Hi there, !
Today Mon 04/02/2012 Sun 04/01/2012 Sat 03/31/2012 Fri 03/30/2012 Thu 03/29/2012 Wed 03/28/2012 Tue 03/27/2012 Archives
Rantburg
531695 articles and 1855968 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 58 articles and 140 comments as of 13:05.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Operations    WoT Background    Opinion        Politix   
France nabs at least 17 Islamists in raids across the country
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 3: Non-WoT
8 21:27 swksvolFF [] 
3 18:30 Barbara [] 
3 14:41 CrazyFool [] 
6 20:13 DepotGuy [] 
5 22:07 Gabby Cussworth [] 
2 21:03 JosephMendiola [] 
15 22:01 Barbara [] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
0 [1]
1 16:30 Frank G []
11 21:57 Frank G [1]
4 20:07 Frank G []
0 []
0 [1]
2 20:32 Frank G []
0 []
1 15:29 Skidmark []
0 []
0 []
6 19:14 gorb []
1 21:13 JosephMendiola []
1 15:32 Skidmark []
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 []
3 16:59 Pholung Bonaparte1607 []
1 00:23 Scooter McGruder []
1 06:02 Bobby []
2 17:06 Omeager Lumplump6945 []
0 []
0 [2]
0 [2]
0 [1]
0 [1]
2 21:55 Frank G []
0 []
Page 2: WoT Background
7 21:24 canalzone []
4 20:53 JosephMendiola []
1 11:37 Redneck Jim []
3 16:20 rob06 []
4 23:15 JosephMendiola [1]
2 21:32 canalzone []
4 18:19 JohnQC []
1 21:39 USN, Ret. []
9 21:19 JosephMendiola [1]
0 []
0 [1]
0 []
0 []
3 16:32 Zhang Fei []
0 []
0 []
0 []
4 21:26 JosephMendiola []
1 02:07 g(r)omgoru []
7 17:03 Thotle Glinerong9769 []
Page 4: Opinion
1 00:53 Anguper Hupomosing9418 []
Page 6: Politix
11 16:18 Abu Uluque []
-Lurid Crime Tales-
Strauss-Kahn claims immunity in US sex case
[Emirates 24/7] Lawyers for Dominique Strauss-Kahn told a US court Wednesday that a maid's lawsuit alleging sexual assault should be thrown out because the French politician had diplomatic immunity at the time.

Judge Douglas McKeon said he would rule quickly following a 90-minute hearing in a Bronx courthouse where a Strauss-Kahn attorney argued that the disgraced former head of the IMF had "the same kind of diplomatic immunity that other high-ranking officials and diplomats enjoy."

The civil suit, seeking unspecified damages, "must be dismissed," attorney Amit Mehta said in New York state court.

A lawyer for Nafissatou Diallo, the Manhattan hotel maid whose accusation of sexual assault triggered the spectacular downfall of a man tapped to be the next French president, ridiculed the notion of dismissal.

Douglas Wigdor said Strauss-Kahn "brutally sexually assaulted Ms Diallo" on May 14 last year and now wished to use the immunity argument to "deny Ms Diallo's right to a trial in this case and delay these proceedings."
Posted by: Fred || 03/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Guilty as charged?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/30/2012 2:07 Comments || Top||

#2  What kind of man is Strauss-Kahn? Oh, he's like any other man, only more so.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/30/2012 8:13 Comments || Top||

#3  I thought that Diplo Immunity only covered criminal prosecutions? Does the IMF issue Diplo Immunity? From what sovereign position?
Posted by: Frank G || 03/30/2012 10:21 Comments || Top||

#4  Only LESS so. Let's not sully the sterling reputation of Captain Renault here.
Posted by: gromky || 03/30/2012 10:43 Comments || Top||

#5  Immunity -- the first refuge of a scoundrel.
Posted by: Gabby Cussworth || 03/30/2012 22:07 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Current TV cans Olbermann
Olbermann fired again!!!
Current TV announced Friday it has fired Keith Olbermann and will replace him with former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer.
Geeez, Keith...Spitzer! Spitzer, fer crissakes!!!
A statement from the network's founders Al Gore and Joel Hyatt said it had been founded "on the values of respect, openness, collegiality, and loyalty to our viewers. Unfortunately these values are no longer reflected in our relationship with Keith Olbermann and we have ended it."
Sounds like Deja Vu all over again...
Politico said Olbermann was reportedly fired for failing to show up to work, "sabotaging the network" and attacking Current executives, according to a source.
Sounds like Keithy's got that MO down to a science...
The left-leaning network, launched in 2005, indicated that Olbermann had failed to honor the terms of his five-year, $50 million contract, according to The New York Times.
Don't worry, Keith. There's always.........
On second thought, start worrying.



