I've never seen a video with so many views. I've seen this many times, but it never ceases to make me laugh.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
75 Million Youtube Viewers Can't Be Wrong -- Achmed the Dead Terrorist
The Official Obama Youth Christmas Gift
The kids will love it. Really.
An inspirational and educational, twenty-four (24) page, 8.5" x 11" book that highlights President Elect Barack Obama and his historic campaign leading to the White House. This coloring book is designed for children and parents alike. It can be used as a childs school or small text book with the amount of information inside.
This commemorative coloring and activity book reflects and celebrates change in America! Features include patriotic songs, historical locations & facts, pages describing how children may be involved in their local community, along with fun games, mazes and puzzles.
In addition to a biographical sketch of President Elect Obama, Vice-President Elect Joe Biden and Michelle Obama, it includes prominent national sites such as: The Liberty Bell, The Statue of Liberty, The Smithsonian, The United States Capitol and The Obama First family's new home, The White House!
Subliminal Perversion
OK...So you turn this advertisement upside down, and cover the woman's face and glass. Creepy crypto perversion. The artist is trying to make us think certain thoughts. Perhaps it's working. Suddenly, I'm thirsty for a Coke.
I You Were Hoping for a Nerf Football for Christmas, You May Have a Problem
There's been a slight glitch on the production line.
It started as a pay dispute at a southern Chinese toy factory. But it quickly turned into a riot as laid-off workers tapped into a network of friends and unemployed laborers who flipped over a police car, stormed into the plant and smashed office computers.
The latest violent protest to rock China's export machine was still simmering Wednesday at the massive plant, which makes Nerf toys for the U.S. company Hasbro Inc. The volatility underscored the urgency of China's efforts to keep stoking an economy weakened by the global financial crisis.
Tempers began flaring Tuesday when the plant's Hong Kong owner, Kader Holdings Company Ltd., prepared to lay off 216 migrant workers at the factory that employs 6,500. About 80 senior workers claimed they were getting shortchanged on their severance pay, and they mobilized a mob of 500 — mostly other unemployed workers and friends, Guo said.
The workers battled security guards, turned over a police car, smashed the headlights of police motorcycles and forced their way through the factory's front gate, Guo said. They went on a rampage in the plant's offices, damaging 10 computers, the company said.
So You Want to be a Pirate?
Here you can follow global maritime traffic in real time.
MarineTraffic.com
The Ice Age is Coming! -- Alaskan Sea Glaciers Advancing for the First Time in 250 Years
Could so many hysterical global warming alarmists have been wrong? It certainly appears so. Check this out.
"We The People" to Run Full Page Ad Demanding Obama Produce His Birth Certificate
They're going to run it in the Chicago Tribune of all places. This is from their site:
Our full-page Open Letter to Mr. Obama will be published in the Chicago Tribune on both Monday, December 1, 2008 and Wednesday, December 3, 2008. It will appear in the main news section.Click here to view a copy of the ad.
Chicago is Mr. Obama’s hometown. His transition team is operating out of the Kluczynski Federal Building in downtown Chicago. He is known to be a regular reader of the Tribune, Chicago’s principal newspaper, with a daily circulation of over a half-million readers.
The Open Letter to Mr. Obama is a formal Petition for a Redress (Remedy) for the alleged violation of the “natural born citizen” clause of the Constitution of the United States of America.
Mr. Obama is respectfully requested to direct the Hawaiian officials to provide access to his original birth certificate on December 5-7 by our team of forensic scientists, and to provide additional documentary evidence establishing his citizenship status prior to our Washington, D.C. press conference on December 8.
A First Amendment Petition to any official of the Government for Redress of a violation of the Constitution is substantially different from the garden-variety political petitions frequently received by government officials. This Petition demands it be given the highest priority for an expedited review and official Response by Mr. Obama.
As a formal “Notice of a Constitutional Violation,” the Petition naturally includes the People’s inherent Right to an official Response. As a time-sensitive, election related Petition involving the Office of the President, failure to Respond as requested would constitute an egregious breach of the public trust and confirm the certainty of a Constitutional crisis.
For the D.C. press conference the WTP Foundation has reserved the Edward R. Murrow Room at the National Press Club from 1-4 pm on Monday, December 8, 2008. We are hopeful that C-SPAN may cover what could be a pivotal, historic event.
The Petition for Redress/Open Letter to Mr. Obama is also expected to have a significant impact on the deliberations of the Electoral College as it proceeds toward selection of the U.S. President as provided for by the Constitution.
Many, many thanks to the many individuals who donated the money needed to cover the costs of publishing the Open Letter and conducting the Washington press conference.
We are now in the process of selecting the forensic scientists who would travel to Hawaii to examine Mr. Obama’s original birth certificate (assuming he responds to the Petition for Redress by directing the Hawaiian officials to provide access to the birth certificate). The budget for this task is currently estimated at $20,000. We need to raise the money quickly. Unfortunately, we are starting from zero and we have but one week before the scientists would need to be in Hawaii.
Doctors Shocked at Hostage Torture
It's tragic these people were tortured and killed. But I'm a little unclear why these doctors were shocked. This should have been expected. We're dealing with animals.
"Bombay has a long history of terror. I have seen bodies of riot victims, gang war and previous terror attacks like bomb blasts. But this was entirely different. It was shocking and disturbing," a doctor said.
Asked specifically if he was talking of torture marks, he said: "It was apparent that most of the dead were tortured. What shocked me were the telltale signs showing clearly how the hostages were executed in cold blood," one doctor said.
The other doctor, who had also conducted the post-mortem of the victims, said: "Of all the bodies, the Israeli victims bore the maximum torture marks. It was clear that they were killed on the 26th itself. It was obvious that they were tied up and tortured before they were killed. It was so bad that I do not want to go over the details even in my head again," he said.
End of Nations
From the makers of this video:
We set out to make a video about the pros and cons of the Lisbon Treaty and found out to our horror the lies, manipulations and deceit behind the EU. From MEPs, legal experts and EU researches the true nature of the EU unfolded, how it really operates from behind closed doors and away from prying eyes. We discovered the massive power grab away from citizens and nations to the elites that is being proposed in this treaty.
Most shocking of all was how our elected representatives are willingly handing us over to this emerging Totalitarian Superstate by deception, propaganda and outright lies. This video details how the structures of the EU really operate, what the full significance of the Lisbon Treaty is and how it is the end of Nations within in the EU.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
He's Already Won the Election, But Obama is Still Asking His Supporters for Money
Unbelievable! In these economic times, Obama has the audacity to ask his downtrodden supporters for even MORE money. For what?
