MANAMA Five new faces, three going out, three deputy prime ministers and the two women ministers from the previous cabinet retaining their respective posts is the composition of Bahrains new 24-member cabinet, appointed by His Corpulenceness Majesty the King, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/12/2006
23:26 ||
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LONDON - British Prime Minister Tony Blair is considering proposals that would see the creation of a new government department charged with fighting terrorism, The Times reported on Wednesday. According to the daily, Home Secretary (interior minister) John Reid submitted the option of creating a new department as part of a review of Britains counter-terror strategy. MI7?
The review was sent to the prime minister in the past few days, and Blair will apparently study it over Christmas as the government formulates new anti-terror legislation.
Reids review ruled out a merger of Britains domestic intelligence service, MI5, with its foreign intelligence service, MI6, though he has an open mind on the creation of a new department to combat terror. Another option included in the review, The Times said, was much greater co-ordination between existing departments, the intelligence services, and the police when fighting terror.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/12/2006
23:24 ||
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#2
Yup. Somebody's condition has definitely stabilized.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
12/12/2006 22:25
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Be glad like hades that he's gone.
Turki has been the subject of both high praise and controversy. In the 1980s, while he was intelligence chief, he reportedly met al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden several times during the U.S. and Saudi-backed mujaheedin war against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. He subsequently denounced bin Laden.
#1
Telopea St., Punchbowl is the center of Lebanese Muslim gang activity in Sydney- they are called the Telopea St. gang. It is more or less a no go zone for Police, and gang members own it all.
If the NSW Government is going after the Telopea St mob ( and that decision would be taken in the Premier's office, it being in his Electorate and anyway having serious political implications) then that is an upturn in anti- Muslim criminal activity.
If Ms. Hage-Ali lives in Telopea St, or is tight with the Telopea St gang, she bears close watching, and not just for her drug use.
this has been a comic tragedy with an incompetent DA using his powers to incite racial biases for re-election votes IMHO. Durham-in-wonderland has been all over it, in lieu of actual investigation by the local media, and cowardly behavior by the Duke Admin and racial academianuts. Actual document here
It's a mystery why no federal involvement has occurred thus far in the Duke case, as Mike Nifong engages in a blatant, and highly publicized, abuse of power.
North Carolina congressman Walter Jones today demanded a Justice Department investigation of Nifong's misconduct, focusing on:
1) the district attorney's ordering the Durham Police to violate their own procedures and confine the April 4 lineup to suspects;
2) the district attorney's multiple procedurally improper and frequently misleading public statements.
"After all," concludes Jones, "if the American people cannot trust those who they've empowered to pursue justice fairly, then hope for this democracy is lost."
I hope the Justice Department treats Jones' request seriously, and launches the necessary inquiry. As both prosecutor and de facto police chief, Nifong has absolute control over Durham police officers or assistant district attorneys who might be inclined to report his misconduct. Only federal action can rectify this situation.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/12/2006
20:32 ||
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Well, the Donks wanted them to go after the evil employers, so do I...
Federal agents raided six Swift & Co. processing plants in six states on Tuesday in search of illegal immigrants who stole the identities of lawful U.S. residents and used their Social Security numbers to get jobs at the beef and pork company.
Agents from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency executed search warrants at Swift's processing facilities in Greeley, Colo.; Grand Island, Neb.; Cactus, Texas; Hyrum, Utah; Marshalltown, Iowa; and Worthington, Minn.
ICE officials didn't give the total number of people arrested but said workers were being apprehended on administrative immigration violations and in some cases, existing criminal arrest warrants. The warrants allow federal agents to arrest anyone at the plant who is in the United States illegally.
ICE said criminal charges of aggravated identity theft and other violations were possible. No charges have been filed against the company.
In Greeley, cars lined the street leading to the plant as family members stood outside. One person held a sign that said, "Presents! No tears at Christmas!"
A company statement obtained by FOXNews.com said all the facilities raided except the one in Hyrum are unionized. No civil or criminal charges have yet been filed against Swift or any current employees.
The company said every employee hired since 1997 has completed the proper forms and received proper work authorization from the government.
"Swift has never condoned the employment of unauthorized workers, nor have we ever knowingly hired such individuals," said Swift & Company CEO Sam Rovit. "Swift has played by the rules and relied in good faith on a program explicitly held out by the president of the United States as an effective tool to help employers comply with applicable immigration laws."
A federal investigation that began in February of this year uncovered large numbers of illegal immigrants who may have used the Social Security numbers of lawful U.S. citizens or residents to get jobs at Swift.
Hundreds of potential victims have been identified by immigration officials and the Federal Trade Commission.
ICE, the Department of Homeland Security, FTC and other agencies will hold a press conference on the raids in Washington Wednesday.
"We have been investigating a large identity theft scheme that has victimized many U.S. citizens and lawful residents," ICE spokeswoman Barbara Gonzalez said at the plant in Greeley.
ICE chief Julie L. Myers told reporters in Washington that immigration officials were "looking very aggressively" at who may have sold the identities to the workers in several cases. She said ICE had uncovered several different rings that may have provided illegal documents.
Some immigrants targeted had genuine U.S. birth certificates and others had other kinds of false identification, Myers said.
"The significance is that we're serious about work site enforcement and that those who steal identities of U.S. citizens will not escape enforcement," Myers said
Swift said operations at its facilities have been temporarily suspended and expects that ICE will be finished interviewing employees by the end of the day. Once the company gets back up and running, the statement said, "production levels will depend on the number of employees, if any, detained for further interviewing or otherwise unable to return to work."
Swift said it's not sure how the raids will affect its operations but said "any loss of a significant number of employees" at any one facility could slow things down until those workers are replaced.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., who will chair the House Committee on Homeland Security when Democrats take control of Congress in January, issued a statement applauding ICE's actions, which he said "sends a clear message to businesses and employees across the nation that worksite enforcement and hiring only authorized workers is critical to our nation's safety and security.
"It is the duty of employers to ensure that they are following the letter of the law and only employing people who have a legal right to be here. Those who don't will be penalized," Thompson added.
Swift said it believes Tuesday's raids "violate the agreements associated with the company's participation over the past ten years in the federal government's Basic Pilot worker authorization program and raise serious questions as to the government's possible violation of individual workers' civil rights."
Basic Pilot is a voluntary federal program where businesses can check the legal work status of new employees against government databases. In his fiscal 2007 budget request to Congress early this year, President Bush requested $135 million to expand the current program.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/12/2006
19:49 ||
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#1
They are only 'immigrants' if they are legally here.
I also suspect this is free transportation home for Christmas and they will be back after the new year.
#2
Swift isn't going to hire back the ones who were deported, surely? I think the Swift management fail, as yet, to realize that the purpose of getting such paperwork filed is to create a papertrail that the investigators can use to prosecute cases of presenting false information on the part of the illegals -- not to get the managers. For factory managers, who are after all paid for productivity above all, being forced to significantly cut production is a very attention-getting thing; they'll be extremely careful about the bona fides of future employees with poor English language skills, I'm certain.
HT to Crackerbarrel philosopher
An Arizona appeals court has upheld a jury's $600,000 judgment in favor of a rancher in a defamation lawsuit, rejecting an environmental group's argument that documents it posted on the Internet were shielded by the First Amendment. refuge of scoundrels, liars, and journalism majors, but... I repeat myself..
The Court of Appeals upheld a Pima County Superior Court jury's award of compensatory and punitive damages to Jim Chilton in his lawsuit against the Center for Biological Diversity, a nonprofit with offices in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington, D.C. these A-holes are behind almost every frustrating lawsuit here in SoCal, and make demands for atty fees even when they lose....of course they don't always get them..heh heh
A lawyer for the rancher said the appellate court had stood up for a person wrongly defamed, while an attorney for the center said the ruling trampled citizens' right to petition for redress of grievances.
Chilton contended he and his business, Chilton Ranch and Cattle Co., were defamed by false postings the center made on its Web site. The posting referred to alleged overgrazing on Chilton's grazing allotment ,issued by the U.S. Forest Service for 21,500 acres in the Arivaca area northwest of Nogales, Ariz.
The center unsuccessfully opposed the 10-year renewal granted for Chilton's grazing permit, and the group subsequently posted links to the center's appeal and related photographs on its Web site.
The environmental group argued that the documents were shielded by state and federal constitutional protections for the right to petition the government over grievances because the appeal and photographs submitted with it were public records related to official proceedings.
However, a three-judge Court of Appeals panel in Tucson said the center did not raise the issue of constitutional protections until too late in the case. bad lawyering
The center asked for extra leeway on that point, but the court refused, saying that the jury found evidence of "actual malice" that indicated that the center knew that some of the material was false. lies and malicious accusations without merit cost the rancher, why shouldn't it cost you?
The court also declined to rule on whether past Arizona court rulings provide a blanket protection against defamation claims arising from official proceedings. Chilton's suit challenged the posting of the documents on the Internet, not their submission in the Forest Service appeal proceeding in which the public comment period was already completed by the time the postings were made, the court said.
The trial jury found the center made false statements in photo captions, including one that implied that grazing by Chilton's cattle was responsible for damage actually caused by hundreds of people, including the photographer, who attended a May Day festival. heh...May Day...nuff said
Kraig Marton, a lawyer for Chilton, said he was pleased by the ruling. "We hope that this sends a message to anyone who would wrongly defame any good person," he said.
Susan Seager, a lawyer for the center, said it would ask the Arizona Supreme Court to accept an appeal.
At stake is important legal protection for citizens who want to republish documents they've already filed in appeals and petitions with the government, Seager said. "even if they're blatant lies"
"This court held that they lost that privilege," Seager said. "It's the Internet age colliding with the very old right to petition." IMHO - Ms Seager is looking for deep pockets to recoup her time, expenses....a couple more cases like this and she'll be reduced to ambulance chasing
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/12/2006
19:36 ||
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#1
It's time we and the "state" start making these asholes pay the for bullshit they try and get away with in courtrooms and in hearings.
We have too many lawyers in a chase for money and persuing issues best settled by legislatures not in courts of law. Time for the legal system to start thinning the herd.
The first thing one must understand about this whole hullabaloo with the Muslim imams taken off a Phoenix-bound plane in Minneapolis is that it most definitely was not about the right to prayer or freedom of worship. And much as the imams and their handlers may try, it is certainly not about victimization. But because the case of the six imams (five from the Valley) and US Airways Flight 300 has taken on a life of its own, it would be helpful to look and see what lessons can be gleaned from this story.
All of us as Americans have endured the incremental inconveniences of air travel since 9/11. From 3-ounce fluid limits to random searches, those of us with the first name Mohammed can also attest to humbling profiling. Most of us are quite willing to endure all this because we know the inherent dangers of flying in the world today.
There is little argument that American airport concourses have become clinics of anxiety-laden travelers who have become vigilant in spotting anything out of the ordinary. This vigilance and anxiety is even more acutely felt by U.S. Transportation Security Administration agents and airline crews. They will never be rewarded for a safe flight. But they will be globally vilified for one lax call that leads to tragedy.
Into this highly charged environment comes this incident of the imams returning from their conference. To ignore the larger context is to virtually live in an airtight bubble.
The preponderance of evidence points to some troubling coincidences during flight preparation, regardless of where we stand on this issue. The distribution of their seats, while in fact random, raised concern. Changing seats after boarding, rather than before, raised concern. Conversations in Arabic after boarding raised concern. Seatbelt extenders raised concern. However, no passengers refused to board after seeing and hearing the imams pray aloud at the gate. Taken individually, each of the reported actions could be something any of us would do. However, in totality, although unfortunate in retrospect, it remains hard to fault a cautious crew who must act with little information to ensure a safe flight.
But let us look at the response of the imams since the incident.
They rushed toward the media never looking back. They have taken their story of victimization to every soft media they could find. They then stoked the same tired Muslim flames of victimization through their own political pulpits in mosques around the Valley.
Organizations like CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) and the Muslim American Society also immediately jumped on board, even before the imams' flight reached Phoenix the next day, and began whipping up the drums of victimization. Their handlers flew in from across the country staging rallies and pray-ins so they could teach the American people about this supposed tragedy of injustice.
As a devout Muslim, I have watched this painfully protracted saga unravel, fearing what comes next. The media, especially print media, have bent over backward to hear minorities' fears. Yet public opinion has not seemed to budge in favor of the imams. The lesson here lies in why. It has to do with credibility.
We are all creatures of passion. This fiasco has stirred the passionate cry of victimization from the Muslim activist community and imam community. But where were the news conferences, the rallies to protest the endless litany of atrocities performed by people who act supposedly in my religion's name? Where are the denunciations, not against terrorism in the abstract, but clear denunciations of al-Qaida or Hamas, of Wahhabism or militant Islamism, of Darfurian genocide or misogyny and honor killings, to name a few? There is no cry, there is no rage. At best, there is the most tepid of disclaimers. In short, there is no passion. But for victimization, always.
Only when Americans see that animating passion will they believe that we Muslims are totally against the fascists that have hijacked our religion. There is only so much bandwidth in the American culture to focus upon Islam and Muslims. If we fill it with our shouts of victimization, then the real problems from within and outside our faith community will never be heard.
Though this was not about prayer, let us look at the prayer itself: certainly a central part of our faith both alone and in congregation. The Quran teaches Muslims that God did not make our faith to be too difficult. Thus, during travel, many of us pray alone in silence when we cannot find a private place or where public display is not appropriate.
Prayer is an intimate thing, five times a day for Muslims. It is a personal conversation with God and not about showing others how devout we are.
Congregational prayers are preferred, but in travel (as three of the imams did apparently do) they can be combined upon their arrival in Phoenix.
Alija Izetbegovic, former president of Bosnia-Herzegovina, once said he was never so close to God in his prayers as a Muslim as he was during his solitary confinement for 12 years as a political prisoner struggling for liberty under Josip Broz Tito's oppression.
These imams would do well to learn from President Izetbegovic. He further understood the separation of religion and politics.
He understood God teaches us in the Quran that our religion is based upon intention and that if we perceive that the public situation is not conducive to our congregational prayer, that a forgiving God will understand.
Because these imams and their handlers just don't get it, it's time we Muslims found leadership and organizations that do.
Our predicament is unique, fragile and precarious. We Muslims are a relatively new minority in a nation that gives us freedoms that no other Muslim nation would allow.
Whether we acknowledge it or not, a radical subset of our faith community is seeking to destroy the basis for this liberty.
Either we predominantly direct our passions against these radicals or Americans will not count us as allies in this consuming struggle.
A truck-driving student is in custody in Boston after raising suspicions when he wasnt interested in learning how to back up his rig.
WLVI-TV (Ch. 56) reported last night that the would-be trucker is a 28-year-old Muslim from India and had overstayed his visa. An investigation is under way to see whether there is any connection between his unusual behavior and a terrorism plot. Federal authorities were alerted by instructors at the Nationwide Tractor Trailer Driving School in Smithfield, R.I., WLVI reported.
The student was described as a resident of New York, with drivers licenses from New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island.
Every indicator was there, R.I. State Police Major Steve ODonnell told WLVI. Any one of these things alone is fine, but four or five together . . . ... and you have "profiling." It works, too.
#3
hmmm ...Mohammad Mullawala..3 drivers' licenses in 3 different states...hazmat permit...just wanted to learn to go forward...why does that sound familiar?
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/12/2006 20:14
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Sounds like this guy's got a cousin named Drivin' B. Hard.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
12/12/2006 20:34
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This guy was definitely up to no good. In truck driving school, most of your time is spent on shifting (up and down) without tearing up the tranny followed by backing up. That includes being able to parallel park.
No backy up, no license. No kidding. Been there, done that.
A Northumberland fitness instructor has defended plans to teach children as young as 12 how to pole dance.
Laraine Riddell will start classes in the New Year at a gym in Choppington, in which boys and girls will be taught to spin up and down on a pole. Ms Riddell insists the classes are nothing but good exercise for children who are at risk of obesity.
But the children's charity Kidscape, said pole dancing was traditionally linked to erotic acts in clubs.
Ms Liddell said she wanted to distance her classes from images of naked women dancing for money in nightclubs.
She said she had the support of parents who welcomed the classes.
Ms Riddell said: "This is a good way of tackling obesity. It is dancing and it is fun and gives you a fantastic feeling.
"I have seen the joy in the faces of children who are holding their body strength up, doing the splits, spinning round and upside down.
"The children don't come in with thoughts of strip clubs in their minds."
But Michele Elliott, director of Kidscape, said the classes were "out of order".
She said: "Pole dancing is traditionally an activity where women on stage are given money which is stuck in their underwear.
"To teach 12-year-old girls pole dancing is out of order. I am sure pole dancing is good exercise - but so is stripping. After all, strippers have great bodies.
"By all means give the kids exercise, but just skip the poles." Just what the world needs more of, fat pole dancers.
Let's assume that the fact that members of this study group retain the Saudi royal family as their client has nothing to do with their conclusions. Doesn't the fact that they represent the largest power in the Persian Gulf make it relevant and worthy of reporting? I think it does.
Go ahead and search. New York Times, Houston Chronicle, Washington Post. The only people mentioning this fact are two lefty bloggers and Michael Weiner. Conclude what you will.
#1
That James Baker works for the Saudi royal family is beyond relevant--it's revelatory. And so is the fact that the media is NOT reporting that interesting little tidbit. As far as journalism goes ( or used to go) that fact that the members of this "study group" which is purportedly aimed at directing US foreign policy in the Middle East, actually represent "the largest power in the Persian Gulf" is most definitely "newsworthy." Unreal that the news is not covering it and bringing that out in the open.
Maybe someone could inform the Times and the Post. I can't. It's possible they don't know, and it might be likely since credible investigative reporting has mostly gone the way of the dinosaurs.
#3
Face it, it's all over for Baker and Hamilton. It's off to the tomb for this crew
Posted by: Captain America ||
12/12/2006 16:12
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#4
Someone will take the story. It's a matter of getting it out there and letting the info get scooped.
I dunno, this blog entry for instance is already almost a week old, and I had received a forwarded email (posted in the last comment here) about the Baker/Botts/saudy connection at about that time too. I don't think the msm are really interested, because they see this rapport as going "the right way".
#5
I think it is likely those MSM journalists haven't a clue about Baker's connections. The disconnect between the reverence some people still hold for the New York Times and the like and the blue water of idiocy that is modern journalism is difficult to credit. Read LGF for a couple days and never go back to newsprint.
#6
It's not reported because it fits the MSM agenda on top of that follow the money. The money will tell you who is behind this, that money has no loyalty to this nation nor it's long term interests.
#7
Bakers law firm has appeared to successfully either deap sixed or tied up in court forever the 911 victim's 1 trillion dollar lawsuit against the Saudi Shieks.
Of course the same shieks now own %20 of FoxNews so... don't hold your breath. Now its more likely that the commies at LinkTV will report it on some show like Democracy Today.
#8
Two Clinton Ambassadors to the terror kingdom, later became shills for the House of Saud. With Baker, the problem is: he is bound by attorney-client privilege to the Sauds. The privilege prohibits him from doing anything to their detriment, and obligates him to act to their benefit. So, how the hell can he be impartial and objective?
Of course, everybody-is-doing-it is no excuse. The solution is to ban Ambassadors from future representation of foreign states, in any capacity.
8th Iraqi Army division forces, with the assistance of coalition advisers, detained the head of the Al Kut Office of the Martyr Sadr on Dec. 9, for alleged involvement in illegal arms smuggling activities and directing attacks against Iraqi Security Forces in the area.
Based on credible intelligence, he was detained by Iraqi forces because he allegedly orders his followers to conduct indirect fire attacks and place improvised explosive devices in Al Kut and An Numaniyah targeting Iraqi and Coalition Forces. He is also suspected of approving an ambush carried out against an Iraqi Army patrol on Sept. 11, 2006.
Iraqi Army forces cordoned and entered the OMS and several adjacent buildings to detain the suspect and other cell members. The suspect was found in the OMS building along with IED making components consisting of an artillery projectile, 2 rocket propelled grenades, hand grenades, blasting caps and propellant charges for mortar rounds. Also found were 2 assault rifles, 17 rifle magazines, night vision goggles, a video camera, tactical vests, cell phones and a hand-held two-way radio
Five doors were damaged by Iraqi forces when entering the buildings. No other damage was caused by Iraqi or Coalition Forces to the OMS or surrounding area. Iraqi forces exchanged small arms fire with hostile elements, slightly wounding one enemy fighter. The fighter was treated by medical personnel on-site and detained along with three additional armed suspects. There were no Iraqi forces or Coalition Forces casualties. There were no reports of civilian casualties.
Wayyy to late to post this, but I couldn't resist, because I'm very self-indulgent; HT Sittingbull at Extreme Centre (who just posted it today). Nice beard, really, I'm jealous.
The Lebanese cabinet sent to parliament Tuesday a controversial text calling for the creation of a Special International Tribunal for Lebanon. So much for the Syrian ploy of trading the SIT for an end to the "crisis".
"The Council of Ministers unanimously decided to send the U.N. draft on the creation of an international court to try suspects in the assassination of Rafik Hariri," Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh told Agence France Presse after a meeting of the cabinet's remaining ministers at the Grand Serail.
