Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/167563962?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Pakistan's government meets over deadly NATO raid
Pakistani lawyers burn an effigy of U. S. President Obama to condemn NATO strikes on Pakistani posts, in Peshawar, Pakistan on Monday, Nov. 28, 2011. The NATO airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers went on for almost two hours and continued even after Pakistani commanders had pleaded with coalition forces to stop, the army claimed Monday in charges that could further inflame anger in Pakistan. A placard reads "NATO is responsible for the loss of Pakistani soldiers." (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad)
Pakistani lawyers burn an effigy of U. S. President Obama to condemn NATO strikes on Pakistani posts, in Peshawar, Pakistan on Monday, Nov. 28, 2011. The NATO airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers went on for almost two hours and continued even after Pakistani commanders had pleaded with coalition forces to stop, the army claimed Monday in charges that could further inflame anger in Pakistan. A placard reads "NATO is responsible for the loss of Pakistani soldiers." (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad)
Pakistani lawyers get ready to burn an effigy of U. S. President Obama to condemn NATO strikes on Pakistani posts, in Peshawar, Pakistan on Monday, Nov. 28, 2011. The NATO airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers went on for almost two hours and continued even after Pakistani commanders had pleaded with coalition forces to stop, the army claimed Monday in charges that could further inflame anger in Pakistan. A placard reads "NATO is responsible for the loss of Pakistani soldiers." (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad)
Supporters of Pakistani religious party Jamaat-ud-Dawa burn Indian flag during a protest against the Pakistan government decision to accord Most Favored Nation, MFN, status to India, in Karachi, Pakistan Monday, Nov 28, 2011. The MFN status will help both countries to break trade barriers. They also condemn NATO forces strikes on Pakistani posts killing 24 troops. (AP Photo/Shakil Adil)
People condemn NATO strikes on Pakistani posts, in Lahore, Pakistan on Monday, Nov. 28, 2011. The NATO airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers went on for almost two hours and continued even after Pakistani commanders had pleaded with coalition forces to stop, the army claimed Monday in charges that could further inflame anger in Pakistan. (AP Photo/K.M.Chaudary)
Pakistani lawyers condemn NATO strikes on Pakistani posts, in Lahore, Pakistan on Monday, Nov. 28, 2011. The NATO airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers went on for almost two hours and continued even after Pakistani commanders had pleaded with coalition forces to stop, the army claimed Monday in charges that could further inflame anger in Pakistan. (AP Photo/K.M.Chaudary)
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) ? The Pakistani government is considering whether to boycott an upcoming meeting in Germany on the future of Afghanistan in a protest over the NATO border attack that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.
A government official says the Cabinet was meeting on Tuesday in the city of Lahore and would discuss its participation at the conference next week in Bonn. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
NATO has ordered an investigation into Saturday' s incident as anger surges in Pakistan over what the army has portrayed as an unprovoked attack on its men.
Washington has urged Islamabad to attend the meeting, which is to seek a strategy on how to stabilize Afghanistan and allow U.S. troops to withdraw after 10 years of war.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) ? NATO airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers came just as the difficult relationship between the U.S. and Pakistani militaries was showing signs of improvement.
Only hours earlier, U.S. Marine Gen. John Allen, the coalition's top commander in Afghanistan, and Pakistan's army Chief Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani concluded a meeting that sought to find common ground, a senior U.S. official told The Associated Press.
The official said the two men discussed areas of cooperation and "basically what we could do for each other."
Now, Kayani is under renewed pressure from his rank and file, intelligence sharing has stopped and Pakistan has withdrawn its offer to nudge the Afghan Taliban to the negotiation table.
On its website, the U.S. Embassy warned of possible retaliation against Americans and said some U.S. government personnel outside Islamabad were being recalled to the capital as a precaution.
The White House said Monday that President Barack Obama considers the incident a tragedy and that the administration is determined to look into the circumstances of the airstrikes.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said the president extends sympathy to the families of the dead soldiers and to the people of Pakistan. Carney said: "We take it very seriously."
