[Washington Post] Authorities in Pakistan were facing a rising death toll Wednesday, a day after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck a remote region of southwestern Pakistan, a temblor so powerful it created a new, albeit probably temporary, island in the Arabian Sea. Blow up another church, you Islamic bastards, and see what happens.
The quake was centered in the impoverished and sparsely populated province of Baluchistan and appeared to have leveled entire villages. On Wednesday, Pakistan's army rushed 1,000 soldiers, helicopters, food and medicine to the area as officials braced for a grim and long-lasting rescue operation.
Authorities reported at least 325 deaths, but that figure is expected to rise as workers sift through thousands of collapsed homes, many made of dried mud.
"The devastation in these areas is massive," Jaan Muhammad Baledi, a spokesman for the Baluchistan government, told Pakistan's Geo TV. "The quake affected areas that are remote, and there are few roads which lead to them. Conditions are bad, thus making it difficult for relief activities."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
God, (Or Allah) Is against you.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/26/2013 0:53 Comments ||
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#2
Blow up another church, you Islamic bastards, and see what happens.
Unfortunately, in their minds, it's because they didn't blow up enough.
[Dawn] A small island created in the Arabian Sea by the huge earthquake that hit southwest Pakistan has fascinated locals but experts say it is unlikely to last long.
The 7.7-magnitude quake struck on Tuesday in Balochistan's remote Awaran district, killing more than 260 people and affecting hundreds of thousands.
Off the coastline near the port of Gwadar, some 400 kilometres from the epicentre, locals were astonished to see a new piece of land surface from the waves.
"It is not a small thing, but a huge thing which has emerged from under the water," Gwadar resident Muhammad Rustam told news agency AFP. "It looked very, very strange to me and also a bit scary because suddenly a huge thing has emerged from the water."
Mohammad Danish, a marine biologist from Pakistan's National Institute of Oceanography, said a team of experts had visited the island and found methane gas rising.
"Our team found bubbles rising from the surface of the island which caught fire when a match was lit and we forbade our team to start any flame. It is methane gas," Danish said on a local television news channel.
I would have encouraged them to have a barbecue. And invite all their friends...
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Yuhoh, NOT good news for the islands that will appear off Guam + CNMI in future time.
OOOOOOOOOO, as per 1960-70's = 2013's "Man of Steel" you just know the Boy is going to look silly flying over the sea to islands that aren't going to last???
#2
Gary Gibson, a seismologist with Australias University of Melbourne, said the new island was likely to be a mud volcano, created by methane gas forcing material upwards during the violent shaking of the earthquake.
I thought methane was a greenhouse gas. Hasn't Al Gore arranged to stop events like that?
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/26/2013 6:18 Comments ||
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[MAGHAREBIA] Libyan students will not be segregated by gender, Libya Herald reported on Tuesday (September 24th). The education ministry said segregation by gender would hinder the education process. The majority of parents also reportedly oppose the measure. After extremists angered by mixed-sex classes reportedly stormed Derna University, campus guards called for gender segregation in order to provide security.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Democratic Republic of the Congo ...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material... President Joseph Kabila on Wednesday condemned the "never-ending aggression" by neighboring Rwanda in a speech at the U.N. General Assembly.
Rwanda's President Paul Kagame was also due to appear before world leaders at the assembly amid international concern over new fighting in eastern DR Congo.
"It is through an act of solidarity by welcoming refugees from Rwanda on their territory, that the Congolese population in the east of my country are now deprived of peace," Kabila said.
"There is room to ask what will be left of international humanitarian law if welcoming refugees in distress is considered enough to justify never ending aggression by the country where the said refugees come from," the DR Congo president said.
U.N. experts have said Rwanda has helped M23 rebels battling DR Congo forces around the major eastern city of Goma. The rebellion started in early 2012, but M23 launched a new offensive in August. Rwanda strongly denies aiding M23.
Kabila reaffirmed his "determination" to carry out commitments to boost security and government authority in eastern DR Congo under a regional accord made in February.
Kabila, Kagame and nine other African heads of state signed the accord under which they promised not to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Madagascar strongman Andry Rajoelina said Wednesday he would not stand in a presidential election next month aimed at ending years of political turmoil in the island nation.
"To unblock the political crisis, I have done everything to preserve the national unity and the higher interests of the Madagascar people. I have decided to not be a candidate in our coming presidential election," Rajoelina told the U.N. General Assembly.
The candidacy of Rajoelina and Lalao Ravalomanana, wife of the leader he ousted, had heightened tensions again in Madagascar.
There have been a number of bomb kabooms in the capital in recent weeks.
