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Accidental car boom in Peshawar kills six
Today's Headlines
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-Obits-
Home fire hero, 8 year old Tyler Doohan died saving grandfather.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/24/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The one who saves a human life saves the whole of humankind.
Posted by: JFM || 01/24/2014 9:48 Comments || Top||

#2  Sad, lost a good one.

Those trailer homes are dangerous in a fire. There is so little room and the building material usually inexpensive, plus with so many plastics, it quickly becomes deadly on account of smoke, then the heat can flashover if it hasn't found a way to vent. No smoke detector cost very precious time. Yeah, kid saved lives.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 01/24/2014 15:02 Comments || Top||

#3  That was one brave boy. We lived in some similar types of housing in the bush, that had barred windows and security screen doors. I kept a good axe under my side of the bed, and had a spot on the bedroom wall chosen to chop my way out if I had to.
Posted by: Grunter || 01/24/2014 16:47 Comments || Top||

#4  Little doubt, a young hero now walks in heaven.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/24/2014 16:50 Comments || Top||

#5  Unfortunately, trailers come in two forms: Not on fire, or fully involved. :-(
Posted by: Barbara || 01/24/2014 19:41 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Self-Styled Polynesian 'King' Convicted for Issuing Fake Money
[An Nahar] A self-styled "king" who claims to rule over an unrecognized "republic" in French Polynesia was convicted by a Tahiti court Wednesday for issuing fake money.

Athanase Teiri, a 59-year-old retired civil servant who describes himself as "Tanginui Hoe" (Tanguini the 1st), monarch of the fictitious "Pakumotu Republic", was not in the courtroom in Papeete to hear the verdict or the six-month sentence handed down to him.

But several of his "ministers" attended in the public gallery.

Teiri was convicted after one of his daughters printed off "Patus" -- bits of paper meant to be the currency of Pakumotu. When some of Teiri's "subjects" tried to use them as payment in shops, he ran afoul of French laws governing money and its use.

Through his front man, he rejected the jurisdiction of the court.

"Since June 2, 2010, the king has declared this country to be independent. La Belle France no longer has authority. A state cannot judge another state," the front man said.

Teiri's supporters affirmed they would continue to print their own money.

That could cause some confusion in French Polynesia, where new banknotes -- legal tender -- were introduced this week.

Authorities on the archipelago, which is a dependent territory of La Belle France, have become increasingly irritated with the "Pakumotu Republic" and its followers, especially after they tried to occupy public land.

But Teiri has brazenly forged on, even issuing so-called "arrest warrants" against various officials.

The "republic"'s would be "defense minister" told Agence La Belle France Presse that the Pakumotu followers want to act freely on "their territory."
Posted by: Fred || 01/24/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Teiri's supporters affirmed they would continue to print their own money.


Works in Obamatutuland. Why all the fuss ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/24/2014 1:09 Comments || Top||

#2  Sounds like something out of Donovan's Reef. The poor French authorities so far from home. Could be worse, could be Bora Bora.

Posted by: Shipman || 01/24/2014 5:21 Comments || Top||

#3  Arrest him, tell him "We don't have the authority to release you" listen for screaming.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 01/24/2014 9:59 Comments || Top||

#4  Jim in Tahiti, there is no screaming except in passion. I feel, in my bones, I must visit BobCat. Yes, I had a way-ward Uncle who was Navy. But, no matter. We must go immediately.

Fetch my time machine Cleveland!

Posted by: Shipman || 01/24/2014 16:43 Comments || Top||

#5  The good King can always ask China's PLAN + NOT-THE-USS-LEXINGTON CV-16 "LIAONING/SHELENG" to formally recognize Pakumotu sovereignty + save all of native Pakumotu + Tahiti per se from the FNS CHARLES DE GAULLE + ITS WILY FINICKY PROPELLERS.