A complete breakdown in the U.S.-Pakistani relationship seems unlikely, and both sides know that more is at stake than ever before.
Nevertheless, the senior U.S. official said the weekend pre-dawn raids have left the relationship "the worst it has been" ? dashing hopes of restoring ties damaged by Pakistani anger over the unilateral U.S. raid on Osama bin Laden's hide-out, and U.S. outrage that the al-Qaida leader was living not far from Pakistan's version of West Point.
Saturday's airstrikes lasted almost two hours and persisted even after Pakistani commanders pleaded with coalition forces to stop, the Pakistani army claimed Monday.
NATO described the incident as "tragic and unintended" and promised a full investigation.
Afghan officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, said Afghan commandos and U.S. special forces were conducting a mission on the Afghan side of the border and received incoming fire from the direction of the Pakistani posts. They responded with airstrikes.
Pakistan denies it fired first at NATO.
The poorly defined, mountainous border has been a constant source of tension between Pakistan and the United States.
NATO officials have complained that insurgents fire across the frontier into Afghanistan, often from positions close to Pakistani soldiers who have been accused of tolerating or supporting the militants. NATO and Afghan forces are not allowed to cross into Pakistan in pursuit of militants.
For its part, the Pakistani military has complained about anti-Pakistan insurgents finding safe havens in Afghanistan's Kunar and Nuristan provinces. In the area in which Saturday's attack took place, Pakistan has suffered dozens of casualties at the hands of insurgents who return across the border to Afghanistan, according to U.S. and Pakistani officials.
Allen, who was visiting at Kayani's invitation, was in Pakistan when he received word of the raid, according to the senior U.S. official. "Nine hours after that meeting started, all hell broke lose," the official said.
Before Saturday's raid, the official said, "the military-to-military relationship had stabilized and was slowly, incrementally improving. The intelligence-to-intelligence relationship had also stabilized and incrementally was improving. Now it has all stopped."
Pakistan moved quickly to retaliate. It evicted the United States from Shamsi air base in southwest Baluchistan, where some CIA drones are repaired, and shut the border to NATO supplies for Afghanistan. Islamabad also withdrew an offer to encourage Afghanistan's Taliban to the negotiation table, said a senior Pakistani security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
For Kayani the raid was a personal blow. Under mounting pressure from his increasingly anti-American middle-ranking officers, Kayani has tried to assuage their resentment to Pakistan's partnership with the United States and as well as the 4,000 military casualties in the fight against domestic insurgents ? more than double the deaths among U.S. and NATO troops in 10 years of war in Afghanistan.
At a National Defense University session this year, Kayani was grilled for four hours by midlevel officers who wanted to know why they were fighting this war, according to a participant who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
"This is very serious for Kayani. The troops are so angry. They are supposed to be allies with the Americans, and the allies are killing them. He has to be sensitive to their feelings. He has to be careful about his own image and his own safety," said retired Lt. Gen. Talat Masood. "The trouble is Kayani cannot face his troops unless the Americans give a very strong statement that this was a genuine mistake, apologize and compensate in a very big way."
Saturday's strikes added to popular anger in Pakistan against the U.S.-led coalition presence in Afghanistan. Many in the army, parliament, general population and media already believed that the U.S. and NATO are hostile to Pakistan and that the Afghan Taliban are not the enemy.
"Whoever is a friend of America is a traitor to the land," some 400 members of Jamaat-e-Dawa, an alleged front group for the militant Lashkar-e-Taiba organization, chanted in a demonstration in Karachi, the country's biggest city.
Washington views Islamabad as key to bringing about a reconciliation to end the decade-long Afghan war and allow the United States and its NATO partners to complete a military withdrawal by 2014.
If Pakistan bows out of the peace process, it "would hugely complicate the reconciliation process," said the senior U.S. official.