This is from Peter Funt, son of Alan Funt of Candid Camera fame:And what do you get for $250 again? An Obama victory T-shirt?
This is not easy to write, because I consider the election of Barack Obama to be one of the most inspiring political and social developments of my lifetime. I truly mean no disrespect when I say: Stop asking for money.
Last spring, I signed up to receive e-mails from all the major presidential campaigns. Not surprisingly, the recurrent theme in the almost-daily messages was: Donate money. After Hillary Clinton dropped out, her pleas for donations increased; just last week, supporters received another letter seeking money to retire Clinton's campaign debt.
A week after the election, David Plouffe, the head of Obama for America, wrote: "We've been reviewing the books, and the DNC went into considerable debt to secure victory for Barack and Joe. . . . Please make a donation of $250 or more today and receive your Obama Victory T-shirt."
Americans barely have the stomach, or the money, to bail out the banks, the automakers and various foreign governments. Now the Democratic National Committee is seeking a handout?
What's next? The Fund for White House Basketball Uniforms? The Committee to Select the Obama Kids' Dog? After all, Americans wouldn't want secretive poodle breeders influencing the canine transition process.
Some loyal Democrats may be under the impression that it's the Republicans who believe most problems can be solved by leaving them to the private sector. As a member of that sector, I need a break from e-mails seeking more money.
Before contributing to the Obama transition team, Americans deserve a chance to ask David Plouffe: Will you raise your hand if you or other members of your senior staff are flying to the inauguration by commercial airlines? Please include the answer in your next e-mail.
Mumbai Terrorists Funded by Cash from UK Mosques
Oh hey, just keep on tolerating these animals:
A banned Islamic terrorist group funded with cash raised in British mosques is believed to be behind the Mumbai attacks.
Kashmiri separatists Lashkar-e-Taiba, ‘The Army of the Righteous’, which has strong links to Al Qaeda, is accused of previous terrorist outrages in India.
And intercepted telephone and radio communications before and during the latest attacks apparently suggest a link.
Indian officials say at least one of the gunmen captured after the attacks is part of a Lashkar network.
The group last week denied any responsibility and the unknown group Deccan Mujahideen said it was behind the atrocity.
But earlier this year another group, the Indian Mujahideen, which has links to Lashkar-e-Taiba, sent an email to Indian police warning it was planning an attack in Mumbai.
The message read: ‘We are keeping a close eye on you and just waiting for the right time to execute your bloodshed...Let the Indian Mujahideen warn all the people of Mumbai...You are already on our hit list and this time very, very seriously.’
Man Beats Woman for Not Supporting Obama
Hope and change in action.
An attack on a Jacksonville woman began as an argument over President-elect Barack Obama, according to police.
The incident took place Friday morning when a fight over politics turned into a physical battle, Jacksonville television station WJXT reported.
According to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, Lindsy Whitfield, 46, got worked up when his friend told him she didn't like Obama.
Police said Whitfield slammed a picture frame on the floor of the woman's apartment, and then picked up the shattered frame, threw it and hit her in the face.
The enraged man then began beating the victim with his fists before telling her he was going to kill her, according to a police report.
Here's a video report:
Fully Furnished Nazi Bunkers Surface After 60 Years
Interesting report:
This bunker and three others, entombed under the sand dunes of Houvig since 1945, were uncovered a few months ago in a violent storm, when giant waves swept away the sand, exposing glimpses of the cement and iron structures.
"What's so fantastic is that we found them completely furnished with beds, chairs, tables, communication systems and the personal effects of the soldiers who lived inside," says Jens Andersen, the curator of the Hanstholm museum that specialises in Nazi fortifications.
"It was like entering the heart of a pyramid with mummies all around. I dug a tunnel through the sand that was blocking the entrance to the bunkers and what I saw blew me away: it was as if the German soldiers had left only yesterday," he said.
Experts and archaeologists also hastened to the scene, and, working together with Cassoe, emptied the structures within a few days of boots, undergarments, socks, military stripes, mustard and aquavit bottles, books, inkpots, stamps featuring Hitler, medicines, soda bottles, keys, hammers and other objects.
Reverend Manning Demands to Know Where Obama was Born
You got to love this guy.
"Go ahead Alan Keyes and Boomshakalaka brotha!!!"
New York Times Blames Wal-Mart Stampede on Capitalism -- Not on the Agents of Hope and Change
This is just shameless and irresponsible journalism. How much of a Marxist do you have to be to see things in this light? An excerpt from a New York Times article.
It was a tragedy, yet it did not feel like an accident. All those people were there, lined up in the cold and darkness, because of sophisticated marketing forces that have produced this day now called Black Friday. They were engaging in early-morning shopping as contact sport. American business has long excelled at creating a sense of shortage amid abundance, an anxiety that one must act now or miss out.I know it hurts many liberals, but this is the face of hope and change. Come on. Watch this video. We know that at least 90% of these people voted for Obama. Dont' we?
For decades, Americans have been effectively programmed to shop. China, Japan and other foreign powers have provided the wherewithal to purchase their goods by buying staggering quantities of American debt. Financial institutions have scattered credit card offers as if they were takeout menus and turned our houses into A.T.M.’s. Hollywood and Madison Avenue have excelled at persuading us that the holiday season is a time to spend lavishly or risk being found insufficiently appreciative of our loved ones.
Worldwide Support for Global Warming Concessions Falling
Sure it's falling. People are more concerned with actually being able to eat than partaking in such silliness. I've been saying this would happen for years. But fear not. Those advocates for a new world order have created a new boogey man --- Global financial crisis.
There is both growing public reluctance to make personal sacrifices and a distinct lack of enthusiasm for the major international efforts now underway to battle climate change, according to findings of a poll of 12,000 citizens in 11 countries, including Canada.Results of the poll were released this week in advance of the start of a major international conference in Poland where delegates are considering steps toward a new international climate-change treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.
Less than half of those surveyed, or 47 per cent, said they were prepared to make personal lifestyle changes to reduce carbon emissions, down from 58 per cent last year.
Bollywood Beauty: "Terrorism Should Be Struck Down with an Iron Hand"
Can you imagine the anti-American Marxists in Hollywood taking this stance against terrorism? No, you can't. We have Jane Fonda. They have Shabana Azmi
Wake up and strike terrorism with an iron hand, say Bollywood's stars shocked by the brazen terror attack that targeted Mumbai's poshest areas. From Hema Malini, who worries about her daughters, to Bipasha Basu, who narrowly missed the Vile Parle blast, this terror strike has shaken them all.
