The authorities withheld his name, so we don't know if it was Boudreaux or Hussein.
When a pickup truck crashed in southeastern Louisiana, authorities made a surprising discovery: 10 pipe bombs.
As emergency crews were trying to right the truck, they noticed the devices. Zeringue said nine of the bombs were made with plastic pipe and one was made with galvanized metal pipe.
#1
Has there ever been a notable act of terrorism, or even mayhem, involving a pipe bomb?
It's kind of amateur hour, you have to light the fuse like fireworks.
The cops still act like you've been caught with a suitcase nuke though.
Besides, who doesn't like blowing shit up?
#3
bigjim, a while back the feds caught several jihadi wannabes with pipe bombs, heading towards a US military installation they'd been scoping out. FWIW
#4
Bigjim - 50 years ago (My heavens! Time flies!) some friends of mine borrowed some chemicals from high school chemistry class, made a tight roll of typing paper and created a sort of a "pipe bomb" with cherry bomb fuse.
Having a LOT of magnesium in the mix, it lit up the night sky and split a 4x4 post from the ground to the top.
Terrorists? Not even juvenile delinquents.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/28/2011 19:26 Comments ||
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#5
"So Boudreaux lit the fuse on another stick o' dynamite and hands it to the warden, and says 'Do you wanna talk or do you wanna fish?'"
A new Navy Ensign commissioned through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) Atlanta Consortium and recent graduate of Georgia State University was awarded for heroism June 14 in the OKeefe buildings Joint Forces auditorium here on the campus of Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech).
Ensign Sean Barner, from Stone Mountain, Ga., was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for his actions on May 3, 2009.
Barner intervened and stopped two armed assailants during an attempted robbery and then provided immediate medical assistance by applying tourniquets to one of the gun shot wounded victims.
The incident took place in College Park, Ga., while Barner attended a party with five men and four women. Two masked and armed men entered the apartment while Barner and a friend were outside getting some fresh air. Upon returning to the apartment, Barner was met by the two armed robbers who had rounded-up the men and women in the living room.
After being robbed of their personal belongings, the six men were ordered to a back bedroom while two women were taken to a second bedroom with one assailant while the other two women were taken to the living room with the other assailant.
In the back bedroom, Barner and the other five men overheard the perpetrators plan to rape the women and shoot all the victims.
Knowing that this was not a nice area of town, I brought along a firearm which I left in my book bag, said Barner, who is licensed under the Georgia Weapons Carry laws. I was lucky that the room I was locked in had my book bag and had not been searched.
Barner escaped the bedroom with his firearm and went to the living room where he fired several shots at one of the armed assailants causing him to flee.
Barner then went to the bedroom where two females were being held with by the other assailant. He kicked down the door and entered the room, shooting the assailant and causing him to flee out the window.
That assailant was later found dead near the apartment from gunshot wounds. One of the females was also caught in the ensuing crossfire and received gunshot wounds.
Im glad I took my Marine Corps training seriously, said Barner. I was blessed to have the ability to handle the situation the way I did and prevent anyone else from getting further injured.
At the time in 2009, Barner was an active duty Marine attending Georgia State University as part of the Marine Enlisted Commissioning Education Program (MECEP) before switching to the Navys Seaman to Admiral (STA-21) program, and a member of the Atlanta Consortium NROTC unit.
His quick and decisive actions saved the life of one of the victims and prevented possible harm or death to the others.
The Navy and Marine Corps medal is one medal above the Bronze Star. It is considered the highest non-combat medal a Sailor or Marine can be awarded. It was great to receive this award, but I hope it shows that non combat Marines or Sailors can be put in crazy situations, and with the right training everything will work out okay in the end, Barner said.
#4
Good thing this didn't happen in DC, NYC, Chicago or San Francisco. In those cities, Ensign Barner would not have a legal gun, and the headline would have read "Nine people killed, four women raped at party".
If Ensign Barner had an illegal gun, the headline would have read "Kill crazy Marine murders two people with illegal gun"
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
06/28/2011 19:10 Comments ||
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#5
"'That assailant was later found dead near the apartment from gunshot wounds' I love a happy ending."
I watch a would-be burglar die (yes, we were desperately trying to save him, but in the end it was hopeless), Sarge.
I have often wondered if in those last few moments before he lost consciousness he regreted his choice of profession.
The happy ending was the homeowner wasn't charged.
Posted by: Barbara ||
06/28/2011 19:13 Comments ||
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[Emirates 24/7] A central Ohio woman accused of spraying sheriff's deputies with breast milk is facing charges including disorderly conduct.