He said, however, that "it wouldn't be fatal. We would have to become all the more covert to deal with Afghans on this side of the border and it is also a fact that Pakistan does not have 100 percent control over Mullah Omar and his men nor does Pakistan have the Haqqanis on that tight a leash."
He was referring to the Taliban leader, who is believed to be hiding in Pakistan, and the Haqqani network, an insurgent group that operates from the country's lawless tribal areas.
For Pakistan a break in ties risks an end to billions of dollars in U.S. military and development aid.
But an aid cutoff may affect the military less than Pakistan's civilian government, say senior Pakistani security officials. They say military aid under the Coalition Support Fund has been erratic and that Washington routinely holds up payments.
___
Kathy Gannon is AP Special Correspondent for Pakistan and Afghanistan. AP Islamabad Bureau Chief Chris Brummitt contributed to this report.
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92% Arthur Christmas
All Critics (113) | Top Critics (26) | Fresh (104) | Rotten (9)
With a clever script that successfully updates many Christmas myths and dialogue that crackles with sophisticated wit, this movie offers the kind of pre-holiday experience that parents and children alike will appreciate.
Everything you see in Arthur Christmas is fashioned in the service of telling a story ... brilliantly
The results are not only funny and fresh, but represent a new way of tackling the whole yuletide paradigm: Santa as a high-tech hereditary monarchy.
For the kids, the action is always lively and, for the rest of us, the dialogue has a witty and even caustic edge.
The surprise gift of the season: a sharp, savvy holiday comedy that doesn't get its laughs at the expense of those who start to glow in the early days of December. It's a most entertaining package indeed.
Good for the kids, good for the parents, and good for Christmas.
The film does have a nice ending. It just takes a little too long to get there.
The holiday season is an emotional rollercoaster for many reasons and Arthur Christmas does a neat job of exploring many of them while still being both heart-warming and wonderfully entertaining
The best Christmas movies have a kind of humility about them that's lacking here ...
A scene in which zebras, elephants and other African animals float like balloons in the air after an accidental dusting of Santa's flying-reindeer magic is close to surreal poetry.
'Arthur Christmas' gets off to a terrific start by letting inquisitive viewers know how the guy in the red suit manages to get all those toys to two billion kids on a single evening.
Arthur Christmas an early holiday gift.
The under-10 audience I saw it with were entranced, and, remarkably enough by itself, so were their parents. Huzzah, Aardman!
Here's hoping this becomes another family Christmas classic deserves. A veddy British take on the "monarchy" of Santa, this is an inventive, sweet-natured adventure about the importance of delivering a gift to the one child who was missed by Santa.
...a disappointing Christmas movie that never quite comes together. There just isn't enough Christmas cheer.
The idea of a Santa with a non-American accent will probably irk the same stateside folks who bristle at the thought of a non-Caucasian Jesus, but the mostly British cast has been carefully selected.
Not a bad little Christmas fable. The Aardman Animation wit is in full-effect anytime Bill Nighy's great Grandsanta is onscreen.
This is Aardman and they know better than to go cheap or easy. And by taking the smarter, sweeter route, they've created what should rightfully become a Christmas classic.
It's just plain charming. And between you and me, I got misty at the end too.
The movie fails utterly at coming up with a story that merits all the eye candy.
The animators lure us in with clever jokes and ingenious visuals and then sucker-punch us by revealing the characters' surprising emotional depths.
Arthur Christmas does something few Christmas family movies have done over the last several years: it makes them fun again. Kids will love it and adults will feel like kids while watching it.
Arthur Christmas is more like gift-wrapped plane tickets rather than a hankies-and-undies combo.
For households where Santa pays a visit, this is a delightful addition to the holiday season.
An absolutely disastrous piece of work...
More Critic ReviewsSource: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/arthur_christmas/
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Top Colombian drug trafficker captured
CARACAS, Venezuela?? A top Colombian drug trafficker reputedly responsible for shipping tons of cocaine to the United States through Central America and Mexico has been captured in Venezuela, officials said Monday.