Posted by: tu3031 || 03/30/2012 18:05 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  As some wag said: "And atheists said there is not God. LOL"
Posted by: JohnQC || 03/30/2012 18:23 Comments || Top||

#2  Keith is promising to sue Current TV.

Yay!
Posted by: Lord Garth || 03/30/2012 18:32 Comments || Top||

#3  Oh, boy! It's a Lefty cat fight!
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/30/2012 18:42 Comments || Top||

#4  In other words, they discovered what the rest of us already know: he's a king asshole who thoroughly enjoys being Mr. Powerful over others. Not showing up to work? That's for the little people.
Posted by: gromky || 03/30/2012 18:57 Comments || Top||

#5  It was unclear what caused Current to part ways with the brash TV host...

Actually, it’s crystal clear. Sure you're an ass Keith. But, that's not it. See there’s plenty of successful ass’s in your profession. Hell, some of them are even much bigger ass's then you. Bottom line bub...you’re simply not very good at what you do.
Posted by: DepotGuy || 03/30/2012 19:44 Comments || Top||

#6  I'll enjoy reading his "where are they now?" in 5 years. Douchebag deserves to be appearing in men's rooms at truckstops
Posted by: Frank G || 03/30/2012 20:30 Comments || Top||

#7  ...what the heck did truckers do to deserve that? Now the Gary Glitter memorial holding cell room in the Bangkok airport, that's something about the proper level.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/30/2012 20:51 Comments || Top||

#8  Olberman gets a canning for a spitzer...kinky.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/30/2012 21:27 Comments || Top||


Jerry Lee Lewis at 76 - Marriage #7, His Cousin's Ex-Wife
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 03/30/2012 02:33 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  He ain't called "The Killer" for nothin'.
Posted by: OCCD || 03/30/2012 15:08 Comments || Top||

#2  Nothing like keeping it in the family.
Posted by: JohnQC || 03/30/2012 18:24 Comments || Top||

#3  At marriage #7, OCCD, I'd call him "The Idiot."

His latest wife, too.
Posted by: Barbara || 03/30/2012 18:30 Comments || Top||


Bacon coffin can be yours for $3k
Maybe you can take it with you. With the new bacon coffin, you'll spend eternity with your favorite cured meat. What could be better?
A whole mausoleum made out of bacon? But that could create other problems. I understand that the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus was made out of bacon.
Though not literally made from bacon, the bacon coffin is painted to look as if it is covered in savory strips. An article from Seattle's King5.com reports that local company J&D's Foods created the casket. This isn't the first time the company has found inspiration in bacon. J&D is also responsible for unleashing Bacon Salt and Baconnaise on the world.
Did they invent the bacon bra, too?
A bacon coffin doesn't come cheap -- $2,999.99 plus shipping. But the interior does come with a bacon memorial tube and a bacon-themed air freshener. So you'll have that going for you ... which is nice.
There are rumors that Osama was buried at sea in one of these.
Posted by: gorb || 03/30/2012 01:56 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Another one of those damned porkbarrel spending projects.......
Posted by: Mike || 03/30/2012 11:52 Comments || Top||

#2  go to your room
Posted by: Pappy || 03/30/2012 14:38 Comments || Top||

#3  I wonder if MF Murtha had one. He was the king of pork.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 03/30/2012 14:41 Comments || Top||


Africa North
NATO failure led to Libya migrants’ sea deaths -- report
BRUSSELS: The Council of Europe has found NATO largely responsible for the deaths last year of 63 Libyan migrants whose boat was left to drift at sea unaided, and warned that those to blame could face legal action.

After a nine-month investigation into the deaths of those and hundreds of other migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, the human rights and democracy group concluded that NATO had failed to respond adequately to a boat in distress.

The rubber dinghy, packed with 72 people, left Libya in March 2011. After running out of fuel, it drifted off the coast for two weeks while most of those on board died of starvation and thirst, before floating back to Libya with only 9 survivors. The boat sent repeated distress signals, but received no help although ships under NATO command were in the area.

“Vessels under national or NATO command failed in their duty to rescue a boat in distress,” the Council of Europe wrote in a 26-page report released on Thursday.

“There was a failure by NATO and individual member states involved in planning Operation Unified Protector off the Libyan coast,” wrote Tineke Strik, a Dutch senator, adding: “NATO did not fully take up its responsibilities, with communications about the boat in distress not being forwarded by NATO headquarters in Naples to vessels under its control.”

