#3
Ah yes! We are known by the words we speak and the friends we keep. If it looks like duck, waddles like a duck and quack likes a duck its probably a Kimmie Jong duck.
#4
Oh come on... I guarantee he never congratulated him on anything. If you fall for that one I got a bridge to sell you... very nice, connects manhattan to brooklyn.
Qatar has offered asylum to Mauritania's ousted President Maaouya Ould Sid Ahmed Taya almost two weeks after he was overthrown in a bloodless coup, a Gambian official said yesterday. "Qatar has invited Taya to seek asylum there," said a Gambian official in the capital Banjul, where Taya is currently in temporary refuge. A Mauritanian diplomatic source also said Qatar had made an offer. Officials in Qatar were not available to comment.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/17/2005 00:45 ||
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#3
Somebody's been battering at the gates for the past two nights.
I've got one very large, very intricate application that I have to rewrite from ASP/Access to PHP/MySQL. It'll probably take me three or four months. Once I've done that, we're moving to Linux. Links to ASP pages will simply die.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/17/2005 11:01 Comments ||
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Leaked documents appear to contradict the official account of how police mistook a Brazilian man for a suicide bomber and shot him. The papers, from the probe into Jean Charles de Menezes' death, and leaked to ITV, suggest he was restrained before being shot eight times. Mr de Menezes, 27, was killed at Stockwell Tube station on 22 July. The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has said it will not comment on its investigation. The documents, including witness statements, also suggest Mr de Menezes did not hurdle the barrier at Stockwell tube station, as first reports previously suggested, and was not wearing a padded jacket that could have concealed a bomb.
The shooting occurred the day after the failed bomb attacks of 21 July. The latest documents suggest Mr de Menezes had walked into Stockwell Tube station, picked up a free newspaper, walked through ticket barriers, had started to run when he saw a train arriving and was sitting down in a train when he was shot. In the immediate aftermath of the incident, police said Mr de Menezes had been acting suspiciously and suggested he had vaulted the ticket barriers. Police also said the Brazilian electrician had worn a large winter-style coat - but the leaked version suggested he had in fact worn a denim jacket.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
08/17/2005 06:48 ||
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#1
I do wonder why things were misrepresented in the first place..
#2
Or misrepresented in the second place. From the BBC:
"The leaked documents, seemingly from the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC)"
...
"Despite eyewitness reports that the suspect had worn a large winter-style coat, the version of events in the leaked documents suggested he had in fact worn a denim jacket."
Is this report from a collection of raw information: with stories from anybody who claims to have been there?
Posted by: James ||
08/17/2005 12:33 Comments ||
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#3
It is partially drawn from CCTV footage of Menezes before his death.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
08/17/2005 19:45 Comments ||
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#4
a collection of honest errors compounded by his panic over his illegal status....
is there a couple lessons here?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/17/2005 19:50 Comments ||
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International terrorist organisations are seeking to create training bases on the territory of Kazakhstan. Nartai Dutbayev, chairman of the KNB (National Security Committee,) has stated this today, August 17, in Aktau during the "Caspian-Antiterror-2005" command post exercises, KZ-today correspondent reports.
"Last year the KNB neutralised activities of a clandestine terrorist organisation," - he said. That organisation was connected to Al Qaeda and "planned to create terrorist training camps on the territory of Kazakhstan. During the investigation it was established that separate members of that organisation had been involved in the terrorist acts of last summer and spring in Uzbekistan," - N. Dutbayev said. There were Kazakhstani citizens among the group members.
Besides, N. Dutbayev said that "in the last 4 years foreign partners received from the Kazakhstani secret services 20 members of terrorist organisations and members of illegal armed gangs." 300 kilos of explosives and 94 firearms were confiscated last year.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/17/2005 12:51 ||
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DORASAN, South Korea (Reuters) - Media mogul and conservationist and far-leftie Ted Turner wants to turn the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone that divides the Korean peninsula into a peace park if the two Koreas become unified. (I'm not holding my breath that they'll be "unified")
The 248-km (154-mile) long and 4-km (2.5-mile) wide DMZ stretches from one end of the peninsula to the other. It has been a no man's land for over 50 years and because of that, the band of land has also become a wildlife sanctuary that is the home to some of the world's rarest birds as well as a variety of plant and animal life.
"This is a project worthy of doing," Turner said on Wednesday at Dorasan Station, the last station in South Korea that government officials say will serve as the rail link with North Korea once tracks are connected and political hurdles allowing train traffic have been cleared. (Wonder if Kimmie's ridden the rails lately?)
CNN founder Turner had just finished a two-day trip to North Korea where he advocated building the park and he also broached the idea with South Korean officials, organizers of the park said. Turner pledged to make an unspecified financial contribution to Kim Jong Il the park and organizers said it is their idea to have the two Koreas lead the way in laying plans for establishing the long and narrow nature preserve. The DMZ is home to several threatened and rare species of animal and plant life including the red-crown crane, a staple of Asian art, and the white-naped crane. The two are among the world's most endangered birds. Why don't we let PETA fanatics out there to "research" these birds?
The two Koreas have well over 1 million troops who face each other across the DMZ, but there has been virtually no human activity in almost all of the DMZ since it was established by the armistice that ended the 1950-1953 Korean War. The two Koreas are technically still at war because a peace treaty has not been reached. Of course, the lefties don't recognize that kind of technicality, do they?
Parts of the DMZ were once littered with corpses due to the heavy fighting, but without human activity for more than half a century, nature has returned in abundance. In addition, the DMZ crosses mountains, prairies, swamps, lakes and tidal marshes, giving the area a large amount of biological diversity. "With ducks and bunnies too!"
According to figures compiled by environmentalists for South Korea's Gyeonggi Province, there are about 2,900 different plant species in the DMZ as well as about 70 different types of mammals and 320 different types of birds. In addition, there are tens of thousands of landmines and pieces of unexploded ordinance in the DMZ because of the heavy fighting during the war. There are also periodic explosions when animals such as a deer stumble into mine fields. Again, any volunteers from PETA to research the area?
Turner is one of the largest private landholders in the United States and has been an outspoken advocate of himself owning land conservation. Turner said he hopes for peace on the peninsula and for the park to come to life once the two Koreas sign a peace treaty and are united. "You can't have a peace park without peace," Turner said. I thought it was a "nature preserve." Wonder if Teddie will now be riding in Jane's vegetable oil fueled van for a "peace park"?
Posted by: BA ||
08/17/2005 08:07 ||
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#1
Yeah, real cool ted! Gotta have peace to run a peace park. Brilliant! Is there any chance you could get the vain, untalented and idotic ex on board to scout out the DMZ on foot alone?
#3
This just proves Ted Turner is a cruel, cruel bastard. He's going to fill an area defended by mines, artillery, machine guns and wire with a massive number of wild animals -- in plain sight of one of the most famine-ridden populations in the world.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/17/2005 10:14 Comments ||
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#4
Nature - that's like animals and stuff, right? Sweet, delicious animals. And grass and trees for bark? Sign me up!
#7
The wildlife is there, mojo. Except for the deer, which boom nicely, the critters are too small to set off the mines. Actually, it's a lovely study in Nature taking back its own when left in peace. :-)
When The Today Show sprung a surprise this morning - an unannounced trip to Iraq by Matt Lauer - one US soldier had a little surprise of his own for Today and the media at large. Lauer interviewed a group of soldiers at Camp Liberty in Baghdad, and at one point asked about the state of morale. After getting two responses to the effect that morale was good, Lauer had this to say:
LAUER: "Don't get me wrong, I think you're probably telling the truth, but there might be a lot of people at home wondering how that might be possible with the conditions you're facing and with the insurgent attacks you're facing."
CAPTAIN SHERMAN POWELL: Well sir, I'd tell you, if I got my news from the newspapers I'd be pretty depressed as well."
This seems to me, he just insulted this officer, all but calling him a liar
If Lauer was the advocate for the anti-war case, he then made the cardinal mistake that no advocate should make: asking a question to which you don't know the answer.
#9
I used to get depressed, but I just don't watch Network News anymore. WTG Captain Powell! It would have been better had he executed Lauer live but I guess that would be asking too much.