"This is an important step in the ratification procedure ... and also affirms the presence and continuity of the government," he said.
"This shows (President Emile) Lahoud and his Syrian allies who want to destabilize Lebanon that the government is moving forward on its path."
Six pro-Syrian ministers resigned last month amid a political crisis that has paralyzed Premier Fouad Saniora's government and sparked mass opposition protests in downtown Beirut.
Saniora, whose offices have been surrounded since December 1 by thousands of opposition protesters loyal to Hizbullah and General Michel Aoun, has refused to accept their resignations.
Following the withdrawals, the remaining cabinet members went ahead and approved the final draft of a U.N. resolution on creating the court, which must get the nod from parliament before being sent to the U.N. Security Council for adoption.
Lahoud promptly rejected the text, saying it was approved by an illegitimate cabinet that did not represent the Lebanese people. So says a man imposed on the Lebanese people by Syrian threats.
According to Lebanon's constitution, the legal quorum for a cabinet meeting is a majority of two thirds of its members.
The constitution also says the government can submit a draft text to parliament even if it is not signed by the head of state.
#1
Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh better have someone dispensable start his car every morning
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/12/2006 20:08
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Cluster bombs. Thousands of them, on the streets "clogged with protesters". In a couple of hours, the streets will be clogged with the bodies of dead protesters. All Israel has to do is to hit the streets about 3:00AM, local time. Hezbollah will be trampled by the survivors.
While they're at it, Olmert should use those nukes he's talking about to wipe out everything living between the Israeli border and the Litani, with the promise of going further north if Hezbollah tries to retaliate. Screw UNIFIL - they're totally worthless, and only get in the way. If France bitches, take out the DeGaulle - in port. Israel will have a secure northern border - secured by a radioactive desert.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/12/2006 23:17
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Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/12/2006 15:54
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#2
I know, I know, it's a bit disheartening. Still, I voted for No Pasaran (looks like the Brussels Journal will win, though), LGF and a couple others like Blackfive. If I feel like erasing my cookies, I'll revote later tonight, in the True Spirit of Democracy.
This could be...interesting.
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - A Texas lawmaker is aiming to allow the blind to hunt. Texas State Representative Edmund Kuempel has introduced a measure that would allow blind people to hunt any game that sighted people can currently pursue.
He hopes it will be passed after the legislature reconvenes in January though he does not expect it to come into affect until 2008. "This opens up the fun of hunting to additional people, and I think that's great," Kuempel told Reuters.
The bill may find little resistance in Texas, where politicians of all stripes endorse hunting, which is wildly popular in the state.
Under the bill, blind hunters would be required to have a sighted hunter with them and would be allowed to use laser sights and other devices that are currently not allowed. "A blind person can shoot a rifle by mounting an offset pistol scope on the side of the rifle instead of on top," said Terry Erwin, the Austin-based Hunter Education Coordinator with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. "This allows their companion behind them to peer over their shoulder and help them sight it, but the blind person can pull the trigger," he told Reuters.
#4
This sounds like how I heard they hunt in Germany, except everyone is merely drunk but the guide. He's there mostly to make sure the drunks don't shoot each other. Apparently the deer are quite safe.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The active duty US military met or exceeded its recruiting goals in November, the Pentagon said, staying on track to meet its annual troop requirements.
The recruiting and retention numbers have been closely watched for signs of cracks under the strains of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The army and marine corps, the military services most strained by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, exceeded their monthly recruiting goal by five and four percent respectively, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.
The air force and navy met their monthly target, he said.
Most reserve and national guard components also met or exceeded their monthly goal, except the army reserve which fell 21 percent of the mark and the navy reserve, which was nine percent off, according to Whitman.
"With respect to retention, the active duty services are all starting off well, exceeding their overall retention missions right now," he said, adding that navy re-enlistments fell short for the month but remained on course to meet the service's target for the year.
The army, which has struggled to replenish its ranks in the midst of an unpopular war, has responded with lavish signing bonuses, revamped ad campaigns, beefed-up recruiting forces and an easing of standards that have allowed in older recruits and more that tested in the bottom third.
The army's goal is to enlist 80,000 fresh troops in fiscal 2007. It met that goal last year but fell eight percent short the year before.
#3
Once again, we see the failure of the Bush Administration to properly fund education programs throughout this great nation of ours. Having failed to learn to read, write and do that stuff with numbers that even a great intellect such as myself finds baffling, is it any wonder that these poor children, and do not be confused, despite being in their 20s and 30s, they are children, these poor children have little other choice but to join the US military as the Bush Administration has allowed the mass export of high-paying jobs in the important sectors of buggy whip and vacuum tube manufacture and in return given us a economy where you have to understand all that stuff with numbers that even a great intellect as I find baffling.
And I say these things with all due respect to our veterans who carry out the very necessary tasks of committing war crimes and slaughtering the innocent: you are idiots and not at all great intellects like Teresa and me.
The Tehran Holocaust denial conference entered its second day Tuesday, hosting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the man who inspired the conference with his remarks. "Israel is about to crash," the Iranian president promised the attendees, "scientists" from across the world working to deny the Holocaust. "This is God's promise and the wish of all the world's nations," he added. Much more at the link. Also features a picture of hot Ahmadinejad on Neturei Karta make-out action. That one is a keeper.
#3
Also if he was reading the papers, he'd know the USSR never actually went away. It just got more sneaky and more lethal. And its enemies are dying alone and in agony, with radiation melting their guts from the inside out.
#6
Just a note - not all Szatmar are Neturei Karta, the MSM has a hard time keeping them apart. While Szatmar is definitely anti-Zionist, they generally shun the clownish antics of Neturei Karta.
#10
From what I've read, and assuming I understand correctly, the NK boyz say that :
- The jews can't choose to renounce to their dispersal, which is a divine punishment of their faults.
- There indeed were 6 millions killed in the shoah, but it was also divine punition; escaping to the holocaust was individually possible at the time, but there's no asking for excuse, no putting nazis on trial, and so on. Only choice is to accept this collective divine punishment.
-Zionists are heretics when they affirm their intent to prevent an another genocide.
Overall impression is : Will To Live dangerously low.
#13
There are striking similarities between Iran and the Soviet Union. A multi-ethnic state where the largest ethnic group is a bare majority, held together by a radical ideology. Also Iran's parallel government structure, the Pasadran (Revolutionary Guards, etc.) is explicitly modelled on the communist system.
I'd say Iran is an excellent candidate for Soviet Union type collapse, assuming it doesn't decend into Yugoslav type civil war first.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/12/2006 18:39
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#16
And I'd add, while we talk about the collapse of the Soviet Union, it wasn't really a collapse. Moscow realized that ethnic Russians would soon be a minority and under a domocracy would lose control of the country. Solution = divest itself of the non-Russian republics.
Iran is in exactly the same situation. Ethnic Persians are probably already a minority in the country.
#6
I know your comments are all snark aimed at the AP, but this fellow may well have been a 'good guy' - even the AP has them - which makes it a sad event.
#7
Given the current level of sectarian violence, it's hard to know whom to believe over there when it comes to Iraqi spokesmen and wire-service stringers.
In any case, he left behind a wife and two small children. My condolences.
#13
Glenmore - you are correct, however, the AP has brought this cynicism on themselves with their blatant lies, photoshopped images, terrorist stringers, agitprop as news, et al. Until he's proven to be a "good guy", I remain snarky and unsympathetic...and BTW, what are they going to do to prove he's a "good guy"? We have to take the AP's word on it?
Bwahahahaha
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/12/2006 18:29
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#14
At this point in AP's credibility, if they reported that the sky was blue, I'd still run outside and take a look.
What a sad, sad thing it is for a venerable and once-trusted institution to have pissed away the high regard in which they were once held.
Hey, I'm on my second glass of chablis. I always sound high-mindedly Victorian when I am slightly mellow.
The gentleman might very well have been one of the "good guys" but given AP's recent track record, it's not something that I intend to take AP's unsupported word for, either.
When it comes to deciding the pattern of self-governance on the Pakistani side of the Line of Control, no serious discussion is needed.
Where is the question of self-governance when Pakistan has, by and large, been ruled, by one military dictator or the other?
If no respect is shown to the democratic aspirations of the people of Pakistan, how can its military rulers possibly grant autonomy to the government of Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK)?
Readers may recall that after General Zia-ulHaqs coup in 1977, the AJK Assembly was dissolved, the parliamentary system scrapped and a presidential form of government set in motion. An army brigadier was appointed Chief Executive.
This arrangement continued till 1985, when elections were held after amending the rules such that the opposition parties were marginalised.
#5
What other documentaries are out there this year?
You just know Al looked over Mike Moore's documentaries and decided he could easily make one of his own and get attention and money to boot for his campaign funds.
(2006-12-11) Kofi Annan, just a day after delivering what was billed as his final speech before an American audience as U.N. Secretary-General, today gave what was billed as his second final speech.
My first speech was like a Security Council resolution, recommending policy changes to one of our member states, said Mr. Annan to an audience of well-wishers at the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Arkansas. My remarks had all the impact and power of a U.N. resolution. So, today I will make my farewell speech again, recommending policy changes to one of our member states.
Mr. Annan said he would continue to deliver his farewell speech periodically for 10 to 12 years, or until something happens to make my suggestions irrelevant.
John Bolton, the outgoing U.S. ambassador to the U.N., when told of Mr. Annans remarks, said simply, What did Kofi mean by until?
Amid all the Arab news flowing throughout the last week (or over years and years), I was delighted at the news of the fall of John Bolton, the former US-appointed ambassador to the UN. I hope - I even pray - that his fall will be once and for all. Dar-al-Hayat is based in both London and Beirut. Jihad lives in London.
Before I finish, I would like to clarify that I'm mean a political, a professional or an ethical fall. I do not wish any harm to come to Bolton or anyone else, but I do want to not see him again. Over his term in office, he caused a lot of harm to Arab and Muslim interests. He was an accomplice in the crime of destroying Iraq, from its preparation in the State Department to its implementation up till now.
Since I've explained that I don't want any harm to come to anyone, even though Bolton himself has caused much harm, I can now say that my joy has been doubled because President Bush has lost the battle of keeping Bolton as a permanent ambassador. He appointed him by exploiting the Congress' recess after it had turned down Bolton's nomination. This means that his term in office would have expired with the current Congress.
President Bush said he accepted Bolton's decision to withdraw his nomination 'with deep regret.' Bush stated: "I am deeply disappointed that a handful of United States senators prevented Ambassador Bolton from receiving the up or down vote he deserved in the Senate ".
President Bush has always been in another world. He's the one who has caused obstruction through his insistence on this 'undiplomatic' ambassador, not to mention that the majority in fact does not want him. However, it seems that the president forgot the election results.
In addition to my delight at John Bolton's fall and Bush's disappointment, there was another reason for my joy: the neo-cons' crying over him. In the editorial of the 'National Review', the neo-cons organ, the editors expressed their disappointment at Bolton's step-down. They listed his merits, which are in fact political crimes against all Arab and Muslim issues...
Following discussions with the Bush administration, several of Iraqs major political parties are in talks to form a coalition whose aim is to break the powerful influence of the radical Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr within the government, senior Iraqi officials say.
The talks are taking place among the two main Kurdish groups, the most influential Sunni Arab party and an Iranian-backed Shiite party that has long sought to lead the government. They have invited Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki to join them. But Mr. Maliki, a conservative Shiite who has close ties to Mr. Sadr, has held back for fear that the parties might be seeking to oust him, a Shiite legislator close to Mr. Maliki said.
Officials involved in the talks say their aim is not to undermine Mr. Maliki, but to isolate both Mr. Sadr and firebrand Sunni Arab politicians inside the government. Mr. Sadr controls a militia, the Mahdi Army, with an estimated 60,000 fighters that has rebelled twice against the American military and is accused of widening the sectarian war with reprisal killings of Sunni Arabs.
The Americans, frustrated with Mr. Malikis political dependence on Mr. Sadr, appear to be working hard to help build the new coalition. President Bush met last week in the White House with Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the leader of the Iranian-backed Shiite party, and is meeting this week with Tariq al-Hashemi, leader of the Sunni Arab party.
In late November, Mr. Bush and his top aides met with leaders from Sunni countries in the Middle East to urge them to press moderate Sunni Arab Iraqis to support Mr. Maliki.
Mr. Hakims and Mr. Hashemis White House visits are directly related to their effort to form a new alliance, a senior Iraqi official said.
Last month, Mr. Bushs national security adviser, Stephen J. Hadley, wrote in a classified memo that the Americans should press Sunni Arab and Shiite leaders, especially Mr. Hakim, to support Mr. Maliki if he sought to build an alternative political base. The memo noted that Americans could provide monetary support to moderate groups.
Iraqi officials involved in the talks said they had conceived of the coalition themselves after growing frustrated with militant politicians.
A number of key political parties, across the sectarian-ethnic divide, recognize the gravity of the situation and have become increasingly aware that their fate, and that of the country, cannot be held hostage by the whims of the extreme fringe within their communities, said Barham Salih, a deputy prime minister and senior member of one of the major Kurdish parties.
Mr. Sadrs relationship with Mr. Maliki has shown signs of strain. On Nov. 30, Mr. Sadr withdrew his 30 loyalists in Parliament and six cabinet ministers from the government. Mr. Maliki called for them to return, but they said they would do so only if Mr. Maliki and the Americans set a timetable for the withdrawal of American troops. Mr. Sadr reiterated the demand with a fiery message on Sunday.
Any plan to form a political alliance across sectarian lines that isolates Mr. Sadr and Sunni Arab extremists carries enormous risks. American and Iraqi officials have worked to try to persuade Mr. Sadr to use political power instead of armed force to bring about change in Iraq. Though it is unclear whether Mr. Sadr has total control over his militia, he could ignite another rebellion like the two he led in 2004 if he thinks he is being marginalized within the government.
Some senior American commanders say that the attempts to make peace with Mr. Sadr through politics may have failed, and that a military assault on Sadr strongholds may be inevitable.
Falah Shanshal, a Sadr legislator, on Monday denounced the idea of a new coalition. Were against any new bloc, new front or new alliance, he said. We have to make unity between us, to be one front against terrorism and to liberate the country from the occupation.
Iraqi officials say the other main risk is a potential backlash against the parties involved in the talks from other leaders in their own ethnic or sectarian populations.
For Mr. Hakim and Mr. Maliki, any attempt to join Sunni Arabs in an alliance against Mr. Sadr could invoke the wrath of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the most powerful Shiite cleric in Iraq. Since the toppling of Saddam Hussein, the ayatollah has worked hard to bring various feuding Shiite factions into one greater Shiite coalition to rule Iraq. That coalition, including Mr. Sadrs allies, is the dominant bloc in the 275-member Parliament.
Mr. Hashemi, the Sunni Arab leader, risks alienating other members of the main Sunni bloc in Parliament. Sunni Arab insurgents could also decide to step up violence against Mr. Hashemi and his Iraqi Islamic Party. Three of Mr. Hashemis siblings have already been killed.
Sunni Arab politicians not involved in the talks said they are furious at the proposed alliance.
#4
Crush Sadr, tell Sistani that if he wants to live, he gets out of politics totally, and smack -hard - anybody else that thinks their people are more important than a unified Iraq. Should have done this FIRST, but it's not too late. Let the entire WORLD know we are not afraid to target and destroy a mosque - any mosque. When the first idiot raises his head, slam him down so hard it'll take ten years do dig the remains up.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/12/2006 23:12
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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (10 December) Based on after action reports ISAF now believes troops repelling an attack killed seven or eight insurgents between Musa Qaleh and Nawzad districts on 02 December, not the figure of seventy to eighty shared widely with media based on incorrect early reports.
Reports that fighting has taken place in the district centre of Musa Qaleh or that the fighting represented a violation of the security arrangement reached between elders and the government there are patently false. This was originally a Reuters story. The ISAF press release, I noted at the time, did not have a number. Reuters, et al, reported their numbers from an unnamed ISAF spokesman. I have now posted this engagement, with a figure of 7 terrs killed, at Terrorist Death Watch
Published: Tuesday, 12 December, 2006, 09:53 AM Doha Time
LONDON: A bishop was entangled in a mystery yesterday after admitting he couldnt explain how he got a black eye after a drinks party - while witnesses gave a colourful account of his night out.The Bishop of Southwark also sustained a bump on the head at some point after leaving a pre-Christmas party at the Irish embassy, which as media reports noted is not known for restraint in providing liquid hospitality.
One thing is sure: the bishop, less formally known as the Right Reverend Tom Butler, initially said he had been mugged after arriving home last Tuesday night with a bump to his head and without his briefcase and mobile phone.He had spent two hours drinking at the Irish embassy with fellow guests including Britains domestic spy agency chief, Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, and the former Northern Ireland politician David Trimble. Two hours of drinking at the Irish embassy? Good lord thats like two days at Spring Break in Mazatlan.
Butler told his congregation the next day he could not wear his bishops hat because of the bump on his head. He had reported the incident to police, who had told him the injuries were consistent with being mugged.But things became more cloudy when witnesses questioned whether the senior cleric - who is a regular religious commentator on BBC radio - had taken a direct route home from the embassy.
Specifically, they said he ended up in a lane, next to railway arches near his cathedral, where he climbed into a strangers Mercedes, and started throwing toys out into the road.
According to the cars owner, Paul Sumpter, after he found the robe-wearing trespasser in his vehicle the following conversation occurred: Sumpter: "Hey Dude What are you doing in my car?" The bishop: "Im the Bishop of Southwark, its what I do."
A brief fracas then occurred, and an ambulance was called, but the mystery man apparently staggered off into the night."We were laughing because he was staggering so much as he walked off," said Paul Sathaporn, manager of a nearby bar.After that account emerged the 66-year-old admitted he couldnt remember exactly what had happened."I can remember the reception. It was one of those pre-Christmas receptions, with interesting conversations and interesting people. I had a drink," the bishop was quoted as saying in the Guardian."There lies the difficulty. I am not in a position to say dogmatically anything more about it. I have no memory of what happened. I came home certainly with an injury and with a loss of property."Whatever the reality of what happened, the cleric - a father or two and a senior member of the Church of England, insists the incident does not call into question his ability to do his job."I certainly dont intend to resign," he told The Guardian. AFP
The armed forces personnel deployed on Monday across the country may launch illegal arms recovery operations today. Sources said the commanding officers of the armed forces held meetings with the officers of different law enforcement agencies to determine modus operandi of the operation.
"Just follow the 12-point checklist in your RAB handout."
According to the home ministry, troops have been deployed at 22 places in Dhaka, 14 spots in Chittagong and at district levels so far. If required, troops will be deployed at upazila levels," a home ministry official told The Daily Star last night.
The troops will act on demand from the civil administration to protect public life and properties, keep economic activities running, recover illegal firearms and curb criminal activities.
According to sources, the troops have set up 13 makeshift battalion headquarters at Science Laboratory, Airport, Uttara, Bashundhara Residential area, Postagola, Khilgaon, Wari, Mirpur Indoor Stadium, Mohammadpur Physical Centre, Cantonment police station area and Ramna, Azimpur and Paltan community centres. Each battalion will cover two to three police station areas in the capital, sources said.
An army officer at Mirpur Indoor Stadium told this correspondent yesterday that they are yet to launch operation. "A lieutenant colonel is in command of our unit and a brigadier general is supervising some such units," he said.
The members of the naval forces took positions at 13 places in the coastal belts of Chittagong, Bhola, Noakhali and Bagerhat. Air forces personnel were deployed at Zia International Airport, Shah Amanat International Airport at Sylhet and Jessore Airport.
If I was a suspious person, I'd say that would also be a great deployment plan if you were thinking about a coup. Hey, a guy can dream, can't he?
News agency UNB quoted Director of Inter Services Public Relations Lt Col Anisur Rahman Chowdhury as saying over 16,000 army, 1,000 navy and 500 air force personnel have been deployed across the country.
According to the home ministry, police and Rapid Action Battalion yesterday recovered 21 illegal firearms and 33 bullets and arrested 11 during their countrywide operations in different parts of the country.
Wonder if they've got enough shutter guns to go around?
Posted by: Steve ||
12/12/2006
09:16 ||
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#1
"upazila levels" ???
Push comes to shove, they'll even deploy at godzilla levels...
#1
Good. According to the article, the outcry caused them to grow a backbone -- this is that opera staged with the severed heads of Jesus and Mohammed that was cancelled in September out of fear that Muslims might take offense... violently. It opens in a week, and a goodly number of the ruling Conservatives will be sitting in the audience. When the manager called the police to ask what they should do if a bomb threat were called in, he was told to ask the caller what it looked like and where it was placed.
#2
This has an artificial, staged feel to it. I've only seen Idomeneo performed live once, and I don't recall seeing anyone's heads stacked up, much less Mohammad's.
Idomeneo was the king of Crete, returning victorious from the Trojan war -- which predated Mo by several years. I guess this is one of the hazards of turning a perfectly good opera into "edgy performance art."
There are lots of valid reasons to fight with Islamists. This isn't one of them.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/12/2006 13:00
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#3
They are German theater people. They see little point in doing something unless it can be turned into edgy performance art, with which they can damn the audience for being bourgeous Philistines... cubed for the Berlin theatricalistas, who used to get subsidized just for living on the edge of the abyss. Interesting how this brought to the attention of the theater-going class exactly how dangerous keeping pet Muslim radicals is.
