Muslim loyalty to Canada urged
Convention puts a positive spotlight on Islam
By SHARON HO, TORONTO SUN
Thousands of Muslims gathered in Mississauga yesterday to express their love for Canada and show that they are not "bloodthirsty terrorists".
"Terrorism is against Islam," said Naseem Madhi, president of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. "Creating disorder is not acceptable in Islam."
At the 30th annual Ahmadiyya Muslim Community annual convention, Madhi encouraged Muslims in Canada to be loyal to this country.
"Loving your homeland is loving your faith," he said.
"You cannot stay here and be loyal to somewhere else. If people say they cannot be loyal, they should go home."
But only this Islamic sect's love of Canada was evident yesterday at the International Centre as about 20,000 Muslims turned out to pray, hear Islamic teachings and profess their love for Canada. Canadian flags decorated the hall and every chair.
"As an Ahmadi Muslim my belief is loyalty to my country, my place of residence," said Basat Khalifa, manager of media relations for the Ahmadiyya community. "Our community's motto is love for all, hatred of none."
The convention also tried to show the many positive sides of Islam.
"Everybody hears the negative (about Islam) because the negative has so much media coverage, especially when you have the 17 arrests (of terrorism suspects)," Khalifa said.
Liberal leadership hopeful Joe Volpe made an appearance at the event.
"All of the values that we identify as Canadians are those that they (Ahmadi Muslims) have had part in shaping," Volpe said.
Non-Muslims like George Raptis, also attended the convention to learn about Islam.
"If I'm going to form an opinion, I have to get to know a little bit of it," Raptis said. He said he liked the message he was hearing yesterday.
"It's so nice to see everybody on the same page -- promoting peace, helping out your neighbour and trying to say you're in a wonderful country."
Lots of coverage in the internet press on the left side of the Blogosphere's vicious attacks on Joe Lieberman during the run-up to the Connecticut Democratic Primary, but so far the answer as to why remains elusive to those not drinking the Ned Lamont kool-aid.
I think the answer is simple. Having so obviously targeted Lieberman, the netroots/nutroots/Townhouse crew must now defeat him, or risk being seen as irrelevant, especially considering their dismal electoral record thus far.
National races are one thing, but If the LeftNet cannot elect a candidate of their own choosing in a Democratic Primary in one of the most liberal states in the Union, then they can't win elections, period. If that happens, it should become obvious to one and all that the Emperor has no clothes.
As to the question of why the LeftNet has yet to discover this on its own, despite repeated reminders, we've talked about this before
Essentially, the Internet has given the Left a perception of growth where there is in fact none. It may have even masked a decline in the real political power of the Left.
Say one 10-member anti-globalist organization, in San Francisco, comes into contact with another 10-member group, in Seattle. Each feels that their membership and political power has doubled, when in reality nothing of the sort has occurred. Communication and coordination between the two is enhanced, but the actual number of votes has not changed at all. There is an inflation in each group's perception of its political power, but there is no corresponding rise in actual power wielded.
I might also add: so long as the MSM is basically willing to be their cheerleader, or at least tell them what they want to hear, the Angry Left hasn't sufficient information to gauge their actual, as opposed to perceived, level of power.
Given the horrid demographics of the Daily Kos readership (mostly elderly blue state boomers), the situation can only get worse, another reason why the effort to defeat Lieberman is so important to the LeftNet. When the most dedicated members of your power base are also the ones most likely to wake up dead tomorrow, you have to move now when it comes to grabbing a piece of the political pie. A victory in Lieberman/Lamont is crucial for the LeftNet. "Just wait till next time" is useless as a rallying cry for your base when so many of them wont be around.
Update: Some predictions. As always, my predictions are not based on a reasoned analysis of the habits of the American voter, an in-depth knowledge of state and local politics, an understanding of the candidates' positions on the issues of the day, or any familiarity whatsoever with current political theory, but rather on my obsessive focus on whatever pet theory has grabbed my attention at the moment.
1. Joe Lieberman defeats Ned Lamont in the Connecticut Democratic Primary. First "netrunts" jokes appear soon afterward.
2. Republicans maintain or increase the number of seats they hold in the House and Senate in the November elections.
3. Sometime in 2007, an enterprising Democratic presidential contender will Sista Souljah the Kossacks in order to position themsleves as "the centrist democrat who can actually win an election." My money's on Hillary.
I think the boy's on to something here.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/10/2006
20:29 ||
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The Koskids are Blue State Boomers? They haven't changed a bit since Woodstock. Except that they're losing elections consistently and seeing a lifetime in power siip through their fingers. In 2012, these are going to be some very bitter people.
Has your marketing firm given you the demographics on the 'burg, Fred?
#2
by the way - don't confuse Dead Heads with these losers - I and several friends are Dead Heads and you won't find a more red-state conservative bunch. Look at the music/lyrics if you still question
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/10/2006 21:40
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Either Bobby or Jerry was asked by a Rolling Stone interviewer to denounce all the Young Reaganites attending their concerts in the 80's, and whichever one it was not only refused to attack the young Republicans, but said he liked some of those rightist ideas. Consider that when the Dead decided to do something to save the Rain Forest, they didn't harangue poverty-stricken Third Worlders to give up washing machines and electricity. They did it the free market way: buying up parts of the Rain Forest, parcel by parcel.
And they provided the Lithuanian basketball team recently liberated from the Soviet yoke with totally cool uniforms so they could play in the 1992 Olympics.
After Jerry died, U.S. Senator Spencer Abraham (R-MI) gave an incredibly touching tribute to Jerry Garcia and the good work the Dead's Rex Foundation had done promoting the arts privately in contradistinction to millionaire actresses standing up in $50,000 gowns at the Oscars and demanding that hardworking waitresses and truck drivers be forced to support the arts through government taxation. You can look it up in the Congressional Record.
But to answer your question, Senator, I personally have loads and loads of friends who are right-wingers and Deadheads. I couldn't possibly name them all. For starters, obviously, there's Angela Lansbury. She gave me my first psychedelic tie-dyed tube top at a Dead show just outside Tucson. Just kidding. There are: Peter Flaherty, President, National Legal And Policy Center; John Harrison, top official in the Justice Department under Reagan and Bush and now a law professor at UVA; Jim Moody, MIT grad and libertarian attorney (and Linda Tripp's lawyer); Gary Lawson, former Scalia clerk and currently a law professor at Boston University Law School; Andrew McBride, partner at a DC law firm; DeRoy Murdoch, conservative columnist; Ben Hart, right-wing author of Poisoned Ivy out of Dartmouth. Oh, and the conservative talk radio host Gary Stone in Palm Springs is a Deadhead and kindly plays the Dead as my intro music. When I worked at the Justice Department during law school, I'd be leaving with a whole slew of Reagan or Bush political appointees to see the Dead at RFK. Finally, I believe the great New York subway vigilante Bernie Goetz was a Deadhead.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/10/2006 22:51
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LOL - You're incorrigible, Frank. I guess it's too bad their music didn't appeal to me (in the slightest, go figure) since their politics turned out to be right on. Funny thing is, I saw them at Monterrey Pop Festival back in the Summer of Love, 1967. So much to see and hear, so few working neurons...
#6
didn't take? Not an issue - acquired taste for some. I just wanted to note their music was based on many old American folk songs, updated. Big River was a staple, and their patriotism was never in question, compared to today's moonbats they were conservatives, I'd venture.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/10/2006 23:48
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It would be the ultimate irony if Israel makes oil from shale commercially feasible and frees the world from Gulf oil dependence.
With oil prices hovering around $70 a barrel, Israel is looking for ways to reduce its near-total dependence on energy imports. It's pondering the use of the nation's huge reserves of oil shale a dark, crumbly rock loaded with hydrocarbons located in the central and southern parts of the country. Thanks to a technical breakthrough, it should be possible to extract fuel oil from the shale for less than $20 a barrel. That could allow Israel eventually to cut its crude imports by up to one-third.
Shale is already used as a fuel for power plants in Israel and Estonia, where the rock is burned like coal to drive steam turbines. Israel's small shale-fired power plant was built nearly 20 years ago. But past attempts to extract liquid oil from shale weren't economically feasible: The process cost upwards of $50 per barrel at a time when oil was selling for less than half that.
Now, the tables have turned. A Russian-born Israeli immigrant named Moshe Gvirtz developed a technique in the 1990s to squeeze oil from shale by mixing the rock with a residue from conventional oil refining and putting it through a catalytic process. The dramatically improved results, coupled with soaring crude prices, have inverted the economics of oil shale. That could help not just Israel but dozens of other countries, including the U.S., that are rich in shale reserves.
A Haifa-based engineering firm called A.F.S.K. Hom Tov, which owns the patented process, is now gearing up to exploit the opportunity. The technology could reduce dependence on imports and substantially reduce Israel's overall energy bill, says Israel Feldman, the company's co-founder and managing director. A.F.S.K. Hom Tov has proposed building a plant that could produce up to 3 million tons of oil annually, or roughly 30 percent of Israel's current oil imports.
How does it work? Older technologies squeezed oil out of shale by putting the crushed rock under enormous pressure at high temperatures. But the process developed by Gvirtz costs far less. The shale is mixed and coated with bitumen, a remnant of normal oil refining, then put through a catalytic converter under relatively low pressure. The output is synthetic oil that can be refined into gasoline and other products.
The only problem for Israel is that its shale is relatively low quality, with a caloric value of only around 15 percent, compared with values of 20 percent or higher in other countries. That means A.F.S.K. Hom Tov has to use more shale for a given output of oil.
But in an interesting wrinkle, the company also has developed a way to burn the leftover shale which still contains residual fuel that could someday be used to drive a 100-megawatt power plant in southern Israel.
The dream of exploiting shale's potential is far from new. Ten years ago, a study conducted for the Israeli Energy Ministry by a panel consisting of some of the country's leading technical experts found that a 3-million-ton-per-year shale plant could turn an annual profit of $20 million to $59 million if oil were priced at $18 a barrel. On that basis, the experts strongly backed shale-oil technology and recommended the Israeli government finance a pilot plant.
But falling energy prices and Israel's decision to switch to natural gas led the Israeli government to put the homegrown technology on the back burner, says Moshe Shahal, a former energy minister and now a leading Tel Aviv corporate lawyer who represents A.F.S.K Hom Tov (Hebrew for good heat). Only when oil prices began skyrocketing again last fall did Shahal and the company resume serious efforts to market the process locally as well as abroad.
Not surprisingly, an updated feasibility study by local energy consulting firm Eco-Energy found that the shale plant would be even more profitable today. The cost of producing a barrel of oil using the process would be around $17 a barrel, estimates Amit Mor, managing director of Eco-Energy. At that price, the proposed plant would be a veritable gold mine, with annual profits between $188 million to $317 million. Mor notes that the projections are based on the U.S. Energy Deptartments forecasts of an average oil price of $45 to $50 a barrel in the coming 25 years.
So far, A.F.S.K.s process has only been tested on a laboratory scale. The company is planning an industrial-scale plant to be built at Mishor Rotem in the Negev Desert. We hope to be in full-scale production in 2010 or 2011 at the very latest, says Feldman.
That will entail construction of a pipeline from the Ashdod refinery located 80 kilometers (48 miles) to the north that would be used for transferring the necessary bitumen needed for the production process. A parallel pipeline would transport the synthetic oil back to Ashdod for refining.
A.F.S.K. has already made a formal request to Israel's National Infrastructure Ministry for mining rights at Mishor Rotem. It has also asked the Industry, Trade, and Labor Ministry for government backing for the ambitious project. The technology is extremely interesting and, with oil prices at these levels, there is a lot of interest on our part to develop shale, says Yaakov Mimran, Petroleum Commissioner at Israel's National Infrastructure Ministry.
The two ministries are expected to give the green light in the next few weeks for a pilot plant to test the process. The company hopes to have the necessary licenses and government financial support in hand by the end of this year.
That would be the ultimate slap in the face of the oil ticks Arabs. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/10/2006 19:58
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Yeah, seems like oil shale is everywhere. The western states are full of the stuff. Combine that with the Alberta tar sands and we could flip ol' Hugo the bird.
Boeing is evaluating the possibility of offering its F/A-18E/F Super Hornet to India equipped with Israeli-made avionics in an effort to bypass the US governments opposition to the export of some US-produced systems to the country. India is expected to consider the Super Hornet design for a new air force requirement for 126 new lightweight fighters, a request for proposals (RFP) for which is expected to be released later this year.
The invitation for Israeli companies to participate in the project is also being based on the strong bilateral relations that exist between the Indian and Israeli defence establishments, says one Boeing source. Israeli firms have over recent years enjoyed considerable success in selling equipment such as airborne and land-based early-warning radars, anti-radiation drones and unmanned air vehicle systems to the Indian armed forces.
Boeing and Israeli officials are reluctant to identify systems that could be purchased from Israeli manufacturers, but it is believed that the focus will be on the replacement of some advanced sensors and weapon systems. The Boeing response to Indias RFP will also include proposals for the licensed or local production of the Super Hornet, the company says.
Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006
18:00 ||
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Heh.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/10/2006 19:02
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Is this believable?
Sabotage potential
We have no evidence that the U.S. was able to sabotage North Korea's Taepodong-2 missile, which malfunctioned 42 seconds into launch on Tuesday and crashed.
But we do note that special operations forces (SOF) are playing an increasing role, overt and covert, in the world under Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's rule.
We also note that one of the reasons that SOF procured the powerful .50- caliber Barrett's sniper rifle was to have the capability to disable ballistic missiles. It's a scenario for missile defense you won't see in any literature from the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency: insert a commando behind the lines, who positions himself within shooting range of the launchpad.
"One of the original reasons for procuring the .50-caliber sniper system was to disable missiles," a SOF source says. "A round pumped in prior to launch, or during to cover the noise, in the right place would cause a catastrophic malfunction."
#2
NoKo failure occured at Max-Q, the portion of the flight when the vehicle is undergoing maximum stress.
Nothing to do with sabotage. The rocketry learning curve is steep, expensive and littered with failures.
For a county like North Korea with only a rudimentary scientific and industrial base, failures will be even more common.
Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006 17:19
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A missile with a half-inch hole in it is more likely to fail at Max-Q than one without.
#6
Someone has taken serious license with the name of the Taepodong-2 unless, of course, this means "no dong" in Korean.
The NorKs have three missile designs, the "Hwasong," which is a back-engineered Scud, the "Nodong," which is a larger missile based loosely on the Scud design, and the "Taepodong," which is more or less a Hwasong stacked on top of a Nodong.
I don't know what the Korean names translate to, though I'm pretty confident that they don't name their missiles after penis jokes. Can't imagine that would sit well with the Dear Leader.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/10/2006 18:34
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Well, I am no small arms expert, but a quick Google search for the M107 sniper rifle shows a maximum effective range of less than 2500 meters. This would mean that the sniper would have to be probably within 1000 meters of the launch pad. I cannot believe that anything larger than a mouse get that close to the missile. (and the mouse would probably have been eaten.)
#8
As I've speculated elsewhere, wouldn't it be hypothetically interesting if we had some kind of device that could invisibly interfere with a rocket at launch from a great distance away, say very high altitude or even from space?
All it would have to do is affect the metal in some way--not even an obvious way--that weakens it just a little bit. All sorts of radiation can do that. Just make it a tad more flexible, or a scoonch more brittle.
Metallurgy sometimes seems indistinguishable from magic.
#10
Mike: I don't know what the Korean names translate to, though I'm pretty confident that they don't name their missiles after penis jokes.
The Nodong is just the Korean word for "labor". The Taepodong is named after the launch site (whose name translates roughly to "big hole on a beach", kind of like the way many places are named after distinctive geographical features).
Describing India as a 'good international citizen' on nuclear matters, Australia on Monday said the test firing of Agni-III missile should not be equated with the 'provocative' missile launches by North Korea recently.
It also asked India and Pakistan to exercise restraint in their ballistic missile programme and continue the process of building confidence between the two countries. "India, while not a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, has been a good international citizen on nuclear matters, unlike North Korea," the country's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman said.
India had on Sunday test-fired its most advanced intermediate range ballistic missile Agni-III but it developed a technical fault and failed to hit the target. North Korea had last Wednesday fired seven missiles, including a new long-range Taepodong-2, which quickly crashed into the Sea of Japan (East Sea).
Australia stressed that India's missile firing was very different from North Korea's decision last week to test seven missiles, earning it international condemnation. "It's important not to equate this test with North Korea's recent missile tests," he was quoted by a media report as saying.
"North Korea has been a leading supplier of missile-related exports to countries seeking to acquire ballistic missile capabilities. India, in contrast, has undertaken to implement missile export controls equivalent to the missile technology control regime," he said.
Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006
15:03 ||
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India's top defence scientists were on Monday probing the snag that caused the nuclear capable intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) Agni-III to crash into the sea well short of its intended 3,000 km range.
"Data from the launch pad and from the tracking stations is being minutely examined. While it would be too early to hazard a guess as to what went wrong, it would seem that a design defect prevented the second stage from separating," a defence ministry official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"Because of this, the missile couldn't maintain its intended trajectory and could stay aloft for only five minutes instead of the 15 minutes it was intended to," the official explained.
"Since this was the first time the missile was being tested there was every possibility of glitches developing. Once these are ironed out, another flight could be contemplated," the official added, not wanting to hazard a guess as to when the next flight could take place.
Agni-III, India's longest range missile yet which is capable of reaching targets in China, was test fired at 11:03 am from the Wheeler Island facility off the Orissa coast on Sunday. It rose to a height of 12 km before it came crashing into the Bay of Bengal, 1,000 km from the launch site.
Agni-III, which has a range between 3,500 and 5,000 km, features two solid-fuelled stages and has an overall diameter of 1.8 metres. It can be deployed from rail or road mobile launch vehicles and from silos.
It is equipped with inertial guidance systems with improved optical or radar terminal phase correlation systems that gives it a high degree of accuracy.
Agni-I, with a range of 700-800 km, and Agni-II, with a 2,000-km range, have already been inducted in the Indian Army.
Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006 15:12
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"Don't worry, mates, we've got your back."
Posted by: Mike ||
07/10/2006 20:29
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A meteorite weighing around two kilos landed right in the yard outside Bjørn Herigstad's home in coastal Jæren, western Norway, over the weekend. It's the second meteorite-landing in Norway in a month, and experts are calling the incident sensational.
Bjørn Herigstad says he found the meteorite just outside his house at Orre, in the Jæren district just south of Stavanger in Rogaland County. When he went outside Sunday morning, he found a crater on his property, about 25 centimeters deep.
"I couldn't understand why there was such a hole and just started filling it in," Herigstad told local newspaper Jærbladet.
But then he found an unusual stone a few meters from the crater. "It's the oddest stone I've ever seen," he said.
Herigstad said he took it into his kitchen and washed it off, then weighed it. "You could see that it had melted and that it's burned on one side," he said. "What if it had hit our house? It would have gone right through the roof. I wonder whether our insurance would have covered it."
Per Amund Amundsen of the Stavanger Astronomy Society says that meteorites land on Norway as often as every month, but most are never found.
"This is a bit of a sensation," said Amundsen, who's also a professor at the University in Stavanger. "It's not unusual that a meteorite of this size would have created such a hole. This is incredibly exciting."
Astronomers were also excited last month when residents of northern Norway saw a meteorite streak through the light summer sky before it hit the ground east of Tromso. The University of Oslo's astro-physics department has a full report of the meteorite on its web site that's in Norwegian only, but it's possible to see a photo of that meteor before it hit.
Knut Jørgen Ødegaard, an astronomer at the University of Oslo, agreed that the meteor at Jæren over the weekend "is very special. What's sensational is that it fell so close to a house. That's extremely unusual."
Herigstad, meanwhile, isn't sure what hell do with the meteorite, which could be a valuable sales object. A quick check on the Internet revealed prices as high as NOK 700,000 (more than USD 100,000).
"We had just been wondering whether a cabin we're building is getting too expense, and then this falls out of the sky," he said with a laugh.
A Chinese leader visiting North Korea days after its missile tests defied international opinion said on Monday that Beijing stood by its Communist neighbor, adding to uncertainty about China's position in the standoff. Vice Premier Hui Liangyu's "friendship delegation" arrived in Pyongyang earlier in the day for a six-day visit announced before North Korea last week test-fired seven missiles, one of them a long-range Taepodong-2 that fell into the sea moments after launch. I bet they didn't take the train.
The representative of Military Council of State Defense Council Majlisul Shura of CRI Abu Umar has reported to Kavkaz Center news agency that the vice-president of CRI, the Military Amir of Mujahideen of Caucasus, Abdallah Shamil Abu-Idris became a Shaheed (insha Allah).
"Shaheed" is Arabic for "dead meat"...
The Chechen commander died as a result of a accidental spontaneous explosion of a cargo vehicle with explosives on July 10, 2006, in Ekazhevo village, Ingushetia. Three other Mujahideen became Shaheeds (insha Allah) together with him.
"Mahmoud! Put out that see-gar! Y'want us to spontaneously [KABOOM!]?"
The representative of Military Coucil has not reported any other details. At the same time he denied all claims of Russian side about a "special operation" against Shamil Basayev as a result of which ostensibly, the Chechen commander die.
"Nope. Nope. Never happened. Din't need no 'special operation.' He dunnit hisself!"
"There is no any special operation took place. Shamil and other our brothers became Shaheeds (insha Allah) of Allah's own will (swt).
"Yup. Allen decided to call 'em all home! It wudn't even dynamite! It wuz... It wuz... It wuz a thunderbolt!"
The Supreme one has his own plan and decision.
"Hmmm... Himmler's looking lonely again. Maybe I'll send him Basayev to talk to..."
And about the special operation, Mujahideen will show how it should be carried out ... ", - the representative of Military Council of of State Defense Council Majlisul Shura of CRI stated.
"Yeah! They're really gonna get it this time!"
Let's remind that earlier occupation command has reported about an explosion in Ekazhevo and death of 4 Mujahideen. Only after 9 hours after the first news, kafirs have claimed of death of vice-president of CRI, the military Amir Shamil Abu-Idris. The representative of Ingush puppet militia has claimed that three of four Mujahideen have been unidentified and one of them is probably Shamil Basayev. The reason of explosion was a careless use of an explosive.
As it so often is...
Later on Russian side began to report all over again about 5 then 8, and then 12 ostensibly killed Mujahideen. Thus invaders have explained that as a result of huge explosion all other bodies "have been reduced to fragments and have literally disappeared".
"Yep. Looks a lot like strawberry jam over there. We took 'em down to the morgue in jars!"
Representatives of puppet Ministry of Internal Affairs specified that at night from July 9 to 10, in 2 kilometers from village Ekazhevo of Nazran district of Ingushetia, a powerful explosion was occurred. The militiamen, who had arrived at a place, found out a burned down lorry and four bodies.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2006
13:36 ||
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I recommend Baseyev for both a fat lady AND a Dumfart, if what they say is remotely true.
#11
accidental spontaneous explosion of a cargo vehicle with explosives. I wonder when the "rest of the story" will be heard or if there is a rest of the story. I wonder if this guy had a little help to get on his way to the virgins.
#13
Heh, like I said in another thread, the russians were incredibly lucky that Shamil had incredibly incompetent technicians.
If "allah" really took him, the symbolism is necessarily significant: Died via a car bomb, the islamist terror weapon of choice in Iraq, and decapitated (the islamist method of execution of choice) by that same explosion.
#18
Though the Russian side of ops against the militant terrorists has not been quite stellar, it seems to me that attrition due to Russian attacks and due to pressure on financiers has brought down the level of boom boom tech help, just like with the Paleos. Good news.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/10/2006 18:27
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nice thing is you can use his beard to hang his skull from a hook as a urinal
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/10/2006 19:00
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From DoD release today, posted on Water and Wastewater Digest online.
Wonder if the MSM will publish it? Nah, couldn't happen.
Through the joint efforts of coalition forces and Iraqi government officials in the township of Hibhib, near Baqubah, Iraq, a water treatment and distribution facility opened June 25.
Members of the civil military operations team from 1-68 Combined Arms Battalion, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Task Force Band of Brothers and Hibhib Mayor Ali Husan Ali were on hand to cut the ceremonial red ribbon signifying the treatment and distribution facility was operational.
If you look at the big picture, the Iraqis have a government that has been installed, said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Thomas Fisher, commander, 1-68 Combined Arms Battalion. They have their national sovereignty. Part of a sovereign nations responsibility is to take care of its people. The water treatment and distribution facility is a great step towards demonstrating to the good citizens here in Khalis Kada the government is looking after their needs.
Hibhib is the township equivalent to a U.S. city. Khalis is a kada, which is equivalent to a county, and Diyala Province would be considered a state in the U.S.
The facility was run down and could not support the needs of the people before it was given an upgrade by Iraqi contractors. Now, the facility, with 11 km of new piping, can provide clean water for up to 4,000 people, said Capt. Brian Soule, civil military operations planner, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1-68 Combined Arms Battalion.
The project cost $130,000 and was paid for by funds from the commanders emergency response program, which is funded by the U.S. Congress. The program allows commanders in each area of operations to identify needs of the local people and provide assistance as quickly as possible. 130K and they are back in business. Money well spent.
Before the treatment and distribution plant was functional, the water would make people sick, said a local Iraqi teenager through an interpreter who was observing the ceremony. They would have to boil the water to get it clean. Now, it will be better for cooking and takes away the fear of poisoning. It makes life more comfortable.
The civil military operations team has many more projects in the works in coordination with the local government. Projects include installing a sewage system, a hydro-electric facility and the completion of the Baqubah soccer stadium. Steady steps forward. The Iraqis have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to make things better. I hope that they take advantage of it.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/10/2006
13:28 ||
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Plumbing, the basis for civilization.
American Standard plumbing the basis for spaceflight.
#3
Electricity, clean water, and working sewers convert more Iraqis to the cause of peace than anything. If they can then get jobs, they actively turn against the bad guyz.
From Jewish World Review online.
We all have watched what is happening to Britain, but this brings it home.
By Diana West
Just in time for the one-year anniversary of 7/7, a poll conducted for The Times of London indicates that 13 percent of British Muslims believe that the four Islamic suicide bombers who murdered 52 people in London last July should be regarded as "martyrs."
With a Muslim population in Britain estimated at 1.6 million, this means that some 208,000 British Muslims regard these killers with what can only be described as a worshipful attitude. Which is despicable. But Mother England, it seems, is home to an awful lot of despicable people.
One of them, surely, is Anjem Choudary, who made related news this week. Choudary is a former leader of Al Mujahiroun a defunct, jihad-inciting group, whose venomous pronouncements on Islamic supremacy have earned him a strange prominence in the British media. He refuses to condemn the 7/7 attacks, says Muslims shouldn't help police combat jihad terror, and advocates sharia (Islamic law) for Britain. During a BBC "Newsnight" appearance this year, the host asked Choudary why he didn't simply move to a sharia state like Iran.
"Who says you own Britain, anyway?" Choudary replied. "Britain belongs to Allah. The whole world belongs to Allah. ... If I go to the jungle, I'm not going to live like the animals, I'm going to propagate a superior way of life. Islam is a superior way of life." And there you have it, folks. The Superior Way of Life defense. If you want to reason with the likes of him, go howl at the moon. It will be more productive.
In a way, the 39-year-old Essex man was just found guilty of a charge connected to propagating that "superior way of life." It all started last February when Choudary organized a march on the Danish Embassy in London to protest Muhammad cartoons first published in a Danish newspaper. This wasn't one of those anti-Danish protests in which people were killed hundreds died around the Islamic world in this year's Days of Cartoon Rage but it was definitely murder-minded. "Behead Those Who Insult Islam," said one placard. "Slay Those Who Insult Islam," said another. "Kill Those Who Insult Islam," and (for variety) "Butcher Those Who Mock Islam," said others. Hundreds of demonstrators marched through London, praising the 7/7 killers, or calling for the murder of journalists who publish Mohammed cartoons.
And the police stood by.
More accurately, they made sure the protest went off smoothly, as the Times Online reported. "People who tried to snatch away (the placards) were held back by police," the newspaper said. "Several members of the public tackled senior police officers guarding the protesters, demanding to know why they allowed banners that praised the 'Magnificent 19' the terrorists who hijacked the aircrafts used on Sept. 11, 2001 and others threatening further attacks on London."
Why, indeed. The "Newsnight" show on which Choudary subsequently appeared included news footage of an English bobby vigorously silencing such a citizen, described as a van driver, who, according to the televised report, had angrily criticized the Muslim protesters. It is tragically enlightening.