#10
Cyber Sarge -- it was live!!! Go watch the video, the LIVE word is in the left hand corner.
Wish they had the entire interview posted. Rush played parts and that Captain had some words to say about what was really happening in Iraq and how he knew.
#11
CPT Lauer will probably have to give a class on proper reaction to media to his fellow officers to appease his now embarrassed commander and chain-of-command. He will also be most popular with the enlisted soldiers for that brief shining moment of unrehearsed candor. Officers are useful for some things, but CPT Lauer earned a thumbs up from me. Good for you sir!
#12
Damn my work computer! All I get is squares and puntuation marks. I will have to watch it at home. JK about Lauer and execution, but it would have made for great TV. I will bet next months pay check that the Today show is searching for a disgruntled soldier to stick up and say "See the troops really aren't happy, just listen to Pvt Snuffy here."
CRAWFORD, Texas â One of President Bush's neighbors will allow use of his land until it's taken by an eminent domain claim to extend I-27 by dozens of war protesters who have camped in roadside ditches the past 11 days, giving them more room and halving their distance from Bush's ranch.
Demonstrators said Fred Mattlage made the offer because he sympathizes with them. The protesters' makeshift camp off a winding, two-lane road leading to Bush's ranch has agitated other residents, who complained of the smell traffic jams and blocked roads.
Mattlage's Monday night offer, accepted by protesters Tuesday, will put them about a mile from Bush's ranch, said Hadi Jawad of the Crawford Peace House, which is helping the group.
Demonstrators said they would start moving their tents, anti-war banners and portable toilets to the new site Wednesday and hope to have the new camp set up in time for a dusk candlelight vigil.
A distant cousin who owns nearby land, Larry Mattlage, fired a shotgun twice into the air Sunday but no one was injured. Fred Mattlage said he does not share his cousin's frustrations with the group, Jawad said.
Tuesday morning, several landowners asked county commissioners to extend for at least two miles the public "no parking" zone around Bush's ranch. The ordinance now prohibits cars from stopping on the road within about a quarter of a mile.
#1
Article: Demonstrators said they would start moving their tents, anti-war banners and portable toilets to the new site Wednesday and hope to have the new camp set up in time for a dusk candlelight vigil.
Excellent. His place is going to smell like an open air latrine and look like a landfill by the time these guys are done with it.
#11
This whole thing only got so out of control because the media HATES being stuck in Crawford for an agonizing hot dusty boring month every year. But don't take *my* word for it; go now and read Iowahawk's Ode to Crawford.
#12
Mattlage Acres, home to the largest colony of Fire Ants in Texas. I hope:)
Posted by: Steve ||
08/17/2005 14:27 Comments ||
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This won't last long. The carnival will fold up when Congress and President Bush return to D.C., when the media has better things to lie about (Roberts nomination hearings, etc.)
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/17/2005 15:37 Comments ||
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#14
A good snipe at the liberal meme pushers. I really feel sorry for the Washington and New York press. So totally out of touch with the real USA.
#15
Someone should file a grievance with the EPA about this gathering and how it's impacting the enviroment. Who knows what endangered species these callous campers and slaughtering every night. Who knows the impact they are having on the ecosystem with their 'porta-potties' and unrestricted use of cooking devices. Something must be done!
#1
In truth, she probably doesn't. She's in over her head but doesn't realize it.
Posted by: leader of the pack ||
08/17/2005 15:45 Comments ||
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#2
I feel sorry for her, although not for her hangers-on supporters. Her son's death has clearly wrecked her life beyond repair. I hope that when she finally gets over it, there will be something left to go home to.
#3
Notice any similarities between Cindy and Jim Jones?
Speaknig of Cindy what ever happened to Joe Wilson/Valerie Plame. Who's more desperate for a victim to cling to MSM or the Dems.
#4
M: Notice any similarities between Cindy and Jim Jones?
Speaknig of Cindy what ever happened to Joe Wilson/Valerie Plame. Who's more desperate for a victim to cling to MSM or the Dems.
Big difference. Jim Jones got a bunch of people killed. This woman is just wrecking her own life - on live TV.
#6
anon: She's giving aid and comfort to the insurgents in Iraq by demanding a public apology for the war and an immediate withdrawl.
Aid and comfort means feeding and sheltering, not disagreeing with the war effort. Besides, she's already given to the war effort - the son she brought up at considerable expense is gone. I think we can ignore what she is saying in her unhinged state, but we cannot deny her the respect that is due to her as Casey Sheehan's mother. And I doubt the man himself, if he were still alive, would be comfortable with complete strangers vilifying his mother.
#7
ZF - I really don't care her cost, her pain, anymore. Neither does she. She's in it for herself, her assinine worldview, and her politics. She's sucking the honor from her son, who obviously held different views, and she's guilty of flip-flopping for her Move-On friends' support. She will die a lonely forgotten death, unsurrounded by her family, who abhor her agenda and actions, and unloved by the media suckers trying to take a dig on Bush to allay their August boredom. She has no real friends, and I'm certainly not sympathetic. F*&k her
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/17/2005 19:49 Comments ||
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#8
Cindy has become nothing but a tool used by the LLL. When she has been squeezed for all the useful value she has for them, she will be dumped on the waste heap of history. Sad, but it is her choice on how she acts.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/17/2005 19:57 Comments ||
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#9
Zhang Fei, maybe I have no idea what I'm talking about... but it's pretty clear to me that she cares more about her politics than about her son.
#10
FG: ZF - I really don't care her cost, her pain, anymore. Neither does she. She's in it for herself, her assinine worldview, and her politics. She's sucking the honor from her son, who obviously held different views, and she's guilty of flip-flopping for her Move-On friends' support. She will die a lonely forgotten death, unsurrounded by her family, who abhor her agenda and actions, and unloved by the media suckers trying to take a dig on Bush to allay their August boredom. She has no real friends, and I'm certainly not sympathetic. F*&k her
This isn't about politics and it's not about saying "fuck you" to a bereaved mother who also happens to be a complete stranger. It's about a woman who has become completely unhinged because of the death of her son. You may see this as some kind of movie where some rich celebrity joins some silly cause on a whim. But this woman is not a celebrity. And she isn't doing this on a whim - her son - the fruit of her loins - is no longer of this world. She is not some rich celebrity but an ordinary woman. Where is her means of support? How will she feed herself once this whole mess is over? Without the war, her son would still be alive and her existence would still be whole. Her son's death is the proximate cause of her misery, but the problem is that nothing will bring him back.
Beating on her is the equivalent of butt-stroking a dead terrorist's mother in the jaw (after you just killed her son) while she is cursing you out. Except in this case, Cindy Sheehan is one of our own, and her son died fighting for our side. It's one thing to dump on Jane Fonda, but quite another to dump on a dead soldier's mother. I don't agree with her, but I am certainly not going to cuss her out.
#11
ima kinda hope ZF is merciful and right. But I'll bet we see Cindy on Lifetime movies for 4 years, then at the DNC, then guess starin with Babs in little fun raisers
#12
ZF, while I respect deeply your compassion, you are making some rather large assumptions. It may be the case that her life was whole prior to her son's death - but at least one relative reportedly has said in public that Casey enlisted and re-enlisted in part to escape her.
I don't know what was true about that. I *do* know that since then she has had Moveon.org's PR firm working for her at someone else's expense, she has written truly hatefuly things about Israel, she is courting publicity and using her son to maintain her fleeting celebrity.
As to supporting herself, she apparently has driven away her husband and his side of the family permanently -- and has arrogated to herself their right to grieve over Casey's death too.
Unhinged? Her politics reportedly were far left well before the war. Her alignment with and use by the MoveOn.orgs and the leftwing establishment is neither an accident nor something forced on her.
With great respect for the pain of losing a child - something I know a little of personally - I submit that she is not grieving for a deep loss but rather indulging her ego in ways that are deeply hurtful to the rest of Casey's family.
#14
In a discussion a little while ago, Mrs. Bobby says she'll never get over the death of her son. Mrs. Bobby worried about out son in Iraq for six months, and she thought (at the time he went, last fall) that Al Qaim was safe!
