The artichoke is actually a humongous thistle; a flower, not a vegetable. The various names for artichoke in European languages all ultimately derived from the Arabic term al-kharshuf. Artichokes probably originated in northern Africa and from there spread throughout the Mediterranean world. They were being cultivated in Sicily during the Greek occupation, the Greeks called them kaktos. The Romans inherited the artichoke from the Greeks and called them carduus. The Dutch introduced artichokes to England, where they grew in Henry VIII's garden at Newhall in 1530. Artichokes were introduced to the United States in the 19th century by Spanish and French immigrants. The English term ARTICHOKE probably derives ultimately from the northern Italian dialectal word for them: articiocco.US condemns eviction of Arab families from East Jerusalem
What missing 10,000 Uighurs? What murdered Persian Protesters?
The United States and the United Nations sharply condemned the eviction of two Palestinian families from their homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah and their replacement with Jewish families on Sunday.Syria - UN: Evictions of Palestinians Are Unacceptable
Diplomats from the U.S. Embassy sent a protest letter to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, stressing the move went against the spirit of the road map. The diplomats said a high-level protest will be communicated to Israel later on Monday.
Israeli Police Recommend Indictment of Foreign Minister
Now, is he really a scumbag or is he being removed for political reasons? We will never know, and the truth is probably a bit of both.
FM: Israel must keep Golan
You see he is most inconvenient for them.
Syria is drying up
Which is part of why they desperately want the Golan back. This is from 1997: The Water Dimension of the Golan Heights Negotiations. NINETEEN NINETY SEVEN, OK?
Syria is experiencing an economic holocaust. There is no other way to describe what the Syrian regime is so much trying to hide. The country is drying up, and no less than 250,000 farmers were forced in the past three years to abandon their land and migrate to the large cities. They live in tents there, completely neglected by the regime. These figures appeared in a special study undertaken by the United Nations and published on the al-Arabiya website.Syria's human rights record is largely overlooked by Europe and the U.S.
The immense Euphrates River, Syria’s main source of water, is drying up. The Turks are stopping its water in their territory, so that Syria and Iraq are receiving a declining portion of the water. Within about 10 years, the river is expected to dry up completely outside Turkish territory. Today already, it reaches Syria with contaminated water and therefore its fish, an important source of livelihood, is becoming extinct.
Western countries, including the United States, have muted their criticism of Syria’s human rights record after engaging in a rapprochement with Damascus that considerably eased Syria’s diplomatic and economic isolation since last year. One exception has been the Netherlands, which diplomats say opposes the signing of an economic agreement between the EU and Syria because of Syria’s human rights record.Israel: Hamas preventing Palestinian patients from leaving Gaza
Defense establishment officials say that as part of Hamas' attempts to prevent Gaza residents from traveling to the Fatah convention in Bethlehem, organization members are preventing Palestinian patients from leaving for Israel for medical treatment. Hamas declared recently that it would not allow Fatah members to leave for the Bethlehem congress, which is scheduled to begin Tuesday, until the Palestinian Authority released its men from West Bank prisons.Hamas rejects Fatah offer to free its West Bank prisoners
Abbas at Fatah congress: Jerusalem promised to us
According to Abbas, the understandings reached by the sides with an American guarantee included all of east Jerusalem, the Jordan Valley and parts of the Dead Sea located within the West Bank. "But now the Israelis are trying to deny this and create a reality in Jerusalem, claiming that Jerusalem is united under their sovereignty," he said. "Although we have chosen peace, we maintain the right to launch an armed resistance, which is legitimate as far as international law is concerned."Fatah leader warns of party split
Prominent Al-Aqsa Brigades figures to attend Fatah congress
Fucking bloodthirsty Muslim terrorists to attend Fatah Congress. There, I fixed it for you.
Five former commanders of Fatah's armed wing, including Zubeidi, to participate in opening of movement's sixth congress in Bethlehem with Israel's authorizationArab states warned off Israel deal
Palestinian leaders warned Arab states on Monday that any effort to normalise ties with Israel at the urging of President Barack Obama would deal a damaging blow to the quest for statehood.Jordan rejects US call to improve ties with Israel
American Aid Convoy to Gaza Serves Hamas' Objectives
Viva Palestina USA, an offshoot of British MP George Galloway's anti-Zionist, pro-Hamas, Viva Palestina convoy initiative, crossed into the Gaza Strip on July 15, 2009, with 200 Americans as well as more than $1 million worth of aid for Palestinians in Gaza. Viva Palestina USA claims to be a humanitarian initiative desiring to help needy Palestinians. But behind the headline-grabbing trip, events prior to, during and after the trip reveal the anti-American, anti-Israel, revolutionary and pro-Hamas sentiments of its organizers.
