The better to spy on bad guys who might be talking to American co-conspirators. But nobody else. The most open and transparent administration, eh?
The Obama administration secretly won permission from a surveillance court in 2011 to reverse restrictions on the National Security Agency's use of intercepted phone calls and e-mails, permitting the agency to search deliberately for Americans' communications in its massive databases, according to interviews with government officials and recently declassified material.
Together the permission to search and to keep data longer expanded the NSA's authority in significant ways without public debate or any specific authority from Congress. The administration's assurances rely on legalistic definitions of the term "target" that can be at odds with ordinary English usage. The enlarged authority is part of a fundamental shift in the government's approach to surveillance: collecting first, and protecting Americans' privacy later. Depending on what sort of people they are and the kind of privacy they deserve.
The court's expansion of authority went largely unnoticed when the opinion was released, but it formed the basis for cryptic warnings last year by a pair of Democratic senators, Ron Wyden (Ore.) and Mark Udall (Colo.), that the administration had a "back-door search loophole" that enabled the NSA to scour intercepted communications for those of Americans. They introduced legislation to require a warrant, but they were barred by classification rules from disclosing the court's authorization or whether the NSA was already conducting such searches. Nobody else thought this was questionable? Nobody wanted to leak this little tidbit? Maybe the only way to be a whistle-blower is like Snowden?
"The [surveillance] Court documents declassified recently show that in late 2011 the court authorized the NSA to conduct warrant-less searches of individual Americans' communications using an authority intended to target only foreigners," Wyden said in a statement to The WaPo. "Our intelligence agencies need the authority to target the communications of foreigners, but for government agencies to deliberately read the e-mails or listen to the phone calls of individual Americans, the Constitution requires a warrant." Excuse me, the what requires a warrant?
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/08/2013 11:01 ||
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Link ||
[11128 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Now the truth comes out. All the Democratic spin that "Bush started it" is now blown to smithereens.
While Bush was president there were restrictions in place on domestic spying by the NSA. Obama is the one who transformed the NSA and retargeted it -in his first term.
Heaven help us between now and 2017.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
09/08/2013 13:04 Comments ||
Top||
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
09/08/2013 13:24 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Strange Chrome browser behavior.
Chrome has been behaving badly for me on certain sites lately. In particular facebook, BBC News and Rantburg.
I tracked it down to various Akamai TCP connections hanging that cause the whole browser to hang...
So... I used the linux command "netstat -ptan" to see which sites were hanging and then "/sbin/route add -host {site-ip} reject" to reject making connections to these Akamai sites. Then restarted Chrome and it didn't hang on those particular sites. It later hung on others and they were all Akamai sites!
I then exited Chrome and visited the same sites with IceWeasel - a FireFox derivative browser. Wow! Chrome had about 20 TCP connections up all the time and IceWeasel had NONE!. IceWeasel didn't hang on anything! Why is Chrome keeping up all these connections? For the non-technical a TCP connection is like a phone call. The UDP that IceWeasel is using is like a text message.
Most of the Chrome TCP connections were going directly to Google. About 6 were going to various Akamai sites.
I am tempted to fire off Chrome with a packet sniffer in the background and see what it's really doing and what "conversations" are taking place on all those TCP connections to Google and Akamai.
#5
Being a techno-peasant, I didn't understand a bit of what 3dc said, but I did read it to mean that whatever is going on under the Chrome hood ain't good.
I do understand from the art. that Bambi is a lying crapweasel and we can next look for him to say that he didn't win that permission (to reverse NSA restrictions), the world did....
#6
It's most likely some of the built-in "features" of Chrome, made to be used with google products and sites. Just because you don't use them doesn't mean they're not active. Yes, it SHOULD mean that, but privacy is for the Elites.
Posted by: Charles ||
09/08/2013 18:03 Comments ||
Top||
[Ynet] According to Paleostinian news agency Maan, Egyptian authorities close Rafah crossing Saturday due to security reaons.