I appreciate her pain, but not as much as Mrs. Bobby, but we both agree (I think) that shes's a fool/tool, and not doing her son's memory any favors.
Some things might not be as simple as they seem...
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/17/2005 21:14 Comments ||
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#15
But curse the fools who are using her as a tool!
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/17/2005 21:15 Comments ||
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#16
Here's where it comes down for me: I have friends, loved ones in the box in Iraq right now. They watch the news and they see this woman and the left trying really hard to replicate Vietnam. It eats at them to think the country does not support their danger and sacrifices.
What Sheehan and the organized far-left are doing is to deliberately render their sacrifices and those made before them meaningless, purposeless and futile. And in the name of those I know and care for who have died, been wounded or faced the stress of combat, I am deeply ANGRY about that.
#17
The real crime here is that the LLL will use anyone or anything to fit their agenda. It is the classic Left's The Ends Justify the Means. They care about nothing but one thing: stick it to the government and bring it down. It was that way in the 60s and it is that way now. We have an enemy in the 5th column just as evil and dangerous as the jihadis out yonder.
We are fighting a two front war.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/17/2005 21:45 Comments ||
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Mary Jo White wrote a lot of blistering memos but her follow through was poor. She was angered by the late term pardons issued by Bill but then after investigating them she couldn't connect the dots herself. She thus earned the name Mary Jo Whitewash.
President Bill Clinton's team ignored dire warnings that its approach to terrorism was "very dangerous" and could have "deadly results," according to a blistering memo just obtained by The Post. Then-Manhattan U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White wrote the memo ... [the NY Post doesn't post a copy- too bad]
... as she pleaded in vain with Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick to tear down the wall between intelligence and prosecutors, a wall that went beyond legal requirements.
Looking back after 9/11, the memo makes for eerie reading â because White's team foresaw, years in advance, that the Clinton-era wall would make it tougher to stop mass murder. "This is not an area where it is safe or prudent to build unnecessary walls or to compartmentalize our knowledge of any possible players, plans or activities," wrote White, herself a Clinton appointee. [the article mentions some of the other intel problems here]
"....Could some of those dots have been connected, absent the wall? There's no way to know â but surely the 9/11 Commission should have examined the issue.
This is the better story to hit at Gorelick and the firewall. Able Danger is too technical. It's a MEGO story. Nothing like a Federal DA who knows how to write.
I don't know how serious you were but 'treason' is, in my opinion, the wrong word.
I don't think Jamie Gorelick was treasonous (I've met her). She was morally vain, intellectually preening and had some ill-thought out beliefs (not just on law enforcement). Thus she was like a large number of other people in the Clinton administration. She is also engaged in full tilt denial of the ill effect of her work in the Clinton administration. In this she is like a somewhat smaller number of people in that administration. However, too be honest, there are people in the Bush administration who have similar problems (not nearly as many in my experience).
I am "thoroughly convinced" that the Clinton admin's was packed full of "reasonless bastards".
/plus some "treasonous bastards".
;) better?
Posted by: Red Dog ||
08/17/2005 11:50 Comments ||
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#8
While no one can determine what (on earth) was on J. Gorelick's mind, and since treason is a deliberate act of betrayal, we can debate semantics.
However, after being warned by Mary Jo White, and after Gorelick's obvious and deliberate ignoring of these warnings, treason is not so far off.
As for Bush v. Clinton administrations---please. Gorelick, Halfbright, Reno, Stuff Pants, Clinton impeachment....
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/17/2005 12:40 Comments ||
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#9
guess who was responsible for Gorelick's placement at Justice...Her Schemingness Herself! HRC.... the MSM won't allow this "piffle" to deny Hillary her destiny
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/17/2005 16:13 Comments ||
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Frank,
Good info. HRRC can kiss forget her presidential ambitions. This is red meat for the opponent.
From rubble to avenging angel: The U.S. Navy is using steel from the World Trade Center in a new ship, according to the Navy.
Ten tons of steel from the World Trade Centerâs twin towers will be used in the construction of the USS New York, according to a Navy official.
The San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock is slated to be commissioned in 2008. The New York will be LPD-21
For Patrick Cartier Sr., the ship is an honorable way to remember his son, James Marcel Cartier, who was killed when the South Tower collapsed.
âYouâve got the very soul of the event in that mangled steel, and all of that steel which housed all the people fell along with them and they were all consumed in that terrible fireball and that collapse,â the New York City man said.
Using the steel for the new ship would capture the spiritual essence of those who died in the World Trade Center, Cartier said.
âIf you would you use that steel, it would almost be a resurrection,â he said.
New York City firefighter Bill Butler also praised turning the steel from the World Trade Center into a fighting vessel.
âItâs a great testament to the strong will of the people who died that day,â said Butler, who was in the North Tower when it collapsed.
I consider all the people that died there to be keel plate owners of this ship.
Just as the morning rush at the ticket counter had subsided on Sept. 11, 2001, Tuohey was about to step outside for a cigarette when he spotted two men dressed in jackets and ties who looked a little lost. Tuohey told me, "I thought, 'If these guys don't look like Arab terrorists, who does?'" Then he added, "I mentally slapped myself, thinking, 'I have to be politically correct.' "
He checked them in for a flight from Portland to Boston. "One had a palpable contempt in his eyes and the other a goofy smile." Tuohey asked the "stupid questions" required at the time and for ID. "I got a visceral reaction, a gut reaction, but didn't know where to go with that," he told me.
The passengers checked two bags, held two one-way, first-class tickets connecting on American Airlines in Boston to Los Angeles. "These guys paid big bucks, $2,400 in cash. I thought I better treat 'em right," Tuohey told me. He couldn't do much since the security regulations, which had been tightened to level 3 after the bombing of the USS Cole six months before, had been loosened to level 2. "So I couldn't set them up for extra security as you could do with young Arab males prior to that time," Tuohey said. Tuohey did put "extra green tags" on their bags. In accordance with the CAPS computer program then in effect, that was a flag not to put the bags on the plane until the passenger had actually boarded.
The two passengers checked in only 17 minutes before flight departure time - they showed up at 5:43 a.m. for a 6 a.m. flight. They gave Tuohey a difficult time, insisting on one-step check-in. That meant that the agent in Portland would give them boarding passes for both flights so that they wouldn't have to go to the ticket counter in Boston. "I didn't like giving boarding passes for another airline in another city," said Tuohey, calling himself "a dinosaur in the business." So he held back the connecting flight boarding pass when it came out of the machine.
The elder of the two men, supposed Sept. 11 mastermind Mohammed Atta, kept repeating, "They told us one-step check-in." Tuohey remembers saying firmly to the terrorists, "You're running late. Get to the gate."
"Atta stared at me with a dead stare. There's more life in this picture than there was in his eyes," related Tuohey as he pointed to a newspaper photo. "Finally, he said something in Arabic to the kid with him - Abdulaziz Alomari - and they turned around real quick and headed for the gate." In retrospect, Tuohey thinks it was probably something like "I'm the leader of the gang, and I have to get to Boston."
At home that evening, watching TV news from New York, Tuohey said, "It sunk in." He emotionally described his pain as "the feeling in your stomach when someone you love deeply leaves you." Tuohey told me that he felt responsible not only for the events of Sept. 11 and the loss of lives but for the death of the American Airlines agent, Ana Zanni, who checked in Atta in Boston and has since taken her own life.
"Zanni never would have come in contact with them had I done my job and issued both boarding passes in one step," said Tuohey, who had never met Zanni.
"I've always hated political correctness. It grates on me," he told me. "Had it not been for political correctness ... ."
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/17/2005 07:31 ||
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#1
"I've always hated political correctness. It grates on me," he told me. "Had it not been for political correctness ... ."
#3
That poor bastard is going to have to live with that for the rest of his life - and I really admire his courage in coming forward and saying what he did.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/17/2005 10:56 Comments ||
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#4
In a complete turn around, how many of you do not give the olive-skinned bearded fellows a second look at the Airport now?
#5
I'm still cheesed that our government's failures and blindnesses left prevention of Sept. 11 up to a civilian airline counter clerk at 5:45 on a Tuesday morning. This plot was hatched and planned and practiced for years, right on our own soil. That's not what we pay our taxes for.
