demarcated, with bitter disputes about the most lucrative oil-producing areas.

Juba is hardly waiting, and it feels as if something big is about to happen here. The town is plastered with political posters — “Separation=Peace,” “The Final Walk to Freedom,” “I Love New Sudan.”

Even private businesses are trying to cash in, like Feeder Airlines, whose slogan is, “Your flight with us is an investment to your baby nation.”

That baby is growing in every direction. The streets are clogged with traffic, including new BMWs and fat, shiny Hummers. Construction is going on everywhere — cranes, cement trucks, bulldozers, new furniture stores, new office blocks, new minimarts — as if racing against the clock. And just in case anyone here is not keeping track, there is a clock in downtown Juba showing the countdown to the referendum, in bright red digital numbers, down to the minute.

Southern Sudan is different in culture and religion from the northern part of the country, with Arab and Muslim influences predominating in the north and animist and Christian beliefs in the south.

Most analysts do not expect a major conflict to break out over the referendum. But with the majority of SudanÂ’s oil in the south, many find it equally hard to believe that the north will simply let it go. Things here are uncertain, but jubilant at the same time.

There are joyous reunions every day at Juba International Airport, which not so long ago received only a handful of military and humanitarian flights. Now it is an emerging commercial hub, with up to 80 flights a day.
Posted by: Sherry || 11/16/2010 13:01 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I hope and pray this happens.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 11/16/2010 16:17 Comments || Top||

#2  I doubt this will happen because from the Muslim point of view it had been "Muslim land", and so was there's forever.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 11/16/2010 16:25 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Post election violence rocks Guinea
[Iran Press TV] Tension has been on the rise in the West African country of Guinea after presidential candidate Alpha Conde declared victory ahead of the official announcement of the election results.

Conde's rival Cellou Diallo has threatened to reject the election result, accusing Conde of vote-rigging.

Clashes erupted between supporters of the two candidates in the Guinean capital of Conakry. There have also been festivities between protesters and the police.

"We managed to disperse the demonstration," Rooters quoted a senior police official as saying.

Guinea's Independent National Electoral Commission promised to announce the official results of the run-off by midday on Monday.

Partial poll results suggested that former Premier Diallo had a slight lead over rival opposition leader Conde.

Diallo was seen as the favorite for presidency after gaining 44% of the vote in the first round.

The first round of elections held in June was Guinea's first democratic poll since the country's independence from France in 1958.

The West African nation has been run by a transitional government for the past six months. Military figures or members of the transitional government have not been allowed to run in the race.

The country descended into political turmoil in September 2009 when soldiers opened fire on a rally at a stadium in the capital. More than 150 pro-democracy demonstrators were killed as a result of the attack.

The poor West African nation has witnessed a series of coups since it secured independence over 50 years ago.

Guinea's military leader General Sekouba Konate has promised to restore civilian rule to the West African nation.

Konate warned presidential hopefuls against carrying out any measures that could cast the country back into a volatile situation.
Posted by: Fred || 11/16/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
The HAJ, and it's stead of flock - In pictures!
Posted by: newc || 11/16/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  1 neutron bomb is all it would take and the Kaaba would survive
Posted by: 746 || 11/16/2010 9:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Why Neutron? vaporize the rock and muzzies won't know where to point their heads in prayer.

Since they delight in destroying other Religion's symbols, Destroy theirs.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 11/16/2010 9:56 Comments || Top||

#3  ok, ok lets see...... how about a a dozen daisy cutters followed by a dozen more in quick succession.
Posted by: 746 || 11/16/2010 11:35 Comments || Top||

#4  SNARC LITE!!!!!!!
Posted by: Canuckistan sniper || 11/16/2010 12:02 Comments || Top||

#5  I bet the saudi's make a real killing with this.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 11/16/2010 14:05 Comments || Top||

#6  bedbugs and tsetse flies might enjoy that place
Posted by: Water Modem || 11/16/2010 23:39 Comments || Top||


Britain
Brit banking bigs ''in talks to slash bonus trough''
(KUNA) -- Britain's biggest banks were reported Monday to be in talks about reducing the multi-billion pound staff bonus pot.