"Listen to me, listen to me," said the policeman, shaking his finger at the van driver. "They have a right to protest. You let them do it. You say things like that you'll get them riled and I end up in (trouble). You say one more thing like that, mate, and you'll get yourself nicked (arrested) and I am not kidding you, d'you understand me?"
Van driver: "They can do whatever they want and I can't?"
Policeman: "They've got their way of doing it. The way you did it was wrong. You've got one second to get back in your van and get out of here."
Van driver: (bitter) "Freedom of speech."
This vignette wasn't law and order in action. It was desperate, craven appeasement. As the bobby put it, "You say things like that, you'll get them riled." And we mustn't get them riled. Let Choudary and his band of thugs praise mass killings, threaten more attacks and advocate murder by beheading on London streets in broad daylight but don't get them riled.
Still, Choudary did end up in a British court of law, and this week a British judge handed down a verdict. Choudary has been found guilty of ... staging a demonstration without giving the required six days' written notice.
Tsk, tsk. That'll be $1,400 in fines, please easy enough to pay since Choudary, the Online Sun reports, receives more than twice that per month in government handouts. All of which makes Pax Britannica seem quite cheap at the price.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/10/2006
12:45 ||
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#1
"Okay, lissen up you tin-head primitives! THIS is my BOOM STICK!"
-- Ash
#2
Law enforcement has to realize that there is no third side when the conflict erupts into street violence. You are either with evil or against it.
No third option. The state will side with the stronger. Twas ever thus.
#3
During a BBC "Newsnight" appearance this year, the host asked Choudary why he didn't simply move to a sharia state like Iran.
"Who says you own Britain, anyway?" Choudary replied. "Britain belongs to Allah. The whole world belongs to Allah. ... If I go to the jungle, I'm not going to live like the animals, I'm going to propagate a superior way of life. Islam is a superior way of life."
Choudary, the Online Sun reports, receives more than ($2,800) per month in government handouts.
Probably pays better then being Omar Bakri's favorite love toy back in Beirut, don't it Anjem? And I'm figuring Lebanon's welfare bennies ain't nearly as lucrative.
#4
Who says you own Britain, anyway?" Choudary replied. "Britain belongs to Allah. The whole world belongs to Allah. ... If I go to the jungle, I'm not going to live like the animals, I'm going to propagate a superior way of life. Islam is a superior way of life." This guy is seriously deluded--except that his kind are dangerous because they believe their own bulls*it.
Houston police and the federal Transportation Security Administration disagree over who is responsible for allowing a man with what appeared to be bomb components board an aircraft at Hobby Airport last week.
Guess security is a hobby as well
Although the FBI eventually cleared the man of wrongdoing, police officials have transferred the officer involved and are investigating the incident while insisting that the TSA, not police, has the authority to keep a suspicious person from boarding a flight.
"Our job is not to be the gatekeepers," police Capt. Dwayne Ready said. "That burden falls squarely on the airline and TSA to make that final decision.
I do believe it's in their job description
"We are looking at our role in the situation to make sure our policies were adhered to," he said. "During follow-up, we are finding that there simply was not a material threat."
TSA spokeswoman Andrea McCauley said screeners have the authority to stop people from going beyond the checkpoint to the boarding areas, but they rely heavily on local police. "It's just agencies talking with each other," Ready said, downplaying the disagreement.
McCauley and Ready would not comment about the June 26 incident, but a confidential TSA report obtained by the Houston Chronicle details a dispute between screeners and a police officer on duty at the airport. The report states that a man with a Middle Eastern name and a ticket for a Delta Airlines flight to Atlanta shook his head when screeners asked if he had a laptop computer in his baggage, but an X-ray machine operator detected a laptop.
"Warning, warning, danger, Will Robinson, danger!"
A search of the man's baggage revealed a clock with a 9-volt battery taped to it and a copy of the Quran, the report said. A screener examined the man's shoes and determined that the "entire soles of both shoes were gutted out." No explosive material was detected, the report states. A police officer was summoned and questioned the man, examined his identification, shoes and the clock, then cleared him for travel, according to the report.
A TSA screener disagreed with the officer, saying "the shoes had been tampered with and there were all the components of (a bomb) except the explosive itself," the report says.
I'd say the screener has a point
The officer retorted, "I thought y'all were trained in this stuff," TSA officials reported.
The report says the TSA screener notified Delta Airlines and talked again with the officer, who said he had been unable to check the passenger's criminal background because of computer problems. The incident gained enough attention at higher levels of the TSA that the FBI was asked to investigate. The TSA issued a statement saying its screeners "acted in accordance with their training and protocols."
FBI Special Agent Stephen Emmett in Atlanta said agents there investigated the passenger. "It was looked at and deemed a non-event," Emmett said, declining to give further details.
And if the FBI sez there's no threat.....oh, wait...
Meanwhile the officer involved in the dispute, J.O. Reece, has been transferred to a desk job, "the same place they send officers who are relieved of duty," said Chad Hoffman, attorney for the Houston Police Officers Union. Hoffman said Reece doesn't understand why he was transferred "when it seems clear from the onset of the investigation that he didn't have probable cause to detain anybody and that his actions were consistent with the law and HPD policy."
Sure. This is why you don't use law enforcement methods to fight terrorists.
#5
Test run, for sure. this ought to be good news for the Islamic Crusaders.
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/10/2006 17:05
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"During follow-up, we are finding that there simply was not a material threat."
Lucky you. And passengers. And relatives. And friends. Etc. What about next time? I call this a failure.
I understand that mistakes are made, and that's understandable. But heads should roll here if they are trying to lay blame rather than looking for the problem/solution.
And what is this about not knowing whose responsibility it is or having some clear system in place to keep suspect passengers off a plane? Isn't that the whole point? I don't believe it. If I say "I have a bomb" in an airport even if I don't, I will be run off to jail without a second thought. Does this whole story mean that if I actually carry something that intentionally looks and smells like a bomb, even if it isn't, that somehow this is different? Bull$hit. They'll have to think faster than that to explain this away in my mind.
Posted by: grb ||
07/10/2006 19:16
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What I wonder about is the guy with the rest of the components who did get on.
#9
What do you expect? TSA are the same former hamburger-flippers, now paid Federal salary scale wages and wearing fancy uniforms. Maybe they would improve with some gold braid.
The local cops are not much better. Good riddance to Mineta.
MOSCOW, July 10 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's security chief said Monday that Shamil Basayev, Russia's most wanted terrorist for a string of attacks that claimed hundreds of lives, had been killed in southern Russian. Nikolai Patrushev, head of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), said 41-year-old Basayev, who claimed responsibility for the 2004 Beslan school siege and the 2002 Moscow theater attack, had been killed during the night in the North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia. "Basayev and a number of militants were eliminated in Ingushetia last night," Patrushev told President Vladimir Putin.
Security services reported earlier in the day that a group of militants had been killed preparing for a terrorist attack when their explosive-laden truck blew up. And it later transpired that Basayev had been traveling in an accompanying car.
A local police source said, "Basayev's body was found by FSB officers after a car wired with explosives blew up. The convoy included three cars with militants, one of which was Basayev." "The terrorist was decapitated by the explosion, but from characteristic traits, it was suggested that the body was none other than Shamil Basayev," the source said. After initial examinations, the terrorist's identity was confirmed, he said.
Russian television channel NTV said no civilians had been hurt in the explosion, which was equivalent to more than 100 kilograms (220 lbs) of TNT, as it had occurred at midnight. The channel said the security service had "helped" blow up the truck.
Although Russian authorities have reported Basayev's death several times in the past, there appears to be complete certainty that this time they have got their man. A senior security official said DNA tests would be carried out to eradicate any doubts.
"Even though special forces are 100% sure that Basayev has been killed, his death will be confirmed. The terrorist's remains will be brought to a medical laboratory, where an analysis will be carried out," the source said.
The DNA test will take around a week, he said.
Additional from Times OnLine: "Shamil Basayev's death has been announced before but there seems to be no doubt about it this time. The FSB has formally announced it and they have shown brief footage of his body, lying on his back, the right arm bandaged and bloodied. It was recognisably him - he had a thick black beard as he has had since the early 1990s when he first became involved in the Chechen movement."
Let the Fat Lady know she's up next
Additional from Interfax: Basayev's killing was the fallout of a Kamaz truck explosion in Ingushetia this morning, said Ingush Deputy Prime Minister Bashir Aushev, who is responsible for the republic's law enforcement agencies. "There were several motor cars with militants next to the Kamaz truck, including Basayev," Aushev told Interfax on Monday. Basayev's killing has been in the works for a very long time, he said.
Basayev's body has been identified by body parts, he said. "After the explosion, body parts were collected. Basayev was identified through the body parts. As far as I know, he was identified by the head," Aushev said. "All his characteristic features are there," Aushev said.
The militants had arrived in Ingushetia to collect arms, he said. "The militants were at the very top of the terrorist structure responsible for sabotages. They were the most notorious figures in illegal armed groups," he said. No law enforcement official was killed in the operation, he said. "Two civilians were injured but there is no threat to their lives," he said.
Besides Shamil Basayev, 12 more militants were killed in Monday's sweep operation in Ingushetia, a Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) official told Interfax. "Twelve more militants were killed along with Basayev. Some of them have already been identified," he said.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/10/2006
12:02 ||
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July 10, 2006 -- THE British military defines experience as the ability to recognize a mistake the second time you make it. By that standard, we should be very experienced in dealing with captured terrorists, since we've made the same mistake again and again.
Violent Islamist extremists must be killed on the battlefield. Only in the rarest cases should they be taken prisoner. Few have serious intelligence value. And, once captured, there's no way to dispose of them.
Killing terrorists during a conflict isn't barbaric or immoral - or even illegal. We've imposed rules upon ourselves that have no historical or judicial precedent. We haven't been stymied by others, but by ourselves.
The oft-cited, seldom-read Geneva and Hague Conventions define legal combatants as those who visibly identify themselves by wearing uniforms or distinguishing insignia (the latter provision covers honorable partisans - but no badges or armbands, no protection). Those who wear civilian clothes to ambush soldiers or collect intelligence are assassins and spies - beyond the pale of law.
Traditionally, those who masquerade as civilians in order to kill legal combatants have been executed promptly, without trial. Severity, not sloppy leftist pandering, kept warfare within some decent bounds at least part of the time. But we have reached a point at which the rules apply only to us, while our enemies are permitted unrestricted freedom.
The present situation encourages our enemies to behave wantonly, while crippling our attempts to deal with terror.
Consider today's norm: A terrorist in civilian clothes can explode an IED, killing and maiming American troops or innocent civilians, then demand humane treatment if captured - and the media will step in as his champion. A disguised insurgent can shoot his rockets, throw his grenades, empty his magazines, kill and wound our troops, then, out of ammo, raise his hands and demand three hots and a cot while he invents tales of abuse.
Conferring unprecedented legal status upon these murderous transnational outlaws is unnecessary, unwise and ultimately suicidal. It exalts monsters. And it provides the anti-American pack with living vermin to anoint as victims, if not heroes.
Isn't it time we gave our critics what they're asking for? Let's solve the "unjust" imprisonment problem, once and for all. No more Guantanamos! Every terrorist mission should be a suicide mission. With our help.
We need to clarify the rules of conflict. But integrity and courage have fled Washington. Nobody will state bluntly that we're in a fight for our lives, that war is hell, and that we must do what it takes to win.
Our enemies will remind us of what's necessary, though. When we've been punished horribly enough, we'll come to our senses and do what must be done.
This isn't an argument for a murderous rampage, but its opposite. We must kill our enemies with discrimination. But we do need to kill them. A corpse is a corpse: The media's rage dissipates with the stench. But an imprisoned terrorist is a strategic liability.
Nor should we ever mistreat captured soldiers or insurgents who adhere to standing conventions. On the contrary, we should enforce policies that encourage our enemies to identify themselves according to the laws of war. Ambiguity works to their advantage, never to ours.
Our policy toward terrorists and insurgents in civilian clothing should be straightforward and public: Surrender before firing a shot or taking hostile action toward our troops, and we'll regard you as a legal prisoner. But once you've pulled a trigger, thrown a grenade or detonated a bomb, you will be killed. On the battlefield and on the spot.
Isn't that common sense? It also happens to conform to the traditional conduct of war between civilized nations. Ignorant of history, we've talked ourselves into folly.
And by the way: How have the terrorists treated the uniformed American soldiers they've captured? According to the Geneva Convention?
Sadly, even our military has been infected by political correctness. Some of my former peers will wring their hands and babble about "winning hearts and minds." But we'll never win the hearts and minds of terrorists. And if we hope to win the minds, if not the hearts, of foreign populations, we must be willing to kill the violent, lawless fraction of a fraction of a percent of the population determined to terrorize the rest.
Ravaged societies crave and need strict order. Soft policies may appear to work in the short term, but they fail overwhelmingly in the longer term. Wherever we've tried sweetness and light in Iraq, it has only worked as long as our troops were present - after which the terrorists returned and slaughtered the beneficiaries of our good intentions. If you wish to defend the many, you must be willing to kill the few.
For now, we're stuck with a situation in which the hardcore terrorists in Guantanamo are "innocent victims" even to our fair-weather allies. In Iraq, our troops capture bomb-makers only to learn they've been dumped back on the block.
It is not humane to spare fanatical murderers. It is not humane to play into our enemy's hands. And it is not humane to endanger our troops out of political correctness.
Instead of worrying over trumped-up atrocities in Iraq (the media give credence to any claim made by terrorists), we should stop apologizing and take a stand. That means firm rules for the battlefield, not Gumby-speak intended to please critics who'll never be satisfied by anything America does.
The ultimate act of humanity in the War on Terror is to win. To do so, we must kill our enemies wherever we encounter them. He who commits an act of terror forfeits every right he once possessed.
Ralph Peters' new book, "Never Quit the Fight," hits stores today.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/10/2006
11:43 ||
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Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/10/2006 13:34
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#3
We hanged people at Nurmeburg for doing precisely what Peters suggets. Maybe he has a sexy new balck and silver uniform design to go along with his ideas.
#6
We should execute all ILLEGAL-COMBATANTS in the field unless they give up actionable intel in the first 5 minutes of their capture.
HH. He is talking about ILLEGAL COMBATANTS. Those who do not wear identifying insigina and hide in the civilian population. One of the reasons the GC was written is to protect the civilians which is why it outlaws hiding in civilian populations and specifically allows the execution of people who do without trial - this is the 'teeth' behind the GC which encourages combatants to abide by the rules and the reason we should not be giving these illegal combatants the same treatment as legal combatants.
I beleve that if the 'insurgents' wore identifying insigina (an armband or something) incidents like Haditha wouldn't happen a tenth as much. But since the 'lions of islam' hide behind women and children (sometimes literally) these things happen. The fact that we then allow these cowards to then demand three-hots-and-a-cot is plain-ass stupid. It is telling the world thats its ok and 'honorable' to hide behind women and children civilians.
#7
A really good site on the history of British judicial hanging:
http://tinyurl.com/6wx6v
In its heyday, the British use of the gallows so terrified bad actors around the world that many other nations developed different means of execution altogether.
And to its credit, the only group not moved by the noose were the Thughees, so vicious a sect that they had to be entirely wiped out, twice, with conventional military means.
America, likewise, lost a fine deterrent when it discontinued hanging.
#13
I think the state of washington has hanging or lethal injection. Used to be that hanging was the preferred sentence (if the prisoner refused to choose) until one inmate made himself so fat on prison food while waiting on death row that everyone went batshit worrying if the scumbag would 'suffer' during his hanging that they communted his sentence to life. (kind of like worrying if the needle to give a lethal injection is sterile...)
I seem to recall later this same person later got a free liver transplant at taxpayer expense -- least he suffer anything. Might have been someone else but I think it was the same person.
Personally I think they should be given 5 (or 10) years to file their appeals then they are taken outback and shot without fanfare. Particulary if the evidence is overwhelming (they were caught in the act).
#15
It's my understanding this was going on in Vietnam too. A friend of mine told me they didn't take prisoners nor did the NVA, except if they were high value.
He later became a spotter on a loach and was allowed to carry captain bars so if he was shot down he had better chance of survival if captured.
Posted by: bruce ||
07/10/2006 20:17
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"We hanged people at Nurmeburg for doing precisely what Peters suggets. Maybe he has a sexy new balck and silver uniform design to go along with his ideas."
#17
Under Roman law, actors such as these were considered bandits and killed on sight. Which is pretty much the way it has been done, always and everywhere in every culture, until now, or the 1960s. Sheesh.
Over at the Jawa Report, I saw some of the pictures of the 2 soldiers from the 101st who were cruelly murdered. What disgusting and cowardly animals these 'people' are. Lions? Yeah, right. More like hyenas. Pfeh. Add all of these we capture to the body count and we will see a mmarked decrease in violence as they are sent right to hell where they belong. A true "dying breed". The Hyenas of Allen.
Our jihadi enemies are truly "the enemy of life itself" and must be ruthlessly, relentlessly and totally exterminated, just like the Thugees. TO.A.MAN.
We need a return to the old rules for an old problem. Luguolo Latrunculus (kill the bandits), I say.
#18
Crazyfool got Ballz and he be correct!
Lookit. let's all of us get real. The time for "Revolution" has come. Things are so out of kilter now, both at home and abroad, that we'd might just as well pick up the pace (or get buried)and begin to "Git 'er Done"! In the interest of staying focused, and to marshall studliness during these crucial new revolutionary times, I propose that a notional prioritization list be developed...All are welcome to nominate the leftists and perverts of their choice and to assign them the next ascending number after MINE. Again, just for fun. My #1 fish in the barrel---George Soros.
#2., do I hear # 2? Kick it back so we can build on it. It's all in fun!!! (Not)
#22
We hanged people at Nurmeburg for doing precisely what Peters suggets. Maybe he has a sexy new balck and silver uniform design to go along with his ideas.
Maybe NAH has already been here.
Looked at the picture on JAWA. There also is a report on FOX tonite that the Shura Council has tortured, murdered, and mutilated three more of our soldiers. It's past time to go Roman on these animals.
A rocket carrying India's heaviest satellite has disintegrated in a ball of smoke and flame seconds after lift-off, dealing a crippling blow to the country's ambitious space programme.
The 49-metre (161-foot) rocket was launched at 1205 GMT from an island off the coast of the southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh, but veered off course and disintegrated about 30 seconds later, live television pictures showed.
The article also contained this interesting detail:
Monday's ill-fated launch of the three-stage rocket, which includes Russian-made cryogenic control systems with locally-built equipment, was an attempt to increase its capacity beyond four tons.
I didn't know they had imported technology on this vehicle; I'll have to go back and go over the previous posts from this weekend.
#2
veered off course and disintegrated about 30 seconds later
I don't think it was the cryo-controls. Sounds like either a structural problem at max-Q, a guidence failure, or some form of gimbal/engine failure. Between this and the Agni test, it sounds like ISRO is still on the expensive end of the learning curve. Ouch.
Posted by: N guard ||
07/10/2006 12:29
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Fault was not with the Russian supplied cryo stage, it was with one of the liquid strapon boosters. The vehicle was destroyed by master control.
"Nair said it appeared from preliminary data that the pressure had dropped to zero in one of the four strap-on motors and it failed to give the required thrust to the GSLV.
Following this, the vehicle deviated to about 10 degrees, leading to the mission control giving the 'destruct command
Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006 13:56
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#6
Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006 13:57
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#7
Is that fuel igniting on the side of the vehicle?
Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006 14:05
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#8
Could be part of the auxiliary booster airframe igniting.
#9
The DRDO built the Agni-3 while the ISRO built the GSLV-1.
DRDO is certainly less capable - the problem with the missile yesterday seems to have occured far too early to be a stage separation problem. It is likely a Max-Q design fault. They used a very high trajectory to enable the 5000 km range missile to land 2000 km downrange.
ISRO went through this part of the learning curve about a decade ago. The problem may be with the contractor that supplied portions of the strapon booster.
There may very well have been a fuel leak from the strapon.
The very first GSLV launch had a booster failure but the onboard computers shut down the liquid straons before the solid main stage ignited. ISRO defuelled the booster, replaced it and launched a week later. That launch had problems with the Russian cryo stage thrust and the satellite was abandoned.
India has 3 more Russian engines in storage IIRC.
Either the next GSLV launch or the one after that will use an Indian cryo stage instead.
Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006 14:14
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#10
Could be part of the auxiliary booster airframe igniting.
I suspect the loss of pressure was due to fuel venting at the side of the strapon booster (UDMH+N2O4).
Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006 14:17
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Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006 14:25
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#12
Speaking as a purely hypothetical, I wonder if we might have invented some gizmo that invisibly makes rockets not work, from a considerable distance, and from very high altitude, or even space?
#16
That UDMH+N2O2 liquid engine is an Indian version of the French Viking engine, used on the Arianne vehicle.
The French needed a lot of aerospace engineers to work on the Viking design and India had them in surplus. The French got their engine and the Indians got the design.
The Russian SS-18 used the same UDMH/N2O2 combo.
North Korea used UDMH + IRFNA (inhibited red fuming nitric acid).
Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006 14:41
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#17
6 is probably right about the seal breach.
Would explain a lot.
Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006 14:42
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#18
That should be N2O4
Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006 14:43
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#19
The GSLV is a mongrel interim vehicle, put together using uprated engines from the smaller PSLV. ISRO needed a heavier vehicle and used the componants they had.
Its performaance is degraded because the solid first stage (125 tons HTPB+AP+Al) burns for 100 seconds while the four 40 ton UDMH+N2O4 liquid strapons burn for 160 seconds.
This means the expended first stage must be carried as dead weight until the strapons have been expended. Only then can the stage be jettisoned and the 80 ton UDMH+N2O4 second stage (which burns for 150 seconds) be ignited.
The 12 ton LOX/LH2 cryo third stage burns for 720 seconds.
The GSLV-3 will be a new vehicle - two 200 ton solid (HTPB+AP+Al) first stage boosters attached to either side of the second stage (110 tons UDMH+N204) with a 25 ton LOX/LH2 cryo third stage.
Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006 14:55
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#20
Apparently the fuel used in the liquid engines in this vehicle is not plain UDMH but rather UH25 (a mixture of Unsymmetrical Di-methyl Hydrazine and hydrazine hydrate) - gives improved thrust
Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006 15:00
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#21
Looks like there was a glitch in the Russian engine - didn't affect launch though
However, Nair denied any link between the glitch which delayed the launch and the problem which doomed the mission. The delay was due to a "minor" problem of ground servicing, he said.
One of the pumps with the cryogenic fluid had opened and failed to re-seal. A team had to be sent to close it and ensure that all parameters were normal before the lift-off.
Nair said the lift-off was normal, but in a few seconds the vehicle was found to be off trajectory and in 60 seconds, some parts had broken up.
Immediately, the 'destruct command' was given to ensure the wayward rocket did not fall on a populated area. It crashed into the Bay of Bengal.
However, the rocket blew up becuase, according to Nair, one of the four strap-on engines had failed. While the other three developed normal velocity, the pressure in the affected motor dropped to zero.
At this stage, the vehicle was out of control. Normally a deviation of up to 4° is allowed. But in this case, it had deviated by 10°.
Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006 15:14
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#22
John, my email is on my web page (which you can find by clicking on the "website" link here) on the left side of the page about halfway down.
(There's only one post up atm, but I've been kinda busy).
Anyway, could you drop me a line?
Posted by: Phil ||
07/10/2006 15:42
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#23
Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006 17:11
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#24
Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006 19:32
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I'll bet this is the first of many... An Iowa judge has denied unemployment benefits to a man who claimed discrimination after being fired from an ethanol plant for drinking "automobile fuel" produced by the company. You mean, I'm not supposed to drink it? Is that in the employee handbook, because I didn't see it.
Cory Neddermeyer, 42, was fired in April from Amaizing Energy in Denison, where he worked as a maintenance technician. The company produces ethanol fuel for vehicles in a formula that includes a high concentration of alcohol. Mmmmmmmmmm...Amaizing Drunken Fuel.
Neddermeyer was fired after an April 21 incident at the Denison plant. According to Neddermeyer, he showed up for work that morning and saw that there had been a spill of fuel alcohol. Hundreds of gallons of 190-proof alcohol were contained in a 6-inch-deep holding pond that was about 30 feet by 24 feet. Mmmmmmmmmmmm...190 proof alcohol.
It proved to be too much to resist, Neddermeyer said. Woo-Hoo!!!
"I am a recovering alcoholic, and I thought about the availability of this alcohol throughout the day," he wrote in a statement later provided to state officials. "Curious about the taste and its effects, I dipped into this lake of liquor and drank what I considered to be 2 to 3 ounces. The next thing I remember is waking up in Crawford County Memorial Hospital." Anything for science, right, Cory?
Neddermeyer had been found by his co-workers in an incoherent state, unable to say his name or the day of the week. Guess he found out about it's effects...
He was taken to a hospital, where his blood-alcohol level, according to state records, was reported at 0.72 - nine times the legal limit for driving, and almost double the level that is considered potentially fatal for many adults.
He was briefly hospitalized for acute alcohol intoxication, during which time his employer searched his work area and allegedly found three empty pop bottles that contained trace amounts of the fuel.
At a subsequent state hearing on Neddermeyer's request for unemployment benefits, plant manager Jeff Bruck expressed shock at Neddermeyer's actions.
"This is a fuel alcohol," Bruck testified. "This is an explosive product." The liquid had not been blended with gasoline.
At the hearing, Administrative Law Judge Teresa Hillary asked Neddermeyer, "Why would you drink fuel?"
"I don't have a good explanation for that," he replied. "Curiosity?" Sounds better then "I'm a shithead?" I suppose... Neddermeyer argued that his employer shared in the responsibility for the incident because the spill at the plant provided an "opportunity" for him to drink.
He also argued that Amaizing Energy was discriminating against him due to his "disease of alcoholism."
He asked Hillary whether the protections afforded him under the Americans with Disabilities Act could be applied to his request for unemployment benefits. Should've gone with the "I'm a fuckin idiot" defense and thrown himself on the mercy of the court.
"The fact that you're an alcoholic does not excuse your behavior," Hillary replied. "You're not allowed to come into an unemployment hearing and say, 'I'm an alcoholic so I don't have to live with the misconduct standards.' "
Hillary denied the request for benefits, saying Neddermeyer had committed job-related misconduct that could have resulted in his death.
"The employer has a right to expect employees not to drink the fuel," Hillary ruled. "Just because some of the ethanol leaked onto the floor is not a good reason for the claimant to drink automobile fuel." You're in the wrong state, man. In Massachusetts, you'd have been set for life.
Court records indicate Neddermeyer has twice been convicted of driving while intoxicated.
Neddermeyer said Thursday that he has been struggling with alcohol for at least 10 years and is now getting additional help.
"Things were going pretty well until that day at work," he said. Next stop, SSI...
#4
"Curious about the taste and its effects and always having wanted one of the coveted 'Darwin Awards'..."
Posted by: Matt ||
07/10/2006 14:06
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"Alcoholism" is considered a handicap for purposes of the anti-discrimination statutes, so, for instance, I can't fire someone because he's an AA member or he's been through rehab, so long as he's behaving himself.
"Intoxication," however, is another matter. I can fire someone for coming in to work snockered, even if they are alcoholic.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/10/2006 14:41
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I kinda feel sorry for the bastard. I think they were right to fire him (they had to, really) and he certainly didn't deserve unemployment benefits. But I just kinda feel sorry for him for wrecking up his life over a stupid mistake like that.
by Garance Franke-Ruta, The American Prospect "TAPPED" blog
Avi Issacharoff reported [in Ha'aretz] that there is considerable Palestinian support for more kidnappings:
Of the 1,197 respondents from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, 66.8 percent expressed support for further kidnappings of Israeli civilians while 77.2 percent backed the Kerem Shalom tunnel operation and subsequent kidnapping of Israel Defense Forces Corporal Gilad Shalit.
Nonetheless, just 47.7 percent of those polled said they believed the Shalit affair would end positively for the Palestinian side.
That's a shockingly high level of optimism, when you think about it, given the unfolding disaster in Gaza -- and also a surprisingly high level of enthusiasm for further provocative actions by people who readily admit that they know better than to expect a positive result from the present one. Of course, consciously self-destructive behavior in the interest of hurting one's enemy is also the dynamic behind suicide bombings, which have found similarly high levels of support in polls of Palestinians, so plus ça change and all that.
Interesting for two reasons: (1) the self-destructive mentality that advocates a course of conduct with no percieved upside (in contrast, up until the very end of WWII, the Japanese sincerely believed that kamikaze attacks and similar tactics would turn the tide of the war and benefit the country, even though they were obviously terminal for the participants) and (2) the fact that this gets noted with a clear eye by a left-of-center writer in a left-of-center publication like TAP.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/10/2006
11:13 ||
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#1
I have a different take on these numbers. I believe that when you net it all out, the paleos like the international commiseration and support that comes with their self-imposed victimhood. They're not starving. They're not disease-infested. They're not like the babies we used to watch in Biafra. So they're not suffering (although they'd love people to think they are).