EFL
The United Nations bankrolled the production of thousands of banners, bumper stickers, mugs, and T-shirts bearing the slogan "Today Gaza and Tomorrow the West Bank and Jerusalem," which have been widely advertised on the Home Shopping Network distributed to Palestinian Arabs in the Gaza Strip, according to a U.N. official.
The U.N. support of the Palestinian Authority's propaganda operation in the midst of the Israeli evacuation of Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip has provoked outrage from Israeli and Jewish leaders, who are blaming Turtle Bay for propagating an inflammatory message that they say encourages Palestinian Arab violence.
"The intifada worked. That's contextually what this message is saying," the director of U.N. affairs for the Washington-based Jewish organization B'nai Brith, Amy Goldstein, said.
A special representative of the United Nations Development Program in the Gaza Strip, Timothy Rothermel, told Fox News that his office provided financial support for the production of materials that make up the Palestinian Authority's propaganda campaign, timed to coincide with the Gaza pullout.
In addition to the slogan "Today Gaza and Tomorrow the West Bank and Jerusalem," many of the materials displayed the logo of the United Nations Development Program, which operates in 166 countries and spends about half a billion dollars a year.
UNDP officials at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, however, denied that money from the program went directly to the propaganda campaign.
A UNDP spokesman, William Orme, said his office gave money to the Palestinian Withdrawal Committee to "help the Palestinian Authority communicate to the populace about the withdrawal and its economic and social impact."
The money was funneled through Kofi Annan's family to the committee through a subagency called Program of Assistance to the Palestinian People. U.N. officials claim they were not told about the propaganda campaign or about the slogan, he said.
The director of international affairs for the American Jewish Congress and a Sun op-ed columnist, David Twersky, criticized the UNDP for failing to better track their funds.
"How come they don't know what's happening to their money?" he said. "Where's the audit? Where's the transparency? How could responsible U.N. officials Who??? Responsible UN officials? Probably unicorns, too. living off of tax dollars have the chutzpah to say I don't know what they're spending their money on?"
Mr. Rothermel, in the Fox News interview, argued that the slogan, which predicts an Israeli disengagement from the West Bank and, presumably, East Jerusalem, is a message that is "consistent with the relevant U.N. resolutions and Security Council resolutions about the status of Palestine." That's probably true. "Death to joooooos" is also consistent with the UN member states' policies.
ALERT - Somalia â East and NE coast Nine incidents have been reported since July 16 2005. Heavily armed pirates are now attacking ships further away from the coast. The most recent incident took place 120 nm off the eastern coast. Ships are advised to keep as far away as possible from the Somali coast.
Recently reported incidents
[August 12 2005] at 1850 UTC at Balikpapan coal terminal, Indonesia. Four robbers armed with crowbars boarded a bulk carrier by climbing forward mooring ropes. They broke forward store lock and stole ship's stores and equipment. Duty A/B raised alarm and robbers fled in a white speedboat.
[August 11 2005] between 2100 - 2359 LT at Ao Chalong Bay, Phuket, Thailand. Unknown persons boarded and hijacked a moored yacht. Marine police searched the area without success. Description, name - Switch Blade, one diesel engine, length 44 ft, hull - Ferrari red with white marking, deck-grey. Yacht was subsequently found on August 13 2005 off Koh Lanta, Thailand.
[August 10 2005] at 0800 LT off Ktubdia Island, Bangladesh. A group of pirates in five trawlers armed with guns boarded a tug towing a tanker for scrap. Pirates stole stores and property from the tug and tanker. Tug sent out a message for help and a coast guard vessel arrived on scene. They detained the pirates and five trawlers and recovered stolen items.
[August 10 2005] at 0001 LT at 00:33.1N - 117 43.7E, Tanjung Bara Anchorage, Indonesia. Robbers boarded a bulk carrier. They broke padlock of fore peak locker and stole ship's stores.
[August 09 2005] at 0035 UTC in position 17:52.4N - 076:47.1W, Kingston Outer Anchorage, Jamaica. Four robbers in an unlit boat tried to board a container ship. Deck Officer raised alarm, sounded whistle and crew mustered and robbers aborted boarding. Ship heaved up anchor and moved out of anchorage area.
[August 05 2005] at 1220 LT Laguna Grande, Venezuela. Three robbers armed with machetes boarded a yacht at anchor and started lowering the dingy. Skipper confronted one robber who slashed him with machete. Robber jumped into water and with his accomplices and started taking the dingy. Skipper pursued them but robbers repeatedly slashed him with machetes causing severe injuries. Skipper's colleague onboard contacted authorities and armed guards arrived and took skipper ashore for hospital treatment. Subsequently, stolen dingy was recovered.
Authorities earlier this year thwarted a plot by Islamic militants to mount a truck bomb attack on the US embassy in Manila, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales told AFP yesterday.
The plot by the Jemaah Islamiyah would have involved âan attack on the US embassy using a 1,000 kg truck bomb,â Gonzales said in an interview.
He said the explosives were recovered after Daud Santos, a Muslim convert who is allegedly a member of the JI-linked Abu Sayyaf Group, was arrested in a police raid in Manila in March.
Also eyed as targets were the embassies of Australia and Britain, key antiterror allies of the United States, Gonzales said.
He said Santos is now free on bail, highlighting Manilaâs failure to pass an antiterrorist law that would enable the government to hold terrorist suspects for longer periods.
Under existing laws, suspects detained for possessing explosives can post bail while the judiciary determines their guilt.
At that time of Santosâ arrest, the British embassy warned its citizens not to travel in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, a hotbed of Muslim militancy.
âWe believe that terrorists are in the final stages of planning an attack. However, attacks could occur at any time, anywhere in the Philippines,â the embassy said in its bulletin in March.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/17/2005 12:57 ||
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The Thai government has turned to British Premiership football to quell a separatist insurgency after the failure of more conventional approaches.
More than 800 people have been killed since the rebellion erupted 18 months ago in the Muslim-majority south, which was once an independent sultanate. The government has tried strict controls and promises of aid. Last month it passed emergency powers authorising detention without charge for 30 days, search and arrest without warrants, and telephone tapping.
It even air-dropped millions of origami birds as a gesture of peace but the killing went on. So the government announced that up to 1,000 television sets, complete with cable subscriptions, were to be handed out.
In football-mad Thailand the Premiership is the most popular item on subscription channels. The sets will go to places such as village tea shops that have been repeatedly bombed for poor inhabitants to watch head-chopping games games together. "Television and sports will help liven up the region," said Kongsak Wantana, the interior minister. "Most children love watching sports on TV but they can't afford that at home. And they'll just love the head-chopping spectacles!
"So we are giving them what they love, hoping it can help solve the problem." No, but a little bombing and occasional shooting down of Islamists might help solve your problem.
A spokesman for the Premier League said: "If they can use Premier League football to bring warring factions together it can only be a good thing." Have these guys ever seen what happens at South American or European soccor matches, especially ones between intense rivals?
Posted by: The Angry Fliegerabwehrkanonen ||
08/17/2005 12:24 ||
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Have they tried hunting down and killing the guilty parties?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/17/2005 13:16 Comments ||
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First things first, RC. They've tried the origami cranes, next is soccer. Then comes the All-Faiths Ice Cream Social, the community outreach rec center, and then the hunting down and killing of guilty parties.
Appeasement may be cheaper for a country highly dependent on tourist dollars. Thailand is one of the top tourist destinations in the world. If terrorist strikes start spreading, that will change. They're hoping to contain it. Note that under the placid surface, things are happening - I have read of Muslim complaints about mysterious disappearances. Thais are polite to a fault, but if you've ever watched a bout of Thai boxing, you'll know that they're not necessarily a squeamish people.
#7
I say just start killing terrorists. The Thai government is trying all the stuff that can't work against a philosophy that says kill the other.( just like ours.) You can't fight Fascists with education, you have to imprison them in a way that they can't spread their vile doctrine or, kill them. There is no other way. Fascism is a threat to all people everywhere. Even our government fails to get this bit of reality.
#8
Maybe if the just give what they want they'll just be nice. That and that Thais stop praciticing Bhuddism, and well, knock all the Bhuddist Temples down. Er, and don't forget about the women, cover 'em up.