Negotiations about cuts to around 7 billion pounds of payouts already earmarked for the New Year were being steered by the British Bankers Association, the BBC reported.

One participant told the broadcaster that public anger about the size of the bonus pool could see it slashed to 4 billion pounds.

News of the talks follows warnings from both Business Secretary Vince Cable and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg about banks paying big bonuses given the state of the economy.

Institutions could face more taxes if they pay out "outrageously large" sums, Cable said, while Clegg warned ministers would not stand "idly by" if they handed out huge rewards after being bailed out by the taxpayer.

The outgoing head of business group the Confederation of British Industry also said bankers would seem "arrogant and out of touch" if they carried on paying bonuses while the public sector wrestled with swingeing cuts.

A new levy on banks' balance sheets is due to come into force at the start of next year. Ministers hope it will raise more than 8 billion pounds over the next four years.
Posted by: Fred || 11/16/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


2 Yobs w/Bull Terrier vs. 3 War Heroes
TWO drunken yobs tried to start a fight with three strangers - who turned out to be the military's most decorated hard men.

The thugs, who had a Staffordshire bull terrier with them, got a surprise comeuppance after hurling abuse at the smartly-suited trio in a street. They had no idea their intended "victims" were a hero Royal Marine, an Army captain and a VC-winning SAS hero.

The louts pushed and shoved the three men, attempting to provoke them into a punch-up. After ignoring polite advice to "walk away" they suddenly found themselves on their backs while their vicious-looking dog fled yelping.

The incident happened as L/Cpl Matt Croucher, 26, and Captain Peter Norton, 47, both George Cross winners, were walking through central London with Aussie Cpl Mark Donaldson, 31, after a reception at Buckingham Palace. Though they were in civilian clothes they were wearing their medals on their chests.

A witness to the incident said: "It was a case of yobs picking on the wrong people. After they ended up on the ground the guys just calmly adjusted their suits and walked off."
Posted by: Anonymoose || 11/16/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Just warms the cockles of your heart!
Posted by: tipover || 11/16/2010 0:18 Comments || Top||

#2  Its not clear in the Artic iff the Yobs tried to use the dog maliciously agz the Mil Vets - I prefer to think the poor doggie was just an innocent bystander watching the human ruckus; or at worse was an unwilling accomplice doing what his prob abusive owner(s) trained him to do???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/16/2010 0:42 Comments || Top||

#3  I hope the soldiers get out of jail soon. Can we contribute to their defense fund?
Posted by: gromky || 11/16/2010 7:00 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Hugo grabs for the banking boodle
[El Universal] The socialist production model promoted by the Venezuelan government requires a financial system which can be adapted to that plan and the National Assembly has paved the way to reach that goal and consolidate the "new financial architecture."

In the 2007 proposal to amend the Constitution, Venezuelan His Excellency President-for-Life, Caudillo of the Bolivarians Hugo Chavez suggested the creation of a new system and, in spite of its defeat at the ballots, that same model is now being bolstered.

The Venezuelan Congress passed the Law on the National Financial System, the Law on Insurance Activities, the Law on the Stock Market and it made some amendments to the Law on the Central Bank of Venezuela. In addition, it is discussing the Bill on Banking Sector Institutions. These five legal texts enforce socialist plans.

Under the proposed amendment to the Constitution, "banks must set new goals that bring together bank policies and destination of credit to the productive economic plans." Part of this provision is included in the Law on the National Financial System. Its recitals state that the institutions which are part of the sector "shall cooperate with sectors of the productive, popular and communal economy."

This content is developed in the Bill on Banking Sector Institutions, which requires the banks to allocate part of their profits to the community councils, and the Law on Insurance Activities, which provides products to cover risks in communities.

Under the proposed amendment to the Constitution, there was coordination between the agencies, and this policy is implemented in the Law on the Financial System through the creation of a body that coordinates regulatory agencies.
Posted by: Fred || 11/16/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Commies


Chavez: Takeover of apartments will not be compensated
His Excellency President-for-Life, Caudillo of the Bolivarians Hugo Chavez described as "special expropriations" the recent State takeover of residential complexes.