The report also quoted a “reliable source” as saying that two naval vessels involved in NATO’s operations against Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi were near the boat when the distress call was sent, as were two fishing vessels.

The 28-nation military alliance said in a statement it had received a general notice from Italian authorities about a small boat in difficulty and had sent that message to all NATO ships, following usual practice. It denied any contact had been made between NATO and the distressed boat.

“We have no record of any NATO aircraft or ship having seen or made contact with this particular boat,” said NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu, adding that NATO had conducted many other rescue operations in the area at that time.

“Throughout our arms embargo mission last year, NATO ships and aircraft directly assisted in the rescue of over 600 people, and helped coordinate the rescue of many others.”

At its meeting in Brussels on Thursday, the Council of Europe adopted a resolution calling on NATO to release satellite imagery from the area in an effort to pinpoint which military units came across the boat. These photos could be used as a basis for legal action against whoever was responsible for ignoring the migrants’ calls for help, the Council said.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  who the f*ck does the "Council of Europe" think they are?
Posted by: Frank G || 03/30/2012 10:28 Comments || Top||

#2  The New Holy Roman Empire...
Posted by: Steve White || 03/30/2012 12:44 Comments || Top||

#3  Templars?
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/30/2012 12:56 Comments || Top||

#4  Not NUTAS fault it's that dudes fault who plowed his ship and sent his crew into a radiation cloud.
Posted by: Clyde Hatrack4815 || 03/30/2012 17:15 Comments || Top||

#5  The boat sent repeated distress signals, but received no help although ships under NATO command were in the area.

Just because they sent them out, doesn't mean they got out.
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/30/2012 19:51 Comments || Top||

#6  NATO did not fully take up its responsibilities…

Sounds like Tineke thinks R2P actually means responsibility to protect. Silly yurp.
Posted by: DepotGuy || 03/30/2012 20:13 Comments || Top||


Egypt ex-housing minister gets 8 years jail for graft
[Emirates 24/7] A Cairo court sentenced former Housing Minister Ibrahim Soliman to eight years in jail on Thursday and fined him 2.18 billion Egyptian pounds ($360.9 million) for squandering public funds in two separate real estate deals.

The court also sentenced Magdi Rasekh, father-in-law of ousted President Hosni Mubarak
...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011...
's eldest son Alaa, in absentia to five years in jail and fined him 2.34 billion pounds in connection with one of deals.

The cases against Soliman, minister from 1993 to 2005, and Rasekh were first referred to the public prosecutor in May.

They were convicted of selling state land to businessmen for less than their market value. The fines included compensation to the state as well as penalties.

They will not be required to return the land, much of which has been developed and sold on to other people.

Rasekh had been board chairman at property developer SODIC , but stepped down last year, adding to a list of resignations at property firms scrambling to distance themselves from the country's deposed president.

Six other businessmen and state employees were also sentenced and fined in the case.
Posted by: Fred || 03/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

#1  8 years for graft in housing W-T-F how come he isn't working in Washington D.C. at Sallie Mae or something. What about everyone else in housing and Egypt?
Posted by: Woozle Elmusoting9594 || 03/30/2012 17:11 Comments || Top||

#2  ION EGYPTIA DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > US JUST GAVE EGYPT US$1.3BILYUHN - POLL SAYS [most] EGYPTIANS DON'T WANT IT, i.e. don't want any kind of US Financial Assistance.

Well alrighty then - the Bammer can now give every American a cash-back tax rebate this year???

HEY, THE EGYPTIANS SAY THEY DIDN'T WANT IT!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/30/2012 21:03 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
DHS Develops Giant Emergency Tunnel Plug
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/30/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Is it just me, or is anyone else getting the feeling theres something wrong wid the East Coast's "Big Dig", besides prohibitive or questionable cost overruns???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/30/2012 0:04 Comments || Top||

#2  The "Big Dig" was so expensive that IMHO it should have never been done. It is analogous to spending $1 million to renovate an old house which is then becomes worth $200,000. It might have been cheaper to move Boston to a low-maintenance part of Taxachusetts.
This tunnel plug reminds me of a sci-fi story about a future dystopia's method of decreasing its surplus population at unpredictable intervals.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/30/2012 0:50 Comments || Top||

#3  That plug will never work, IMHO.

I heard somewhere that there is some serious erosion going on under the Big Dig, but a couple of Google searches didn't turn anything up.
Posted by: gorb || 03/30/2012 1:52 Comments || Top||

#4  DHS's Science and Technology Directorate in collaboration with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)

Very interesting! And how is PNNL out in Richland, WA coming along with their decades old contract at cleaning up the 150 (plus or minus) giant vats of bubbling, radioactive goo at the WWII Hanford Nuclear Site?