Oh, yeah, and Isreal outta Palestine.
Iran's ministers of the interior, of intelligence and security, and of defense will come to the legislature on 17 August to describe steps they have taken to reestablish order and security in the country's predominantly Kurdish northwestern provinces, according to Fars News Agency on 13 August. Legislators are likely to be disappointed.
Tehran's response to the recent unrest is following a fairly typical pattern -- initial denials followed by accusations of foreign involvement. Yet the problems are sufficiently worrying that both the executive branch and the legislature have conducted inquiries.
The most recent problems in the northwest can be traced to the early July shooting in Mahabad, West Azerbaijan Province, of a Kurdish activist known as Shavaneh Qaderi. Police reportedly shot him on 11 July when he resisted arrest. This led to demonstrations, shop closures and strikes, damage to buildings, and dozens of arrests. At least one person, a police officer, lost his life.
Expatriate Kurdish sources claimed that after the initial incident in Mahabad, the unrest spread to other predominantly Kurdish towns, including Baneh, Bukan, Divandareh, Oshnavieh, Piranshahr, Sanandaj, Saqqez, and Sardasht. Websites posted photographs purporting to show Qaderi's mutilated body, and they made claims of dozens of civilian deaths at the hands of security forces.
Official sources confirmed the extent of the problems. Abbas Khorshidi, the deputy governor-general in West Azerbaijan Province, said four police officers were killed during 26 July demonstrations in Oshnavieh, "Mardom Salari" reported on 28 July. A civilian died as well, Khorshidi said, but the family refused to permit an autopsy, and no further information is available. Alireza Jamshidi, the deputy governor-general for security affairs in Kurdistan Province, described a 3 August demonstration in Saqqez in which security forces intervened, "Farhang-i Ashti" reported on 7 August. Two police officers and six civilians were killed, and 142 people were arrested.
Coinciding with these events, which reportedly continued into the second week of August, were violent and fatal clashes between Iranian security forces and members of the Kurdistan Independent Life Party (PJAK) -- which is affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) -- along Iran's border with Iraq and Turkey. Deputy Governor-General Khorshidi confirmed on 8 August that four police officers were killed in clashes near Urumiyeh the previous day, the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) reported.
In mid-June, security forces in Mahabad clashed with Kurds who were celebrating the election of Mas'ud Barzani as president of the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq, and early June celebrations of the selection of Patriotic Union of Kurdistan leader Jalal Talabani as Iraq's president led to clashes in which up to 15 police were injured.
Tehran has not been very forthcoming on developments on the periphery that might shed an adverse light on its assertions of national unity. Nevertheless, the extent of the unrest and media inquiries has prompted officials to react.
Brigadier General Ismail Ahmadi-Moghaddam, chief of the national police force, dismissed the unrest during a trip to the northwest in the second week of August. He said locals were not involved in what he referred to as isolated incidents. The interference of outside elements, the police chief said, exacerbated the situation. As for Qaderi, Ahmadi-Moghaddam described him as a criminal rather than a political activist, according to Iranian media reports on 11 and 12 August.
Fars News Agency reported on 13 August that Iranian security forces recently arrested two individuals connected with Al-Qaeda -- reportedly Arabs from an unspecified country bordering Iraq -- who infiltrated Iran from an area in Iraq controlled by the United Kingdom The two reportedly were present during the unrest in Kurdistan and West Azerbaijan provinces.
Some Iranian sources blamed the United States for the clashes involving the PJAK. Parliamentarian Mahmud Nabirudaki said on 9 August that "one of the main reasons for the unrest" was a purported meeting between PJAK members and U.S. military personnel in Iraq's Salah Al-Din, IRNA reported. After this meeting, he continued, leaflets calling for shop closures and for protests against the killings of Kurds were distributed in Mahabad, Oshnavieh, and Sanandaj. Nabirudaki said the legislature's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee has asked the president to put the Kurdish issue on the agenda of the Supreme National Security Council.
The majority of the Iranian population of approximately 68 million is ethnically Persian, and about 89 percent of the population practices Shi'te Islam. The constitution asserts that the state religion is Shi'ite Islam and the official language is Persian. Kurds comprise 7 percent of the total population, some 4.8 million people, and are mostly Sunni Muslims.
The constitution grants equal rights to all ethnic minorities and to practitioners of other schools of Islam. It says laws in parts of the country where these minorities predominate may reflect specific, non-Shi'ite schools of Islam. The constitution says minority languages may be used in the media and schools. Nevertheless, Kurds and other minorities frequently complain of inattention to their economic, social, and cultural needs, as well as of discrimination and inadequate representation in the government.
The legislature has been proactive on the Kurdish issue. Its National Security and Foreign Policy Committee met on 5 August with the governors-general and parliamentarians from West Azerbaijan and Kurdistan provinces, as well as high-ranking representatives of the Interior Ministry, the Ministry of Intelligence and Security, and the police.
The committee's rapporteur, Kazem Jalali, told ISNA afterward that one of the factors contributing to the unrest is the comparatively high level of economic development in Kurdish areas of Iraq and Turkey. Jalali referred to poverty, unemployment, and smuggling. "Growing demands and sentiments and the comparison of social, ethnic, and religious status of the border area [with other regions] have prepared the ground for disunity and encouraged the residents to search for solutions outside [the country]," he said.
The extent of the unrest in the northwest was such that a government inquiry took place, but its findings were not made public. Mahabad's parliamentary representative, Jafar Ainparast, regretted this lack of openness and warned that such problems will occur again, "Siyasat-i Ruz" reported on 7 August. "How come the foreign media criticized this event fully and completely and we were not even able to give people the necessary information?" Ainparast asked.
The parliamentary representative of Saqqez and Baneh, Fakhredin Haidari, called on President Mahmud Ahmadinejad to look into the factors that contribute to unrest in the Kurdish areas, "Siyasat-i Ruz" reported on 7 August. He called for fair and speedy hearings for arrested individuals, sympathy for the families of the deceased, and the improvement of "security conditions in the Kurdish regions of Iran."
Sanandaj's Hushang Hamidi said on 9 August that government officials have been informed of the shortcomings in the Kurdish areas, ISNA reported. "We have no problem raising the issue, but, although our demands are legal, we have problems coming up with solutions and removing the shortcomings," he added. "We have civil demands. We want citizenship rights. We want welfare and the observation of legal rights and equality in various aspects including management, and meritocracy in the Kurdish regions. These are the areas in which Article 48 of the constitution has not been observed." Hamidi went on to say that his request for a meeting with the president has gone unanswered, and he warned that a failure to address such issues could lead to further unrest.
"The real root and origin of these disturbances was the promises that the officials have given when they have come face to face with the demands of the Kurds, but up to now, these promises have remained unfulfilled," Sanandaj representative Amin Shabani said, according to "Mardom Salari" on 13 August. He said the superficial reason for the unrest was the distribution of doctored photographs of Qaderi's corpse, but he added that the police used excessive force. Shabani also criticized state radio and television for not providing accurate information and thereby contributing to the unrest.
Shabani added that young jobless people in the Kurdish provinces are angry, too. "Unemployment is in fact one of the factors which made it possible for certain elements to incite the young people of the province," he added. Another grievance, he said, is the absence of Sunni cabinet members.
Few Iranian minority group members advocate separatism, and they mostly endorse the country's territorial integrity. What they are calling for is greater attention to their economic needs and their political rights. Most of the country's officials, at least in their public comments, appear to recognize this, even if they are unwilling to act on it.
