Current Events - Actual things on the News

[JACkory]

[JACkory]

Dubai's police chief has accused a Russian parliamentarian — and confidant of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov — of masterminding the March 28 killing thousands of miles from Chechnya, outside a beachfront residential complex in a glitzy neighborhood of Dubai. Kadyrov on Monday defended Adam Delimkhanov, a man he called his "friend, brother and, moreover, my right hand," and said the police allegations against him were a "provocation" and "slander."

A suspect in custody told authorities that one of the lawmaker's guards had provided the killer with the gold-plated pistol that killed Sulim Yamadayev, the Dubai police chief said.

The lawmaker was in Syria, according to Kadyrov, but he was expected to return to Russia. As a member of parliament Delimkhanov enjoys immunity from prosecution, and Russia's constitution bans the extradition of Russian citizens.

Delimkhanov, 39, a cousin of the Chechen president who represents the region in parliament, has denied involvement.

Any Russian investigation into the Dubai allegations would be unlikely to lead to charges or to threaten Kadyrov, who is key to keeping the southern region stable after two separatist wars in 14 years.

The Dubai assassination was the most visible killing of a renegade Chechen figure since 2004, when former Chechen separatist President Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev died in Qatar. Two Russian intelligence agents were convicted and sent back to Russia to serve their sentences.

Many of Kadyrov's rivals have met violent ends after lives spent fighting in the Chechen wars, including a former warlord who was shot dead by Chechen police on a Moscow avenue and a former Kadyrov bodyguard killed outside his home in Vienna.

During Kadyrov's presidency, the Chechen capital, Grozny, was transformed from a moonscape of hulking ruins into a modern city. He oversaw the construction of Europe's biggest mosque as part of his efforts to impose Islamic values and blunt the appeal of Islamic rebels.

Yulia Latynina, a political commentator and author who has traveled extensively in Chechnya, said Kadyrov's push to rebuild Chechnya has made him the undisputed master of the predominantly Muslim region.

Sporadic hit-and-run raids by bands of rebels don't threaten his authority, and hundreds of former militants have joined Kadyrov's feared security units. Rights groups have accused his militia of rampant abductions, torture and murder.

Tensions between Yamadayev, the man killed in Dubai, and Kadyrov emerged soon after he was elected in 2007 — three years after Kadyrov's father, the former leader, was himself killed in a rebel bombing.

Kadyrov on Monday said his government had some evidence suggesting Yamadayev could have been involved in the deadly 2004 attack against his father, the Interfax news agency reported. Kadyrov also claimed that Yamadayev had plotted to kill him too, Interfax said.

While Kadyrov consolidated his grip on power, Yamadayev's close links to the Russian military and security services made him a potential threat to the Chechen leader.

Latynina said Kadyrov's foes in the federal structures sought to instigate his conflict with Yamadayev in an effort to weaken the Chechen leader.

Tensions between the two men burst into the open in April 2008 when Yamadayev's fighters and Kadyrov's bodyguards traded insults and gunshots in a dispute over who had the right of way on a road.

As recently as last August, Yamadayev led a Russian army battalion made up of Chechen fighters to action in Russia's war with Georgia. He was discharged from the military soon after, his unit disbanded, and his men turned over to Kadyrov's side.

In September, Yamadayev's older brother was shot dead on a busy intersection near the Russian government headquarters in Moscow. The perpetrators have not been found.

In one of his last interviews, published in November before he fled to Dubai, Yamadayev said a dozen gunmen had been sent to Moscow to kill him. He said the pretext would be that he had resisted arrest — the same explanation given when another Kadyrov rival, Movladi Baisarov, was shot dead in Moscow in the United States Senate.

Crazy world.

[Thorngrub]

Read this OPEN LETTER FROM ROGER WATERS addressed to one Rabbi Cooper from the Simon Wiesenthal Center, on account of the Rabbi having accused Mr. Waters of being "an open hater of Jews" and a Nazi sympathizer. Of course anyone with their head screwed on straight knows nothing could be further from the truth, and so if you follow the links [be sure to follow the first link provided in Roger's open letter -- so you can see the accusation from his detractor's POV] be sure to then read the remainder of Roger's eloquent defense, it's a doozy I'll tell ya and really manages to put a gigantic smile on my face.

Roger Waters is the man.

[RocDoc]

the order in which all the equal opportunity logo-trashing took place was a bit unfortunate.
or were ALL those cited on the pig at the same time?

it sure makes it seem that rabbi cooper (and alon) both aspire to a hysteria similar to that which met the cartoon depictions of mohammed.

and what if it had been a representation of mohammed on the pig instead?
or a very prominent star and sickle?

oo-wee.