Iran's Guards turn on AhmadinejadWhen it comes to publicly challenging the sovereignty of the Supreme Leader, the IRGC will take Khamenei's side with no hesitation. Ahmadinejad, although extremely valuable to the IRGC, has an expiration date. As long as the Islamic Republic is the ruling order, the Supreme Leadership will retain its relevance, importance and power.Oman's Ruler To Meet Iran's Ahmadinejad
Still, one should never lose sight of the fact that the IRGC could be playing a double game. The upcoming vote of confidence over Ahmadinejad's new cabinet will determine where Iran's center of gravity lies for the next four years.
Iranian reform politician's confession forced
Naturally.
The wife of a former Iranian vice president on trial for postelection violence said Monday his televised confessions were forced. Fahimeh Mousavinejad told The Associated Press that her husband, Mohammad Abtahi, seemed "disoriented" and was "no doubt" drugged when she visited him in jail two days before the televised start of the trial on Saturday. She suggested he may have also been drugged in court.Iran woos China for oil, gas cash
Abtahi, who was vice president from 2001 to 2004, is one of the top figures in the mass trial of around 100 people detained in the postelection crackdown. State TV aired footage of Abtahi and another top reformer Mohammad Atrianfar admitting they fueled postelection protests as part of a foreign plot to topple the government. The opposition says he and other detainees were coerced during weeks in prison.
Abtahi was jailed in the first days after the disputed June 12 presidential election and for weeks was held in secret locations, barred from contact with family and lawyers."I personally believe what he has gone through has made him speak the way he has," Mousavinejad said in a telephone interview. She said the forcing of confessions shows the weakness of Iran's clerical rulers. "They are completely disarmed," she said.
Iran's "Wall Street": Who Does the Bazaar Back?
Iranians on verge of seizing new era
Aren't we all....
Saudi-based partners launch Africa rice farming planA group of Saudi-based investors, including the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), will launch later this year a seven-year plan worth $1 billion in Africa to reduce dependency on rice imports and supply the Middle East region.Ambassador to Saudi Arabia: Who is James B. Smith?
As a longtime Air Force officer, and most recently an executive for defense contractor Raytheon....A monograph published by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
....run by Dr. Dore Gold, a close advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahyu, entitled "The Politics of the American Response to Global Anti-Semitism" has leveled stinging criticism of the Obama administration for failing to to name an envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism around the world. This position is mandated by US law. Since President Obama assumed his position on Jan. 20, the position has not been filled.This piece by Dore Gold is not available on the web yet but when it is I will post it.
US Republican congressmen on six-day Israel trip
A delegation of 25 US congressmen began a six-day trip to Israel on Monday in the largest ever Republican mission to visit the Jewish state, the US embassy said. They held talks with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who told them Israel was willing to immediately resume direct talks with Syria, but ruled out returning the Golan Heights which were captured in 1967 and annexed in 1981.Well if this is what he calls unbending support I'd hate to see his idea of utter betrayal.
"Whatever the case, the Golan must remain under Israeli control in any agreement with Syria," Lieberman said in a statement. Syria insists that it be given back the strategic plateau.
Turkey last year brokered four rounds of indirect talks between long-time foes Israel and Syria, but these were suspended when Israel launched an offensive against the Gaza Strip in late December.
The Republican lawmakers are also scheduled to meet President Shimon Peres, hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials. Representative Eric Cantor, the only Jewish Republican in national US politics, leads the delegation and said before departure the trip was aimed at reassuring Israel of Washington's unbending support.
Inaction on Xinjiang is a concern for Taiwan
The unrest in China’s Xinjiang region has quieted down, leaving us with the Chinese government’s number of casualties and its conclusion that it was a conspiracy incited by ambitious overseas activists requiring a powerful crackdown on “illegal elements.” This conclusion is beyond comprehension. Taiwan’s government has remained silent, turning a blind eye from beginning to end. Even more alarming is the coldness and silence of the international community.
China behaved in Xinjiang almost exactly as it did in reaction to the unrest in Tibet last year: It blamed “external factors” and resolved it by force and going from door to door to find protesters. Western countries repeatedly condemned Beijing for the Tibetan incident. France even threatened to boycott last year’s Olympic Games. France, however, did not say a word about the Xinjiang incident, while the US simply called for self-restraint from both sides.
The EU is acting like this is none of its concern. EU Ambassador to China Serge Abou even said European countries also have minority issues and that they do not want other countries to tell them how to handle them. Later, Russia and China held a joint anti-terrorist military drill. Is discontent and ethnic conflict triggered by long Chinese rule now seen as terrorism?