The real question is, why do they keep re-opening it?
Maher Abu Sabha, chief of crossings authority in Gazoo, said that the Egyptian side has yet to determine when the crossing will reopen. "Only 50 passengers from Gazoo managed to get from the crossing to Egypt," he said.
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/08/2013 9:38 Comments ||
Top||
#2
The real question is, why do they keep re-opening it?
Why so they can close it again of course. Have you never had a kitteh? It's fun to stir 'em up. Of course on occasion (trust me) Baby Goes Batshit and you lose a little blood. Still, good clean fun mostly.
[An Nahar] The Gulf Cooperation Council urged the international community Saturday to intervene immediately to "rescue" the Syrian people from their government's "oppression." "Let's you and him fight."
"The genocide, and grave human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... violations, faced by the Syrian people necessitate an immediate intervention by the international community," GCC secretary general Abdullatif al-Zayani said. Don't the Gulf States have armies? I thought they did...
Those are just for impressing pretty girls, silly. If they were meant for fighting, the troops and officers would all be kaffirs, since the purpose of fighting Arab troops is to be defeated by the Joooooos.
The intervention would aim to "rescue the brotherly Syrian people from the oppression of its regime, and bring its suffering to an end," a statement added. Individually their armies likely aren't that big, but together they'd be more significant.
The call comes as U.S. President Barack Obama Why can't I just eat my waffle?... awaits a vote by the Congress over his request to back his plan to strike Syria over an alleged use of chemical weapons.
"The Syrian regime is fully responsible for what is happening in Syria, for rejecting all attempts to solve the crisis, and continuing to practice killing and destruction, including the use of chemical weapons," Zayani said.
Gulf nations support international measures to "deter the Syrian regime from committing its inhumane practices," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2013 00:00 ||
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[11124 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
How about immediate action by the regional community instead?
As most Arab nations, usually established to make sure the local inhabitants remain docile rather than fight Western style wars with neighbors. The confrontations with Israel really weren't what they were designed for. Even the big Iraq-Iran War showed the ability to get their skills up to WWI levels at best. They favored to be employed as a internal police force, though that appears a bit tough in Syria as well.
[Jpost] Police tossed in the clink Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! more than 160 people in east London on Saturday during rival protests by hundreds of anti-Islamist activists and thousands of counter-demonstrators near an area home to one of Britannia's largest Moslem communities.
About 3,000 coppers were deployed to keep a group of 500 members of the right-wing English Defence League, or EDL, apart from a larger group of anti-racist protesters, including Unite Against Fascism.
Police formed lines across the streets to enforce a ban on the EDL marching to the borough of Tower Hamlets, which has a large Moslem community, and to keep the counter-demonstrators in their assigned area.
Police imposed the geographic restrictions on the EDL march as well as a time restriction, fearing a risk to public order. The EDL lost a court battle on Friday to overturn the ban.
A police front man said about 150 counter-protesters were arrested after a group broke away and headed towards Tower Bridge where the EDL march was to end.
He said 14 others, mainly from the EDL, were arrested during the day for violent disorder, possession of knives and fireworks, and one 30-year-old man for inciting others to break the conditions set for the protest.
The EDL said on its Twitter account that the group's leader, Tommy Robinson, was arrested "for incitement".
[CBSNEWS] Retired NBA star Dennis Rodman ... an inspiration to millions, one of the towering intellects of our time...
left North Korea Saturday, professing his affection for autocratic leader Kim Pudge Jong-un ...the overweight, pouty-looking hereditary potentate of North Korea. Pudge appears to believe in his own divinity, but has yet to produce any loaves and fishes, so his subjects remain malnourished... and angrily rejecting calls to lobby for the release of imprisoned American citizen Kenneth Bae.
Despite earlier calling on Kim to set Bae free, Rodman said the Christian missionary's fate was none of his business.
"Guess what? That's not my job to ask about Kenneth Bae," Rodman told reporters upon arrival at the airport in China's capital, Beijing. "Am I my brother's keeper?"