#4
It is not exactly fighting with Islamists - more like daring them to fight with you. Sort of like the 'Piss Christ' exhibit of 'art' some years back in the US. Of no particular importance one way or another, except if it identifies some specific enemies.
A former member of Sudan's pro-government Arab militias, the Janjaweed, has told the BBC's Newsnight programme that ministers in Khartoum gave orders for the activities of his unit in the Darfur region, which included killings and rape. Following are excerpts of the interview with ex-fighter "Ali", who is now living in London.
'GOVERNMENT ORDERS'
The people who trained us came from the north, from the government. They gave us orders, and they say that after we are trained they will give us guns and ammunition...
They were wearing the uniforms of the military...
I tell you one fact. The Janjaweed don't make decisions. The orders come from the government...
One very well-known and regular visitor was Interior Minister Abdul Rahim Muhammad Hussein.
'KILL!'
We will be split into two groups, one on horses, one on camels...
The aircraft went ahead of the Janjaweed. We saw the smoke, we saw the fire, then we went in...
Whenever we go into a village and find resistance we kill everyone. Sometimes they said wipe out an entire village...
We hear kill! Kill! Kill! And we shoot to kill...
VICTIMS
Most were civilians - most were women...
Innocent people running out and being killed including children. And those who escape will die of thirst. There are many rapes. But they don't do it in front of others. They take the victim away and rape them.
"Do you think you could be a spy?" This provocative question is addressed to visitors to the International Spy Museum here. After I had browsed through all the deadly paraphernalia on display--including the type of umbrella that a KGB assassin used to fire a fatal poison pellet into the right thigh of Bulgarian anticommunist Georgi Markov in London in 1978--I decided, no, I don't think so. The horrible radiation-poisoning death of ex-KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko in London in late November, most likely inflicted by his former Moscow playmates, didn't change my mind.
But exploring the shadow world in perfect safety was well within my risk parameters, so last month I became one of the many thousands of visitors who've prowled through the Spy Museum since it opened in July 2002. . . .
As any number of ex-spooks have written, a lot of intelligence gathering is the dull, painstaking work of putting pieces of information together to form hypotheses about nefarious enemy goals. But the Spy Museum specializes in the exciting stuff, with lots of interactive displays to test spying skills. My wife, Jody, was better than I at detecting suspicious behavior. School kids lap up this sort of thing, which is why the museum is on the agenda of a lot of student tours. I encountered teenager Brooke Gunter, from Wyomissing, Pa., listening on headphones to a classmate who was being bugged elsewhere in the museum. "Great!" she chortled. Crawling through an air conditioning duct to spy on those below was another favorite of the Pennsylvania youths. . . .
Posted by: Mike ||
12/12/2006
06:57 ||
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Very good museum, make sure you budget at least four hours if you're like me and stop to read every freakin' sign. Buy advance tix and if you go with a big group, be prepared to wait in the excellent gift shop for the stragglers to dift out.
They have the umbrella (or a model of it???) that the Soviets used to kill Georgi Markov by jabbing a ricin pellet into his thigh on a crowded bridge, a nice section on George Washington, spymaster; and lots of cool spy stuff.
#2
Very good museum, make sure you budget at least four hours if you're like me and stop to read every freakin' sign. Buy advance tix and if you go with a big group, be prepared to wait in the excellent gift shop for the stragglers to dift out.
They have the umbrella (or a model of it???) that the Soviets used to kill Georgi Markov by jabbing a ricin pellet into his thigh on a crowded bridge, a nice section on George Washington, spymaster; and lots of cool spy stuff.
sounds way kool Sea, but the intel I picked up from reading your comment is to NEVER go shopping with you!
Our local MSM Keith Ellison supporting freakshow of a newspaper dared print this. Just about fainted. Little Green Footballs readers also picked it up.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the imams legal representative, is an organization that we know has ties to terrorism, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said in 2003. And the Muslim American Society, which is also supporting the imams? Its the American arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, according to the Chicago Tribune, which called it the worlds most influential Islamic fundamentalist group.
How about Omar Shahin, the imams spokesman and also president of the North American Imams Federation? He is a native of Jordan, who says he became a U.S. citizen in 2003. From 2000 to 2003, Shahin served as president of Islamic Center of Tucson (ICT), that citys largest mosque.
The ICT is well known. The mosque has an extensive history of terror links, according to terrorism expert Steven Emerson, who testified about terrorist financing before the Senate Banking Committee in July 2005.
The Washington Post described these links in a 2002 article. Tucson was one of the first points of contact in the United States for the jihadist group that evolved into al Qaeda, the Post reported. And the ICT? It held basically the first cell of al Qaeda in the United States; that is where it all started, said Rita Katz, a terrorism expert quoted by the Post.
Now what would be interesting is to see a lawer with balls from US Airways bring up these terrorist links.
#1
Went around with one of the original reporters, aka slowpitch softball pitchers, about this.
What about the seatbelt extenders?
He said he often requests what he doesn't need, like more peanuts or a pillow.
Jeez.
Problem with journos like him is that they think people believe them.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
12/12/2006 9:11
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#2
Here's hoping US Airways stands firm against this blatant attempt to extort money from the infidel.
CAIR would like to see a settlement out of court. If I were advising US Airways I'd want the case in court in order to be able to take depositions of the imams under oath and on record.
Posted by: Mark Z ||
12/12/2006 9:20
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#3
I flew US Airways to/from OKC, thru Phoenix, last week and I felt safer knowing mooslims might boycott them. That should be their new motto: "terror-imam free since...". Think their sales wouldn't increase?
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/12/2006 9:50
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#4
This is nothing but organized harrassment by Muzzie central. They think a long campaign of this plus frivolous law suits will cause everyone to drop their guard. I think it will produce the opposite and make everyone realize what a pestilence they are.
I think citizen arrests for disturbing the peace ought to be carried out. In the process, a real blanket party atmosphere ought to prevail. After more than their fair share of beatings, maybe they'd give it up.
#5
slightly off topic geographically, but on global point..
..Once we found the two mosques the outer-cordon circled the objectives. For some reason, most of the leaders of the enemy are mullahs and they usually live near mosques. That isnt profiling, that is a fact.
#7
While it might be difficult to prove, US Airways should consider filing a countersuit against the imams for intentionally disrupting a flight. Bill them for the jet's idle time, delays and extra crew pay and so on.
The fact that they seated themselves in the 9-11 configuration (with at least one individual purposefully placing himself in first class without such ticketing), should serve as strong evidence that were seeking to intentionally interfere with the flight. The lawsuit could roll up into many tens of thousands of dollars rather quickly including attorney's fees. Nothing like a costly settlement to shut these maggots up.
A RB classic.
WICHITA, Kan. - A Wichita man called 911 to report he was the victim of an armed robbery. The theft? A pound of marijuana worth about $1,100 that he had been trying to sell at his home.
The victim told police Thursday that a buyer had pulled out a sawed-off shotgun and stole the drugs. Police brought in a drug-sniffing dog to the house and located more marijuana and drug paraphernalia. The victim was booked into Sedgwick County jail on several charges, including possession with the intent to sell drug.
HERMISTON, Ore. - A small spider bite turned out to be a big problem for Cindy Pettey. Pettey awoke when she was bitten on the stomach in the middle of the night a few weeks ago, but thought little else of it. Then she started running a fever, she felt achy and weak. The bite sore became larger.
Next thing Pettey knew, a doctor was telling her he believed she'd been bitten by a dangerous hobo spider. Pettey had surgery that removed 10 pounds of skin and flesh, leaving her with an abdomen covered in stitches. "It looks like I was bit in half by a shark," Pettey said.
Rob Hendrickson, a physician and director of the Oregon Poison Control Center, said the hobo is a non-aggressive spider that bites only when cornered. For example, when someone puts on a shoe with a spider inside. The hobo is one of two dangerous spiders in Oregon. The other is the black widow. The brown recluse does not exist in Oregon, he said.
"In reality, most spiders are venomous, but aren't capable of penetrating human skin," Hendrickson said.
Hobo spider venom may cause necrosis, or death of the skin. When a spider injects venom below the skin, it reddens, swells, then turns black. But there is some doubt in the medical community about whether venom causes the skin death, Hendrickson said. "If the venom can actually cause necrosis in humans," he said, "... then it is a very rare event."
#2
My wife was bitten a couple of years ago by a brown recluse in the wilds of Massachusetts. She had to diagnose it herself since the local doctors had no idea about such things.
It turned out to be a good news/bad news thing. The good news: the bite was not in a fleshy part of her anatomy, thus minimizing the extent of tissue damage. The bad news: it was in the middle of her forehead, giving her a large maroon, brown and black "third eye" for a few months.
#2
If its a Donk, "Pants" Studds or "Refrigerator" Jefferson, their voters don't care and keep reelecting them cause they know its never been about principles, its about power. The Trunks are still encumbered with a sense of Christian sin that the left hasn't had for nearly a half century. They got to learn to give that up to survive. Its like the war. You got to clearly win it first before you spend the effort to do clean up afterwards. Trying to clean up before the enemy is defeated only makes for more problems.
LONDON(istan) -- Hundreds of British troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan are to be awarded millions of dollars in compensation after the government ruled that they are victims of crime, not war. Huh?
Forty injured servicemen are to receive payments of up to almost $1 million each in a series of test cases. This is expected to lead to claims from hundreds more of the estimated 1,000 troops injured in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001.
Payments will be made on a sliding scale of about $2,000 for a small facial scar to $1 million for the loss of a limb.
Sources said the ruling was reached after government attorneys raised fears that the Defense Ministry could be subject to a legal challenge by troops claiming that they were victims of crime because they were wounded in Iraq after the end of "at war" hostilities in May 2003. I can't... words just... nevermind.
All those injured fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, but who have remained in the army, could be entitled to lodge claims under the new plan. Those who are medically discharged will receive war pensions, as is already the case.
This plan is similar to that run by the Home Office, the British interior ministry, which makes payments to the victims of crimes such as muggings, rape, burglary and robbery. Troops will be informed officially of the new policy in the next few weeks and the first payments will be made in early spring.
Until now, the Defense Ministry has paid criminal compensation only for incidents in which troops were injured in "civilian situations" such as a fight in a nightclub while off duty.
Those injured in Northern Ireland during the sectarian violence were also eligible for such compensation because it was deemed that the terrorists attacking them were criminals and not enemy combatants in a conventional war.
The new ruling and expansion of compensation to the Iraq and Afghan conflicts means insurgents or terrorists carrying out surprise attacks and sabotage missions are regarded as criminals and not enemy troops. It is thought that the only circumstances in which troops injured in Iraq and Afghanistan would not be eligible for criminal compensation is when they were involved in prearranged, offensive operations directly targeting insurgents.
Most casualties in Iraq have received their wounds through car bombings, sniping and rocket attacks -- circumstances not dissimilar to most attacks sustained in Ulster. Defense sources say the ruling reflects the changing nature of the conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan. Although both theaters of conflict are described frequently as war zones, in strict legal terms British troops are not at war.
The government decision for compensation is a response to demands from legislators, military chiefs and the public to provide the armed forces with better pay, accommodation and medical care. Geebus.
#1
I don't quite follow the semantics of war vs. crime, but I cannot disagree with the idea of compensating the injured soldiers, and these amounts do not seem unreasonable, nor unaffordable as long as the war level stays low.
#2
A Brit poster is going to have to enlighten us on the British compensation system. In the US, the Veterans Administration has extensive hospital networks set up for continued care specifically of service related wounds and injuries, with those having war related injuries receiving priority, not part of a general national health service. The VA has programs for adjustments to include things like no charge vehicles for those who require special adaptations to operate. The VA pays life long tax free compensation for service related injuries. Or for the British, is everything sort of thrown into the general social services support offices?
#4
P2K: A slight correction to your comment re: VA disability pay. IN the case of retired military folks that have some level of VA-determined eligibility, the amount you receive from the VA is DEDUCTED from your retired pay and sent to you via the VA. What it amounts to is that the VA paid portion is tax-free. Congress has resisted for many years, any attempts to pay VA disability separate from your retired pay. A few years ago, I determined my 30% disability was worth $46 for the year (tax savings).
#5
I've read some comments in the UK MSM about how much better US vets are treated than UK vets. This may be a way around the discrepancy. Need to hear from a UK local about this.
#6
One of the things the GOP congress managed to pass was the elimination of the "dual-compensation" clause for VA disability payments. Beginning in 2004, and increasing during the next ten years, the amount paid to VA disabled veterans will gradually be freed from the one-to-one deduction from retired pay. The last change will be in 2013, after which no disability pay will be offset from retirees military pay. I've seen my military take-home retirement almost double in the last three years as these rules have been implemented. I'm currently at 70% disabled.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/12/2006 17:14
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#7
OP: Thanks for the update, however I thought that only those @ 50% and ^ would receive this; those of us below that line were still in the old methodology. Of course, I won't see any increase, as Mrs. Ret will take it as her compensation for having to put up with me :)
#1
It will be the same as the Egyptians, Pakistanis, and Saudis before them: they will use American status to finance terror abroad. And if Americans react, 9-11 times 1000. The Muslim Brother, Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia, Hizb-ut-Tahrir, al-Muhajiroun, etc were empowered by Western harborage.
Of course, I am assuming that the public won't recognize that Muslims can't be house broken in Western Civilization.
#4
The USA should not take any Iraqi's. We've had people died so they could have their own country and letting them have refugee status would be an admission of failure that could cause serious problems.
If they must leave the Iraqi Christians should move to (a) Lebanon or (b) Israel. both could use some non-Muslims immigrants to help the demographic balance.
#6
I think that the US should seriously consider granting refugee status to any Christian living in a Muslim country. Islam is antithetical to anyone who does not submit. Even benign muslim states do not protect Christian citizens from the Islamic crazies. See how the Muslim world likes losing their brightest and most productive citizens to the Great Satan.
#9
None. Zero. Zip. Nada. Zilch. Bupkus. Not even those professing to be Christians, that old taqqiya thingy, ya know? No more immigration, not even for purposes of asylum from any Muslim majority nation.
I know you're all just dying to know, so...
NEW YORK (AP) -- Peace activist Cindy Sheehan and three other women were convicted of trespassing yesterday for trying to deliver an anti-Iraq-war petition to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.
A Manhattan Criminal Court judge sentenced them immediately to conditional discharge, which means they could face some form of penalty if they are arrested in the next six months, and ordered them to pay $95 in court surcharges. Not enough. I wanted lashes. Public time in the stocks. And to make her cover up her tits like a normal person.
Mrs. Sheehan and about 100 other members of a group called Global Exchange were rebuffed in March when they attempted to take a petition with about 72,000 signatures to the U.S. Mission's headquarters across the street from the United Nations.
After yesterday's sentencing, the women returned to the U.S. Mission; this time, their petition was accepted.
Prosecutors said they were arrested after ignoring police orders to disperse. Duh. Clarity lost. Obviously, this is referring to the previous attempt thingy.
The four were acquitted of disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and obstructing government administration. They had faced up to a year in jail if convicted of all counts.
"We should never have been on trial in the first place," Mrs. Sheehan said in a statement after the verdict. "It's George Bush and his cronies who should be on trial, not peaceful women trying to stop this devastating war. This verdict, however, will not stop us from continuing to work tirelessly to bring our troops home." We're Speshul. Regular old laws just don't apply when you're following a Higher Calling, like being a Political Jester / Laughingstock.
Mrs. Sheehan, 49, of Vacaville, Calif., lost her 24-year-old son Casey in Iraq on April 4, 2004. She has since emerged as one of the most vocal and high-profile opponents of the war, drawing international attention when she camped outside President Bush's Texas ranch to protest the war.
The women, calling their campaign "Women Say No to War," had hoped to give the petition to Peggy Kerry, the mission's liaison for nongovernmental organizations and sister of Sen. John Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat, as they had last year. Ms Kerry was against it before she was for it. Bubba's the opposite. Dad's against everything, all the time. Mom's for everything, all the time. They don't do holiday dinners together.
Miss Kerry refused to meet with the women in the presence of the news media. She testified during the trial that the presentation seemed like a publicity stunt.
The women ignored police orders to leave and were reading it aloud on the sidewalk when officers arrested them. The women sat on the sidewalk and were carried to patrol wagons.
After yesterday's court session, the women returned to the U.S. Mission to ask for an apology and resubmit the petition. Apology? YJCMTSU.
They were met by Richard A. Grenell, the mission's director of external affairs, but didn't have the petitions with them. After obtaining copies of the petition, they went back a second time and handed them over to Miss Kerry and Mr. Grenell in the building's lobby.
Mr. Grenell did not explain why the petitions were accepted this time. Tired of filing those Stay (the fuck) Away Orders, lol.
Mrs. Sheehan's co-defendants were Melissa Beattie, 57, of New York; Susan "Medea" Benjamin, 54, of San Francisco; and Patricia Ackerman, 48, of Nyack, N.Y.
#5
Miss Kerry refused to meet with the women in the presence of the news media. She testified during the trial that the presentation seemed like a publicity stunt.
Having John Fn for a brother, she sure as shit knows one of them when she sees one...
Extra Read All About It!
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - The leader of the Hezb-e-Islami militant group also touts the Republican Party defeat in last month's U.S. midterm elections as a victory for militants fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. Hezb-e-Islami jr militants Murtha, Pelosi, Reid...
"It seems that every bullet that mujahedeen had fired toward the Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan has turned into a vote against Bush," Hekmatyar said in the undated video statement received by Associated Press Television in Pakistan. DNC *hearts* Hek..
"There is no doubt that is a great victory and success for Afghan and Iraqi mujahedeen," he said. "I am convinced that the fate Soviet Union faced is awaiting America as well." and your mama is a smelly old goat Hek
The bespectacled and bearded Hekmatyar, who wore a neat black turban, speaks in an undisclosed location in front of a rattan backdrop. He is wrapped in a light grey shawl. AP stringer FISNIK ABRASHI fishing for sum work at GQ
It was not clear where or when the three-minute video was made. But the reference to the mid-term elections, when the Republican Party of U.S. President George W. Bush lost control of the U.S. Senate and Congress to the Democrats, indicated it was recorded after Nov. 7. no Shiite
Hezb-e-Islami is active in eastern Afghanistan along the Pakistan border where U.S. forces are deployed. Western security officials suspect Hekmatyar is hiding in the border area. This year has seen an escalation in the insurgency led by the former ruling Taliban. lets thank Perv again shall we
"Very soon we will see that, God willing, American troops will leave Afghanistan and Iraq with their heads bowed down," Hekmatyar said in the video. Yep, sure as shit if the DemoCraps have their way.
#3
"It seems that every bullet that mujahedeen had fired toward the Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan has turned into a vote against Bush," Hekmatyar said.
Sad commentary on the American people that he is probably correct.
A new level of despicable ingenuity.
The crime began with a phone call: Jason's ex-wife, dialing in to check on the couple's 5-year-old son, who was home with his father when the phone rang. Oddly, the boy's name flashed across the caller ID window, but Jason thought nothing of it.
Mistake.
Today, three years later, the Las Vegas father recognizes this call as his first taste of something truly dismal: His ex-wife, who had filed for bankruptcy, used their child's name and social security number to buy a cell phone. Then she stopped paying the bill.
Jason found out when his son turned 6 and received a credit agency collection notice for $344.
As identity theft goes, the scam was particularly nefarious - abusing the name of your own child. Unfortunately, children are increasingly becoming victims of this kind of identity theft.
#2
This is just so evil. These people really need to be punished in a physical way, it's the only thing that will "cure" them, the fear that the physical pain will be revisited on them.
#3
To put this on a broader level, isn't the very nature of western european retirement systems amounting to stealing your child's credit?
Or, say, for France, the constant borrowing of money to simply keep the budget afloat (debt being 67% or 130¨of the GNP, according on how you count)?
#4
I had my computer stolen and it had all my families SSN's on it. I called to have my credit blocked and and it was no problem for me and my wife. My kids were another story. Since they were minors they could not, or would not, block their credit!!!! This will only get worse until the laws are change to protect our kids.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/12/2006 8:08
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#5
...This has actually been a rising problem for a few years now, and I'm frankly surprised it hasn't gotten more publicity. In my former job at a local loanshark finance company, we were seeing this start to be a serious matter among those of our customers who were getting disability and SSI checks for minor children.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/12/2006 9:52
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#6
The CCC's should have to pay for the restoration.
Which are basically the banks. And the banks don't care cause they simply pass any bad accounts on to all the other card holders. Notice that when the inflation hit during the last Carter years the banks quite lending till the states altered their usury laws. Back then rates were capped under 10 percent. They got the state legislatures to remove all caps rather than float a percentage above prime. So interest rates went to 21 percent. Inflation was throttled during the Reagan years and prime dropped to under 6 percent but credit card interest rates grudgingly came down from 21 to 18, then 18 to 15, and over a decade latter from 15 to 12. Its a gold mine built on the backs of everyone else without the banks carrying any real liability for issuing cards and credit to students, kids, or dogs. You start the tighten up the system and watch them scream that it is discriminatory against the poor and minorities who make up a disproportion of the poor. No, its a threat to their rape of the serfs. The new indentured population. No one is entitled to credit. Its earned. Way past time for interest to be capped by the prime by which these same banks get their float from the Federal Reserve and past time that they can dump their bad practices upon the backs of others. Time for the banks profit to take a big hit for improper lending practices. Make it hurt and theyll pay attention.