An extreme exception is Hojatoleslam Gholam Reza Hassani, the supreme leader's representative in West Azerbaijan. ILNA reported on 10 August that Hassani, known for his colorful turns of phrase, said: "I warn the relevant authorities to put the bandits in their place as soon as possible. They must put down the provocation of the counterrevolutionaries, for if they fail to do so, I shall wear my own death shroud to command the volunteering public in the war against bandits and counterrevolutionaries. I deem it necessary to pick up my weapon and tear open the chests of the counterrevolutionaries."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/17/2005 12:41 ||
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TEHERAN - The new government of ultra-conservative Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday ruled out any resumption of ties with the United States and said it would never have relations with Israel. âThe programme for domestic and foreign policy (foresees) active and healthy relations with all governments but never with the usurper regime in Qods (Jerusalem) and not with the American regime so long it fails to respect the greatness and interests of the Iranian people.â
But the programme said the new government did intend to âcontinue the policy of detenteâ begun by reformist former president Mohammad Khatami, according to state news agency reports. Under the government manifesto, Iran will give âpriority to a regional vision in international relations and priority to the Islamic world, countries of the Persian Gulf, the Caspian Sea, Central Asia and the Pacific in its political, economic and cultural relations.â
"Our vision involves your doing what we tell you to do, Insha'allan."
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/17/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
did someone say we wanted "relations?" I sure as hell didn't and don't expect my government to seek any "engagement" these people are openly at war with us.
#2
John Kerry warned us this would happen. Now there will be hell to pay.
Posted by: Chris W. ||
08/17/2005 0:09 Comments ||
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Damn camel jocks, you have "relations" whether you plan to or not. In Iran's case, our "relations" with them will eventually go boom.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/17/2005 1:09 Comments ||
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Relations with Iran?
OK, but only when the American Embassy in Teheran is completely rehabbed, painted, re-furnished and scrubbed clean, and a committee of former militants goes around to each of the former hostages and apologizes deeply and sincerely for their captivity.
And not a moment before.
#5
It would be pretty bad if the selfproclaimed purest of the faithful were willingly having relations and talking to the "great satan." Memo to magic mullahs: If you choose to make a thing ugly well then it's surely going to get really ugly.
#8
Ties, I thought the Iranians were known for rugs.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/17/2005 12:11 Comments ||
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"new government of ultra-conservative Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
It's really disconserting that the press uses the word "conservative," when describing these terrorists. Everytime the subject of Iran is brought up in the MSM, they go out their way to report a subsequent story with GOP subject matter. Since the word "conservative" is used in both stories, the uninformed public equates terrorists with the GOP.
ACLU Head Likens Praying School Board Members to 9/11 Terrorists
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana, August 17, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) â An American Civil Liberties Union director equated school board members who pray before their meetings with 9/11 al-Qaida terrorists.
In comments made on camera to local WAFB-TV, Joe Cook of the ACLU of Louisiana said, âThey believe that they answer to a higher power, in my opinion,â referring to school board members who want to maintain the right to begin school board meetings with prayer. Answering to a âhigher powerâ âis the kind of thinking that you had with the people who flew the airplanes into the buildings in this country, and the people who did the kind of things in London,â he maintained. It is also the kind of thinking that led many thousands of Christians to risk torture and death to hide Jews in their homes during the heyday of the Third Reich.
Alliance Defense Fund senior counsel Mike Johnson welcomed Cookâs comments as evidence of how extreme the ACLU really is. âIt shows the ACLU has become more and more extreme and marginalized,â he said, as reported by WorldNetDaily.com. âSo, to that extent, I like it when he talks, because he simply reveals who they are.â
Johnson explained that the ACLU comes âacross as champions of liberty, but the truth of the matter is they are extremists. It's clear in a number of recent cases that the ACLU of Louisiana wants to impose a radical form of secularism that the Constitution doesn't require, and frankly, that people of this state are not willing to accept,â he added.
The ACLU is representing the parents of two students from the Tangipahoa Parish district, who sued the school board, claiming that prayer before board meetings was unconstitutional. The board is appealing a federal judge who agreed with the parents, ruling that prayer at the meetings violates the US Constitution.
The school board argues that the prayer is not discriminatory, because anyone of any religious perspective is free to lead the prayers.
See Joe Cook deliver his wacky statement, as broadcast by WAFB-TV:
http://www.jharrisdesigns.com/JoeCook'sCommentsTangipahoa.wmv
tv
I admit that I have not been paying as much attention as usual to the news, but I think I might have noticed if these school board types had massacred 3000 people and set off a worldwide celebration by their co-religionists. Was there a string about it here at Rantburg? Did Dubya make a speech? Have we attacked the Bible Belt?
I live in Lubbock, the veritable buckle of that belt, and I ama trained military observer. I think I might have noticed if we were under attack by US forces. I can feed them a juicy target list, though, if their agents will just get in touch.
Seriously, I am an agnostic and I oppose school prayer, but this is beyond the pale, rank idiocy.
Moroccan police have arrested 13 men suspected of planning terrorist attacks in Morocco with the help of an al-Qaeda linked Algerian Islamist formation, the Algerian MAP news agency reported on Wednesday, citing a senior Moroccan judicial source. Seven of the 13 individuals arrested were arrested in the Moroccan city of Sale, less than a kilometre from the Moroccan capital, Rabat, and the other sixs, in Algeria. In-depth interrogation of all 13 is due to start in early September, the source said. The men, aged between 18 and 30, face charges of criminal conspiracy, attempts to undermine state security and to perpetrate terrorist attacks in public places, as well as extortion, and illegal carrying of weapons, according to a Moroccan court comunique received by MAP. If tried and found guilty, they face between five and 30 year in prison, according to the judicial source.
The six arrested in Algeria are suspected of undergoing training with a cell linked to the al-Qaeda linked Salafist Group for Training and Combat (GSPC), the main militant Islamist group still fighting the Algerian authorities in an insurgency dating from 1992.
"Those arrested wanted to set up the hard core of a Moroccan GSPC," said the judicial source.
Leading Moroccan human rights group Association marocaine des droits humains (AMDH) has called for an investigation of a number of disappearances and kidappings in Sale last week, which they blamed on domestic intelligence services.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/17/2005 12:44 ||
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#1
Sale is just across the river from Rabat.
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/17/2005 18:33 Comments ||
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In-depth interrogation of all 13 is due to start in early September, the source said
until then, a cup of water and a crust of bread in solitary, to loosen their tongues
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/17/2005 19:02 Comments ||
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August 17, 2005: The U.S. Army has had so much success with its Viper Strike âsmart bombâ, that the U.S. Air Force is adapting the weapon for use on Predator UAVs and AC-130 gunships. Viper Strike is a 36 inch long unpowered glider. The 130mm diameter (with the wings folded) weapon weighs 44 pounds. Because the Viper Strike comes straight down, it is better suited for urban warfare. Its warhead only contains four pounds of explosives, meaning less damage to nearby civilians, while still powerful and accurate enough to destroy its target. A laser designator makes the Viper Strike accurate enough to hit an automobile, or a foxhole. Moreover, a Predator can carry two Viper Strikes in place of a single, hundred pound, Hellfire missile. An AC-130 could carry dozens of Viper Strike weapons.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/17/2005 12:02 ||
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August 17, 2005: American infantrymen in Iraq have another combat droid to take the point (the lead man for advancing into dangerous territory). MARCBOT (Multi Function Agile Remote-Controlled Robot), while intended for running into houses, or around corners, to see if the enemy is lying in wait, has found itself most in demand for helping spot IEDs (roadside bombs). Most IEDs are discovered, but American troops or Iraqi police do it via constant patrolling of roads. MARCBOT, at $8,000 each, was meant to be a cheaper alternative to the more expensive (often five times, or more) battlefield robots. Based on commercial (as in hobby type radio controlled vehicles) technology, MARCBOT is a rugged, four wheeled, battery operated, radio controlled vehicle with a camera and moveable arm on it. This seemed perfect for checking out suspicious items on the highway. Normally, the troops would either wait for the more expensive bots to show up (with their EOD, explosive ordnance disposal, handlers), or risk life and limb poking the suspicious object, or taking a few shots at it. So 30 of the MARCBOTs were sent to Iraq, for use by troops patrolling for IEDs. The troops loved it. MARCBOT was easy to use, could be controlled from over a hundred meters away and itâs movable arm enabled it to poke and probe as suspicious objects. Many IEDs were being found using MARCBOTs, although at least one was lost when the terrorists set off the bomb the robot was examining. MARCBOT was so popular, and cheap, that 300 hundred more were ordered. The only problem with MARCBOT was the vulnerability of the arm, and all the complex equipment associated with it (electric motors, camera). The troops tend to toss the MARCBOT into the back of a hummer or truck, without realizing how vulnerable some of the robots components are to damage. Other, more expensive, combat robots, are built to be tossed around. But MARCBOT has a much lower price partly because it has not been âruggedized.â
Posted by: Steve ||
08/17/2005 11:55 ||
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#1
Rather than an arm, why not just put a stick on the front of the thing? Cheaper, less prone to break. All you have to do is move the RC car back and forth to "poke" the target.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/17/2005 12:17 Comments ||
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The MSM will have to start a casket count on MARCBOTs.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/17/2005 12:26 Comments ||
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MACROBOT replaces the older unit, Controlled Robot Agile Prototype
August 17, 2005: The Taliban are trying to disrupt the September 18 national elections. Their efforts are scattered and largely ineffectual. American and Afghan counterattacks are killing many of the Taliban, and chasing most of them back into Pakistan, or to their Afghan villages. Someone is putting up millions of dollars to pay these guys, as few of them will risk their lives for free any more. Some of the money is believed to be coming from the drug trade. The heroin trade is bringing billions of dollars a year into the Afghan economy, and some of that is being spent to try and disrupt anti-drug efforts. Taliban gunmen are available for that. So was this guy:KUWAIT CITY - A Pakistani man has been detained in Kuwait over alleged links with a failed heroin smuggling operation and is being questioned about possible links with terrorist networks, a security source said on August 15. Ali Mir Ahmed, 23, who worked as a hairdresser in Kuwait City was detained over the shipment seized on August 13, said the source. It said authorities nabbed the heroin with a market value of 200 million dollars smuggled inside a shipment of 88 hand-made carpets to Kuwait airport. The authorities found with Ahmed documents showing the carpets were shipped to him from inside Afghanistan.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/17/2005 11:45 ||
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#1
The FARC, the Shining Path, EZLN, and the up and coming narco-terr Mara Salvatrucha 7, 13 & 18 gangs would be so very very proud! A thug is a thug is a thug.