Given the serious decline of the UK Royal Navy, until the CVF QUEEN LIZ-class finally comes into service NATO-EU + Paris would be hard-pressed to release the veteran/elderly DE GAULLE from its France + NATO-specific security role.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/24/2014 22:51 Comments || Top||


Judge rules that Kansan who provided sperm to lesbian couple owes child support
[KANSASCITY] A man who provided sperm to a lesbian couple in response to an online ad is the father of a child born to one of the women and must pay child support, a Kansas judge ruled Wednesday.
How to get screwed without getting laid...
Topeka resident William Marotta had argued that he had waived his parental rights and didn't intend to be a father.

Shawnee County District Judge Mary Mattivi rejected that claim, saying the parties didn't involve a licensed physician in the artificial insemination process and thus Marotta didn't qualify as a sperm donor, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported.

"In this case, quite simply, the parties failed to perform to statutory requirement of the Kansas Parentage Act in not enlisting a licensed physician at some point in the artificial insemination process, and the parties' self-designation of (Marotta) as a sperm donor is insufficient to relieve (Marotta) of parental right and responsibilities to the child," Mattivi wrote.

The Kansas Department for Children and Families filed the case in October 2012, seeking to have Marotta declared the father of a child born to Jennifer Schreiner in 2009. The state's objective was to hold Marotta responsible for about $6,000 in public assistance the state provided, as well as future child support.
Posted by: Fred || 01/24/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So, by extension, any male who finds out his spouse conspired to make false official statements on birth certificate when the DNA of the child turns out to be someone else, is relieved of financial support of said child? And the mother held accountable for the conspiracy? NOT.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/24/2014 9:27 Comments || Top||

#2  Without knowing the race of the people, This sounds like a BLACK "Gimme", and I'm not responsible.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 01/24/2014 10:04 Comments || Top||

#3  IMO, this is a good thing (as legal precedent) because I've a very jaundiced opinion of the products of single (turkey baster) motherhood.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/24/2014 10:40 Comments || Top||

#4  Works for me. I don't see why the taxpayers should be responsible.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 01/24/2014 11:57 Comments || Top||

#5  If he has to pay, he needs to demand regular visitation as well. And show up for it. (And he also needs to never be alone with that child, but always have a witness.)

If it inconveniences the "mothers," so much the better.

And, since there are 2 of them, why the hell are they on welfare? One of them should be working.
Posted by: Barbara || 01/24/2014 13:25 Comments || Top||

#6  Barbara, a woman doesn't need to be on welfare to demand child support.

See Helen Smith's book Men on Strike for other child support demands as outrageous as this one.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 01/24/2014 13:48 Comments || Top||

#7  Schreiner and Marotta had a baby.
The dad, a Bauer, was a lady.
Most folks thought that they were black,
Just welfare cases smoking crack.
They all sound kinda white to me,
But they could be passing, yessirree!

Whuffo I got this misperception?
Come kiss yo momma, misconception!
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 || 01/24/2014 19:11 Comments || Top||

#8  #6 Rambler, then what was the state assistance mentioned in the article?

"about $6,000 in public assistance the state provided"
Posted by: Barbara || 01/24/2014 19:46 Comments || Top||

#9  Barbara, I may have misworded my comment. The point I was trying to make was that even if a woman is not on welfare she could still demand child support.

After reading the article more carefully, I see that it was the welfare department that sued.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 01/24/2014 20:57 Comments || Top||

#10  Looking for a rod for the lady man
Man lady I accompany
I'm getting the advice I'm chasing
I'm gonna have a new baby

But what am I gonna chuck
My body just cannot grind
I really need a man that's gonna learn
To give me all his sperm

Love with a turkey baster
Sticking it in while sqeezing out
Love with a turkey baster
Getting knocked up with the sperm I found
Posted by: swksvolFF || 01/24/2014 20:57 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Ibiza holiday jet in near miss with UFO over Reading
[TELEGRAPH.CO.UK] A Thomas Cook airliner flying holidaymakers home from Ibiza to Manchester passes "within feet" of a UFO
Posted by: Fred || 01/24/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Cooks Detour?
Posted by: Shipman || 01/24/2014 5:22 Comments || Top||

#2  Krugman attempt at economic stimulus?
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 01/24/2014 7:13 Comments || Top||

#3  In 2012, the head of the National Air Traffic Control Services admitted staff detected around one unexplained flying object every month.