During his weekly radio and TV show "Hello, President," held in the Palace of Miraflores, the seat of the Executive Office in Venezuela, His Excellency listened to the testimonies of people affected by the "real estate fraud."

According to the Venezuelan president, although the State always compensates expropriations, "this is a special case because lot of damage has been caused to people. Perhaps they (the developers) owe money to those affected."

"Imagine that we ought to pay those properties at market prices. No, compadre, forget about that! These are special expropriations. These people have stolen (their customers); they (the developers) should pay interest rates for the loan they gave their clients," Chavez added.

The president said that authorities must punish those responsible for this "fraud."

He also urged Venezuelan bankers: "do not get wrong with us. We have learned the lesson. If a private bank tries to defraud a single Venezuelan family, I will take it; I will expropriate it," he warned.

He said that "some bankers and owners of insurance companies" are collecting money to kill him.

The Venezuelan President acknowledged government's "negligence" in maintenance of Caracas' subway. He also said that Major General Rangel Silva will be promoted to General-in-Chief, the top military rank in Venezuela, on Tuesday.
Posted by: Fred || 11/16/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Also called THEFT.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 11/16/2010 0:26 Comments || Top||

#2  "He said that "some bankers and owners of insurance companies" are collecting money to kill him."

Hugo is bad at math. 100% is not "some"
Posted by: flash91 || 11/16/2010 10:25 Comments || Top||

#3  Hugo's alleged "assassins" ought to form a union. It'll probably be bigger then the Teamsters.
Posted by: tu3031 || 11/16/2010 12:07 Comments || Top||


OAS votes on Costa Rica-Nicaragua row
[Iran Press TV] The Organization of American States (OAS) has approved a resolution calling on Nicaragua and Costa Rica to remove security forces from a disputed border area.

Costa Rica called the resolution a "diplomatic victory" in the territorial dispute with its northern neighbor while Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega described the vote as "manipulated" and "a conspiracy."

Nicaragua has dismissed the resolution and says it will not withdraw its forces.
And they have the guns ...
Costa Rican Foreign Minister Rene Castro voiced hope that Nicaragua would reconsider its decision, adding that the OAS had sent a "clear message" regarding the issue.

Nicaragua and Venezuela voted against the resolution at the OAS extraordinary session, while 22 member states voted in favor of it.

Ortega also said his government was considering a withdrawal from the OAS.

"We have been in it due to inertia because the OAS should have disappeared a while ago," Ortega was quoted as saying by the News Agency that Dare Not be Named.

The OAS also called on both sides to immediately resume talks on the dispute.

Nicaragua sent about 50 soldiers to the disputed area along the San Juan River in a move that was described as an "invasion" by Costa Rica.

On Friday, unknown assailants tossed a gasoline bomb out of a vehicle at the building that houses the Nicaraguan Embassy in San Jose. The bomb, however, did not go off and nobody was injured in the assault.
Posted by: Fred || 11/16/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  ahhh, those wonderful countries that were founded by the Spanish, such stability, such productivity, such an aspiration to the world at large.
Posted by: 746 || 11/16/2010 9:50 Comments || Top||

#2  746 There's always Haiti
Posted by: Beavis || 11/16/2010 12:16 Comments || Top||

#3  But Beavis, Haiti was French. I don't think they've gotten as far as aspiring, yet.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/16/2010 16:54 Comments || Top||


Europe
Europeans are starting to realize that their governments are too big
Throw your Euro stereotypes out the window: Last weekend, a Greek government that has cut public-sector pay and lowered pensions won a clear victory in local elections. Despite strikes and violence, despite the fact that Greece's debt is still growing and more cuts are coming, there will be a Socialist mayor of Athens for the first time in 24 years. (And, yes, in Greece, the Socialists favor budget cuts, and the conservatives oppose them.)