Shabana Azmi: I was on the phone with a friend in London when she asked me to switch on the TV. It's a diabolic war waged on our city and country. This isn't the time to place blame. We need to maintain peace and communal harmony and cooperate with the police. Our condolences to police officers who sacrificed their lives. Terrorism should be struck down with an iron hand.
China Cop Killer Has Widespread Support from the People
China has some problems:
Yang Jia, who was executed by lethal injection this week, was an unlikely hero. On July 1, the 28-year-old stabbed six police officers to death. Nobody has suggested he didn't commit the crime. Yang Jia himself said it was an act of revenge. He and the police agree that last year he was detained for riding an unlicensed bicycle. Yang Jia said he was beaten; the police denied this. Yang Jia demanded compensation, and when it was refused, he committed mass murder.
What followed – the harassment of his lawyer and family, questions over the legal process, the death sentence – were not unexpected. What has been shocking to many observers, however, has been the widespread support for Yang Jia. This support has been expressed on the internet, and in gatherings outside the courthouse, and by prominent critics of the Chinese government.
Most obviously, this support for Yang Jia exposes widespread contempt for the police, and an instinctive belief in Yang Jia's allegation that he was beaten in police custody. Many people have said they do not think they have been allowed to hear Yang Jia's side of the story.
I think the support for him also speaks to something deeper. He is not the first murderer to elicit public sympathy in China. Nearly thirty years ago, in 1979, a young woman surnamed Jiang Aizhen serving in the army became the target of rumours that she was having an affair. When she complained to senior officers, they sided with her tormentor. Driven to desperation by her inability to clear her name, she shot dead three officers. When she was sentenced to death, the case was reported in the People's Daily. What followed was extraordinary in China – a vast outpouring of sympathy for a convicted criminal. Like Yang Jia, there was no doubt that she was guilty of the crime, but thousands of people wrote letters sympathising with her plight, arguing that if the state did not provide access for vulnerable people to right wrongs, then the state must bear partial responsibility when those who were wronged took things into their own hands. The authorities came under such pressure, and were made so nervous by public opinion, that the court changed its verdict to 15 years in prison. It was almost an acknowledgement by the courts that allowances must be made for people who were driven mad by the system.
I think the support for Yang Jia stems simply from a widespread understanding that the system here exposes some people to intolerable pressure, and that they cannot be held accountable for breaking under that pressure. It is an understanding born of empathy – so many people have bashed their heads against the brick wall of injustice. In many cases, the answer to that intolerable pressure is suicide. In most case, people simply continue as well as they can with their lives. There is little likelihood that a grievance can be independently assessed, or that you can take to court someone more powerful than yourself. The petition office in Beijing is where people come from all over the country to beg for the justice which has eluded them in their home towns. They plead for redress, but they are as likely to be sent home or put in jail as to be helped. And so the grievances fester.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Royal Marine Saved 130 Soldiers by Rugby Tackling Suicide Bomber
Awesome!
A hero Royal Marine saved 130 soldiers from certain death when he rugby tackled a suicide attacker before he could detonate a huge motorcycle bomb.
The 40-year-old Marine saw the Afghan insurgent reaching for a yellow detonator button on the bike and leapt into action to drag him away.
He foiled a cunningly planned attack in which the same motorcycle had been checked by the same troops just hours earlier when its panniers had been packed with potatoes instead of explosives.
The suicide bomb contained 70 kilograms of explosives and was so huge it would have destroyed everything within 180 metres and left a huge crater.
He spotted wires running from the bulging saddlebags to another yellow button on the petrol tank and he hauled the bomber off the bike as he reached to press it.
The Marine grappled the insurgent to the ground and comrades rushed in to detain him.
Explosives experts later made safe two huge bombs each weighing 35 kilos or five and a half stone, which were packed into each of the panniers on either side of the red 50 cc bike.
The Marine, from Devon, who has asked not to be identified, has now been recommended for a gallantry medal.
Photos from Wal-Mart Stampede that Resulted in a Man's Death -- Video Added
Figures. Hope and changelings are the culprits.
Here's a cellphone video of the aftermath. Listen. The same people who trampled the guy are giggling and complaining about the rescue efforts.
See previous report:
Strangest Headline in History: "Determined Shoppers Stampede Store Employee Smack Dab in the Middle of a Great Depression"
MSNBC's Chris Matthews Putting Together Staff for 2010 Senate Run
Oh hell, why not? Psychosis is in vogue right now.
Chris Matthews, it appears, is in.Maybe if he's elected, he can finally get some alone time with Obama.
FiveThirtyEight has been hearing for some time that Matthews is serious about running for the United States Senate, but it took a trip to Georgia among the Georgia-runoff-congregated and well-connected Obama organizer throng to confirm.
According to multiple sources, who confirmed the Tip O'Neill staffer-cum-MSNBC host has negotiated with veteran Obama staffers to enlist in his campaign, Chris Matthews is likely to run for United States Senate in Pennsylvania in 2010. Matthews, 62, would run as a Democrat. Arlen Specter, the aging Republican incumbent, will be 80 if he chooses to run for re-election.
Germans Find "Chocolate Jesus" Tasteless
They love Obama, but hate "chocolate Jesus"?
Germany's churches criticized a businessman on Tuesday for selling thousands of Jesus chocolates.This is chocolate Jesus.
Frank Oynhausen set up his "Sweet Lord" chocolate Jesus-making business saying he wanted to restore some traditional religious values to Christmas in Germany.
But the German Protestant Church criticized the idea as "tasteless" and the Roman Catholic Church was not amused.
"It is terrible that Jesus is being wrapped up in gold foil and sold along with chocolate bunnies, edible penguins and lollipops," said Aegidius Engel, a spokesman for the archbishopric of nearby Paderborn.
"This is ruining the symbol of Jesus himself," he added.
This is the German Obama worship.
I prefer chocolate Jesus. He's has more substance.
Brooklyn Couple Killed in Mumbai Terror Attacks
Victims of the insane. God rest their souls.
An ultra-orthodox Jewish group based in Brooklyn confirmed Friday that a New York rabbi and his wife were among the dead in a series of terrorist attacks in India that have claimed more than 150 lives.Elsewhere in Mumbai, two other Americans were killed:
Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg and his wife, Rivka, who ran the movement's local headquarters in Mumbai, India, were killed during a hostage standoff at the center, said Rabbi Zalman Shmotkin, a spokesman for the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. The couple's toddler son, Moshe Holtzberg, was rescued Thursday by an employee and is now with his grandparents.