"Ask (President Barack) Obama about that. ... Ask Hillary Clinton. ... Ask those [expletive]." a visibly agitated Rodman shouted, referencing the former secretary of state.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2013 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[11124 views]
Top|| File under: Commies
#1
Bet he shows up in Vegas next week. With a lotta cash...
Elizabeth O'Bagy is an analyst for the Institute for the Study of War... and also a paid contractor working as the political director and aid coordinator of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, a lobby group for the Syrian rebels in the U.S.
[An Nahar] Outgoing Pakistain President Asif Ali Ten Percent Zardari ... husband of the late Benazir Bhutto, who has been singularly lacking in curiosity about who done her in ... said in comments aired Saturday he will not seek to become prime minister and will instead focus on leading his party after stepping down.
Zardari, co-chairman of the Pakistain's Peoples Party (PPP), vacates the presidency on Sunday and will be replaced the following day by Mamnoon Hussain, a businessman and close ally of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
The center-left PPP ran a rudderless general election campaign earlier this year and was defeated by Sharif's Pakistain Musselmen League-N.
"I will not try to become the prime minister of Pakistain," Zardari, who defied expectations by holding onto power for a record five years, said in excerpts of an interview shown on Geo TV.
"In my view running the party is more important than becoming prime minister," he added.
Zardari, a controversial figure who was once sentenced to 11 years in prison for alleged corruption, said that as the presidency was the highest office in Pakistain it would not be appropriate for him to become prime minister.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2013 00:00 ||
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[11126 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[TELEGRAPH.CO.UK] Britannia and the US have questioned the future worth of the UN Security Council, amid international condemnation of Russia's two-year veto of action against the Syrian regime.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2013 00:00 ||
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[11125 views]
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#3
"President Vladimir Putin's refusal to budge since last month's chemical-weapons massacre prompted a group of 11 countries, including Britain and the US, to issue a sharply critical statement yesterday."
They clearly understand the purpose of the UNSC. Sounds more as if they just realised sending strongly worded letters to oneself doesn't actually achieve much.
#5
Britain and US question purpose of United Nations security council
Cause it provides a fig leaf of legitimacy in the absence of Congressional Constitutional authorization to use military force in the absence of any immediate direct threat to the United States - ie Libya.
#7
Well UP, this is one time we really don't have to read it, to know what is in it. This entire exercise is a crock of shi* that could easily blow up in our face. Telegraphing your plan of attack, then awaiting the arrival of the opposition is sheer madness.
#9
Iff they US + UK so choose, they can call for the formal amendment of the original UN Treaty, IIRC aka the Treaty of San Francisco establishing the United Nations in 1944 under then-POTUS Harry Truman???
NOTHING IS STOPPING THE US, UK, OR ANY OTHER SIGNATORY WORLD NATIONS FROM DOING SO EXCEPT THEMSELVES.
-----------
* ION FREEREPUBLIC > [Gateway Pundit] WHITE HOUSE ADMIST IT HAS NO ALLIES FOR SYRIA ATTACK - A COALITION OF ONE!?
RELATED BHARAT RAKSHAK > [Google News] TWO-THRIDS OF FRENCH OPPOSE SYRIA ACTION: POLL.
* WASHINGTON POST [WaPo] > WHITE HOUSE: IRREFUTABLE ASSAD LINK TO GAS ATTACK LACKING, BUT PASSES "COMMON SENSE" [litmus] TEST.
RELATED BHARAT RAKSHAK > [Reuters] DIRECT LINK BETWEEN ASSAD + GAS ATTACK ELUSIVE FOR US.
versus
* AFP > OBAMA SYRIA DIFFICULTIES CAUSES WORRIES IN ISRAEL.
* FREEREPUBLIC > [WND.com] OBAMA OFFERS ASSAD SECRET DEAL, SET FOUR (4) CONDITIONS TO AVERT US ATTACK ON SYRIA.