The Delaware County sheriff's office says deputies responded to a call about a domestic dispute early Saturday, and a man told them his wife was drinking at a wedding and hit him before locking herself in a car.
The sheriff says deputies found the woman in a car and tried to talk with her, but she didn't cooperate. He says when deputies tried to remove her, she said she was a breast-feeding mother, then exposed part of her chest and sprayed them with breast milk.
Authorities say 30-year-old Stephanie Robinette of Westerville faces charges including domestic violence, assault, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
Jail officials didn't know whether she has an attorney.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2011 00:00 ||
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* PEOPLE'S DAILY FORUMS > [China] SUFFICIENT MILK FOR ALL IS MORE IMPORTANT THAT [Govt.] DAIRY SAFETY STANDARDS.
The "EEEEEEEEEWWWWWW, JUST EEEEEEWWWWWWW" factor is interim + applicable here since I'm not a newborn anymore, + she's not an adult WAG = Best GFF wanting kinky sex.
D *** NG IT, THIS IS WHY GOD INVENTED BEER-FOR BREAKFAST IN THE AM FOR MEN!
Officials in the Russian republic of Tatarstan are hoping that Islamic finance can help them attract direct investment from Muslim nations around the world. Last week a summit on Islamic finance in Kazan, Tatarstan's capital, welcomed delegates from many nations, including Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Azerbaijan and the UAE.
Since the crisis, Muslim countries have accumulated "substantial liquidity" which seeks investment opportunities in new markets, said Anatoly Aksakov, a State Duma deputy who also heads the Russian Association of Regional Banks.
"We are talking about tens of billions of dollars -- assets that Islamic investors are seeking to diversify to escape dependence on U.S. dollar denominated instruments, which have become risky due to the high level of U.S. debt," Aksakov told The Moscow News on the periphery of the conference.
Tatarstan's connections with the Islamic world could help it weather global economic turbulence, says Rustam Minnikhanov, the republic's president. "We are proud that we have historical and spiritual interaction with the Islamic world," Minnikhanov told the conference last week.
Aksakov thought that Islamic finance would be a good fit with most Russian legislation. "Perhaps we will need to adjust the law in some specific cases," said Aksakov.
But given that the world has yet to fully recover from the financial crisis, Islamic finance has quite an appeal here -- especially if you consider the dangers of irresponsible, Western-style lending.
"Look what can happen if you ignore the Sharia principles in banking," said Abdurrahman Atran, a Saudi who heads the World Assembly of Islamic Youth, told the conference.
First, China made cut-price clothes and knick-knacks. Then it learned how to make mobile phones and iPads. Now it is making a 2,050ft-long bridge spanning the San Francisco bay.
#4
The more famous SF bridge, the Golden Gate, was built with steel forged in Pennsylvania by American workers thankful to have a job during the great depression.
I need to ask Mr Google why Bethlehem Steel didn't bid on the current project...
#5
Bethlehem Steel didn't bid because it went out of existence in 2003, as US industrial capacity was shipped overseas at cut rates. Couldn't compete with slave labor and environmental arbitrage.
#6
But... But... How could they have gone OB? Didn't they have the Steel workers unions to protect them from "greedy actions" by a competitive global economy???
[Iran Press TV] Billionaire George Soros says Europe's debt crisis has brought the eurozone to the brink of an "economic collapse" and inevitably some of its members will leave the union.
"There's no arrangement for any countries leaving the euro, which in current circumstances is probably inevitable," Soros said at a panel discussion in Vienna, Austria on Sunday, Bloomberg reported.
He added, "We are on the verge of an economic collapse which starts, let's say, in Greece, but it could easily spread. The financial system remains extremely vulnerable."
"I think most of us actually agree that Europe's crisis is actually centered around the euro," the 80-year-old investor added.
"It's a kind of financial crisis that is really developing. It's foreseen. Most people realize it. It's still developing. The authorities are actually engaged in buying time. And yet time is working against them," he said.
The comments come as Greek politicians are debating a new round of austerity measures tied to the country's bailout.
A vote is expected on Wednesday amid widespread protests against plans to further slash the public sector and hike taxes.
Greece was the 12th country to adopt the shared currency in 2001, while Estonia is the newest member of the euro region, joining in January 2011.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
So what's George doing, other than talking, to bring about this collapse?
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/28/2011 6:33 Comments ||
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#2
Geroge is doing what he does best. Making money from politicians spending OPM to try to save their own hide.