For the past two days, the five-story headquarters of Chabad in Mumbai has been besieged by terrorists, with Indian commandos rappeling from helicopters in an attempt to root them out. A series of explosions and fire rocked the building and blew giant holes in the wall.
Authorities said three other hostages and two gunmen were also killed but they weren't immediately identified.
A father and his teenage daughter from a Virginia community that promotes a form of meditation were among those killed in the terrorist attacks in India, a colleague said Friday.
Alan Scherr, 58, and daughter Naomi, 13, were in a cafe Wednesday night in Mumbai when they were killed, said Bobbie Garvey, a spokeswoman for the Synchronicity Foundation. The U.S. State Department confirmed their deaths on Friday morning.
Shock Video: Gang Robs Internet Cafe with Meat Cleavers
From CCTV in Kuala Lumpur, a gang robs an internet cafe with meat cleavers, banging the manager about the head. Don't worry, he's OK.
Strangest Headline in History: "Determined Shoppers Stampede Store Employee Smack Dab in the Middle of a Great Depression"
I guess these folks took time off from standing in the soup line to get their Wal-mart on. Things went terribly wrong:
A Wal-Mart worker died after being trampled when hundreds of shoppers smashed through the doors of a Long Island store Friday morning, police and witnesses said.Closed citcuit TV will show who the fish-eyed fools were that killed this man. I hope they pay.
The 34-year-old worker, employed as an overnight stock clerk, tried to hold back the unruly crowds just after the Valley Stream store opened at 5 a.m.
Witnesses said the surging throngs of shoppers knocked the man down. He fell and was stepped on. As he gasped for air, shoppers ran over and around him.
"He was bum-rushed by 200 people," said Jimmy Overby, 43, a co-worker. "They took the doors off the hinges. He was trampled and killed in front of me. They took me down too...I literally had to fight people off my back."
"Obama?...Are you related to the president?" -- Yeah Right. As if they would know if they were
Pardon me, but with the way Obama's people in Kenya run their lives, I find this story somewhat funny.
Nicanor Obama began to realize he might be on to a good thing when he didn't get a speeding ticket not long ago. After stopping the 28-year-old for a little lead-footing near the Verizon Center, a District police officer looked at his driver's license and put the citation book away.
"I signed up for a Harris Teeter card the other day, and the woman was, like, Obama?," said Denise Maye Obama, 19, of Alexandria. "She said: 'That's a first. Are you related to the president?' Everyone asks if I'm related to the president now. One of these times I'm going to say yes, just for the fun of it."
Russian Female Snipers During World War II: The Story of Lyudmila Pavlichenko
Lyudmila Mikhailivna Pavlichenko was a Ukrainian Soviet sniper during World War II, credited with 309 kills. Born in Bila Tserkva on July 12, 1916, Pavlichenko moved to Kiev with her family at the age of fourteen. There she joined a shooting club and developed into a sharpshooter, while working as a grinder at the Kiev Arsenal factory.
In June of 1941, 24-year old Pavlichenko was studying history at the Kiev University when Nazi Germany began its invasion of the Soviet Union. Pavlichenko was among the first round of volunteers at the recruiting office, where she requested to join the infantry and subsequently she was assigned to the Red Army's 25th Infantry Division. There she became one of 2,000 female snipers in the Red Army, of whom only about 500 ultimately survived the war. As a sniper, she made her first two kills near Belyayevka, using a Mosin-Nagant bolt action rifle with a P.E. 4-power scope.
1943 postage stamp
Pvt. Pavlichenko fought for about two and a half months near Odessa, where she recorded 187 kills. When the Germans gained control of Odessa, her unit was pulled to be sent to Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula. In May 1942, Lieutenant Pavlichenko was cited by the Southern Army Council for killing 257 German soldiers. Her total confirmed kills during World War II was 309, including 36 enemy snipers. In June 1942, Pavlichenko was wounded by mortar fire. Because of her growing status, she was pulled from combat less than a month after recovering from her wound.
Having attained the rank of Major, Pavlichenko never returned to combat but became an instructor and trained Soviet snipers until the war's end. In 1943, she was awarded the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union, and was commemorated on a Soviet postage stamp.
Here's a video of a female Russian sniper action.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Video: Taliban Release Video of French Hostage
This will most likely make you very angry.
A French aid worker kidnapped in Afghanistan earlier this month has appeared in a video with two rifles pressed to either side of his head and chains around his legs.
In the video, obtained by news agencies in Afghanistan, the dirt-streaked man barely seems to open his eyes as he pleads for his release.
"I have been here for the last eight days, fully in the black," says the hostage, who i More..dentifies himself as Dany Egreteau.
Egreteau was captured by gunmen in Kabul Nov. 3 as he drove to work with another aid worker, who managed to escape. An Afghan who tried to prevent the kidnapping was killed.
It was unclear when the video was taken, although Egreteau's statement suggests it was shot just over a week after he was ambushed.
Police Force Iraq War Veterans to Lick Urine Off the Ground
More madness from a blue state.
Two Wisconsin National Guardsmen filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Wisconsin Dells, its police chief and three officers because they were forced to lap up what was believed to be human urine from the ground last summer.
The guardsmen, both of whom have served two tours of duty in Iraq, were in the Dells for weekend training and were stopped by police officers Wayne W. Thomas and Collin H. Jacobson early the morning of June 1 and accused of having urinated in public, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Madison.
The officers pointed out a wet spot in an alley that they thought was urine, the lawsuit states, but the guardsmen, Sgt. Anthony R. Anderson, of West Bend, and Specialist Robert C. Schiman, of Kaukauna, denied having relieved themselves in the alley.
In order to prove that it was not their urine and avoid a citation, Thomas and Jacobson made Anderson and Schiman lick the ground and scrape mud up with their hands and lick it, according to the lawsuit.
Schiman also was made to eat a plant that was drenched in the liquid, the lawsuit states.
A third officer, Scott Albrecht, arrived at the scene and was told by Jacobson, "I can't stop laughing. Wayne just made those two guys lick their own piss off the ground," according to the lawsuit.
Wisconsin Dells Police Chief Bret Anderson, who is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, also declined to comment. He referred questions to City Attorney James Gerlach.
The lawsuit states that Thomas, 19, was fired the same day as the incident and Jacobson, 20, was suspended for two weeks without pay. Both were limited term police officers.
According to the lawsuit: After having forced Anderson and Schiman to lick the wet ground, Anderson was made to do it again after one of the officers said he didn't see it. "That's not good enough," the officer said. "Do you want a ticket?"