Airline pilots started seeing these things shortly after WW II. Looks like they never really stopped.
Posted by: Bobby || 01/24/2014 13:02 Comments || Top||

#4  Name that Drone - UFO

Posted by: Jorge Guloschez || 01/24/2014 13:39 Comments || Top||

#5  BP LOL! Martians breaking airliners instead of windows.
Posted by: Shipman || 01/24/2014 16:44 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
South Sudan Government, Rebels Sign Ceasefire
[An Nahar] South Sudan's government and rebels on Thursday signed a ceasefire agreement, pledging to halt fighting within 24 hours and end five weeks of bitter conflict that has left thousands dead.

The agreement was signed in the Æthiopian capital Addis Ababa by representatives of South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and rebel delegates loyal to ousted vice president Riek Machar, and was greeted by cheers from regional mediators and diplomats.

Mediators from the East African regional bloc IGAD, which has been brokering the peace talks, said the deal will put in place a verification and monitoring mechanism for the truce.

South Sudan's government also agreed to release 11 officials close to Machar who were detained after fighting between rival army units broke out on December 15, although no timeline for their release was given. The status of the detainees had been a major sticking point in the talks.

"These two agreements are the ingredients to create an environment for achieving a total peace in my country," said Taban Deng, head of the rebel delegation.

He said he hoped the deal would "pave the way for a serious national political dialogue aiming at reaching a lasting peace in South Sudan," the world's newest nation which only won independence from Khartoum in 2011.

Government negotiator Nhial Deng Nhial said the negotiations, which have been dragging on in a luxury hotel in Addis Ababa for three weeks, were "not easy".

"We hope to be able to make haste towards an agreement that will end bloodshed," he said, but voiced skepticism over the ability of the rebels, comprised of renegade army units and ethnic militia, to halt their operations.

"What worries us is whether the agreement on the cessation of hostilities will stick (and) the capacity of the rebel group... to stop fighting," he added. "We would like to take this opportunity to urge the rebel group to heed the voice of reason and abandon the quest for political power through violence."
Posted by: Fred || 01/24/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Morocco amends controversial rape law
[DAWN] Morocco's parliament on Wednesday unanimously amended an article in the penal code that had outraged people by allowing a rapist to escape prosecution if he married his underage victim.

Article 475 of the penal code generated unprecedented public criticism about the case of Amina al-Filali, a 16-year-old girl who was forced to marry a man who allegedly had raped her.

After seven months of marriage to the 23-year-old man, she did away with himself in 2012. Her parents and a judge had forced the marriage to protect the family honor.

The incident sparked calls for the law to be changed.

The traditional practice for forced marriage can be found across the Middle East and in countries such as India and Afghanistan, where the loss of a woman's virginity out of wedlock puts a huge stain on the honor of the family or tribe.
Posted by: Fred || 01/24/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Bangladesh
Gadgets to replace textbooks in Bangladesh
[Dhaka Tribune] School students will soon be entering classrooms with special smart-devices instead of heavy backpacks, what the information ministry said on Thursday.

The device will be wi-fi enabled and will facilitate connections between teachers and students, simplifying many paperwork-related troubles.

Already, all books of the first graders under the national education and textbook curriculum has been converted to multimedia for use in these devices.

The project will be undertaken jointly by Ministry for Information and Technology and mobile phone company Symphony, an information ministry handout said.

All other textbooks will soon be converted to this format, the handout said.

A meeting to the development of this project was held at the secretariat in participation of secretary for information and technology NI Khan and Symphony Sales Director Rezwanul Haque and other officials.