Humanitarian disaster? Let the UN look to Africa. Oh. I forgot. Oil-rich arab countries can't use Africa as pawns. Which means there's no humanitarian disaster there.
#2
Once again, blame is shared with the Israelis, whose co-dependent behavior supports and nourishes the Paleos. The need to adopt a philosophy of "gain", that is, do not fight to maintain the status quo, fight to achieve advantage.
Every action against the Paleos should result in the Paleos losing something and the Israelis gaining something. Something finite. Like land or life. If the Israelis confiscated land for every affront committed by the Paleos, soon either the Paleos would quit being obnoxious, or there would be no more Paleos in country.
But the Israelis keep playing a damn stalemate, a zero-sum gain, that just guarantees that the Paleos will never stop in their violence, and that the murderous cancer will continue.
#6
You might ask the Iraqis about that . . . you know, the ones that voted in three national elections in the face of terrorist threats? Or maybe the Turks (not exactly friendlies these past few years, but they know how to run a modern society). Or the Kurds.
I won't deny that Palestinian society is a train wreck, but I think that has less to do with Islam than with the uniquely messed-up nature of the Palestinian "society"--and the neighboring despots (*cough* Syria! *cough*) and more distant America-haters (*cough* Iran! *cough* Jimmy Carter! *cough*) who are the Palestinians' enablers and manipulators.
I also won't deny that Wahabbi Islam is one seriously messed up religion. On the other hand, we should not forget that there are millions of Moslems out there who are friendlies, many of whom are putting their lives on the line so Americans don't have to.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/10/2006 16:59
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#7
You are trying to apply human qualities to roaches.
It will not work.
#8
Jim: With all due respect, I'm not going to call people who do this, or this, or this "roaches." They're not.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/10/2006 18:03
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#9
I'm sorry but this poll was discussed yesterday - you cannot trust a poll coming out of the West Bank or Gaza. Why? well, who's doing the polling? Girl Scouts of America, Gallup or someone who has some Hamas 'minders' behind them (because after all these are rough neighbourhoods you know, and you may not know your way around).
Assuming that Western opinion poll methods work in a place where people can be taken outside and summarily shot because they were 'collaborating with Israel' is just delusional.
This does, of course, make it more difficult to find out what's really going on in there, but what can you do?
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
07/10/2006 19:13
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#11
Interesting post, Mike, and you've made a lot of good points as well. This war is going to take brains as well as brawn to win, and we can't afford to squander the support of Muslims who prefer our side to that of the fascists.
#12
Tony is correct. Physical coersion and the threat of being labelled a traitor plays a huge part in shaping this so-called consensus. Of course most Palestinians sincerely hate Israel and want to harm it. But beyond that, they are not really at liberty to discuss or question strategy and tactics openly. They must show solidarity with the most extremist position, which then becomes the default position. Any leader who acknowledges reality and tries to compromise automatically delegitimizes themselves or invites assassination a la Sadat.
#13
And those statements, MM, which I will tacitly acknowledge are probably factual, do not change anything, as far as I can see. The Paleos are hell-bent for self-destruction and I hope Israel has the will to help them at every opportunity.
It is certainly factual that Israel must assume the worst, plan for it, and take decisive action in self-preservation. The current campaign into Gaza to try to force the release of Gilad Shalit is excruciatingly slow and, from any perspective, puzzling in its pace. Or lack of pace. I wish Olmert would put enough force into this operation to make it successful and pull no punches. The only thing he has done since it began which I find encouraging is that he says he will not negotiate, as there are nothing but terrorists with which to do so, and that Israel will not leave until Shalit's fate is resolved. I pray he will not allow the fools who infest his government, as they do ours, weaken his resolve.
I've read many, many, opinions here and one resonates with me:
Only one side in this conflict can possibly survive.
All the good feeling at the White House at President Bush's early birthday party on July 4 couldn't hide the fact that the president finds himself in a world of hurt.
A grinding and unpopular war in Iraq, a growing insurgency in Afghanistan, an impasse over Iran's nuclear ambitions, brewing war between Israel and the Palestinians -- the litany of global crises would test the fortitude of any president, let alone a second-termer with an approval rating mired in Warren Harding territory.
And there's no relief in sight. On the very day that Bush celebrated 60, North Korea's regime, already believed to possess material for a clutch of nuclear weapons, test-launched seven missiles, including one designed to reach the U.S. homeland.
Even more surprising than the test (it failed less than two minutes after launch), though, was Bush's response. Long gone were the zero-tolerance warnings, "Axis of Evil" rhetoric and talk of pre-emptive action.
Instead, Bush pledged to "make sure we work with our friends and allies ... to continue to send a unified message" to Pyongyang. In a news conference after the missile test, he referred to diplomacy a half dozen times.
The shift under way in Bush's foreign policy is bigger and more seismic than a change of wardrobe or a modulation of tone.
Bush came to office pledging to focus on domestic issues and pursue a "humble" foreign policy that would avoid the entanglements of the Bill Clinton years. That was before 9/11 dumbass. Having 3,000 innocent civilians blown away in a terrorist act is bound to change foreign policy...
After September 11, however, the Bush team embarked on a different path, outlining a muscular, idealistic, and unilateralist vision of American power and how to use it.
They aimed to lay the foundation for a grand strategy to fight Islamic terrorists and rogue states, by spreading democracy around the world and pre-empting gathering threats before they materialize. And the U.S. wasn't willing to wait for others to help.
The approach fit with Bush's personal style, his self-professed proclivity to dispense with the nuances of geopolitics and go with his gut. "The Bush Doctrine is actually being defined by action, as opposed to by words," Bush told Tom Brokaw aboard Air Force One in 2003.
But in the span of four years, the administration has been forced to rethink the doctrine by which it hoped to remake the world. Bush's response to the North Korean missile test was revealing: Under the old Bush Doctrine, defiance by a dictator like Kim Jong Il would have merited threats of punitive U.S. action. Instead, the administration has mainly been talking up multilateralism and downplaying Pyongyang's provocation. And helping Japan build a missle defense which would help defuse both North Korea and the real master here China.
The Bush Doctrine foundered in the principal place the U.S. tried to apply it. Though no one in the White House openly questions Bush's decision to go to war in Iraq, some aides now acknowledge that it has come at a steep cost in military resources, public support and credibility abroad. No mention that Iraq and Afghanistan are now free. Saddam is under arrest and on his way to a well deserved execution. AL-Q is on the ropes and bleeding heavily.
The administration is paying the bill every day as it tries to cope with other crises. Pursuing the forward-leaning foreign policy envisioned in the Bush Doctrine is nearly impossible at a time when the U.S. is trying to figure out how to extricate itself from Iraq. We are?
Taking note and taking advantage
Around the world, both the U.S.'s friends and its adversaries are taking note -- and in many cases, taking advantage -- of the strains on the superpower. The past three years have seen a steady erosion in Washington's ability to bend the world to its will. As compared to the Clinton years when we bent-over to the will of Kimmie, Saddam, Koffe, etc....
The strategic makeover is most evident in the ascendance of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who has tried to repair the administration's relations with allies and has persuaded Bush to join multilateral negotiations aimed at defusing the standoffs with North Korea and Iran. The six party talks (read: multilateral) were always a cornerstone of our handling of Kimmie.
By training and temperament, Rice is a foreign-policy realist, less inclined to the moralizing approach of the neoconservatives who dominated Bush's cabinet in the first term. Which explains how just about everyone on Rantburg thinks she's great (even without the boots and black trenchcoat)
Her push for pragmatism has rubbed off on hawks like Vice President Dick Cheney, the primary intellectual force behind Bush's post-9/11 policies.
"There's a move, even by Cheney, toward the Kissingerian approach of focusing entirely on vital interests," says a presidential adviser. "It's a more focused foreign policy that is driven by realism and less by ideology."
To much of the world, that's a relief. The whole 'Cowboy Deplomacy' thing has always been a media creation. Bush has always, as far as I can see, tried to use deplomacy before resorting to military action -- look at all the sessions at the UN before invading Iraq.
The real problem is that Bush didn't get U.N. approval before defending our vital interests, or going after terrorists who killed 3,000 innocent victims. Kerry would have required U.N. approval before commiting anything beyond a strongly worded letter.
#5
The real problem is that Bush Administration, and the country, don't have the stomach to finish the Axis of Evil, now, when it can be done inexpensively. Instead, we'll pay later.
#6
Think how much more efficient it could have been NS, if the Clinton Administration hadn't punted in the first place. Think of how much cheaper all this would have been if Sunday School Carter had back the Shah in the 70s. The Shah was no kinder gentler type guy, but neither was Stalin with whom Franklin Roosevelt hung out. The whole prattle is about people wanting to avoid getting blood on their hands even though they know that basically nothing else really works. Their problem is that they drag the rest of us down with them.
#7
Yup, it was obvious in '94. It was also obvious that we should have stayed out of the Balkans, but WC had to be a hero to his Euro buddies. And he had to send thos guys into Mogadishu without armor and then abandon the position instead of kicking ass. All in all, in the Jimmah Cahtah class of president.
#10
There hasn't been an intelligent analysis of international relations in the MSM since 9/11. These fags think their prattle has some bite to it, but it's meer fantasy. The cold war goes on, with China replacing USSR as the main opponent, and the absurd attempt to destroy civilization by mother Islam sheds blood far and wide. However, the world is still led by the USA. This will remain unless and until the socialists lefties are able to trip up our better intentions. The Islamist will bring about their bloody end before the Euroabia experiment bears fruit, and the advanced Oriental races will overtake the Norky hermit and embarrass China. Tomorrow's world will be two groups. One industrialized and engaged, and the other backward and isolated. Neither will be because of oral sex liberalism.
#13
Wasn't it Time magazine that first coined the term "cowboy diplomacy" in referring to the Bush administration? That makes it easier. Just declare that your hated political opponent is something, then after a time, declare that he is no longer that something, having learned the error of his ways.
That's right up there with "Has he stopped beating his wife, yet?"
#15
Who reads Time anymore? News magazines are artifacts of a bygone age. Time, Newsweek, and their ilk have become leftist broadsheets where propagandists like Joe Klein can print their screeds.
Introducing Eric Lichtblau
By The Prowler
Published 7/10/2006 12:09:37 AM
Despite the Bush administration's giving the New York Times and Los Angeles Times the courtesy of full briefings leading into the papers' decision to publish top secret information about the SWIFT terrorism financing monitoring program, the N.Y. Times reporters involved never gave the Bush administration the courtesy of informing it of what specifically they would be reporting before the stories hit the papers, according to a Department of Justice source.
"Usually reporters will give us a heads up about what they will be breaking a day or so in advance for stories like this so we have some inkling. We don't expect to see the stories, or get tons of specifics, it's just a courtesy. But in this case, we got nothing, which is standard M.O. for the New York Times reporters involved," says the DOJ source.
That would appear to be a reference to New York Times reporter Eric Lichtblau, who has covered the Department of Justice off and on for more than four years, and who at one time had his press credentials suspended by the DOJ press office. Only after his Times bosses interceded and promised a more even-handed approach to reporting was his access to the Department restored. Releasing classified information is more even-handed?
In the realm of intelligence and law enforcement work, such a tipoff is helpful, particularly if there is concern that potential targets of the investigations might run or destroy evidence.
In the case of the SWIFT program leak, the Department of Justice and the Treasury Department are both attempting to confirm how much material damage the Times's stories have wrought.
"We aren't going to get into specifics in public now, but I think when we brief the House and Senate in the coming days we will be able to make a clear and persuasive case that the SWIFT leak has severely set our efforts back on a number of fronts and on a number of investigations," says a Treasury official familiar with the preparations of the Congressional briefings. "Depending on where we come out of things, some of us are of a mindset to recommend that as much information as possible that we can allow to be declassified should be declassified, so that the American people can see just how much damage the Times has caused."
#3
Maybe I'm the only one that feels this way, but unless Republicans grow some sack and prosecute the Times and the leakers, I don't want to hear any more about it. What's the point if they are only going to wring their hands like whining wimps?
(Interfax) - Another five militants were killed along with Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev in a sweep operation in Ingushetia, Ingush Deputy Prime Minister for Security Bashir Aushev told Interfax. "A total of six militants were eliminated. Basayev was among them," he said. The militants were reportedly collecting weapons in Ingushetia, Aushev said.
Second verse, same as the first, only different...
Up to ten militants were killed in Ingushetia - minister
(Interfax) - About ten militants were killed along with warlord Shamil Basayev during the carefully planned sweep operation in the Ingush village of Ekazhevo, Ingush Interior Minister Beslan Khamkhoyev told Interfax. "There was a powerful explosion. Everyone in its range was smeared. Four bodies belonging to militants are already in the morgue. According to the latest information, the total number of militants killed might reach ten," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2006
10:20 ||
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#1
Shamil Basayev DEAD!!!
FAT LADY SING!!!
For all those poor school kids I hop this is true.
#2
Oh! Let's go!
Steve walks warily down the street
With his brim pulled way down low
Ain't no sound but the sound of his feet
Machine guns ready to go
Are you ready hey are you ready for this?
Are you hanging on the edge of your seat?
Out of the doorway the bullets rip
To the sound of the beat yeah
Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
And another one gone and another one gone
Another one bites the dust
Hey I'm gonna get you too
Another one bites the dust
(Interfax) - The body of Shamil Basayev, who was eliminated during Monday's special operation in Ingushetia, has been identified, Ingush Deputy Prime Minister Bashir Aushev told Interfax. "Fragments of the bodies of two militants were found on the scene of the explosion. Basayev's body has been identified through some of the fragments, including his head," Aushev said.
Toldja he was in the truck...
Basayev's case will be closed - prosecutor
(Interfax) - The investigation into the case of Chechen terrorist Shamil Basayev will now be closed, due to his death, said Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika. "A procedural decision to close the criminal case, due to the death of the defendant will be made after all medical and legal tests on the individual's identification," Chaika said in Rostov-On-Don on Monday.
And it later transpired that Basayev had been traveling in an accompanying car. A local police source said, "Basayev's body was found by FSB officers after a car wired with explosives blew up. The convoy included three cars with militants, one of which was Basayev."
Being the head cheese, Shamil wouldn't have been riding in the truck...
"The terrorist was decapitated by the explosion, but from characteristic traits, it was suggested that the body was none other than Shamil Basayev," the source said.
"He's got a peg leg, a beard, and a hat, Volodya. I think it might be Shamil!"
After initial examinations, the terrorist's identity was confirmed, he said.
"Dr. Quincy! Take a look at this!"
"Goddamn, Sam! It looks like Shamil's nose!"
Russian television channel NTV said no civilians had been hurt in the explosion, which was equivalent to more than 100 kilograms (220 lbs) of TNT, as it had occurred at midnight. The channel said the security service had "helped" blow up the truck.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2006
10:08 ||
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#4
"Basayev's body has been identified through some of the fragments, including his head," Aushev said.
Well that's a good sign. I'd still like to see Putty holding that head up on Russian TV.
Maybe he'll wear his Super Bowl ring, since it's a special occasion...
As most of us toasted liberty and pursued happiness last week, Jim Harvill opened his mailbox and learned these rights are not as unalienable as he thought.
On July 3, Harvill, an affable operations manager for Sprint PCS near Spokane, got the following letter from the publisher of two magazines he has subscribed to for years. "It is with deep regret that we must inform you ... " it read, "we must cancel all subscriptions to Washington State."
The magazines are "Casino Player" a monthly review of U.S. casinos and hotels and "Strictly Slots" a guide to one-armed bandits, video poker and other mechanized means of gambling.
Hardly classic literature. But Harvill liked them. And now he can no longer read them, thanks to a twisted reading of the state's new law against Internet gambling.
The state says placing bets online is against the law. Fine. But the state goes on to say that even writing about Internet gambling in a way that's promotional is "aiding and abetting" an illegal industry.
So now two print magazines consider themselves banned in this state. It's not clear whether the publisher pulled them on his own or was asked to by the state. The letter vaguely cites "new state laws regarding the legality of online gaming."
Mind you, no actual betting occurs via these magazines. People like Harvill buy them just to read about gambling.
"It's completely surreal," Harvill says. "My government is saying there is something I'm not allowed to read. I've lived in this country for 60 years and I can't remember anything like this happening to me before." This is just the tip of the iceberg. The anti-gambling statute was so poorly written that it boggles the mind.
MOGADISHU - The hardline leader of newly powerful Islamists said all of Somalia must be ruled by sharia law and US President George W. Bush should be prosecuted for bankrolling defeated secular warlords. There is no Muslim nation that is safe from his (Bushs) oppression. He should stop his wrong leadership, Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, told Reuters by telephone from his rural base. He used the warlords to kill people. If its possible for him to be charged, he deserves to be brought to justice, Aweys, an army colonel turned cleric, said.
Get in line, A-hole.
Its compulsory to rule Somalia by sharia law, added Aweys, military mastermind of a campaign that has given the Islamists control of Mogadishu and a large part of the country.
"One ring to rule them all and in the darkness bind them....."
The Islamists say US officials supplied suitcases full of cash to warlords grouped in a self-styled anti-terror coalition, an accusation widely believed by analysts, regional diplomats and people in Mogadishu. The US government never commented directly, but insisted it had the right to support any groups opposing extremists in the Horn of Africa nation that Washington fears could harbour al Qaeda-linked radicals.
Aweys, who is on a US list of 189 individuals or entities linked to terrorism, said Washington was lying about him and accusations that the Islamists were harbouring three foreign extremists accused of 1998 and 2002 bombings in east Africa. The American views cannot be trusted. Whatever they say is mostly lies, nobody can take their word anymore.
Aweys urged Bush to stop open aggression and threats towards the Muslim world.
We are being denied our right to be Muslims, he added in a lengthy conversation from Guriel village in the central region of Galgadud, some 350 km (220 miles) west of Mogadishu, where he is working to strengthen an Islamic court he founded last year. If he (Bush) doesnt stop his aggression, these people (Muslims) will go after him, he added in the weekend interview, conducted before Sundays bloody Mogadishu battle between the Islamists and a pocket of the city still in warlord hands.
Aweys said the world should respect the sharia law Islamists were installing in Mogadishu and other areas they have captured across southern Somalia. I want the world to respect our sharia and beliefs and cooperate with us and also recognise our administrations and humanity. They should work with us as free people who have a right to choose their own future and religion, he said.
The Islamists at first tried present a moderate face but now strict sharia such as whipping has been applied to criminals and Islamic courts announced plans to stone five rapists to death. A leading Mogadishu cleric has said that Muslims who do not pray five times a day should be killed, fuelling foreign fears that they are planning Taleban-style rule. Somalis generally practice a moderate form of Islam.
The Islamist movement, which sprung out of sharia courts, is in a political standoff with the weak, Western-backed interim government based in a provincial town. Somalia has been without central rule since the 1991 ousting of a military dictator. The two sides are to meet in Sudan for talks on July 15. We hope an agreement can be reached, Aweys said. The government says it will only deal with moderates among the Islamists.
The good thing about the Somali people is that once they meet they normally agree as long as there is no external influence. Our only fear is interference by Ethiopia and their likes including the Americans, Aweys said. The Islamists say neighbouring Ethiopia has sent troops to stop their advance and support the interim government, an accusation denied by Addis Ababa.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/10/2006
09:49 ||
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#6
Arclight strikes down through the center of Mogadishu until these shitheads are all destroyed or they surrender unconditionally. Otherwise we'll have another Afganistan we'll have to fumigate.
I would say nuke the place, but that's not humiliating enough. We bomb the sh$$ out of them, then give half to Ethiopia, half to Kenya. The northern part of Somalia that has declared its independence from these idiots can continue as it is. The rest needs to disappear. It just might send a message to the rest of Africa that we're tired of their dictator-for-life governments, and will actually DO something to put a stop to them.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/10/2006 16:00
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#7
Jeez, every swinging dick takes a whack at Bush
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/10/2006 19:29
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MOGADISHU - Heavy fighting resumed on Monday in Mogadishu as Islamic militia attacked to dislodge gunmen loyal to warlord Abdi Hassan Awale Qeydiid, who repositioned his fighters after fleeing deadly weekend clashes, witnesses said.
Rival sides pounded each other with heavy rounds of artillery, mortar and rocket in the south of the Somali capital, with terrified civilians fleeing the area as stray rounds landed on non-military targets, witnesses said.
Residents in the nearby K4 neighbourhood said stray morter shells had landed from the battlefield in 6-Piano and Mogadishu Gaheyr University. Two morter shells that were fired from Qeydiid position have landed in K4 area. His militia were responding to attacks by the Islamic courts who want to dislodge him, said Ahmed Ismail, a resident in the area. A stray round has injured one person here, added Muslima Ali, also a resident.
On Monday, hospitals and rival militia sources said at least 39 people were killed, up from Sundays figure of 21 dead and nearly 100 wounded. The deaths included 18 civilians, 15 Islamist militia and six warlord fighters.
The Islamists, who control swathes of southern Somalia, routed US-backed warlords from the capital on June 5 and have been entrenching Sharia law.
Qeydiid, alongside warlord Hussein Aidid -- also deputy prime minister in the transitional government --spurned several calls to surrender and give up their weapons, dismissing the Islamists as as a bunch of stooges paid by foreign terrorists to impose Islamic theocracy in the nation of around 10 million people.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/10/2006
09:46 ||
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#1
8-piano was such a nice place. Quiet, very quiet.
#3
I thought the era of peaceful and blissful living under the glorious auspices of the Shari'a legal system was going to put an end to this. Silly me.
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces killed more than 40 suspected Taliban militants in raid on a compound in southern Afghanistan on Monday, a coalition spokesman said. One Afghan army soldier was killed and three coalition troops wounded in the fighting near Tarin Kot, the capital of Uruzgan province, 110 miles north of Kandahar, said Sgt. Chris Miller.
The coalition soldiers were in stable condition, he said, declining to give their identities or nationalities. It wasn't immediately clear if there had been airstrikes and if the coalition had recovered the bodies of the dead militants. The fighting follows heavy clashes in neighboring Kandahar province over the weekend that killed at least 19 militants and a Canadian coalition soldier.
On Sunday night, suspected Taliban militants ambushed an Afghan army convoy in Shinkay district of southern Zabul province, wounding one soldier. Two militants were arrested after a 20-minute gunbattle and the army was hunting for more rebel fighters, said Mohammed Raziq Khan, the army commander for the province. Also in Shinkay, a roadside bomb seriously wounded two Afghan police late Sunday on the main highway leading to the provincial capital, he said.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/10/2006
09:40 ||
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#1
40 is their magic number. They like it when it comes out an even 40 I think.
#6
How does this fit with Michael Yon's contention that while Iraq is definitely in the Win column, Afghanistan is in his opinion a future loss? (Thanks, Alaska Paul!) I applaud every death, capture or painful temporary disablement of those who would impose there hate filled ideology on innocent bystanders, but I'm losing the big picture perspective. Or can we be satisfied simply to deny Al Qaeda and its associates a place to settle and expand while we defeat them elsewhere?
#8
TW, it seems Yon is correctly pointing out the obvious impact or regional issues (Pakistant and the opium trade) that present very significant obstacles to long term success in Afghanistan. Sure we can play whack-a-mole with these guys, but there are literally millions of them in the tribal reqions who would be willing to take one in the gut for old allah-baby. Unless we get serious with the Pak's our Afghan adventure remains in jeapordy.
But don't get me wrong, offing 40 of these swine at a clip is good stuff. Just need to add a couple of zeros onto that number.
#10
The string of news stories about large numbers of Taliban getting their 72 white rasins virgins may mean that we are starting to follow Ralph Peter's advice - kill, don't capture.
#11
Remember, our little Afghan adventure is NATO organized, with all the Old Europe rules and fops and dandies. Even so, all is not lost and I remain hopeful that the elected government can prevail.
#12
Another 40 Talibs killed? An endless supply of these nitwits keep coming over from our vaunted ally, Pakiwakkiland. Since the areas from whence these creatures derive is considered by Pakwackland to be "lawless" and semi-autonomous, how is Jesus's's'szzzzz' name is it a violation of Pak sovereignty if say for example, a number of B-1 and B-2 bombers occasionally dropped their payload unto the maddrasses and villages that churn out these sh*tbags?
#14
Lancasters,
I think the reason you are seeing 40 getting flammed
at a sitting is that they are down to conscripted farmers and school kids now. Their spring offensive was somewhat less than sucsessfull and now we(the coalition) have gone the extra step of going up into the mountains to harry them where they live and screw their goats.
#15
Do these guys hole up by themselves in some isolated area, or do they head back to their homes and families? If we could make their lives miserable enough that they couldn't store away enough food to make it through the winter, it may well reduce the problem quite a bit. Especially if we could track them back to their mud huts.
Posted by: grb ||
07/10/2006 18:40
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I think Yon is dead on, and trying to raise the alarm. Not sure on future failure, but he's saying it will be soon, unless something is done about it now.
Occupation command reports of death of Chechen Republic Ichkeria's vice-president Shamil Basayev. No details have been reported. Referring to FSB, the Russian mass-media reported that Basayev dead during a certain special operation in Ingushetia. Earlier there was information about an explosion of a cargo vehicle KAMAZ in village of Ekazhevo, as a result of which 4 Mujahideen were dead. The Chechen command has not give any comments and statements yet.
Basayev was killed in an overnight operation by Russian special forces in the southern Russian province of Ingushetia in the volatile North Caucasus bordering Chechnya, where Russia is engaged in its second war against Chechen rebels in the past 11 years, Interfax and RIA Novosti said Monday. FSB chief Nikolai Patrushev reportedly announced the news but an FSB spokesman contacted by AFP said he was in a meeting with President Vladimir Putin and declined to confirm the information. The news agency quoted Patrushev as saying that Basayev was among a group of militants killed as they prepared to carry out an unspecified "terrorist act" in Ingushetia designed to compromise the Kremlin in the run-up to the Group of Eight summit later this week in Saint Petersburg. The agency reports said Putin had congratulated "all members of the special services who planned and executed this operation."
I'm wondering if Shamil might have been one of the four bad guyz in that truck...
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2006
09:35 ||
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(RIA Novosti) - Four militants, including a close associate of Chechen warlord Doku Umarov, were killed when their truck packed with explosives blew up in southern Russia, security services said Monday. The terrorists were on their way to carry out a major terrorist attack in Russia's North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia but they blew themselves up by accident, the Federal Security Service said. "A truck with explosives, weapons and militants exploded, and four militants were killed," the service said. "One of the militants in the truck has been identified as Tarkhan Ganizhev, a close associate of warlord Doku Umarov," the representative said, adding that the other three militants remained to be identified.
Umarov, 42, a successor to slain separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov, has claimed responsibility for a string of bloody attacks in Russia, including an armed raid on Ingushetia in June 2004 in which police said militants attacked 19 police precincts and prisons in the North Caucasus republic. The security official said Ganizhev had a nickname of Tarella and coordinated several gangs operating in Ingushetia. Like Umarov, he helped carry out the 2004 attack on Ingushetia, and was also involved in the kidnapping of Ingush President Murat Zyazikov's father-in-law. The security service said he had been wanted on several charges, including banditry and hostage taking, and added that the truck had been escorted by three cars. "The explosion was so powerful that only some fragments of the truck were left intact," he said.
No details on the special operation that resulted in Basayev's death were immediately available. Russian media earlier however reported that four suspected Chechen militants were killed while they were sitting in two separate passenger cars beside a truck laden with explosives that blew up during a special operation in Ingushetia. The reports said one of the four militants was related to Doku Umarov, the new leader of the self-styled Chechen rebel "government".
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2006
09:33 ||
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#1
4 militants dead as terrorist blast goes wrong right in south Russia
Understandably, most people in the world fail to understand Palestinian ideology and strategy today largely because it is so bizarre compared to politics as usual.
Before examining the basic principles of the Palestinian approach it is useful to consider how things usually work, and thus what people who don't know much about Palestinian politics think they are like.
Normal politics features realizable goals, paying keen attention to the balance of forces, avoiding losing conflicts, and seeking a stable state.
They also include such things as putting a high priority on raising living standards and building effective institutions to serve the people.
Every day Western governments, media and academics try to impose this model on Palestinian behavior, politics and ideology. Yet it just doesn't work. The things many in the West think motivates Palestinians - getting a state, ending the occupation - are of no interest in their own right. Indeed, the only way to maintain the pretense is a combination of amnesia and abandoning of the kind of rational analysis used to view any other political situation in the world.