Nor are the Greeks alone. Last month, voters re-elected a Latvian government that cut public-sector workers' pay by 50 percent. The British government coalition, which is also trying to eliminate benefits and cut spending, remains strangely popular, too. Although--contrary to my previous observation--London witnessed its first Continental-style, anti-austerity riot last week, there wasn't much general enthusiasm for the protesters. Some of their leaders wound up denouncing the riots, and they haven't hurt the government's poll numbers yet, either.
Return to sanity, or a brief reprieve before the axe falls?
Posted by: DarthVader || 11/16/2010 11:33 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Contagion hits Portugal as Ireland dithers on Rescue
The EU authorities have begun to vent their fury against Ireland over its refusal to accept a financial rescue, fearing that the crisis will engulf Portugal and Spain unless confidence is restored immediately to eurozone bond markets.
Posted by: tipper || 11/16/2010 02:05 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ireland should just leave the Euro.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 11/16/2010 6:05 Comments || Top||

#2  Update
Ireland's minister for European affairs has urged EU finance ministers not to panic over the country's economic problems, insisting there is no need to resort to a bail-out.
Dick Roche said that the markets were "not reacting rationally" to Ireland debt difficulties and insisted that the country's stringent austerity measures were working as planned.

He was speaking as Herman Van Rompuy, the EU president, warned that the future of the union would be in doubt if Ireland's troubles were allowed to cripple the euro. "We're in a survival crisis," he said.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4, Mr Roche urged European finance ministers to stand behind Ireland and introduce "logic" to the debate on troubled eurozone economies.

He said: "There's no application for IMF or EU funds and it's not helpful to speculate.

"I would hope that after the meeting this afternoon there would be more logic introduced to this. There's no reason why we should trigger an IMF or EU-type bail-out.

"Ireland will be two thirds of the way to meeting the 3 per cent deficit by 2014."

He added: "There is a problem with liquidity in banks but I don't think the appropriate response to that would be for European finance ministers to panic."

At a speech in Brussels, Mr Van Rompuy said: "We all have to work together in order to survive with the eurozone, because if we don't survive with the eurozone we will not survive with the European Union."
Posted by: tipper || 11/16/2010 6:53 Comments || Top||

#3  Austria to withhold payment to Greek bailout
Sow Jones reports that Austria is withholding payment to the Greek bailout package, presumably because Greece missed its deficit target.

This is very bad news for the euro as bailouts ainÂ’t bailouts if countries unilaterally withhold their contributions of their own accord.
Posted by: tipper || 11/16/2010 9:16 Comments || Top||


Bosnia police nabs Srebrenica genocide suspect
[Pak Daily Times] Bosnian police jugged a Bosnian Serb former police officer suspected of genocide over the 1995 massacre of about 8,000 Mohammedans in the town of Srebrenica, the state prosecutor's office said. Dragan Crnogorac, 38, was jugged by the State Protection and Investigation Agency (SIPA) in the northern town of Banja Luka, the office said in a statement. "It is suspected Crnogorac, as a member of the Jahorina police training centre, which operated within the Bosnian Serb Republic interior ministry, personally took part in the executions of Bosniak (Bosnian Mohammedan) men and boys who had been nabbed in Srebrenica," the office said. In Europe's worst atrocity since World War Two, Bosnian Serb forces killed about 8,000 Bosnian Mohammedan men and boys in July 1995 after capturing the eastern town of Srebrenica, which was declared a United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society-protected zone. Victims were shot while trying to escape through woods or were seized and taken to places of execution before being buried in mass graves.
Posted by: Fred || 11/16/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Dragan was a large time political leader at the time we saw him. He was holed up on a house on the hill. Sec State wanted him extracted, but drew conclusion he was not to be messed with because of political support and Russia.
Posted by: newc || 11/16/2010 0:28 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Thailand Extradites Arms Dealer Victor Bout to U.S.
Thailand extradited Viktor Bout, an accused Russian arms trafficker, to the United States on Tuesday, drawing Russia's anger after the government here abandoned the diplomatic balancing act it had conducted for more than two years between Washington and Moscow.

Two motorcades -- one apparently a decoy -- made the trip to the airport and shortly afterward an airport official confirmed that Mr. Bout had left on a chartered American aircraft. The Bangkok Post reported that about 50 police officers, including snipers, were at Don Muang airport to protect Mr. Bout. The 20-seat aircraft also carried two pilots and six officials from the United States Drug Enforcement Administration.