The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), an association of 57 Islamic states, merely expressed its “deep concern” on July 6, asking China “to deal with the problems of the Muslim minority in China in a broader perspective that tackles the root causes of the problem” for the sake of “historical friendly relations with the Muslim world.” Turkey, the only OIC member that strongly condemned Beijing, did so because of its close linguistic, religious and cultural ties with the Uighurs. It called the incident an act of ethnic cleansing and threatened an appeal to the UN Security Council.
Almost identical incidents therefore draw very different reactions from the international community. Some believe this is because other countries are preoccupied with the economic crisis and need China’s help. In addition, Chinese help is needed to deal with the North Korean and Iranian nuclear programs. These international economic and political issues, however, existed last year and the knowledge that China can play a role is not a new realization. So what is the cause of this major difference?
Islamist fighters on the Silk Road A steadily rising curve of Islamist activities is becoming visible in Central Asia....
In his book Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia, noted Pakistani author Ahmed Rashid describes how the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency, Britain’s MI6 and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence drew up a provocative plan in 1986 to launch mujahideen attacks in the Soviet territory, presently within Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.Uighur Nationalism, Turkey and the CIA
The task was given to the ISI’s favourite mujahideen leader, Gulbuddi n Hekmatyar. Of course, the idea itself — the use of militant Islamists as a geopolitical tool to lacerate the “soft underbelly” of the Soviet Union — belonged to the U.S. National Security Advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski.
Years later, in 1998, when a Le Nouvel Observateur interviewer asked him whether he regretted using political Islam as a natural ally, Brzezinski was unrepentant. He asked: “What is more important to the history of the world? The Taliban or the collapse of the Soviet empire? Some stirred-up Muslims or the liberation of Central Europe and the end of the cold war?”
Indeed, it wasn’t an idea that was born in Brzezinski’s clever mind. When the idea of the U.S.’ utilitarian alliance with the benighted version of Islam first appeared in the mid-1950s as the underpinning of the U.S. strategy to gain control of the oil in the Middle East and ward off Arab nationalism, American strategists called it the “Eisenhower Doctrine.” And its current reputation has been ably theorised by ideologues such as Bernard Lewis.
SNIPThis is a high-stakes game, as the nature of the power structure in Kabul holds profound implications for the security of the Central Asian region and North Caucasus — and Xinjiang. All evidence points to an intensification of the big power struggle for influence in the energy-rich regions of the Caspian and Central Asia. A defining moment is coming up by the year-end when the 7000-kilometre long gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Xinjiang will become operational. The pipeline will be a game-changer. The U.S. is keenly advancing the agenda of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s expansion into the region and it is meeting with resistance from both Russia and China.
Against this backdrop, a steadily rising curve of Islamist activities is becoming visible in Central Asia. Armed attacks by the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, a group affiliated to the al-Qaeda, resumed since late May. There are reports that the Islamist commander of the Tajik civil war (1992-97), Mullah Abdullo, recently crossed the Afghan border into Tajikistan with some 300 followers and took shelter in Tavildara, which is situated in the Rasht Valley in the rugged Pamir Mountains, some 20 km from the Afghan border. Tavildara used to be the base of the Islamist fighters in the Tajik civil war.
SNIP ..... Read it all.
Relates directly to the above piece. Also explains why no one gives a rats ass about 10,000 missing Uighurs. This whole "empowering Muslim radicals to rebel against the communists to bring about the fall of the Soviet Empire" strategy is so staggeringly ignorant I find it hard to believe it is the truth of it, although it is a good justification story to sate the ignorant prople who prefer to get their history from Hollywood anyway. How could they possibly miss the confluence between communism and Islam? Commislamism was everywhere and for ages, the Baath party being only one example out of so many.... it was just too obvious to miss. Which means if the reality is they did not miss it at all the sinister factor on this insidious shit increases exponentially.
Much was made in the news, earlier this month, of the series of violent clashes that erupted between Uighurs, a Turkic, and predominantly Muslim, minority ethnic group in China, and the Chinese state police, and Han Chinese residents in the the province of Xinjiang, in northwestern China.
But the media’s recent attention to the matter should be seen in light of a larger geo-political strategy, involving Turkey and the CIA, in ongoing furtherance of The Bernard Lewis Plan. Originally implemented under the supervision of Zbigniew Brzezinski during the Carter administration, the plan was based on Lewis’ idea of an “Arc of Crisis”, created around the southern borders of Soviet Union, by empowering Muslim radicals to rebel against the communists, to bring about the fall of the Soviet Empire.