Smart Start is said to be partnering in the project as a content partner.

The device will facilitate teachers to take special care of students from home and in limited time. This will also save the immense cost to print textbooks.

The applications of the smart devices is expected to draw enthusiasm from children with the use of animations, sounds and technology.
Posted by: Fred || 01/24/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


JU Chhatra League leader suspended for assaulting teacher
[Dhaka Tribune] A leader of Jahangirnagar University unit Bangladesh Chhatra League
... the student wing of the Bangla Awami League ...
was suspended for assaulting a teacher yesterday.

Procedures were underway to lodge a case on this matter, Proctor Muzibur Rahman said after a disciplinary committee meeting last night.

Accused Mamun Khan, press and publicity secretary, will be given two working days to respond to a show-cause notice, he said. "Permanent action will be later decided in a Syndicate meeting."

Mamun assaulted urban and regional planning (URP) department Chairman Golam Moinuddin near the social sciences faculty in the afternoon.

Another URP teacher, Sajedur Rahman, said he had witnessed the incident and informed other teachers about it.

Prof Moinuddin said he had submitted a written complaint against Mamun to the proctor.
Posted by: Fred || 01/24/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Swechchhasebak League leader hacked to death in capital
[Dhaka Tribune] The general secretary of Ramna Thana unit of Swechchhasebak League, the volunteer wing of the ruling Awami League, has been hacked to death by unidentified criminals in the capital's Moghbazar last night.

The victim, Mahbubur Rahman Rana, 32, was attacked by a gang in front of a mosque at Moghbazar intersection around 7:00pm.

The criminals first created a panic in the area by exploding several bombs, after hacking Rana with sharp weapons they expeditiously departed at a goodly pace whilst firing blanks.

Locals rushed him to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
He's dead, Jim!
at around 7:30pm.

The attack was carried out very quickly by the criminals, said the witnesses.

Md Mithu, younger brother of Rana, told the Dhaka Tribune Tanvir, another leader of the same organization, had allegedly led the killing.

Locals said that sharing of the income from the cable business and extortion in garments industries had led the killing alongside the drugs business.

Meanwhile,
...back at the Hubba Hubba Club, Big Shirley was still trying to snatch Nunzio bald-headed. She was already halfway there...
Ramna Police Station Officer-In-Charge Mashiur Rahman confirmed the death and said police were now trying to ascertain the reason behind the killing, and arrest the killers.

Police also said they recovered a sharp weapon and two unwent kaboom! bombs at the scene after the killers left.

Rana, a former Chhatra League
... the student wing of the Bangla Awami League ...
leader and resident of Chairman Goli of Moghbazar, was involved with underground politics, said local and police sources.

Police and locals suspect the killing might be a result of an intra-party feud over control of the area.
Posted by: Fred || 01/24/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Economy
Insurers downgraded on ObamaCare fears
Moody's announced Thursday it was downgrading its outlook for health insurers from stable to negative based on uncertainty related to ObamaCare.

The credit rating agency cited an unstable environment because of the healthcare law's difficult rollout, and projected that insurers would earn two percent less than forecast in 2014.

"While we've had industry risks from regulatory changes on our radar for a while, the ongoing unstable and evolving environment is a key factor for our outlook change," Moody's Senior Vice President Stephen Zaharuk said in a statement. "The past few months have seen new regulations and announcements that impose operational changes well after product and pricing decisions were finalized."

The Moody's report also cites the slow enrollment of young people into ObamaCare as a reason for the downgrade.