#8
As recently as the mid-70s this wouldn't have been a problem, as minors couldn't enter into a contract, which credit would entail. I'm not too sure what happened to this principle. Perhaps one of our legal experts could explain.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/12/2006 13:12
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alG. Everbody's bad. Except the Noble Savages, of course. They're purdy cute. Can we go back to the trees, now?
A weekend decision by the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council to launch an innocent-sounding joint nuclear energy development project is the clearest signal yet that Iran's nuclear programmes, whether sinister or not, could hasten the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction across the Middle East.
But the activities of acknowledged nuclear weapons states such as the US, Russia and Britain, and deepening frustrations among key non-nuclear, non-aligned players such as Indonesia and Argentina, are also stoking worries that the UN's cornerstone non-proliferation treaty (NPT) is not long for this life.
The Gulf countries - Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the UAE - made clear that, like Iran, they want nuclear know-how for solely "peace purposes". And it is not the first time the idea of an Arab bomb has come up. Egypt, Algeria, Morocco and Saudi Arabia have already declared an intention to develop civilian nuclear energy.
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#2
I don't think the UN has much to do with this. The non-Iranian Gulf states see the handwriting on the wall, they know the US won't stop Iran's nukes, so they are trying to protect themselves. What would you do if you were running one of these states & had a few billion in the bank?
Washington The bones of a baby plesiosaur have been recovered from an Antarctic island, scientists reported Monday.
In life, 70 million years ago, the 1.5-metre-long animal would have resembled Nessie, the long-necked creature reported to inhabit Scotland's Loch Ness.
The new fossil skeleton is one of the most complete of its type ever found, researchers said. It will go on display Wednesday at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology's Museum of Geology.
Plesiosaurs lived for millions of years in the then-warm southern ocean surrounding Antarctica, with adults growing as large as 9.75-metres long. With diamond-shaped fins they could fly through the water much as penguins do now.
The U.S. National Science Foundation said researchers battled freezing conditions and 110-kilometre-an-hour winds in recovering the fossil, which was too heavy to be carried out and had to be moved by helicopter.
Leaders of the 2005 expedition that recovered the plesiosaur were James Martin, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the museum, Judd Case of Eastern Washington University and Marcelo Reguero of the Museo de La Plata, Argentina.
The researchers said the animal's stomach area was well-preserved, including forked ribs, sometimes into three prongs, and numerous small, rounded stomach stones probably used to help maintain buoyancy or to aid digestion.
The skeleton was found in an area covered with volcanic ash, leading them to speculate that the plesiosaur was killed in an eruption, either by the blast or by ash dumped in the ocean. I think alGore killed it.
#4
The main reason we have been getting this cyclical ice ages is down to Antarctica sitting where it is at the moment. That plus its disconnect from what is now South America mean we have a giant refrigerator commanding the "bottom" of the planet.
Still, I am delighted to learn we can resolve this supposed global warming trend through a quick nuclear exchange between "Iran" and "Saudi" Arabia. Nothing like American know-how to get the job done.
Used to play in there as a child in the early 70s while my dad fooled around in the computer room working on his masters. He was a launch officer in the Minuteman silos. With nothing to do down there other than drills (thank goodness) the AF encourage them to go to graduate school and study.
Very nice little museum. At the time they had the only complete T-Rex skeleton in the world.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
12/12/2006 14:25
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JAKARTA - The United States, China and now a resurgent Russia are all competing for regional influence in Southeast Asia, and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is shrewdly playing his diplomatic cards among all three suitors.
Yudhoyono visited Moscow early this month and signed a wide raft of bilateral agreements, including big new arms, energy and trade deals. Most significant was a broad agreement to develop stronger military cooperation over the period spanning 2007-10, an arrangement that, if fully implemented, promises to tip the region's current strategic balance.
According to news reports, Jakarta has expressed its desire to purchase about US$3 billion worth of Russian armaments, and Moscow has provisionally offered $1 billion in five-year loans to facilitate the purchases. The multibillion-dollar arms deal is expected to be finalized when Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Indonesia next June.
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Construction of the Bushehr plant delayed, forcing Tehran to accelerate payments to Russia to complete it on schedule. 'Every country in the world has the right to develop nuclear industries for peaceful purposes and this goes for Iran too,' says Russian atomic director
Iran will accelerate its payments to Russia so that the latter will complete the construction of the Bushehr power plant according to the agreed schedule, this according to the head of the Russian atomic agency on Monday.
Russia has been contracted by Iran to construct a light water reactor for the Bushehr nuclear power plant, which Iran claims will only be used for civilian purposes.
Busheher is separate from the uranium enrichment projects concentrated primarily in the Natnaz and Isfahan sites. Iran has agreed to pay Russia USD 800 million for the construction of the reactor Russia in turn pledged to complete the job within several months, but the project encountered numerous financial and bureaucratic hurdles.
Until recently the construction of the reactor was a key factor in the dispute between Russia and the West regarding global sanctions on Iran. Western states wanted to forbid the sale of Russian nuclear fuel to Iran as part of the sanctions.
Russia opposed the clause and rejected the grave sanctions. However, the West recently displayed flexibility over the issue, saying that Russia may continue to construct the reactor and sell nuclear fuel to Iran after its completion, even to a sanctioned Tehran. This Western flexibility hopes that Russia will now drop its objection over the sanctions.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki and Head of the Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency Sergei Kiriyenko signed a 17-clause agreement, pledging cooperation in matters of energy, gas, electricity, nuclear energy, technology, space and commerce.
Kiriyenko also met with Iranian Atomic Energy Organization Director Gholamreza Aqazadeh to discuss the works at Bushehr. Agazadeh said during a joint press conference with Kiriyenko that Iran has decided to provide assistance beyond previous agreements to Russia in order to solve the technical problems of the power plant and to bring it on stream on schedule.
IAE Deputy Director Mohammad Saeedi emphasized that, Iran will not pay Russia more than what has been agreed.
Iranian FM Mottaki said that the construction of the light water reactor is a symbol of Iran-Russia relations.
"Irans nuclear issue must be resolved through diplomatic channels," said Kiriyenko, adding that Russia believes that "every country in the world has the right to develop nuclear industries for peaceful purposes and this goes for Iran too."
#1
WORLDTRIBUNE.com > Israel fears fighting TWO-FRONT WAR [Gaza agz Radic Paleos, Syria-Hizzies-Iran? in Lebanon] in 2007. OTOH, YAHOO NEWS > Minor = Regional Nuke war will still be bad for enviro, plus 3-17M "immediate casualties", thus key to global security is to prevent small states from acquiring nukes. READ - STOP IRAN, etal Rogues.
Unfortunately, nothing in here is actually surprising.
PESHAWAR, Pakistan: Islamic militants are using a recent peace deal with the government to consolidate their hold in northern Pakistan, vastly expanding their training of suicide bombers and other recruits and fortifying alliances with Al Qaeda and foreign fighters, diplomats and intelligence officials from several nations say. The result, they say, is virtually a Taliban ministate.
The militants, the officials say, are openly flouting the terms of the September accord in North Waziristan, under which they agreed to end cross- border help for the Taliban insurgency that revived in Afghanistan with new force this year.
#1
24/7 B52 runs will put a big ass dent in this problem. We need to tell the Pakistanis to FOAD and get after it. If they say anything say "try to stop us and we will destroy you and your government."
#4
The moment they declare themselves seperate from Pakistan, they are fair game.
They've always considered themselves separate from Pakistan - that's what the whole problem is about. The Pakistani government can't control the area. It's about time to teach them what being on the receiving end of a high-tech, mechanized, combined-forces army is like. Screw Predators and Global Hawk - run B-1s and B-52s down through the area, hitting any gathering larger than three people. Destroy all the roads, all the buildings, any other infrastructure that can be found, and blow up all the caves. Leave them NOTHING during the "long, cold, Afghan winter". Play 'whack-a-mole' with JDAMS and napalm, and see how they like it. Anyone from AP, Rooters, KUNA, the Pak press, and a half-dozen other useful idiots are also fair game.
We screwed around like this in Vietnam far too long. We don't need to do it today in the NWFP. Crush them, drag their carcassas into a pile and burn them, and beat the crap out of anyone that objects, especially the pakis or the UN. We still have a terrorist problem because we haven't gone mongol on the terrorists, and they laugh at us. I doubt anyone would be laughing after the NWFP was fumigated. Trembling in their boots, I hope, but definitely not laughing.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/12/2006 15:08
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#5
Can't argue with that Old Patriot. I think the pak's should give them indepence, since they can't do anything about the area anyway. Why on earth would they want this place anyway.
Even if they dont', they should be bombed, a lot.
#7
Several trillions spent to build, deploy, and upgrade a nuclear arsenal that sits and gathers dust and spider-webs. Here's an opportunity to reintroduce to our enemies (Japan, 1945) to the mushroom cloud. Has a way of humbling them.
It is either them or us. Unfortunately, the Appeasementcrats are willing to sacrifice an American city before we go Roman on the Islamo-Nazis.
#8
It is either them or us. Unfortunately, the Appeasementcrats are willing to sacrifice an American city before we go Roman on the Islamo-Nazis.
And even after we've lost a city or three, the Appeasers will still want to surrender. Change is going to have to start at home. I din't think I need to elaborate.
Ottawa Britain's Foreign Office minister says reluctant NATO allies need to get real about the threat posed by a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan. Kim Howells told a diplomatic audience at Canada's Foreign Affairs building in Ottawa that Britons are just as frustrated as Canadians about bearing the brunt of heavy fighting in the country's south.
German, Italian, French and Spanish forces patrol relatively quiet sectors and have refused to allow their troops to engage in combat. At the NATO summit two weeks ago, those countries agreed to loosen restrictions and promised to help Canadian, British, Dutch and American forces battling the Taliban, but only in emergencies.
Mr. Howells says it seems that there are two classes of NATO troops those who are allowed to die in order to protect freedom and other soldiers who are not allowed to do so. Without naming the countries, Mr. Howells says some of the allies are kidding themselves if they believe that they shouldn't get involved just because they haven't been targeted for a major terrorist attack. So the unnamed reporter names the names. Lol.
#1
ASIA TIMES > "NEW JERUSALEM" Book Review by Spengler > Future Christians, nay the future destiny of Christianity itself as a FAITH, will be from the "GLOBAL SOUTH" = SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE [Africans, Browns, Asians], White Euros per se are soon-to-be surreal, "former-" or "ex-
Christians", the latter lucky iff in name only.
#2
Britain's Foreign Office minister says reluctant NATO allies need to get real about the threat posed by a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan.
Why when it is the Foreign Ministry and/or State Department which ignores that reality that the Taliban have secure bases in Pakland? Cause that forces one to acknowledge that the solution is to take the fight to the enemy in Pakland which you don't want because it is soooo messy. Look in the mirror dude.
#3
Procopius: Point taken. As far as I am concerned the tribal lands on the frontier should be sterilized. That said, there is never a day when it is inappropriate to call the French cowards.
Migrants seeking citizenship will need a grasp of up to 200 questions about Australia under the proposed new nationality test - and to answer them in English.
But the Liberal MP Petro Georgiou signalled last night that he would oppose the Government's legislation. "I'm concerned that the tightening of the requirements will create unreasonable barriers to the acquisition of citizenship and that it will prevent people who would make a wonderful contribution to Australia from becoming citizens," he said.
The Prime Minister rushed out the broad details of the test yesterday in a move to wrest the spotlight from the new Opposition Leader, Kevin Rudd. The test will require answers to about 30 multiple-choice questions selected randomly from a secret list of 200 questions.
Continued on Page 49
Bad enough being teased by my Antipodean friends over Englands dismal cricket as it is .. When I finally emigrate , I dont want a bloody quiz asking me questions to further my cricketing humiliation..
#6
Anyone could explain the rules of that d... cricket? I am still recoverinbg from the shock after seeing England leads India 150 to 0 but she is losing. And what are those things named wickets?
You have 2 sides,
one out in the field and one in.
Each man that's in the side that's in goes out,
and when he's out he comes in and the next man goes in,
until he's out.
When they are all out,
the side that's out comes in,
and the side that's been in goes out and tries to get those coming in out.
Sometimes you get men still in and not out.
When both sides have been in and out,
including the not outs, that's the end of the game.
A British soldier in Iraq was shot dead by "friendly fire" three days after he had been ordered to hand back life-saving body armour, an inquest was told yesterday. Sgt Steven Roberts, 33, was killed at a checkpoint outside the town of Az Zubayr in 2003. An Army Board of Inquiry report found that if he had not given up his enhanced body armour the bullet would not have killed him.
Yesterday's inquest heard that the sergeant and other soldiers in his tank group had accepted the body armour order because they had been told "guys on the ground needed it more than us".
The death of Sgt Roberts, of 2 Royal Tank Regiment, in such circumstances led to an outcry and calls for Geoff Hoon, the defence secretary at the time, to be sacked. Samantha Roberts, the dead man's widow, campaigned to find out the truth about his death and called for an apology from Mr Hoon for the "unfillable void" it left in her life. Before yesterday's hearing in Oxford, she said: "I'm just going to go with an open mind and see what happens."
Continued on Page 49
#1
This happened around three years ago when there was a dearth of body armour amongst british troops thankfully things are different now. The defence secretary was replaced shortly after.
The NYT take...
TEHRAN, Dec. 11 Students disrupted a speech by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday at a major university in Tehran, setting fire to photographs of him and throwing firecrackers.
The protesters chanted death to the dictator and demanded the resignation of Alireza Rahai, a conservative and the chancellor of the institution, Amirkabir University, the Iranian Student News Agency reported. Mr. Rahai was appointed to the post after Mr. Ahmadinejad was elected. Amirkabir, a polytechnic university in downtown Tehran, has been a center of student dissent.
#1
Good for them. However, I've always felt that the students were too proud to ask for help. There's a major disconnect in thinking between what they think they can accomplish versus what it would really take to restore democracy to their country. They take a look at how regime change took place in nations with a Judaeo-Christian/Western mindset, and think that its just as easy to do the same thing in a nation whose people are programmed by Islam. Steeped in the belief that belief in Islam bestows inherent superiority over those that do not, they believe they can accomplish their aims without the need for outside aid. Although the Americans were prepared to fight alone, they welcomed the help of others, including *spit* France! *spit*
From Okinawa? Simply everyone deploys from Okinawa, dahling.
GAZA, Dec 12 (Reuters) - President Mahmoud Abbas ordered security forces to deploy across Gaza on Tuesday after the killing of three young sons of one of his loyalists shocked Palestinians and stoked fears of internal strife. President... Impressive. Sounds like it means something, y'know?
Tension between the moderate Abbas and the governing Hamas Islamist group soared after the attack by unidentified gunmen on Monday. The three children of a senior intelligence chief were shot dead as they arrived at school. I don't think we have a pic of "soaring tension". Fred? Mebbe a "twisting rope" thingy like in the old headache remedy ads? Nah, doesn't connote "soaring". I'm stumped.
Early on Tuesday, heavily-armed members of those security forces that take their orders from Abbas took up positions around key installations and road junctions in Gaza City. "Palestinian security forces deployed in all streets of Gaza City to prevent crime. This was upon orders from President Abbas," said one Palestinian security source. Makes it sound like a BIG place, eh? Very colorful.
A force loyal to the Hamas government also strengthened its positions. There was no immediate sign of friction between the Abbas and Hamas loyalists, but fear of fresh clashes deepened sharply on Monday. They added another layer of tires and tricycles.
It was the first time that children have been targeted in such an attack. Angry mourners firing guns stormed the parliament compound during the funeral for the boys, aged 6 to 9. Prolly killed a few more in their display of unrequited ferocity.
A senior Palestinian intelligence official in the occupied West Bank said it was unclear who was behind the attack on Colonel Baha Balousha's children. Someone. Someone mean. Someone nasty. Besides internal political unrest, Gaza is riven with clan fighting and a surge in crime following a Western aid embargo on the Hamas government that has deepened poverty. Do we gots any pics for "riven"? Damn, this Paleo stuff strains the archives.
Political tension has been rising over the failure of Hamas and the formerly dominant Fatah movement to form a unity government that Palestinians hope might end the Western boycott. Unity is one elusive bugger, alright. 'Specially when all you gots is Hate.
Abbas aides said on Saturday the president planned to call early elections after talks on a unity government foundered. Hamas accused Abbas of trying to topple the government, which came to power after winning elections. There's a "government". Who knew?
#4
Fatah should understand that as long as Hamas gunmen are deprived of their rights they will resist in the only way they can. Hamas does not have helicopters or rockets so it attacks children in response to Fatah aggression and occupation of Hamas land. Violence by Fatah in response would derail the fragile peace process and escalate the cycle of violence. When Fatah recognizes the legitimate rights of Hamas supporters and ends it brutal occupation the fighting will end. We must do all we can to implement a three state solution.
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
12/12/2006 13:09
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#5
Perish the thought, Baba Tutu, unless you give a thought to the plight of poor Islamic Jihad, left penniless and oh-so-vulnerable on the sidelines. For the sake of the children, and the rocks they are reduced to wielding against the agressors, we must surely implement a four state solution.
#6
what about the PFLP? Call it a five-state solution..
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/12/2006 15:43
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#7
I share Baba tutus thoughts. Ive posted them on site inhabited by a somewhat broader range than here, and the usual voices of terror apology were silent.
#8
There are a bunch of uninhabited but habitable rocks in the Pacific. Let's give each group their own rock! That would solve LOTS of problems, since most paleostains cannot swim - especially the women (can you imagine swimming in a burqa?).
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/12/2006 16:37
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Simply everyone was there, dahling.
TEHRAN, IRAN Iran held a gathering that included Holocaust deniers, discredited scholars and white supremacists from around the world on Monday under the guise of a conference to "debate" the Nazi slaughter of 6 million Jews. The Flat World morons are more credible.
Among those representing the United States was the former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, whose prepared remarks, issued by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said the gas chambers in which millions perished actually did not exist.
Robert Faurisson, an academic from France, said in his speech that the Holocaust was a myth created to justify the occupation of Palestine, meaning the creation of Israel.
This is what Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has frequently claimed, and it was Ahmadinejad's statements that inspired the foreign ministry to hold the conference. The ministry said 67 people from 30 countries were participating in the two days of meetings.
In a welcoming speech, Rasoul Mousavi, head of the Foreign Ministry's Institute for Political and International Studies, said the session would provide an opportunity to discuss the Holocaust "away from Western taboos and the restriction imposed on them in Europe." In several European countries, denial of the Holocaust is a crime.
Speakers at the conference praised Ahmadinejad's comments about the Holocaust. Finally, a "world leader" who understands us!
Bendikt Frings, 48, a psychologist from Germany, said he believed Ahmadinejad was "an honest, direct man." He said he had come to the conference to thank the president for what he initiated. "We are forbidden to have such a conference in Germany," he said. "All my childhood, we waited for something like this."
Frederick Toben, from Australia, said Ahmadinejad had opened an issue "which is morally and intellectually crippling the Western society. People are imprisoned in Germany for denying the Holocaust," he added.
Duke argued that inventions about what happened to Europe's Jews were part of a plot. He said, "Depicting Jews as the overwhelming victims of the Holocaust gave the moral high ground to the Allies as victors of the war and allowed Jews to establish a state on the occupied land of Palestine."
The event has sparked outrage in the West. I'm sparked. Outraged? No, I expect no more from the Bottom-Feeders.
Germany summoned the Iranian chargé d'affaire to express its anger, and the French foreign minister, Philippe Douste-Blazy, has condemned the conference.
#1
What's up this group of anti-Israel Jews in Iran? I've often wondered if their 'position' on Israel has much to do with the 'position' this small group of the Diaspora lives in. Otherwise why the hell would they even give the time of day to Mad Mood Imadinnerjacket?
#5
Good article, RD. Notice that there aren't any women in that group in the photo, also the archaic dress and carefully trained earlocks. This group is a tiny extremist sect, but they get a lot of press amongst the anti-Zionists of the world, who are thrilled to be able to quote Jews calling for the erasure of Israel. They have about as much validity as David Duke. I first heard about them here at Rantburg, from trolls raving against Israel.
#6
The West is not "outraged", it's "appalled". There's a difference. We're constantly amazed at the collective stupidity of muslims - and the psychopaths they attrack to their death cult.
#7
exactly - revoke the passports and citizenship of the pond scum attendees, and let them live in Dinnerjacket's paradise.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/12/2006 10:23
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#8
To be honest, how different is this meeting from the ones held every week in the un? Hell pretty much the same players, statements, complaints, and denials. Too bad the press doesn't open their eyes and see that.
#10
Probably think if they get The Grand Dragon in on this as the token American, it'll lend it some "legitimacy".
Kinda like having Jimmy Carter watchdog your election...
