[Ennahar] Soldiers patrolled the streets in Nigeria's mostly Mohammedan north Tuesday and aid workers began to assess the toll from deadly rioting against President Goodluck Jonathan ... 14th President of Nigeria. He was Governor of Bayelsa State from 9 December 2005 to 28 May 2007, and was sworn in as Vice President on 29 May 2007. Jonathan is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). He is a lover of nifty hats, which makes him easily recognizable unless someone else in the room is wearing a neat chapeau... 's election victory.
The Red Thingy said many people were killed, hundreds injured and thousands displaced in protests across northern Nigeria on Monday by supporters of Jonathan's northern rival, former army ruler Muhammadu Buhari, who say the election result was rigged.
Churches, mosques, homes and shops were razed.
There were pockets of violence outside main cities early on Tuesday, where there was less of a military presence.
"There was an upsurge in areas of Zamfara, Katsina and Kaduna (states) outside the state capitals," said Umar Mairiga, national disaster management coordinator for the Red Thingy.
Rescue workers said they had been unable to reach the worst-affected neighborhoods and could not yet give a corpse count, although a curfew imposed across at least five states appeared to have been relaxed to allow movement in some areas.
Charred tyres lay in side streets for block after block in the Tudun Wada neighborhood of Kaduna. Soldiers manned checkpoints every few hundred meters. The injured spilled onto the street outside an army hospital, several with bloodied bandages around their heads.
Christian residents who decamped to military and police barracks in Kano to shelter during the unrest blamed Buhari, whose party has refused to accept results which say Jonathan won Saturday's election with 59 percent of the vote.
"How can he allege rigging. Jonathan won across the nation. They should accept the results rather than killing and destroying people and property," said Olaoye Ade, who decamped with his wife and children to a police barracks in Kano.
"I am here with my family in the barracks instead of celebrating the nation's new-found democracy."
POLARISED
The election results show how polarized the country of 150 million is, with Buhari, 68, sweeping the north and Jonathan, 53, winning the largely Christian south.
Observers have called the poll the fairest in decades in Africa's most populous nation, which has a long history of votes marred by fraud and intimidation.
Diplomats, analysts and ruling party supporters criticized Buhari, who has strong grass roots support in the north, for failing to come out clearly to call for calm and condemn the violence being perpetrated in his name.
"He has not asked anyone to engage in any violent conduct. He had the capacity to call people out and he didn't. He understands that people feel cheated," Buhari's front man Yinka Odumakin told Rooters.
"General Buhari cannot turn off the tap. He is not the one behind this. He is not the one who did the rigging.
Nigeria is home to more than 200 ethnic groups spread across the country who generally live peacefully side by side, but unrest in the north which is perceived to target Christians has in the past led to reprisals against Mohammedans in the south.
Dozens of members of the northern Hausa ethnic group took refuge in barracks in the southern cities of Enugu and Onitsha fearing attacks by Christian Igbos.
Jonathan appealed for unity in an acceptance speech broadcast to the nation Monday, saying it must "quickly move away from partisan battlegrounds."
Security analysts said they believed the curfews and a show of military force in the north should contain the violence for now but feared that governorship elections in the 36 states in a week's time could become another flashpoint.
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#1
President Goodluck? Sounds like he's gonna need it.
[The Nation (Nairobi)] Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan ... 14th President of Nigeria. He was Governor of Bayelsa State from 9 December 2005 to 28 May 2007, and was sworn in as Vice President on 29 May 2007. Jonathan is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). He is a lover of nifty hats, which makes him easily recognizable unless someone else in the room is wearing a neat chapeau... reached out to his opponents on Monday in a victory statement after winning elections and said the country had proved itself capable of holding fair polls.
"Nigerians have proved to the world that we are capable of holding free, fair and credible elections," Jonathan said in the statement.
He also said: "I congratulate the candidates of the other political parties. I regard them not as opponents, but as partners."
Jonathan mentioned by name the other main candidates in the race, including second-place finisher Muhammadu Buhari, saying he wanted to pay tribute to them.
The election results exposed deep regional divisions in Africa's most populous nation, with Jonathan scoring particularly well in his native south and Buhari winning states in the north.
Deadly riots broke out in the north when results began to be announced.
Nigeria's 150 million population is roughly split between Christians and Mohammedans. The south is predominately Christian and the north mainly Mohammedan.