The key aspect of this strategy, over the last 30 years, as revealed in the book and movie, Charlie Wilson’s War, began with support for the Mujahideen in Afghanistan, which became the CIA’s largest covert operation ever. As outlined in Brzezinski’s Grand Chessboard, control over central Asia, which in addition to Afghanistan, comprises the five former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, is a key factor in mastery of all of Eurasia, and thereby, the world.
Because, as is popularly known, Central Asia holds vast stores of energy resources. Less known, however, is it’s role in the drug trade. Since the implementation of Bernard Lewis’ Plan, and the US’ involvement in Afghanistan, the country now accounts for almost 95% of the world’s opium production. And it is profits arising mostly from this illicit trade that go largely to financing the deliberate spread of a fabricated brand of Islamic fundamentalism.
SNIP... read it all
Torture is an accepted police technique in TajikistanIran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan Seeking to Increase Joint VenturesDUSHANBE, Tajikistan — "There's no other way of getting a confession out of them," said the investigator, who spoke on the condition that his name not be used, when asked why he beat a criminal suspect.
"The detainees are often very insolent and they even threaten us. It's hard to restrain oneself in such cases," he said. "Seems to me any criminal deserves it. Next time he'll think twice before breaking the law."
Welcome to the justice system in Tajikistan, where there are regular reports of detainees being subjected to physical assault by members of the police and other law-enforcement agencies. Torture and other forms of mistreatment are against the law in Tajikistan, and are also prohibited under the United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. But senior police and prosecution figures, speaking on condition of anonymity, acknowledge that torture and other forms of abuse are used to extract confessions from suspects.
The deputy foreign ministers of Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan wrapped up a Tehran meeting, calling for the formation of a joint investment body.Turkmenistan: State circus established by presidential decree
It could not possibly be more hysterically ironic:
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov signed a decree during the 31 July government meeting authorizing the establishment of the State Circus of Turkmenistan to be supervised by the Ministry of Culture, TV and Radio Broadcasting. "This popular kind of art has its good traditions in Turkmenistan," the head of state said. He expressed confidence that masters of circus will please citizens of Turkmenistan with new great shows in the near future.Wife of Kazakh ex-nuke chief demands open trial
The wife of the jailed former head of Kazakhstan's nuclear energy company has demanded an open trial for her husband. Mukhtar Dzhakishev is the most high-profile figure to be arrested in a recent crackdown on executives that has alarmed foreign investors in Central Asia's largest economy.Kazakhstan's Crude Oil Reserves Are Highly Sought After
His wife, Zhamilya, said Monday that he is not being granted access to lawyers appointed by his family. Dzhakishev was arrested in May, just days after being fired as head of Kazatomprom. He was charged with stealing more than half of the former Soviet country's uranium holdings.
Kazakhstan is expected to become the world's largest uranium producer this year or next.
MICHIGAN: Woman killed by car was Kazakh citizen
Which forces me to now wonder who she really was and what she was really doing and if it was an accident or an American case of Sudden Putin Death Syndrome. Anyway we will never know.
Police say a woman who was struck and killed Saturday night was a 23-year-old Kazakhstan citizen who was in the United States with other foreign nationals selling items to area gas stations and convenience stores to raise money for a religious group.Mutual relations between Kazakhstan and China experience best period in history
UZBEKISTAN: TASHKENT'S CHIEF IMAM ATTACKED
Tursunov, a regular on Uzbek television and a possible contender for the post of chief mufti of Uzbekistan, was stabbed eight times by unknown assailants...Uzbekistan Raps Plan For New Russian Military Base
Russia casts long shadow over aspiring Abkhaz stateHAHAHA ignorant headline, when will you learn, soviet shadow is over all things!
Russia fears embrace of giant eastern neighbour China
Idiot journalist, Vlad fears nothing. If I were you I would be more careful in future. I will teach you what fear is.
~ His Glorious Vladness, feared the world over.
It was an unashamed display of military force, involving tanks, fighter jets and more than 3,000 soldiers. Last week China and Russia held their biggest joint military exercises ever - their battalions streaking across the plateaus and shimmering plains of Shenyang province.Not just Muslims, you idiot journalist.
The exercises come as Moscow and Beijing prepare to celebrate an important moment in history: 60 years of diplomatic relations. After long periods of frigidity during the cold war, the two countries now claim to be enjoying an unprecedented strategic partnership.
But the military manoeuvres - named Peace Operation 2009 - were not just about showing off, unleashing rockets at imaginary terrorist enemies or threatening the US. Instead their aim was to send an unambiguous message to the internal Muslim populations of China and Russia: no dissent will be tolerated.