After the two were released from the scene without being cited, they told their story to Albrecht. As Albrecht stood by, Anderson and Schiman asked Thomas and Jacobson for the name of their commanding officer, but were threatened with burglary charges if they filed a complaint. The police officers told the soldiers that nobody would believe them.
The Big Feed Cracks the Top 100,000 of the World's Most Popular Websites
Another milestone for freedom. We have now cracked the top 100,000 of the world's most referenced websites. Tyranny is on the run. But we know where it lives.
View the good news here.
Oh what? That's not so special? Hey, when we started, we were dead last.
Come on and celebrate...
Cost of Making a Copy of a Legitimate Birth Certificate? $10 ---- Cost of Defending Suits Challenging the Citizenship of Barack Obama? $800,000
Barack Obama has spent more than $800,000 defending challenges to his citizenship. The cost of making a copy of a legitimate birth certificate is, give or take a few dollars, $10. Beyond the suspicions of a constitutionally insufficient birth that should immediately come to mind, does anyone else think that maybe this man shouldn't be running our finances?
Read this report which asserts the deadline for Obama to put up or shut up is this Monday.
Obama: I am the Change --- Liberals Want a Refund
Obama: "I am the change"
And this thought from Sheldon Alberts:
In Hillary Clinton, Obama may be picking a secretary of state who voted for the war in Iraq. In Gates, he would be picking someone who implemented Bush’s surge. To some, that runs contrary to a central plank of Obama’s candidacy – his early and steadfast opposition to the war.
Obama was also said to be supportive – behind the scenes – of the recent decision by Senate Democrats to let Lieberman keep his chairmanship of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, despite attacking the Illinois senator during the campaign and speaking at the Republican convention.
Obama appeared irritated at the suggestion he’s setting up a de facto third Clinton administration, saying Americans would be rightly troubled if his team had no government experience at a time of economic crisis.
“I know this has been, sort of, conventional wisdom floating around Washington, that, ‘Well, you know, there's a recycling of people who were in the Clinton administration,’ ” he said.
Indian Army Official: Mumbai Terrorists Came from Pakistan
This will not be good for India/Pakistan relations. Not good at all.
Militants who staged multiple attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai, killing at least 125 people and injuring hundreds more, came from Pakistan, a senior military official said on Thursday.And this from the Times of India:
"They are from across the border and perhaps from Faridkot, Pakistan. They tried to pretend that they were from Hyderabad," Major General R.K. Hooda, leading the military operation to flush out the extremists, told reporters.
Strategic gurus and security analysts in the US and from across the world are examining Pakistan's role in terrorism following yet another terror episode in India ending with fingers pointed at its widely-reviled neighbour.
While initial reports from India suggested the Mumbai carnage was a localised attack by militant malcontents in India because of the "Deccan Mujaheddin" decoy that was used to claim responsibility, evidence cited by Indian army and security experts based on phone intercepts, nature of weaponry, mode of entry by sea etc., has quickly focused the attention on Pakistan.
The statement by India's normally cautious and restrained prime minister, Manmohan Singh, that groups based across the border, a thinly-disguised reference to Pakistan, has also galvanized the strategic and security community into examining Islamabad's role in the region that has already been subjected to scrutiny in the past.
The report also said the apparent focus on killing or capturing foreign businesspeople, specifically US and UK nationals, which has never occurred before, also suggested "a wider global anti-Western agenda." This stands in contrast to the national issues that appeared to motivate Indian Mujahideen, it said.
Experts also said the heavy weaponry, grenades, and the sustained attack pointed to intense training and planning beyond the scope of indigenous groups.
Kenyan Ambassador: I Don't Know if Obama was Born in the United States
This is a follow up to a story we reported last week.
Here is the audio. Was he misquoted?Kenyan Ambassador Peter N.R.O. Ogego is saying he's "infuriated" by a radio program's efforts to "misquote" him on the subject of President-elect Barack Obama's birthplace – but he refused to confirm whether Obama was born in the United States.
In an exclusive interview with WND today, Ogego was specifically asked whether Obama is a natural-born U.S. citizen.
"I don't know," he said with a tone of irritation. "You should ask your government. I know his father is Kenyan."
He continued with a rhetorical question: "Obama is an American, isn't he?"
On Nov. 6, only two days after the election, Detroit radio talk-show hosts Mike Clark, Trudi Daniels and Marc Fellhauer on WRIF's "Mike In The Morning" called the Embassy of Kenya in Washington, D.C., to speak with Ambassador Ogego
The interview with the Kenyan ambassador was widely publicized after he called President-elect Barack Obama's Kenyan birthplace a "well-known" attraction:
Clark: "We want to congratulate you on Barack Obama, our new president, and you must be very proud."
Ogego: "We are. We are. We are also proud of the U.S. for having made history as well."
Fellhauer: "One more quick question, President-elect Obama's birthplace over in Kenya, is that going to be a national spot to go visit, where he was born?"
Ogego: "It's already an attraction. His paternal grandmother is still alive."
Fellhauer: "His birthplace, they'll put up a marker there?"
Ogego: "It would depend on the government. It's already well known."
Now Ogego is saying the hosts misquoted and edited the audio recording of his comments.
Russian Mayor Gunned Down
Russia has some serious problems. And they have nukes. Not a good situation.
The mayor of one of the biggest cities in Russia’s turbulent North Caucasus has died after being shot by gunmen in the street.
Vitaly Karayev is the most senior figure to be murdered for years in the area, where terrorists, some linked to militant Islam, have launched frequent raids.
Witnesses in North Ossetia’s capital Vladikavkaz say Karayev was shot outside his home. He is the latest victim of a violent combination of clan rivalry, poverty and Islamic groups trying to overthrow Moscow’s rule.
North Ossetia is a mainly Christian region caught up in spiralling violence spilling over from neighbouring Chechnya, and borders South Ossetia.
12 people were killed and many others were wounded 10 days ago when a suicide bomber attacked a minibus in a Vladikavkaz market.
Video of Mumbai Terrorists -- Captured from CCTV
Video footage of terrorists leaving the train station and heading for the hopsital.
Obama's Judgment: Plans to Have His Daughter Who is Allergic to Dogs Clean Up After the Dog
And 67 million Americans think this guy needs to be in charge of our health care?
President-elect Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, said their young daughters will still have to do chores in the White House, including picking up after their new puppy.There's only one small problem here. Malia is allergic to dogs. You may recall, Obama has already broken his promise to his daughters about getting a puppy. Now he thinks it's a good idea to have his daughter, who is allergic, to "scoop the poop". Does there become a time when we can call equate "audacity" to "stupidity"?