LH's moderate muslim watch.
Saudi journalist says terror groups should be treated as Nazis, total war should be declared on extremist Islamic Ideology
By Roee Nahmias Not everyone in the Arab world praises Osama Bin Laden and terror groups as heroes. Indeed, some Arabs have issues scathing attacks on radical Islamic groups and they manner in which they interpret Islam. The criticism leveled at extremists by Saudi journalist Muhammad al al-Sheikh, however, is unusual in its harshness. In two pieces published in Saudi newspaper al-Jazeera, and presented courtesy of the Middle East Media Research Institute, al-Sheikh charged radical Islamists hold a similar, and even worse, ideology than radical Islam, and should be treated as Europeans coped with Nazism.
The first article was published in July 10, following the release of an extremist spiritual leader from prison. The release raises many questions, al-Sheikh said. âThe man is one of the forefathers of terrorism and he is the one who raised, through his books and radical interpretations, many of those belonging to terror groups.â âThey say a Jordanian court acquitted him of charges that include the blowing up of American facilitiesâŠhowever, this dangerous terrorist did something much worse: he seized upon the down-and-out situation of many Muslim youths today in order to perpetuate violence, murder and destruction forever. In order to plant deep roots for the idea of suicide and to incite kids to commit suicide. This is the root of the problem.â
âHating the otherâ
According to al-Sheikh, âeradicating terror will only be possible by doing away with the ideas that come from our society. A military solution is not enough,â he said. âWe must treat modern Jihad parties just as the Europeans treated Naziism. The ideas of radical Islam are similar to the ideas that drove the Nazi ideology. If the economic freeze and national depression in 1930 led to the emergency to murderous Nazism, we can say that the economic and cultural failure that grip Arab and Muslim countries today, together with the frustration of many Muslims, are once again driving this murderous philosophy."
Similarly, the common denominator is hatred and physical elimination of the other, al-Sheikh said âI still believe that one of the first tasks for the international community today should be to reconstruct its experience with Nazism and cope with this barbaric, dangerous culture as it did with the Nazi culture,â al-Sheikh wrote. âIf this isnât done, the coming days could be very eventful and their implications for the whole of humanity would be much more severe than those of the World War,â he concluded somberly..
#2
Well, no doubt the majority of his fellow Muslims -- who are moderates, right? -- will rush to his defense.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/17/2005 10:04 Comments ||
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al-Sheikh charged radical Islamists hold a similar, and even worse, ideology than radical Islam, and should be treated as Europeans coped with Nazism.
Maybe so, but the Nazis were a lot more organized.
#5
and didn't have to stop the Panzers to pray to Allan five times a day.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
08/17/2005 11:33 Comments ||
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I'm pretty sure that Muhammad al al-Sheikh is a pseudonym. He may be making fun of a similarly named individual who is a high level official in the Islamic Ministry.
If it is a psuedonym does it count on the liberal muslim list?
#2
Oh sure, once they can have free access there will be plenty more traditional small business opportunities such as foreign cash for armed nutters, boomer cash for surviving family members, arms and munitions trading, smuggling people, counterfeit currency and goods, bomb production, rocket production, martyr production, and, of course, increased assembly line production of hate and violence. I'm sure their traditional economic activities will flourish.
#3
Why am I reminded of the dead Parrot routine from Monty Python?
Posted by: N guard ||
08/17/2005 8:29 Comments ||
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Of corse it can. There is no reason why Palestine can't achieve the same level of economic self-sufficiency, liberal democracy, and high culture as the rest of the Arab world.
#6
Can't see why not, the Pals have shown such good business sense when they took over control. What company wouldn't want to invest in a place where your business could be bombed, burned, or vandalized by just about everyone that has a gripe.
#9
Maybe the pals should stop blowing them the fuck up and act like humans, just a thought. If they would make some changes, like say, quit talking about the destruction of the Israeli state, maybe things would be different. Their little wussy intifada has really done them right, huh?
#10
What company wouldn't want to invest in a place where your business could be bombed, burned, or vandalized by just about everyone that has a gripe.
For a second, I thought we were talking about Detroit.
Pakistanâs Supreme Court yesterday rejected the appeals of 11 madrasa graduates who were banned from this weekâs municipal elections because they had not studied English, Pakistan Studies and the countryâs dominant language, Urdu, an official said. The ruling by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry upholds a law that had not been strictly enforced in the past for fear of angering students and clerics in madrasas, which have been accused of fostering militancy.
The Supreme Court decision, which will likely affect scores of candidates, came days after another judge allowed a religious school graduate to run in tomorrowâs elections, raising fears that members of outlawed militant groups could become councilors and mayors. âThose people who got certificates from madrasas but had not studied English, Pakistan Studies and Urdu cannot stand in the municipal elections,â said Mukhdoom Ali Khan, the attorney general of Pakistan. The Pakistani government does not recognize certificates of madrasa graduates who donât study and pass the three subjects.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/17/2005 01:00 ||
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Universal is stepping up for a 9/11 movie, the second major studio film about the terrorist events. Studio and director Paul Greengrass have set an October start date for "Flight 93."
U's $15 million film will be 90 minutes long and cover the flight in real time. It begins with the takeoff and hijacking of United Airlines Flight 93 by terrorists, the discovery by passengers with cell phones that other hijacked planes had been steered into the World Trade Center towers, and the realization that their plane was being steered toward D.C. Pic culminates in the decision by passengers to sacrifice their lives to bring the plane down. Flight 93 crashed in Pennsylvania.
Greengrass last directed "The Bourne Supremacy," but "Flight 93" seems closer in style to his 2002 film "Bloody Sunday," a drama about an Irish civil-rights protest that ended in a massacre by British troops in 1972.
"Flight 93" will be partly improvised with an ensemble cast, and Greengrass will use handheld cameras and other stylized techniques to give the film a gritty feel.
Greengrass got the U deal with a 20-page treatment that begins with a stream of consciousness summation of the tragedy he feels "changed our lives forever." After noting that media, politicians, historians and religious leaders will try to find a context for the 9/11 tragedy as its fifth anniversary approaches next year, Greengrass makes the case for his film to do the same. I have no idea about this guy. Can we expect another far-left propaganda effort? Or will he play it straight. I am so disconnected from Hollyweird ever since I moved out of the PRC.