Mr. Bout's arrest in March 2008 spurred a tug-of-war between Washington and Moscow, which does not want him to go on trial in the United States. Douglas Farah, a co-author of a book about Mr. Bout, has said that Mr. Bout "knows a lot about Russian intelligence as it has been restructured" in the last decade or more.

Russia quickly called the extradition illegal.

"From a legal perspective, what has occurred cannot have a rational explanation and justification," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "There is no doubt that the illegal extradition of Viktor Bout came about as a consequence of unprecedented political pressure exerted by the U.S. on the government and judicial authorities of Thailand. It is deeply regrettable that the Thai authorities succumbed to political pressure from outside and undertook the illegal extradition."
Nah, it wasn't that hard. You see, you Russians, the Thais like us ...
American officials accuse Mr. Bout of running an arms trafficking network that encompassed Africa, Afghanistan and South America. He faces charges in a 2008 indictment of selling arms to a terrorist group and conspiring to kill American citizens.

Mr. Bout was expected to arrive in New York on Tuesday evening and be arraigned in United States District Court in Manhattan on Wednesday. A spokeswoman for the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York declined comment.
Posted by: Sherry || 11/16/2010 12:55 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  His check must have bounced.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/16/2010 13:38 Comments || Top||

#2  Awww...now he'll be in a safe, clean US prison instead of the hellish Thai one. A pity!
Posted by: gromky || 11/16/2010 14:18 Comments || Top||

#3  Welcome to Marion, Illinois, sir ...
Posted by: Steve White || 11/16/2010 15:21 Comments || Top||

#4  Steve: He probably has a newly refurbished guest suite waiting for him in Florence, CO.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 11/16/2010 17:36 Comments || Top||

#5  Any SuperMax works ...
Posted by: Steve White || 11/16/2010 18:27 Comments || Top||

#6  drawing Russia's anger after the government here abandoned the diplomatic balancing act it had conducted for more than two years between Washington and Moscow.

Russian.... "anger" somewhat diffused by the sudden expulsion 11 Russian moles back in June. Interesting turn of events, is it not?
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/16/2010 20:05 Comments || Top||

#7  Interesting turn of events, is it not?

And now it's the Russians' turn...
Posted by: Pappy || 11/16/2010 23:23 Comments || Top||


All Eyes On Sen. Kyl As Obama Presses Nuclear Treaty
As President Obama pushes for ratification of his signature nuclear treaty with Russia in coming days, all eyes are on one Republican.

Sen. Jon Kyl (Ariz.) has been his party's leading voice on the treaty and has pressed the administration to commit to a major modernization of the country's weapons labs in exchange for approval of the pact.

On Friday, the administration sent a delegation that included Gen. Kevin Chilton, head of U.S. nuclear forces, to Arizona to woo Kyl. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is expected to meet with Kyl this week to try to seal a deal, according to two officials.

Even Obama, who has called ratification of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) his No. 1 foreign policy priority in the lame-duck session beginning this week, has noted Kyl's influence.

"We've been in a series of conversations with Senator Kyl, whose top priority is making sure that the nuclear arsenal that we do have is modernized. I share that goal," Obama told reporters Sunday.

The high-octane lobbying - and the administration's offer to spend an additional $4 billion on the nuclear complex - reflect Obama's belief that the treaty is crucial to his nuclear agenda and the U.S.-Russia relationship. The effort has taken on even more urgency because Democrats will have fewer seats in the next Senate.

Asked Monday night after an awards ceremony whether the administration's new proposal was enough to win his support, Kyl said, "I don't know, but it certainly is a step in the right direction," the Associated Press reported.

Two other prominent Republican senators indicated they could support the treaty - as long as Kyl was satisfied.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Kyl was working with the administration on how to modernize the aging labs and to ensure that the ratification resolution clarified that the treaty didn't inhibit U.S. missile defense.

The U.S. military leadership, and nearly all past commanders of American nuclear-weapons forces, have called for passage of the treaty. It would reduce the number of deployed, long-range nuclear warheads on each side from 2,200 to 1,550.