Sasha, 7, and Malia, 10, will have to "scoop the poop," the president-elect said in an interview with Barbara Walters broadcast Wednesday. "We've been talking to them about that. We don't want litter on the White House lawns. They're going to have to do their job."
Indian Navy Official Not Ruling Out Somali Pirate Roll in Mumbai Attacks
An Indian Navy official is not ruling out that the Mumbai attacks were in retaliation for the Indian Navy's sinking of a Somali pirate boat earlier this week.
A top Indian naval official has said that he would not rule out the role of Somali pirates in the terror strikes in Mumbai in view of the
recent action by the Navy against the sea bandits in the Gulf of Aden.
Asked whether there can be any connection between the pirates and the attacks in Mumbai, Vice Admiral Sunil K Damle, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command, said such a thing cannot be ruled out.
"I cannot say but I will not rule it out. I cannot say whether there is connection or not. All I am saying is that we very strongly suspect such a thing can happen," he told reporters on board the INS Tir.
"It is a fact that our action against the Somali pirates in the recent past has got the Indian Navy into focus particularly in that area", he said, adding this also brought in a danger...Indian Navy being targeted by these people also in addition to the terrorists," he said.
"These bad elements unfortunately have a fair amount of illegal money at their disposal. Even if Somali pirates were not taking direct action against us, there is every possibility of them pumping in the money into such organisations which are capable of taking terrorist action against us", he said.
On reports that the attackers had sneaked in to Mumbai through sea routes, he said "we have already started investigating the vessels which are considered suspicious on the west coast, particularly in the vicinity of Mumbai".
He said the Navy has stepped up security not only as a result of what is happening in Mumbai. "We have already taken security measures because we feel they could be target of those who feel threatened by the naval action. We have tightened various kinds of security measures", he said.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
BREAKING: Mumbai Terrorist Attack Traced to Russia
A report from the India Times says the email claiming responsibility for the Mumbai terrorist attacks has been traced to Russia.
An unknown outfit, Deccan Mujahideen, has sent an email to news organizations claiming that it carried out the Mumbai attacks.The report says the IP address that the email was sent from was located in Russia.
See the video report here.
And this additional report also linking the email to Russia:
New Delhi: Ten people reportedly sneaked into Mumbai via the sea route from Karachi and carried out a pre-planned and well-orchestrated strike in India under the aegis of the dreaded Lashkar-e-Taiba militant outfit.
A report on Times Now quoted intelligence agencies as saying that the timing of the terror attack coincided with efforts at peace talks between the newly elected regime in Pakistan and the authorities in India.
The militants reportedly used speed-boats to get from the coast of Karachi to Mumbai and then spread out into the southern part of the city and spread mayhem around the central business district by storming two major hotels and opening indiscriminate fire at several places.
The report quoted the intelligence agencies as saying that this information came from one of the captured terrorists after last night's heist in India's financial capital that saw more than 87 people lose their lives and 200 being injured with a few hostage dramas continuing for nearly 12 hours.
The report also said that there was no group called the Deccan Mujahideen and the e-mail has been traced back to a fictitious IP address in Russia. It said that the hawkish elements in Pakistan stage-managed this terror attacks to coincide with the visit of Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who was to visit Chandigarh today in the company of his Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee, a trip that has since been cancelled.
Video: Mumbai Terrorists Steal Police Van and Fire at Bystanders
Police van stolen by terrorists do a drive-by, shoot indiscriminately into crowd.
First Photos of Alleged Mumbai Terrorists Surface
These guys don't look like followers of a religion of peace:
h/t ultrabrown
BREAKING: Terrorist Attack in India -- Westerners Targeted -- Hostages -- 80 Dead -- 900 Hurt
Developing...
At least 80 people were killed tonight and 20 Westerners taken hostage as suspected Islamic terrorists mounted a series of co-ordinated attacks on India’s financial capital.UPDATE: Little known Islamic group claims responsibility:
The gunman, armed with automatic weapons and grenades, targeted British and American tourists in the city’s luxury hotels and bars. They were reported to be holding Western tourists hostage at the Taj Mahal Palace, Bombay’s top hotel, where a group of British MEPs were staying.
As a swathe of violent incidents swept across the south of the city, hitting at least nine locations, security sources said “a major terror attack” was unfolding. A senior police officer said that “terrorists have used automatic weapons and we have reports that in some places hand grenades have been used”.
“We have reports of 80 people dead and at least 900 injured. Many have serious injuries and the toll will go up,” said P.D Ghadge, a police officer in the main control room in Mumbai. Hemant Karkare, chief of the police anti-terrorist squad in Bombay, was among the victims. Police said two terrorists had been killed.
Shootings were reported in the lobby of the five-star Taj Mahal Palace hotel in the Colaba area of south Bombay and at the nearby Leopolds bar, a popular destination with western backpackers. Witnesses described pools of blood and bullet-scarred walls at both locations.
“I guess they were after foreigners, because they were asking for British or American passports,” said Rakesh Patel, a British witness who lives in Hong Kong and was staying at the Taj Mahal hotel on business. “They had bombs.”
“They came from the restaurant and took us up the stairs.”
At the nearby Oberon hotel, a regular meeting place for businessmen and wealthy tourists, witnesses described a “high intensity” bomb blast.
A media report says a little-known group, the Deccan Mujahideen, has claimed responsibility for the Mumbai terrorist attacks.UPDATE: 80 dead, 900 hurt.
The Press Trust of India news agency said Thursday the group sent emails to several media outlets.
Teams of heavily armed gunmen attacked a crowded train station in southern Mumbai and Leopold's restaurant, a well-known Mumbai landmark, along with the two hotels and a police station.
UPDATE: Indian troops closing in on gunmen:
The Indian army reportedly is closing in on two luxury hotels where dozens of people were being held hostage in Mumbai, India, after attacks by terrorist gunmen who, eyewitnesses said, appeared to be targeting Americans and Britons.UPDATE: Terrorists specifically targeting Americans and Brits:
There were reports of new attacks on one hotel, the Trident, and gunfire at another, the JW Marriott. The Army was moving into the Oberoli hotel, according to local television reports.
Police were battling the gunmen, Maharashtra Police Commissioner A.N Roy said.
"The terrorists have used automatic weapons and in some places grenades have been lobbed," Roy said.
Westerners were rounded up in at least two five-star hotels, including the exclusive Taj Palace, which were among seven targets stormed by men armed with AK-47 machine guns and grenades.
Witnesses said the terrorists, thought to be linked to Al-Qaeda, were specifically targeting British and American visitors.