I must add that in private (though virtually never in public) Palestinian intellectuals sound a lot like me. Over and over again, one hears disgust, despair and profound cynicism along the lines described below.
Given the current Palestinian ideology and strategy the conflict is unsolvable, and there is no way to stop the violence. On the other hand, as a result, Palestinian tactics are unworkable, politics are disorganized, and military strategy is self-defeating. The Palestinians can harass Israel, but not much more.
HERE ARE the basic points for understanding Palestinian politics:
There are hardly any moderate Palestinians in public life and even those few generally keep their mouths shut, or echo the militant majority. With few exceptions - countable on your fingers - a Palestinian moderate in practice can usually be defined as someone who apologizes for terrorism in good English. The mantra of "helping the moderates" cannot work under these conditions.
Fatah and PLO strategy rests on the belief that defeat is staved off as long as you keep fighting. Their only true victory is to continue the struggle. Of course, the cost of this is not only violence, suffering and disruption, but also a failure to achieve anything material.
This is why the "cycle of violence" concept is useless. Palestinians don't attack Israel because Israel attacks them, but because that is their sole program.
Whatever the common people think privately, the vast majority of activists believe everything must be subsumed to the struggle.
Democracy, living standards, women's rights and so on have no value outside contributing to the battle against Israel. This is why the idea of appealing to Palestinian material interests or finding some leader who puts the priority on achieving peace and plenty fails.
The interim goal is to be able to claim phony victories, which are actually costly defeats. If after 40 years of armed struggle the movement's great triumphs are destroying one Israeli outpost a year or kidnapping a single soldier, this shows its remarkable weakness on the battlefield. Inflicting damage on Israel via rocket attacks serves no Palestinian strategic objective except to make people feel good about damaging Israel (even while they suffer far more damage themselves).
Celebrating martyrs simply means bragging about your own casualties.
The movement's social policy is remarkably reactionary. Despite its leftist veneer it does not activate the masses except as an audience to cheer on the heroes. Fatah has no economic or social policy; Hamas seeks to turn Palestine into Iran or Afghanistan.
They have more in common with the world view of the Middle Ages than with Chinese or Cuban visions of guerrilla war. Palestinian groups use only a tiny proportion of the potential for large-scale social mobilization, a feature far more characteristic of the supposedly soft Israeli society.
Not only is infrastructure unimportant, it interferes with waging all-out struggle. If Palestinians become obsessed with job creation, educational or health systems or a successful economy this makes them satisfied with their lot and less willing to fight and die for the cause.
This concept, jarring for Western observers, is common in the Middle East. Consider Saddam Hussein's irresponsible aggressions and the Syrian rulers' preference for stagnation over reform.
Use your people's suffering to win international support. No fear of destruction or popular suffering deters Palestinian leaders. After it was charged that Hamas laid mines on a Gaza beach killing civilians last month, an American newspaper opined that Hamas would never do this to its own people.
On the contrary: There is a long pattern of sacrificing Palestinian lives and welfare for propaganda gains. Children are encouraged by the official Palestinian media to become terrorists and hence martyrs.
Lie endlessly, not only to everyone else but to yourself, portraying Israel as always wrong and America as always hostile. Their inability to transcend propaganda and the incessant demonization has ensured - except for rare times during the Oslo process - that the Palestinians cannot maneuver successfully in dealing with these countries.
THIS IS A losing strategy: Destroy your infrastructure, subvert international and even Arab support through extremism - no one is now even surprised that Arab states do nothing to help the Palestinians out of their mess - throw away chances for interim gains (like getting a state) to avoid compromising the chance for total victory, repeat old mistakes, rejoice over defeats as producing martyrs, taunt the world's sole superpower, exalt anarchy, and forfeit any chance of winning sympathy on the other side.
Such a suicide strategy, like suicide bombing, can inflict losses on the enemy but cannot defeat it. Indeed, by sacrificing so many possible benefits it ensures that the gap steadily widens in favor of the other side.
Far from any sign of resistance to this disastrous approach it seems capable of providing decades more of glorious defeat and martyrdom. Maybe it will even go on long enough for those in the West who keep expecting something different to understand what's going on. Some of us, especially here, know this.
The most wanted Chechen rebel warlord, Shamil Basayev, has been killed, Russian media report.
How many times does this make?
Basayev was killed in a special operation overnight in Ingushetia, near Chechnya, Russia's FSB security service chief Nikolai Patrushev said.
Memo: This time, cut off his head and drive a stake through his heart.
President Vladimir Putin said Basayev's killing was "deserved retribution" for terror attacks, including the 2004 mass hostage-taking at a school in Beslan. Basayev, a key Chechen rebel commander, was blamed for dozens of major attacks. The September 2004 attack on a school in Beslan, in the North Caucasus, led to at least 331 deaths. It triggered outrage in Russia and other countries, as many women and children were among the victims.
48 hour rule or dead body on tv
MOSCOW, Russia -- Shamil Basayev, the rebel Chechen warlord believed to have masterminded the deadly school siege in Beslan and many other terrorist attacks, has been killed, the head of the Federal Security Service said Monday.
FSB head Nikolai Patrushev told Russian President Vladimir Putin that Basayev was killed overnight in Ingushetia, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported, according to The Associated Press. Basayev was planning a terrorist attack in southern Russia to coincide with Russia hosting the Group of Eight summit of world leaders this weekend, reports said.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/10/2006
09:00 ||
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#4
Just checked again. Still no photos of the corpse. Maybe they're waiting for the frame to be made up. Hopefully the vulture can stay up and the fat lady will follow.
#9
A year or two after Beslan I ragged on Russian Special Forces for failing to extract retribution for Beslan. I now stand corrected and wish to give credit where credit is due.
#11
Doesn't look like a team did him in: More like a "transportation work accident", accompanied by the fender of the truck his car was following decapitating him after the truck ran too fast over a speed-bump or some such thing...
This is ironic on all kinds of levels: a truck packed with explosives ready to blow is a truck-bomb, thus he got killed by the very same tool used to murder innocent Iraqis.
And on top of that, he was DECAPITATED. no need to explain here the facination Islamists like him have with decapitating others, and he got decapitated himself.
No kudos seem to be in order: The ruskies were incredibly lucky that this terrorist's "technicians" were incredibly inept.
Interesting article on the 'radiation' hysteria. Exert below.
The Chernobyl disaster was initially predicted to cause hundreds of thousands of deaths. Two decades later the death toll stands at 56. The United Nations Chernobyl Forum estimates that no more than 4,000 people will die as a direct result of fallout, while radiation may be a contributory factor in another 5,000 deaths. The important fact ommitted is the reduction in life expectancy of those who do die is an average of ten months.
Dr Repacholi said that even these estimates could be too high. While 4,000 cases of thyroid cancer have been detected in the Chernobyl region, with 15 deaths, many can be attributed to better detection because of the screening conducted after the disaster.
The main negative health impacts of Chernobyl were not caused by the radiation, but a fear of it, he said. We know that there were low doses of radiation received by a large number of people. We dont want to minimise the effects but we also know that the fear and anxiety about radiation was a much greater factor and its this fear which has caused a huge number of health complaints that have overloaded the healthcare system.
#3
Compare also the accident at the Three Mile Island Unit 2: the most serious in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant operating history, even though it led to no deaths or injuries to plant workers or members of the nearby community
#4
The danger from radiation was only to those people working within eyesight of the plant who were flashed with radiation. Think light.
The real problem to many people was radioactive isotopes, physical particles that were carried away from Chernobyl on the wind. Think dust.
Radioactive isotopes vary tremendously in their risk, based on the element they are based on. So much of the problem is similar to chemical poisoning. From Chernobyl, out of many isotopes, only two were really considered to be of great risk to humans: radioactive iodine and cesium.
When consumed, iodine in any form goes right to the thyroid gland in the neck, the #1 consumer of iodine in the body. If there is excess iodine in the body, then the excess is not stored, but eliminated in the urine. Radioactive or not. This was why right after the accident, especially children were given iodine supplements, so that the radioactive iodine they inhaled would be eliminated from their body before it could hurt their thyroid gland.
Cesium is likewise attractive to the bone marrow. But because there is so much bone marrow, there is no practical limit to cesium uptake. It is otherwise of low toxicity by itself. It is also readily absorbed by plants.
The other factor is radioactive half-life. For iodine, whose half-life is only two weeks, after a short interval, it stopped being a threat. Cesium's half-life, however, is 30 years, so it is a long-term hazard. The Russian response to having the Ukraine, their "breadbasket" contaminated, was to ship the radioactive produce around the country. The idea was that it was better that many people got a little contamination rather than a small number of people got a lot.
But all told, the risks associated with Chernobyl are too difficult to diagnose, to attribute to contamination, so the assumption of lack of harm is premature.
#6
Yeah man,
that's just like, what the government wants you to believe man. It's the billion dollar corporations in bed with the neoliberal warmongers dude.
#7
I hate to be an argumentative bastard, but how the hell can a core go critical if it is splattered all over Belarussia. The fuel melted through the bottom of the reactor and went into the basement of the plant. A nuclear reaction needs neutrons freely bumping about to sustain itself, the nuclear fuel or Corium cooled into a ceramic like substance that is relatively stable. If I'm wrong and there is still some sort of cool reaction taking place in there please describe it to me in more detail.
#8
"But the immediate threat is water. A few years ago workers measured more than a thousand square yards of cracks and holes in the sarcophagus, which were allowing rain and melted snow to pool in its bowels. [...]Water can also act as a nuclear moderator: a substance that aids a chain reaction. Though the risk is deemed minute, a renewed chain reaction could trigger another steam explosion. [...]
"On the night of June 26, 1990, after two weeks of heavy rain, detectors in one lava-filled room registered a sharp rise in neutrons, a sign of an impending chain reaction. Four days later, a physicist from a technical center in the old town of Chernobyl, ten miles away, dashed in to pour neutron-quenching gadolinium nitrate on the lava. The neutrons subsided.[...]
"In the past two years 90 percent of the gaps have been plugged, and a new sprinkler system dispenses gadolinium in the central hall. Most rainwater is pumped out, though some is allowed to linger to suppress dust."
Via InstaPundit.com
The Islamic Nuclear Weapons chief Nobel Peace Prize-winning chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency effectively fired his lead Iran investigator this spring at the request of the Iranians, according to a new report in the German newspaper Die Welt am Sonntag. The lead inspector of the 15-man IAEA team in Iran, Chris Charlier, told the newspaper that the IAEA chief, Mohammad ElBaradei, agreed to a request the Iranian government made, and relegated Mr. Charlier, a 64-year-old Belgian, to office work at the organization's Vienna-based headquarters. The Iranian request was reportedly made when Mr. ElBaradei visited Iran in April. Rest at link.
Posted by: ed ||
07/10/2006
08:52 ||
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#1
Mr. ElBaradei should be considered a co-conspirator.
The funny part is that we arent in the kill-zone, Europe and Russia are. Maybe they should think about it some more instead of just trying to go for the quick money from arms and tech sales. What happens the first time you say no to a bunch of lunatics like the Iranians? Same thing that happened to us with al-qaida.
#2
I liked the Deutsch Welle version I sent in yesterday where Google translated his name from German as Mohammed Aluminum-Baradei. Seemed sort of appropriate for a guy who inspires so many foil hat owners.
#3
Come on FA, don't you realize that the Iranians are the best thing that has happened to Eurabia and Russia. The Irainians, NK, and Al-Q are eating up our budget, making us look impotent, and are our major enemy right now. The Soviets are making good money off them and Europe is already infested so bad that they can't stop the muslim tide about to over run them. Thus, they are not a threat, but a necessary evel. Once we have been taken to the breaking point, China will offer us more money to bail us out, our own Muslim population will be in a political position to start the dimmitude process and we too will become a once great super-power, unless we start kicking some muslim teeth in at home and over seas! But what do I know, I'm a generation "X" who lives in the one of the red states.
A passenger plane slammed into a wheat field and burst into flames minutes after takeoff Monday in eastern Pakistan. All 45 people on board were killed, officials said. The Fokker F-27 twin-engine aircraft went down on the outskirts of the city of Multan minutes after taking off for Lahore, spiraling in the air before it hit the ground and bursting into flames, witnesses said. "All 41 passengers and four crew members on board the plane have died," said Iftikhar Babar, the district coordination officer for Multan, which lies about 400 miles southwest of the capital, Islamabad.
Malik Bashir, Pakistan International Airlines' station manager at Multan airport, said the cause of the crash was not yet known, but ruled out the possibility of a terrorist attack on the state carrier's plane. A PIA emergency department official who identified himself by a single name, Bashir, said the dead passengers were all Pakistani. They included two army brigadiers, two judges of the High Court in Lahore and the head of a state-run university in Multan. A female flight attendant who was pulled alive from the plane's wreckage died later at a hospital, airline security official Mohammed Iqbal said.
President Gen. Pervez Musharraf expressed grief over the crash and ordered an investigation to determine the cause, state-run Pakistan Television reported.
Chaudhry Bashir, a PIA spokesman, said the plane joined the airline's fleet in 1979. It had flown 49,100 miles and was due to be grounded on completing 55,900 miles. "No PIA plane can come on the runway before it is fully looked after for maintenance," he said.
What am I missing here? It joined the fleet in 1979. That's 27 years, or 1818 1/2 miles per year, or a little over four flights from Multan to Lahore per year. My truck is two years old and has nearly that many miles on it, though I seldom drive to Lahore. And there's too damned many Bashirs involved for my taste.
Bodies were taken to a morgue in Multan, where about 500 relatives, weeping and beating their chests in grief, gathered to claim the remains of loved ones. At least five bodies have been claimed by relatives but many were burned beyond recognition, said Dr. Gul Nawaz. Relatives were trying to identify the corpses from clothing and other belongings. Bashir said the plane took off normally for the flight to Lahore, the capital of eastern Punjab province. "Whatever happened to it was after takeoff," he said.
Posted by: ed ||
07/10/2006
07:50 ||
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#1
Once again, the authorities don't know what happened but have already ruled out the possiblility of terrorism. Amazing - how do they do it?
#3
Neither have hundreds of other investigations into air crashes. Why is terrorism now the no. 1 cause of all air crashes?
Aviation incidents due to mechanical problems are steadily increasing (and I'm not talking about airworthiness directives issued by manufacturers). None of this gets reported of course, because in most cases the problem is fixed in time. There was an article on this in the Canadian press recently.
An investigation into three apparent suicides at the Guantanamo Bay prison has found that other detainees may have helped the men hang themselves or were planning to kill themselves too. Authorities who searched other detainees' cells after the three were found hanged discovered instructions on tying knots, along with several notes in Arabic that were "relevant" to an investigation of a possible broader plot, officials said in court papers filed late Friday in Washington. The detention center's commander, Navy Rear Adm. Harry B. Harris, said in an affidavit that investigators believe "the suicides may have been part of a larger plan or pact for more suicides that day or in the immediate future."
Posted by: ed ||
07/10/2006
07:41 ||
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A plot in a POW Detainee camp? Heavens, what is the world coming to.
Japan said Monday it was considering whether a pre-emptive strike on the North's missile bases would violate its constitution, suggesting it could take stronger action against the reclusive regime if the U.N. Security Council rejects its resolution calling for sanctions.
Japan was badly rattled by North Korea's missile tests last week and several government officials openly discussed whether the country ought to take steps to better defend itself, including setting up the legal framework to allow Tokyo to launch a pre-emptive strike against Northern missile sites.
"If we accept that there is no other option to prevent an attack ... there is the view that attacking the launch base of the guided missiles is within the constitutional right of self-defense. We need to deepen discussion," Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said. Abe is the odd on favorite to be thenext Prime Minister.
Despite resistance from China and Russia, Japan has pushed for a U.N. Security Council resolution that would prohibit nations from procuring missiles or missile-related "items, materials goods and technology" from North Korea. A vote was possible in New York later Monday. "It's important for the international community to express a strong will in response to the North Korean missile launches," Abe said. "This resolution is an effective way of expressing that."
China and Russia, both nations with veto power on the council, have voiced opposition to the measure. Kyodo News agency reported Monday, citing unnamed Chinese diplomatic sources, that China may use its veto on the Security Council to block the resolution. The United States, Britain and France have expressed support for the proposal, while Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso has said there is a possibility that Russia will abstain.
South Korea, not a council member, has not publicly taken a position on the resolution, but on Sunday Seoul rebuked Japan for its outspoken criticism of the tests. "There is no reason to fuss over this from the break of dawn like Japan, but every reason to do the opposite," a statement from President Roh Moo-hyun's office said, suggesting that Tokyo was contributing to tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
Posted by: ed ||
07/10/2006
07:08 ||
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#6
With the UNSC unable to even create a Strongly Worded Statement condemning the Nork 4th of July (US time zone) fireworks due to the objections of the Chicoms and Russia, Japan is not going to sit idly by and wait for a possible missile coming at them.
If countries like Japan, the US, Australia, and others make it clear that this crap pulled by the Chicoms little mad dog Kimmie will not be allowed any more, followed by action, then this stuff will stop. Right. Now.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/10/2006 10:39
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#7
Yay Jackal. It purely is a delight to see you posting here again. Welcome home!
#9
...The naysayers are already barking that the JASDF 'is incapable' of pulling off such a strike. The hell they are; they've got F-15J/DJs that are more than capable, even their remaining F-4s are up to date enough to give it a try. The real problem would be electronic warfare and air defense suppression. For that, they might very well need to bring in the USAF or USN to provide such a capability - but frankly, I think just the simple fact that senior Japanese politicians are speaking publicly about attacking North Korea should be scaring the hell out of the PRC right now.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
07/10/2006 12:17
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#15
As I said in another thread, the likely end result of SK, China, and Russia running interference for NK will be a rearmed Japan with a full kit of theatre-defense ABMs and possibly even some offensive nukes. Talk about your unintended consequences!
Posted by: Mike ||
07/10/2006 14:37
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#17
Japan should announce tomorrow morning that it will expand its nuclear elecric generating capacity by 200%, and will also begin reprocessing nuclear fuel to build nuclear warheads for its "Kaga" class long-range missiles, which are to be housed in silos in the mountainous parts of Japan. They should also announce the purchase of two US aircraft carriers that would have been scrapped, plus a couple of hundred F/A-18s, plus some support aircraft to form a main battle group. They should also announce major changes to their Constitution that allows their "self-defense force" to engage in offensive operations in defense of the Japanese homelands, and hand the Russians a trillion-dollar bill for the Kurile Islands. THAT would set the cat among the pigeons for sure! Won't happen, but I can dream...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/10/2006 16:08
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#18
#10 "Tora! Tora! Tora!"
Posted by WhiteCollarRedneck
#21
Like I said Yesterday - only CHina can force the Kim regime to fall in a predictable direction. And time is runningout.
All the other alternatives produce a remilitarized and nuclear armed Japan, as well as either a belligerent united nuclear Korea, or else one at war (possibly after a nuclear exchange) with Nork refugees streaming over the border into China and massive economic disruption in the region.
China had better wake the hell up. This isnt our problem nearly as much as it is theirs.
#22
Yeah OS, exactly. Of the lot, the Japanese will pull all stops out if pressed.
Right now they are kind of like we were, sleeping giant.
But if they get pushed it will be Asia rage mode again, only this time they have the US on their side.
China better really, really, really think about this, given Asian history.
Of course, that is exactly what they are thinking - revenge. Only, they have this wrong again, the Japanese can and will rage again if they are pushed. Bad move China.
All of this is about somebody else resolving this growing threat. Hasn't that been the strategy for too long, already?
Then what?
I think China's playing out the triangulation hand they designed to the bloody end and fear nothing from the game. Right or wrong, Lord knows they are infinitely arrogant.
#24
Japan is YEARS away from being a threat to China. Sure, China may have miscalculated with regard to Japan, but everything else is per their strategy, IMO.
The Bush administration has pushed to conclude a landmark $5 billion sale of F-16 jets to Pakistan before completing traditional consultations with the U.S. Congress and fully answering security concerns, a congressman and other congressional sources say.
The move is being seen by some lawmakers as the latest example of the administration's distaste for consulting Congress on security issues and they said the relevant committees would probe the deal further in the coming weeks.
Among Congress' concerns about the deal are how Pakistan intends to ensure that its long-time defense ally China will not have access to advanced U.S. technology and whether there has been any diversion of such technology already in Pakistani hands, several sources said in recent interviews.
"I have deep concerns about the process or the lack thereof, which the Bush Administration used to inform Congress about the pending sale of F-16s to Pakistan," said Democratic Rep. Joseph Crowley of New York, a member of the House International Relations Committee and a leading congressional supporter of Pakistan's rival, India.
"The administration has shown time and time again that they are not interested in congressional oversight on sensitive deals," he said in an e-mail to Reuters.
The State Department announced last week that consultations with lawmakers had been concluded and that formal notification had been given to Congress, paving the way for the deal with U.S. aerospace company Lockheed Martin Corp. to proceed.
But Democrat and Republican congressional sources tell a different story, and the Republican-controlled committees with jurisdiction over the sale -- the House panel and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee -- have scheduled hearings in the next two weeks to probe the matter further.
Several sources, who spoke anonymously because of the issue's sensitivity, said it was unlikely Congress would block the deal, which supporters say would keep open Lockheed's F-16 production line employing 5,000 people and which may close in 2008.
But public debate over the sale could prove awkward for the administration and Pakistan, a front-line U.S. ally against Islamic terrorism. A previous F-16 sale was halted in 1990 because of concerns over Pakistan's nuclear program.
In addition to selling 16 new F-16s to Pakistan and refurbishing used ones, the current deal involves an option on an additional 18 aircraft and a support package for up to 26 used F-16s, missiles and other munitions, and an upgrade package for Pakistan's current fleet of 34 F-16s.
A new report by Congressional Research Service, Congress's analytical arm, said the single-engine Block 50/52 Falcon being sold to Pakistan is the most modern F-16 flown by the United States and may be better suited to air-to-air combat against rival India than fighting terrorists.
Crowley also expressed concern that "Pakistan has not moved forward with promises of democracy, fighting its internal extremists, enforcing human rights, or respecting minorities" and has not let U.S. interrogators question Abdul Qadeer Khan, the Pakistani former head of an international nuclear black market.
A senior State Department official said the administration had gone to "extraordinary lengths" to meet Congress' concerns. "We have briefed on nine occasions, answered countless written questions and detailed an extensive security plan for the sale," the official said.
The United States said in March 2005 it would resume sales of F-16s to Pakistan after a 16-year break intended to sanction the country for its nuclear program.
Congressional sources say administration officials did begin consulting last year but were slow to deal with security concerns. Consultations halted when the sale was delayed after devastating earthquake in Pakistan, but resumed in May.
Congressional sources said they were still seeking answers to security questions when the administration on June 28 gave formal notification of the sale, setting in motion a 30-day period for Congress to review the sale and decide whether to block it.
In doing so, the administration ignored a 20-day informal consultation period that has been observed by presidents for decades, congressional sources said.
Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006
06:57 ||
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#4
The diving in the Red Sea is amazing, from everything I've heard, but I still think I'd rather take a non-Saudi operator. Three reasons....not too keen on diving in a black robe, none of my acceptable living male relatives dive, and I want my alcoholic refreshment afterwards, dammit!
#5
Yeah right. Women will scuba dive in burkha. Men will have to content with looking at the fishes not at women, will not be able to drink alcohol, will have their readings (the Bible, Playboy) censored, will get access only to Saudi TV preachings encouraging to kille infidels and, in case they are gay will be stoned. Oh, and from time to time, the tourists will be machiunegunned, bombed by the local Al Quaidists. Those who are never caught or freed after six months.
Or tourisdts could go to the Seychelles or Eilat instead.
#7
Maybe they should scuttle the royal yacht to make an artificial reef.
With the Wahabbi princes on it, of course.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/10/2006 14:45
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#8
First, when my friends and I go diving, we like to have a few cold ones on the boat deck after we're finished diving for the day----that completely rules out Saudi.
Second, what 'culture' are they referring to? I admit that at one time I bought into the "Beautiful Arabian Culture' argument, but the longer I live the more I'm convinced that their culture is ugly, hateful, and unoriginal. Thanks towel-heads, but no thanks.
#10
Am I the only one who thinks this not a good idea as in this could be cover for the dreaded Jihadi-Al-Qaeada frogmen we've heard about now and then?
MOHAMMAD Sidique Khan, leader of the July 7 bombings, collaborated with two other British suicide bombers to recruit young Muslims for training camps in Afghanistan four years before he carried out his terror attacks in London.
Fresh evidence has been uncovered linking Khan to Omar Sharif and Hanif Asif, who killed three people and injured 50 in 2003 with a suicide attack on a bar in Tel Aviv.
According to a witness who has not yet spoken to the police, the men wanted to indoctrinate young Muslims and take them abroad for further training.
Kursheed Fiaz, a businessman who runs an information technology company in Manchester, had four or five meetings with Khan who was initially accompanied by Sharif and later by Asif.
The close link between the two groups of suicide bombers suggests Britains Islamic terror network may be more tightly knit than previously thought.
It also raises questions as to whether Khan may have been involved in the Tel Aviv bombing. Israeli police have confirmed that Khan visited Israel on February 19, 2003, two months before the attack.
Accompanied by a group of British tourists and a woman said to be his wife, Khan spent only 24 hours in the country. Israeli authorities have investigated the trip but have been unable to establish whether it might have been a dry run or reconnaissance mission for the bombers.
The new evidence to be broadcast on a BBC2 programme on Tuesday could also prove useful to police in Britain. Anti-terror squad detectives have been attempting to build a profile of Khan, the ringleader of the four London suicide bombers who killed 52 people on three Underground trains and a bus last year.
According to the official government report into the London bombings, Khan had a westernised upbringing but his outlook began to change in 2003 when he made friends with a group of radicals from Leeds and Huddersfield. Previously apolitical, he became enraged about Muslim suffering around the world after watching hardline Islamic videos.
But Fiazs account suggests that he may have become radical much earlier. Fiaz says he was contacted by Khan in the summer of 2001. Khan had taken a job as a primary school assistant in Beeston, Leeds, a few months earlier.
Fiaz, 46, is originally from Jhelum in northern Punjab, where Asifs father also grew up. It is thought Asif may have recommended Fiaz to Khan as an influential businessman.
According to Fiazs account, Khan came to his office seeking to spread Dawa a form of evangelical preaching that is common in the Islamic world. It is mostly benign but can also be an essential step in the development of a young militant.
Khan was accompanied by Sharif and an unidentified man. Sharif, then aged 25, had recently returned from studying Arabic in Damascus.
Fiaz, whose account will be broadcast on Tuesday, says Khan asked whether he employed any young people who wanted to learn the ways of Islam. When Fiaz pointed out that his employees were already good Muslims, Khan said: We need to teach them certain things, but did not elaborate.
Fiaz allowed Khan to instruct his nephews and some other young men. The instruction ended when Fiazs nephews became suspicious of Khan and his friends. They said in order to enhance (the training) that they would have to take these people to Pakistan, Syria, Afghanistan. My nephews and one or two of the younger lads pulled me up and said, Whats this about Afghanistan? At the time Afghanistan was still ruled by the Taliban.
When Fiaz quizzed Khan about the trips, thats when I got a bit wary.
Fiaz added: We got the impression they were looking for some gullible people. Youngsters . . . that would fall for whatever they were trying to preach or practise.
During the exchange, Khan revealed he had already been to Afghanistan but claimed he had been visiting mosques and shrines. It was to be the last of Khans preaching sessions at Fiazs office.
In October that year Sharif and Asif are believed to have travelled to Afghanistan where they fought alongside the Taliban against the American-led invasion forces.
A month later Sharif returned to Lahore, Pakistan, where he stayed with Ali Qureshi, an administrator for Al-Muhajiroun, the Islamic extremist group with a strong following in the UK.
According to Qureshi, Sharif was inconsolable. He would cry, Allah, you are annoyed with me, and that is why you have not granted me martyrdom. He would pray . . . that he may be granted martyrdom.
His friends that accompanied him in the Afghan war told us while they were here that he had attempted to commit suicide there two or three times and they managed to forcibly stop him.
He was to achieve his martyrdom 18 months later, after he and Asif travelled to the Middle East and agreed to be suicide bombers for Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist organisation.
Asifs bomb exploded outside the Tel Aviv bar but Sharifs device failed to go off. His body was found in the sea a few days later. The cause of death was drowning.
Sharif had been a follower of Omar Bakri, the former Al-Muhajiroun leader in Britain, now in exile in Lebanon.