#3
Stable situations are boring for those who want to make a fast buck.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
06/28/2011 18:11 Comments ||
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#4
Just why is Schwartz György still sucking oxygen anyway? He must have enemies everywhere, surely some are powerful enough to reach him.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
06/28/2011 18:53 Comments ||
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#5
CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > EUROPEANS LOOK AT CHINA TO SAVE THEIR ECONOMIES | [Telegraph.UK] ENTER THE DRAGON TO SAVE THE EURO. IT IS IN THE INTERESTS OF CHINA TO HELP RESOLVE THE [various]EUROZONE DEBT CRISES, BUT CHINESE PRESIDENT WEN JIABAO, WHO IS VISITING BRITAIN + CONTINENTAL EUROPE, WILL WANT A SHARE OF THE WEST'S BUYING POWER IN RETURN.
* Also from SAME > CHINESE PREMIER WEN JIABAO PROMISED TO HELP STRUGGLING EUROPEAN ECONOMIES BY BUYING MILYUHNS IN DEBT BONDS.
UK = Beijing's promotion + protection of FREE SPEECH in China [however imperfect?] is its BEST DEFENSE FOR ECON + DOMESTIC STABILITY.
* WAFF > GREEK ARMY THREATENS COUP! THE JUNTA IS BACK. | GREEK ARMY THREATENS MILITARY COUP SPARKING FEARS OF MILITARY UPRISINGS + CIVIL WARS ACROSS ALL OF EUROPE | .... MILITARY OFFICERS + POLICE FORCES ARE NOW JOINING THE PROTESTS.
* SAME > IFF THE BUDGET IS NOT APPROVED, THE GREEK MILITARY WILL TAKE ACTION!?
* TOPIX > FEARS OF MILITARY, POPULAR REVOLT MAR GREECE AUSTERITY VOTE.
versus
* NEWSMAX > REPORT PREDICTS CHAOS IFF US PRIORITIZES [Debts']PAYMENTS, presuming that Wahington, DC fails to raise US DEBT LIMIT CEILING BY AUGUST 2, 2011. The US Treasury Dept. may fail to meet 40-45% of its monthly 80.0 MILYUHN types of payments in outstanding obligations it must make per month.
ARTIC = Between 08/3, 2011 + 08/31/2011, the US Treas will have a budget shortfall/deficit of US$135.0Bilyuhn it will be seriously struggling to meet unless the US Congress raises the curren debt ceiling???
[Al Jazeera] French banks have reached an outline agreement to roll over holdings of maturing Greek bonds as part of a wider European plan to avoid sovereign default.
Nicolas Sarkozy, ...23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. Sarkozy is married to singer-songwriter Carla Bruni, who has a really nice birthday suit... the French president, said in Gay Paree on Monday that the banks would be offered 30-year Greek bonds with a coupon equivalent to the euro zone's lending rate to Greece, plus a premium based on the financially troubled nation's future economic growth rate.
"We concluded that by stretching out the loans over 30 years, putting [interest rates] at the level of European loans, plus a premium indexed to future Greek growth, that would be a system that each country could find attractive," Sarkozy said.
Banking sources confirmed the agreement was part of a deal under which banks would reinvest 70 per cent of the proceeds when Greek bonds fall due. Of that amount, 50 per cent would go into the new 30-year bonds and 20 per cent would be reinvested in a zero-coupon guaranteed fund based on high-quality securities.
The news came as international bankers met euro zone policymakers in the Italian capital, Rome, to discuss how the private sector can share the burden of a second rescue programme for Greece.
Euro zone sources said EU officials were discussing the French idea with international bankers and the Institute of International Finance (IIF).
According to them, Charles Dallara, the managing director of IIF, met Vittorio Grilli, director general at Italia's treasury and chairman of the euro zone's Economic and Financial Committee (EFC), to discuss Greece's struggle to avoid default.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Reminds me of Fannie/Freddy repacking loans for the US housing market. I trusthope pray the French learned something from that disaster.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/28/2011 6:31 Comments ||
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Interesting thing, when I read this, it wasn't from one the major LSM. So I googled, "Melson will testify." Lots of entries, but none from the LSM. Bloggers Unite! Thanks to a clever bipartisan deal, embattled ATF chief Kenneth Melson will testify before Congress about his role in the bungled Fast and Furious gun sting--possibly revealing who on Obama's team was in on the scheme.