More critically, the treaty would allow both nuclear giants to check on the number and location of each other's long-range, ready-to-use nuclear weapons. Such inspections ended when the first START treaty expired in December.

Gates talked to Kyl about the extra $4 billion in a telephone call Friday. That money would be on top of an earlier administration pledge of a $10 billion increase.

"The administration is going above and beyond what's required in order to get approval from Senate Republicans," said Stephen Young of the Union of Concerned Scientists.

The group Heritage Action questioned the extra funds, which would bring the 10-year U.S. nuclear modernization budget to $84 billion.

"No amount of money can obscure the treaty's fatal flaws, including inadequate verification measures and limits on missile defense," said the group's top official, Michael A. Needham.

The administration has said the treaty doesn't limit U.S. missile defense, but some senators are worried by Russian statements suggesting otherwise.
Posted by: Sherry || 11/16/2010 11:59 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Obama's "tax cut" answer . . . .
Seems like what he is saying is "don't play chicken with me" in an effort to get him to "cut" taxes for the rich, too.

Anything but cut government, I guess. Completely unimaginable to some.
Posted by: gorb || 11/16/2010 02:07 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  well it just warms my little heart since everything Obama supports fails.
Posted by: Martini || 11/16/2010 3:47 Comments || Top||

#2  "Cut"?

It's the usual Newspeak as rates are going up automatically. The practical term would be retention of existing tax tables.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/16/2010 9:04 Comments || Top||


McConnell agrees to earmark ban
You watch. I'll bet dollars to donuts it either fails due to some "unforeseen" technicality or the narrowest of margins by small-name politicians, or there will be a loophole big enough to fit Pelosi's ego through while barely grazing the sides.
House Democrats agreed in this Congress to ban earmarks for all but not-for-profit entities, and the latest developments add to the pressure on Senate Democrats to agree to reforms.
Man, I don't even know where to begin on that one!

In any case, pols are already calling it a "moratorium". Which means it is simply mothballed until people take their eye off the ball.

Now as for that "deem and pass" crap. When do we start the legal proceedings on the unconstitutionality of this maneuver?
Posted by: gorb || 11/16/2010 01:24 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The tea party shows that people are watching and waiting to see if the Reps actually deliver.

McConnell failing to adhere to smaller government will result in his failing to win the primary.
Posted by: DarthVader || 11/16/2010 1:40 Comments || Top||

#2  The non-profits are among the worst offenders. They also swing 99% to the Dems.

Hence the exemption.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/16/2010 10:48 Comments || Top||

#3  Non-profits should not be political entities.
Posted by: gorb || 11/16/2010 16:12 Comments || Top||

#4  it's a 2 yr moratorium = the length of the next Congress. It's my understanding no Congress can pass rules effective upon succeeding Congresses, making this a symbolic, and maximally effective restraint. How do you answer, you empty suit POS, Reid? Obama?
Posted by: Frank G || 11/16/2010 19:58 Comments || Top||

#5  "not-for-profit entities" == ACORN or equivalent
Posted by: DMFD || 11/16/2010 23:35 Comments || Top||


Moderate Dems rebel against Pelosi
I guess Pelosi doesn't give a hoot about anybody or anything that doesn't align with her whims. So now she's appointing her thugs to run the Democratic party.

Moderates are challenging this, but it doesn't look good for them.

As usual, the Dems are stuck inside their box and can't even imagine a way out. Pelosi's even referring to them as "irritants".

Personally, were I these folks, I'd start voting with the Trunks and dismissing her "rantings" until she gets it.
Posted by: gorb || 11/16/2010 01:08 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Here's the link:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/45166.html
Posted by: gorb || 11/16/2010 1:23 Comments || Top||

#2  Moderates are challenging this, but it doesn't look good for them.