Last week Bakri said Sharif had attended his study circles in Derby in the months before he died but denied radicalising him. Bakri denies ever knowing Khan.
Fiaz says he was shocked when he heard the news about Sharif and Hanif. Last week he gave a written explanation of why he had failed to report his encounters with the bombers to the police.
After the Tel Aviv bombing, Omar and Hanif were dead and I didnt attach any significance to Sidique Khan. I had no idea who Sidique was until after his face appeared in the papers following the 7/7 bombing. Given the time that had elapsed since I first met him, I didnt see the significance of the connection.
He is now likely to be interviewed by Scotland Yards anti-terrorist squad.
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07/10/2006
06:37 ||
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Posted by: ed ||
07/10/2006
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#1
It's not like the Sunni Arab leadership can just push a button, and make their bad guys go away. In Arab culture, the process moves a lot more slowly, and involves lots of talking, coffee, promises, deceit and drama.
Important to remember this in the coming months.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/10/2006 7:01
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#3
Actually, moving against the militias is profoundly good news. The militias generally don't threaten to destroy the government, they are not at war with Iraq, unlike the insurgents. They are vigilantes.
This means that the insurgents have been so pounded down, that the majority of the focus can now move to other problems.
The best part is that vigilante movements are weak. The easiest way to break them up is not direct conflict, but restoring law & order. This makes them just fall apart.
Those groups supported by Iran can be spy-busted, then undermined with nationalism. But all of it is one hell of a lot easier than fighting fanatical insurgents.
#4
Getting Iraqi government forces to go after fellow Iraqis has been a huge problem to date, and the reason for the slow stand-up of their forces by US trainers. This will be huge when everyone fully sees the logic of doing this kind of thing and go at it with all their hearts. It seems as though this may be in the process of becoming "acceptable and desired behavior" at this point! :-)
Posted by: grb ||
07/10/2006 14:10
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#5
Actually, supporters of the Shia militias ARE the government, ARE the Ministers, ARE the ruling party coalition -- and the Shia militias ARE the Iraqi armed forces, ARE the police, ARE the power all over the south and much of the central area of "Iraq", a Theatrical European Creation.
There was a teensy little story today that demonstrates these are facts. Note, also, that half the comments on that story are, at the very least, confused about who is who. That's sad, since it's not a very complicated cascade of allegiances, alliances, and enmities.
Further, and I believe this should be obvious, you won't see the Shia militias neutralized until the Shia political coalition leaders decide you will + the time it takes to get the armed militias to agree to give up their God powers. That might be one hell of a lag-time, too.
Just a day after investigators in the US uncovered an internet-based plot to attack New York, The Daily Telegraph can reveal that Australian Muslim websites are awash with similar material.
The sinister forums are contained in innocent-looking websites posing as community discussion boards.
The Sydney Muslim Youth Forum, on which young Muslims exchange views about Islam, devotes threads to turning Australia into an Islamic state.
"I reckon we stay and try our best to get to high positions in this country so it comes to the fold of Islam," a member calling himself God's Slave 4 Life wrote.
Another member called Wasalam also suggested imposing the Muslim way of life on Australian society from the inside and called on members to pray for Muslims waging war overseas.
"We have to be sure firstly that Allah is pleased with us and that we're completing our task and that we're not only stressing about what's happening but that we are also doing something about it," Wasalam wrote. "May Allah help us and bring victory to the Muslimeen and Mujahideen in every land."
But a female member tells her friends that Australian Muslims would be better off moving overseas.
"Don't you think we should unite in one land and from there re-organise ourselves into different territories?" she wrote. "We are investing our gold n' silver in a non-Muslim land and at any moment if the big bosses think we're up to no good, they can freeze everything!"
The Muslim Village website - a branch of the mainstream Islamic
Sydney.com site - contains disturbing messages of support for some of the world's most reviled terrorists.
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, killed by US forces last month after a reign of terror, is described as a hero of the Islamic cause.
'While some members of the chatroom rejoiced in Zarqawi's death, others expressed their dismay. "
#2
Xbalanke-Why not I do.
I did'nt even know Australia was part of the Caliphate. Maybe they are mixing it up with Austria. Since they don't read anything except the Koran.
#3
I did'nt even know Australia was part of the Caliphate.
I remember reading an article here many moons ago about how Australia was in fact discovered by arab sailers, and how aboriginals were in fact muslim converts gone awry in their religion... all this said very piously and seriously by an "australian" Holy Man, IIRC.
THE three Bali bombers on death row will be executed by firing squad at the end of the month, according to the Denpasar prosecutors office.
Burn in Allahs hell
Lawyers for Imam Samudra, 36, Amrozi bin Nurhasyim, 43, and Ali Ghufron, alias Mukhlas, 46, had not lodged expected appeal documents, clearing the way for execution within weeks.
Bali's Denpost newspaper today quoted officials as saying time had run out for the men convicted over the 2002 truck bomb blasts at the Sari Club and Paddy's Bar that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.
The reported execution timetable could not be immediately confirmed by AAP today.
"We waited, but they have not been lodged," the paper quoted an unidentified official in the prosecutor's office as saying about the three men's appeals.
"It seems that by the end of July to be exact July 30 the execution will be done.
"We are just awaiting the orders of the attorney-general's office."
Lawyers for the three had promised to lodge appeals in May, basing their applications on the fact that anti-terrorism laws used to convict them were brought into force after the attacks.
In 2003 Indonesia's constitutional court ruled the use of retroactive legislation was illegal.
Indonesian Attorney-General Abdul Rahman Saleh has ruled the three, who have refused asking for presidential clemency, will be executed on the remote prison island of Nusakambangan off southern Java, dubbed "Indonesia's Alcatraz".
A spokesman for the Attorney-General refused to confirm the execution timetable, saying only that preparations for the firing squad have begun.
"What is clear is that it will be Nusakambangan, but we don't know the exact place yet," he told AAP.
Denpasar prosecutor Wayan Suwila also refused to confirm July 30 for the executions and said authorities might be trying to pressure lawyers to lodge their requests for Supreme Court judicial review, thereby halting the process as the appeals are considered.
"The impact of saying things like that would be too vast," he said.
"Maybe, just maybe, this is a tactic to provoke the lawyers."
The three bombers were moved to Nusakambangan last October on security grounds after Balinese incensed by triple suicide bombings rioted outside their Denpasar prison and demanded their immediate execution.
Balinese community leaders have demanded the trio be executed on the island where they committed their crimes.
Executions in Indonesia are carried out at dawn by hand-picked paramilitary police at a secret location, usually a patch of forest or a beach.
Meanwhile, the radical cleric jailed and later released for giving his blessings to the Bali bombings, Abu Bakar Bashir, is reportedly planning to join one of Indonesia's largest Islamic political parties.
The conservative Partai Persatuan Pembangunan (United Development Party) of former vice president Hamzah Haz has invited Bashir to become a member, the Indo Pos newspaper reported,
"The PPP is a party based on Islam, which is the same path followed by Ustadz (honoured teacher) Abu Bakar Bashir," the party's central Java branch head KH Thoyfoer said.
Bashir was released from jail on June 14 after serving a total of four years, including a sentence for involvement in the first Bali bombings.
ISRAEL'S Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said operations in Gaza to press militants to free an abducted soldier and end rocket fire will go on indefinitely.
Mr Olmert, speaking to the foreign media, also reiterated he would not negotiate with the governing Hamas movement for the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit, taken to Gaza in a cross-border raid on June 25.
Militant groups that kidnapped the 19-year-old tank gunner have demanded Israel release more than a thousand Palestinian prisoners.
"I will not release prisoners for the trade of Corporal Gilad Shalit to Hamas," Mr Olmert said.
Lashing out at the European Union, which has been outspoken in its criticism of Israel's ground and air assaults, the Prime Minister said the EU should have focused instead on daily rocket fire by militants in Gaza against the Jewish state.
"When was the last time that the European Union condemned this shooting and suggested effective measures to stop it?" Mr Olmert said.
"At some point, Israel had no point but to take some measures in order to stop this thing."
Mr Olmert said Israel had "no particular desire to topple" the Hamas-led Palestinian government despite the arrest by the Israeli military of dozens of Hamas officials and its Gaza raids.
The European Union has accused Israel of a disproportionate use of force against Palestinians in Gaza and of making a humanitarian crisis there worse.
Some 50 Palestinians, among them about 20 civilians, have been killed since the Israeli offensive began, Gaza residents said.
in the latest violence, Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip killed one militant and wounded five others.
"We haven't set a particular timetable for this operation (in Gaza). It will continue in places, in times, in different measures that will suit the purposes that were outlined," Mr Olmert said, repeating remarks he made on Sunday to his cabinet.
Israel Radio said militants in Gaza fired three rockets at southern Israel early on Monday, causing no casualties.
The Israeli offensive has continued despite expressions of concern from the European Union and United Nations at the worst fighting between Israelis and Palestinians since 2004 and a potential humanitarian crisis.
Israel's main ally, the United States, has been less critical.
"Let's remember who started this," US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns told CNN.
"It was the outrageous actions of Hamas in violating Israel's sovereignty, in taking the soldier hostage."
Early on Monday, the Israeli army said an aircraft destroyed a weapons depot belonging to the Islamic Jihad faction. Like Hamas, the group is committed to destroying Israel.
Mr Olmert said he was still committed to his plan to remove isolated Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank while strengthening large blocs, a proposal Palestinians have condemned as effective annexation of land they want for a state.
The proposal has been largely sidelined by the events in Gaza.
#1
The Paleos and EU should be happy the solution to this problem s not in my hands. There simply would be no Palestinians left in Gaza or the West Bank. They would be removed forever. Alive or dead the choice would be theirs but they would be out.
#4
Israel's main ally, the United States, has been less critical. "Let's remember who started this," US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns told CNN.
Sheesh. CNN just never, ever gives up, do they?
How about, "The US reminded the world that the Paleo terrorist government Hamas vowed to wipe Israel off the map and is attempting to do so with little to no success"
#6
Indefinately, schmindefinately. Olmert is playing the ol' recycled stratagem.
Operation should go on as long as any smidget of threat is eliminated. As simple as that. Annexing a piece of territory for any infraction by Paleos, as suggested in another post, would be definitely the right way to proceed.
The African Crisis is an interesting ressource about SA, with coverage of the ongoing crime wave the site owner compares to a low key guerilla war waged by the gvt to chase whites out; it's true some farmer murders are beyond anything one could imagine with a "mundane" greed-motivated crime (for example, in one "incident", the farmer is incapacitated by the gang, he will be shot in a separate attack months later, while is wife is asked where's the clothes iron; she's then stripped and gangraped, then covered with oil, and burnt with the red hot iron until her skin falls off in shreds...).
[Here are just the 3 latest posts on the crime page on my webste. Take a look at the kind of things which go on, and how people feel about our Police. The Minister of Safety & Security & the Chief of Police (Selebi), announced, after a week of meetings, that crime is not out of hand. Jan]
Randburg, Johannesburg
My elderly parents' home was broken into and my father was stabbed to death as he was woken by the intruders. My mother is seriously wounded and is in hospital in intensive care. The police are totally incompetent and are doing NOTHING.
Dinwoody, Germiston
A young South African Greek man (last name Papadellis) aged 29 (?) was attacked in the living room of his home by three gun totting blacks. The motive was robbery. However, they shot Papadellis in the stomach sending him to hospital where his spleen and half his liver and intestines were removed. The man died one week later. His father was left with a medical bill of over half a million rand.
Although I support Mbeki, I also support the death penalty. The current government is doing nothing to curb crime. Stay away from South Africa until they reintroduce the death penalty and reduce crime effectively.
A letter I received:-
Dear Sir
Interesting website, glad I found out about it.
It makes me sick to see how bad crime has become in South Africa. The fact that most of them are never solved or that the Dockets disappear, gets me going even more.
I am a statistic. So are many of my friends. A quick Run-Down:
Zelda Myburgh - Benoni - Murdered in her home by their garden boy who hit her on her head with a shovel. Due to lack of evidence, he is a free man.
Claire Andrews - Kempton Park - Gang raped by a group of black men in her home. I believe that they have never been caught.
Mr. & Mrs. Ellinas - Boksburg - Hijacked in their driveway just after spinal surgery. They pushed her around like a toy. They have never been caught.
John - Ireland - Moved to Benoni and was a good friend to all. Was stabbed to death in Nelspruit after a road rage incident. Not sure what happened with the murderer.
Tracy Thompson - Ekurhuleni - Hijacked and Murdered. Body found close to township offramp. Cops stuffed up evidence. No closure.
Duncan H Cramer - Modderfontein - Shot in the head during an armed robbery. He was trying to protect me from harm. Positive prints left behind on many household items, case closed after about 8 months.
Cherith Anderson - Benoni - Hijacked outside my home when I lived in JHB. No closure.
Dion Edwards - Benoni/Port Shepstone - Arrested on a case that was closed (drunken driving), placed in a cell with twenty other men and was raped by them. He committed suicide.
Well, those are just some of them. It doesn't even include the petty crimes and the plain pesty ones that some of us experienced.
Funny Thing is, this has all happened in the last 6 years.
Wow, Democracy is working well. All the housing projects have now been completed. All our people now have clean, safe running water. We have no poverty and no starving people. ARV's are supplied by government and our ministers no longer say "If you don't like the crime, Leave" or take their whole group of friends on shopping sprees in Dubai. Our police force also get paid decent salaries and our children now all attend decent, clean and healthy schools. Oh, and our new stadiums have been built for the 2010 World Cup Soccer too! And the best of all, we still have money left over!!!
I'm sorry that my sarcasm has taken over here. But it seems that this is the kind of country I would like to live in. Not the one where everyone knows at least 5-6 people who have been affected by crime. I am sure most people know of at least 1 person who has been murdered.
It is truly sad to think that the lives of our children will be even worse. Because God knows, I have tried, but my hand has been smacked away so many times, that I have given up.
And look at what our beautiful country has to offer.
It's just scary getting to all the places of grace what with Hijackings on Highways, Boulders being thrown off bridges into moving cars, Shootings at petrol stations and Cash in Transit Heists. Once you are there, you have to put up with Smash and grabs at intersections, rapes or murders taking place on beaches, and your caravan, tent or rental home being emptied by unknown parties.
Hey, it does affect us all at the end of the day. It is just frustrating.
I will be making this one of my regular stops during my quiet days. Trust you will have interesting articles!
#1
I lived in Jo'berg in the mid-seventies. Crime was a concern then, but at least the police combatted it. It is in times when civil authority becomes totally impotent, military authority seizes power. I lived in Greece when the "Colonels" held power.
#3
As people straggle back home from Germany after a brilliant World Cup (party-wise anyway), talk has naturally turned to SA in 2010.
Between poor to middling infrastructure, inability to complete stadiums on schedule, and rampant crime and disease, I won't be surprised if the US or UK are asked to step in as a late replacement host nation as Mexico did for Colombia in '86.
Despite it's best efforts, an SA WC would be a disaster.
#4
Two sister missionaries from the LDS Church were just raped--one was also shot--in an area just outside of Durban. I don't have words to describe how angry I am about that but it's just one more reason why I don't have any hope whatsoever for any part of Africa. It truly is "the Dark Continent" and as colonial rule recedes farther into the past the more precolonial savagery comes to the fore. Any white with brains should be out of Africa even if all they can leave with is the clothes on their back. The alternative, sooner or later, will be far worse.
Posted by: mac ||
07/10/2006 12:40
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#5
Some of the worst of it are the brutal murder of white farmers. It's all taking the same course as Zim, they're just not as open about it. The ultimate goal is a black Zuid Afrika, very clear to most. Nothing will ever be said at the UN or in Washington.
#6
When I was a kid, South Africa was one of the worlds premier economies. It was a competative and highly productive place of industry and trade. Then it changed hands and I can only see one difference now from then. Unfortunately decorum prohibits mentioning it here.
#7
We all know what happened Big Jim. African self-rule following "colonialist" governments is an unmitigated disaster all over Africa, not just the South.
PC: I know all of Africa is 'suposed to be Whiteys fault, but are there ANY nations in Africa today 2006, that are both socially egalitarian and modestly safe?
#1
Sorry, I find this to be rubbish, even though it's true that Hollywood is aweful. I can't think of an obeservation more mundane or unoriginal. How lame are people such as this who rant about communist conspiracies and the evils of "Midnight Cowboy"? This article is like a parody of some evil combination of Church-lady, Archie Bunker and Grandpa Simpson.
The good news is that Hollywood never had as much influence as it wanted to believe it had, nor the amount its alarmist critics attribute to it. No matter because this influence is waning. Better to focus on offering alternatives than clownish fulminating the wickedness of "Hollywood".
#2
Well, then. Based on MM's review, I shan't waste my time with this article.
Posted by: Bobby ||
07/10/2006 6:18
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#3
Pure rubbish? How easy to dismiss the overall point by looking at ONE movie and saying ... with regard to this one movie or that one movie, I declare the premise to be an exaggeration.
The only good thing I can say about the Hollywood Gospel is that it's high priests and priestesses have become as hypocritcal, predictable, overly dramatic, shrill and insular as Tammy Faye Baker and the 700 club bunch. I know they still have a following, but they such a bunch of geezers now that the can't escape that rotting stench of " I used to be cool"
#4
I'm going to disagree. It's a rant, not a great rant, but not a bad one either. Most of the bases it touches are on the money.
I don't think Hollyweird should be peddling a milk and cookies view of life/America, but it shouldn't be peddling a 'everything is a conspiracy by really really evil people' either, not least because there are much better and interesting stories out there.
While I like some hollywood movies - Terminator 3 was great and my daughter raves about Pirates of the Caribean, but too much feels like agitprop and I switch off or walk away.
#6
There's plenty of great movies available at Netflix. Just about anything made between 1934 and 1962 is worth watching. That's about the time when we had the Hayes Code. Funny how censorship helps artists be creative and "freedom" takes away the challenge.
#8
The average person, especially young person, need a role model. Hollywood has not provided a worthy role model since Patton. Without a good role model, a person needs a moral creed. Hollywood has invented anti-morality. Today, some young people just don't know how to act. But, in corporate America, only the proper dress and behavior are allowed. Because of a disfunctional Hollywood, corporate America has taken up the slack left by religion.
Nobody walks around with their pants below their ass in my office. Bet on it.
#10
I didn't see it in the article but they shoud've mentioned "Passion of the Christ." A religious movie produced by a pre-Vatcian II Catholic that made tons of money. Though Mel is hardly normal hollywood person other then his stance on the environment. Private Ryan would be another good pro-American movie (imho) that deservedly made good cash.
#12
MM, though it may be 'unoriginal', the writer makes an extremely valid point. If I were looking at this from a purely secular standpoint, devoid of any moral foundations or 'antiquated' notions of right and wrong, I'd agree with you. But alas, color me antique.
AMMAN The Ministry of Social Development (MoSD) will in the coming days appoint an administrative body to run the Islamic Centre Charity Society pending legal action regarding its finances, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Sunday. The boards replacement follows a decision by Ammans prosecutor general yesterday banning the administration from exercising their responsibilities as of July 9. The Cabinet referred the charitys file to the prosecutors office for legal action last Wednesday after a joint committee comprising officials from the Audit Bureau and the MoSD scrutinised the societys records. In its report, the panel detailed violations, reservations and comments, on the financial performance of the organisation, which by law reports to the MoSD.
Legal expert and attorney Sahel Jaroudi told The Jordan Times the prosecutors decision means that none of the members of the societys administrative body can make decisions or act in his capacity as a member. Petra quoted Minister of Social Development Suleiman Tarawneh as saying he would notify the Central Bank of Jordans governor to issue a statement to Jordan-based banks not to accept cheques signed by any of the charitys board members. The charity runs healthcare centres, private schools, orphanages and social welfare centres in addition to the Islamic Hospital in Amman. The organisation, which has branches across the country, is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, the largest opposition group.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2006
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When the sudden appearance of an endangered flower halted a controversial housing project in the heart of California's wine country, the developer, Scott Schellinger, suspected he was the victim of a plant. Now, after calling in experts from the state's fish and game commission, who have backed his findings, he is claiming that the "discovery" of rare and protected Sebastopol meadowfoam on the eight-hectare (20-acre) site near San Francisco was the work of opponents who transplanted the flowers from elsewhere.
"It looked like a bad toupee," claimed one botanist, who observed the small, white flowers - latin name Limnanthes vinculans - growing through clods of "alien" soil.
The row has escalated into a scandal known as Foamgate. The residents of Sebastopol, a town of 7,800 environmentally conscious residents in the centre of Sonoma county's grape and apple growing region, deny wrongdoing. Bob Evans, a retired grammar school teacher and leading campaigner against the $70m development, says he had come across the meadowfoam while walking his dog. "It's our job to protect endangered species," he said. "I didn't plant it. No one planted it. It's clearly a natural plant that grew there because that's where it belongs."
But Mr Schellinger insists the reappearance of the bowl-shaped blooms is evidence that his opponents are desperate. "The people who planted it mistakenly believed that it would be the silver bullet that killed the project," he said.
Sebastopol's council has ordered the parties to mediation to try to find a compromise that could include a scaled-down development. And the state has ordered that the plants be removed after deciding they were deliberately introduced. "They didn't belong there. It was appropriate to remove them," said Eric Larson, a regional manager of the California fish and game commission.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/10/2006
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Hmmm, my Surprise Meter seems to be busted ... tap-tap-tap ...
#2
"It's a plant!" proclaimed Detective Potter. "It all stems from the fact that somebody wants you to leaf, and they're sowing the seeds of dissention to try to weed you out."
Posted by: Mike ||
07/10/2006 7:21
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#4
I ran into a twit raised in Sebastopol when I was in college. He was raised liberal, was unthinkingly liberal, and dared to call other people conformists. He'd argue that taxes are too low, then brag that every job he'd ever had was paid under the table.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
07/10/2006 8:18
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#5
RC, that's the Left to a tee. One rule for me and another for thee.
[T]he state has ordered that the plants be removed after deciding they were deliberately introduced. "They didn't belong there. It was appropriate to remove them," said Eric Larson, a regional manager of the California fish and game commission.
(No relation.)
But good for him. Hopefully the dingbats who put them there will cringe with every spade strike as they dig them out.
#9
If it's against the law for a developer to disturb the "rare and protected Sebastopol meadowfoam" flower, then didn't some moonbat environmentalist break the law by transplanting it? Nary a mention of this angle in the story.
HARRISBURG - He scooped water ice into cups for dozens of people on a sweltering hot day, autographed footballs for little kids and adults alike, and jumped up on a stage before several thousand people and sang - solo and a cappella - just to win them over. That's how former Pittsburgh Steeler Lynn Swann, more accustomed to dashing in and out of crowds than trying to woo them, has been spending his days recently as he wraps up the first of several expected statewide bus tours this summer in his quest for the governorship.
Although he garnered mostly good reviews along the way - both from the public and in the media - it remains a question mark whether Swann's recent and aggressive campaign push will help jump-start his flagging campaign. Supporters insist that after a series of early gaffes and general campaign disorganization, Swann is finally doing what he needs to be doing: going out on the road and talking to voters, while also minding the campaign bank account. Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, for instance, is scheduled to travel to King of Prussia on Wednesday to help raise money for him. Later this month, there is another fund-raiser scheduled for Swann, in Virginia, organized by Republican National Committee finance chairman Dwight Schar. And there has been talk for weeks that President Bush will come in August to raise funds for Swann, although Swann's staff will not confirm it.
"I think his campaign had a slow start, but they are pulling things together now," said Renee Amoore, the state GOP's deputy chair. But there are still deep doubts that Swann is too far behind Gov. Ed Rendell - not just in political gravitas, but in campaign cash - to catch up. And if he doesn't show upward movement in the polls by Labor Day, many believe that this fall's governor's race could turn into a lock for Rendell. "The single biggest threat right now to Swann is if he's not successful in moving the polls," said Chris Borick, director of Muhlenberg College's Institute of Public Opinion. "If the perception," Borick added, "is that he's not gaining momentum, that there's no energy, then the concern becomes: Will he be able to raise the kind of money to stage the kind of statewide media campaign necessary to win the election?"
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2006
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A handsome, black football player runs for governor and so they write a hit piece like this one. Could it be possible to write a piece more negative than this one? I'm surprised they didn't also write, "some critics say he is a child molester, but his campaign officials denied the charge".
I bet he wins despite all of the negative adjectives they throw his way. He just doesn't fit the part of "poor little naive loser" that they are trying to portray him with.
I have nothing much to add other than these people and their supporters are racial con artists/victimology shysters and should be banned from Academia. Were any of these people slaves? Their parents? Their grandparents? Nope.
Advocates who say black Americans should be compensated for slavery and its Jim Crow aftermath are quietly chalking up victories and gaining momentum. OK, I lied ...what "victories"?
Fueled by the work of scholars and lawyers, their campaign has morphed in recent years from a fringe-group rallying cry into sophisticated, mainstream movement. Most recently, a pair of churches apologized for their part in the slave trade, and one is studying ways to repay black church members. These assholes with their liberal guilt speak for nobody other than their own membership, and I doubt they speak for all of them Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/10/2006
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#1
I'm still waiting for them to go after (a) the Muslims that are trading slaves today and (b) the Mulsims and African tribes that sold the slaves to whitey in the first place.
Until you show concern over those issues you are not worried about redressing wrongs but about cashing in.
#5
So long as reparations consist solely of exchanging one's US citizenship for a one-way ticket to whatever nation the reparee believes will treat them more fairly I'm all for it.
#6
IIRC, which I probably don't, Mr. Jacques Heers, a noted french historian, estimated the western slave trade at about 11 millions individuals; arab slave trade was about 17 millions (and the whole economy was built on it), while intra-african slave trade was over 23 millions.
Regarding the arab slave trade, mortality in transit was about 80% (compared to the very high 20% for slave ships, african missionaries in the 19th had a saying it was easy following the traditional slave trails there, because one had only to follow the open human bones graves), and while the western civilization was the ONLY one to ever voluntary cease slavery, the arab trade halted in its massive form (it continues hidden to this day) only thanks to colonization; this was one of the motive behind colonization, by the way.
Uh, no. Not so fast, white girl. My family has only been here since just before World War I. The parts of Europe that they came from had nothing to do with the slave trade, either.
If you are feeling particularily guilty, Ms Browne, that's your issue. My conscience is just fine, thank you very much.
#9
Ms. Browne needs to do pennance at a ZimBobwe war veterans farm. As for the rest, your choice of oneway ticket to Congo, Somalia or Zim.
Posted by: ed ||
07/10/2006 7:01
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A morality that makes one guilty of the sins of ones ancestors is an abomination and an atrocity. It is not moral or just in any way, manner, shape, or form, and those who say or claim otherwise are morally warped themselves.
#11
I have English ancestry, and I think some of them were enslaved by Caesar or one of those other old Roman guys, so I think the Italians owe me some money. A small estate in Tuscany would do just fine.
#12
Also in June, a North Carolina commission urged the state government to repay the descendants of victims of a violent 1898 campaign by white supremacists to strip blacks of power in Wilmington, N.C. As many as 60 blacks died, and thousands were driven from the city.
Bill the party responsible -- they're still around. Look up "Democrats" in the phonebook.
Wasn't slavery in the Americas, an English imperial innovation?
More likely Spanish.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
07/10/2006 8:21
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Even if we accepted every premise of the "repatriation movement," there would still be no possibility of payoff.
After all, a "thief" can't make restitution with "stolen" property, can he?
I.E. there is another ethnic group that is owed everything, and who African-Americans profited from (see the 9th and 10th Cavalry) and who suffered everything they did first and worst...
Posted by: Ernest Brown ||
07/10/2006 8:22
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I.E. there is another ethnic group that is owed everything, and who African-Americans profited from (see the 9th and 10th Cavalry) and who suffered everything they did first and worst...
Eh. There was a guy who might be a distant relative of mine who was burnt at the stake by the Miamis. One of my great-great-grandfathers was a Cherokee.
Should I just slip myself some cash?
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
07/10/2006 8:30
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Sure! (G)
Posted by: Ernest Brown ||
07/10/2006 8:52
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#16
Every year, lots of black taxpayers are suckered into a now-common scam, variants of which say that they can withold some amount of money from their income taxes, or demand a refund from the IRS for reparations. But it has fallen from their "dirty dozen" list of scams:
#17
Over 250,000 white federal soldiers died for the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendment. Debt paid in blood. Do an extrapolation of the casualties and the period population against say 1970 and the Vietnam period data. An amazing bill paid. And Jim Crow? Just stand behind the Chinese and other Asians who had similar treatment, but who haven't played the victim game. BTW, how are their children doing in schools and employment these days?