The head of the embattled federal agency that combats gun trafficking has agreed to talk with Senate investigators, a potentially important breakthrough as Congress tries to determine whether higher-ups in the Obama administration knew about a controversial sting that let assault weapons flow across the border into Mexico's drug wars
The testimony--expected next month from Kenneth Melson, the acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives--was brokered as part of a deal between Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and the committee's top Republican, Iowa's Charles Grassley. Grassley and his fellow Republicans were given full access to ATF documents, Melson, and other key witnesses; and in return, Grassley agreed to release three Obama administration nominees he had been blocking, according to correspondence obtained by NEWSWEEK and THE DAILY BEAST.
Grassley had been fighting to get full access for months. He finally got it with a letter Leahy wrote to Attorney General Eric Holder requesting access for both his staff and Grassley's investigators to the evidence and witnesses in the gun-sting investigation. In return, Grassley agreed to let proceed the nominations of Jim Cole to be deputy attorney general, Lisa Monaco to be assistant attorney general for national security, and Virginia Seitz to be head of the Office of Legal Counsel, the letter shows
Melson is the highest-known official to date to acknowledge approving a strategy to build criminal cases against Mexican drug cartels by allowing assault weapons to flow from U.S. gun stores through straw buyers and across the border. Officials said his testimony is considered a key piece of evidence, and Grassley's investigators plan to interview him by the middle or end of July.
Holder, the attorney general, has denied knowing about the controversial ATF sting, which ran from November 2009 to February 2011, and he has ordered an internal investigation. President Obama has said he believes serious mistakes may have been made. Since the controversy erupted this spring, ATF and federal prosecutors have been ordered to stop all guns flowing to straw buyers. Frontline ATF agents have testified they strongly objected to the agency's decision to "let guns walk," meaning allowing straw buyers to buy guns with ATF's knowledge and letting the weapons leave federal monitoring without being interdicted, the normal practice. Cooperating gun dealers also expressed concerns about the tactic.
Congressional investigators in both chambers want to know whether Melson discussed or sought approval for the strategy from Holder or his top deputies, the White House, or other senior law-enforcement officers. They also want to know whether Melson's agency has run into roadblocks or poor information sharing in its efforts to combat larger gun trafficking.
As head of the agency that conducted the controversial sting, Melson has faced calls for his resignation. But in private conversations with congressional investigators in recent days, Melson has indicated he does not believe he did anything wrong because he carried out his bosses' wishes and is eager to testify to describe the full picture, according to sources familiar with those conversations.
#1
Since this is basically a homicide investigation (in two countries, no less) Melson really needs to give some thought to taking the Fifth. I wonder if the ATF and DOJ lawyers will mention that to him.
Posted by: Matt ||
06/28/2011 10:34 Comments ||
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#2
He needs immunity in some form, and probably needs protection before and after he testifies.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
06/28/2011 12:45 Comments ||
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#3
No immunity, he may yet be prosecuted.
He gets to invoke the 5th if he wants it, nothing more.
Grassley agreed to let proceed the nominations of Jim Cole to be deputy attorney general, Lisa Monaco to be assistant attorney general for national security, and Virginia Seitz to be head of the Office of Legal Counsel
Making deals? For testimony? And a month from now?
#9
FTA: It is highly unlikely that the president would have known about the details of the operation unless it originated as one of his ideas... It would take the figurative smoking gun or perhaps a literal one, with Obamas fingerprints on it to acquire enough evidence to impeach the president.
[Iran Press TV] GOP presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann formally launched her 2012 campaign on Monday in her Iowa hometown, proclaiming: "We can't afford four more years of Barack B.O. Obama".
Bachmann, a Minnesota Republican, returned to Waterloo, Iowa -- the place where she was born and lived until she was 12 years old -- to stake her claim to the first-in-the-nation caucus state.
Bachmann said that as president she would try to slash the federal deficit and shrink the role of the federal government.
She added that the country should "declare independence from a government that has gotten too big, and spends too much, and has taken away too many of our liberties."
Bachmann enters the race as an Iowa poll shows her near the front of the pack in the first in the nation caucus state.
Bachmann's official announcement comes just one day after her strong showing in a poll of Iowa Republican voters. She won 22 percent of the vote, just one point behind frontrunner Mitt Romney.
Bachmann played up her tea party ties but also made mention of her Democratic roots.
"Five decades ago America had less debt, in fact our national debt was less than 300 billion dollars. A gallon of gasoline was 31 cents, and owning a home was part of living the American dream" Bachmann said.
"Today our debt is over 14 trillion dollars, a gallon of gas is still outrageously high, millions of homes are in foreclosure, and those dreams are distant for many Americans."
