[NYT] HAVANA -- Like many of his countrymen, Jorge Angulo hopes the United States will lift the decades-old economic embargo against Cuba.
But Dr. Angulo, a senior marine scientist at the University of Havana, is also worried about the effects that a flood of American tourists and American dollars might have on this country's pristine coral reefs, mangrove forests, national parks and organic farms -- environmental assets that are a source of pride here.
"Like anywhere else, money talks," Dr. Angulo said. "That might be dangerous, because if we go too much on that side, we lose what we have today."
As relations between the United States and Cuba have warmed -- the countries announced on Wednesday that their embassies in Havana and Washington would reopen by July 20 for the first time in more than 50 years -- and as the renewal of trade seems more of a possibility, the Cuban government faces pivotal choices.
President Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Wednesday after announcing plans to reopen embassies in Havana and Washington.
Poles outside the American interests section building in Havana once flew black flags that hid a Times Square-style ticker installed by President George W. Bush.
U.S. Outpost in Cuba to Step Out of the ShadowsJAN. 20, 2015
The country is in desperate need of the economic benefits that a lifting of the embargo would almost certainly bring. But the ban, combined with Cuba's brand of controlled socialism, has also limited development and tourism that in other countries, including many of Cuba's Caribbean neighbors, have eroded beaches, destroyed forests, polluted rivers, damaged coral reefs and wreaked other forms of environmental havoc. Communism really is good for the environment.
For those following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, an ongoing source of concern is where Russia will draw the line. Common wisdom says if Ukraine continues to resist, Russia will commit more forces and overrun Ukraine—possibly continuing its momentum into Estonia or Poland. As members of NATO, an attack on either of those two countries risks invoking Article V, NATO’s common-defense clause, thus drawing Europe and America into war with Russia, inexorably leading to World War III and nuclear exchange.
[DAWN] ON the first anniversary of the ongoing Operation Zarb-e-Azb ..the Pak offensive against Qaeda in Pakistain and the Pak Taliban in North Wazoo. The name refers to the sword of the Prophet (PTUI!)... on June 15, the military wrapped up Operation Khyber-II in the Tirah region. Launched in March, after the military cleared much of the Bara plain in Operation Khyber-I, this follow-on operation in Khyber Agency was meant to clear the fierce Tirah terrain consisting of deep valleys and high mountains. The principal threat in the Tirah region came from the TTP; the Mangal Bagh ...a former bus driver, now head of the Deobandi bandido group Lashkar-e-Islam and the Terror of Khyber Agency... -led Lashkar-e-Islam ...a group of Islamic bandidos infesting Khyber Agency. It's headed by a former bus driver.... ; a breakaway TTP faction, the Jamaatul Ahrar ...A Pak Taliban splinter group that split off from the Mullah Fazlullah faction because it wasn't violent enough... ; and sundry foreign bad boys. That the military, with its superior power, would eventually prevail over the Death Eaters in terms of reclaiming the Tirah region was always clear. However, it was a brave man who first ate an oyster... there has been a high cost, not least in terms of the more than 50 dead soldiers and over 100 injured. Yet, with the army chief in North Wazoo yesterday and the military preparing for what is expected to be one of the toughest fights there in the Shawal region, loss of life in military operations is the high price the country sadly must pay for the state to once again reassert its control in the militancy-hit regions.
It should be noted that Operation Khyber-II has not resulted in actual physical control by the military of all three passes from Tirah into Afghanistan -- though the unreclaimed valleys of one of the three passes can, according to the military, be controlled by aerial firepower because the military now occupies the peaks over them. This means two things. One, Operation Khyber-II may require another phase for the total recapture of Tirah. Two, the military may apparently be forced into the continued use of air strikes in the Rajgal and Kachkol valleys to prevent the movement of Death Eaters until winter. At that point, with the onset of the cold season, a new challenge will emerge if the valleys have not been taken over by the military by then -- ensuring a military presence in tough and inhospitable terrain while simultaneously guarding against hardened Death Eaters slipping in under the cover of extreme temperatures. Vital as it has been to reclaim the Tirah region, it was clearly left to the last because of the challenge it posed, unlike the Bara plains which were relatively easier to secure in Khyber-I.