#13
some ultra orthodox Jews, esp some Hasidic groups, beleive A. That big issues in general lie in the hand of G-d, and that humans should not attempt to shape history. They are fatalists, quietists, like the Amish in some ways (though not absolute pacifists - shooting an intruder wouldnt count as trying to shape history) B. That the Jewish state can only be established by King-Messiah, and that any attempt by humans to do so is blasphemy. That the Zionist attempt has led SOME Orthodox Jews to cooperate closely with Jewish secularists only makes it even more offensive.
Most Hasidic groups, however, have more or less made peace with Israel, and accept it as morally neutral - they will accept subsidies from it, and participate in its elections, the same way they would with a gentile govt in the diaspora. The Szatmar however, and I think also the Muncach, are still strongly opposed to the state, and attack it verbally. Neturie Karta is a faction within Szatmar that goes around grabbing publicity by hanging out with Islamofascist types. They are minority within a minority (the Szatmar) within a minority (the Orthodox) within a minority (The Jews)
#14
Correction - by humans OTHER than King-Messiah. The Szatmar certainly share the tenet of traditional Jewish theology that the Messiah will be a human.
#15
The Aryan Nations main page is full of jihadi propaganda now. Their fig-leaf is some positive commentary about Arabs made by Hitler in his "My Jihad" bio. But basically I think their retardation is showing.
More than six million people were killed as part of the Nazi genocide called the Holocaust. More than one million of those people died in two neighboring concentration camps in Poland - Auschwitz and Birkenau. After the Nazis abandoned the camps in December 1944, Russian troops freed the remaining prisoners, destroyed the buildings, and secretly took most of the records from the camps back to Moscow.
In the aftermath of the war, survivors told horrifying stories of gas chambers, mass graves, and huge crematoriums. Many Nazi leaders were convicted of serious war crimes on the basis of these testimonies. However, without specific records such as blueprints and written orders, investigators had some difficulty determining the extent of Hitler's plans for mass extermination. Some Nazi leaders argued that the camps were used only as labor camps and that the crematoriums were used merely to burn the bodies of prisoners who had died of disease or from the harsh conditions. Nearly 50 years later, NOVA joins a British historian who has gained access to the files and gathered powerful evidence to show how Nazi death camps were planned and constructed.
The Nazis had a mania for documentation. Despite attempts to destroy records and blueprints from the death camps, some survived and were closely examined in order to verify the intended purpose of these installations. This 1995 NOVA documentary went to great pains in order to scientifically identify the real and intended function of these facilities.
Features such as railway spurs and occupancy levels were carefully analysed to establish beyond doubt the ghastly purpose of these murder machines. Using industrial throughput calculations, it is demonstrated that these structures were built first and foremost for the bulk processing of freshly killed human remains.
David Duke is consorting with the enemy. He is providing moral support and participating in a convention whose sole purpose is revisionism. He needs to be declared persona non grata.
#17
liberalhawk, thank you for the detailed clarification. I only knew the barest outlines. Zenster, I didn't know that serious research had been done on the industrial design of the camps -- very useful information! :-) Excalibur, the sad thing about the Aryan Nation and their ilk is they never fail to exceed the lowest expectations.
#18
Don't our passports still mark Iran as a "Do not visit under major mojo" nation?
So visit major mojo jail time on David Duke when the grand wizard returns.
Baghdad (Rooters) - A suicide bomber killed 45 people and wounded scores in central Baghdad today after luring a crowd of poor day labourers to his vehicle with promises of work, the Interior Ministry said.
Police said 148 people were wounded when the bomber's vehicle exploded at 7am (1500 AEDT) in Tayran Square, sending a cloud of black smoke into the sky.
Gunfire sounded immediately after the blast.
Tayran Square is typically a gathering point for carpenters, plumbers, brick-layers, painters and other workers in the construction trade who frequent the cafes and street vendors in the early morning while waiting for the chance of some work.
About 90 minutes later, a roadside bomb exploded near an Iraqi police patrol, but the Interior Ministry said there were no casualties in that incident.
A third explosion rocked the centre of the city shortly afterwards, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.
Update: Dual Bombing in Central Baghdad Kills 57
Suspected insurgents set off two bombs in a main square of central Baghdad where scores of Iraqis were waiting for jobs as day laborers on Tuesday, killing at least 57 people and wounding 151, police said.
The carefully coordinated attack in Tayaran Square at 7 a.m. involved a parked car bomb and a suicide attacker who drove up in a minibus, pretended to hire day laborers, then set off his explosive as they got into his vehicle, said police Lt. Bilal Ali.
The simultaneous explosions, which occurred about 100 feet apart, shattered windows in store fronts, left crafters and blood stains in the road, and set fire to least 10 other cars.
At least 57 Iraqis, including seven policemen, were killed in the attack and 151 people wounded, Ali said. More at Update link...
#1
Take with a huge grain of salt. I just googled "Bilal Ali", and he turned up on this website. In fact, I would recommend the information from this site be put somewhere on Rantburg for everyone who posts a story to check out. Apparently "Lt. Bilal Ali" is another "Capt. Jamaal Hussein". There are quite a few other names on the list, and Centcom has more.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/12/2006 16:21
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#2
Excellent suggestion, OP! That Malkin list would be a good benchmark on dubious AP sources.
Ousted imams want airline settlement
WASHINGTON, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Five of six Muslim imams who were taken off a US Airways flight in Minneapolis last month want an out-of-court settlement from the airline for the ordeal. Ordeal?
After the Nov. 28 incident, the airline offered to meet with the group of clerics Dec. 4, but the men declined and instead sought legal help from the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington.
"With the hopes of reaching an amicable resolution to this matter, we would like to take this opportunity to ask for a formal meeting with US Airways executives and legal counsel," Arsalan Iftikhar, CAIR's national legal director, wrote to the airline. CAIR. Figures.
There are conflicting reports of what happened after security agents escorted the men off the plane based on other passengers' complaints of suspicious activity, the Washington Times said Monday.
CAIR claims the men were handcuffed for several hours, but one of the imams told the Times he was only handcuffed for "10 or 15 minutes" and that the imams were not led off the plane in handcuffs. Taqiyya, baby. I'll bet there are security tapes which prove it, one way or t'other.
An airline spokeswoman said the meeting request was received, but a date has not been set. Tell 'em, politely, to Fuck Off. Beat 'em like a drum. Ticket sales will (continue to) skyrocket, lol.
#5
Straight out of Jesse Jacksons playbook. Maybe USair could give them some beer distributorships.
They got their money back shortly after they were "deplaned"... that quicker than any white businessperson would get a refund from USscare.
#11
I can't imagine US Airways will cave. Arsalan Iftikhar has got to be a household name by now, having threatened to sue just about everyone on the planet -- including me. A few years back, I wrote a column for a college paper that contained one sentence referencing CAIR's terror connections.
Six hours after it was posted online, at a university several hundred miles from DC, he e-mailed me and the editors with all kinds of demands and threats, and threats if we told anyone about the demands and threats. I presented a pile of evidence to the editors and counsel that my claim was true, and luckily, they had a backbone. They told him to piss off, and that was the last we heard of it.
And that's all anyone has to do to put an end to this shit.
#12
Oh yeah, funny side note. I forwarded Arse's threat letter to Daniel Pipes, and he sent a most interesting reply.
My column stated simply that five CAIR officials had been arrested, deported, or convicted on terrorism charges, without naming names. In attacking this claim, Arse did name names, mentioning a Rabih Haddad who had been a CAIR official in Michigan.
Pipes reponded that he knew Haddad was a jihadi player, but hadn't been able to confirm his association with CAIR. Until he read Arse's furiously dashed-off letter, that is.
#13
Like I mentioned in the other thread dealing with this, US Airways needs to file a countersuit.
It is clear these individuals conspired to interfere with their flight. As I recall, they occupied 9-11 seating positions with one of them in first class without any ticketing for it. I also seem to recall that their initial 9-11 positions we counter to their personal seating assignments as well. These simple points, along with how they managed to trigger so many other separate security threshholds with their actions should be sufficient to obtain a rather damaging settlement.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A Marine helicopter made a hard landing Monday in a remote desert area of Anbar province, injuring 18 people, the third U.S. aircraft to go down in the insurgent stronghold in two weeks. The CH-53E Super Stallion, the U.S. military's largest helicopter, was conducting a routine passenger and cargo flight with 21 people on board when it went down about noon, the U.S. command said, adding that hostile fire did not appear to be the cause.
Nine of the 18 injured were treated and returned to duty, it said. The military did not give the exact location where the hard landing occurred, saying recovery efforts were under way.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/12/2006
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#2
He may be correct. There are mountains of these containers everywhere. And, yes, it's the the major banking entities behind the "globalization". Thye make their cut no matter what. And, they have no respect for nation states.
#4
He may well be right about the Bank lending ponzi scheme. I used to to work for an Asian bank and know their lending policies, probably the best in Asia, didn't account for value of an asset in a location.
Otherwise, he doesn't understand market economics. Just because an asset costs and is worth $6,000 in a particular place, it doesn't follow it is worth $6,000 or any other amount in a different place. The key equation is the cost of the container and the cost of shipping it to it's place of manufacture/original use. If the cost is more then it makes economic sense to just let them pile up at the point of deliver (and then scrap them).
#5
Phil, you accusation that the guy doesn't understand market economics is off base, and your comment about the value of an asset versus its cost is exactly at the foundation of the argument: The Ponzi scheme he's talking about relies on the fact that the value of the shipping container is worth $6000 WHERE THE LOAN WAS MADE, and it is THAT value of the container that is used to compute the value of the collateral against which the loan is made, AND the value that is carried on the books to balance the outgo of the cash in the form of the loan.
Just because an asset costs and is worth $6,000 in a particular place, it doesn't follow it is worth $6,000 or any other amount in a different place.
EXACTLY the guy's point: this particular asset is a SHIPPING CONTAINER. It's FUNCTION is to be relocated to a different place. The moment it gets there, its REAL value changes to that location's value based on the market decision of make or buy or ship to different place to sell it. Because there are a LOT of containers piling up here, at some point it would be cheaper to buy them from here at less than $6000 than make them.
However, the REAL value of an asset is indeterminate in a quantum-mechanical sense: it is computed ONLY when an attempt to SELL it is made. That happens when "Ponzi" skips out and tells the bank to recover their loan by selling the collateral put up against the loan. At that point in time, "economic sense" changes polarity, from "how much can I GAIN from selling this asset" to "how much can we avoid LOSING on this loan?" Banks don't want cars, houses, land, or shipping containers: they want CASH, BOTH from principal and interest. The interest payments merely lull them into a sense that the loan is still good. When they stop is when the pain begins.
The best way to force the termination of the scheme is for the shipping yards to CHARGE for storage of the containers at their yards after 30 days. Those who don't will find themselves unable to receive new shipping if they can't space to put the new containers because its being taken up by the old ones.
#6
But, Ptah, that too is what he is saying. These containers are NOT stored at the ports. They are stored wherever they are destined. Shipped into Seattle, Long Beach, etc., but they only sit there long enough to be hooked up onto the trains. Then, the containers are taken inland (by 1000's of miles in some cases). They will NOT pay to ship that empty container back from OK, KS, NE, SD, ND, etc. to the coast to "re-ship" with our goods. So, they sit there rusting in OK City, Kansas City, etc.
Posted by: BA ||
12/12/2006 13:09
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#7
Every traffic transportation managers nightmare. Too many empties too far away.
#9
We've several thousand here in Mobile, there's a huge storage yard beside I-10 with a clearly visible huge sign selling them for $2000-5000 depending on size.
About 6 months ago my brother wanted one to store things while he reroofed and rebuilt his garage/storage building, and there were none available, we were told that Wal Mart had bought all they had to ship things around internaly (USA) after Katrina. So they are being resold and reused.
Since then they have some more to sell. I personaly was thinking about getting three, possibly four and welding them together and using them as an underground home (Concrete encased) it seems about the cheapest I could build a home for, figure around 30 grand, mostly for concrete and haulage/excavation.
So there is a resale market, although Katrina caused this surge, what happens when Wal Mart keeps on reusing them internaly, seems to me that's a far better use than trying to ship them back to China.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/12/2006 19:54
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#10
Once buried, the things would make decent "instant" bombshelters.
I'd also like to see a tariff imposed that forces these assets back into the hands of the sponsoring entities. If shipping costs included a round-trip performance bond of some sort, suddenly all this cheap crap that China floods our markets with wouldn't be so cheap anymore.
This is just one more example of how the Chinese subsidize predatory marketing practices at the cost of our domestic manufacturing and employment.
#11
The Ponzi scheme he's talking about relies on the fact that the value of the shipping container is worth $6000 WHERE THE LOAN WAS MADE.
Let's throw some elaboration here. Say there's a Chinese shipping company. Let's call it Chinois Blow Chow (CBC).
CBC needs 10,000 containers. But it doesn't buy the 10,000 containers. That falls to wholly-owned subsidiaries, say, CBCC(A), in Seattle and CBCC (L) in London. (It's not farfetched; every shipping company I've dealt with had each ship set up as its own corporation, who then 'hired' the parent company to do all the administrative work).
CBCC(A) and CLCC(L) cut a deal for 5,000 containers each at $2,500/container. BCC(A)and CBCC(L) get financing for them at $6000 each, then lease them to CBC for a modest amount. CBCC(A) and CBCC(L) pay CBC for 'delivering' the containers. The amount is near the difference between $2500 and $6000. CBC also likely collects a subsidy from the Chinese government.
#12
I can think of lots of uses for the containers, at the right price. Prison annexes. Shipping illegal aliens south. Storage units. Hurricane shelters.
#13
I am curious about the legal status of the containers. Presumably they are simply abandoned when they are unloaded, hence Wal-Mart flogging them off in Mobile and elsewhere.
Shell is being forced by the Russian government to hand over its controlling stake in the world's biggest liquefied gas project, provoking fresh fears about the Kremlin's willingness to use the country's growing strength in natural resources as a political weapon. After months of relentless pressure from Moscow, the Anglo-Dutch company has to cut its stake in the $20bn Sakhalin-2 scheme in the far east of Russia in favour of the state-owned energy group Gazprom.
The Russian authorities are also threatening BP over alleged environmental violations on a Siberian field in what is seen as a wider attempt to seize back assets handed over to foreign companies when energy prices were low. It's not like they have the rule of law to restrain them.
The moves will alarm many investors in the City of London as Shell and other share prices are hit, but the news will also increase ministers' concerns about Britain's energy security. Not to mention making it clear that you can't do business in Russia. In that way they're no better than any other thugocracy. You know, like Saddam.
Russia is becoming a key source of natural gas to the UK and Gazprom has already made clear it would like to buy a company such as Centrica, which owns British Gas. One third of western Europe's natural gas is supplied by Russia - a figure expected to rise over the next decade. Boy howdy, the new Muslim rulers of Eurabia are sure going to have a problem figuring that one out.
The security of energy supply is now the main political issue between the EU and the Kremlin. Nervousness about the Russians was heightened last winter when the gas supply to Ukraine was cut off in the middle of a political dispute. "Everyone in class paying attention? You there in the back, Nigel, see what we did to Mikhail here?"
Shell confirmed last night that its chief executive, Jeroen van der Veer, met Gazprom's chairman, Alexei Miller, in Moscow last Friday but would say only that the talks on Sakhalin-2 were "constructive". The Russian company said that "Shell did indeed make several proposals concerning Sakhalin-2" at the meeting which came after Shell was threatened with having its operating licence withdrawn. I'll bet they became real constructive.
The energy minister, Viktor Khristenko, is expected to give details today of a deal under which Shell and its Japanese partners are likely to get a small cash payment in return for giving Gazprom a big stake in the project.
Dmitry Peskov, the official spokesman of Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, hit out yesterday at critics in the western media who implicated the Russian government in manipulating oil projects and the poisoning of dissidents. He said there was too much "anti-Russian hysteria". With reference to BP's oil spills in Alaska, he added: "If it's an environmental problem in Alaska it's environmental. If it's in Russia you call it politics." Well yeah, 'cause there hasn't been a big oil spill in Russia.
But other senior politicians in Moscow had no doubt Shell was being harassed into reducing its 55% stake in Sakhalin-2 to something close to 25% through relentless pressure from ministries. "In the current situation Shell will not be able to defend its economic interests in a civilised process with the Russian authorities, ... ... since a civilized process doesn't exist ...
... so they will be obliged to give up control if they want to save at least some adequate part of the project," said Vladimir Milov, Russia's former deputy energy minister.
Bob Amsterdam, the lawyer of the jailed oil oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, said the Kremlin was "once again" using legal pretexts to cover what was essentially an expropriation of private resources in the energy sector. "The Kremlin ought to cease this behaviour," he said. That'll tell 'em.
The Sakhalin-2 project is scheduled to start operations in 2008 and involves finding and producing oil and gas near Sakhalin island, formerly known only as a penal colony during the tsarist and Soviet eras. The two fields that make up Sakhalin-2 have an estimated 1.2bn barrels of oil and 500bn cubic metres of natural gas. The gas is to be brought ashore, liquefied and frozen before being shipped to customers in Japan and elsewhere.
The scheme created almost immediate controversy with western conservation groups because it involves putting equipment close to breeding grounds of endangered western grey whales. There has also been criticism that sensitive salmon fishing areas are being hit by dumping of dredging spoil waste amid worries about oil spills from platforms in the Okhotsk and Japanese seas.
But even non-governmental organisations have expressed surprise at the way the Russian authorities have taken up environmental issues since the summer after taking little interest before. Mr Peskov said it was a coincidence of timing and that it was "a process that is natural for every country" to come to eventually. Mr Putin's spokesman said Russia wanted to encourage western investment and wanted closer links with west European countries to foster mutual "interdependence". "We love our baby seals! We used a dozen of 'em on Mrs. Putin's coat, and lemme tell ya she thought they were great!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
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#1
Sakhalin island, formerly known only as a penal colony during the tsarist and Soviet eras.
Actually, Sakhalin was jointly ruled by Russia and Japan from the 1860s. Japan annexed the southern half of the island in 1905. Russia regained possesion by bravely invading 4 days before Japan surrendered in 1946
#3
Doesn't matter.
All of eastern siberia will be part of either China or the New Manchu Peoples Republic within another 10 or 20 years...
Putie is playing a losing hand.
#4
So whatcha gonna do Werld? And you, Nederlanders? Neener-neener. I am Tsar! I am invincible! I steal Super Bowl rings and companies and assets! Bwahahahaha! No bauble too small, no conglomerate too large! I have Po210! I can do anything!
#5
This is what happens when you snuggle up with the Bear.( Bear gets hungry and swallows ya) Same is happening in China. All these turncoat bastards who moved all American jobs there are getting shafted. Motorola lost their ass and all their technical capital. Shit, same happened 30 years ago when Chrysler got f**cked over. These greedy numbnuts never learn. Have to get bashed right in the face again to get a friggin' clue.
#7
ASIA TIMES says it more succintly - Russia is using its post-Berlin Wall/1991/USSR newfound econ wealth and redirecting POL flows from the world unto itself + Asia [Asia = read, Russia]. Meanwhile, JAMESTOWN.ORG > BEIJING'S NEW GRAND STRATEGY > China ,for now, seeks to PC stay a THIRD-WORLD, "STATUS QUO" STATE-POWER while quietly or subtlely STRENGTHENING ITS GLOBAL = GEOPOL POSITION vv USA , by use of "extra-military instruments". IOW, like Dubya in IRAQ, will "stay the course" while simul BUILDING-CONTRUCTING ITS FUTURE DESTINY. JAMESTOWN - National Modernization is viewed by China as [temporarily?]more important than the Re-Unification Issue wid TAIWAN.
*NOTE wid JAMESTOWN.org article > USA ONLY, NOT AGZ RUSSIA.
#9
It's Chinese government policy to regain all the territories lost under 'unfair' 19th century treaties. This includes most of Khabarovsk Krai and Sakhalin Island lost to Russia in the 1850/60s (although Chinese control of Sahkalin was never more than token).
Incidentally the background to my next novel, if I ever get around to finishing it.
#12
Look for other oil countries to 'renegotiate' contracts with the big oil companies. There's profit in those company coffers just waiting to be harvested. In the past the result has been cessation of investment of industry capital and expertise, but 1) they (oil governments) don't look that far ahead (goose - golden egg), and 2) now there's China just waiting (instigating?) to offer ITS capital and expertise. And the Chavezes of the world won't recognize the chains attached to the deals - tougher by far than any chains attached by Shell or even the US government.
#13
The Mexican government seized and then incorporated into the ruling family alliances nationalized the foreign oil assets in the 30s. We see today where that has led to. I guess the Chinese had better get working on refurbishing that Great Wall now in anticipation of the wave of illegals to be headed their way in another 30+ years. At least they have a wall in place.
#14
Everything is proceeding to plan. All the 60's Leftists that were enraged and horrified at the collapse of the Soviet Union are diligently working towards our defeat.
Given that our politicians can't find the spine to resist the Islamists, should one expect them to fight the resurgent Russian Commies? It's a toss up as to whom the Lefties will deliver us to first.
#16
Shell should get ALL of their people out of Russia.