PHOTOS
Photo of alleged terrorist involved in the attack
Fox News
VIDEO REPORTS:
Follow events live from this streaming video.
Somalis Leaving Minnesota to Wage Jihad?
Why do these things always seem to happen in Minnesota?
Young Somali men are vanishing off the streets of the Twin Cities. More than 20 have left in the last few months, and the community fears they’ve gone back to Somalia to fight in a holy war.Watch the video report here.
They’re known in the Somali community simply at The Missing. More than 20 young Somali men, between the ages of 17 and 22, who have left the Twin Cities in the last few months, without a single word to their families.
The families and community leaders believe the men have gone back to fight in a bloody civil war, in which Al Quiada is a major player.
From multiple sources in the Somali community, FOX 9 has learned eight men are believed to have left on August 1, and another ten on November 4.
Flight itineraries discovered by their families show they left Minneapolis to take the winding trip back, through Dubai, Nairobi and Malindi, Kenya, where they’re believed to have entered Somalia by boat.
At least one mother has received a phone call from her son. He told her he was in Somalia, but would not tell her what he was doing there.
UPDATE: Video report about a Minnesota man who blew himself up during a suicide attack in Somalia last month.
Virginia Woman Single Handedly Putting an End to Somalia's Pirates
This is a very strange story.
The pirates who captured the Saudi oil tanker Sirius Star have broken off negotiations with the ship's owners, apparently insisting they want to talk with a wealthy Virginia woman with close ties to the US military and intelligence communities.More on Michelle Ballarin and some creepy CIA in Somalia type stuff here.
Michele Lynn Ballarin runs a small Virginia-based company, SelectArmor, that designs and makes body armor and provides executive protection to wealthy individuals. She has a long history of involvement in Somalia, including allegations by a respected publication -- Africa Confidential -- that she was helping plan military operations there in 2006.
Military.com spoke with Ballarin for more than an hour Nov. 24 and she told us she has been in regular touch with the pirates by satellite phone -- the last contact was Monday at 5 p.m. Eastern Time -- and had just returned from Somalia Nov. 18.
Ballarin said she is not only negotiating with the pirates holding that Saudi tanker, she is also in touch with the MV Faina, the Ukrainian ship loaded with grenade launchers, ammunition and 33 Russian-made T-72 tanks.
The Faina's captain helped the pirates drop a sign over the ship's side with the word "Amira" written on it, which refers to the the Arabic nickname for a female leader that Ballarin earned from the pirates. The crew of the Sirius draped a similar sign over the side of their ship.
Ballarin's goal is even bigger than helping end the takeover of the two ships. She wants to negotiate an end to piracy off the Somali coast altogether.
"My goal is to unwind all 17 ships and all 450 people they've been holding," she said.
Ballarin said the involvement of the Somali Islamist group, Al Shabab, had helped turn the tide in her favor by putting the fear of death into the young pirates. She claimed the Islamist group had captured, tortured and killed a young male relative of one of the pirates in the last few days. This came after Al Shabab announced it opposed the taking of ships owned by Muslims and promised to behead those who did.
Al Shabab "made it dead clear that any ransom that is collected they will take it; they will take away their money and kill them," Ballarin said.
"The most urgent requests I've had is they don't want to be offloaded in Somalia because they would be killed," she said, adding that negotiations are under way to find a country willing to take the pirates.
She says the pirates understand the gravy train they have ridden for the last few years from their ill-gotten gains is coming to an end.
"They have snatched too many ships. They have too many navies watching them and now Al Shabab enters the picture," she explained. "So they know they're not going to be able to maintain this activity."
To help encourage Somalis to patrol their own waters and discourage locals from turning piracy Ballarin has a plan to recruit 500 men and women to serve as a Somali coast guard operating out of Berbera, the country's major port. To fund it, she's talking with international aid agencies and encouraging members of the various governments running Somalia to tax the country's vibrant currency exchanges and some of its companies.
Saudi Arabia: American Girl Sentenced to 100 Lashes
What wrong with this story?
The Summary Court in Jeddah has sentenced a 23-year-old Arab national and an 18-year-old American girl to one year in prison and 100 lashes each after they were convicted of adultery.
One hundred lashes is the punishment for unmarried adulterers.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
I Sentence You to Barry Manilow
Don't do the crime if you can't do the time.
A US judge decides to punish teen noise polluters by forcing them to listen to Barry Manilow hits
Muslims Busted Trying to Sell Missiles in Fairfax, Virginia -- "Capable of reaching the Pentagon"
Alarming news out of Fairfax, Virginia.
Two Annandale men have been arrested in an FBI sting that uncovered visa fraud, gun smuggling and references to Lebanon, Yasir Arafat and bombing the Pentagon with a missile.
According to a recently unsealed U.S. District Court affidavit, an FBI informant met with Annandale resident Amjad Hamed, a Jordanian native, in April 2006.
Hamed provided the informant with six valid Palestinian passports and asked him to obtain U.S. visas for them.
According to the affidavit, Hamed revealed that he was part of an international visa fraud scheme. "I challenge anyone in the world who can bring so many passports without being inspected," he is quoted as saying.
Hamed is also quoted as saying he was a member of the Palestinian Authority who met regularly with Yasir Arafat.
Hamed's references to smuggling were also quoted in the affidavit. "Yes, I have connections to transport from America directly to the middle of Lebanon ... no one does anything through the airport ... the airport is hard. All the companies have to disclose their shipment. Do you know through what? ... via the port ... By the sea."
According to the affidavit, Hamed also sold the FBI informant an 8 mm semi-automatic handgun and a SKS sniper rifle on June 21, 2007.
During that transaction, Hamed is quoted as saying that he could obtain a missile that could reach the Pentagon. "You want to hit the Pentagon. You can put the bottle on it, the blue bottle, and hit the Pentagon," he is quoted as saying in the affidavit.
Hamed's cousin, Ibrahim Hamed, allegedly also sold the FBI informant an altered 9 mm handgun in August 2007, and offered to sell him other weapons that he said would come from a source in Florida.
According to the affidavit, Ibrahim Hamed said that his cousin did not have the connections to get the guns and the missile, but that he did.
Amjad Hamed is charged with conspiracy to commit visa fraud, and Ibrahim Hamed is charged with conspiracy to transport in interstate commerce a firearm with a serial number that was removed and obliterated.,
Female Snipers Stalking Russians
Noah Shachtman at WIRED's Danger Room blog says, Russia's top investigator is claiming that their wartime foes, the Georgians, deployed a cadre of female snipers from Ukraine and Latvia. The shooters sound an awful lot like the mythical "white tights" -- the exotic, stone-cold, blue eyed, Olympic bialthete killers of Chechen war lore who were said to pick off hapless Russian conscripts.