"Uncertainty over the demographics of those enrolling in individual products through the exchanges is a key factor in Moody's outlook change," the ratings agency said.
Posted by: Beavis || 01/24/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Unless repealed soon, it is beginning to look as though the effects of Obamacare could be far worse than a train crash.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/24/2014 0:20 Comments || Top||

#2  Next: a totally unrelated federal investigation of Moody's, for possible anti-trust violations, with an side order of discrimination charges.
Posted by: ed in texas || 01/24/2014 7:36 Comments || Top||


Aetna may pull the plug on Obamacare. Numbers just not there.
Look for major but plausibly deniable revenge. Or maybe they won't bother denying it and they'll just look truculent.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/24/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I recommend:

a. Reverse Mortgage Insurance Deductible loans (RMID).

b. Quarterly Open enrollment coverage periods.

c. Skype virtual office visits.

d. OBOOGLE self diagnosis search engines.

e. Organ donor discounts.



Posted by: Besoeker || 01/24/2014 0:48 Comments || Top||

#2  You forgot the home surgery kit called Sutureself.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 01/24/2014 7:41 Comments || Top||

#3  Suit yourself, Deacon. A keeper!
Posted by: Bobby || 01/24/2014 8:09 Comments || Top||

#4  Go to your room, Deacon.
Posted by: Pappy || 01/24/2014 11:00 Comments || Top||

#5  :-D
Posted by: Barbara || 01/24/2014 13:29 Comments || Top||

#6  Aetna's living up to their slogan

Posted by: Black Charlie || 01/24/2014 15:08 Comments || Top||

#7  To be honest, 'Skype virtual office visits' might not be a bad thing for some schtuff, like filling out kids' health paperwork for the new school year, or getting routine prescription refills. There are some advances, and advantages, to telemedicine.

Aetna, like other health insurance companies and federal/state governments, are still doing business in a 20th century mode - unless they come across a profitable or potentially profitable company with twenty-first century technology that they can buy out.
Posted by: Pappy || 01/24/2014 16:09 Comments || Top||

#8  E-visits have been around since 2007. Those who'd use then the most -- old and bedridden -- can't because Medicare does not cover. That's why so many grandpa's in the E.R.
Posted by: regular joe || 01/24/2014 16:49 Comments || Top||

#9  iPhone medical apps.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/24/2014 17:22 Comments || Top||

#10  Home LASIK eye surgery kits.
Posted by: Airandee || 01/24/2014 21:11 Comments || Top||


Europe
Ukraine Parliament to Meet on Crisis after Deadly Clashes
[An Nahar] Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych on Thursday demanded an extraordinary session of parliament to ease the crisis in the country after five days of deadly festivities between protesters and security forces.

The three main opposition leaders were to hold crisis talks with Yanukovych, as world boxing champion and UDAR (Punch) party leader Vitali Klitschko brokered a truce in the violence between protesters and police.

Speaker Volodymyr Rybak said parliament would discuss the protesters' demands for the government's resignation and the annulment of a controversial anti-protest law at a session expected next week, the presidency said in a statement.

But he did not mention early presidential elections, a key opposition demand.

"You know that recent mass riots have been accompanied by violence, bloodshed and arson. Today, the situation requires a quick resolution," the statement said Yanukovych told Rybak.

Yanukovych called for the extraordinary session a dramatic escalation in tensions in the capital.

Activists say five protesters have died in festivities in recent days, marking a new peak in tensions after two months of protests over the government's failure to sign a deal for closer integration with the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
.

'Stay calm until the talks end'

The fighting raged into the night at the epicenter of the festivities on Grushevsky Street in central Kiev, with demonstrators hurling Molotov cocktails and security forces using stun grenades.

However in the morning Klitschko visited the barricades and agreed a truce that would hold until 1800 GMT when the talks between Yanukovych and the opposition are expected to end.

"Keep the barricades in place but (be) calm until the talks finish," he said.

An Agence La Belle France Presse correspondent at the scene of the fighting on Grushevsky Street confirmed that there had been a pause in festivities and that the truce appeared to be holding.

The protesters have marked their frontline with a semicircle of burning tyres which have sent rancid plume of black smoke billowing into the Kiev sky and are visible throughout the city.