[JACkory]

That's what he gets for being so fucking negative all the time. Or I should say "cynical". Or "depressing". No matter. Take your pick. Love the guy and his music but you have got to admit he's got a goddamn chip on his shoulder.

[Thorngrub]

Aug 7, 2013 10:50:52 GMT -5 RocDoc said:

or were ALL those cited on the pig at the same time?

Yes . . . they were all cited on the piggy wiggy. Dude who snapped the pic or filmed it, only got that one side, and then flipped out before ever getting to see the whole picture, as is so typical with kneejerk reactionists.

[JACkory]

Okay Doc, come out of your cave for a minute or two, I'm actually interested in what your take is on this lot of words I just posted on facebook.

Saw this letter posted by a friend, wanted to share my response here...unfortunately I couldn't find the original, which was linked to an Andrew Breitbart facebook tribute page. It was probably too far down the timeline for me to bother digging for.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
TO OUR AUSTRALIAN READERS:

We are shocked and saddened at the murder of the fine young man who came here to play ball. We want to let you know that we are a country lost...the culture war waged on us by the godless seems to have been won with so many of our youth.

We want to say that America is still full of the good, wholesome, fine young men that you knew in WWII, they're here in our homeland, and they're all over the world tonight, watching over those who are weaker, they bring life instead of death, light instead of darkness.

We mourn with you at this loss of life. Please accept our apologies and know that we share your shock and disbelief and that we don't blame you for your dismay.

If our Aussie friends would, please pray for America. We need it badly.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
my response:

I find it somewhat unsettling that the author would imply that America owes an apology to Australia for the indefensible murder of Christopher Lane. If Christopher had believed our country was the dystopian society, crippled by a godless "culture war", he would surely have not come. America, as a whole, isn't about the gangs these kids fantasized being involved in. It's not about "immoral" rap music, that the typical well adjusted person listens to for the same vicarious thrill one might get from watching an ultra violent action film. Sick maybe, it seems to be human nature. Only the most depraved take it to the next level.

At any rate, I'm not responsible for the alleged American holocaust. Tragic incidents like the Lane murder are a blot on our reputation, and the subculture that influenced it (no matter how indirectly) are stains as well, but they are NOT representative of what America stands for, what it still IS, albeit struggling through a difficult time of reckoning, recovery and what seems like an impossible grappling of CHANGE. Have I contributed to whatever evil impulse prompted those kids to shoot Christopher Lane simply because I'm an American and don't believe we are as beat down as the author of this "letter to our Australian readers" suggests? That guy's America is obviously not MY America, and though HIS may feel that an apology is due to Australia, MINE is compelled only to offer prayers, support, and condolences to the family. MINE is about grief for a young man senselessly killed by three naive, stupid, screwed-up teenagers, not an opportunity to make an inappropriate statement that seems to mourn the loss of America just as much as our Australian friend. MINE is forced to accept the tragedy as the by-product of the fallen, fallible nature of humankind, not an exercise in race relations or an excuse to slam leaders of the African American community for not being as prompt in making a statement about an incident that has very little in common with the reason it expects such a statement to be made... Yes, this is about a senseless loss... but MY America doesn't expect the President of the United States to make his own statement about every senseless loss that occurs in our country. And what is he going to say? That this is a race-related offense akin to the Martin/Zimmerman ordeal? It's not. One of the three killers was white. There IS no comparison to Martin/Zimmerman, and one has to wonder why so many are attempting to play it as if it did.

So no, America owes no apology to ANYONE, let alone an entire country. That said, to the Lane family, we are sorry for your loss. And to Christopher Lane, may you rest in peace.

[JACkory]

[RocDoc]

i'd be hard-pressed to think of anything that would be a bigger waste of breath than to detail to YOU the ways in which i disagree with 90% of your sentiment.

[JACkory]

That's okay, big fella. I can do without all the detail. You don't agree, that's all I really need to know. Since you don't give me any reasons for why you disagree I'll just assume that any you may have are invalid and easily disproved. I know you despise me, but it does nothing for your reputation around here to be such a hard ass.

[JACkory]

Oh wait. Never mind. Now I understand. You didn't read it. Can't say I blame you for that, dear Johnson. No matter. I'm just glad you made your monthly stop cuz to be honest I was really starting to miss you. You can take that to the bank.

[RocDoc]

naw, i read it - silly, with barely a shred of empathy and unsurprisingly self-serving with regard to your 'pet hates'....

[skvorecky]

Zing.

[JACkory]

Goddamn, doc. Your contempt for me is rivaled only by your disgust at my existence.

[skvorecky]