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04/20/2011 00:00 ||
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If you reach out to a muslim, better use a long stick.
[The Nation (Nairobi)] A mutiny in Burkina Faso ...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president is currently Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and may be in the process of being chased out now... spread as soldiers went on the rampage today in the northern town of Kaya, even after President Blaise Compaore's government warned they would face the law.
Soldiers and paramilitary police poured into the streets of Kaya late Sunday and shot into the air until around 6am today, residents said.
It was the first time police had taken part in the uprising that began in the central capital Ouagadougou late Thursday. An official said they were demanding their wages and were to be paid today.
Kaya was the fourth town to be affected in the landlocked west African state after Ouagadougou and the small centres of Po and Tenkodogo, in the southwest and southeast.
The mutinous forces in Kaya torched the home of a chief of an army regiment and ransacked that of the regional military chief, residents told AFP by telephone.
Meanwhile, ...back at the precinct house, Sergeant Maloney wasn't buying it. It was just too pat. It smelled phony... youths staged a violent street protest today in Koudougou in western Burkina Faso, burning down the premises of the ruling party and a home of ex-prime minister Tertius Zongo, witnesses said.
The uprising erupted Thursday as mutineers ran riot in the capital, demanding better pay and housing and food benefits.
To try to control the situation, veteran leader Compaore, who has ruled for more than two decades, dissolved his government and on Friday named a new head of the armed forces.
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[Al Jazeera] Burkina Faso's ...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president is currently Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and may be in the process of being chased out now... president has appointed a new prime minister following days of riots and protests involving soldiers, police and students in the West African country.
Luc-Adolphe Tiao, Burkina Faso's ambassdor to La Belle France, was named as prime minister late on Monday, three days after his predecessor, Tertius Zongo, was dismissed by president Blaise Compaore.
An elite group of soldiers also called for an end to the unrest, saying that they wanted their colleagues to stop protesting. They also apologised for the disturbances.
"We invite our brothers in arms around the country to stop the protests because we now see the damage that can be caused within the civilian population, which we are well advised to protect and defend," said Moussa Ag Abdoulaye, a member of the group.
Earlier, Burkina Faso's state TV said students had burned down the ruling party headquarters and the prime minister's house in the central city of Koudougou, the News Agency that Dare Not be Named news agency said.
In the northern town of Kaya, soldiers and paramilitary police fired shots in the air, torched the home of an army regiment chief and ransacked that of a regional officer, residents told the AFP news agency by telephone.
The incidents follow a mutiny by soldiers that started last week in the capital, Ouagadougou, and has spread north and east.
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The Russians have their work cut out for them. In their situation, I would seriously suggest that they hire outside consultants, as this is going to take a total rebuild to get anything approaching a satisfactory military.
This idea is not unheard of in Russia, because for many years leading up to and through the revolution, their bureaucracy was "in-sourced" by Germans, experts at bureaucracy, because the Russians couldn't figure it out. Lenin tried to abolish it, and it shut the country down for days, so he had to restore all the Germans to their jobs.
Ironically as all hell, their best bet would be to hire Israeli military experts, many of whom were born in Russia.
#2
as this is going to take a total rebuild to get anything approaching a satisfactory military.
Nowadays Russia's chief military ambition seems to be to bully the countries of their "near abroad" into submission. For this the current military appears quite adequate.
#3
Perhaps, but in the midst of a downgrade of the Russian equivalent of the Pentagon, Putin and Medvedev actually went around them entirely, to order subordinate generals, the equivalent of post commanders, to invade South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
You can imagine how the Pentagon would lose its marbles if say, Obama directly ordered the post commander of Fort Benning to invade Cuba. Now admittedly, while he would probably be good to go, the rest of the chain of command would be, ah, perturbed.
Why would China formally invade Siberia, DK70 the Scantily Clad7177, when their people have been quietly settling into empty communities for years with no serious Russian response?
#7
ION NEWS KERALA > PUTIN WANTS RUSSIA TO BE [Econ] STRONG TO MEET ANY ECONOMIC, MILITARY THREAT.
ARTIC = 'Cuzin Vlad desires Russ to be in the World's Top Five econmies oer next years [2021-2022, wid its GDP to be US$35,000.0 per capita like France + Italy. Russia M-U-S-T ditto raise US$60-70.0Bilyuhn in Foreign Investments for every year ASAP AMAP ALAP.
OTHER ...