The U.S. had offered a $5 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Maximiliano Bonilla Orozco, also known as "Valenciano," who was also on Colombia's most-wanted list.
Colombian authorities told The Associated Press that Bonilla was captured Sunday. The information was later confirmed by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, who was in Venezuela meeting with President Hugo Chavez.
"He's one of the most recognized drug traffickers, who has caused terrible harm to our country," Santos told Chavez at the presidential palace. He added that Bonilla's capture was "truly a very high-value objective" for Colombian authorities.
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"We know that your people, your authorities ... were after this individual for some time, and look how God is on our side, the coincidence that last night you captured him and today we can give this magnificent news," Santos said.
Story: Colombian survivor: 'I ran the other way'"This is a very good welcome gift," Santos told Chavez.
The Venezuelan leader called the arrest "a happy coincidence."
Both presidents said it was an example of increased cooperation between their authorities. It wasn't immediately clear how authorities tracked down Bonilla.
He will be deported to the United States to face charges, Venezuelan Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami said. Chavez had suggested earlier that Bonilla would be handed over to Colombian authorities.
Bonilla was captured in the central state of Aragua, El Aissami said.
U.S. officials allege Bonilla has sent tons of cocaine to the United States through Central America and Mexico, dealing extensively with Mexico's violent Zetas drug cartel.
Bonilla, 39, allegedly headed a Medellin-based criminal organization dating back to the 1980s that once recruited hit men for the late cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar.
Santos said Bonilla was the boss of an organization called the "Oficina de Envigado," named after the town of Envigado near Medellin.
The U.S. State Department listed Bonilla among its eight most-wanted Colombian drug traffickers after leftist rebels.
Wanted on a 2008 federal indictment from New York's eastern district for drug trafficking, Bonilla received cocaine from various sources in Colombia, including the rebels, Colombian and U.S. officials say.
___
Associated Press writers Vivian Sequera and Frank Bajak in Bogota, Colombia, and Patricia Rondon Espin in Caracas contributed to this report.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45469454/ns/world_news-americas/
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PJ Media ? Screening for Terrorists vs. Screening for Cancer
As the holiday travel season approaches, millions of American air passengers will become painfully reacquainted with Transportation Security Agency (TSA) screening measures. Passengers must submit to either medically unnecessary X-rays or intrusive gropings. Yet in the realm of health care the federal government has adopted a new policy of discouraging routine screening tests for many cancers. Although these two policies may seem superficially contradictory, they demonstrate an underlying common theme of the government seeking ever-greater control over our bodies and our freedom.
Screening travelers and screening patients share some common features. In both cases the goal is to sort through a large, mostly-normal population to identify the relatively few problem cases ? either an undetected terrorist or a hidden cancer.
The TSA?s current approach of mass passenger screening has long angered many Americans. Frequent flyer Tabitha Hale described her own recent horror story at, ?No, TSA, I will not lift my skirt for you.? Because the screenings are universal (lest the government be accused of ?profiling?), the TSA routinely screens grandmothers and small children who pose no terrorist threat. Even worse, the TSA screeners are of dubious effectiveness. TSA screeners have failed to detect simulated bombs and real guns. The attempted hijacking of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 two years ago was thwarted not by the TSA but by alert passengers.
In contrast to mandatory screening for terrorists, the government is actively discouraging Americans from regular screening for common forms of cancer. The federal government?s U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recently declared that men should not undergo routine screening for prostate cancer with the PSA blood test ? currently considered part of prudent preventive health care for men over age 50 by many primary care physicians and the American Cancer Society. In 2009, the USPSTF similarly recommended restricting screening mammography to women over 50 (and only at 2 year intervals), despite the proven medical benefits of the current practice of screening women starting at age 40 at yearly intervals.
Source: http://pjmedia.com/blog/screening-for-terrorists-vs-screening-for-cancer/
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Book: Van Jones still influencing Obama policy (Daily Caller)
A new book details how environmental extremist and Occupy Wall Street enthusiast Van Jones may still be influencing President Barack Obama?s policy decisions.
