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Locked on 11/03/2004 12:43:19 AM PST by Admin Moderator, reason:
Thread #21: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1268023/posts |
Posted on 10/12/2004 8:58:00 PM PDT by nwctwx
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Syria now admits it has Saddam's money
But insists amount much lower than U.S. alleges
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41051
GOP says Democratic state House candidates are soft on terrorism
http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw106131_20041022.htm
Press Release Source: Scholar Outlines Chaotic Scenarios if Terrorism Occurs on Election Day
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041023/dcsa001_1.html
Being its all politics anyway, even if LEO's did discover something, there hands could be tied by what is popular to do or not do
Arrests Made in Possible Election Day Plot
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,136410,00.html
Hope Creek reactor taken off line Sun.
http://www.nj.com/news/sunbeam/local/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1097569217107990.xml
Suspicious Package Found in McCarran Parking Area
http://www.klas-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2465941&nav=168XSHlY
K-9 units sweep Wall schools for bombs
http://www.app.com/app/story/0,21625,1087426,00.html
Terrorism's Silent Partner at the United Nations
With the Organization of the Islamic Conference defending any act committed on behalf of "national liberation," the United Nations cannot even issue an unequivocal condemnation of terrorism, let alone join the struggle to eliminate it.
This month, the United Nations Security Council voted to condemn terrorism. The resolution was introduced by Russia, still grieving over the terrorist attack on a school in Beslan, and perhaps the unanimous vote will give it a measure of solace. But the convoluted text and the dealings behind the scenes that were necessary to secure agreement on it offer cold comfort to anyone who cares about winning the war against terrorism. For what they reveal is that even after Beslan and after Madrid and after 9/11, the UN still cannot bring itself to oppose terrorism unequivocally.
Terrorism As a Right
The reason for this failure is that the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which comprises fifty-six of the UN's 191 members, defends terrorism as a right.
After the Security Council vote, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John C. Danforth tried to put the best face on the resolution. He said it "states very simply that the deliberate massacre of innocents is never justifiable in any cause. Never."
But in fact it does not state this. Nor has any UN resolution ever stated it. The U.S. delegation tried to get such language into the resolution, but it was rebuffed by Algeria and Pakistan, the two OIC members currently sitting on the Security Council. (They have no veto, but the resolution's sponsors were willing to water down the text in return for a unanimous vote.)
True, the final resolution condemns "all acts of terrorism irrespective of their motivation." This sounds clear, but in the Alice-in-Wonderland lexicon of the UN, the term "acts of terrorism" does not mean what it seems.
For eight years now, a UN committee has labored to draft a "comprehensive convention on international terrorism." It has been stalled since day one on the issue of "defining" terrorism. But what is the mystery? At bottom everyone understands what terrorism is: the deliberate targeting of civilians. The Islamic Conference, however, has insisted that terrorism must be defined not by the nature of the act but by its purpose. In this view, any act done in the cause of "national liberation," no matter how bestial or how random or defenseless the victims, cannot be considered terrorism. (snipped)
http://www.aei.org/news/filter.all,newsID.21419/news_detail.asp
I for one would like to think that (a) is correct. If (b) is correct, what then was the purpose? Fissures have developed internally within the Taliban because they couldn't get their act together to disrupt things.
I wonder if the link was broke because the story was pulled? Something this big SHOULD hit other financial sources such as the WSJ if it is valid.
Since this broke last night more (possibly related) info has come to light, here's an article by Martin F. Goldberg with the cathcy headline 'CHART FISSURES SUGGEST SOMETHING BIG IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN'
Reading his article, there are some interesting anomolys, particularly with volume versus change on a few of the charts. However, the trends he picked out on many others were not unlike the minimal historical data included. Not a financial guru, he may be evaluating the data properly, but I wish he'd placed it in a greater historical context.