#18
Slavery reparations are complete and utter bullpucky. Just about any group in the U.S. could make similar claims, Chinese, Irish, Native Americans, etc. These folks are trying to cash in on a cash cow gravy train. They need to quit this "cottage industry" of victimhood. People need to think of themselves as Americans first and whatever their origins are second.
#19
The victimization of america needs to stop. The buther's bill was already paid. Now shut up, grow up and buck up. Look in the mirror to see who is keeping blacks down nowdays. I't ain't whitie, that is for sure.
(and for the record I'm Irish-scottish-Cherokee, the european part arrived after the potoato famine so I ain't done nottin' to blackie)
#20
Everytime a black American talks reparations and what has white men ever done for them. I always tell them to go to Gettysburg, Bull Run 1 and 2, Antietiem, Fedricksburg and any other battle during the civil war and read the names of the northern soldiers who died to free slaves that usually shuts them up.
#22
sooooo... once the descendants of black slaves get their reward, or whatever beads and whiskey these hucksters plan to throw at them, how are they going to properly compensate the Indians? I mean, ultimately, the Indians have the final trump card here. How can you take what rightfully belongs to the Indians and give it to the slaves of the people who stole it from the Indians. I'm so confused!
Accountability for ones own actions-not being laden with anothers burdens.
***
Tell me, what realizable price wouldnt insult the recipients? What would enough compensation for my great grandpa to have enslaved your great grandpa and great grandma be?
And I would love to see the math in these proposals-what is the total sum estimated for adequate and just reparations nationwide? Then, who will determine who owes this huge sum? How will that sum be raised?
I think the best thing we can do is acknowledge what was wrong in the past and behave as decent people now. If we see racism in action before us, we should call it out.
When can we start living like race really doesnt matter?
#28
Yep, I can't wait to pay the most free, most educated, and most wealthy black folks on the planet more handout money. These people advocating this crap are not truly patriots as they are trying to steal from other Americans.
I've been around the global mudball a few times *visiting* third-world shit holes and have come to a few realizations on race and poverty:
If you own a car, you ain't poor. If you have air conditioning, you ain't poor. If you are obese, you are not truly poor (maybe only in spirit and that is on you). If you own cable, you ain't poor. Race irrespective - If you decide to use drugs, have children out of wedlock, drop out of school, or just choose to act like a general shit bag - then those are your personal decisions. I apologize to no man for what happened before my birth and without my culpability or for their own present stupidities and lack of self-discipline. Slavery has been dead about 143 years, Jim Crow about 44 yrs, get over it. You are not helping our country. If that makes me a insensitive racist, I can live w/that.
I'm not going to ask the Brit gov't to repay me for their lack of humanity toward my ancestors. Actually I'd like to thank them for *pushing* my great-grandfather into coming to the states. Best thing that ever happened to our clan. God Bless America.
Posted by: Spike Lee ||
07/10/2006 11:26
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#30
I am full agreement that we should pay reparations. Now if someone can prove that they (not their ancestors) were born into slavery I think we should give then a new pony. If you were born post Civil War then you dont get a pony, you get squat. You can however take advantage of being a citizen in a country that allows you to go from rags to riches based solely on your ambition and not your social status, skin color, or religious affiliation (or lack thereof). This issue is gaining momentum like the anti-war movement is gaining momentum (that is strictly in the Mo0nb@+ fringe).
#31
Even though I don't live in the US, I'm sure I'm entitled to reparation, as some of my relatives back in the 1600's would surely have been transported as slaves to the America's
#32
But Tipper, this is different. Slavery caused the Black Americans irrecoverable harm. Its not like the good times of the Gauls, Brits, Spaniards, and Germans had under Romans Rule. Or those happy-go-lucky days the Jews and Africans had living under the kind Egyptian Kings. The Blacks in early America obviously had some real hard times because it lasted long after they were freed.
#36
My family didn't get here until the late 30's. Came from Ireland and Wales, not a slave to be found in either place. So, we don't all inherit guilt, just you.
#37
Now the fun part will come when the 400 billion are divided up amongst who be who lines.
Now my grandgranny was a Beautiful Mullatto Creek Indian, so I don't get any dough. But maybe my 1st cousins thrice times removed who are decended from my same grandgranny the Beautiful Mullato Creek Indian can get a chunk.
#38
If these folks want an all-out race war that makes the civil war, reconstruction and Jim Crow look like a sunday school picnic, I can think of nothing better than to cram 'reparations' down our throats.
#39
Should the reparations folks bill the heirs of Lyndon Johnson for the damage done to the black family and blacks in general by the War on Poverty? The Great Society, through its destruction of the black family by enabling and encouraging single motherhood to the point that in some parts of the country more than 70% of black children are born bastards, has more than offset the gains of the Civil Rights movement. Democrats going to pony up?
#40
The only real discrimination in the US today is against Asians. Almost all universities have quotas restricting the number of Asians so that, for reasons of diversity, there will be some slots left for whites, blacks, and native Americans. Asians succeed because they have nuclear families in which parents inculcate their children with the values of hard work and honor.
#43
I put in a bill for reparations with the Tsar for taking the lands of my Russian Jewish farmer ancestors. I sent copies to the Kremlin and at the Tsar's summer home. They both came back:
Return to Sender
Address Unknown
No Such Number
No Such Zone
Ima sh!t outta luck, and Putin sez he is not responsible for the previous proprieter.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/10/2006 20:13
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My Slavic ancestors were enslaved by practically everyone at one time or another. Including Africans, via trade with Arabs and Mongols, among others.
Just look at the first four letters in the word "slave". Coincidence? Uh uh.
Meanwhile, my parents came to this country about a century after emancipation.
If anything, African-Amereicans owe me reparations.
David Cameron called today for greater understanding of hoodie-wearing teenagers in his latest move to reposition the Conservative Party. The Tory leader said young people needed "a lot more love" to avoid being drawn into offending in a new approach derided by Labour as "hug a hoodie". Mr Cameron denied trying to "wind up" Tory traditionalists with his apparent break with John Major's injunction to "condemn a little more and understand a little less".
But, in a separate speech tonight, Mr Cameron set out plans to strengthen police in the fight against crime with more conventional Tory pledges like cutting bureaucracy. That was seen as an attempt to reassure those in his party who might have been alarmed by his comments to the Centre for Social Justice earlier today. He told the think tank:
"The hoodie is a response to a problem, not a problem in itself. We - the people in suits - often see hoodies as aggressive, the uniform of a rebel army of young gangsters. But hoodies are more defensive than offensive. They're a way to stay invisible in the street. In a dangerous environment the best thing to do is keep your head down, blend in, don't stand out. For some, the hoodie represents all that's wrong about youth culture in Britain today. For me, adult society's response to the hoodie shows how far we are from finding the long-term answers to put things right. So when you see a child walking down the road, hoodie up, head down, moody, swaggering, dominating the pavement - think what has brought that child to that moment."
The comments drew a clear line between Mr Cameron and Tony Blair, who last year supported a ban on hoodies by the Bluewater shopping centre. Mr Cameron acknowledged the need for sanctions like anti-social behaviour orders and curfews but said that he wanted to see them used less and less. He said that it was essential to remain optimistic about young people, and not "just give up in despair".
In his second speech tonight, to the Police Foundation, Mr Cameron pledged to reduce paperwork for officers to allow them to be "crime fighters, not form-writers". Mr Cameron promised to end the recording of stops, introduced on the recommendation of the inquiry into the killing of black teenager Stephen Lawrence. He called for civilian staff to take over more administrative functions to enable officers to concentrate on frontline policing. And he re-affirmed the Tories' commitment to scrapping proposed police force mergers and introducing directly-elected commissioners or sheriffs to increase accountability. He said that a "damaging culture" had infected policing in recent years. "That culture has diluted what should be a single-minded focus for the police. The public wants the police to be crime fighters, not form writers. They want the police to be a force as well as a service."
#4
There is a direct correlation between the number of men who serve in the military, and the number of adult men who teach young men good values. That is, if Britain wants "hoodies" to grow up and become responsible, the hoodies need to be under the supervision of vets who know discipline.
Armies are expensive, because they are expected to fight in a modern war. But armies are much less expensive if they just exist to train young men with military discipline. So Britain should put every capable young man who is unemployed into such training regiments.
After a year of training, they are given their pay in one lump sum, and set to find work in an organized manner, or they can stay in the ranks and be trained as a regular. Unemployment is no longer an option. They have a choice of several jobs fitting their talent, but they must work for another year or back to the army they go.
This solves several problems at once. It takes young men off the streets, without interfering with those who have work. It really reduces unemployment, so wages go up. It keeps the young men physically fit while teaching them discipline. It provides a large pool for recruiting the best into the military. And it radically reduces crime and mischief.
In turn, the men who come out of the programme have a soothing effect in the universities, wanting an education, not to slack off and make trouble, and not tolerant of those who do.
#5
I'd agree if the training were US style - preferably Marine, Paris Island - I can't speak to UK training, which has a reputation for idiotic hazing and abuse.
In the US, it did wonders for me and several equally obnoxious jerks I knew. I went in a hothead gang tough, with more than a few busted heads and stolen cars to my "credit". The very first thing I learned, in spades, was that I wasn't nearly as tough as I thought. The instructors were 5 times as fit, infinitely tougher mentally, and my betters in every respect.
By the time I completed basic, they had worked the baby fat (I thought was muscle) off, remade me into someone who took pride in hard work, and gave me the seeds of a whole new personality, one worthy of my birthright as an American.
On my first leave, the astonishment of my former friends was something to behold. It was only surpassed by my own. I left the losers behind and never looked back.
I recall my service with honest humility and thanks for what they did for me. I can't say if it would work for the "hoodies" and the UK, but it's an idea that deserves their serious consideration.
Space shuttle Discovery's astronauts got some happy news Sunday: It's safe to fly home. Mission Control informed the crew of six that the ship's thermal shielding is "100 percent cleared for entry" in another week.
Good luck and Godspeed.
Posted by: Fred ||
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I like the tag line from Fark...
"Evidently the Shuttle crew's entire purpose now is to go into space and fix the ship for re-entry. Your tax dollars at work."
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
07/10/2006 12:21
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"Evidently the Shuttle crew's entire purpose now is to go into space and fix the ship for re-entry. Your tax dollars at work."
:>
There is something to learn even in that endevor.
Yesterday morning I posted about the pirates in the Strait of Malacca, including the two recent attacks on UN aid-carrying ships. It made me wonder if the UN should designate the pirates as NGOs, and thereby eliminate piracy with a bureaucratic stroke of the pen.
Well, Fellow Peacekeeper does not really consider this a joke. In the comments he said this:
Actually, you may be joking about not joking but I think its not a joke.
At a guess the UN-hired ships were in cahoots with the pirates (if the pirates were not actually hired for the purpose) and took a cut of the profit. And that is pretty much UN standard practise. The aid was probably purchased from friends and relatives for inflated prices, and quite possibly destined to be resold commercially by the party receiving the aid. Consequently it is only logical that the transport side join in the game, and oops! pirates stole the aid! For extra bastard points the stolen aid may be sold again to the UN in order to be stolen again to etc. All this insecurity demands more security staff, who may or may not be qualified but since they are not actually providing security that doesnt matter. Of course security staff decrease the margin for piracy by adding another layer to those receiving a cut, but hey, as long as New York is happy
You see? International cooperation at work. Corruption is your friend, and Kofis! It cuts out that uneccessary violence and everybody profits. The UN staff, their friends and relatives and associates in the logistics and supply and security and distibution businesses and NGOs, and governments both receiving and giving and transiting. Thats many many many people. Just neither the ones who pay for this, nor those who really need it.
Anyone think Im joking?
In a later post yesterday I wrote about the Demonic Convergence of Islam and crime:
The theology and ideology of Islam are eminently compatible with criminal behavior, and an operational jihad organization is functionally indistinguishable from a criminal enterprise. Is this why the UN and the Arab League get on so well together? Does this help explain the virtually unanimous votes against the rule of law by the representatives of Muslim countries in the General Assembly? Turtle Bay, Barbary Coast how can you tell the difference?
I do not doubt for a minute that there are numerous such games afoot, courtesy of the UN. It is the most anti-American, anti-Freedom, anti-Accountability pile of kleptocrats and shysters on Earth.
Britain has written to the United Nations restating its sovereignty over the Falklands, as Argentina escalates attempts to gain international support for its claim over the islands. The Foreign Office has confirmed that ministers contacted the UN after counterparts in Buenos Aires managed to reopen the sovereignty issue.
I thought that was settled finally a few years back?
Officials have also written to the Organisation of American States (OAS), which last month supported talks between Britain and Argentina to solve the "Malvinas Islands" dispute peacefully. At the OAS general assembly in Santo Domingo, capital of the Dominican Republic, the organisation voted to approve an Argentine declaration to "continue exploring all possible means to solve the problem peacefully". The organisation said Argentina and Britain "must begin talks about the sovereignty dispute as soon as possible".
They're making the assumption the problem's not solved because they haven't gotten their way...
Argentine foreign minister Jorge Taiana said his country's president, Nestor Kirchner, pledged that the Argentine people were committed to winning back sovereignty of the islands as soon as possible, and would begin talks in good faith with Britain. He drove the point home during a meeting with UN secretary-general Kofi Annan. He claimed Annan had "agreed to look at" possible solutions to the disagreement." The UN's Special Committee on decolonisation subsequently adopted a draft resolution stating that "a peaceful and negotiated settlement" was the way to resolve the issue.
If the Brits own it, and the inhabitants are Brits, what's to be "peacefully negotiated"?
A Foreign Office source last night confirmed that Britain had officially objected to the resolution, and reiterated its claim over the islands.
"It's ours. Piss off."
We have a recently retired fleet aircraft carrier we could sell the Brits for $1, don't we? At least until they get theirs built.
He added: "It was not a complaint, more a statement of fact - or a restatement of everything we have been saying for decades." Foreign Office minister Geoff Hoon confirmed that the OAS had been subjected to the same no-nonsense treatment. He said: "There can be no negotiations on the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands unless and until such time as the Falkland Islanders so wish. The principle of self-determination underlies the government's position."
#2
Argentina should have a bunch of people illegally immigrate to the Falklands, have large families, and then when they are the majority, apply the principle of self-determination and demand the islands be given to Argentina.
Two problems - 1) finding Argentinans who want to live there, and 2) keeping them loyal to Argentina after a generation or three as Falklanders (only Muslims seem able to do that.)
#4
I'm still trying to figure out why anybody WANTS the Falklands. Not a lot of whaling going on there anymore, is there? Does Japan have a dog in this fight?
#6
Argentina should have a bunch of people illegally immigrate to the Falklands, have large families, and then when they are the majority, apply the principle of self-determination and demand the islands be given to Argentina.
Ah, La Reconquista del Sur! The southernmost province of Aztlan! Somebody get MEChA on the case!
#7
If I remember correctly (and the books I read many years ago are to be believe), the UK was in active negotiations to give the Falklands to Argentina back around the '80/'81 time frame. The reason being one of UK citizenship and immigration. Seems the UK .gov was worried about an influx of immigrants after their lease on Hong Kong was up and they were looking to set a precedence regarding citizenship. Sort of reverse-Colonialism.
Give their current immigrant population, I bet they would've been happy with the Chinese instead.
btw, The Battle for the Falklands by Max Hastings & Simon Jenkins is a great book on the subject in my opinion.
#8
Yep, the Argies got anxious and greedy while Thatcher got the Premiership. So they've lost the islands forever.
There's usually 12 several Tornadoes fitted out for maritime attack at Stanley now. The airfield is much, much improved and defended by Rapier Block xx. That and the rotating commando force will keep the islands safe.
To paraphrase Sandy Woodward speaking to the expedition: You've seen fit to take the Queen's pence, now it's time to earn your keep, some of us are going to die, but it'll mostly be them. So get ready.
A new system to alert the British public over threats from al Qaida and other terror groups is to be introduced in Britain, it was reported here Sunday. Although the Home Office will not reveal details of how it will operate, it is understood that the new system will be simpler than the one it will replace, the Sunday Telegraph and the Sunday Times newspapers said. Home Secretary John Reid is set to unveil the changes as part of a package of announcements early next week. Warnings are to be published on the websites of the Home Office and the domestic Intelligence service, MI5. The papers added that they will be divided into five separate levels, although not colour-coded as they are in the US.
The UK currently has a seven-tier system based on descriptions of threats such as "substantial", which are not published. As well as dealing with the threat level system, Reid is expected to publish a wide-ranging summary of the Government's long-term terrorism strategy code-named "Contest". The announcement is expected to set out efforts to prevent terrorism, pursue terrorists, protect the public and prepare for the possibility of terrorist attacks.
Who abused Pakistan!
According to Nawa-e-Waqt a citizen from Lahore had filed a petition at the Lahore High Court against an unnamed member of parliament of 1997 at the time of the election of president. The member had written on his ballot paper the slogan Pakhtunkhwa Zindabad and Pakistan Murdabad [Long live Pashtunistan and Death to Pakistan]. The petitioner demanded that the name of the member be revealed and he be punished for treason or the parliament be dissolved.
Amir Cheema spat on Germans face
Maulana Amir Hamza wrote in daily Pakistan that when Amir Cheema was being interrogated in Germany after being arrested for stabbing the editor of Die Welt, the German officer asked him questions disrespectful toward the Prophet PBUH. On this, Amir Cheema struggled with his handcuffs and the chair to which he was bound but threw his body on the insulter and then spat on his face (bootha).
Dr AQ Khan popular in Bangladesh
Quoted in Nawa-e-Waqt Justice (Retd) Javid Iqbal said after his tour of Bangladesh that nuclear scientist Dr AQ Khan was very popular in Bangladesh. The country had not been able to decide its ideology and identity, he said, but welcomed Pakistanis as their mentors (murshid). He said army was defamed in BD but it did not dare interfere in elections.
Akram Awans men killed
According to a Khabrain report from Jauharabad the great Naqshbandi leader with influence in the armed forces Maulana Akram Awan of Tanzimul Ikhwan in the Soan valley had another skirmish with a party for the possession of land. His two guards were killed in the firing while the opposing party fled the scene.
Great Maulana Yusuf Ludhianvi
Maulana Mujibur Rehman Inqilabi wrote in daily Pakistan that great Maulana Yusuf Ludhianvi was killed in 2000 by an unknown killer while he was going to the office of Alami Majlis Khatm Nabuwwat. Ludhianvi was a great attacker of the Qadianis and was taken from Sahiwal to Banuri Town seminary by the founder Maulana Yusuf Banuri and put in charge of publishing the journal Bayyanaat. Ludhianvi was a great admirer of the Sahaba too and counted among his pupils, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Mufti Muhammad Jameel (killed), Maulana Azizur Rehman, Maulana Azam Tariq (killed), Maulana Masud Azhar and Maulana Tariq Jameel.
Musharrafs next tenure
According to daily Pakistan senator SM Zafar stated that Musharraf could be elected by the current assemblies as this was allowed by Article 41 of the Constitution. He said the president was allowed to wear two caps by parliament itself. Senator Khalid Ranjha said that president Musharraf would end his tenure on 15 November 2006, therefore, he would have to be re-elected 30 or 60 days before the last day, on 15 September or 15 October 2006. Justice (Retd) Malik Qayyum said that the Supreme Court should take suo moto note of this issue and decide the matter.
Irshad Haqqanis verdict
Writing in Jang columnist Irshad Haqqani stated that 1) Musharraf could not stand for another presidential term while in uniform; 2) he could not be army chief and president under the 1973 Constitution; 3) after getting out of uniform Musharraf could not take part in elections for two years; 4) an assembly that has only two months to run cannot morally elect a president for another five years; 5) there was no precedent that one assembly elected two presidents; 6) that a presidential election would have to be an election as laid down in the Constitution, and not a vote of confidence. Official view expressed by federal minister Sher Afgan Niazi could not be accepted as full because he was an amateur legal expert.
What proof on 9/11?
According to Sunday Kirnain/Din Iranian President Ahmadinejad wrote to President Bush saying he had not yet seen proof about there being a genuine Al Qaeda attack on America on 11 September 2001. He also asked Bush to embrace Islam and reminded him that after Soviet leader Gorbachev refused to embrace Islam on the invitation of Imam Khomeini he lost power and the Soviet Union broke up. There were many insulting facts mentioned in the letter, like Bush sitting inside a toilet commode and jumping about like a monkey, picked up from the American press.
Resign from parliament!
Writing in Jang Irshad Haqqani stated that the opposition should resign en masse from parliament and the assemblies, to render the 2007 election without a legal and moral basis. This should be done because it was no use going to the Supreme Court for justice on past record. If all the opposition parties (ARD and MMA) resigned, only 140 members of the National Assembly would be left in the field. Thus only 42 seats would be left in the senate. After that the opposition should boycott the 2007 election. This would lead to a crisis that the government would not be able to face. But unfortunately MMA was not ready to go along as JUI(F) was neither willing to resign nor boycott the election. It was also not ready respond to the call of dharna by Qazi Hussain Ahmad. The dharna would be weak because it would be supported only by Imran Khans small and weak party.
Martyr Amir Cheema, one lakh kissers of hand
Columnist Javed Chaudhry said in Jang that one hundred thousand true believers went to street number 18 in Rawalpindi and between 3 May and 15 May and kissed the hands of Prof Nazir, the father of the martyr Amir Cheema who died in a German jail after punishing a blaspheming editor of Die Welt. The citizens of Rawalpindi first took a bath then did a wuzu after which they applied perfume to themselves. After that they went to street number 18 and kissed the hand of the old professor because he was the father of a martyr.
America still loves Musharraf
Columnist Hamid Mir wrote in Jang that a senior CIA officer Gary C Sherwin in his book First in Afghanistan had stated that Musharrafs action against Al Qaeda was praiseworthy and that he was doing his best in Waziristan too, and it was wrong on the part of critics to doubt him. He however said that Osama bin Laden and Al Zawahiri were in Pakistan under protection of those who hated Musharraf. It was obvious that the Americans still thought Musharraf indispensable. But they wanted Musharraf to tie up with Benazir Bhutto. On the other hand, Ms Bhutto was toeing the American line and was wrong in thinking that she would succeed in her campaign against Musharraf without opposing America.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2006
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Note I used KABC's headline. It was actually an anti-ILLEGAL imigration rally
An officer was injured and six people were arrested during an anti-illegal immigration march involving the Minuteman Project and other groups Saturday evening in Hollywood, police said. guess which side precipitated the violence....
One female officer suffered a minor injury, apparently to her ankle, after clashing with protesters, said Officer Sandra Escalante, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Police Department.
Counter-protesters stood along the sidewalks shouting as anti-immigration demonstrators, including members of the Minuteman civilian border patrol group, marched along Hollywood Boulevard. The Minutemen, many of them carrying American flags, had a permit to march. huh....obeying the law. What a concept.
Minuteman founder Jim Gilchrist was among the marchers. Angry counter protesters, some wearing bandannas to cover their faces, yelled at the Minutemen and called them racists. the tolerant left
They also tried to join the march, but since they did not have a permit, police stopped them, sometimes forcefully. I hope they cracked their f*cking heads with batons
Escalante said several people were arrested, though it wasn't immediately clear if they were part of the anti-immigration march or the counter-protest. guess?Police estimated the number of marchers at 200 shortly after 7 p.m. The march began at Hollywood Boulevard and Argyle Avenue, Escalante said.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/10/2006
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#1
LAPD.. Heads were cracked.. They have years of practice shutting bone heads down. No permit, wack.
Works like that.
#2
Counter-protesters stood along the sidewalks shouting as anti-immigration demonstrators,
Lie number 1 - these were anti-ILLEGAL ALIEN protesters. They do not have any problem with immigrats - only ILLEGAL ALIENS. Calling this an 'anti-immigration march' is a boldface LIE on the reporter's part.
yelled at the Minutemen and called them racists.
Lie number 2 - implying that being anti illegal alien is RACIST. It isn't. But the article deliberately leaves that little tidbit out.
immediately clear if they were part of the anti-immigration march or the counter-protest.
#4
The Minutemen, many of them carrying American flags, had a permit to march.
Angry counter protesters, some wearing bandannas to cover their faces
One of these things upsets reporters. The other doesn't. Any guesses?
(For my part, anyone covering their face at a demonstration should be arrested, as it's clear intent to commit violence. Hell, anyone covering their face outside of Halloween should be subjected to a bit of police scrutiny.)
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
07/10/2006 8:27
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Anyone protesting the march should have been picked up in LA, and put down in Mexico City.
Helicopter gunships and ground troops attacked armed tribesmens hide-outs in Balochistan, killing 23 fighters and wounding 15 others, an official said on Sunday. The security forces destroyed seven terrorist training camps in operations in the Sangsilla and Bamboore areas of Dera Bugti district that began late on Saturday and continued until Sunday, said provincial government spokesman Abdur Raziq Bugti. He said that the information of militant deaths and injuries was based on intercepted communications between the rebels. The security forces also seized a cache of long-range rockets during the raids, Bugti said. As part of the governments plan to wipe out terrorists, operations were conducted and we succeeded in killing and rounding up a large number of Bugti loyalists, he said.
Bugti added that 50 rebels had surrendered to the government. The loyalists of Nawab Akbar Khan are ditching him one by one. Earlier, his top commander Bangan Khan left him. Now, 50 more people have decided to give up armed struggle and support the government. We have no reports of what happened to the dead bodies. We got the information in communication intercepts from the insurgents. Dera Bugti District Coordination Officer Abdul Samad Lasi said the bodies of the killed insurgents were in the custody of the local administration. He said the injured were being shifted to hospital for further treatment. Once they are treated, legal action will be taken against them, he said.
A tribal fighter denied the government claim that rebel tribesmen suffered casualties. Wadera Alam Khan said 17 security forces personnel had been killed.
Posted by: Fred ||
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KABUL - Models strode down a catwalk in the Afghan capital Kabul for the first time in decades this weekend as two designers showed off their clothes behind the guarded walls of a luxury hotel.
An audience of expatriates and well-heeled Afghan watched the show in hotel garden, under a clear midsummer nights sky, to the strains of traditional Afghan music. All of the models showing the conservatively cut clothes that included designer burqas were expatriate women, to the disappointment of some in the audience.
The organisers said they did not want to court controversy in what is a deeply conservative Muslim country by having Afghan models. We invited a lot of Afghan women to attend the show but not to be models, said Italian designer Gabriella Ghidoni, who organised the show with an Afghan partner.
The models should have been Afghan, but we know that many families still dont allow their daughters to do things like this, said a member of the audience, Nooria Farhad. It will be much better and more effective if in future our Afghan models do fashion shows and show the world Afghan clothes. I hope one day well have Afghan models, she said.
Another member of the audience said the Saturday night show was a boost for the city, which has seen bloody anti-government and anti-foreign riots and several bomb blasts in recent weeks. This is really important for the country, its a great morale booster for the people, said bank chairman Haji Ali Akbar. It also shows that Afghanistan is going towards stability and the platform for foreign investment and businesses is opening day by day.
Ghidoni and her partner, Afghan designer Zolaykha Sherzad, started off training women in fashion and jewellery design. They then began selling the output from their Kabul shops. These days there was a market for fashion in the city, although it may not be obvious, she said. Theres not much in terms of the fashion we see in the West but there is fashion within a private environment, within the houses, she said. People like to be fashionable.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/10/2006
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#1
Congrats are in order, as Afgan women have formally entered the late 1950's-early 1960, at least fashionwise. Which Muslim babe gets to be Nancy Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Montgomery - Barbara Eden, or Ann Margaret-rock, etal - Dare Joan Collins, or Raquel Welch ala ONE MIYUHN YEARS BC in bikinis, follow???
U.S. Rep. John Murtha understands he has become a lightning rod for his controversial and uncharacteristic outspokenness against the war in Iraq. But Murtha, D-Johnstown, says he believes troops will begin being redeployed before the November election, a move that will allow him to refocus on jobs, health care and economic development closer to home in his bid for re-election. Itll still be an issue in the fall. It just wont be as much of an issue, Murtha said in an interview with The Tribune-Democrat. Youre going to see a redeployment of troops this year. I think youll see a substantial withdrawal of troops.
Political experts are divided about whether Murthas polarizing views on the war will affect his campaign against Republican challenger Diana Irey, a Washington County commissioner. I cannot deny that Murtha has done a wonderful job for our region, said state GOP Chairman Rob Gleason of Johnstown. Hes brought home the bacon. If thats how you want to judge a congressman or any elected official, he gets five stars. I think everything was pretty positive until the past few months, when he started attacking the president and the war and saying things that werent really positive as far as the troops were concerned.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
the issue is Murtha's sanity, patriotism, political opportunism, and ethical issues. He can try and lie his way out, but sunshine will destroy this virus
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/10/2006 0:08
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#2
I'll send your opponent money. It's going to cost you to hold that seat if you can.