And the last one to leave should set the gas field on fire just before his helicopter lifts off.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/12/2006 15:40
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#17
In the wake of the Chinese leasing a chunk of Siberia, the US should start buying it- start at the Bering Strait and work its way West. It would be money well spent and keep two enemies a bit further back. The political and population vacuum in Siberia will not last forever.
The Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) Secretariat said on Monday that there was no parallel government in the North Waziristan Agency following a peace deal with local Taliban. Tribal authorities are in control of the agencys affairs, said FATA Security Secretary Arbab Mohammad Arif while briefing media personnel after a meeting of FATA secretaries and political agents to review the law and order situation and development activities in tribal areas.
Arif rejected the reports that tribesmen sought Talibans help to resolve their disputes, and added that no cross border attacks were being carried out on Afghanistan from Pakistani soil. He said local Taliban had distributed a pamphlet to impose taxes on business activities in Waziristan, but that the tax had been withdrawn after a monitoring team negotiated with them (the Taliban).
He said the Waziristan peace deal would be implemented. According to the deal, foreigners would either leave Pakistan or furnish guarantees to the authorities for their good conduct, he said, adding that the peace accords implementation required time.
He said no peace deal had been made regarding the Bajaur strike that killed 82 people on October 30. Arif said the situation in Bajaur Agency was different from that of north and south Waziristan, and that there was no need for a peace deal similar to the one in Waziristan.
He said that after MNA Haroon Rashids resignation, by-elections for the vacant seat would be held on January 10, adding that around five candidates had submitted nomination papers towards that end.
He said there had been no ban on the entry of journalists to tribal areas. Journalists entry had been disallowed for a short period due to security reasons, he said. During the meeting, political authorities were directed to ensure timely reporting of incidents taking place in their respective agencies to the FATA Secretariat for dissemination to media, he added.
He said the political agents were also directed to send analysis reports to the secretariat on a monthly basis, and that the NWFP governor would also be kept informed of the reports. He said efforts would be made to increase interaction between the political authorities and media so that journalists could have easy access to information. Regarding the ongoing clash between two armed groups in Khyber Agency, the secretary said it was a local issue and that authorities were trying to sort out differences among rivals.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/12/2006
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#1
Sailing on the river denial, and assuming the rest of us are cruisin' with him. Predator his a$$.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/12/2006 22:04
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BAGHDAD - Gunmen wearing Iraqi army uniforms ambushed a security vehicle transporting money to the Central Bank in Baghdad and made off with $1 million in cash on Monday, police and Interior Ministry sources said.
Four private security guards were kidnapped in the daylight robbery in busy Sadoun Street in central Baghdad in an attack that highlighted the lawlessness gripping the capital. The security vehicle was transporting money in sacks from a local bank to the Central Bank in nearby Rasheed Street when it was stopped by about 20 gunmen travelling in three vehicles with no license plates, police and Interior Ministry sources said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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Suspected Sunni insurgents abducted nine Shiites on Monday after pulling them off a minibus on its way to a predominantly Shiite area south of Baghdad. The bus had left the capital on its way to Kut when it was stopped at 6:30 p.m. at a checkpoint set up by the suspected insurgents. The attackers checked the IDs of the passengers, then drove away with them apparently after determining they were Shiites, police Lt. Hadi Hassan said. They let the driver and three or four passengers go because they were Sunnis, but they stole the minibus, said Hassan, an officer in Madain, a town near the area where the bus was stopped.
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Rebels in Sudan's western region of Darfur said a government warplane killed eight civilians, mostly children, in a northern village on Monday. Sudan's armed forces said the report was a fabrication designed for propaganda purposes. Jarennabi Abdel-Karim, a spokesman for a faction of the rebel Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) which refused to sign a peace agreement with Sudan's Khartoum-based government in May, said the plane fired a rocket at a house in the village of Hashaaba. "Eight people from the same family were killed," he told Reuters via satellite telephone. "Most of them are children."
He gave what he said were the names of the eight people, including 50-year-old Fatmah Abdullah and seven children whose ages range between three and 13 years old. The incident could not be independently verified.
Posted by: Fred ||
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An IDF soldier from the Lavi Battalion was moderately wounded Monday during clashes with Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank town of Kabatiya, south of Jenin. The soldier was evacuated by helicopter to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa and was treated for a gunshot wound to the forehead. The soldier was wounded during a routine arrest raid in the West Bank town. An armed Palestinian opened fire at the military force and hit the soldier. Another soldier was lightly wounded during the gun clashes.
The Palestinians opened fire in a well-planned ambush at the soldiers after a Humvee vehicle, used by the troops, accidentally overturned. No one was injured in the accident. The cause of the jeep accident was unknown. IDF patrols operate regularly in Jenin, and the West Bank city is the frequent site of clashes between soldiers and Palestinians. Overnight Sunday, Palestinians threw several bombs at IDF troops operating in the area. No casualties were reported in the incident.
Elsewhere in the West Bank, IDF troops arrested a Palestinian woman west of Bethlehem who approached them in possession of a knife. The woman told her interrogators that she intended to attack the soldiers.
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Two alleged conduits of banned terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), including a junior assistant with the Revenue Department in Jammu and Kashmir, have been arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi police at Mahipalpur here. The police claim to have recovered 1.5 kg of RDX, Rs. 6 lakh in hawala money and detonators from them.
A team led by Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma received a tip-off recently that Mohammad Akmal, a resident of Pakistan and LeT district commander of Pattan in the Valley, had been sending people to Delhi to collect money sent through illegal hawala channels and deliver explosives to militants. Acting on a tip-off that the two would again come to a Mahipalpur bus shelter on Sunday, the police laid a trap and arrested them after recovering the explosive consignment, two detonators and the hawala money.
They identified themselves as Gulzar Ahmad Ganai (20), a second year undergraduate student; and Mohammad Amin Hazam (29), junior assistant with the Revenue Department at Baramulla, both residents of Pattan. The accused purportedly admitted that they came into contact with Akmal, who operated under the codename Abu Tahir in October. He purportedly persuaded them to work as conduits for the outfit.
At his instance, the accused collected Rs. 5 lakh from Delhi in November. During their second visit, the two went to Mumbai where they allegedly collected the explosive and the hawala money from one Nazir at the Gateway of India.
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12/12/2006
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LeT Perps in custody...
Posted by: john ||
12/12/2006 12:41
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Tamil Tiger rebels and Sri Lankan troops exchanged artillery and mortar fire during a fierce daylong battle in the countrys east that left at least 64 combatants dead, the military said Monday. An officer at the governments Media Centre for National Security said 24 soldiers were killed and 69 wounded in Sundays battle with the insurgents in the eastern Batticaloa district. Forty rebels were also killed in the clash, the officer said speaking on condition of anonymity due to policy. Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan said, however, that at least seven rebel fighters died in the clashes.
The military said guerrillas mounted artillery attacks on four army locations in Batticaloa district, prompting soldiers to launch retaliatory attack. Sundays fighting came a day after thousands of ethnic Sinhalese fled from their homes to escape violence in neighbouring Trincomalee district. Tamil Tigers said in an e-mail statement that 19 civilians were killed by army artillery fire Sunday, a day after 22 Tamil civilians reportedly died from military shelling. The military, however, accused the Tigers of holding Tamil civilians as human shields. Independent verification of the incidents was not possible because reporters and aid workers are not allowed into the area.
After a fierce battle in Trincomalee district on Saturday, at least 3,000 Sinhalese civilians from 750 families took shelter in two Buddhist temples and two schools in Kantale village, some 30 kilometres southwest of Trincomalee town, said Sirimevan Dharmasena, the chief government bureaucrat in Kantale.
Maj Upali Rajapakse said five civilians died and 16 more were wounded by shells fired from rebel areas into ethnic Sinhalese villages in Trincomalee, prompting civilians to leave their homes. Medical sources said dozens of civilians wounded in weekend shelling poured into a hospital inside rebel-held territory. Sources in the Vakarai hospital inside territory held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) said 27 dead civilians were brought there. We also have 65 people wounded who have been brought for treatment, a medical source said when contacted by telephone. He said some areas were still unreachable due to fears of shelling, although there were fewer attacks Monday.
Meanwhile in the capital Colombo on Monday, about 5,000 people participated in a rally demanding the government ban the Tamil Tiger rebels. The protesters held placards which read Shame for daydreaming a political solution, and Shame for persisting with cease-fire agreement.
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12/12/2006
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The Muslime terrorist in Sri Lanka have artillery? Not news but here is an open question, who is funding them?
QUETTA: Talal Bugti, son of the late Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, on Monday alleged that his son Shah Zain Bugti had escaped an assassination attempt the other day. In a press statement, Talal said that Shah Zain was visiting his agricultural land in the Pat Feeder Canal area when some unidentified men attacked him. They are the same people who had isolated my father in the mountains, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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I miss ol' Foster Grant. The 'Burg's just not the same without him.
TAMBARAM/CHENNAI: Residents of a house in the southern suburb Peerkankaranai near Tambaram had the shock of their life when a young crocodile strayed into their home early on Monday. The noise made by the 4-foot long reptile woke them up. "Wot? Wot? Who's there?"
It was later caught by Wildlife personnel and released into Vandalur Zoological Park. "AND STAY OUT!"
"... We were shocked by its sight," said Mumtaj. "Uhhh... Honey? Do we own a crocodile?"
Her husband Abdul Salam, a Transport department employee residing on Professor Street in Peerkankaranai, said he had opened the door at 2.15 a.m. Barely had he taken a few steps, when he was confronted by the reptile. "Salam! Look out! He's got a knife!"
"Hrarrr! Wot's this? A human? Looks mighty tasty!"
They called the police control room, "Hello? Police control room?"
which alerted the Peerkankaranai police station. "Calling all cars! Be on the lookout for a crocodile! That is all!"
"Car 54 to Police Control! That's it? Can you describe the crocodile?"
Even as a police team arrived, neighbours crowded around Mr. Salam's house. "Damn! Lookit dat, Mukkerjee!"
"It's 2.15 a.m.! Why aren't you people at home in bed?"
The crocodile had, by then, entered the bathroom. "Oh, man! Thought I wasn't gonna make it! I don't think that cow agreed with me!"
Police personnel prevented curious onlookers from getting too close to the animal. "Egad! The croc's sitting on Salam's throne!... He's grunting!"
[SPLASH!]
"Oh my GAWD! For the good of your soul, don't inhale, Patel!"
Forest department personnel, alerted by the police, arrived around 5 a.m. Thereby giving the creature time to scare the hell out of the Salams, eat their cow, stop up their toilet, smoke all Salam's cigars, and then root through their underwear drawer.
Residents of Peerkankaranai said this was not their first close encounter with the reptile. "Dat's not quite right. Y'can't call my client a 'repeat offender.' Each of his offenses has been different."
P.L.Ananthasamy, Chief Conservator of Forests and Zoo Director, said it was a wild crocodile. "Yep. He's a wild one, all right."
There were quite a few water bodies in and around Vandalur and it could have strayed from one of them. None of the crocodiles housed in the Park had strayed into the residential area and there was no need to panic. Right. There's a crocodile in your bathroom, smoking your cigars, but there's no need to panic.
Posted by: Fred ||
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They missed a perfect chance for some good boots, a purse and a nice belt.
The Taliban on Monday backed away from comments they might join tribal councils aimed at ending growing violence in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Senior spokesman Sayed Tayeb Agha said the rebels would never join such talks as long as foreign soldiers remained in Afghanistan.
"Such jirgas (councils) are aimed at protecting American interests only. Such jirgas are neither independent nor do they take independent decisions," he told Reuters from Quetta a secret location.
"Such jirgas (councils) are aimed at protecting American interests only. Such jirgas are neither independent nor do they take independent decisions," he told Reuters from Quetta a secret location. "The Taliban will not take part in any jirga in the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan because such jirgas or meetings have no significance."
There are about 40,000 foreign troops in the country under separate NATO and U.S. commands. But while Afghanistan and Pakistan agree jirgas should be held, they have so far failed to agree on when, how or who should be included. Kabul wants all Afghan tribes involved. Islamabad wants the councils restricted to the border tribes -- essentially the Pashtuns from which the Taliban draws its support. Government and political leaders in both countries say at least moderate elements of the resurgent Taliban must be included in any talks to end the fighting.
A Taliban spokesman said on Sunday the group might join the jirga talks if asked, but Agha -- a more senior official closer to the group's leader -- said that did not reflect the militants' position. Pakistani Foreign Minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri met officials in Kabul on the jirgas last week but no agreement was reached.
Posted by: Fred ||
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say at least moderate elements of the resurgent Taliban must be included in any talks to end the fighting.
Moderate Taliban? Must be the ones that dont bugger the boys without chin whiskers.
(Not publicly anyway)
#2
I believe she was in Attack of the 50ft Woman... Lesse, if she was 50 ft tall, then say you multiply by 12, and divide by 8.5 on the centerline, squeezify by 13¾, carry the 17, take the square root of Tai an... Holy Shit! Haul out the climbin' gear! It B True Love! Lol.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Even though Olmert is a putz, only al-Reuters would think this is news. Israel has had nuclear weapons since the mid 70's, something widely known in the Arab world, if not by Reuters.
#4
If Olmert "let this slip" it is yet another sign of his catastrophic incompetence. The wrong man for the job at the wrong time and the chain of events which follow could be the death of us; starting with the end of Israel. When will Israel's parliament take a vote of no confidence in this man?
A group of prominent Saudi clerics have called on Sunni Muslims around the world to mobilise against Shiites in Iraq, although a statement they issued fell short of calling for a jihad, or holy war. The statement appearing on Saudi Islamist Web sites on Monday said Sunni Muslims were being murdered and marginalised by Shiites, backed by Iran, and the US-led forces.
Saudi Arabia, a bastion of Sunni Islam, backs the Shiite-dominated government of Nuri al-Maliki largely because it fears that sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shiites could lead to the break-up of its northern neighbour and spill over its borders. We direct this message to all concerned about Shiites in the world: the murder, torture and displacement of Sunnis ... is an outrage. We dont think you would accept to be treated like this, said the statement, dated Dec 7. Muslims must stand directly with our Sunni brothers in Iraq and support them by all appropriate, well-studied means ... Muslims generally should be made aware of the danger of the Shiites. Clerics and intellectuals should not stand hands folded over whats happening to their Sunni brothers in Iraq; all occasions should be used to expose the Shiites practices ... What has been taken by force can only be got back by force.
The statement was signed by 38 clerics and Islamic preachers, including Abdel-Rahman al-Barrak, Safar al-Hawali and Nasser al-Omar, leading figures of Saudi Arabias hardline school of Sunni Islam known as Wahhabism. Many Saudi clerics of the austere Wahhabi school of Sunni Islam dismiss Shiites as virtual heretics and the kingdoms Shiites have long complained about second class treatment. Populist preachers who regularly appear on Saudi state television did not sign the document, which repeated fears expressed by Jordans King Abdullah of a Shiite crescent stretching across the Middle East, as Iran allies with Shiites in the Arab world after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/12/2006
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A group of prominent Saudi clerics have called on Sunni Muslims around the world to mobilise against Shiites in Iraq
#3
We direct this message to all concerned about Shiites in the world: the murder, torture and displacement of Sunnis ... is an outrage. We dont think you would accept to be treated like this,
Unless, of course, it was at the hands of that Sunni dictator we were propping up for thirty years.
Britain and France plan to introduce on Monday a revised U.N. Security Council draft resolution imposing sanctions on Iran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment and hope to put the measure to a vote in the next two weeks. In an effort to get Russian support, the two nations, along with Germany and backed by the United States, circulated to the 15 council members on Friday a new draft that narrowed bans to the most dangerous bomb-building materials and technology.
Posted by: Fred ||
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See also SPACEWAR.com > SecState Condi wants North Korea de-nuked in 24 months = [by]2008.
Key European nations presented the UN Security Council with a retooled draft resolution on Iran's nuclear program, which includes the names of top Iranian officials and organizations that would be targeted by proposed sanctions. UN ambassadors said negotiators wanted to move swiftly on the draft, which would punish Iran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment and urge it to continue negotiations over its nuclear program. They said they anticipate a Security Council vote before the end of the year.
The draft resolution, which was circulated to Security Council members Friday, had been revised by France, Britain and Germany to try to satisfy changes sought by Russia - an Iranian ally and a veto-wielding member of the Security Council. The new draft specifies in greater detail exactly what materials and technology would be prohibited from being supplied to Iran for possible use in its nuclear and missile programs. The Russians and Chinese had previously complained that proposed sanctions were too broad.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/12/2006
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Revised sanctions list now approves everything but gumdrops & chocolate bunnies. Is that gonna work for ya, Putie ?
The appointment of Maulvi Muhammad Nazir as new Taliban chief in south Waziristan has left some senior commanders unhappy as punishments under Islamic laws have begun taking effect, sources said on Monday. Certain Taliban commanders were unhappy over Nazirs appointment after a high-level Jirga from Afghanistan recently visited south Waziristan, said tribal sources.
Haji Mohammad Omar, the senior commander who took charge of Taliban militants after group leader Nek Muhammads killing in a missile attack in June 2004, was quoted as saying that Nazir deserved to be appointed ameer. Omar is deputy to Maulvi Nazir, who tribal elders say is a moderate among other Taliban commanders and dislikes attacking Pakistani security forces.
Sources said that commanders Iftikhar and Ghulam Jan were previously sacked from the Taliban ranks for their alleged involvement in activities contrary to jihad and hence, their groups has also been dissolved. There is a tense calm after the change of guard, said sources, adding that Maulvi Nazir enjoys more respect than other commanders among the local population because of his respect for local traditions.
The Taliban ameer, meanwhile, constituted a peace committee to ensure law and order across Waziristan and one source said that a foreign religious scholar began issuing punishments under Shariah. Three Uzbek militants were awarded dozens of lashes for involvement in criminal activity, the source claimed, adding that no local tribesman had yet been punished under Islamic laws. Sources also said that the Taliban commanders were keeping the scholars identity and location secret.
Islamabad sent its troops to barracks after striking peace accords with tribal militant commanders in November 2004, and since then the local administration was restricted to offices as the Taliban took charge of Waziristan. Tribal sources said that the Talibans public image among the local population was under serious threat as criminals were roaming the streets camouflaged as jihadis.
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A Russian soldier was wounded when rebels ambushed federal troops in Chechnya, officials said Monday. The soldier received multiple gunshot wounds Monday when militants fired at a group of Russian servicemen who were conducting a security sweep in Chechnya's southern Shatoi region, the regional branch of Russia's Interior Ministry said in a statement. The attackers fled.
Posted by: Fred ||
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About 50 Brotherhood student members staged a military-style parade in black uniform and balaklavas at the Al-Azhar Islamic University campus.
Police have started a probe into whether the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's top Islamic opposition group, is setting up a military wing after members demonstrated in a Cairo university in black-clad militia-style uniform, security officials said Monday. About 50 Brotherhood student members staged a military-style parade in black uniform and balaklavas during a protest Sunday by hundreds of Broterhood supporters at the Al-Azhar Islamic University campus. A security official told The Associated Press that the police had opened an investigation into whether the group has set up a militia.
Posted by: Fred ||
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You can't get anything by these guys.
You refer to the ten rows of ten men each dressed in black, chanting in unison as they march with all right arms pumping together ?
The International Crisis Group (ICG) has accused Pakistan of sheltering the Taliban and other foreign militants, including Al Qaeda sympathisers, in the seven Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) since 2001.
A report issued by the group that was released on Monday said, Using the region to regroup, reorganise and rearm, they (militants) are launching increasingly severe cross-border attacks on Afghan and international military personnel, with the support and active involvement of Pakistani militants. The Musharraf governments ambivalent approach and failure to take effective action is destabilising Afghanistan. The report recommended that Kabuls allies, particularly the US and NATO, apply greater pressure on Pakistan to clamp down on pro-Taliban militants. However, it said the international community, too, was responsible because of its failure to support democratic governance in Pakistan, including within the tribal belt.
ICG claimed that the military operations Pakistan had launched since 2004 in South and North Waziristan to deny Al Qaeda and the Taliban safe haven and to curb cross-border militancy had failed, largely because of an approach alternating between excessive force and appeasement. When force has resulted in major military losses, the government has given amnesty to pro-Taliban militants in return for verbal commitments to end attacks on Pakistani security forces, cease cross-border militancy and curb foreign terrorists. The report said that following the September 2006 accord with tribal leaders, the government released militants, returned their weapons, disbanded security check posts and agreed to allow foreign terrorists to stay if they gave up violence. While the army has virtually retreated to barracks, this accommodation facilitates the growth of militancy and attacks in Afghanistan by giving pro-Taliban elements a free hand to recruit, train and arm, said ICG.
According to ICG, Badly planned, poorly conducted military operations are also responsible for the rise of militancy in the tribal belt, where the loss of lives and property and displacement of thousands of civilians have alienated the population. The states failure to extend its control over and provide good governance to its citizens in FATA is equally responsible for empowering the radicals. The only sustainable way of dealing with the challenges of militancy, governance and extremism in FATA is through the rule of law and an extension of civil and political rights. Instead, the government has reinforced administrative and legal structures that undermine the state and spur anarchy.