Amid international warnings over their move, an electoral court last month disqualified Rajoelina, Ravalomanana, and another former president, Didier Ratsiraka, from the election race after the three refused to withdraw.
All had breached the deadline for candidacies or other rules to stand. The African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... had said it would not recognize the results if one of the three was declared the winner.
Rajoelina's statement to world leaders at the U.N. appeared to lift any remaining doubts about his position however.
Campaigning for the October 25 poll started on Tuesday and there are still divisions over the replacements named for the disqualified politicians.
Rajoelina ousted Marc Ravalomanana as leader of the Indian Ocean island in a coup four years ago. Southern African states and the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... have been trying to reach a political accord leading to new elections ever since.
After the presidential poll, a parliamentary vote will follow on December 20.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] A Tanzanian peacekeeper who served in the U.N. force deployed to troubled eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo ...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material... has died from injuries he sustained fighting rebels in August, the United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... said Wednesday.
Lieutenant-Colonel Proper Basse, a front man for the U.N. force in the country, said Hugo Munga died on September 18 in a South African hospital.
Munga was hurt in festivities with rebels from the country's M23 movement in the Goma region, and is the second U.N. soldier and second Tanzanian killed since late August.
The U.N. Security Council approved the first-ever "offensive" peacekeeping brigade with orders to "neutralize" and "disarm" rebel groups operating in DR Congo's east in March.
The 3,000-strong contingent is staffed by South African, Tanzanian and Malawian soldiers.
The U.N. and various rights groups have accused the M23 of atrocities including rape and murder in a conflict that has caused tens of thousands to flee.
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09/26/2013 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] A strong voice for a reform of the controversial blasphemy law was raised in the National Assembly on Tuesday by politicians of the opposition Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... during a debate on Sunday's massacre of more than 81 Christians in a suicide kaboom at a Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. church.
This was the first public opposition from a right-wing party to the Zia-era law, which prescribes the death penalty for blasphemy and which has often been allegedly misused against members of the Christian community, while the previously ruling PPP paid with the lives of a provincial governor and a federal minister more than two years ago for demanding a similar reform.
"This blasphemy law was wrong," the veteran parliamentarian said, about provisions made in the country's criminal law that he also called "contrary to Islam", and said he had voted against it in violation of his then Pakistain Moslem League Party's discipline when it was brought to the house for approval.
But he said there was "still an opportunity" to rectify the situation and added: "We should do something about it."
The suggestion was backed PTI members Shireen Mazari, Arif Alvi and Lal Chand Mali in their speeches in the debate, but was opposed by a member of PTI-allied Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... , Sahibzada Mohammad Yaqub, who said the existing blasphemy law had "many advantages" for guard against insulting any prophet and asked Mr Hashmi to bring a new bill to the house or approach the Council of Islamic Ideology for advice if he were serious about his proposal.
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09/26/2013 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] MONDAY'S decision by the Council of Islamic Ideology not to have DNA testing in rape cases as primary evidence, as suggested by some, would have come as a disappointment to those who had expectations to the contrary. Giving the council's final opinion on the matter, CII chairman Maulana Mohammad Khan Sherani told newsmen on Thursday that even though DNA testing was a useful and modern technique, a court could only take it into account along with other material as "supporting evidence". Evidently, the CII's reformist camp led by Maulana Tahir Ashrafi failed to convince the majority in the CII that the results of a DNA test could be the sole basis for convicting a person accused of rape. The CII chief also rejected the Women's Protection Act of 2006 and defended the blasphemy law by saying it should not be amended.
The deliberations among the CII's learned scholars are useful up to the point that they highlight the pros and cons of a given issue and enlighten the public and the politicians from an Islamic perspective. But it should be remembered that the CII is only a recommendatory body, and its suggestions are not supposed to inhibit parliament's lawmaking rights. The Zia-era Hudood and blasphemy laws are controversial because they were imposed by decree, and not legislated by a sovereign parliament. The CII does not accommodate the views of all segments of Pak society, and in the presence of a parliament composed of democratically elected representatives, the council is, in fact, of very little use. Where an issue requires consensus, it is the prerogative of parliament to debate and decide. Which means the National Assembly and the Senate have the right to legislate on the DNA issue even if they want to consider the CII's stance. More important, all major religious parties are there in parliament, and, thus, there is no reason why one of the National Assembly's special committees cannot discuss the issue and make recommendations to parliament.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2013 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] A four-year old girl was allegedly raped by her neighbour on Wednesday, DawnNews reported.
The minor girl, daughter of a farmer called Imran, is the resident of a small village near Gujranwala.