However under the terms of the truce, protesters allowed police to douse the fires with water cannon and now only white smoke was rising at the scene.
Posted by: Fred || 01/24/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Biden Calls Yanukovych, Urges Peaceful End to Ukraine Crisis
[An Nahar] U.S. Vice President Joe Foreign Policy Whiz Kid Biden
The former Senator-for-Life from Delaware, an example of the kind of top-notch Washington intellect to be found in the World's Greatest Deliberative Body...
called Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych on Thursday to press for a peaceful resolution to the country's political crisis after deadly violence between police and protesters.

Before announcing the call, the White House had put the blame for the violence squarely on government forces in Kiev, but did welcome news of talks between opposition leaders and Yanukovych.

"The vice president urged President Yanukovych to take steps to end violence and to meaningfully address the legitimate concerns of peaceful protesters," the White House said in a statement.

"While emphasizing that violence by any side is not acceptable, the vice president underscored that only the government of Ukraine can ensure a peaceful end to the crisis and further bloodshed would have consequences for Ukraine's relationship with the United States."
Posted by: Fred || 01/24/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


The Grand Turk
Turkey Lawmakers Brawl over Judicial Reforms
[An Nahar] A brawl erupted in the Turkish parliament on Thursday as a heated debate on controversial judicial reforms turned nasty.

The deputy leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), Bulent Tezcan, was injured and taken to hospital as fists flew in the assembly.

Media reports said the fracas flared after one politician spoke about claims that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi only they haven't dumped him yet...
's son had been summoned to testify as part of a major corruption probe rocking the government.

Parliament is expected to vote from late Friday on a bill aimed at giving the government greater control over the judiciary, a move that has raised concerns at home and abroad about the weakening state of democracy in Turkey under Erdogan.

His government has also sacked or reassigned hundreds of police and prosecutors in what is seen as a reprisal for the corruption probe that has struck at the heart of the political elite.

In the latest move on Thursday, more than 160 officers were removed from their posts in the western metropolis of Bursa, a day after a similar shakeup in the main cities of Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir.

The Turkish media estimates that at least 2,500 police, including top officers, have been punished since the graft scandal erupted in mid-December.

Dozens of prosecutors, including senior lawyers leading the investigations, have also been sacked or reassigned.

More than 50 people including the sons of cabinet ministers and business leaders such as the head of a state bank were rounded up last month as part of the probe into alleged money laundering linked to Iran, gold smuggling and bribery in real estate projects.

Erdogan accuses an erstwhile ally, exiled Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen, of creating a "parallel" state to try to topple his government via loyalists in various institutions including the police and judiciary.
Posted by: Fred || 01/24/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Blasphemy accused sentenced to death
[DAWN] A court in Rawalpindi sentenced a self-proclaimed prophet to death on Thursday after convicting him of blasphemy.
Ecce homo.
Additional district and sessions judge Naveed Iqbal also imposed a fine of Rs1 million on Mohammad Asghar, a 65-year-old British national.

Asghar was incarcerated
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
in Sadiqabad in 2010 after he wrote letters to different people, a police officer among them, claiming that he was a prophet. Police booked Asghar under section 295-C of the PPC.

The section reads: "Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), shall be punished with death or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine."

Public prosecutor Javed Gul produced before the court a copy of letters which Asghar wrote to an SHO of Sadiqabad. Four police officials testified against Asghar.

The prosecution also submitted opinions of handwriting experts testifying that the letters were written by the accused.
Posted by: Fred || 01/24/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I wondered what center of civilization this occurred in.
Posted by: JohnQC || 01/24/2014 10:39 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
PM Netanyahu meets with Chinese FM Wang Yi in Davos
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahumet with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the 2014 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos on Friday, the Prime Minister's office announced.

Wang Yi thanked the Prime Minister for hosting him in Jerusalem last month.