Bugs and gas are not the threat, never have been. The real threat sits in the White House. But we would never want a potential crisis to go to waste.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/30/2012 7:50 Comments || Top||

#5  in related news
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 03/30/2012 9:28 Comments || Top||

#6  Richland, home of the Bombers

Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 03/30/2012 9:56 Comments || Top||

#7  DHS has a Science and Tech Directorate? Good Lord.
Posted by: Hellfish || 03/30/2012 12:16 Comments || Top||

#8  Those are tampons for the progressive liberal democratic commie crew and the women men of the generals!
Posted by: Tiny Hupusorong4784 || 03/30/2012 17:05 Comments || Top||

#9  Tiny Hupusorong4784, would you be so kind as to restate that in a way I can understand? I'm sure what you wrote is meaningful and witty, but I must be slower than usual today.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/30/2012 18:05 Comments || Top||

#10  It's an entry for the Friday Inane and Inspid Comment contest from our multi-nymed poster in Virginia.
Posted by: Pappy || 03/30/2012 18:32 Comments || Top||

#11  Looks like Barney Frank's butt plug.
I wonder if it vibrates?
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/30/2012 19:46 Comments || Top||

#12  Besoeker, the Hannaford clean up is only one part of PNNL's work.

Re: bugs and gas, it's easy to condescendingly dismiss chem/bio threats since we haven't had a major successful attack of those sorts. Of course, the work of people at the Labs and elsewhere just might have something to do with that fact .....
Posted by: lotp || 03/30/2012 20:42 Comments || Top||

#13  Perhaps it activates into place using a Richard Gear.

Srzly though its needs to be flood debris and scared people proof, nevermind filling all nooks and crannies.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/30/2012 21:25 Comments || Top||

#14  #12 Besoeker, the Hannaford clean up is only one part of PNNL's work. Re: bugs and gas, it's easy to condescendingly dismiss chem/bio threats since we haven't had a major successful attack of those sorts.

Condescendingly....? Please give me the statistics on GWOT deaths in the US from chem/bio attack. Wait, I'll save you the research by giving your some perspective. More people are killed by rabies and lightening strikes each year than by chem/bio.

Yes, PNNL does indeed have other contracts. Some are even LESS impressive than the Hanford clean-up project. Would you like to discuss BMI, the National Labs and Los Alimos, NM?
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/30/2012 21:36 Comments || Top||

#15  " Perhaps it activates into place using a Richard Gear."

Go to your room, swksvolFF. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara || 03/30/2012 22:01 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
31[untagged]
4Arab Spring
3al-Shabaab
2TTP
2al-Qaeda
2al-Qaeda in Arabia
2Govt of Pakistan
2Govt of Syria
2Hezbollah
1al-Qaeda in Iraq
1Houthis
1Jamaat-e-Islami
1Lashkar-e-Islami
1Pirates
1Global Jihad
1Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan
1Taliban

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

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
Fri 2012-03-30
  France nabs at least 17 Islamists in raids across the country
Thu 2012-03-29
  Gunmen kidnap Saudi diplomat in Yemen
Wed 2012-03-28
  Syrian Troops Kill 57 amid Clashes near Lebanese Border
Tue 2012-03-27
  Terror plot uncovered when 11 suicide vests found at Afghan military HQ
Mon 2012-03-26
  Toulouse killings: Mohamed Merah brother charged
Sun 2012-03-25
  Syrian Rebel Chiefs Form Military Council to Unify Ranks
Sat 2012-03-24
  At Least 26 Dead as Tens of Thousands Rally in Syria
Fri 2012-03-23
  German court gives online terror recruiter five year sentence
Thu 2012-03-22
  Gunman dead as French siege ends
Wed 2012-03-21
  French police in standoff with Jewish school killing suspect
Tue 2012-03-20
  Turkish Diplomat Says Two More Syrian Generals Defect
Mon 2012-03-19
  Heavy Shelling Kills 16 'Qaida' Fighters in Yemen
Sun 2012-03-18
  Five Killed In Bali Terror Raids
Sat 2012-03-17
  Qaeda suspects kidnap Swiss woman: Yemeni officials
Fri 2012-03-16
  Philly man arrested on charges of supporting Uzbeki terrorists

Better than the average link...



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.
44.192.73.68
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Operations (29)    WoT Background (20)    Opinion (1)    (0)    Politix (1)