Bachmann has also come down on the U.S. president. Obama, she said, "doesn't seem to have an understanding of how to do the job."
The convenient narrative on Bachmann is that, whatever her skills as a self-promoter might be, she's still far too extreme to win the nomination, or even to poll well beyond a core group of hard-line conservatives and evangelicals.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2011 00:00 ||
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#2
She's probably shooting for a VP slot, or a book deal, but if she seriously wants the big seat Bachman should build up her resume for a decade or so before this kind of move.
That was Palin's big mistake. She was dragged in too early.
#4
Unlike the go along charlie whose biggest accomplishment was to purchase a prime time ad during monday night football. In his defense, he did just learn about some obscure company called Procter and Gamble and that they make stuff. Personally I'm ready for president who is not an extremist self promoter, whoever it may be.
[Dawn] The Muttahida Qaumi Movement ...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead... (MQM) on Monday filed a petition in the Sindh High Court (SHC) against the postponement of the elections in Bloody Karachi for the Azad Jammu and Kashmire Legislative Assembly, DawnNews reported.
The MQM petitioned the court to declare the AJK elections illegal on grounds of alleged government interference in the process and the Election Commission's postponement of the polls in Bloody Karachi.
Speaking to media representatives, MQM MNA Haider Abbas Rizvi said the public did not trust the election results and that the postponement of the polls in Bloody Karachi made the process "unconstitutional".
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2011 00:00 ||
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Somebody's going to make a boatload of money off this. Someday.
In the past, municipalities turned to a manual published by the Army Corps of Engineers since 1954 on how to protect shores by holding back the sea. But earlier this month, the EPA published the first manual on how not to hold it back, arguing that costly seawalls and dikes eventually within 50 to 50,000 years, maybe longer fail because sea-level rise is unstoppable. Oceans have been several hundred feet higher in the past. There's no stopping that.
The EPA report said governments have three options to deal with sea-level rise: They can stay on the well-worn path of building expensive protection and raising streets and buildings. They can beat an organized retreat from the shore, perhaps by offering financial incentives to people and organizations to move inland. Or they can allow people to do whatever they want for their waterfront properties but tell them in no uncertain terms that they are on their own when the waters rise. While that seems commonsense to me, I can't believe anyone would sit still for not being protected by the Federal Government. That's what it there for, you know!
Most people aren't taking the threat of sea-level rise decades from now too seriously, but planners say it is worrisome when you consider what's at stake -- public roads, schools, bridges, tunnels, museums, police stations and housing developments that are built to last well beyond the average 30-year home mortgage. I'm for letting my grandchildren pay for it then, if it's needed. Not spend their money now, only to find out the computer models were not properly calibrated.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/28/2011 11:47 ||
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#1
Sea levels have been rising since the last ice age. How about planning for the natural rise and fall of the water and using urban planning to allow the water to do so while maintaining the infrastructure? Work with the land, not bend it to your will.
Of course this makes fucking sense and there is little grant (see graft) money in it so the government will never do it.
I dunno; Ma Nature did a fair job stopping it a while back. After all how did those Asian pedestrians wander over here (not to mention the beasties) if the water has always been rising?
#5
They can stay on the well-worn path of building expensive protection and raising streets and buildings.
Yeah, right.
So explain to me intrepid reporter why they just spent at least 14 billion on the Big Dig, an eight lane underground tunnel about three blocks from the ocean to replace an elevated structure?
I'll wait. Consult your agenda handbook. Look under "awkward"...
[Emirates 24/7] Malaysian authorities accused 30 jugged opposition members Monday of conspiring to overthrow the government and to revive communist ideologies after the activists were set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock ahead of a banned political rally.
Opposition parties and human rights ...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions... groups insisted it was a ludicrous accusation aimed at demonizing activists planning a massive street demonstration on July 9 to demand greater electoral transparency.
The detention of the 30 and the allegations against them mark a dramatic escalation in tensions between the government -- dominated for decades by the ruling National Front coalition -- and its political rivals before the rally, which could become Malaysia's biggest in nearly four years. It comes ahead of national polls widely expected by mid-2012.
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim urged police Monday to release them, calling the communist claim "a flimsy pretext."
Since Friday, police have jugged about 80 people who were distributing political pamphlets, wearing T-shirts that promoted the planned rally or traveling to publicity events in various towns. Some were later released, but police obtained a court order to hold 30 activists for up to a week in northern Penang state.