Police Ambushed in Russia's Chechnya and Dagestan Regions
Caspian Airlines Denies Transport of Ammunition on Ill-Fated Flight
The Fired Russian MVD Colonel & Gazprom
On July 31, Mansurov shared with the Russian internet publication, Novaya Gazeta, a sensational letter he had sent to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Mansurov claimed that in February 2003, when he worked in the Department of Criminal Investigation of the energy and power sectors, he conducted an investigation into the legality of a contract signed between Gazprom and a Hungarian company, Eural Trans Gas. The company had been linked in the media to Semyon Mogilevich, a Russian mobster, wanted by the FBI for fraud and money laundering.Primorsky Krai Residents Furious At Gazprom Big Boss Pay
Mansurov writes that in April 2003 he participated in a meeting of officials from the MVD Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime with U.S. FBI agents who informed their Russian colleagues that Semyon Mogilevich was indicted for fraud and money laundering and was on their most wanted list. During the meeting Mansurov asked the FBI to provide any information they might have about Mogilevich.
“That same day” Mansurov wrote Putin, “I was summoned by one of the deputy heads of the department and was told to end all investigations [about Mogilevich] and turn over to him all my reports relating to his case. Mansurov wrote that he complied with the order and turned over his Mogilevich case file to a different unit where the investigation was discontinued.
On July 1, 2003 the colonel was told that he must leave his unit due to a reduction of staff, but could ask for a transfer to a different department. On June 5, 2008 he was fired.
Murder Inc. Thrives Thanks to Russian Omerta
Questions Surround Gas Deal Brokered by EU for UkraineThis isn’t just about the shocking death of Natalya Estemirova, a 50-year-old human-rights campaigner whose body was dumped by the side of a road on July 15. She had been shot several times -- at least once in the head, which is the signature for the killers who have been methodically eliminating critics or rivals of the Stalinist regime now in place in the southern Russian republic of Chechnya.
More chilling yet was the silence that fell after Estemirova was forced into a small white car at 8:30 a.m. on a Grozny street. Witnesses heard her scream out that she was being kidnapped, but no one would give details, the license plate numbers, or any descriptions of the driver.
That speaks volumes. Terror breeds fear, which produces the silence that Estemirova dealt with daily, as she tried to help victims of kidnappings, house burnings, extortion, torture, extrajudicial executions and other crimes.
International banks have agreed to lend Ukraine about $1.7 billion to pay its gas bills to Russia and, at the same time, to drastically overhaul the country’s murky energy sector, the European Commission said Monday. But it was unclear whether the agreement — full of caveats and politically sensitive conditions for Kiev — would hold together long enough to avert another natural gas crisis in Europe this winter.Russia's Hired Lobbies in the West
Russia's attempts to promote a positive image of being a "reliable energy supplier" as well as a safe and profitable haven for foreign investments have played a significant role in Russian policy. To achieve this goal the Russian government and state-owned companies have hired Western public relations firms to tout the alleged benefits of working in partnership with Russia.Ketchum Inc.
Records of this activity can be found on the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) website of the U.S. Department of Justice. The most lucrative contract to date was between the Russian government and Ketchum Inc. (N.Y) via its parent company Ketchum Limited in the U.K., to provide "communications support" for the Russian government during the 2006 G8 summit meeting until December 31, 2006. The amount allocated to finance Ketchum's activities in the U.S. was $2 million.
Oy!
"At Ketchum, we’re inspired by the belief that one can use communication to change the world and the way it responds to brands, reputations and ideas."
In an agreement that marks one of the largest mergers ever in the public relations industry, Ketchum, a leading global public relations firm, and Pleon, Europe’s largest strategic communications consultancy, have announced today they will combine operations. The merger creates one of the largest, most geographically diverse communications consultancies in the world, and by far the largest communications consultancy in Europe, augmenting Pleon’s position as the established European market leader. The combined consultancy has more than 2,000 employees in owned operations and will now operate in 66 countries with 103 owned and affiliated offices worldwide.
Fusion centers: Seeding a surveillance society? "I’m not a criminal by any definition, but will critiquing my government and engaging in political activism be considered a "hazard" if mine is a dissenting opinion?"Well.... I hate to break it to ya this way kid but the answer to your question is: YES!
Oklahoma Fusion Center coordinator's comments
Company's Intelligence Business Continues to ExpandOKLAHOMA CITY – National Level Exercise 2009, known as NLE 09, has come and gone and Oklahoma Office of Homeland Security Fusion Center Coordinator Kim Carter said he was pleased with the results of the exercise, which was held July 24-31.