#3
My disinformation nose is twitching wid MURTHA - its obvious that Motherly Communism-Totalitarianism-Govt'ism is the Failed Left's PC "reactionary" response to mere lowly, defective, Male Brute GOP-Conservative Rightist Fascism and Rightist Authoritarianism. SHORT OF DE FACTO TREASON, ITS USELESS FOR THE DEMOLEFT TO ARGUE ISOLATIONISM OR VIETNAM REDUX, ETC. BECUZ MAINSTREAM CONSERVATIVE AMERICA REALIZES EITHER THE RADICAL ISLAMISTS OR SECULAR COMMIES INTEND TO CONQUER ANDOR KILL US NO MATTER WHAT DUBYA OR AMERICA DOES. The Chicom's ambition to politely exterminate 200Milyuhn-plus Americans and control 1/2 or more of CONUS-NORAM does NOT distinguish between US Leftist, Rightist, Moder or Independent, US Dem vs GOP vs Other, MASON vs DIXON, White vs Non-White, ..................etc. Not even the intellectualist or humanist Liberal quips of ALan ALda's HAWKEYE character in MASH TV Show saved Hawkeye from doing what people wid guns in his face or back told him to do upon pain of death or being shot, and no matter how
"rational", reasonable, or compromising, i.e.
"caring", Hawkeye was. NO AMERICAN SHOULD BE SCARED TO FIGHT ANY TYPE OF WAR, INCLUDING BUT MOT LIMITED TO NUCLEAR WAR, AGAINST ENEMIES WHOM ARE GOING TO KILL AND DESTROY YOU ANYWAYS, AND NO MATTER HOW MANY CONCESSIONS ARE MADE. The "status quo" is no longer acceptable or tolerable to either Secular Socialist andor Radical Islamist, etal.
#4
My disinformation nose is twitching wid MURTHA - its obvious that Motherly Communism-Totalitarianism-Govt'ism is the Failed Left's PC "reactionary" response to mere lowly, defective, Male Brute GOP-Conservative Rightist Fascism and Rightist Authoritarianism. SHORT OF DE FACTO TREASON, ITS USELESS FOR THE DEMOLEFT TO ARGUE ISOLATIONISM OR VIETNAM REDUX, ETC. BECUZ MAINSTREAM CONSERVATIVE AMERICA REALIZES EITHER THE RADICAL ISLAMISTS OR SECULAR COMMIES INTEND TO CONQUER ANDOR KILL US NO MATTER WHAT DUBYA OR AMERICA DOES. The Chicom's ambition to politely exterminate 200Milyuhn-plus Americans and control 1/2 or more of CONUS-NORAM does NOT distinguish between US Leftist, Rightist, Moder or Independent, US Dem vs GOP vs Other, MASON vs DIXON, White vs Non-White, ..................etc. Not even the intellectualist or humanist Liberal quips of ALan ALda's HAWKEYE character in MASH TV Show saved Hawkeye from doing what people wid guns in his face or back told him to do upon pain of death or being shot, and no matter how
"rational", reasonable, or compromising, i.e.
"caring", Hawkeye was. NO AMERICAN SHOULD BE SCARED TO FIGHT ANY TYPE OF WAR, INCLUDING BUT MOT LIMITED TO NUCLEAR WAR, AGAINST ENEMIES WHOM ARE GOING TO KILL AND DESTROY YOU ANYWAYS, AND NO MATTER HOW MANY CONCESSIONS ARE MADE. The "status quo" is no longer acceptable or tolerable to either Secular Socialist andor Radical Islamist, etal.
#9
Wonder if the people of Johnstown think that Murtha will still be able to bring home the bacon after antagonizing the entire Republican party. This ass has been a porkmeister extraordinaire for many years but I do believe that his future earmarks will be few and far between.
#10
More importantly, Johnstown Democrats are prolly the white, moderate type(for the most part).Union coal miners,school teachers, old Roosevelt era war vets, you know the type. And he hasn't been acting like a man who represents the moderate Donk lately has he? In fact if he were to walk down the street in Johnstown there may be more than a few people who would have a few choice words for him. You gotta remember 60% of this country can prolly be persuaded to vote either way given the right candidate. He's gonna do it to himself, all we need to do is sit back and watch the show.
Masked Shiite gunmen rampaged through a tense neighbourhood of west Baghdad on Sunday, dragging Sunnis from their cars, picking them out on the street and killing at least 41 in a dramatic escalation of sectarian violence. Hours later, two car bombs exploded near a Shiite mosque in north Baghdad, killing 17 people and wounding 38 in what appeared to be a reprisal attack, police said.
Shiite gunmen blocked roads into Shiite neighbourhoods to guard against revenge attacks, residents said, as scattered clashes occurred elsewhere in the tense Iraqi capital. Sunni leaders expressed outrage over the killings, and President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, appealed for calm, warning that the nation stood in front of a dangerous precipice.
The trouble started about 10:00am when several carloads of gunmen drove into the Jihad area along the main road to Baghdad International Airport, police and witnesses said. The gunmen stopped cars, checked passengers' identification cards and shot dead those with Sunni names. Masked gunmen wearing black clothing roamed through the streets, abducting Sunnis whose bodies were found later scattered throughout the religiously mixed neighbourhood, an interior ministry official said. US and Iraqi forces sealed off the area, and residents said American troops using loudspeakers announced a two-day curfew. Black smoke from burning tyres wafted through the streets.
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Posted by: Fred ||
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#2
Just telling the Sunnis they are all future Iranians-, Islamists-, and Shias-in-transition/work-in-progress, whether the Sunnis like it or not. PC aymmetric "People's War/
Resistance" against America-West = Crusaders = also P/Deniable War for Iranian-centric, Shia-centric, etc. Regional then Global Iranian Empire.
#3
It was brutal, but Shiites killed over a thousand Sunnis in February alone, after a mosque was blown up. Forget the cries of "civil war." Neither side could effectively group for extended battles. A bright side is that Sunnis are no longer able to effectively hamper most oil production and transmission. They are being pushed out of both Kurdish and Shiite production areas, which hold most Iraq oil. The current best case scenario is that the benefits of re-invested oil wealth will dampen belligerence. As for the civilian casualties, the Coalition policy of alliances with ethnic and sectarian movements, relieved them from the strict nation-building role of attempting to prevent all bloodshed. That could not have been done, and even attempting it would have induced perma-war.
The more I look at the Iraq situation, the more it becomes obvious that Clinton blew it in the Balkans, with his obsession against "ethnic cleansing." A Serb colleague at the time of the Kosovo intervention, told me that the Muslims would destroy all the Medieval Orthodox monasteries and cathedrals in Kosovo, and push out Serbs. That is exactly what they did, and they did it with Clinton peacekeepers looking the other way.
#4
This violence actually seems 'restrained' - kind of like Hatfields & McCoys (on a larger scale) exchanging retaliations, unable to agree on who started it and thus unable to decide they're now 'even' and stop.
The other question is whether these are truly random executions just because of Sunni identity, or if they are summary executions 'for cause' (though with little concern for rigorous ID procedures.)
#5
Allan has interrupted the jihad against infidels to sort out some lingering social issues. Henceforth, all muzzies should be both sunni and shia. Once that social issue is solved, the killing of infidels can commence. Until then, popcorn and other treats will be made available.
#6
The al Jihad neighborhood is one of the worst in Baghdad in opposing the Colalition and the new Iraqi government. Much of it is dominated by the same folks that tried to turn Fallujah into a new Islamic state.
Today's WaPo reports that we found 11 bodies, not 40 plus. The original story came from AP and CNN. I'm trying to track the story at my blog, because I'm curious about CNN's accuracy..
#7
does anyone really think its a coincidence that this happens a few days after some Mahdi army bigwigs are arrested? This is Muqty, striking back the only way hes able. Time to keep the pressure on.
#11
Liberalhawk may have it right. We've certainly turned our attention to some of Tater's worst underlings, or rogue spawn (as many of OMS local leaders seem to be) lately. MOD and MNF-I publicly state the B'dad operation is being tweaked, and the recent talk of taking on militias continues. Was unsurprised and dismayed when I heard actual force numbers would be REDUCED during this operation (both US and Iraqi) - seemed typical for this warfare-free style of war.
On a related point, this sort of sickening and horrific violence of course suddenly becomes an issue throughout the Arab world, while years of unimaginable depredations (pre- and post-liberation) directed against Shi'a passed with barely a peep from the same quarter. Remember, "civil war" is only a possibility when Sunnis die.
#12
Tater's covered by his buds in the ruling Shia coalition and half the Ministers. He'll be around longer than the commenters here, unless the Sunnis take him out. The government certainly won't do it.
His underlings may get bruised, now and then, but it's just for show, so far.
The time has come for Maliki. Will he rise above his sectarian roots? Will he throw off the Iranian yoke and fight for Iraq? All Iraq?
The detention period of four Islamist MPs arrested after paying condolences to the family of Abu Mussab Zarqawi expired on Sunday with the movements leaders again calling on the government to release their members. The reputation of our colleagues has been tarnished enough with their detention and accusations of betraying the nation. The government should now reconsider its decision and release the MPs who should not be behind bars anyway, said Azzam Hneidi, head of the Islamic Action Front (IAF) bloc at the Parliament. There are 17 Islamist deputies in the 110-member House.
Hneidi said the government should not escalate the crisis further. I cannot find a logical explanation for the governments decision to continue the detention of our colleagues, Hneidi told The Jordan Times.
"Punishing them" isn't a valid reason?
The four IAF MPs were ordered to be detained for 15 days on June 11 after the prosecutor general charged them with fuelling national discord and inciting sectarianism. On Jun 26, the state prosecutor ordered the detention to be renewed for a further 15 days. The deputies have pleaded not guilty to the charges. If convicted they could be sentenced to between six months and three years in prison in addition to a fine, according to legal sources.
Posted by: Fred ||
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In July 2004, freshman Gov. Jennifer Granholm was in such demand for interviews at the Democratic National Convention in Boston, she even turned down star ABC News anchorman Peter Jennings. She was toasted as a bright new hope, chosen for a prime-time speech. Admirers were disappointed to learn she was born in Canada and therefore can never run for president. Two years later, Granholm's rising star has been yanked to Earth by a lagging Michigan economy. Polls show her virtually tied with Republican challenger Dick DeVos, whose unprecedented TV ad campaign so far has cost an estimated $7 million.
Meanwhile, Granholm holds her fire. Pundits say Granholm is in danger of becoming a one-term wonder.
If her celebrity has worn thin, her skills as a campaigner have not. The reelection of Michigan's first female governor will hinge on whether her charisma and power of persuasion can trump the public's deep anxiety over the state's economy. "I think we have very challenging circumstances in Michigan because of our automotive industry, and when you combine that with a very well-funded opponent, it makes a great opportunity to educate voters about our plan," Granholm said in Battle Creek last week, referring to her actions to lure new jobs to the state, upgrade education standards and put people to work repairing roads. "People in Michigan have to have an aggressive plan, and they know we didn't get here because they have a Democratic governor. We got here because of the automotive industry, because of unfair trade and old solutions that are not going to get us out."
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
People in Michigan have to have an aggressive plan, and they know we didn't get here because they have a Democratic governor. We got here because of the automotive industry, because of unfair trade and old solutions that are not going to get us out.
Translation: Yes, I was in charge the last few years, and I had a major role in setting state policy, but none of this economic failure is my fault. Vote for me! Vote for me!!
#2
She's into handouts and all the disgruntled blacks in Detroit know this so they will vote for her. She's Michigan's own canuck born mini-Hillary. My GOP buddies in the state cannot stand her.
Sources in the Palestinian Authority say that terrorists belonging to Al Magad Brigades have attempted to fire a rocket over the security barrier into Israel's pre-1967 borders from Samaria. According to PA sources, the terrorists attempted to fire the missile near Tulkarem, a city governed by the PA located on the outskirts of Samaria along Israel's densely populated coastal plain. The rocket blew up as it was being fired.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
"We want to be beaten down like Gaza. Kill us!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/10/2006 0:10
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The rocket blew up as it was being fired
Owwwwwwwww!
Posted by: Paleo Tard ||
07/10/2006 0:48
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sounds like the NKors are working that foreign exchange deal again......(SSDD: Same Sh1t, Different Detontation)
BAGHDAD - The trial of Saddam Hussein and seven others on charges against humanity is due to resume on Monday with defence counsel scheduled to make final arguments three weeks after gunmen killed a senior defence lawyer.
But court officials told Reuters defence lawyers might ask the presiding judge to adjourn the trial for a few days, saying the killing of Khamis Al Obaidi had disrupted their legal work. Gunmen last month killed Obaidi, Saddams deputy chief lawyer, after kidnapping him from his Baghdad home -- the third defence attorney to be killed since the tumultuous trial opened in October.
The prosecution has demanded the death penalty for Saddam and three of his former senior aides for their roles in the killings, torture and executions that followed an attempt on the Iraqi leaders life in Dujail. Once final statements are in, a five-judge panel is expected to adjourn to consider a verdict. Officials close to the court say a verdict on Dujail can come in as early as September.
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TEHERAN - Iran said on Sunday it had yet to pay $50 million it had pledged to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority and suggested the process for payment was still being discussed.
"We've a small problem with the bank, Khaled, it's going to take a while to clear this up."
"Hurry the hell up, dammit, I got people to pay and ammo to buy!"
The donation was announced in April to make up a shortfall left by an aid cut-off by the United States and the European Union and Israels freezing of the transfer tax and customs receipts to the Hamas-controlled Palestinian government. The process of that $50 million contribution is in the phase of decision-making now ... The payment that I talked about has not been paid yet, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told a news conference at a regional ministerial meeting. He gave no further details.
"We're thinking, we're thinking!"
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ISLAMABAD, June 9 (KUNA) -- As the cracks of disappointment start weakening the structure of historic peace guesthouse, built by the two angry and moody nuclear neighbors, Pakistan and India, [Pakistan] is likely to modify the map.
Editor's note: Gah! I hate mixed metaphors. (Unless it's me mixing them, lol.)
The third round of historic and cautious Composite Dialogue Process (CDP) though helped the two countries revive air, road, cultural, economic and trade ties, but let them down on finding a viable solution of the core Kashmir dispute. According to the [Paki] Foreign Office, the foreign Secretaries of the two countries will review the progress made in the third round of composite dialogue on July 20 in New Delhi. Official sources told KUNA that they will also deliberate upon Kashmir and Peace and Security related matters.
Islamabad has already conveyed its annoyance to New Delhi for not holding concrete talks on the Kashmir issue and not even responding to the President General Pervez Musharraf's proposals. To make the process more productive, said sources, Islamabad will seek to change the talks format with suggestions to hold regular meetings at the political level. Hindu-majority India and Muslim Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir and came close to another conflict over the Himalayan region in 2002. At the brink of third war, both countries while realizing weapon is not the only solution opted to resolve their bilateral matters through dialogue. The much applauded CDP began in 2004 when the leadership of two countries held meeting at the sideline of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.
#2
not even responding to the President General Pervez Musharraf's proposals
(1) Withdraw border troops from Poonch and Baramullah (which control the jihadi infiltration routes across the LOC)
(2) Demilitarize Jammu and Kashmir (so that the Pak army can just walk in).
(3) Be flexible (what is mine is mine, what is yours is negotiable - India should cede territory to Pakistan)
Perv is lucky that Manmohan Singh is a mild mannered and polite fellow.
There are politicians in India who could tell him exactly where he can put his "peace proposals".
Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006 6:50
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Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday dispatched two envoys to Syria for talks with Hamas leader Kahled Mashaal on ways of finding a solution to the case of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, senior PA officials here said.
Relations between the two have been strained ever since the Hamas leader accused Abbas of conspiring with the US and Israel to bring down the Hamas government. Israel holds Mashaal directly responsible for the abduction of Shalit. A PA official told The Jerusalem Post that Abbas and the PLO executive committee, a key decision-making body, decided over the weekend to negotiate with Mashaal after reaching the conclusion that Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip had little influence, if any, over the kidnappers. "It's clear that Mashaal and his men in Syria and Lebanon are calling the shots," he said. "They have a great impact on the armed wing of Hamas, Izaddin al-Kassam, whose members are holding the soldier somewhere in the southern Gaza Strip."
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#1
Looking for a solution?!?
I'll give you a tip, give the kid back, say you f*cked up and you are sorry. That will get them off your back. Then stop lobbing unguided rockets over the barrier, recognize their right to exist, try acting like human beings, quit lying.
That ought to just about do it. But I would sooner expect the sun to turn blue than for all that to happen.
(IsraelNN.com) During a Monday evening Channel 1 TV interview, MK (Labor) Danny Yatom stated that Hamas politburo leader Khaled Meshal is marked for death, and the long arm of Israel will eventually reach him as well.
A Canadian soldier and 10 militants were killed on Sunday in fierce fighting near an opium-rich Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan, the military said. The battle took place in Zharew district of the southern Kandahar province, which abuts the Panjwayi area. Canadian and Afghan troops have been battling militants in the area since early Saturday in support of Operation Mountain Thrust, a region-wide offensive targeting Taliban strongholds. Canadian military spokesman Maj Marc Theriault said Cpl Anthony Boneca was killed during a combined coalition-Afghan operation early on Sunday.
Several hours later, intense close quarters fighting broke out nearby, leaving at least five Taliban militants dead and two Canadian soldiers slightly wounded, said another coalition official, A coalition patrol found the bodies of 10 militants on Sunday killed in a coalition air strike in Panjwayi, the military said in a statement. Two Canadian troops were reported wounded in Panjwayi violence on Saturday.
Afghan soldiers also arrested four suspected Taliban members, including a local leader identified as Mullah Nazar, in southern Uruzgan province, the Afghan Defence Ministry said in a statement. The troops also confiscated a quantity of explosives and Iranian and Pakistani checks valued at $300,000.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2006
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If Daily Times wants free press credentials, they need to stop referring to terrorists as "militants."
Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Maulana Fazlur Rehman convinced militants operating in the North Waziristan to unilaterally announce a ceasefire last month, sources said. Mr Rehman played the role of mediator between the government and Taliban militants on the request of NWFP Governor Lt General (r) Ali Jan Orakzai, the sources said. The request was made at a meeting at Governors House in Peshawar a few days before the militants announced the ceasefire on June 25, the sources said.
During their meeting, Mr Orakzai told Mr Rehman that if the militants gave the assurance that they would not create any trouble in the area, the government would not pursue military action against them, the sources said. The governor also told Mr Rehman that he (the governor) had the power to make any decision which would lead to peace in the tribal areas, the sources said. Mr Orakzai said that he had been given this power after a meeting with the president following his assumption of the office of NWFP governor.
After the meeting, Mr Rehman asked Maulana Naik Zaman, an MNA from North Waziristan, to arrange a meeting with the leaders of the militants. The meeting was arranged and after six hours of talks, the militants gave Mr Rehman a charter of demands and promised a one-month ceasefire if the government accepted them. Mr Orakzai was made NWFP governor with a mandate to bring peace to the tribal areas through political means. The federal government has allocated a record amount in the budget for the development of the tribal areas, but it needs some semblance of law and order there to carry out its development agenda.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Somali Islamic fighters on Sunday declared "absolute" victory over the remaining warlords in the lawless capital Mogadishu after deadly clashes that claimed at least 21 lives, marking the end of the notorious warlords' rule in the Indian Ocean city. "We have absolutely won the fighting that started in Mogadishu this morning. We now control the whole city after we seized the last territory from warlord Qeydiid," said Sheikh Mukhtar Robow, the deputy secretary of defence for the Islamic courts.
Fighters allied to the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia ousted their rivals loyal to warlord Abdi Hassan Awale Qeydiid, who alongside warlord Hussein Aidid had refused to surrender and handover their weapons to the Islamists, who routed the other warlords from the capital on June 5. At least 21 people were killed, including civilians, in deadly artillery duels in southern Mogadishu, while dozens were wounded and taken to the capital's Medina and Banadir hospitals, doctors, witnessess and fighters said. Witnesses said warlords' fighters fled from their positions, which they had held for many years, as Islamic fighters on battlewagons pickup trucks mounted with machineguns established base, marking the end of warlords rule in the lawless capital.
Sporadic gunfire could be heard as the vanquished militiamen fled for safety led by Qeydiid himself, according to an AFP correspondent. Aidid, also deputy prime minister in the transitional administration, was in the seat of government in Baidoa, about 250 kilometres northwest of the capital. The two warlords spurned several calls to surrender and give up their weapons, dismissing the Islamists as stooges paid by foreign terrorists to impose Islamic theocracy in the nation of around 10 million people.
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Posted by: Fred ||
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They are warlords, as was the "prophet" who started their plunder cult.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/10/2006 8:48
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Hoo-wah!!!! Now that the US-backed warlords are gone, it makes it a lot easier to "declare absolute victory" over the Islamists that control the whole city. Expensive precision-guided missiles or even risking our troops is not even necessary now. Annihilate the entire lot.
MUSCAT - The government of Oman has allowed the formation of labour unions, which will have the power to represent and defend workers rights, an Omani newspaper reported on Sunday. A decree issued late Saturday by Sultan Qaboos bin Saeed stated that labourers will be able to form syndicates that aim to protect their interests and defend their rights, Al Shabibi daily said.
The decree also bans employers from firing or penalising labour representatives on the grounds of their union activities, it added. It also allowed in principle -- and for the first time -- the organisation of peaceful strikes, but said that a ministerial decision will be issued to set the rules for such action.
Labour in the sultanate previously had only representative committees, which enjoyed less powers than labour unions. Transforming labour representative committees to syndicates is a great achievement for the labour force, said Abdul Azim Al Bahrani, the head of the general labour representative committee.
The private sector employs some 150,000 Omani nationals in this Gulf state that also hosts some 600,000 fourth-class expatriates who come mostly from the Indian subcontinent.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/10/2006
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The State Security Court (SSC) prosecutor on Sunday asked the military tribunal to hand eight people the death sentence for their part in the Amman hotel bombings last November. Only one Iraqi woman, Sajida Rishawi, was arrested in connection with the attacks, while the remaining seven defendants including the late Abu Mussab Zarqawi are being tried in absentia on the same charges, which included plotting terrorist acts and possessing explosives with illicit intent. Zarqawis Al Qaeda in Iraq group claimed responsibility for the triple hotel bombings that killed 60 people last year. These defendants have become a scourge that has spread destruction, corruption and death in our country, the prosecutor said during his closing argument yesterday. The best way to defend Jordan is to get rid of them and hand them the punishment they deserve, execution, the prosecution added.
Hear! Hear! Bravo! [Clap! Clap! Clap!]
The defendants used explosive belts that contained a huge number of ball bearings to cause a high number of casualties, injuries and damages to the targeted properties, the prosecution said.
They deserve the same mercy and human consideration they extended to their victims.
Also during yesterdays 60-minute session, Rishawi retracted her previous confession, claiming that she was subjected to physical and mental torture to admit to being part of the plot to attack the hotels. She also denied any knowledge of the plan by her husband, Ali Hussein, and two other Iraqi men to execute suicide bombings of the three major hotels. Within days of her marriage to Hussein, Rishawi entered Jordan with her husband but did not know the reason for the visit, she told the court. She told the court that when she asked Hussein why, he told me we are here for few days and we will return to Iraq soon.
"Now, go ahead and put this girdle on, honey..."
"There's dynamite stiched into it!"
"... and we'll go down to the hotel and you can hop on top of a table and pull this here cord..."
"Hokay. And then what'll happen?"
"It's a surprise."
"Oh. I like surprises."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2006
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I think "6" said it best yesterday:
"arabs lie to themselves, to others, to their olive trees and to their pet rocks."
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - The candidates say they offer legitimate political differences. Their conservative critics say it's a campaign dirty trick. Jeff Ippel is a Republican, involved in a three-way primary race for a seat in the Kansas House. His wife, Pam, is unopposed in the August Democratic primary - for the same seat. Pam Ippel, whose platform emphasizes health care and funding for education, said she was the first to enter the race for an open seat from this Kansas City suburb. "The more Jeff thought about it, the more he thought he'd have a better chance," she said.
"Better ideas," said her husband, who is running on a platform of smaller government and fewer illegal immigrants.
Other Republicans accuse the Ippels of working as a team. "Personally, I think it's a fraud. It's a deliberate strategy of confusion," conservative Republican Jeff Colyer said. He says their real goal is to siphon away votes from his campaign to ensure the nomination of a GOP moderate, Sherrelyn Smith. "It's an absolute sham. They're trying to confuse voters and manipulate the process," agrees Republican state Rep. Eric Carter, who is giving up the seat to run for state insurance commissioner. The Ippels and Smith denied any collusion. "There's absolutely no truth to it," Smith said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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clever way to assure a family income. He spits the vote, pulling enough GOP votes from those not paying attention and she wins.
Of course, it could backfire, but in Kansas, it probably gives thema better set of odds than they would have had.
Has Coyler thought about having his wife run as a Democrat?
Beware of Muslims with sudden personality change. Or: beware of Muslims, period.
AMMAN, Jordan (UPI) -- Assem Hammoud is a 31-year-old, well-mannered Lebanese man educated in the West, multi-lingual and seems no different than other affluent, secular young Lebanese men who enjoy partying, girls and cars. Those who know him say he was the perfectly eligible bachelor: He grew up in an affluent home in Beirut, he is intelligent -- having obtained a PhD degree in economics from a university in Canada -- and his widowed mother is an artist.
But like a Jekyll and Hyde, Hammoud might have another side to his personality and life that makes him more of an eligible terror recruit. This refined-looking, clean-cut young man also goes by the name of Amir al-Andalousi, or 'prince of Andalusia,' a nom de guerre he was supposedly given by Osama bin Laden`s al-Qaida network when Hammoud was recruited, not in Lebanon, but in Canada.
'The prince' may have been awarded this codename because his family claims to have originally come from Andalusia in Spain some 800 years ago.
Hammoud was arrested by the Lebanese authorities on April 27 on suspicion of masterminding a plot for a massive terror attack targeting train tunnels under the Hudson River that carry thousands of commuters between New York and New Jersey every day.
Based on information from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Lebanese authorities monitored him for one month and tracked his internet use before making the arrest. But his capture was not revealed until this week after it was leaked in the American press.
Lebanese officials said Hammoud confessed to the plot and 'pledged allegiance' to Osama bin Laden, believed to be hiding in the mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan. He reportedly admitted he was planning to go to Pakistan for four months to train for the operation, which was allegedly set for the end of 2006. They said the authorities also found important documents, maps and bombing plans on his personal computer and CDs.
They need to recall what Aisha, the old mother of the last muslim king of Granada told her son Boabdil, when he looked back at his palace, surrendered to the forces of Ferdinand and Isabella, for the last time:
"Do not cry like a woman for that which you could not fight like a man"
Posted by: john ||
07/10/2006 6:31
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South Korea has distanced itself from a UN initiative to impose punitive sanctions on its northern neighbour, increasing pressure to find a diplomatic solution to the missile row. After North Korea test-fired seven missiles last week, Japan formally introduced a UN resolution, co-sponsored by the United States, Britain and France, to impose sanctions against Pyongyang's missile programme. But in the face of strong opposition from Security Council members China and Russia, the senior US envoy for North Korea said on Sunday he backed Beijing's proposal for talks.
For its part, South Korea questioned whether UN sanctions would help resolve the latest row or make the region any safer. "For the time being, we do not have clear grounds or reasoning that these sanctions will work for preventing any missile proliferation, or any factors that destabilise the regional stability," Song Min-soon, the presidential national security adviser, told Reuters.
This is good news. Seriously. We learn, better and better, who are friends are (Japan, Australia) and aren't (S Korea); who's willing to use a cats' paw to diddle with us (China, Russia), and so on.
Bring home all but a brigade of 2ID, move that brigade to Pusan, move the air to Okinawa, Darwin and Guam, and work like heck with the Japanese to perfect our ballistic missile defense system. South Korea just isn't worth it. Demonstrate that to the Chinese in a convincing way and they have no remaining reason to keep Kimmie around.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Agreed. SoKo has lived under the protective US cocoon for too long. A serious dose of bitch slap is in order.
Posted by: Captain America ||
07/10/2006 0:12
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Time to bring out troops home and any special 'trading partner' status with South Korea.
And tell the flat out that they are on their own.