It's hard for slaves to bolt. They throw away their one key option. Leave and form a new party. If they're real "moderates", their power is being able to present themselves as bi-partisan, further isolating the Pelosi rump as agents of the same old special interests against that of the country. However, don't expect the "moderates" to be able to think out of box.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/16/2010 9:01 Comments || Top||

#3  So Mr. Blue Doggy now the ruling class is calling you irrelevant, mischief-makers, and irritants. Don't take it too hard that's what Nancy's gang thinks of the American electorate as a whole. Besides, it was youse guys that proved the Blue Dog is a mythical creature anyway.
Posted by: DepotGuy || 11/16/2010 9:46 Comments || Top||

#4  They should have revolted before the election when there were more of them. Revolting now (after more than half of them were defeated) is too little too late.
Posted by: Frozen Al || 11/16/2010 15:51 Comments || Top||

#5  It's all political theater anyway. They're just hoping to manufacture a thread of deniability. Even though nobody is stepping up to challenge her.
Posted by: gorb || 11/16/2010 16:14 Comments || Top||


US Senate Asked to Ratify Treaty
Posted by: Steve White || 11/16/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Givers try futilely to stem Pak rakeoff
[The News (Pak)] The donors on Sunday unveiled a detailed report on Damage and Needs Assessment (DNA) during Pakistain Development Forum (PDF) meeting and asked the authorities concerned to put in place a transparent grievance mechanism.

"The transparency builds trust and regularly monitors budgets, sets targets and monitors expenditures and results. There is also a need to ensure disclosure of information," the DNA report recommends. The Country Director of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Rune Storem, made the DNA public, saying that the floods caused a total loss of $10.06 billion.

"The reconstruction cost ranges from $6.8 billion to $8.9 billion depending which option Pakistain adopts to move ahead," Rune Storem said while addressing the session of the PDF here on Sunday.

"The DNA recommends the authorities to conduct a census to identify different social groups and target support for vulnerable groups. There is also a need to develop a national rehabilitation policy for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)," the DNA report states.

The losses faced by Sindh because of this flood stood at $4.4 billion and it required $3.1 billion for the reconstruction. The Punjab is the second worst affected province that faced $2.6 billion losses and required $1.3 billion for reconstruction. The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, aka Terrorism Central...
suffered $1.2 billion losses and required $2.2 billion and Balochistan's losses stood at $620 million and the maximum reconstruction cost was $684 million.
Posted by: Fred || 11/16/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  People who want to complain about Karzai's "corruption" in Afghanistan really need to take a look at Pakistan. It would make Karzai blush. This money is worse than the U.S. stimulus which was merely wasted. One-third will be stolen, one-third will go to terrorists, and one-third will be wasted.
Posted by: American Delight || 11/16/2010 17:31 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Computer Worm May Have Targeted Iran's Nuclear Program
The Stuxnet computer worm that infiltrated industrial systems in Iran this fall may have been designed specifically to attack the country's nuclear program, potentially crippling centrifuges used to enrich uranium gas, according to new research.
It's nice to have speculation confirmed. Nicer would be know the Iranian nuclear program now has to rely on refined product imported from North Korea. But then, I'm greedy.
In a blog post late last week, a Stuxnet researcher at Symantec wrote that the software firm had concluded that the worm targeted industrial systems with high frequency "converter drives" from two specific vendors, including one in Iran.

Independently, Langner Communications of Germany, a systems security firm, also announced over the weekend that another part of the worm's attack code was configured in a way to target a control system for steam turbines used in power plants, such as those installed at the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran. Langner also confirmed that the worm appeared to attack key components of centrifuges.

Ivanka Barzashka, a research associate at the Federation of American Scientists, said the Symantec findings "if true, are very significant."

In an e-mail, Barzashka wrote that the targeted frequency range, from 807 megahertz to 1210 megahertz, "is consistent with the operational frequencies of gas centrifuges used for uranium enrichment."

"Centrifuges are delicate pieces of equipment," she said. "There is a huge incentive for pushing the machines to operate at the maximum speed allowed by the materials they are made of. In addition, before they reach their maximum operating speeds, centrifuges have to traverse certain 'critical frequencies' at which they encounter resonance and can fly apart."

"Rigging the speed control is a very clever way of causing the machines to fly apart," she added. "If Symantec's analysis is true, then Stuxnet likely aimed to destroy Iran's gas centrifuges, which could produce enriched uranium for both nuclear fuel and nuclear bombs."

