[DAWN] LAHORE: Veteran photojournalist Majid Mir died of heart attack on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he was working in an advertising firm for over two decades. He was 70.
"He was ill and depressed because of the death of his wife in Lahore a month ago. He was admitted to a hospital where he suffered a massive heart attack," said his brother Abdul Hafiz Mir, head of camera section of a private television.
Mr Mir would be buried in Riyadh, his brother said.
He has left behind four daughters, a son and countless friends, admirers and pupils in the newspaper industry.
Mr Mir learnt photography at an early age in Nairobi where his father was employed. He joined the (now defunct) Urdu daily Imroze in 1967, and later worked as archives photographer in Punjab University's library. He switched over to daily Musawat upon its launch in 1970.
He also worked for Dawn, Lahore, and went to the USA in 1978. He ultimately settled in Riyadh.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Move over, Al, and say howdy
To the light you've extinguished in Saudi.
Of his fans freely zealous,
Try not to be jealous,
Nor his lens so profanely uncloudy.
I don't know this guy from Adam, but it sounds like he cut quite a swath, so I thought I'd put in a good word for him.
Time magazine arranged to attach a camera to the base of the spire that tops 1 World Trade Center to offer 360-degree views of New York City that you can pan across and zoom into. Move the cursor slowly, or you'll get dizzy!
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/10/2014 15:04 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
[Bangla Daily Star] They're called 'snapping' turtles for a very good reason, but this hapless animal lover just had to find out the hard way and ended up in hospital. The Chinese man was reportedly releasing the ferocious-looking creature into the wild but decided he had to give it a goodbye kiss first. How do you say "wotta maroon!" in Chinese? 这是栗色!
Unfortunately the love was not exactly required and the snapping turtle did what snapping turtles do and snapped him on the lip. "Owwww!"
"Wang! What's wrong?"
"MUH LIBB!"
The man, from Fujian province, was left with the turtle dangling from his face refusing to release its powerful, pincer-like jaws. "What?"
"MUH LIBB! MUH LIBB!"
Eventually the animal was prized away from the unfortunate man who was immediately rushed to hospital. "Hullo? 911? There's a guy here with a snapping turtle hangin' from his lip1"
"Nah. Y'got the wrong number! This is 912!"
A friend then posted the picture on the internet to warn people of the dangers of kissing snapping turtles. Good advice, that. I'm sure we've all considered it once or twice...
According to the Shanghai Daily the animal appeared to be an alligator snapping turtle which are native to North America and known to be highly dangerous. "Oh, surely they're just misunderstood! Watch how they respond to a little love and affection!... Owww! MUH LIBB!"
They are the largest freshwater turtles in the world and can grow to more than half-a-metre in length and live to be 160 years old. But they are most known for their powerful jaws which are strong enough to bite through a broomstick handle.
And the idiot released one of those into foreign climes? Ah well, in the Florida Everglades we have problems with foreign snakes eating our native alligators, over in China they can just lose what's left of their native river dolphins and other wildlife over the next century and a half.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I can't bare to watch this part, when the Chinese man gets his lips torn off by a snapping turtle. Oh the humanity.
#9
His osculatory conferral
Predictably met with demurral.
If by some freak a nation
Were to seek provocation,
They'd arrange to get bit by a squirrel.
William Guarnere, the real-life World War II veteran whose story of heroism and valor was told in the HBO miniseries "Band of Brothers," has died at the age of 90.
He was rushed to a hospital over the weekend but died hours later, his son, William Guarnere Jr., said to CNN.
The elder Mr. Guarnere won the nickname "Wild Bill" during his wartime service and ultimately lost one of his legs while trying to save his friend on the battlefield, CNN said. He served in Easy Company in the 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division in the Army.
In the HBO show, Mr. Guarnere was played by actor Frank John Hughes.
"He lived a good life," his son told CNN. "He traveled a lot. He pretty much did everything he could have done."