The Bammers' prob in this still remains the arrogance of the all-or-nothing Assad Govt, versus the all-or-nothing anti-Assad Syrian Rebels, now affected by the intrevention of foreign Hard Boyz.
Russia's and Iran's interests explained, a bit of history, the rationale for punishing the use of poison gas, and a fair appraisal of why it's a no-win situation. And a nifty map. Concluding forecast:
The killing will continue, probably for years.
Syria as we know it, an ancient place with a rich and celebrated culture and history, will be a broken, failed society, probably for a generation or more.
Russia will continue to block international action, the window for which has maybe closed anyway.
At some point the conflict will cool, either from a partial victory or from exhaustion. Probably the best model is Lebanon, which fought a brutal civil war that lasted 15 years from 1975 to 1990 and has been slowly, slowly recovering ever since. So it's a $h1t sandwich.
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/08/2013 11:27 ||
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[11126 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Posted elsewhere, but appropriate here as well:
[Ynet] Iran's former Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said in an interview with the IRNA news agency that Tehran informed the US of chemical weapons shipments to Syria nine months ago.
Salehi, head of Iran's nuclear program, said the message was conveyed in a letter to Washington via the Iranian embassy in Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell....
Huh? Why on earth would they do such a thing?
Posted by: trailing wife ||
09/08/2013 00:11 ||
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[11124 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
I bet the whole chemical attack was there idea
Posted by: Whomoper Oppressor of the Danes1311 ||
09/08/2013 2:01 Comments ||
Top||
#2
their*
Posted by: Whomoper Oppressor of the Danes1311 ||
09/08/2013 2:01 Comments ||
Top||
#5
The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent events in Syria and have therefore raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved." Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to "A Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.
The Scots have raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's get the Bastards." They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.
The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France 's white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country's military capability.
Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout Loudly and Excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."
The Germans have increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbour" and "Lose."
Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels ..
The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.
Australia, meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No worries" to "She'll be right, Mate." Two more escalation levels remain: "Crikey! I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend!" and "The barbie is cancelled." So far no situation has ever warranted use of the last final escalation level.
Regards, John Cleese , British writer, actor and tall person
And as a final thought - Greece is collapsing, the Iranians are getting aggressive, and Rome is in disarray.
[Al Ahram] US Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... said Saturday that many countries were prepared to take part in US-led military strikes against the Syrian regime. "There are a number of countries, in the double digits, who are prepared to take military action," Kerry said at a presser with French counterpart Laurent Fabius. "We have more countries prepared to take military action than we actually could use in the kind of military action being contemplated."
Still not naming them, I notice.
"What countries?"
"Diff'rent countries!"
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2013 00:00 ||
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[11127 views]
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#1
U.S. And 10 Others Issue G-20 Statement On Syria Supporting American Action
[An Nahar] Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani ... the fourth President of Iran. He was a member of the Assembly of Experts until he was eased out in 2011 He continues, for the moment, as Chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council. In 2005 he ran for a third term as president, ultimately losing to rival Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was in Khamenei's graces back then. In 1980 Rafsanjani survived an assassination attempt, during which he was seriously injured. He has been described as a centrist and a pragmatic conservative without all that much reason. He is currently being eased out of any position of actual influence or power and may be dead by the end of 2012... rejected Saturday remarks attributed to him in which he allegedly criticized Tehran's chief regional ally, Syria, for using chemical weapons against civilians.
The rejection appeared on Rafsanjani's personal website after ultra-conservatives demanded the 79-year-old former two-time president clarify his stance on Syria.
"Recent quotes (attributed) to me regarding Syria... are absolutely not true," Rafsanjani was quoted as telling a crowd of war veteran families.
He echoed Tehran's official opposition to moves by the United States to launch military strikes against Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Horror of Homs... 's government in response to its suspected chemical attacks near Damascus that are said to have killed hundreds of civilians on August 21.