From this point onwards, the post-operation challenge is a familiar one: the military can hold and secure terrain, but it will only ever return to some semblance of long-term normality if the civil administration is allowed to function -- and if the civilians show some ownership of the project. Administrative control of the Tirah tehsil has traditionally been done from Bara, a situation that must change if Tirah is to be stabilised. Perhaps a road-building project into Tirah would also go a long way in creating long-term stability in a region that has been dominated by kidnap gangs, narcos and, of course, bad boy groups.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/04/2015 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[11126 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[DAWN] HAD it not been for timely action by the police, the horror that was Kot Radha Kishan could have been replayed all over again on Tuesday in Makki, another village in Punjab. The circumstances were similar -- a poor Christian couple, a blasphemy allegation, hate-mongering holy mans inciting a mob to violence, and a possible underlying motive that had nothing at all to do with religion. The utter lack of reason was, of course, a given: the victims, who were illiterate, had found an old panaflex advertisement for various colleges which they were using to sleep on. Some Arabic inscription, allegedly from the Koran, was part of the text which led two holy mans and a barber -- who, it is said, coveted the couple's home -- to accuse them of committing blasphemy. According to a senior officer of the district police, a mob had dragged the couple out of their home and was beating them to death when the police intervened and rescued them. One of the holy mans who incited the mob has been enjugged Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! while the other two instigators are still on the lam.
It is, unfortunately, rare that law enforcement comes down so assertively on the side of marginalised groups, particularly when faced by mobs baying for blood. Perhaps the Kot Radha Kishan incident last year, in which a young Christian couple was lynched upon being accused of committing blasphemy and burnt in the brick kiln where they worked, was a watershed of sorts. The court has been insistent upon a thorough police investigation into that case, and recently indicted over 100 suspects, including the three holy mans who had allegedly incited the mob. In the current instance as well, all those involved must be brought to book, and the victims enabled to return to their home in dignity. While the actions of the police were no more than what their job demands, they must be commended -- for such a stand on their part sends a powerful message to those seeking power or pelf by exploiting religion.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/04/2015 00:00 ||
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[11128 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
I did not post the Sultan Knish article. What you see below is a comment to the article. I think you will find the comments as well as the article quite interesting:
"I am firmly convinced after he leaves office he will formally announce his adoption of Islam (he doesn't need to convert since according to Sharia law he was born a Muslim by way of his father) and I believe it will be Shi'ite Islam that he will show a preference for, based on their seemingly better political organization, as exemplified by the Iranian regime."
#3
What so hard to understand? The world, especially nowadays, is full of stupid people who believe that their stupid ideas are original work of genius, because they're not aware it has been thought of before and rejected for being stupid. Obama's ME policies are, psychologically, like modern "art".
He's doing what he's doing, because he's an idiot who's been encouraged to think himself a genius---not because he's a secret Muslim, or a secret Communist, or a secret anything.
#9
I think it's ValJar with the DK syndrome when it comes to Iran.
O is JUST the puppet.
Mooch is the enforcer.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
07/04/2015 10:26 Comments ||
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#10
I concur Richard. Indolence withstanding, insufficient residual cortical activity. He's most definitely the puppet. Policy and knee-jerk strategy brought to you by Brennan, ValJar, and a host of MB lieutenants and confidants.
[Sultan Knish] The key element in Obama's strategy for fighting ISIS isn't the F-15E Strike Eagle, it's a Twitter account run by a Muslim Brotherhood sympathizer which claims to "Counter Violent Extremism" by presenting moderate Islamists like Al Qaeda as positive role models for the Islamic State's social media supporters.
So far 75% of planes flown on combat missions against ISIS return without engaging the enemy, but the culturally sensitive State Department Twitter account has racked up over 5,000 tweets and zero kills.
Cultural sensitivity hasn't exactly set Iraq on fire in fighting ISIS and deradicalization programs here start from the false premise that there is a wide gap between a moderate and extremist Islam. Smiling news anchors daily recite new stories about a teenager from Kentucky, Boston or Manchester getting "radicalized" and joining ISIS to the bafflement of his parents, mosque and community. But how could we remove the word 'Radical' from the term of reference 'Radical Muslim?" What would remain? Semantics you see, do matter, even in denial. Progressives would argue that society must be "restructured" to accommodate them as is. Sort of like removing the sign from the poisoned well and simply hoping people will stop elsewhere for a drink.