After the discovery of the Stuxnet virus, analysts said it was likely the creation of a sophisticated entity, namely a government agency. Speculation has centered on the United States or Israel as the most likely originators of the worm.
Posted by: Sherry || 11/16/2010 11:31 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:


Tehran Bridge Draws International Acclaim
Nice picture at link.
The heavy steel structure, which is called the new symbol of Tehran because of its unique construction, was inaugurated during a ceremony on November 10, 2010.

"The Javadieh Bridge is a symbol of the creativity, experience and expertise of the Iranian people and a result of their cooperation, patience and persistence," Hamshahri quoted Qalibaf as saying during the inauguration ceremony.

"The project also shows the capabilities of our engineers who showed their independence in the year of 'redoubled effort and redoubled diligence' as named by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution [Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei]," he added.

Qalibaf had earlier announced that the unique design of the bridge had caught the attention of many international experts and three foreign engineers had asked for the help of Iranian experts to develop a similar project in their countries.
Posted by: Bobby || 11/16/2010 08:36 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Nice target
Posted by: armyguy || 11/16/2010 9:26 Comments || Top||

#2  If you look at the left of the shown image and click on the last of the PressTV images you can see that this bridge is a composite with part of the structure being a post and beam design and part a cable stayed design.

I can't understand why the cable stay design was chosen. I also don't understand why the superstructure of the cable beam is so massive.
Posted by: Lord Garth || 11/16/2010 12:18 Comments || Top||

#3  It looks like somebody getting ready to do something naughty.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 11/16/2010 16:44 Comments || Top||

#4  Any thoughts from Rantburg's many civil engineers?
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/16/2010 18:14 Comments || Top||

#5  Pretty bridge is pretty, don't know if it would scale tho.... frankly.
Posted by: Goldies Every Damn Where || 11/16/2010 20:08 Comments || Top||

#6  clunky - it looks like a bent-over mullah

it's not elegant, the steel looks too big and boxy. The columns are way oversized using bulk concrete instead of well-designed smaller, architecturally pleasing piers. The edge treatment looks crappy. The materials are probably inferior - looks at the steel shapes. Nice quality control.

other than that, it will be a nice blockage on the rail lines when the Joooos drop it


/hey! you asked
Posted by: Frank G || 11/16/2010 20:17 Comments || Top||

#7  Boy, that's ugly.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 11/16/2010 22:05 Comments || Top||

#8  Boy, that's ugly.
But wouldn't it look nice with Dinner Jacket and a bunch of mullahs hanging from it?
Posted by: Glenmore || 11/16/2010 23:34 Comments || Top||

#9  #8 Boy, that's ugly.
But wouldn't it look nice with Dinner Jacket and a bunch of mullahs hanging from it?


ohhh I didn't include the value of public art...
Posted by: Frank G || 11/16/2010 23:42 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Happy Story - Cody's Cycling Cohort Provides Protection from Principal
Video at link. There's still hope.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 11/16/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Yes there is!
Posted by: Martini || 11/16/2010 3:43 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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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
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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2010-11-16
  Stop all settlements and we'll talk: Palestinians
Mon 2010-11-15
  British couple held hostage by pirates freed, reports
Sun 2010-11-14
  Bakri arrested by Leb cops
Sat 2010-11-13
  Fourteen suicide bombers attack Jalalabad airport
Fri 2010-11-12
  Yemen Qaeda Commanders Come through Iran
Thu 2010-11-11
  France Arrests Five Planning Suicide Bombing
Wed 2010-11-10
  Suspect in subway terror sting pleads not guilty
Tue 2010-11-09
  US bans toner, ink cartridges from passenger planes
Mon 2010-11-08
  US missile strikes in Pakistan kill 13
Sun 2010-11-07
  Afghan Taliban threaten death to all talking peace
Sat 2010-11-06
  Al-Qaeda claims parcel bomb plot
Fri 2010-11-05
  Suicide Bomb Kills at least 50 in Mosque in NW and burns lots of Korans
Thu 2010-11-04
  Radical website publishes MP 'death list'
Wed 2010-11-03
  Tight Security around Police HQ in Anticipation of Hezbollah Attack
Tue 2010-11-02
  Iraq: Eleven car bombs kill 63


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