"Unfortunately the people of Syria -- who have been for about two years struggling with civil war as well as different kinds of pain and have been unprecedentedly displaced -- are now the target of a foreign threat under the excuse of not yet confirmed use of chemical weapons," Rafsanjani said.
Tehran provides Damascus with material and intelligence support but denies accusations of arming the Assad regime to fight the uprising-turned-civil war since 2011 that has claimed more than 110,000 lives.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2013 00:00 ||
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[11125 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
[An Nahar] The leadership of Syria's ruling Baath party will go into "permanent session" starting Saturday, Syria state news agency SANA said, as Washington weighs military action against Damascus.
"The national leadership of the Arab Socialist Baath party discussed with other Syrian parties the latest developments in light of threats to launch an attack against Syria," SANA reported.
The Baath party leadership decided to "go into permanent session starting from today and going forward indefinitely."
The decision appeared to be largely symbolic, and comes as U.S. President 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... asks Congress to authorize military strikes on Syria.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2013 00:00 ||
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[11125 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[An Nahar] More than 1,000 Christians held a prayer vigil for peace in Damascus on Saturday, heeding a call from the Vatican, as the U.S. pressed for a military strike on Syria.
Men, women and kiddies thronged Our Lady of Dormition, the Melkite Greek Catholic patriarchal cathedral in the Old City of Damascus, for an emotionally charged plea for peace.
"God protect Syria," they chanted during prayers led by Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch Gregory III Laham, whose church is an eastern rite that recognizes the authority of the Vatican.
"We thank all those who, at the United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... , are working for peace so that there would not be any strike on Syria," the patriarch told worshipers.
He prayed for a "peaceful solution" to the 30-month war in Syria, which has killed more than 110,00 people.
"I tell the young people, 'stay here'. We will stay in Syria. We will stay here, both Christians and Moslems," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2013 00:00 ||
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[11126 views]
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[TIMESUNION] The Kremlin's chief of staff says Russia has been sending warships to the Mediterranean Sea for possible evacuation of Russian citizens from Syria.
Russian news agencies on Thursday quoted Sergei Ivanov as saying that Russia has been boosting its naval presence in the Mediterranean "primarily" in order to organize a possible evacuation of Russians from Syria.
Russia has been one of Syrian leader Bashir al-Assad's staunchest allies in the civil war that has been raging for more than two years.
Reports of increased Russian naval presence in the area have stoked fears about a larger international conflict if the United States orders Arclight airstrikes over a chemical weapons attack last month.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2013 00:00 ||
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[11126 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
....I suspect they will have some off-loads first....
[An Nahar] Pope Francis called for reconciliation and dialogue in Syria on Saturday as he led a mass vigil for peace in the war-torn country. He's the Pope. What'd you think he was gonna say? "Have at it with cudgels and be damned to you?"
"In beloved Syria, in the Middle East, in all the world, let us pray for reconciliation and peace, let us work for reconciliation and peace," the pope said. "War always marks the failure of peace, it is always a defeat for humanity." So's poison gas.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/08/2013 00:00 ||
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[11123 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
The good news for President Barack Obama as he considers a military response against Syria for using chemical weapons against rebels is that he probably won't have to deal with [an] anti-war movement from Hollywood. But that's not because there isn't opposition. It's just not organized, and, as Ed Asner and Mike Farrell two of the industry's most vocal progressive activists -- told The Hollywood Reporter Friday, perhaps it never will be. Asner said the lack of an organized effort against war in Syria is a matter of timing. Bush took months to make the case for war in Iraq, giving the antiwar left plenty of time to prepare a response. "It will be a done deal before Hollywood is mobilized," Asner said. "This country will either bomb the hell out of Syria or not before Hollywood gets off its ass."
While some conservatives see hypocrisy, Farrell says that an all-out war in Iraq under Bush, a Republican who was very unpopular in Hollywood, was a much bigger deal than potential missile strikes against Syria under the direction of Obama, a Democrat who drew millions for his campaigns from showbiz industry donors. Asner, 83, and Farrell, 74, both expressed extreme disappointment in Obama for advocating military action.