Jones resigned from his post as Obama?s green jobs czar on September 5, 2009 amid political pressure after his history of radicalism was revealed in conservative media outlets. It was reported that Jones, among other things, had supported convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal, signed a 9/11 ?truther? petition calling for an investigation into whether the Bush administration deliberately allowed the 9/11 attacks to occur, and had been involved in the pro-Mao Zedong group Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement, or STORM.
At the time of his resignation, then-White House press secretary Robert Gibbs thanked Jones ?for his service to the country,? but insisted Obama ?doesn?t endorse? Jones? radical beliefs.
But in the recently released ?Red Army: The Radical Network That Must Be Defeated To Save America,? World Net Daily?s Aaron Klein reveals several different backdoor channels from which Jones appears to be indirectly helping to shape White House policy.?The first is through the Presidential Climate Action Project. Jones serves on PCAP?s 20-member advisory committee.
Before the 2008 presidential election, PCAP developed a proposal to guide the incoming president?s environmental policy during his first 100 days, whether the president turned out to be Arizona Sen. John McCain or Obama. Then, in 2010, PCAP developed a new environmental plan to be implemented in 2011, which Klein says recommends Obama use the U.S. military and Department of Defense ?for technology innovation and its procurement of energy-related goods and services to accelerate energy efficiency gains in the U.S. economy.?
?It directs the White House to ?make clear to the Secretary of the Navy that long-term objectives in the Gulf Coast restoration plan should include the restoration of vital ecosystems that were degraded prior to the [2010 BP] oil spill and would enhance the economy of the region while protecting Gulf Coast communities from the anticipated impacts of climate change,?? Klein adds.
Klein said PCAP?s executive director, William S. Becker, confirmed to him in a phone interview that the plans were developed with Jones serving on PCAP?s board. Klein said Becker admitted that the Obama administration ?adopted quite a few of our recommendations or variations of them.?
Jones also continues to influence Obama administration policy through the Efficiency Cities Network, according to Klein. Though Jones isn?t officially a part of the ECN, Klein points to how the ECN is really a ?partner group? of many of Jones? organizations.
?The group holds regular sessions on energy and environmental policy issues with officials from Congress, the Department of Energy, and local governmental agencies,? Klein wrote.
?The Efficiency Cities Network is hosted in collaboration with Green for All, their Retrofit America?s Cities Community of Practice project, and the Center on Wisconsin Strategy, or COWS. The group?s board council includes Green for All and the Apollo Alliance. Green for All was co-founded by Van Jones.?
Jones is a former Apollo Alliance board member and his Green for All has endorsed the Apollo Alliance?s work.
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Tuesday, November 29, 2011
IRS Barks at Bow Wow to Cough Up $90K
Bow Wow may not be Lil Bow Wow anymore, but he's in a Lil trouble with the federal government over some back taxes. Like more than 90 grand worth.
A tax lien filed in Florida by the U.S. government says the rapper owes Uncle Sam $91,105.61 to be exact for unpaid taxes dating back to the year 2006.
Bow Wow took to his blog to dispute the report of his financial troubles, calling it “not true,” and advising his fans not to believe celebrity gossip outlets.
“We all know not to believe anything that the media writes or blogs,” Bow Wow wrote. “It’s their job to entertain the minds of the simple minded.” Deep.
He urged fans to ignore the report and turn their attention to the release of his now delayed album Underrated. Gotta pay down those debts somehow!
“Stay away from them damn blogs its bad for your health,” he then wrote.
“Remember Ima always keep it 100 with yall and let yall know the real on anything I got going on even if its bad if it’s the truth I'll own up to it.”
It's true. He proved it when he admitted fatherhood and suicidal thoughts.
[Photo: WENN.com]
Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/11/irs-barks-at-bow-wow-to-cough-up-90k/
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