A 40-day shoot is expected to begin Oct. 1. While there is no timetable for the film's release, one scenario would be to submit it to the Cannes Film Festival in 2006 and release it shortly after.
The sudden emergence of the picture creates an unforeseen race with Paramount Pictures, which is mounting a 9/11 feature on an entirely different event. And directed by Oliver Stone from an entirely different reality.
Like U, Paramount hasn't finalized the difficult decision of when to release the film. Treading close to Sept. 11 might seem crass, and audiences might not want to be reminded of the tragedy if the film opens after Sept. 11, 2006. We certainly don't want to remember why we are at war. Abu Gharib. Abu Gharib. Abu Gharib. Abu Gharib. Abu Gharib. Abu Gharib. Abu Gharib. Abu Gharib. Abu Gharib. Abu Gharib. Abu Gharib.
#3
Nah - it will conclude by blaming it all on Karl Rove or Bush and Haliburton... If only we hadn't invaded Iraq it never would have happened (yes the LLL does suffer from a time warp....).
#4
some of the passengers converting to Islam just before impact LOL!!
They already told us.....it will be like a "a drama about an Irish civil-rights protest that ended in a massacre by British troops in 1972".
Expect lots of pictures of brave Jihadi martyers, dead Iraqi children and orphans crying over the corpses of their parents - juxatposed against Paul Wolfowitz and Dick Cheney clinking glasses at some gala affair - with the orchestra symbols clanging in time to the bombs going off.
In a (favorable!) comment on his movie "Bloody Sunday":
Shot in a hand-held documentary style, this conveyed the feelings of anger on the one hand and indifference on the other that lead to the killing of 13 people.
It is clear why so many turned to the IRA after the tragedy of this event and perhaps puts some of the terrorism of the ensuing years into context. That is not to say that perhaps there were some omissions. I thought it didn't quite convey the fear the soldiers felt that might have caused them to fire, it is assumed that they did so with little provocation. Maybe this was true. On the whole it does tend to cast them as heartless b***ards intent on zero tolerance and they were one dimensional compared to the Irish characters. It is never really clear why they pulled the triggers.
Another positive comment:
Towards the end, the film does tend to skip realism a bit, as it seems to side with the demonstrators a tad too much, while showing off all English soldiers as cold blooded killers. On the whole though, a very watchable film. [8/10]
Odds are it'll be more Hollywood crap.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/17/2005 15:21 Comments ||
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#8
His "Omagh" -- about a 1998 Real IRA bombing in Omagh -- elicited a positive review on the World Socialist Website, which included this:
The painful experiences dramatised in Omaghâthe horror of the event, the stonewalling and cover-up by state officialsâwill clearly resonate with families who lost loved ones in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York. Like Omagh residents, they, too, have watched with increasing horror at the unceasing subterfuge and lies from the Bush administration.
#10
How 'bout this film that Paul Greengrass is currently directing (and is a co-writer of the screenplay).
(from IMDB)
They Marched Into Sunlight
Plot Outline: On one day in October 1967, two events, the loss of 61 American soldiers in a Viet Cong ambush and a student protest against Dow Chemical, galvanize opposition to the Vietnam war on college campuses.
The following clip is an excerpt from an interview with the commander of the Palestinian Presidential Guard, Munir Al-Zu'bi, which discussed the death of Yasser Arafat. The interview aired on Al-Arabiya TV on August 13, 2005.
*Clip # 810 - Commander of Arafat's Presidential Guard Munir Al-Zubi: Arafat May Have Been Poisoned by a Laser Beam, a Handshake, or a Kiss Ewwwwwww.....but I digress. Please, continue!
... If he was poisoned, it was by new and very sophisticated materials, Cooties, most likely
and not directly. It was not direct poisoning.
Interviewer: You mean, Yes - EXACTLY!
there must have been...
Al-Zubi: ...Either by someone who used a very advanced kind of poison and shook hands with the president, with a poisoned hand, or by someone who kissed him with some substance (on his lips). I repeat: Ewwwwwwwww......
This way there are poisons that are transferred... There are sophisticated poisons that are passed this way. That is one possibility. Another is by laser beams.
"If you look closely, you can see the place where they drilled the hole in his forehead"...
When Abu Ammar would walk here, the Israeli army... we were unprotected. The Beit El settlement is right over there. The Beit El base... Abu Ammar used to stand here.....in addition, there were planes sometimes... AWACS planes...
Interviewer: Yes, but poisoning... Right, but the laser would have hit...You were with him most of the time...
Al-Zubi: No, a laser beam aimed at a person can hit him. I was in Paris when the president went to the hospital. Something that a French doctor explained to us stuck in my mind. He said that assuming Abu Ammar had been killed by poison, the only possibility was poisoning by laser beam, either by journalists, or a TV camera, or a certain device that transmits a laser beam. Would that be something called...a Laser? When Abu Ammar would sit in an interview, the camera would be pointed at him for fifteen minutes to half an hour. So - the old microwave-in-the-camera trick!
Is that why he always looked toasted?
If this camera were to transmit beams it may have caused such a result. ...And hot dogs are better than rhubarb, but neither one is as expensive as ice cream. What the HELL are you talking about??
He might have been harmed this way. And as soon as we find out who did it...I move that RB buys him dinner.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/17/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Sounds like this fellow has no knowledge of lasers, I think a focused Microwave could do it, but there would be plain signs of heating the tissues.
For that matter he would feel the burn, and probably yelp.
Laser beams to deliver poison? Dumb shit reporting.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/17/2005 1:59 Comments ||
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#3
Actually these clowns believe in witchcraft and crap so no telling what they think. How about he died of old age? I mean freeking old age kills people every day. I hope I die from it too.
#4
If by poison Munir meant the HIV virus and by laser he meant Arafat's Presidential Guards' penii, then he was poisoned. Have you been tested lately Munir?
Posted by: Zim Bob ||
08/17/2005 5:43 Comments ||
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#5
I'm thinking these people were never taught that a pointy aluminum (or tin) foil hat would protect them from the death rays. Maybe I'll send the PA a roll of Extra Heavy Duty Reynolds wrap with instructions.
#8
How arab of him! And this is the phukwit that yasssir idiofat chose to protect him? What about those bon bons wifey sent idiofat from Paris for the eid before his death? Maybe she used bacon grease to cook that homemade flaffel she mailed only a week before he died. Maybe Munir and the hangers-on became increasingly tired of the sickly, senile old goat idiofat and sensed that he was considering taking away their ill-gotten gains out of spite and jealousy. Maybe he was just an old, hypocritical, incompetent, violent, totalitarian, leathery, senile, desert goat who died from an unsavory social disease.
#11
actually wasnt it the case that in the 18th century, women used arsenic as a skin lightener? They took it gradually, developing a tolerance, but if you kissed them, when they had it on their lips, you died?
(of course arsenic would show in a modern autopsy)
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.
ALERT - Somalia â East and NE coast Nine incidents have been reported since July 16 2005. Heavily armed pirates are now attacking ships further away from the coast. The most recent incident took place 120 nm off the eastern coast. Ships are advised to keep as far away as possible from the Somali coast.
Not everyone in the Arab world praises Osama Bin Laden and terror groups as heroes. Indeed, some Arabs have issues scathing attacks on radical Islamic groups and they manner in which they interpret Islam. The criticism leveled at extremists by Saudi journalist Muhammad al al-Sheikh, however, is unusual in its harshness. In two pieces published in Saudi newspaper al-Jazeera, and presented courtesy of the Middle East Media Research Institute, al-Sheikh charged radical Islamists hold a similar, and even worse, ideology than radical Islam, and should be treated as Europeans coped with Nazism. 
The following clip is an excerpt from an interview with the commander of the Palestinian Presidential Guard, Munir Al-Zu'bi, which discussed the death of Yasser Arafat. The interview aired on Al-Arabiya TV on August 13, 2005.
*Clip # 810 - Commander of Arafat's Presidential Guard Munir Al-Zubi: Arafat May Have Been Poisoned by a Laser Beam, a Handshake, or a Kiss
Interviewer: Yes, but poisoning... Right, but the laser would have hit...You were with him most of the time...