I'm sure he can feel the breath of our SF on his neck. But maybe it is like what Pippen said to Treebeard "The closer we are to trouble, the less danger we're in - he wouldn't expect us to do that"
Your names are new to me, so welcome. See #1348 for related postings on the ambulance purchasers, and thanks for the posts.
Thank you PureSolace and Mindspy
Thanks! And thanks for the #1348 update.
Have been around mostly lurking and occasionally posting since 'Threat Matrix' was initiated last year. If anything of interest happens, I look here first!
More on the dollar's weakness:
Protect your assets from a US dollar collapse
The US dollar has been weakening against the major currencies in the past week. Some analysts are beginning to wonder if this is not the start of a big correction to rebalance the trade deficit. But how can holders of US-denominated assets protect themselves?
Sell out of US assets while you still can, and buy precious metals! This might appear an extreme reaction to a few days of bad trading for the US dollar – which is now at a seven-month low against the euro – but devaluation is an invidious thing.
Just consider how much poorer you are if you have held on to US dollar assets since the year 2000. The dollar has moved from 82 cents to $1.26 to the euro and has lost 60% of its value against an ounce of gold.
Where you feel this most is as a traveler. The US dollar just does not buy as much in terms of hotel rooms and meals as it used to do. It also means that if you wanted to buy a house in Europe then you would get a much smaller one than in 2000 for the same money.
So if you are sat on a US dollar bank account bad luck! But it might still make sense to convert your savings into a currency or asset more likely to stand up to the pressures of devaluation.
Indeed, once the US Presidential Election is out of the way on November 2 economic reality will begin to close in on the USA.
The twin deficits are unsustainable, and that means the US economy will have to tighten its belt. This can be done by higher taxes and interest rates, or by devaluation, or more likely a combination of both.
However, if like most Gulf State investors you live a dollar zone, then it is difficult to avoid the impact of devaluation entirely. Your income, for example, will probably be in US dollar-equivalent currency, and your local investments will be dollar-denominated.
It is a pretty sobering exercise to take, for instance, recent local stock market profits in the GCC and revalue them to constant 2000 dollars. What seems like a big profit becomes very much smaller.
On the other hand, if you live in a dollar zone and spend your income locally then devaluation means little, except that inflation is likely to pick-up sharply for goods and services.
The message is pretty simple nonetheless. US dollar deposit holders should consider shifting to safer currencies. Likewise holders of US stocks and bonds should liquidate them and move to a safe haven such as gold or the Swiss franc. For the honeymoon for the next US President in financial markets is likely to be very brief.
http://www.ameinfo.com/news/Detailed/47812.html
You are likely right.
Given such complexities, convolutions and massive amounts of data overt, covert, subliminal and spiritual . . .
It's a wonder we have any clue any more about which end is up or down!
LOL.
PRAY!
Google:
"What to do with less than 3 days to a nuclear disaster"
for more information.
Thank you both for the valuable contribution, much appreciated. This is a very interesting story to say the least
ON THE NET...
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"Being its all politics anyway, even if LEO's did discover something, there hands could be tied by what is popular to do or not do."
JP, I have to respond to that sentence.
LEOs MUST lawfully fulfill their duties and
that is not very popular in some circles.
Sometimes there is not immediate disclosure
of information due to an ongoing investigation,
and/or an ongoing sting operation, and/or information
is being compiled for a warrant, indictment, etc.
Anyway, when it comes to LAW ENFORCEMENT, bottom
line, in most cases politics and popularity doesn't enter
into the equation.
http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/s04100106.htm
ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 2126, Garden Grove, CA 92842-2126 USA
E-mail: danjuma1@aol.com, Web Site: www.assistnews.net
Friday, October 22, 2004
SHARI'A COURT SENTENCES NIGERIAN WOMAN TO DEATH FOR ADULTERY
Muslim Militants Threaten Nurses Holding Worship Services; ‘Taliban’ Group Fires On Police
By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
NIGERIA (ANS) -- A Shari'a court sentenced a young Muslim woman to death for becoming pregnant out of wedlock earlier in October.