ICG maintained that although the Musharraf government promised reforms in FATA, it did not follow through. Instead, appeasement had allowed local militants to establish parallel, Taliban-style policing and court systems in the Waziristans, while Talibanisation also spreading into other FATA agencies and even the NWFPs settled districts, it added. Broad-based economic development is necessary because FATA is one of Pakistans poorest regions. Since the outbreak of the Afghan civil war, there has been enormous growth in drugs and weapons trafficking. Militancy and extremism in tribal agencies cannot be tackled without firm action against criminality, but for this, economic grievances must be addressed and the law of the land extended over and enforced in FATA.
Ten recommendations made by ICG include the integration of FATA with the NWFP, removal of restrictions on political parties in FATA followed by party-based elections for both provincial and national legislatures, re-establishment of the writ of the state, and disarming of militants, shutting down terrorist training camps and ending the flow of money and weapons to militants on Pakistani territory. Parallel administrative structures by militants should be disbanded and the economic and industrial development of the area taken in hand in right earnest. Schools, colleges and vocational centres should be opened in FATA, with the media and human rights workers free to visit the area.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Yet another report that states Pakistans active in helping Taliban/Al Qaeda.
Why do we deal with Perv when its so obvious he is playing a double Game?????
Why not fund the moderate democratic organisations to replace Perv???
Likewise, they have always been at war with Oceania.
Pakistan said on Monday it had never claimed Kashmir as an integral part of its territory, that its legal position was based on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions, and that it wanted a settlement that would be acceptable to itself, to India and to the people of Kashmir.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam made these remarks when asked to comment on President Pervez Musharraf's statements to an Indian TV channel that Pakistan would give up its claim on Kashmir if India showed similar flexibility. "First, Pakistan does not claim Kashmir. The dispute is about the aspirations of the Kashmiris. According to the UNSC resolutions, Pakistan and India are parties to this dispute, and Kashmiris have to essentially decide their future," Ms. Aslam said at the weekly briefing.
General Musharraf had not talked about unilaterally giving up Pakistan's position, nor were his proposals new. "He talked about flexibility, the need for flexibility by both sides, and he said that this cannot be unilateral," the spokesperson said.
Asked to clarify Pakistan's position, she said it was the legal position based on the UNSC resolutions for a plebiscite in the disputed territory. Pakistan "hoped" the Kashmiris would choose to join it, were a plebiscite to be held.
Ms. Aslam drew attention to Article 257 of the Pakistan Constitution that says, "When the people of the State of Jammu and Kashmir decide to accede to Pakistan, the relationship between Pakistan and that State shall be determined in accordance with the wishes of the people of the State ... We have had many Constitutions, but that article has always been there ... You don't need any other proof that we have not made territorial claims on Kashmir.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Ms. Aslam drew attention to Article 257 of the Pakistan Constitution that says, "When the people of the State of Jammu and Kashmir decide to accede to Pakistan
"When" ?
Suppose they didn't want to?
Even Kofi Annan has acknowledged that the UN resolutions on Kashmir are defunct.
Pakistan is yet to conform to the first resolution.. that one said that there should be a plebiscite to decide on accession to either India or Pakistan. All Pakistani troops were to leave Kashmir with, get this, Indian troops replacing them, as many as needed to guarantee security.
So Perv, how about conforming to the UN resolution and pulling your army and Punjabi settlers out of Kashmir?
Posted by: john ||
12/12/2006 11:59
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And India does claim Jammu and Kashmir, all of it, including the Pak and Chinese occupied portions, based on an article of accession (as mandated by the Indian Independence 1947 act of the UK parliament), signed by the Maharajah and the last Viceroy of the Indian Empire, Lord Louis Mountbatten, cousin of the English Queen.
And Indian courts have ruled that there can be no secession from the Indian Union
Posted by: john ||
12/12/2006 12:13
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Every adult in Kashmir should be allowed to vote on Pakistan, India, or independence. When the votes are tallied and form a base for future discussions.
My guess is the voters would simply split along the pre-existing occupation lines but we might be surprised. If they all want independence both India and Pakistan have a problem.
My gut instinct is that India should allow for partial independence of both Kashmir and Punjab. This would create friendly buffer states between themselves and Pakistan before Pakistan falls apart. The independence of both areas would probably push Pakistan into falling apart that much sooner.
Mexico's new government, struggling with rampant drug trafficking and crime, ordered thousands of troops to the western state of Michoacan on Monday to fight drug cartels locked in a vicious turf war. President Felipe Calderon's security cabinet said more than 5,000 soldiers and Marines were being deployed to crack down on drug gangs in the state, a key air and sea transshipment point for U.S.-bound cocaine. "We will establish control points on highways and secondary roads to limit drug trafficking, along with raids and arrests," Interior Minister Francisco Ramirez Acuna said.
The soldiers, accompanied by federal police, also would search for and destroy drug plantations in the state, famous for poppy and marijuana production, Ramirez Acuna said. Almost 3,000 people, mostly drug gang members and police, have been killed in the past two years in escalating cartel wars across Mexico.
Posted by: Fred ||
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struggling?
Embracing is more like it.
Do they actually think folks may actually believe this line of bull?
Posted by: Jan ||
12/12/2006 0:59
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love actually
oops
Posted by: Jan ||
12/12/2006 1:00
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The real offensive: for the drug and bribe money that the Federal troops will pocket.
The heat was supposed to be off by now. At some point the case will quietly be dropped for lack of evidence.
Witnesses are all dead, ain't they?
The appeal case of Sheikh Omar, convicted of involvement in the killing of American reporter Daniel Pearl, began on Monday.
I am confident that the appeal against the verdict will be accepted and the accused will be free.
Sheikh Omar, 32, whose full name is Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, was not released from a high-security prison to attend court proceedings. But his father was present.
Defence lawyers opened their argument by telling the panel of two judges that the verdict was unfair because they had not been able to interview Pearls widow Mariane. I am confident that the appeal against the verdict will be accepted and the accused will be free, defence counsel Khwaja Sultan said after the proceedings were adjourned until Tuesday. Lawyers said they expected to the hearing to take about a week.
Posted by: Fred ||
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yeah, right, his wife has a lot of evidence to free this POS. Kill. Him.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/12/2006 9:52
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By ERICA WERNER - Associated Press - December 11, 2006 8:04 PM EST
WASHINGTON - The Environmental Protection Agency granted California long-awaited permission Monday to slash emissions from lawnmowers and other small-engine machines, a change it will seek nationally next year.
The EPA waiver will allow the nation's most populous state, starting Jan. 1, to require highly polluting small engines to be sold with catalytic converters that cut smog emissions by roughly 40 percent. "The emission standards we are considering would reduce smog-forming pollutants from lawn mowers by over 40 percent when fully implemented," said Bill Wehrum, EPA acting assistant administrator for air and radiation. "EPA approved the California waiver request because new, cleaner engines can safely reduce emissions."
Engines under 50 horsepower account for 7 percent of smog emissions in California from mobile sources, the equivalent of about 3 million cars. The engines also power pressure washers and small generators, but the bulk are on lawnmowers.
The EPA action Monday ended several years of political dispute driven by Republican Sen. Kit Bond, whose state of Missouri is home to two factories owned by Briggs & Stratton Corp., the nation's largest small-engine maker. Briggs & Stratton had resisted installing catalytic converters on its engines, and Bond had sought to block California from instituting its regulation. The state has unique authority under the Clean Air Act to set tougher pollution standards than the federal government, once it gets an EPA waiver.
Bond backed off under pressure from Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., but he did succeed in blocking other states from being able to copy California's rule, something the Clean Air Act normally allows. Instead, he required EPA to write a national standard.
Bond had questioned whether mowers with catalytic converters could spark fires, but an EPA study earlier this year found there was no safety problem. "This is a giant step forward for California," Feinstein said. "It paves the way for California to implement strict citizen emission controls on lawnmowers and other small engines and to see major reductions in air pollution."
California, home to some of the nation's most polluted air in the Los Angeles basin and San Joaquin Valley, is under constant pressure to meet federal air quality standards or risk sanctions including losing money for highway projects. The California Air Resources Board, which passed the mower emissions rule three years ago but couldn't enforce it pending the EPA waiver, welcomed the news as key in developing clean air plans. "We're really having to struggle to find enough reductions to achieve the air quality standards, so if you take away a piece that's this big it would probably permanently handicap us," said Tom Cackette, the agency's deputy executive officer.
So Fornicalians are now saved from the dangers of the little evil combustion engines, too. This will crimp some styles and harsh some mellows, though, methinks... I guess we'll have to let 'em import more, um, undocumented migrants, since the Toils and Tribulations of the Gardeners of the Rich and Famous just went up a fewbuncha notches.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
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Next - ban the sale of charcoal followed by firewood.
Then a watersaver shower to complement the toliet that works so well.
#3
Can't be - SPACEWAR.com > US Study says TREES are a cause of GW - Global Warming, NOT DUBYA - ergo LESS CATALYTIC-IN', MORE TREE-CUTTING. The Lefties = Enviros can't complain. No fooling around - the Trees must agree to unconditional surrender. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, once the Trees surrender, surely the Sun will follow.
#5
YAHOO NEWS/AP > Lake Victoria is shrinking, but OTOH GW = CO2 [Global Warming, NOT Dubya] is good for saving space junk and keeping them flyin' high while simul shrinking/killing the atmosphere. IONews, ITS STILL [GOVERNOR?] DUBYA'S FAULT.
#7
Replace the lawn mowers with cows. Gets rid of the smog-making emissions and provides natural fertilizer (and steaks). Of course, then you add to the global warming problem through bovine methane emissions. It's hopeless; just eliminate all the people and the earth will be happy again.
#13
California, I got an idea, why don't you ban the non-essential use of internal combustion engines.
So, no more drag racing, boating, model airplane flying, chainsaw art, air shows, tractor pulls, poker runs, and so on.
[/snark]
#14
go here: www.fasttractors.com
best l/m racing north of the border.
in western WA look for the Whidbey Island Blade Benders, coming to a fair / event near you.
Iran staged a conference on Monday to debate the Holocaust and question whether Nazi Germany used gas chambers, prompting charges it was encouraging the denial of the killing of 6 million Jews during World War Two. Guests at the government-run event, titled "Review of the Holocaust: Global Vision", included Westerners who have cast doubt on the Holocaust -- some of them from countries that have made it a crime to deny it happened -- as well as a few Jews.
"The aim of this conference is not to deny or confirm the Holocaust," Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said. "Its main aim is to create an opportunity for thinkers who cannot express their views freely in Europe about the Holocaust." The two-day conference at a Foreign Ministry institute was inspired by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who since coming to power in August 2005 has sparked international condemnation by terming the Holocaust a "myth" and calling Israel a "tumour".
Posted by: Fred ||
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The Paris police chief said Monday that the threat of a terror attack on the French capital remains high, requiring continued intelligence and surveillance efforts. Pierre Mutz, speaking at a city council meeting considering the police budget for 2007, did not name any specific new dangers, but said "The threat remains high."
The government ordered extra military patrols on public transport before the Christmas and New Year's holidays, when visitors and tourists pack Paris. "What we have seen in the past in Paris, ... and what has happened to our neighbors recently, show how large metropolitan areas and their public transport systems are sensitive to attacks," Mutz said.
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Some 21 people were killed in violence across Iraq on Monday including a pregnant woman and three of her children who were savagely gunned down in the north of Iraq. The US military also reported that two powerful roadside bombs had killed four soldiers on Sunday.
Armed men burst into the home of a pregnant Shia woman of the Turkmen ethnic group and sprayed her and her children with bullets in the town of Salaja, 75 kilometres south of Kirkuk. Three of her children, aged between five and 13, were killed while two other daughters survived the fusillade. Police could give no motive for the attack, but noted that her husband was a Kurd and a member of the old army.
Nine people were shot dead in the restive province of Diyala, northeast of Baghdad, including three policeman, in a series of incidents, police said. Just north of Baghdad, in the town of Dujail, gunmen hijacked a minibus carrying five primary school teachers on their way to work and kidnapped them, said police at the joint coordination centre in Tikrit. Once again, police could not comment on the motive.
Further kidnappings took place in central Baghdad, when gunmen in four pickup trucks pulled up at the Istithmar (Investment) Bank and seized four employees who were about to enter the bank with money. In south Baghdad, four mortar rounds slammed into the often-targeted Abu Chir neighbourhood, killing four people and wounding 11, a Defence Ministry official said. A suicide bomber blew up his vehicle against an Iraqi police commando base in the southern Dura district, killing a policeman and wounding five others, a security official said.
In northwest Baghdad, a car bomb in a garage in the al-Iskan neighbourhood exploded as a police commando patrol passed. The blast near the private al-Maamun university killed a bystander and wounded four others, including two police commandos. Across town near central Baghdads Mustansiriyah University, another bomb went off killing a student and wounding eight others, according to a medic in the nearby al-Kindi hospital where they were treated. He said that another civilian was shot dead by gunmen in the nearby Fadhel neighbourhood.
One US soldier was killed early on Sunday by a roadside bomb west of Baghdad, while three others were killed by another bomb that night in the northern part of the city.
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Unidentified gunmen killed three sons of a Palestinian intelligence official loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas in Gaza on Monday, firing at a car as it dropped the boys at school, police and hospital officials said. An adult bystander was also killed in the attack in Gaza City, which came amid growing tension between Hamas, the governing militant group, and Abbas's more moderate Fatah.
Angry mourners firing automatic weapons later stormed into the parliament compound during a funeral for the boys, who were aged between 6 and 9. There were no reports of injuries. Some 2,000 people took part in the funeral, including the boys' father, Colonel Baha Balousha, who was heavily guarded. Relatives carried his three sons in their arms. The bodies were wrapped in white sheets.
Balousha, who was not in the car when it was attacked, is a senior intelligence official close to Abbas. Gunmen tried to kill him in Gaza in September, one of several attacks on intelligence officials loyal to Abbas in the strip this year. Abbas called the shooting "a condemned, ugly and inhumane crime, carried out by a bunch of bastards."
He and Palestinian Prime Minister and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who arrived in Sudan on Monday, said they had urged the interior minister to take all measures to find the perpetrators. The car taking the children to school was peppered with bullet holes and blood stains covered the seats. Two school bags, one green and the other blue, lay inside.
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#2
Didn't see what I consider a funderal on TV. Did, however, see footage of three small white-wrapped bodies being passed from arms to arms in a huge crowd ranting with hatred. Crowd of hundreds, seething and nearly dropping the corpses and they struggled to hold them away from prying hands. Not my idea of a funeral. The footage was chilling. No respect for the dead. Just worship and celebration of hatred and evil. Respect for the fury caused, not the deaths.
Malaysia on Monday said sharing quality intelligence with Indonesia had prevented militants from launching any major regional terror attacks since the second Bali bomb blast last year. Malaysia and Indonesia are quite pleased with the situation. There are many factors behind it, Malaysias Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said. One of the factors is that we have been able to have quality preemptive intelligence reports to nip it in the bud, he told reporters. A triple suicide bombing last October on the resort island of Bali in Indonesia killed 20 people and the bombers. Najib, who is also the defence minister, said by obtaining intelligence early, authorities could detect groups that plan to conduct acts of terrorism long before they are able to do anything. He cited the example of Malaysian polices move against a local terror group, Darul Islam, in the eastern Sabah state before it could mount an attack. One example of the success is the uncovering of the militant group Darul Islam in Sabah. This is an example of the preemptive work we have done, he said. Malaysian police in May said they had crushed the militant groups underground network, which had collaborated with Indonesian militants, through multiple arrests between March and April.
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An Algerian Islamist militant group claimed responsibility on Monday for the weekend bombing of a bus carrying foreign oil workers near Algiers and warned of further attacks. "We reiterate our call to all Muslims in Algeria to keep away from the interests of the infidels to avoid harm...once (these interests or individuals) are targeted," the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) said in statement posted on the Internet.
The authenticity of the statement, posted late on Monday on a Web site used by Islamist militant groups, could not be verified. The attack on Sunday killed the Algerian driver and wounded nine people, including four Britons and an American. The GSPC said the attack was "a modest present to our Muslim brothers suffering the fire of the new crusade that targets Islam and its sanctities".
"We bring tidings to the crusaders and apostates that they will face what they dislike," it added. It said the "mujahideen" who carried out the attack -- which took place in a heavily protected district 10 km (six miles) west of Algiers -- returned to their base unharmed.
The United States on Monday urged Americans in Algeria, estimated to number about 800, to review their personal safety after the bombing, the first attack on Westerners in many years. The bus was ferrying employees of Brown Root Condor, a joint venture of Halliburton subsidiary Kellog, Brown and Root and Condor Engineering, an affiliate of Algerian state energy group Sonatrach, when a roadside bomb went off and gunmen opened fire.
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German police have uncovered a radioactive trail linked to what prosecutors believe could be a possible suspect in the murder of a former Russian spy in London last month. Police said on Monday a BMW used to pick up Dmitry Kovtun at Hamburg airport on October 28 had traces of polonium 210, the same radioactive substance used to poison Alexander Litvinenko.
Kovtun, 41, was one of two Russians who met Litvinenko at a London hotel on November 1, the day the ex-KGB agent and outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin fell ill. "Contamination was also found in a second car, a Chrysler" used by Litvinenko, a police statement said.
The radioactive trail linked to Kovtun goes further. Kovtun's ex-wife, her current partner and their two young children all tested positive for traces of polonium 210, the statement said. Kovtun spent the night of October 28 at his ex-wife's Hamburg apartment, it said. It was unclear if the contamination of the four people was internal or external, police said. They were brought to a special hospital ward for people with radiation sickness. Litvinenko died on November 23 from a lethal dose of polonium 210. In a statement released after his death, he accused Putin of killing him.
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#1
What did they do? Roll in this stuff sort of like Ann Margaret in the movie Tommy?
The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) has decided that it will start a Deen Bacho Tehreek (save the religion movement) against the Womens Protection Act (WPA) and contact other religious parties and clerics for their support, party sources told Daily Times on Monday.
The sources said that the JUI-S had also decided to hire lawyers to challenge the WPA in the Supreme Court. They added that these decisions were taken in the JUI-S Majlis Shura meeting held at Akora Khattak a few days ago. The sources said that the meeting also formed four provincial and one central committees to plan the anti-WPA campaign.
The sources said that party chief Maulana Samiul Haq warned the meeting that the governments next target would be amendments to the blasphemy laws. They added that the meeting pledged to launch a campaign against the government to stop it from anti-Islamic legislation. The sources said that the meeting criticised MMA President Qazi Hussain Ahmad and Secretary General Maulana Fazlur Rehman for adopting a friendly behaviour towards the government. They (the MMA) are friends of the government and are paving the way for a secular Pakistan, a participant quoted Haq as telling the meeting.
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WASHINGTON - The ice sheet covering the North Pole and Arctic Ocean could recede and disappear completely in the summer months by 2040, researchers said Tuesday in the Geophysical Research Letters magazine. Start looking for a young girl with a map tatooed on her back.
If greenhouse gas emissions continue at the current rate, ... ... and we all know they will, couldn't possibly change, nope, nope ...
... the Arctics future ice cover will undergo periods of relative stability followed by abrupt retreat, said a team of scientists of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and Canadas McGill University. Retreat? Don't say that around the French ...
Only a small portion of the permanent ice pack would cling in the summer season around the northern coastline of Greenland and Canada, the researchers said. I'm looking forward to a summer fishing cabin in Labrador ... We have already witnessed major losses in sea ice, but our research suggests that the decrease over the next few decades could be far more dramatic than anything that has happened so far, said NCAR scientist and lead author of the study Marika Holland. ... and yummy New Jersey oranges ...
The melting ice pack is expected to have a devastating effect on global warming, warned the scientists. Open water absorbs more sunlight than does ice, meaning that the growing regions of ice-free water will accelerate the warming trend, they report said. So we'll find Indian crocodiles rummaging through underwear drawers in Norway ...
The loss of the ice pack in the summer would also hold dire revenge consequences for the environmental balance of the polar region and for the survival of some species like the polar bear, who need the ice pack for hunting.
They can hunt crocodiles. That'll make Animal Planet for sure ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
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#1
It always amazes me how grant-whores can command so much ink peddling pseudoscientific claims of impending catastrophe. These limp dicks haven't been right about anything in the last 50 years, so I have little confidence in anything they say now. When you extrapolate from a point, anything can happen. The ice sheet could disappear unless there is another ice age.
This sort of bilge results from a confluence of the general dumbing down of the American people, the desperate desire of academics for continued funding, and unscrupulous grifters with political agendas.
#3
There si not ice in Sibiria. Yet, it is friggin cold there. From that follows that cold does not make ice. Ice is formed by precipitation. That is, in polar regions, the water falls as snow or small hail of ice. In order to have precipitation, you need evaporation. The more evaporation, the more precipitation. Meaning, in a warmer period, in summer months, the ice sheets may retreat some, but they will make it up in winter with incerased precipitation.
The basic fact that relates to warming trend is that the air remains relatively stable at present, there are no substantial swings in the average temp. What is warming up is the oceans. But the funniest part is that the warming flows from the bottom up, not from the surface down.
What that means no one knows, but this factoid simply gets glossed over as it is somewhat inconvenient.