Prime Minister Netanyahu said that their meeting was an expression of the advanced state of relations between them. He said that Israel wanted to further develop bilateral cooperation in technology and foreign affairs.
KEYWORDS: EU, boycott, Jawn Kerry
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 01/24/2014 07:43 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This is a good move. China will not meddle in their affairs. Strong economic benefits. Obama has failed badly for this to have happened.
Posted by: Dale || 01/24/2014 8:11 Comments || Top||

#2  Obama has failed badly for this to have happened.

FIFY Dale.
Posted by: AlanC || 01/24/2014 13:00 Comments || Top||

#3  An interesting twist.

Defense Industry of Israel would like to export Unmanned Aerial Vehicle technology to China.
Israeli defense and technology firms have been lobbying the government to ease restrictions on their exports to China, TheMarker has learned from industry sources. According to the source, the manufacturers have the support of the Prime Minister’s Office as well as the economy and foreign ministries, which want to expand exports to and joint ventures with China.

Posted by: Besoeker || 01/24/2014 16:47 Comments || Top||

#4  Israel might be in need of a UNSC veto in the not-too-distant future. The Chinese might have one for sale.

I wonder what price will have to be paid.
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 01/24/2014 18:52 Comments || Top||

#5  Jaawn.

China also sees the success rival Indias + Vietnam, + Azerbaijan, etc. are having wid Israeli export Miltechs, + want in.

'Tis a win-win-win ... all around.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/24/2014 22:56 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
Mac' Turns 30 in Changing Computer World
[An Nahar] Decades before changing the world with iPhones and iPads, Apple transformed home computing with the Macintosh.

The friendly desktop machine referred to as the "Mac" and, importantly, the ability to control it by clicking on icons with a "mouse," opened computing to non-geeks in much the way that touchscreens later allowed almost anyone get instantly comfortable with smartphones or tablets.

The Macintosh computer, introduced 30 years ago Friday, was at the core of a legendary rivalry between late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and Microsoft
...producers of Windows, Office, and the late Microsoft Bob, contributed $852,167 to the 2008 Obama campaign...
criminal mastermind Bill Gates.

Thousands of Apple faithful are expected for a birthday party this weekend in a performing arts center in Silicon Valley, not far from the company's headquarters in the city of Cupertino.

"The Mac was a quantum leap forward," early Apple employee Randy Wigginton told Agence La Belle France Presse.

"We didn't invent everything, but we did make everything very accessible and smooth," he continued. "It was the first computer people would play with and say: 'That's cool.'"

Prior to the January 24, 1984 unveiling of the Mac with its "graphical user interface," computers were workplace machines commanded with text typed in what seemed like a foreign language to those were not software programmers.

Credit for inventing the computer mouse in the 1960s went to Stanford Research Institute's Doug Engelbart, who died last year at 88.

"The Mac's impact was to bring the graphical user interface to 'the rest of us,' as Apple used to say," Dag Spicer, chief content officer of the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley, told AFP.

"The Mac GUI was picked up by Microsoft, who named it Windows."

The man remembered today as a marketing magician was a terrified 27-year-old when he stepped on stage to unveil the Mac, then-chief executive John Sculley said of Jobs in a post at the tech news website CNET.

"He rehearsed over and over every gesture, word, and facial expression," Sculley said. "Yet, when he was out there on stage, he made it all look so spontaneous."
Posted by: Fred || 01/24/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Mac GUI was picked up by Microsoft after Apple had picked it up from Xerox PARC.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/24/2014 9:32 Comments || Top||

#2  Thanks P2K, saved me from having to point that out. Mast Apple fanbois seem to not know that many of The innovations people associate with apple are ideas copied from others.
Posted by: OldSpook || 01/24/2014 16:51 Comments || Top||

#3  It was funny having friends with mac's telling me I should get one. Then I would ask if it would play various games (Being a hard core gamer) and the answer is always no. So I'd say, "Welp, maybe when it does I'll get one." But I never have. I like PC's and my Alienware does everything I need:D
Posted by: Silentbrick || 01/24/2014 20:33 Comments || Top||


Government
Humana Sued by Man Claiming It Wouldn't Cancel Health Policy
Humana Inc. was sued by a Missouri man who claimed the insurer raised premiums for him and other customers and then failed to respond to requests to cancel policies, allegedly to increase revenue under the Affordable Care Act in what may be the first such lawsuit.