#1
Look at Eyptian leader Sisi video online I attached a link couple of days ago on rantburg re his speech to his main religious scholars/leaders at their famous university Al-Zhar?to see how mainstream Islam talk of killing infidels are and how this has to change for the 1.6 billion muslim to live in peace with the 7 billion infidels. As he says the world is waiting for Islamic reformation asap!
Posted by: paul ||
07/04/2015 7:15 Comments ||
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Posted by: paul ||
07/04/2015 7:25 Comments ||
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#3
Moderate Muslim - one surrounded by a well armed kaffir population or beholding to kaffir janissaries for security. Everything else is inherently radical.
"Desperate for a legacy deal, Obama has played the supplicant, abandoning every red line his administration had declared essential to any acceptable deal."
The return of the Confederacy was averted in the summer of 2015 when major retailers frantically scoured through their vast offerings to purge any images of a car from the Dukes of Hazzard. If not for their quick thinking, armies of men in gray might have come marching down the streets of New York and San Francisco to stop off for an Iced Mocha Frappucino ⢠at a local Starbucks before restoring slavery.
...Romanticizing the South means a whipping from our cultural elite. Instead of romanticizing the culture that bought slaves, they romanticize the Middle Eastern and African cultures that sold them the slaves.
...It's a lot easier for Obama to get in his million dollar Cadillac with its 5-inch thick bulletproof windows, a ride Boss Hogg could only envy, and chase down a couple of good ole boys than it is to condemn a culture that committed genocide in our own time, not in 1099, and that keeps slaves today, not in 1815.
Even while the Duke boys were being chased through Georgia, Obama appeared at an Iftar dinner; an event at which Muslims emulate Mohammed, who had more slaves than Robert E. Lee. There are no slaves in Arlington House today, but in the heartlands of Islam, from Saudi mansions to ISIS dungeons, there are still slaves, laboring, beaten, bought, sold, raped and disposed of in Mohammed's name. Slavery does not exist under the Confederate flag eagerly being pulled down. It does exist under the black and green flags of Islam rising over mosques in Iraq, Saudi Arabia and America today.
In our incredibly tolerant culture, it has become politically incorrect to watch the General Lee jump a fence or a barn, but paying tribute to the culture that sent the slaves here and that still practices slavery is the culturally sensitive thing to do. In 2015, slavery is no longer freedom, but it certainly is tolerance.
And it's not just about Islam.
IMO, Tranzis are not for something (except power to themselves), they're against us.
#1
I'm being picky here but Robert E. Lee didn't own any slaves. His wife inherited her Father's slaves. One condition of Lee taking over management of Arlington was that if any slave came to Mars Lee and asked for his freedom Lee would grant it. They all knew that and it's interesting how many didn't ask for their freedom. The reasoning was that on the plantation they had food and shelter. It was hard for a free black to find work.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
07/04/2015 14:38 Comments ||
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"Biblical Israel was America's inspiration. Its successor, the State of Israel, yet may be America's salvation, though usually the issue is put the other way around. America's founders, to be sure, saw in their "new nation, conceived in liberty" a new Israel, and Lincoln dubbed Americans an "almost chosen people." We long since put the notion of national election on the back shelf along with other memorabilia of the Revolution and Civil War. But Israel's founding and fight for survival strike a chord in our national character that reminds of us what we were and still should be."
#1
Founded using the Bible, as a diaspora of Religious refugees.
Having Schooled the Children in biblical matters, most of the Mitzvot was met. The Liberty granted by a restrained government would maintain by the Grace of God Loving People.
And it worked.
Then democrats came and ripped it's heart out and shat on it.
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.
Wazoo
[Sultan Knish] The key element in Obama's strategy for fighting ISIS isn't the F-15E Strike Eagle, it's a Twitter account run by a Muslim Brotherhood sympathizer which claims to "Counter Violent Extremism" by presenting moderate Islamists like Al Qaeda as positive role models for the Islamic State's social media supporters.