Hajara Ibrahim from Bauchi state, central eastern Nigeria, had confessed to having had a physical relationship with a man named Dauda Sani, whom she claims had promised to marry her, according to a report from Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).
Mr Sani denied this and, since Ms Ibrahim did not have four male witnesses to support her contentions, he was acquitted due to lack of evidence.
Abubakar Bello, the presiding judge at the court in Lere, Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area (LGA), deemed Ms. Ibrahim to be a divorcee and, as a consequence, found her guilty of adultery. This carries the mandatory sentence of death by stoning. Judge Bello added, however, that the sentence was subject to the approval of the Governor of Bauchi.
Ms Ibrahim was released into the custody of her family pending the birth of her child. Her family have appealed against the sentence at a higher Shari'a Court.
They maintain her marriage was never consummated and that as a single woman Ms Ibrahim should have been charged with fornication, which carries a lesser sentence of flogging. Ms Ibrahim is the fourth person to be sentenced to death in Bauchi under the Shari'a penal code. 20 others are awaiting amputations.
FIRST SENTENCES IN MORE THAN A YEAR
Daniel Balint-Kurti, Associated Press (AP) writer in Abuja, Nigeria, reports that the sentences, passed down in Nigeria's Bauchi state in September and early October, are the first of their kind in over a year in the mainly Muslim north, where 12 states have introduced controversial Islamic Shari'a criminal codes since 1999.
One of the two women, 18-year-old Hajara Ibrahim, was sentenced Oct. 5. She is due to appeal the ruling on Monday, said Bunmi Dipo-Salami of Baobab, a group of human rights lawyers that is funding lawyers for her defense (Baobab: http://www.baobabwomen.org)
Ibrahim, who is about seven-months pregnant, was convicted of adultery. But Dipo-Salami said the case was being appealed on the basis that Ibrahim was technically never married.
Under the code, sex outside wedlock is considered adultery if one of the partners is or has ever been married. If neither partner was ever married, then sex outside wedlock is condemned as "fornication," punishable by whipping.
Dipo-Salami said Ibrahim was promised in matrimony to a man while still a minor, lived with him for only a short time, and the marriage was never consummated.
Ibrahim was impregnated by another man, Dipo-Salami said. The Shari'a court ordered her to return to her home village, where she is to give birth before the sentence is carried out.
The other woman, 25-year-old Daso Adamu, was sentenced to death by stoning on Sept. 15. She says she was made pregnant by one of her two ex-husbands and is appealing on the basis that the sentence was "unfair and unjust," said a Baobab official, who gave no further details.
Adamu was initially imprisoned along with her baby of less than six months. She was released on bail on Wednesday, after her first appeal hearing. The case was adjourned until Nov. 3.
Under Shariah law, men can only be convicted of adultery on the basis of witness statements, while pregnancy is considered sufficient evidence to convict women. In all but one case, men have been cleared, as Shari'a courts found there was insufficient evidence to prove they had sex with the women. Tests to determine children's paternity have not been conducted by the courts.
The sole man convicted is Ahmadu Ibrahim, who was convicted along with the woman he allegedly committed adultery with, Fatima Usman. They were both sentenced to death two years ago and are appealing.
No one has so far been stoned to death under Shari'a in Nigeria. Two other women have previously been sentenced to death for adultery, but both sentences were overturned on appeal.
The first, Safiya Hussaini, had her sentence overturned on appeal in March 2003. The second, Amina Lawal, went through a seven-month legal battle in which her first appeal was rejected as international outcry increased. Finally, her sentence was overturned on a technicality in September 2003.
Controversy over the introduction of Shari'a criminal law in Nigeria in 1999 and 2000 sparked clashes in which thousands were killed, both in the north and the majority-Christian south.