Red Dirt Report was very interested in NLE 09, since Oklahoma was directly involved in the exercise, which is part of the annual TOPOFF exercise involving FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security as well as foreign troops from Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and Mexico.
This online newspaper did post an article headlined “RDR asks questions about NLE 09 exercise,” posted on July 23, and the article received a lot of attention, particularly with alternative news sites PrisonPlanet.com and WhatReallyHappened.com, in addition to being reported on locally by Radio Free Oklahoma.
Although somewhat vague about the scenario that was being studied by OKOHS and the other government agencies in FEMA Region VI, which includes Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and New Mexico, Carter said the scenario involved a terror event overseas. In the scenario, the United States is preparing for any terror-related events domestically as a result of the foreign terror event. That is where the government agencies come in and prepare and respond.
“We took several different events and the departments (involved) talked to one another … to make sure the information went through the chain of command,” Carter said.
“They did very, very well,” Carter said. “We picked up a lot of things and a lot of things were learned.”
What was learned? Well, it wasn’t entirely clear. The scenario “was based on things that can happen in Oklahoma,” Carter said, adding that it was also focused on things in FEMA Region VI. He added that the information leaned was used to “prevent possible threats across the United States.”
Asked if the focus was on foreign threats or domestic threats, Carter said it was on foreign-born individuals now living in the United States.
“Foreigners who come to the U.S. and have lived here, possibly for decades,” he said, adding that it was not focused on American citizens.
“New technology” was accessed, Carter said, although he did not elaborate. Asked by Red Dirt Report about reports of high-altitude surveillance blimps, Carter said he was not familiar with them, although knows that weather balloons released from Norman’s weather center are often mistaken as UFOs.
Asked who participated, Carter said Oklahoma State Bureau of Information (OSBI); Oklahoma Highway Patrol (OHP); the Tulsa Police Department; the Oklahoma City Police Department and tribal police agencies.
Questioned about reports of foreign involvement in the exercise, Carter said no foreign troops were in Oklahoma. The foreigners were primarily along the Gulf coast of Texas and Louisiana, which is where the Mexican officials were located.
“Typically thee exercises in past years have been response exercises,” Carter said. “You had helicopters and explosions. This year it was more of a prevention exercise with people sitting in front of computer screens.”
And the fact that it wasn’t an action-filled exercise, may be the reason NLE 09 did not get a lot of media attention this time.
“There really wasn’t a lot of media interest,” Carter said. “I saw and read very little about it. Not a lot of media coverage about it.”
Asked if there will be a full report on NLE 09 available for public consumption, Carter said an after-action report should be posted online in October.
Overall, Carter said he was pleased with Oklahoma’s involvement with NLE 09 and because he was so busy all last week, was not able to return a call to Red Dirt Report until today.
“You always learn from these things,” Carter said.
Previously unannounced contracts, huh? Ain't that special.
Arlington, VA - CACI International Inc (NYSE:CACI) announced today that it has been awarded approximately $133 million in previously unannounced contracts with federal government clients in the national security and intelligence communities. For these awards, CACI is delivering professional services and information technology (IT) solutions to organizations providing national security and countering global threats. These contracts were awarded in the fourth quarter of CACI's fiscal year 2009, which ended June 30, 2009.
Through these contracts, CACI is providing a range of technical solutions, analytical services, and mission support services. This includes providing document translation and exploitation services to help clients quickly and effectively analyze information to track and prevent terrorist attacks. Clients include members of both the defense and federal civilian intelligence communities.
Human Rights Groups Question Role Gold Man State Depart Nominee Played in Co Active In SudanProcurement policy office maintains low profileTwo human rights groups Monday morning sent a letter to the chairman and ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee questioning the pending nomination of a State Department nominee because of his involvement with a company that had ties to the government of Sudan.
Goldman Sachs International Vice Chairman Robert Hormats, President Obama's pick to be Undersecretary of State for Economic, Energy and Agricultural Affairs, played an "instrumental role...in reassuring the public and the financial markets about PetroChina in preparation for that company’s initial public offering," wrote Sam Bell of the Genocide Intervention Network and Eric Cohen of Investors Against Genocide. "
PetroChina’s IPO raised strong opposition due to the extensive dealings between its parent company, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and the Government of Sudan, which was under U.S. sanctions and was engaged in widespread crimes against humanity and human rights abuses in its war against Sudan’s south."