Let them 'trade' with Kimmie. (Pssst. He cheats and steals trains....)
#3
People shouldn't be surprised by SKs position. The political establishment obviously will do anything to prevent confrontation, and they are being egged on (or at least given political cover) by the youths. The old folks have seen how they have progressed from being socioeconomically on par with the NKs, to where they are 50 years later. The youth movement need a serious schooling by their elders.
#4
HHHHHmmmm, the Norkies get to threaten America-Allies wid nuclear war, plus no concessions or compromise wid America ever, yet the burden is on America to prove that NK has enuff alleged nukes to alleged fight said alleged Nork-poclaimed nuclear war. NK = SSSSSSHHHHHHHH, CHINA > can make any provocation they want, ergo its America's, and only America's, fault for potens responding wid any MilPol force and sanction. In sum, America will be held at fault for any KOREAN WAR II by America-Allies mil responding in reaction to NK's unilateral provocation and unilateral nuclear war threat, i.e. America-Allies should know better than to trust Commies-Stalinists whom claim to be telling the truth. YEP, UNQUESTIONABLE ITS AMERICA'S FAULT COMMUNISTS HAVE TO UNILATERALLY, UNSOLICITEDLY, AND VOLUNTARILY LIE AND DECEIVE ON THEIR OWN ACCORD.
#6
One of the end results of this little dance will be a rearmed Japan with theatre missile defenses and possibly even nukes. Do China and South Korea truly appreciate that that's where we're heading?
Posted by: Mike ||
07/10/2006 7:06
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The other result would be Korea re-uniting. A united nuclear Korea would mean Japan would have to re-arm pronto. China would also have a much bigger problem. We should start negotiating with KIJ for unification as a result of our withdrawal. See how the SKors like being a bullseye for nukes instead of artillery.
#9
While North Korean missles can't hit Hawaii they certainly can hit US troops in South Korea. These troops are more targets then they are deterrents. Removing them, besides being a nice message to S. Korea and an economic penalty to them, would actually strengthen our hand in dealing with N. Korea. It might also sober up China and Russia who won't judge us as being serious until we start taking steps like that.
#10
I can't see reunification happening under current conditions. It would mean Kimmie giving up power and the South Koreans taking a major hit to their economy and lifestyle.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/10/2006 11:12
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I can't see reunification happening under current conditions. It would mean Kimmie giving up power and the South Koreans taking a major hit to their economy and lifestyle.
#12
Really, can someone please tell me what would be so bad about the North Koreans over running the South Koreans? Back in the 1950s, we were trying to stop communists, but why defend South Korea now? China will always keep them in check.
I say withdraw the 2nd ID and any other sizable units, and let the South Koreans deal with it.
Or, instead of reacting to NK all of the time, strike their launch pads, and then say to them, now "What are YOU going to do about it?" If Kimmie gets mad and wants to overrun SK, go for it. But we won't let him threaten us with anything.
Posted by: NOLA "Victim" ||
07/10/2006 11:17
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NOLA, and all others who would like to see the SKors get bitch slapped for their perfidy: I agree in that the SKors are total ingrates but as they are our no.5 trading partner I don't see it happening. We won't leave. It's pure economics and politics, as much as it chaps my arse that's the way it is.
Posted by: NOLA "Victim" ||
07/10/2006 13:32
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I gotta have my Hyundai and Emergency Lust Kit.
Posted by: Victim of Love Potion Number 4 ||
07/10/2006 13:36
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Guys, I'm here in SK and I promise you that SK would do damned near anything to prop up Kimmie. These folks here know very well that if he goes down they get stuck with the check for rebuilding one of the world's poorest countries. Here in Sorkland, by dint of one hell of a lot of hard work, they've dragged themselves up from zilch in 1953 to being the world's 11th largest economy. They're scared to death of falling back now that they've started to live the good life. Chinese competition already has them rattled and they know that taking on economic responsibility for Kimmie's Krazy Krowd after a collapse would be like jumping overboard holding the anchor. They're not doing it unless they are absolutely forced to. If pissing the US off is part of the cost of keeping Kimmie afloat, then they'll piss off the US. For the Sorks, it's the difference between the flu and pancreatic cancer and, make no mistake, they see it in exactly those type of life-and-death terms.
Posted by: mac ||
07/10/2006 14:01
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mac: I believe the precise term for this condition is "co-dependency."
Posted by: Mike ||
07/10/2006 14:14
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OK, so if China, North Korea and South Korea all have their interests aligned, what should they be called?
#22
I totally agree with Fred's comments. It is ashame, though, that older South Koreans who can remember how the USA saved their country from darkness (literally) and are very much appreciative, will have to suffer the consequences of their nitwit grandchildren. Most of the South Korean youth, save for perhaps those serving in their excellent military, have been the willing subjects of Marxist professors and teachers (just like here!) for nearly three decades. As a result, they see America as evil and the Toad Stool in the North as a charming fella who really likes platform shoes and big dance productions.
Good luck to you idiots and again, my heartfelt sympathies to the older, pro-American generation of South Koreans.
The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PERMA) said on Sunday that more than 100 seminaries were still operating "illegal" FM radio stations across the North West Frontier Province, stressing concern over the impact of these broadcasts on such a volatile part of the country. According to PERMA sources, the illegal radio stations were being run by madrassas, with those operated by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazlur Rehman)-led seminaries taking the lead. "At least 115 illegal FM radio stations are in operation all over the NWFP," sources revealed, while requesting anonymity.
They said that while most seminaries used FM radio broadcasts to impart Islamic teachings, many used them to spread sectarian hatred. This claim was substantiated by a Mingora cop who said the banned Tehrik-e-Nifaz Shariah Muhammadi was using FM stations to incite the public to rise up against the "un-Islamic" system.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Finding transmitters is not hard to do. If they want to do it that can. I am not convinced they want to.
#3
It's prolly PBS bitching about Karl Rove in the middle of the northwest frontier. Sad part is they prolly have a larger listening audience there than they do here.
The Lebanese man accused of masterminding a plot to destroy Hudson River train tunnels to bring death and flooding to lower Manhattan had visited the United States at least once - a trip to California six years ago, a federal law enforcement official said. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, said 31-year-old Assem Hammoud was in the U.S. on a legitimate visa for a brief stay, and that he was believed to have been visiting either family or friends. The visit occurred long before authorities say the tunnel plot began to unfold. Authorities are still trying to trace Hammoud's steps during that trip but say they have no record of him going to New York. They have not ruled out the possibility that Hammoud had come to the country using different names.
Meanwhile, a senior Lebanese official said authorities there found maps and bombing plans on the personal computer of the suspect. Acting Interior Minister Ahmed Fatfat described the information found on Hammoud's computer as "very important." "It contained maps and bombing plans that were being prepared," Fatfat said in a local television interview. Lebanese security officials told The Associated Press that they obtained "important information" from Hammoud's computer and CDs seized from his office at the Lebanese International University, where he taught economics. "This information helped the investigators make Hammoud confess to his role in plotting a terror act in America," one Lebanese official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Zimbabwe is cracking down on people using false emergency travel documents for cross-border shopping trips, a source of survival for many hit by a severe economic crisis. Regional officials estimate that up to two million Zimbabweans have sought economic refuge in neighbouring South Africa. And critics of Robert Mugabe, the president, say the poor situation at home has caused a quarter of the country's 12 million people to flee.
The Sunday Mail said police in Plumtree on Zimbabwe's border with Botswana last week arrested and fined 24 people caught with fake travel documents, and the authorities were investigating the cases, suspected to be "part of a broader syndicate". An official from the government passport office was quoted as saying: "Law enforcement agents in Zimbabwe and neighbouring countries have been advised to be on the lookout for those involved in the forgery." Police and officials from the passport department were not immediately available for comment on Sunday.
The Sunday Mail said the passport office had received information that a criminal syndicate based in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second-largest city, was selling counterfeit papers for trips to Botswana, South Africa, Zambia and Namibia. Hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans make a living through cross-border trade - buying and selling commodities in short supply in their own country. Critics blame Mugabe's government for an economic crisis that has left Zimbabwe battling frequent shortages of food, fuel and foreign currency, and with the world's highest inflation rate of nearly 1,200%. Earlier this year, Harare's official Herald newspaper reported that about 100 Zimbabweans cross illegally into South Africa each day, risking drowning in a crocodile-infested river to search for jobs.
Where is Mugabe going with this? What is his final goal for Zimbabwe for him to force 'his' people into homelessness, poverty, starvation and worse? I confess I don't understand.
It's all about power -- having it and keeping it, and not being separated from one's head at the end.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Future headline in the Zimbabwe Daily Bugle: Bob stymied in his search for root cause of massive deaths due to starvation. Concentrations of corpses mainly around well known (illegal) border crossings. Film at eleven.
We welcome Robert Mugabe and his lovely wife Grace to the Halliburton family. Bob has accepted the new position of Corporate Vice President for our new United States Immigration and Mexican Border defense government sector. As the former president of Zimbabwe he comes with a wealth of immigration operations experience and contacts. Again, Bob and Grace, welcome to the Halliburton team.
#5
How much can people take before they stampede the presidential palace and hang him from a tree. How much can the Nkors take? I boggles the mind that millions of people sit around and suffer quietly.
BALTIMORE - Thirteen anti-war activists were given citations Saturday for protesting outside the National Security Agency headquarters at Fort Meade. An NSA security officer cited the activists for "entering into military facility for purposes prohibited by law" and ordered them to leave the area, protest organizers and an NSA spokesman said. They were ordered to appear in U.S. District Court in Baltimore to be arraigned at a date to be announced.
Twenty-five people participated in the protest, but only 13 who refused to stop carrying signs were cited, said Max Obuszewski of the Pledge of Resistance - Baltimore, one of those cited. They carried a banner reading "NSA Crime Scene" and other signs protesting the agency's involvement in the war in Iraq.
The activists were stopped on a road near the NSA entrance that provides access to two museums that are open to the public, Obuszewski said. "We were on, I would argue, public property," he said. "Anybody could go there and get gasoline; anybody could go there and visit the two museums."
Don Weber, an NSA spokesman, said Fort Meade policy specifies that protesters submit a written request for a permit and the activists cited had not done so. The Pledge of Resistance - Baltimore sent a letter last month to Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander, the NSA director, seeking a meeting to discuss issues including "the illegal wiretapping and wholesale collection of Americans' phone records" and "the NSA's surveillance of our group." The organization has received no response, Obuszewski said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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"We were on, I would argue, public property," he said. "Anybody could go there and get gasoline; anybody could go there and visit the two museums."
Here's my test. Could I erect a monument to the 10 Commandments at the same spot? Or would I be told by a federal judge to remove it? I think we know the answer. There's a difference between public access and public display.
#2
Max Obuszewski? Whaddaya know? Somebody I knew made it to the big time - a mention on Rantburg.
See, I went to high school with him (my nom de burg is the name of our sports teams.) He graduated a year ahead of me. His brother was our class clown - who served six years in the Marine Corps as RIO (back seat driver) of an F-4.
Max has been a "peace" activist for many years - constantly protesting and stirring up trouble. Funny, he doesn't seem to want to go to North Korea and protest their warlike actions, or any other country in the world. He only picks on America. Of course, in America, unlike in a true dictatorship, he is free to express his opinions. It is only when he crosses a line and enters a military site that he gets arrested. At most he will have to pay a fine, or spend a few days in jail. In other countries he would have been beatn or shot on the spot, or simply disappeared.
#3
Ah, my old office with its nasty government-green walls, 3rd floor over in the A...
I still remember when they were building both of those shiny ops buildings and President Reagan came to dedicate 1A. We used to joke they were put there so the Soviets could set their SLBM warhead aiming points a bit more neatly.
A soldier in the Spanish army serving with the Nato-led force in Afghanistan has died of wounds received in an explosion. The incident took place near Farah in the west of the country, the Spanish defence ministry said on Saturday. "The soldier Jorge Arnaldo Hernandez Seminario died after the explosion which happened as his vehicle was passing," a ministry statement said. The dead man had Peruvian nationality.
Two Canadian soldiers meanwhile were injured, one seriously, on Saturday in clashes with the Taliban near the southern city of Kandahar, Canadian officials said. The two were hurt in separate incidents during battles some 30km west of Kandahar, in joint operations with the Afghan national army, a military spokeswoman said. One of the soldiers was taken by helicopter to a hospital at the Kandahar airfield. "He is in serious condition and is expected to be transferred to Landstuhl Regional Medical Centre in Germany for further treatment," spokeswoman Holly Apostoliuk said. The second Canadian soldier received a minor injury during battle.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Rest in peace, Senor Jorge Arnaldo Hernandez Seminario of Peru, with our thanks.
Car carrying Hamas men in Gaza explodes
A car carrying Hamas operatives near Gaza City was hit by an explosion on Sunday night, wounding two people, witnesses and Palestinian health officials said. The cause of the blast was not immediately known. The IDF had no immediate comment.
Kassam lands in Sderot; early warning system failsA Kassam rocket was fired from northern Gaza toward Sderot on Sunday night. The "Red Dawn" warning system did not activate, however. Security officials estimated that the rocket landed in Sderot's Ben Gurion neighborhood, and no one was wounded. Police were on their way to the scene.
IDF hits Islamic Jihad warehouse in northern Gaza
IDF aircraft struck a firearms storage facility in Zaitun in the northern Gaza Strip. According to Palestinian and media reports, the warehouse belonged to the Islamic Jihad.
IDF artillery firing shells into southern Gaza
IDF artillery fired shells into southern Gaza late Sunday night. According to reports, the fire was directed at terror operatives in the area.
APC catches fire in north; thought to be accident
An IDF armored personnel carrier caught fire in a base near Rosh Pina on Sunday. The cause of the fire was thought to be an accident. Fire fighting teams were trying to extinguish the flames.
Two Kassam rockets launched, land in Gaza Strip
Two Kassam rockets were launched at Israel on Sunday, although they failed to reach their target and fell within the Gaza Strip. There were no reports of people wounded by the failed attack, Army Radio reported.
IAF strike kills Hamas man, wounds 7 bystanders
An IAF aircraft fired a missile Sunday toward a car carrying members of a Hamas rocket squad in Gaza. The IDF confirmed the death of one terrorist. Seven bystanders were wounded in the attack, according to a Palestinian Health Ministry spokesman.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Fred, these roundups that you've been posting recently are great. Thanks!
Afghan police officers have raided mosques across the volatile southern city of Kandahar and arrested more than 100 people sleeping in compounds, according to Afghan officials. The arrests appeared to be the first large-scale raids of mosques carried out by the country's U.S.-backed government and immediately set off a backlash from Afghan religious leaders. Two clerics in Kandahar condemned the raids, saying they resulted in the arrest of innocent people following a longstanding Afghan tradition of travelers being allowed to spend the night in mosques. The men requested anonymity, fearing reprisal from the government.
Police officials said they had received intelligence that unidentified men were meeting in mosques in Kandahar, which experienced a sharp increase in suicide bombings this spring. "Some strange people stay the night at mosques, having meetings," said the Kandahar police chief, Said Aziz Ahmad Wardak.
Crowds gathered Friday and Saturday outside police headquarters in Kandahar, he said, but they remained peaceful while waiting for the prisoners to be released. Local religious leaders also met with police officials after the raids. Wardak denied it was Afghan tradition to allow travelers from other regions to stay in mosques, and he called on local clerics to halt the practice. "This is not part of tradition in Kandahar," he said. "A mosque is not a restaurant."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2006
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#1
"A mosque is not a restaurant."
Restaurant, no.
Ammo dump, yes.
Sniper's nest, yes.
HQ/CnC center, yes.
Human shield rally point, yes.
Recruitment center, yes.
#3
There were reports last month of mosque-incitement of jihad terror. Taliban mullahs should be treated as war criminals.
Muslims: your preachers are nothing but a bunch of society-destroying, parasites, who are incapable of doing productive work. Think of the Taliban revival as a human-termite infestation, and deal with those bugs.
#4
Now all we need is a turbaned version of the village people ...
"Young taliban, there's no need to feel down.
I said, young taliban, pick your gun off the ground.
I said, young taliban, 'cause you're in a new town
There's no need to be unhappy.
Young taliban, there's a place you can go.
I said, young taliban, when you're short on your ammo.
You can stay there, and I'm sure you will find
Many ways to have a good time.
It's fun to stay at the y-m-c-a.
It's fun to stay at the y-m-c-a.
They have everything for you men to enjoy,
You can hang out with all the boys ..."
Posted by: Steve ||
07/10/2006 10:00
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#6
Afghan police officers have raided mosques across the volatile southern city of Kandahar
How about proclaiming that any mosque found containing explosives, Taliban propagnada or suspects (including pro-jihad clerics) in voltaile Kandahar will be made volatile?
Leaders of the divided island of Cyprus have agreed to a framework for resuming peace talks, a key element in Turkey's bid to join the European Union. Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders on Saturday agreed to a timetable for negotiations and a set of principles to govern a reunified Cyprus.
Posted by: Fred ||
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CAIRO - Egyptian security forces have detained 30 leading members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the latest arrests in a crackdown on the countrys strongest opposition movement, the groups deputy leader said on Sunday. Mohammed Habib told Reuters 27 Brotherhood members were arrested in the town of Ras Al Bir on Egypts north coast during a meeting on Saturday to discuss education reform. Three others were taken from their homes in the same town, he said.
The Interior Ministry said the 27 had been arrested while meeting to discuss the Brotherhoods activism among students and teachers. They had also been discussing plans for contesting union elections, it said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) - amending anti-money laundering regulations - has directed all the banks and financial institutions to report promptly in case "the funds are the proceeds of a criminal activity or terrorist financing." The central bank in a circular has stated that the amendments had been made to ensure compliance with Financial Action Task Force recommendations on money laundering.
"Attention all banks! BOLO for money deposited by or for Zionists masked men! That is all!"
If the Bank/DFI suspects, or has reasonable grounds to suspect, that funds are the proceeds of a criminal activity or terrorist financing, it should report promptly its suspicions through Compliance Officer of the bank/DFI to Banking Policy Department of the SBP, said the circular. It said that this move was aimed at safeguarding the interest of depositors from risks arising out of money laundering and to reinforce the measures taken by the banks and DFIs for proper management of their institutions.
#2
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) - amending anti-money laundering regulations - has directed all the banks and financial institutions to report promptly in case "the funds are the proceeds of a criminal activity or terrorist financing."
Any bets that the definitions of "criminal" and "terrorist" don't include jihad?
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
07/10/2006 8:51
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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 Chinese leader visiting North Korea days after its missile tests defied international opinion said on Monday that Beijing stood by its Communist neighbor, adding to uncertainty about China's position in the standoff. Vice Premier 
The representative of Military Council of State Defense Council Majlisul Shura of CRI Abu Umar has reported to Kavkaz Center news agency that the vice-president of CRI, the Military Amir of Mujahideen of Caucasus, 
Later on Russian side began to report all over again about 5 then 8, and then 12 ostensibly killed Mujahideen. Thus invaders have explained that as a result of huge explosion all other bodies "have been reduced to fragments and have literally disappeared". 
MOSCOW, July 10 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's security chief said Monday that Shamil Basayev, Russia's most wanted terrorist for a string of attacks that claimed hundreds of lives, had been killed in southern Russian. Nikolai Patrushev, head of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), said 41-year-old Basayev, who claimed responsibility for the 2004 Beslan school siege and the 2002 Moscow theater attack, had been killed during the night in the North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia. "Basayev and a number of militants were eliminated in Ingushetia last night," Patrushev told President Vladimir Putin. 
An Iowa judge has denied unemployment benefits to a man who claimed discrimination after being fired from an ethanol plant for drinking "automobile fuel" produced by the company.
(Interfax) - Another five militants were killed along with Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev in a sweep operation in Ingushetia, Ingush Deputy Prime Minister for Security Bashir Aushev told Interfax. "A total of six militants were eliminated. Basayev was among them," he said. The militants were reportedly collecting weapons in Ingushetia, Aushev said.
(Interfax) - The body of 
The most wanted Chechen rebel warlord, Shamil Basayev, has been killed, Russian media report. 
A passenger plane slammed into a wheat field and burst into flames minutes after takeoff Monday in eastern Pakistan. All 45 people on board were killed, officials said. The Fokker F-27 twin-engine aircraft went down on the outskirts of the city of Multan minutes after taking off for Lahore, spiraling in the air before it hit the ground and bursting into flames, witnesses said. "All 41 passengers and four crew members on board the plane have died," said Iftikhar Babar, the district coordination officer for Multan, which lies about 400 miles southwest of the capital, Islamabad.
AMMAN The Ministry of Social Development (MoSD) will in the coming days appoint an administrative body to run the 
When the sudden appearance of an endangered flower halted a controversial housing project in the heart of California's wine country, the developer, Scott Schellinger, suspected he was the victim of a plant. Now, after calling in experts from the state's fish and game commission, who have backed his findings, he is claiming that the "discovery" of rare and protected Sebastopol meadowfoam on the eight-hectare (20-acre) site near San Francisco was the work of opponents who transplanted the flowers from elsewhere.
HARRISBURG - He scooped water ice into cups for dozens of people on a sweltering hot day, autographed footballs for little kids and adults alike, and jumped up on a stage before several thousand people and sang - solo and a cappella - just to win them over. That's how former Pittsburgh Steeler 
David Cameron called today for greater understanding of hoodie-wearing teenagers in his latest move to reposition the Conservative Party. The Tory leader said young people needed "a lot more love" to avoid being drawn into offending in a new approach derided by Labour as "hug a hoodie". Mr Cameron denied trying to "wind up" Tory traditionalists with his apparent break with John Major's injunction to "condemn a little more and understand a little less". 
Britain has written to the United Nations restating its sovereignty over the Falklands, as Argentina escalates attempts to gain international support for its claim over the islands. The Foreign Office has confirmed that ministers contacted the UN after counterparts in Buenos Aires managed to reopen the sovereignty issue. 
A new system to alert the British public over threats from al Qaida and other terror groups is to be introduced in Britain, it was reported here Sunday. Although the Home Office will not reveal details of how it will operate, it is understood that the new system will be simpler than the one it will replace, the Sunday Telegraph and the Sunday Times newspapers said. Home Secretary John Reid is set to unveil the changes as part of a package of announcements early next week. Warnings are to be published on the websites of the Home Office and the domestic Intelligence service, MI5. The papers added that they will be divided into five separate levels, although not colour-coded as they are in the US.
Who abused Pakistan!
Helicopter gunships and ground troops attacked armed tribesmens hide-outs in Balochistan, killing 23 fighters and wounding 15 others, an official said on Sunday. The security forces destroyed seven terrorist training camps in operations in the Sangsilla and Bamboore areas of Dera Bugti district that began late on Saturday and continued until Sunday, said provincial government spokesman Abdur Raziq Bugti. He said that the information of militant deaths and injuries was based on intercepted communications between the rebels. The security forces also seized a cache of long-range rockets during the raids, Bugti said. As part of the governments plan to wipe out terrorists, operations were conducted and we succeeded in killing and rounding up a large number of Bugti loyalists, he said. 
KABUL - Models strode down a catwalk in the Afghan capital Kabul for the first time in decades this weekend as two designers showed off their clothes behind the guarded walls of a luxury hotel.
U.S. Rep. 
Masked Shiite gunmen rampaged through a tense neighbourhood of west Baghdad on Sunday, dragging Sunnis from their cars, picking them out on the street and killing at least 41 in a dramatic escalation of sectarian violence. Hours later, two car bombs exploded near a Shiite mosque in north Baghdad, killing 17 people and wounding 38 in what appeared to be a reprisal attack, police said.
The detention period of four Islamist MPs arrested after paying condolences to the family of 
In July 2004, freshman Gov. 
Sources in the Palestinian Authority say that terrorists belonging to Al Magad Brigades have attempted to fire a rocket over the security barrier into Israel's pre-1967 borders from Samaria. According to PA sources, the terrorists attempted to fire the missile near Tulkarem, a city governed by the PA located on the outskirts of Samaria along Israel's densely populated coastal plain. The rocket blew up as it was being fired.
BAGHDAD - The trial of Saddam Hussein and seven others on charges against humanity is due to resume on Monday with defence counsel scheduled to make final arguments three weeks after gunmen killed a senior defence lawyer.
TEHERAN - Iran said on Sunday it had yet to pay $50 million it had pledged to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority and suggested the process for payment was still being discussed.
ISLAMABAD, June 9 (KUNA) -- As the cracks of disappointment start weakening the structure of historic peace guesthouse, built by the two angry and moody nuclear neighbors, Pakistan and India, [Pakistan] is likely to modify the map.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday dispatched two envoys to Syria for talks with Hamas leader 
Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly 
Somali Islamic fighters on Sunday declared "absolute" victory over the remaining warlords in the lawless capital Mogadishu after deadly clashes that claimed at least 21 lives, marking the end of the notorious warlords' rule in the Indian Ocean city. "We have absolutely won the fighting that started in Mogadishu this morning. We now control the whole city after we seized the last territory from warlord Qeydiid," said 
The State Security Court (SSC) prosecutor on Sunday asked the military tribunal to hand eight people the death sentence for their part in the Amman hotel bombings last November. Only one Iraqi woman, 
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - The candidates say they offer legitimate political differences. Their conservative critics say it's a campaign dirty trick. Jeff Ippel is a Republican, involved in a three-way primary race for a seat in the Kansas House. His wife, Pam, is unopposed in the August Democratic primary - for the same seat. Pam Ippel, whose platform emphasizes health care and funding for education, said she was the first to enter the race for an open seat from this Kansas City suburb. "The more Jeff thought about it, the more he thought he'd have a better chance," she said.
South Korea has distanced itself from a UN initiative to impose punitive sanctions on its northern neighbour, increasing pressure to find a diplomatic solution to the missile row. After North Korea test-fired seven missiles last week, Japan formally introduced a UN resolution, co-sponsored by the United States, Britain and France, to impose sanctions against Pyongyang's missile programme. But in the face of strong opposition from Security Council members China and Russia, the senior US envoy for North Korea said on Sunday he backed Beijing's proposal for talks.
The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PERMA) said on Sunday that more than 100 seminaries were still operating "illegal" FM radio stations across the North West Frontier Province, stressing concern over the impact of these broadcasts on such a volatile part of the country. According to PERMA sources, the illegal radio stations were being run by madrassas, with those operated by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazlur Rehman)-led seminaries taking the lead. "At least 115 illegal FM radio stations are in operation all over the NWFP," sources revealed, while requesting anonymity. 
Zimbabwe is cracking down on people using false emergency travel documents for cross-border shopping trips, a source of survival for many hit by a severe economic crisis. Regional officials estimate that up to two million Zimbabweans have sought economic refuge in neighbouring South Africa. And critics of Robert Mugabe, the president, say the poor situation at home has caused a quarter of the country's 12 million people to flee.
BALTIMORE - Thirteen anti-war activists were given citations Saturday for protesting outside the National Security Agency headquarters at Fort Meade. An NSA security officer cited the activists for "entering into military facility for purposes prohibited by law" and ordered them to leave the area, protest organizers and an NSA spokesman said. They were ordered to appear in U.S. District Court in Baltimore to be arraigned at a date to be announced.
A soldier in the Spanish army serving with the Nato-led force in Afghanistan has died of wounds received in an explosion. The incident took place near Farah in the west of the country, the Spanish defence ministry said on Saturday. "The soldier Jorge Arnaldo Hernandez Seminario died after the explosion which happened as his vehicle was passing," a ministry statement said. The dead man had Peruvian nationality.
Afghan police officers have raided mosques across the volatile southern city of Kandahar and arrested more than 100 people sleeping in compounds, according to Afghan officials. The arrests appeared to be the first large-scale raids of mosques carried out by the country's U.S.-backed government and immediately set off a backlash from Afghan religious leaders. Two clerics in Kandahar condemned the raids, saying they resulted in the arrest of innocent people following a longstanding Afghan tradition of travelers being allowed to spend the night in mosques. The men requested anonymity, fearing reprisal from the government.
CAIRO - Egyptian security forces have detained 30 leading members of the Muslim Brotherhood, the latest arrests in a crackdown on the countrys strongest opposition movement, the groups deputy leader said on Sunday. Mohammed Habib told Reuters 27 Brotherhood members were arrested in the town of Ras Al Bir on Egypts north coast during a meeting on Saturday to discuss education reform. Three others were taken from their homes in the same town, he said.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) - amending anti-money laundering regulations - has directed all the banks and financial institutions to report promptly in case "the funds are the proceeds of a criminal activity or terrorist financing." The central bank in a circular has stated that the amendments had been made to ensure compliance with Financial Action Task Force recommendations on money laundering. 