The alleged accused Waseem took the little girl to nearby fields and assaulted her.
Upon hearing her screams, people from the area reached the spot. However, the accused managed to flee.
Meanwhile, ...back at the palazzo, Count Guido had been cornered by the banditti... the child was taken to District Headquarter Hospital Gujranwala where she is currently under-treatment.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2013 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Rawalpindi might lose its polio ...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set... -free status in the coming days as the National Institute of Health (NIH) has found traces of polio virus from the city's sewers for the third time in the last three months.
Recently, the NIH reported that the polio virus had been detected in the sewage-water samples collected from the cities of Rawalpindi and Multan.
In Rawalpindi, samples were collected from Safdarabad area on August 25, while samples from Multan were collected on August 25. The report in this regard, which was recently issued, found samples of the virus in both cities of Punjab.
Similar reports had confirmed the presence of the polio virus in Rawalpindi in June and July this year, while the virus was last found in Multan in June 2012.
The samples were collected from Leh Nullah at Safdarabad between Pirwadhai and Dhoke Hassu and adjoining areas of Fauji Colony. In Multan, these samples were collected from Kot Abdul Fateh.
A Punjab health department official told Dawn that prior to the report, polio eradication activities in Multan were being considered satisfactory but the report had proven this wrong.
"If adequate measures are not taken immediately, the polio virus might spread from Multan to neighboring districts of Punjab including Muzaffargarh, DG Khan and Rajanpur in addition to the adjoining belt in Sindh from Kashmore to Sukkur and Larkana. It may even reach Jaffarabad division of Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... ," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2013 00:00 ||
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#7
They also doing this to mu favorite modern fighter, the F-4 Phantom. The remaining flyable ones are being turned into target drones. I got to see one (with a human pilot, not being a target) at an air show last year.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
09/26/2013 15:34 Comments ||
Top||
#8
Were being turned into drones, not too many left now, that's why the F-16 is being pressed into duty.
#9
rj; no Tomcats left, chopped up years ago in order to keep parts from being sold to iran through any number of third parties. only ones left in one piece are gate guards that have had all flight worthy parts pulled and are otherwise just shells. but I like the way you think.
#10
Besides everything else before, Iran + China are being labeled as the two most likely backgrounds for de facto Drone-vs-Drone War, espec CHINA as per China-vs-Japan as well as China-vs-US + China-vs-India.
#2
Related: Michigan legislature has passed a bill that requires state assistance recipients to perform community service in order to receive the $$. Predictably the losers in the Wayne county area (Detroit) are complaining.
My sister gets some assistance, she hasn't said yet how this impacts her....
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.
[Washington Post] Authorities in Pakistan were facing a rising death toll Wednesday, a day after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck a remote region of southwestern Pakistan, a temblor so powerful it created a new, albeit probably temporary, island in the Arabian Sea.
[Dawn] A small island created in the Arabian Sea by the huge earthquake that hit southwest Pakistan has fascinated locals but experts say it is unlikely to last long.
[Dawn] A strong voice for a reform of the controversial blasphemy law was raised in the National Assembly on Tuesday by 
...the creepy-looking former dictator of Pakistain. Zia was an Islamic nutball who imposed his nutballery on the rest of the country with the enthusiastic assistance of the nation's religious parties, which are populated by other nutballs. He was appointed Chief of Army Staff in 1976 by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, whom he hanged when he seized power. His time in office was a period of repression, with hundreds of thousands of political rivals, minorities, and journalists executed or tortured, including senior general officers convicted in coup-d'état plots, who would normally be above the law. As part of his alliance with the religious parties, his government helped run the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan, providing safe havens, American equipiment, Saudi money, and Pak handlers to selected mujaheddin. Zia died along with several of his top generals and admirals and the then United States Ambassador to Pakistain Arnold Lewis Raphel when he was assassinated in a suspicious air crash near Bahawalpur in 1988...
[Dawn] MONDAY'S decision by the Council of Islamic Ideology not to have DNA testing in rape cases as primary evidence, as suggested by some, would have come as a disappointment to those who had expectations to the contrary. Giving the council's final opinion on the matter, CII chairman Maulana Mohammad Khan Sherani told newsmen on Thursday that even though DNA testing was a useful and modern technique, a court could only take it into account along with other material as "supporting evidence". Evidently, the CII's reformist camp led by Maulana Tahir Ashrafi failed to convince the majority in the CII that the results of a DNA test could be the sole basis for convicting a person accused of rape. The CII chief also rejected the Women's Protection Act of 2006 and defended the blasphemy law by saying it should not be amended.
[Dawn] Rawalpindi might lose its 