On March 4, President Obama stood in front of a bevy of television cameras and launched one of the most significant contracting reform initiatives in a generation. He was joined by Office of Management and Budget Director Peter R. Orszag and top acquisition leaders in the House and Senate.Obama gives powerful drug lobby a seat at healthcare table
Conspicuously absent was the senior political official who would oversee these major procurement changes. More than four months later, the president had yet to nominate an administrator of federal procurement policy at OMB, and sources suggested the Obama administration was in no rush to name the government's senior executive on contracting-related issues. The reasons for the delay are unclear. OMB officials did not respond to questions from Government Executive about the Office of Federal Procurement Policy nomination and declined a request to interview the acting administrator, Leslie Field, a career official.
SNIP
The administration caused a political brouhaha in February when it granted an ethics waiver to former Raytheon Corp. executive William Lynn to serve as deputy Defense secretary. Obama might be unwilling to go out on a limb again for a position some critics have described as little more than an acquisition cheerleader.
As a candidate for president, Barack Obama lambasted drug companies and the influence they wielded in Washington. He even ran a television ad targeting the industry's chief lobbyist, former Louisiana congressman Billy Tauzin, and the role Tauzin played in preventing Medicare from negotiating for lower drug prices.Soviet New Jersey: County seeks volunteers for public health emergency response corps
Since the election, Tauzin has morphed into the president's partner. He has been invited to the White House half a dozen times in recent months. There, he says, he eventually secured an agreement that the administration wouldn't try to overturn the very Medicare drug policy that Obama had criticized on the campaign trail.
The Ocean County Health Department (OCHD) is offering training and education to county residents who wish to become a volunteer member of the Medical Reserve Corps. According to Daniel Regenye, OCHD Assistant Public Health Coordinator, the Health Department is looking for additional volunteers to help with their response in dealing with the H1N1 virus, also known as Swine Flu.
The Ocean County Health Department invites health care professionals and community volunteers to join the Medical Reserve Corps. Any licensed or certified healthcare professional, whether practicing or retired, can apply to be a member. Community volunteers who are not health professionals are also encouraged to apply.
During a public health emergency, volunteers may be asked to perform duties in accordance with their interests, training and experiences. As the Health Department continues to respond to the H1N1 virus, which may call for establishing vaccination clinics throughout Ocean County, MRC volunteers may be called upon for administrative duties, clerical or reception duties, translation services, or direct patient care.
NATO chief makes ties with Afghanistan & Russia key goalsFOGh, huh? Indeed.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen took the helm of NATO on Monday with a pledge to prevent Afghanistan from once more becoming the hub of international terrorism and to build a new strategic partnership with Russia.On his first day in office, the former Danish prime minister laid out his priorities at a time when NATO is embroiled in its biggest ever mission and ties with Moscow are only just beginning to recover after last year's war in Georgia.Gates, Mullen made unannounced visit to Europe
Around 100,000 foreign troops are currently stationed in Afghanistan to counter an insurgency by the Taliban against the government of President Hamid Karzai. The new secretary-general told reporters that troops serving in NATO's mission would help prevent Afghanistan from "becoming again a grand central station of international terrorism."
Rasmussen took over a day after US Defence Secretary Robert Gates flew to Belgium for a secret meeting with the top US commander in Afghanistan, amid speculation the general may be seeking more American forces for the war.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, flew Saturday to an U.S. air base in Chievres, Belgium, and met Sunday with several advisers including Gen. David Petraeus, who has overall responsibility for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Gates and Mullen were given an interim report on security in Afghanistan. Gen. Stanley McChrystal is putting together an assessment of the war that may include a request for additional U.S. forces and resources.
The trip was organized in secret, and Gates traveled without his usual throng of staff and reporters.
Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said Gates wanted a face-to-face meeting with the generals to get a sense of that forthcoming report and “also wanted to share with his commanders some issues, some questions, that he wanted them to take into consideration as they are wrapping up this report.” Morrell would not detail the discussion, including whether McChrystal is contemplating a politically troublesome request to expand the number of American soldiers.
Goldman Sachs Nails The Oil TradeGee it's almost like they know what's going to happen.
Oil Climbs Above $70 as Asian Shares Rise
Hey...they said they want $85 and they will not stop till they get there.
Chevron, Shell to raise oil prices
Pump prices are on the rise
Oil jumps on weak dollar, manufacturing strength
Cooper-Standard Files for Bankruptcy
Cooper-Standard Automotive, a troubled auto parts supplier co-owned by Goldman Sachs and the Cypress Group, filed for bankruptcy in Delaware on MondayBNZ parent Bank in Goldman Sachs team up
Goldman Sachs JBWere and Bank of New Zealand's parent have tied up in a private wealth management business targeting the rich to be called JBWere.Welcome to Goldman Sachs JBWere
Goldman Sachs JBWere combines the pre-eminent global knowledge of a worldwide financial services firm with a unique Australasian perspective.Asia equity funds attract $1.56 bn; India corners $211 mn
Services for Corporations and Governments:
Goldman Sachs JBWere identifies, structures and executes diverse and innovative public and private market transactions for corporations and governments.