* PEOPLE'S DAILY FORUM > RUSSIA KEEPING A WARY EYE ON CHINA.
ARTIC = despite their improved relations, Russia + China have NOT formed any FORMAL MUTUAL DEFENSIVE ALLIANCE, + tend to pursue INDEPENDENT + UN-COORDIANTED, ALBEIT SEEMINGLY PARALLEL, GOVT. POLICY INITIATIVES [Foreign, Econ, Public] IN THIER OWN SOVEREIGN INTERESTS.
and
* TOPIX, DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > PUTIN PROMISES EXTENSIVE RUSSIAN REARMING. Russ mil modernization to the tune of US$700.0Bilyuhn oer next ten years.
-------------
E.g. PEOPLE'S DAILY FORUM > PLA'S "ACTIVE DEFENSE" TURNING OFFENSIVE IN INDIAN OCEAN.
and
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > CHINA ACCUSES PHILIPPINES OF "INVASION", i.e. intent to occupy China's "indisputable" sovereign territory in the NANSHAS = SPRATLY ISLANDS.
* WMF > RUSSIA SAYS THE PHILIPPINES PLANS TO IMPROVE + EXPAND ITS MILITARY STRENGTH IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA AGZ CHINA IN THE NANSHAS.
* RENSE > CHINA BLASTS PHILIPPINES CLAIM OVER SPRATLYS [China = Nanshas]. Beijing has not only formally complained to the UNO but in its complaint has reiteratedits CLAIM OF SOVEREIGNTY OVER THE "ENTIRE SOUTH CHINA SEA".
FIL BLOGGER = wonders why China doesn't just claim the PALAWAN REEF also while its busy claiming PHIL sovereign territory in the Spratlys = Nanshas???
THE ABOVE PROVES TO ME ONCE AGAIN THAT BEIJING = CHINA IS WELL AWARE THAT THE RECENT RUSSO-JAPANESE DISPUTE OER THE SOUTH KURILES, + RUSSIA'S PROCLAMATION OF PERMANENT SOVEREIGNTY OER SAME, IS ACTUALLY A COVERT SLAP AT CHINA'S INTERESTS IN RUSS FAR EAST, NORPAC + ARCTIC.
It is intended to keep Rising China + PLAN, PLAAF contained to China's coasts + outlying littorals.
China's priority at this time is its Economy, hence it is not willing to fight a Econ-destroying Limited or Major Conventional, Nuclear? War wid Russia oer strategic access thru the South Kuriles. THUS CHINA'S PUSH SOUTHWARD AGZ TAIWAN, PHILIPPINES, SOUTH CHINA SEA + INDIAN OCEAN.
JAPAN'S 03/11 "TOHOKU/SENDAI" QUAKE-TSUNAMI EVENT + now "FUKUSHIMA" NUCPLANT CRISIS =
GODSENT GIFT TO CHINA WHETHER CHINA ADMITS IT OR NOT, + AS AKIN TO THE "JASMINE"-LED UPRISINGS IN THE ME FOR RADICAL ISLAM + SUDDEN RISE/ADVENT OF ISLAMIST-DESIRED RULING POLITICAL POWER + ESPEC "OWG CALIPHATE" [Nuclear].
Radical Islam = Land = MULTIPLE MIDEAST STATES.
Rising China = Equivalent of Islamist "OWG CALIPHATE" = FAR PACIFIC OCEAN TOWARDS WESTPAC, CENTPAC + EASTPAC, US WEST COAST.
One or more massive, High-Mag Quakes-Tsunamis, + Tokyo + TEPCO, etc. recovery FUBARS = JAPANESE MASS DIASPORA = CHINESE MIL TAKEOVER OR POLITICAL, ECON DOMINATION OF TRUBLED JAPAN.
Fresh off of losing his battle for custody of his twin sons Tuesday, Charlie Sheen took on the topic of American politics on his Violent Torpedo of Truth Tour, the Washington Post reports.
Normally reserving his criticisms for his former bosses at CBS and his ex-wives, Sheen went after President Barack Obama, questioning the validity of his birth certificate, while toying with his own ideas about running for office.
For starters, I was f**king born here, how about that? And I got proof! Nothing Photoshopped about my birth certificate, Sheen said.
According to the Post, Sheens comments brought cheers from the 3,700-seat venue in Washington, D.C.