Pork is paramount and the climactologists (not a typo, they climax every time a grant is fortcoming) have their needs.
We can see a hockey stick alright, but it seems to be swinging at puck located in 1000 AD!
2X4, it's no mystery the oceans heat from the bottom. The Earth is hot. That heat dissipates outwards towards the surface. When it reaches the ocean floor it gets distributed upwards by convection/conduction. This is despite the deep oceans being colder than surface waters. Were this not true, the earth would get hotter and hotter.
#8
Where would we be without you, phil_b, oh wise one!
Of course heat dissipates outwards towards the surface by convection/conduction.
What I do point out is that the temperature of deep ocean has risen in the last 15 years, in average by about 1.25 °C, in comparison with static temperatures in the previous 50 years.
#15
So those Artic oil prospects that can't be developed because the pipelines might get the caribou overheated will be accessible to conventional oil tankers, just like Saudi Arabia, but without Iranians threatening to mine Hormuz. Hope the muzzies don't get to converting the Eskimo.
#19
Artic ice melting won't affect water levels much, but antartic ice on the other hand would be added to the world's water and the land beneath would have to grow out of the ocean to compensate, so the sea level in the northern hemisphere should get higher by the amount the antartic 'grows' plus the additional water distributed worldwide.
#20
Ten thousand years ago glaciers covered Ohio. Should we be worried about that?
I'd take forty year predictions more seriously if we could get reliable forecasts of the weather two days out.
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
12/12/2006 13:36
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North Pole ice sheet could disappear by 2040
Ok, ok, that's fine and dandy, but let's keep focused on the real issues : will I be able to get some action on an at least semi-regular basis by then?
I say, let's not disperse ourselves, and let's all use our ressources and the collective might of the international institutions to further the *only* really important, global cause around... my sex life.
#26
Let me get this straight. Global warming could flood the coasts and the coasts are generally blue states right? Bush really is a long-range thinker.
The Taliban have issued a list of 30 rules for new recruits, containing some curious restrictions, according to a report in British newspaper the Guardian. Rule 19 declares, mujahideen are not allowed to take young boys with no facial hair on to the battlefield or into their private quarters. "Jihad's no place for kiddies! Bone 'em at home!"
Rule 18 urges mujahideen to quit smoking. Other rules instruct Taliban fighters to be on their best behaviour with civilians, lest they are government employees, who must be treated without mercy and killed. Schools that ignore warnings to close must be burned, while the teachers working there must first be warned, then beaten, and if they continue to teach, to be killed. The code, agreed by the Taliban shura during the recent Eid holidays, has been circulated to field commanders across Afghanistan and northern Pakistan.
Posted by: Fred & john ||
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#1
This was in a Rantburg posting yesterday that was removed.
#3
Okay, MOUD = OSAMA = WHITNEY, you and me have to have a little talk. How can Remote Viewer ED DAMES of C2CAM find your 12th Imam if your Burqua Boyz keep dev rules like these Heeeeeeeellllllloooooooooo, MAGI FINDING JESUS IN A MANGER. LETS GET A GRIP, PEOPLE, DON'T LET ME SEND MADONNA + MARIAH, ETC. DOWN THERE TO CATFIGHT WITH WHITNEY. Can't send the boys becuz, well you know, WORLD SERIES + SUPERBOWL + SPORTS + SNACKS + SNOW............@, "MALE LIONS YAWNING" = MAN SHOW, THINGYS.
#6
Rantburgers were able to read the following article during much of yesterday. Then the article disappeared during the final part of the day.
===============
The Taliban leadership has issued its own version of the Constitution of Afghanistan and also a Code of Conduct for its Field Commanders and fighters. .... The Constitution, written in Pashtu and Dari, the two dominant languages in Afghanistan, proclaims Afghanistan as "a free, independent, united and inseparable country whose official name is the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan."The document circulated among Taliban cadres has the emblem of the 'Emirate of Afghanistan' which they had under the previous Taliban Government (1996-2001). ....
The Taliban Constitution says that the "Islamic Emirate's supreme leader will be called 'Amirul Momneen' and has to be a 'knowledgeable' Afghan national. It says that all laws of the country will have to be brought in conformity with the "Islamic Shariah." ....
The 66-page document declares that the basic law will be implemented after the Taliban wrests control of Afghanistan from the US-backed Afghan Government and throws out the foreign Kafirs (infidels). The underground Taliban leaders propose to distribute copies of the Constitution among the Islamic countries and organizations and other foreign elements to apprise them as to how the resurgent Taliban wanted to administer the affairs of the country after returning to power.
The Taliban leadership ... has issued a strict Code of Conduct for their field commanders and the rank and file. The 30-point code, which is in the shape of a handbook, has been circulated among the guerrillas, and asks them to invite all Afghans to join the fight against American-led forces and the corrupt Kabul Government.
Giving top priority to recruitment, Rule 1 says that all 'Taliban commanders will recruit a large number of Afghans, converting them to the true Islam.'
Rule 5 says that all new recruits will be protected and any Taliban who kills a new recruit will forfeit his own protection and 'will be punished according to the Islamic law.'
Rule 7 enjoins, "foreign kafirs taken prisoners must not be exchanged for other prisoners or for money."
Highlighting the alleged corruption under the Karzai Government, Rule 9 prohibits the Taliban from "the use of Jihad equipment or property for personal ends."
Rule 10 holds each member of the Taliban, 'accountable to his superiors in matters of money spending and equipment usage."
Rule 24 authorizes the field commanders and group leaders to punish the teachers imparting education which does not conforms to the Islamic norms. It "forbids a teacher from working under the 'puppet Karzai regime' because it strengthens the system of the Kafirs."
Rule 25 further directs, "if a teacher ignores a warning to give up his job, he must be beaten up' and if he still persists to instruct contrary to the principles of Islam, the District Commander or the Group Leader must kill him."
It also directs the cadres to remove all religious texts from the school building before putting it to fire. More than 500 schools have so far been burnt by the Taliban in the southern provinces of Afghanistan.
Apart from prohibiting cigarette smoking, it also prohibits allowing murderers from joining the cadres. To stem the sexual abuse of children, especially in some of the madrassas that feed the recruitment needs of Taliban, one of the rules says, "Taliban are not allowed to take young boys with no facial hair on to the battlefield or into their private quarters." ....
Rule 30 says that "only the highest levels of the Taliban can approve the work for the NGOs."
The code is said to have been approved by the Taliban Shura (Council) at a secret meeting in October, somewhere in Pakistan's Balochistan province from where most of their leaders are operating. Their Supreme Leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, is reported to have approved the code before its issue. ....
#7
Snomp Shotch9850, I recall that particular article was first posted several days ago. If it didn't get any comments yesterday, no doubt Fred or one of the moderators removed it to save a bit of bandwidth. The moderators do their thing as their schedules and the local time zones allow, it seems, whereas articles in the hopper after something like 9 pm Eastern Time magically appear when the clock turns over. On the other hand, articles posted late in the day, or deemed of particular interest, are sometimes rolled over to the next day. I've no idea what the exact criteria are, and since this is Fred's own site, quite probably they are variable. (And there's no point in arguing with him, as he keeps queer hours.)
#9
Because Fred wanted to. He's paying for this site out of his own pocket, no doubt giving up dates with Mrs. Pruitt to pay for it. There's a Paypal button at the top righthand corner of the page that you can hit to help him out, should you feel so moved.
#11
I apologize, Thineth Grusing1600, you didn't deserve a snippy answer. I've no idea why, as I'm neither Fred nor a moderator. If you go here, Fred and the moderators explain the latest version of the basic rules of what to post and how to tighten up articles. It's linked at the top of the article posting page, too, labelled Before you post, read this! in great big letters.
#15
The Taliban rulebook's been posted at least a half dozen times, by my recollection, which is why several duplicate posts have been deleted or stopped in the holding tank.
I didn't see any of them drawing attention to Rule 19, which is why this one was kept.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/12/2006 12:39
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#17
It's SIGNIFICANT that they have to issue a rule to combat the sexual abuse of boys. And it's probably not because they care about the boys. They're just worried that it's so widespread the MSM and liberal supporters will find out, and THEN WHAT? This is to protect themselves, and they've issued nothing that says it's immoral, and BTW, what is the punishment for forcing boys to be personal sex slaves of these sleazy, greazy ick-men? The "30 rules" are merely suggestions for show.
And we wonder why there are so many angry young Arab men.
#18
I removed it yesterday because it was a duplicate.
I would have removed it today had I found it before it had 17 comments.
I generally remove duplicates without further notice (since the notice itself would generate a place-holder post). If you post an article that then gets removed, it's very likely that it was a duplicate. It happens to me sometimes; with 100 articles a day it's easy to miss something and post a duplicate.
So that's what happened. Sorry. AoS.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/12/2006 17:25
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(And there's no point in arguing with him, as he keeps queer hours.)
Are you telling me queers have their own time zone ? What next ?
American-led troops and warplanes attacked a Taliban hideout in western Afghanistan, killing at least 12 militants, including a regional commander, police said on Monday. Provincial police chief Sayed Agha Saqeb said that coalition troops, acting on intelligence reports, had launched the operation in the Balabuluk district of Farah province on Sunday night. Among the nine Taliban killed in the operation, which lasted several hours, was a regional commander, Mullah Abdul Samad, the police chief added. An ISAF spokesman said that they were aware of fighting in the area.
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Paki paper. Not to question the veracity of a provincial police chief but the story itself says 12 in one place and 9 in another.
BTW, I think they just make up the district names.
WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice lamented a speech by retiring UN chief Kofi Annan criticising US foreign policy on Monday as a real missed opportunity. Always the diplomat.
In an interview with AFP, Rice criticized Annans failure in the much-awaited speech to highlight the positive role she said Washington had played at the world body over the past two years.
I would have hoped that it would have talked about the work that weve done together, she said, recalling the joint launch of a global fund for AIDS, a recent resolution aimed at halting the violence in Sudans Darfur region and the UN ceasefire which ended the July-August war in Lebanon. That ceasefire would not have happened without the United States, she said. We're Americans. We don't get much credit in the world for the good we do, and we never get credit when a Republican is President.
I can go on and on about the positive things we have achieved in this period of time, and so Im sorry that those were not the focus of the speech, she said. The speech is a real missed opportunity, she said. Kofi was a missed opportunity.
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#5
I have decided to make one of those paper ring things that little kids use to count the days til Christmas. Actually I think I'll just steal my nephews and add a half dozen.
Can't wait to find out how mad my sister gets when he wakes up tomorrow thinking its Christmas already.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
12/12/2006 11:47
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#6
Just so I can calibrate my diplosphere decoder ring, is this "A missed opportunity to STFU?"
#8
Rice misses an opportunity to slam Annan and boost Bolton's short tenure as the American ambassador to the UN. Rice is having some kind of bad year.
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.
The Tehran Holocaust denial conference entered its second day Tuesday, hosting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the man who inspired the conference with his remarks. "Israel is about to crash," the Iranian president promised the attendees, "scientists" from across the world working to deny the Holocaust. "This is God's promise and the wish of all the world's nations," he added. 
Following discussions with the Bush administration, several of Iraqs major political parties are in talks to form a coalition whose aim is to break the powerful influence of the radical Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr within the government, senior Iraqi officials say.
Published: Tuesday, 12 December, 2006, 09:53 AM Doha Time
The armed forces personnel deployed on Monday across the country may launch illegal arms recovery operations today. Sources said the commanding officers of the armed forces held meetings with the officers of different law enforcement agencies to determine modus operandi of the operation. 
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the imams legal representative, is an organization that we know has ties to terrorism, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said in 2003. And the Muslim American Society, which is also supporting the imams? Its the American arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, according to the Chicago Tribune, which called it the worlds most influential Islamic fundamentalist group.
HERMISTON, Ore. - A small spider bite turned out to be a big problem for Cindy Pettey. Pettey awoke when she was bitten on the stomach in the middle of the night a few weeks ago, but thought little else of it. Then she started running a fever, she felt achy and weak. The bite sore became larger.
LONDON(istan) -- Hundreds of British troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan are to be awarded millions of dollars in compensation after the government ruled that they are victims of crime, not war.
Washington The bones of a baby plesiosaur have been recovered from an Antarctic island, scientists reported Monday.
JAKARTA - The United States, China and now a resurgent Russia are all competing for regional influence in Southeast Asia, and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is shrewdly playing his diplomatic cards among all three suitors. 
Construction of the Bushehr plant delayed, forcing Tehran to accelerate payments to Russia to complete it on schedule. 'Every country in the world has the right to develop nuclear industries for peaceful purposes and this goes for Iran too,' says Russian atomic director
Ottawa Britain's Foreign Office minister says reluctant NATO allies need to get real about the threat posed by a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan. Kim Howells told a diplomatic audience at Canada's Foreign Affairs building in Ottawa that Britons are just as frustrated as Canadians about bearing the brunt of heavy fighting in the country's south.
Migrants seeking citizenship will need a grasp of up to 200 questions about Australia under the proposed new nationality test - and to answer them in English.
A British soldier in Iraq was shot dead by "friendly fire" three days after he had been ordered to hand back life-saving body armour, an inquest was told yesterday. Sgt Steven Roberts, 33, was killed at a checkpoint outside the town of Az Zubayr in 2003. An Army Board of Inquiry report found that if he had not given up his enhanced body armour the bullet would not have killed him.
Besides internal political unrest, Gaza is riven with clan fighting and a surge in crime following a Western aid embargo on the Hamas government that has deepened poverty.
Baghdad (Rooters) - A suicide bomber killed 45 people and wounded scores in central Baghdad today after luring a crowd of poor day labourers to his vehicle with promises of work, the Interior Ministry said.
Ousted imams want airline settlement
"With the hopes of reaching an amicable resolution to this matter, we would like to take this opportunity to ask for a formal meeting with US Airways executives and legal counsel," Arsalan Iftikhar, CAIR's national legal director, wrote to the airline. 
CAIR claims the men were handcuffed for several hours, but one of the imams told the Times he was only handcuffed for "10 or 15 minutes" and that the imams were not led off the plane in handcuffs. 
Shell is being forced by the Russian government to hand over its controlling stake in the world's biggest liquefied gas project, provoking fresh fears about the Kremlin's willingness to use the country's growing strength in natural resources as a political weapon. After months of relentless pressure from Moscow, the Anglo-Dutch company has to cut its stake in the $20bn Sakhalin-2 scheme in the far east of Russia in favour of the state-owned energy group Gazprom.
The scheme created almost immediate controversy with western conservation groups because it involves putting equipment close to breeding grounds of endangered western grey whales. There has also been criticism that sensitive salmon fishing areas are being hit by dumping of dredging spoil waste amid worries about oil spills from platforms in the Okhotsk and Japanese seas.
The Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) Secretariat said on Monday that there was no parallel government in the North Waziristan Agency following a peace deal with local Taliban. Tribal authorities are in control of the agencys affairs, said FATA Security Secretary Arbab Mohammad Arif while briefing media personnel after a meeting of FATA secretaries and political agents to review the law and order situation and development activities in tribal areas.
BAGHDAD - Gunmen wearing Iraqi army uniforms ambushed a security vehicle transporting money to the Central Bank in Baghdad and made off with $1 million in cash on Monday, police and Interior Ministry sources said.
Rebels in Sudan's western region of Darfur said a government warplane killed eight civilians, mostly children, in a northern village on Monday. Sudan's armed forces said the report was a fabrication designed for propaganda purposes. Jarennabi Abdel-Karim, a spokesman for a faction of the rebel Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) which refused to sign a peace agreement with Sudan's Khartoum-based government in May, said the plane fired a rocket at a house in the village of Hashaaba. "Eight people from the same family were killed," he told Reuters via satellite telephone. "Most of them are children."
An IDF soldier from the Lavi Battalion was moderately wounded Monday during clashes with Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank town of Kabatiya, south of Jenin. The soldier was evacuated by helicopter to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa and was treated for a gunshot wound to the forehead. The soldier was wounded during a routine arrest raid in the West Bank town. An armed Palestinian opened fire at the military force and hit the soldier. Another soldier was lightly wounded during the gun clashes. 
Two alleged conduits of banned terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), including a junior assistant with the Revenue Department in Jammu and Kashmir, have been arrested by the Special Cell of the Delhi police at Mahipalpur here. The police claim to have recovered 1.5 kg of RDX, Rs. 6 lakh in hawala money and detonators from them. 
Tamil Tiger rebels and Sri Lankan troops exchanged artillery and mortar fire during a fierce daylong battle in the countrys east that left at least 64 combatants dead, the military said Monday. An officer at the governments Media Centre for National Security said 24 soldiers were killed and 69 wounded in Sundays battle with the insurgents in the eastern Batticaloa district. Forty rebels were also killed in the clash, the officer said speaking on condition of anonymity due to policy. Rebel spokesman Rasiah Ilanthirayan said, however, that at least seven rebel fighters died in the clashes. 
QUETTA: Talal Bugti, son of the late Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, on Monday alleged that his son Shah Zain Bugti had escaped an assassination attempt the other day. In a press statement, Talal said that Shah Zain was visiting his agricultural land in the Pat Feeder Canal area when some unidentified men attacked him. They are the same people who had isolated my father in the mountains, he said.
TAMBARAM/CHENNAI: Residents of a house in the southern suburb Peerkankaranai near Tambaram had the shock of their life when a young crocodile strayed into their home early on Monday. The noise made by the 4-foot long reptile woke them up. 
The Taliban on Monday backed away from comments they might join tribal councils aimed at ending growing violence in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Senior spokesman Sayed Tayeb Agha said the rebels would never join such talks as long as foreign soldiers remained in Afghanistan. 
A group of prominent Saudi clerics have called on Sunni Muslims around the world to mobilise against Shiites in Iraq, although a statement they issued fell short of calling for a jihad, or holy war. The statement appearing on Saudi Islamist Web sites on Monday said Sunni Muslims were being murdered and marginalised by Shiites, backed by Iran, and the US-led forces. 
Britain and France plan to introduce on Monday a revised U.N. Security Council draft resolution imposing sanctions on Iran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment and hope to put the measure to a vote in the next two weeks. In an effort to get Russian support, the two nations, along with Germany and backed by the United States, circulated to the 15 council members on Friday a new draft that narrowed bans to the most dangerous bomb-building materials and technology.
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Mexico's new government, struggling with rampant drug trafficking and crime, ordered thousands of troops to the western state of Michoacan on Monday to fight drug cartels locked in a vicious turf war. President Felipe Calderon's security cabinet said more than 5,000 soldiers and Marines were being deployed to crack down on drug gangs in the state, a key air and sea transshipment point for U.S.-bound cocaine. "We will establish control points on highways and secondary roads to limit drug trafficking, along with raids and arrests," Interior Minister Francisco Ramirez Acuna said. 
By ERICA WERNER - Associated Press - December 11, 2006 8:04 PM EST
Iran staged a conference on Monday to debate the Holocaust and question whether Nazi Germany used gas chambers, prompting charges it was encouraging the denial of the killing of 6 million Jews during World War Two. Guests at the government-run event, titled "Review of the Holocaust: Global Vision", included Westerners who have cast doubt on the Holocaust -- some of them from countries that have made it a crime to deny it happened -- as well as a few Jews.
Some 21 people were killed in violence across Iraq on Monday including a pregnant woman and three of her children who were savagely gunned down in the north of Iraq. The US military also reported that two powerful roadside bombs had killed four soldiers on Sunday. 
Unidentified gunmen killed three sons of a Palestinian intelligence official loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas in Gaza on Monday, firing at a car as it dropped the boys at school, police and hospital officials said. An adult bystander was also killed in the attack in Gaza City, which came amid growing tension between Hamas, the governing militant group, and Abbas's more moderate Fatah.
An Algerian Islamist militant group claimed responsibility on Monday for the weekend bombing of a bus carrying foreign oil workers near Algiers and warned of further attacks. "We reiterate our call to all Muslims in Algeria to keep away from the interests of the infidels to avoid harm...once (these interests or individuals) are targeted," the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) said in statement posted on the Internet.
German police have uncovered a radioactive trail linked to what prosecutors believe could be a possible suspect in the murder of a former Russian spy in London last month. Police said on Monday a BMW used to pick up Dmitry Kovtun at Hamburg airport on October 28 had traces of polonium 210, the same radioactive substance used to poison Alexander Litvinenko.
The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) has decided that it will start a Deen Bacho Tehreek (save the religion movement) against the Womens Protection Act (WPA) and contact other religious parties and clerics for their support, party sources told Daily Times on Monday.
WASHINGTON - The ice sheet covering the North Pole and Arctic Ocean could recede and disappear completely in the summer months by 2040, researchers said Tuesday in the Geophysical Research Letters magazine.
American-led troops and warplanes attacked a Taliban hideout in western Afghanistan, killing at least 12 militants, including a regional commander, police said on Monday. Provincial police chief Sayed Agha Saqeb said that coalition troops, acting on intelligence reports, had launched the operation in the Balabuluk district of Farah province on Sunday night. Among the nine Taliban killed in the operation, which lasted several hours, was a regional commander, 
WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice lamented a speech by retiring UN chief Kofi Annan criticising US foreign policy on Monday as a real missed opportunity.