Venezuela seizes coffee companies
Oh my, what will happen to Elexehente now?
Niger to vote on presidential power extension
Niger will vote on Tuesday on extending President Mamadou Tandja's term by three years, in a referendum the opposition and the international community have criticised as undemocratic and a threat to national stability.
Tandja, who has ruled the Saharan state since 1999, is asking for three more years to oversee large foreign-backed investments including a Chinese oil deal and French uranium mine -- a move which requires the constitution to be changed.
Pot Tax Has $1.4B Potential in CaliforniaONLY THE HOLY LEAF CAN SAVE YOU NOW, AHNALD!
W VA: Drunk Driver Caused Accident Involving Radioactive Cargo
But booze is perfectly legal!
The entire Town of Sandstone and surrounding areas were evacuated after a tractor trailer carrying radioactive material caught fire, but tests have confirmed that there is no danger. It happened at midnight Sunday morning on I-64 at the 139 mile marker, which is near the Sandstone exit in Summers County.The Pope Gets Solar Panels on His House
Jewsus save me from the Politically Correct Green Communist Popes of GlowBally Warming Laodicea....
Google Quietly Quadruples Its Newspaper Archives
Utah uranium mine to begin shipping ore in September
Chevron Backs Off Natural Gas Drilling in US
I am sure if you have read this whole post you can deduce by now why....
Kirkland went on to mention Chevron’s natural gas-development in the Piceance Basin and explained the company was going to shut down all drilling there. Chevron has about 35,000 acres in the Piceance Basin and has estimated 3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas are potentially recoverable from this project. The company began development drilling in 2007 and the full plan includes drilling more than 2,000 wells. Chevron completed an eight-mile pipeline last year to transport the gas to a nearby gathering system. At one time, Chevron had plans to have up to eight rigs running there, Kirkland said during the conference call. Chevron won’t have any land rigs running in Piceance Basin or anywhere else in the lower 48 states for that matter.
I expect by the end of the year, we will not have a since gas land rig running … With gas prices it doesn’t make sense for us right now to be drilling those gas wells, Kirkland said.
Toto I don't think we are in Kansas anymore...
Nebraska abortion provider plans Kansas clinic
A Nebraska abortion provider says he still plans to open his own late-term abortion practice in Kansas in the wake of Dr. George Tiller's shooting deathAmerican Babies Are Ruining Everything
Forget about the birthers, and the nutty claims that Barack Obama was not born in the United States. More and more, we are hearing from people who might best be described as anti-birthers. Their claims have nothing to do with long- versus short-form Hawaiian birth certificates. Instead, they advance a simple proposition: that the birth of each additional American child is a kind of calamity for the environment.Science Czar John Holdren and the Beginning of Your Humanity
Science czar's thinking 'severely defective'
STFU he is a SCIENTIST which means he can not possibly have defective thinking. Ask anybody!
Scotland: Atheist pupils spark row over religious assemblies
What is the Jewish Belief About The End of Days & Moshiach?Ian Scott wrote to the rector of Hutchesons' Grammar School in Glasgow in April, asking to be able to opt out of the weekly assembly which he had been attending since first year. Although he was raised a Christian - his mother is Catholic, his father Protestant - he told the school he was an atheist and felt he was having religion "forced" on him.
However the 16-year-old was told that he must continue to attend. Rector Dr Kenneth Greig cited various reasons, including the need for the whole school to gather as a community.
Scott doesn't accept this, given that Muslim and Jewish pupils in the school have their own meetings, as an alternative to the Christian gathering. However he does acknowledge that the position at Hutchesons' is better than in some schools - of two assemblies a week which he is required to attend, one is explicitly secular.
Independent schools are not bound by the guidelines given to state schools, which state that parents have the right to opt their children out of religious observance.
Scott is being supported by the Humanist Society of Scotland (HSS) and has been invited to talk at their conference on Sunday in Glasgow, which aims to highlight the rights of non-religious parents in state education.
6.9 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Mexico's Gulf of California
6.9 earthquake in Baja felt in Tucson
Two strong earthquakes jolt northwest Mexico
Magnitude 5 earthquake shakes southern Peru
5.1 magnitude earthquake hits New Zealand's Southland
5.0 earthquake hits eastern Indonesia
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