State police official Abdul Rahim Jaafar said late Sunday that the 30 -- who include an opposition member of Parliament -- were advocates of communist beliefs. He said they found in a bus with T-shirts bearing the names and images of key figures who waged a communist insurgency that ended in Malaysia decades ago.
The activists are being investigated under a rarely used law that makes it an offense to try to "wage war" against Malaysia's constitutional monarch. They face up to life imprisonment if charged and convicted.
Information Minister Rais Yatim said Monday that authorities needed to take stern action against those involved in the alleged plot, stressing that "communism is outlawed and not recognized in Malaysia," according to the national news agency, Bernama.
A group of independent political activists who are organizing next month's opposition-backed rally issued a statement Monday insisting its intention was not to oust the government but to "make the electoral system truly free and fair."
The arrest of activists was tantamount to a "stark and alarming lack of logic and common sense (that) will further tarnish our nation's image," the group added.
Prime Minister Najib Razak has told Malaysians to avoid what officials would consider an illegal assembly next month, saying it was an opposition scheme to create chaos and undermine the government.
Other Cabinet figures made more ominous warnings. Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said Sunday he could not rule out arresting rally organizers under a law that allows detention without trial if they threaten public security.
The activists' demands include overhauling voter lists and introducing transparent procedures for ballots to be cast and counted. The opposition has long accused Najib's ruling coalition of manipulating election results to preserve its nearly 54-year rule, but the government says current election laws are fair.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/28/2011 00:00 ||
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Elisha Dawkins graduated in August from nursing school in Jacksonville.
He put on hold his plans for taking the board exams because the Navy called him into action as a photographer.
Dawkins photographed happenings at Guantanamo Bay, an act that's evidence he's a trusted member of the military with top secret clearance.
Now, Dawkins, a Navy reservist and decorated Army combat photographer who served in Iraq, is in jail, charged with passport fraud. He's facing 10 years in prison for what could be a simple misunderstanding.
"Suddenly, he's picked up and thrown in jail? Then it's time for this senator to start asking questions," U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson., D-Fla., said.
Nelson has questions echoed by Dawkins' friends, including Dianne Rinehardt.
"It's a travesty, and we're trying to stop it," Rinehardt said.
Rinehardt went through nursing school with Dawkins and is a veteran herself. She's upset about the trouble her friend is in. In sharing his story with other vets, Rinehardt said that lots of people who don't know Dawkins can't believe it.
"We're all appalled that, how can you serve this country and be more dedicated to the ideals of this country, and serve this country and then be told, 'Guess what, you made a little clerical error. You're out of here.' And that's a travesty," Rinehardt said.
A federal indictment states that Dawkins started to fill out a passport application in 2004, didn't complete it, then filled out a new application two years later.
On that new application, he checked a box "no" for the question, "Have you ever applied before?" according to the indictment.
Dawkins got the passport, but three months ago, the government issued a warrant for his arrest. He was taking photos for the Navy at the time.
When Dawkins got back to the U.S. in April, he was arrested about a week later and has been in jail for two months since.
"The state department is implying there's something more. I want to know, and that's why I've written them," Nelson said.
"We've sent emails through our standard home, family email chains throughout the country," Rinehardt said. "The more attention we bring to this, the more people will see this as a disservice."
Dawkins' attorney calls the case an "absurd prosecution," saying that filling out a "no" box "did not merit criminal charges."
Because the trial is scheduled for next month, if Dawkins is still in jail at that point, he will insist on going to trial.
A pretrial hearing Tuesday in Miami is the next step.
#2
There has to be more to this. I can't believe the AUSA or DS agents would seek an indictment based on a partially completed passport application from 2004. This guy must have used a false ID somewhere along the way or he is not a US cit.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy ||
06/28/2011 22:57 Comments ||
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#3
Let me get this right.
He started to fill out a passport application in 2004 did not complete it and presumably did not hand it in (They would not accept an incomplete form right?).
Then in '06 he filled out another application and said no to 'have you applied before'. How could he have applied if he did not complete the fucking form?
Sounds to me like some government bureaucrat wants to make a name for himself. Compensating for something.
Figures it was State - they can't find their with both hands and a map.
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.
A central Ohio woman accused of spraying sheriff's deputies with breast milk is facing charges including disorderly conduct.
Officials in the Russian republic of Tatarstan are hoping that Islamic finance can help them attract direct investment from Muslim nations around the world. Last week a summit on Islamic finance in Kazan, Tatarstan's capital, welcomed delegates from many nations, including Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Azerbaijan and the UAE.
[Dawn] The 
Malaysian authorities accused 30 