"I have said it everywhere I can and I suspect a lot of others will do the same,"Farrell said. "but whether there will be an organized effort, I don't know. We're talking about the difference between an invasion in Iraq and a limited action in response to the use of chemical weapons in Syria."
Another reason some Hollywood progressives have been reticent to speak out against war in Syria, according to Asner, is fear of being called racist. "A lot of people don't want to feel anti-black by being opposed to Obama," he said.
Ed's retired. He brags that he's safe; he has a pension. That's why the press talks to the old Marxists. The 'working' ones still have something to lose.
#4
Ed's retired. He brags that he's safe; he has a pension.
And so he does. As long as the youngsters are willing to continue paying it, at least. I imagine he has investments, too, as long as the government is willing to let him keep them.
While many Western nations are evacuating their citizens from Syria and the neighbors countries ahead of a potential US strikes, human rights activists are planning to enter the war-torn country and act as "human shields" against a US assault, Britain's The Telegraph reported Saturday. Cindy? Medea? Get your plane tickets yet? Just hit up Casey's life insurance money again. Or maybe Sean Penn will bankroll yas...
The 'International Human Shields' movement, started by a group of activists in Britain and the US, plans to bring to Syria civilians from countries around the globe, who will try to deter US strikes on the country by staking out potential military targets. "C'mon, it's Obama. He wouldn't dare blow us all away just to make himself look presidential, would he? Would he? WOULD HE???"
"Sorry, Rainbeaux, but I think I'm gonna be doing...sumthin."
It is unclear whether the Syrian regime will allow the group to enter the country, but Franklin Lamb, a lawyer recently appointed as the legal adviser for the group said he had been "inundated" with requests from activists including from Canada, France, Italy, the US, and Britain. Oh, inundated, I tells ya!
Many of those volunteering to go to Syria also took part in the "Human Shields" movement that travelled to Baghdad in 2003, initially to protect hospitals and schools, and later, key government infrastructure sites. Yeah, and that worked out well. As I recall, they were loooong gone when the shooting started.
Except for the ones that were chained to actual military targets. As I recall, those special ones were not pleased about it...
"Hey, wait a danged minute. This ain't a baby milk factory!"
Meanwhile, it has been reported that loyal Assad supporters have bedded down in tents on Mount Qussioun overlooking Damascus where the main transmitter for Syrian TV is located. I guess it was too crowded over at the poison gas factory...
They are trying to protect the site from possible US attack, Sky News reported. They wear white T-shirts with the logo, "Over our dead bodies". Too bad for them that TLAMs can't read...
One of the organizers is 21-year-old law student Hussain Othman. He says he started the sleep in "to protect Syria".
He said: "We will continue until the end. We are civilians. We are against any military strikes."
#1
...I move that any Congresscritter or Senator who votes "Yes" for Pres. Obama's non-open ended non-boots on the ground military action be provided participation vouchers....
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.
[CBSNEWS] Retired NBA star Dennis Rodman
President Asif Ali 
Nawaz Sharif
[TELEGRAPH.CO.UK] 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
The good news for President Barack Obama as he considers a military response against Syria for using chemical weapons against rebels is that he probably won't have to deal with [an] anti-war movement from Hollywood. But that's not because there isn't opposition. It's just not organized, and, as Ed Asner and Mike Farrell two of the industry's most vocal progressive activists -- told The Hollywood Reporter Friday, perhaps it never will be. Asner said the lack of an organized effort against war in Syria is a matter of timing. Bush took months to make the case for war in Iraq, giving the antiwar left plenty of time to prepare a response. "It will be a done deal before Hollywood is mobilized," Asner said. "This country will either bomb the hell out of Syria or not before Hollywood gets off its ass."
While many Western nations are evacuating their citizens from Syria and the neighbors countries ahead of a potential US strikes, human rights activists are planning to enter the war-torn country and act as "human shields" against a US assault, Britain's The Telegraph reported Saturday. 