MUSLIM MILITANTS THREATEN NURSES HOLDING WORSHIP SERVICES
Meanwhile a group of Christian nurses have been banned from holding worship services after receiving death threats from Muslim militants.
The nurses at the Federal Medical Centre in Keffi, Nasarawa state, central Nigeria, received the threat in a letter from a group calling itself 'Islamic Fundamentalists'.
The undated letter to the Fellowship of Christian Nurses (FCN) said it was 'making it abundantly clear that our thirst for your heads/blood is mounting daily if you continue with your worship services in the hospital unabated'.
The hospital authorities also received a copy of the letter, but took no action to address the threat made against the lives of the nurses. Instead they issued a letter on July 19 indefinitely suspending all Christian related activities at the Medical Center.
Moreover, according to the news agency Compass Direct, at a subsequent meeting between the FCN and the authorities, the nurses were informed that the FCN itself was also being banned indefinitely.
In a comment to Compass Direct, Christiana Shiaki, secretary of the local chapter of the FCN, said the Christian nurses were facing religious discrimination. The fact that hospital authorities have built two mosques for Muslim employees using public funds would appear to validate this. Ms Shiaki said: "We have done nothing wrong to deserve this."
‘TALIBAN’ GROUP FIRES ON POLICE OFFICERS
Elsewhere in Nigeria, Borno State in the far northeast again experienced an attack by the militant Al Sunna Wal Jamma group or 'Taliban'.
On October 8 a vehicle carrying 60 policemen exploded in the town of Kala-Balge when insurgents fired at officers as they attempted to free it from deep mud. Three police officers died at the scene and several others were injured. 12 remain unaccounted for and are presumed to have been taken hostage by the militants.
In September the group attacked the towns of Bama and Gwoza in Borno State, and it had previously carried out raids in Yobe State to the west of Borno during January.
Mervyn Thomas, Chief Executive of CSW, said: "It is worrying that women are held to a different standard of evidence to men and that Shari'a courts continue to hand down sentences that violate Nigeria's constitutional and international obligations. The discrimination against these nurses shows that double standards continue to be applied to Christians in Muslim-dominated states.
“CSW will continue to do all it can to support religious freedom in Nigeria and continues to call on the Nigerian authorities to ensure that the country's secular constitution is adhered to even in those states where Shari'a law is the de facto state law."
Nigeria has experienced increased religious tension and violence since 1999 when 12 of the 36 states of Nigeria began to institute the Shari'a penal code in defiance of the federal constitution.
A series of violent clashes culminated in the deaths in May of thousands of non-Muslims in northern Muslim-dominated Kano.
CSW is a human rights charity working on behalf of those persecuted for their Christian beliefs. We also promote religious liberty for all.
For more information, please contact Richard Chilvers, Communications Manager, CSW at richard.chilvers@csw.org.uk or ring 020 8329 0045 or visit www.csw.org.uk
** Michael Ireland is an international British freelance journalist. A former reporter with a London newspaper, Michael is the Chief Correspondent for ASSIST News Service of Garden Grove, CA. Michael immigrated to the United States in 1982 and became a US citizen in Sept., 1995. He is married with two children. Michael has also been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a British Christian radio station.
** You may republish this story with proper attribution.
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/2004/10/003647print.html
October 23, 2004
"Al-Qa'ida Internet Magazine Sawt Al-Jihad Calls to Intensify Fighting During Ramadan- 'the Month of Jihad'"
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Will they teach that Ramadan is the "month of jihad" in Virginia public schools?
The following is from MEMRI, selections from the latest issue of Voice of Jihad, Al-Qaeda's online magazine. Note the abundant references to the Qur'an and the example of Muhammad:"
I'm not very savvy with the markets myself. I did watch the Bloomberg channel last night and they said the dollar was in decline against foreign currencies. I suppose the market doesn't like uncertainty so until the election there is going to be at least some impact in that direction. Will be keeping an eye out for any more stories related to this.
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