Pirates Strike Again
Somali pirates have hijacked a Yemeni ship loaded with steel, officials said on Tuesday, and one of Asia's biggest shippers said it was diverting vulnerable vessels away from the dangerous Gulf of Aden. Yemen's official SABA news agency said the Yemeni ship MV Adina was traveling from Mukalla port to the southern island of Socotra and had been due to dock on November 20 with 507 tons of steel. Yemeni security sources said the authorities were in touch with the pirates, who were demanding a $2 million ransom. The sources said the vessel was owned by Yemeni shipping firm Abu Talal and was carrying seven crew -- three Somalis, two Yemenis and two Panamanians.
BREAKING: Did Marc Rich Bribe Clinton with 250 Million? -- Audio from Confidential Witness
Did fugitive Marc Rich bribe Clinton with 250 million?
Doug Ross received a sworn declaration from a confidential witness who is prepared to testify and should testify in the confirmation hearings of Hillary Clinton and Eric Holder.
Here is alleged audio from the confidential witness:
h/t Stop the ACLU
Video: Obama Birth Certificate Forgery Exposed
Dr. Ron Polarik, PhD reveals his findings concerning Obama's alleged Certification of Live Birth (COLB).
Dr. Polarik explains, step by step, why Obama's COLB is without a doubt, a forgery.
Obama...A Man's Man
"I'd help ya toots, but this here folder is heavy...It's full of hope and change"
h/t The Astute Bloggers
Obama to Call on Americans to Make "Sacrifices"
The Audacity. Obama is breaking the Bank of D.C. to pay for his inauguration and The Messiah is going to call on Americans to make sacrifices?
President-elect Obama said as he announced his economic team that he plans to follow that up with remarks on Tuesday about "cuts and sacrifices" the nation will need to make in the days ahead. He said that in addition to spending to get the economy going, he wants to "reform how business is done in Washington, and how the budgeting process works, how projects are done, so that we have a path towards a sustainable and responsible budget scenario down the line."Sure. I'll sacrifice. Frankly, all I really need is my guns, my religion and a couple of foreigners to hate. But I guess Obama knew that already.
Worst Christmas Gift Ever
I've been seeing these commercials for the "Snuggie" on TV a lot lately. This has to be the most ridiculously stupid product ever. Don't for a minute think this is cool. It's as dumb as your instinct tells you it is. 
Can a million Franciscan friars be wrong?
The Snuggie.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Gitmo Detainees Get Game Boys and Art Lessons
So this is what the office did with my "adopt a family" money?
Detention camp staff at the US Navy base in Cuba are already teaching English to the 255 inmates despite fears that it might allow them to eavesdrop on their guards.Don't you just know these fellas are some Grand Theft Auto IV playing fools?
Barack Obama, the US president-elect, has promised to close the camp, which was set up to hold foreign terrorism suspects captured after the American-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
However, convinced that such a decision is a long way from being carried out, camp staff are attempting to soften the notoriously Spartan existence of Guantanamo inmates.
"We want to keep their brains stimulated. We're not here to give degrees," Zak, the camp's Arab-American cultural advisor, told the Miami Herald.
"Once they are engaged and busy, they leave the guards alone."
Initiatives will include circulating Egyptian newspapers and Game Boy-style electronic games around the tiny cells and holding more "movie nights" featuring pre-recorded sport.
Art and geology classes will also be offered, although the former will not include sharp objects. Prisoners are already allowed to have crayons and Zak said some were "good artists".
"They draw greeting cards for family. They draw weapons," he said. "They draw whatever they want. You can't stop a detainee from thinking." Kristin Wilhelm, a lawyer who represents Guantanamo detainees, said the cultural programme was seven years too late.
Forget It America -- The Chinese Have Mastered the Death Touch
They touch you with their finger, and you go limp. And die. And all I know is the full nelson which, while good for making smaller men admit that they're a monkey's uncle, doesn't really help me on my quest for global domination.
France Warns Obama on Iran and Afghanistan
He won't listen to Americans regarding Iran. What makes France think he'll listen to them?
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner warned U.S. President-elect Barack Obama yesterday of potential dangers involved in his plans to deal more directly with Iran and send more troops to Afghanistan.
Obama has made clear he plans a new approach to dealing with Iran and its nuclear program, including direct talks if needed, a break from the outgoing administration of U.S. President George W. Bush, which pursued a strategy of isolation.
Kouchner, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, said he welcomed Obama's plans but urged him to be careful in dealing with the Iranians, who have been negotiating with major powers for years.
"We have negotiated at great length. People came to France, we sent people to Iran, we met them, and unfortunately this dialogue produced nothing. And so, one must be careful," Kouchner told TV5 television and RFI radio.
Major powers twice have offered Iran a package of incentives to persuade it to abandon uranium enrichment, a sensitive technology that can produce fuel for power plants or potentially for nuclear weapons. Tehran rejected those advances. Some major powers in the West say Iran seeks to develop the atom bomb under the cover of a civilian nuclear program. Iran says it only wants to master nuclear technology to generate electricity.
Kouchner said his concern is that direct talks between Washington and Tehran could hurt the unity of the major powers that presented the offers to Iran and have imposed sanctions against it – France, Britain, Germany, the United States, Russia and China.
Kouchner, a former aid worker poached from the political left by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, also expressed doubts about Obama's plan to send more troops to Afghanistan, saying the solution there would be political, not military.
"I do not think that is the solution, except in certain places, with a specific task," Kouchner said, emphasizing the importance of being able to one day hand over responsibility for security to Afghan forces.
Chavez Loses Key Races
Not sure it matters what the election results are. The man controls the military and quite frankly, ain't right in the head. So, you know, he'll do whatever he wants.
Venezuelan opposition parties won races for mayor of Caracas and governor in at least three states, beating President Hugo Chavez’s candidates four years after his coalition took near total control of regional governments.
Chavez’s Venezuelan United Socialist Party, or PSUV, was upset by the opposition in Zulia and Miranda, the country’s two most populous states, and may lose two more states when final tallies are published, according to results announced by the National Elections Board. The president, whose candidates won 21 out of 23 state elections in 2004, still controls 17 governorships.
The opposition’s wins today are a blow to Chavez’s drive to centralize control of the oil-exporting country. While the president remains popular among poor voters, accelerating inflation, rising crime and a plunge in oil prices have caused voters to question his socialist political agenda.
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