Hundreds of thousands of people received policy cancellation letters from insurers because their plans didn’t meet requirements of the U.S. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that took effect Jan. 1.

The B.O. regime in November asked insurance companies to notify consumers that alternatives existed under the health-care law, including options that may have provided them tax credits and required the insurers to describe the ways the canceled plans don’t meet the consumer protections required under the law.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/24/2014 17:09 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Defense Secretary Orders Review of U.S. Nuclear Force
[An Nahar] Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel
Oh goodness -- I forgot he was there! Did you remember him, dear Reader?
has ordered a sweeping review of the U.S. nuclear force after a series of embarrassing incidents including cheating on an exam by missile officers, officials said Thursday.

The Pentagon chief also planned to summon top commanders as recent lapses and allegations "raise legitimate concerns about the department's stewardship of one of our most sensitive and important missions," Rear Admiral John Kirby told news hounds.

"Secretary Hagel believes it is time for the Department of Defense as a whole to place renewed emphasis on examining the health of the nuclear force, in particular those issues that affect the morale, professionalism, performance, and leadership of the people who make up that force," he said.
Posted by: Fred || 01/24/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ...Remember, you heard it here first: by late summer, there will be trial balloons floated about standing down the ICBM force. There is a LOT of quiet talk about this behind the scenes right now, and it's going to start becoming public.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 01/24/2014 4:54 Comments || Top||

#2  Yes, things that prior generations could do, now seem not able to be done. So, let's just stop doing them. Meanwhile, Bread and Games for everyone.

Just hope you're not the generation when the new incarnation of the Vandals show up for your goodies.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 01/24/2014 9:29 Comments || Top||

#3  You have to wonder why the navy doesn't seem to have these problems. I mean they have the missles in submarines, and you don't hear about problems.
Maybe they're just better at hiding stuff.

(Come to think of it, I do know a guy that got an all expense paid trip to McMurdo Sound for pencil whipping flight deck paperwork on a carrier. Hmm...)
Posted by: ed in texas || 01/24/2014 16:04 Comments || Top||

#4  Different cultural climate, ed. One can thank that crazy bastard Rickover for that, bless his heart.
Posted by: Pappy || 01/24/2014 16:15 Comments || Top||

#5  I don't see anything here the North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana National Guards can't handle. It would be a good thing.
Posted by: Shipman || 01/24/2014 16:50 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2014-01-24
  Accidental car boom in Peshawar kills six
Thu 2014-01-23
  'Germans among Dead' in Pakistan Air Strikes
Wed 2014-01-22
  Bomb kills at least 22 Shiite pilgrims returning on bus from Iran to Pakistan
Tue 2014-01-21
  Taliban bombing near GHQ kills 13
Mon 2014-01-20
  Explosion kills 20 in Bannu; TTP claims attack
Sun 2014-01-19
  Iranian diplomat shot dead by gunmen in Sana'a
Sat 2014-01-18
  Suicide Bomb Rocks Downtown Kabul
Fri 2014-01-17
  Car Bomb Kills 3, Hurts Dozens in Hermel, 'al-Nusra in Lebanon' Claims Attack
Thu 2014-01-16
  Syria Opposition Says Army Attacked Rebels with Poison Gas
Wed 2014-01-15
  Sharia begins in Libya
Tue 2014-01-14
  Three militants gunned down in Sopore encounter
Mon 2014-01-13
  Iran, world powers agree to nuclear deal terms
Sun 2014-01-12
  Djotodia seeks exile in Benin
Sat 2014-01-11
  Tribes, Police Retake Parts of Iraq's Ramadi
Fri 2014-01-10
  At Least 45 Syrian Rebels Killed in Homs Regime Ambush


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