Sheen also took on Sarah Palin, calling her a lunatic from Alaska and added that he would handle Libyan dictator Moammar al-Qaddafi by making him marry my [ex-wives] Brooke and Denise.
#1
O's birth certificate was probably destroyed in a tragic fire at the family hut. Sheen should try to have some sensitivity. It probably still stings the Bamster.
#2
Actually... what I'd really like to see is a copy of the EEOC report at the Wall Street Firm that supposedly offered Obama a job and that he supposedly turned down.
I'm not holding my breath for that to appear, either.
[Straits Times] THAI authorities have summoned 18 leaders of the opposition 'Red Shirt' movement to face charges of sedition and insulting the revered monarchy, a top official said on Tuesday.
The accused include acting chairwoman Thida Thavornseth as well as Red Shirt politician Jatuporn Prompan and other key figures, said the head of Thailand's Department of Special Investigation (DSI), Tarit Pengdith.
'I have signed the summonses and sent them to all those 18 Red Shirt leaders,' Mr Tarit told AFP.
He said the leaders were charged with breaching state security by insulting the monarchy and inciting unrest, and would have to report to the authorities to answer the allegations early next month.
Lese majeste - insulting the monarchy - is a serious offence in Thailand punishable by up to 15 years in jail.
The charges stem from speeches made at a Red Shirt rally held on April 10 that drew tens of thousands of people, to mark the first anniversary of deadly festivities between the movement's supporters and armed troops in central Bangkok.
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[Straits Times] MALAYSIAN authorities have sent 66 Mohammedan schoolboys identified by teachers as effeminate to a four-day camp where they will receive counseling on masculine behaviour to discourage them from being gay, an official said on Tuesday.
Gay rights advocates decried the measure as a symptom of widespread homophobia in this Mohammedan-majority country where gay sex is illegal.
The boys between 13 and 17 years old reported on Monday for what is officially being called a 'self-development course' after their schoolteachers in Terengganu state identified them as students who displayed effeminate mannerisms, said Razali Daud, the state's education director.
They will undergo religious and motivational classes and physical guidance, Mr Razali said. He declined to give further details.
The camp is meant 'to guide them back to the right path in life before they reach a point of no return,' Mr Razali told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named. 'Such effeminate behavior is unnatural and will affect their studies and their future.'
It is the first such program in Terengganu, a conservative state.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
The funny as hell part is that about half of male homosexuals are very masculine in appearance and behavior, to the point that when entering a blue collar bar, it is always a very good idea to examine the situation closely.
There is even a suggestion that in Nazi Germany, there was in effect a "war" between the "blue" and "pink" homosexuals. The SA was filled with "blues", including their leader Ernst Rohm, which savagely persecuted the "pinks."
A University of Iowa professor felt the need to reply to a blast email by the College Republicans on Monday morning. Ellen Lewin, a professor of Anthropology and Gender, Womens & Sexuality Studies in the Department of Gender, Womens & Sexuality Studies, sent a vulgar response to a College Republican email about the groups, Conservative Coming Out Week.
The College Republican email, which was sent to the entire University of Iowa Community, had been approved by a number of university officials before being sent out.
Lewin responded to email by writing, #*@% [F-Word] YOU, REPUBLICANS from her official university email account.
The Scranton police union has filed an unfair labor practice complaint against the city for an off-duty drug arrest made by Police Chief Dan Duffy in March.
The complaint, which was filed with the state Labor Relations Board on April 14, takes issue with the chief arresting a man who was allegedly in possession of marijuana because the chief is not a member of the collective bargaining unit and was "off duty" when the March 20 arrest was made.
"I think it's absurd. I'm not going to turn my head on crime that takes place," Chief Duffy said. "I took the same oath (as a police officer) that everyone else took.
"On my day off and I'm driving around as the police chief, and that's wrong?" he asked.
The complaint states that "the work of apprehending and arresting individuals has been the sole and exclusive province of members of the bargaining unit," and that the city did not inform or negotiate with the union that the chief would be "performing bargaining unit work."
#1
This is probably a very ill considered move as both houses of the State legislature and the governor are Republican. This is not a time for unions to be irrationally arrogant.
#5
This article makes me think we are in trouble. Better arm yourselves if you are not already armed in these areas--the rank-and-file police might not show up if they are negotiating an union contract.
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.
Goodluck Jonathan
[Al Jazeera] 
[Straits Times] MALAYSIAN authorities have sent 66 