Posted by: Au Auric ||
03/10/2014 09:44 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
[Bangla Daily Star] Police have enjugged ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... the two Awami League men who were seen brandishing firearms during Saturday's clash between the party's two factions in Sreepur of Gazipur.
Two shotguns were recovered from their possessions.
Abdul Baten, superintendent of police in Gazipur, said this at a press briefing at his office around 6:15pm yesterday.
The arrestees -- Shajahan alias Kamrul, 40, and Masum Khan, 43 -- are supporters of upazila chairman candidate Iqbal Hossain Sabuj, also organising secretary of the Gazipur district AL.
Police yesterday also detained 11 people for their alleged involvement in the clash.
Amir Hossain, officer-in-charge of Sreepur Police Station, said no case had been filed till filing of the report at 7:53pm.
Two platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh personnel had remained deployed at different spots in the upazila from 12:00noon to ward off further violence, Executive Magistrate Bijen Banarji said.
On Saturday, at least 50 people were maimed in several festivities between the supporters of Sabuj and Abdul Jalil, member of the AL Sreepur upazila unit, centring on the upcoming upazila polls slated for March 15.
Mostafizur Rahman Bulbul, general secretary of Sreepur upazila AL, said Jalil was picked up as the chairman candidate at the grassroots.
However, facts are stubborn; statistics are more pliable... Azmat Ullah Khan, general secretary of the AL district unit, said Sobuj had been chosen as the party candidate by the central committee.
Meanwhile, ...back at the wrecked scow, Agent 49 felt gingerly for his head. It was still there. He had been hoping differently... a Jubo League ... the youth wing of the Bangla Awami League... leader along with two of his supporters was held with a firearm in Savar yesterday while he was engaged in a clash with workers of a business firm over jhut business (garment waste), our Savar correspondent reports.
Sohel Parvez is the joint secretary of Jubo League central unit and a former president of Bangladesh Chhatra League ... the student wing of the Bangla Awami League ... Jahangirnagar University unit.
On condition of anonymity, a high official of Santa Garment said Asa International, owned by Akbar Hosain Mridha, had been doing jhut business with his company at Dhaka Export Processing Zone for long.
But Sohel and his men had been trying to get hold of the business for the last few months, he said.
When workers of Asa were busy loading their trucks with jhut as usual, Sohel and his supporters attacked them, leaving five of the workers injured.
On information, police rushed to the spot and held Sohel along with two others with a firearm.
Rasel Sheikh, assistant superintendent of Savar police circle, said a general diary had been recorded following the incident.
"The firearm has licence, but none can use it to threaten anyone," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
"If you listen closely to President Putin, he is not describing the world in a way that he thinks President Obama who appointed said former U.S. Ambassador
and his administration is weak. On the contrary, he has a theory about American power that is quite paranoid," McFaul said.
From Putin's point of view, McFaul said, the United States is "fomenting instability and revolution in the Middle East, in Russia and, now, Ukraine." ..interesting hypothesis..
#5
I suspect that Putin thinks of Obama as being an irrelevant "transient effect", and not worth wasting his time worrying about.
Thinking back to Graham Alison's "Essence of Decision", what Putin does need to consider is the "Organizational Processes Model", whereby structural habits within the American foreign policy and defense organizations generate a credible threat, in spite of the impotent fool at the top of the administration.
#6
Yes, "transient" is the operative word here, unless the Champ can somehow forego term limits. Vlad has made the same assessment as any elementary school history or social studies student, Champ is shaping up to be the lamest of lame duck presidents. A "paranoid" Russia? Who knew ?
#8
* See also BHARAT RAKSHAK > "WE ARE SPEAKING VERY LOUDLY, BUT WE ARE CARRYING A SMALL STICK", DIMITRI K. SINE ON WHY RUSSIA DOESN'T TAKE THE US SERIOUSLY.
That sound you're hearing is POTUS Teddy Roosevelt yelling "OH GAAAAAADDDD"!, or in the altern "Bully, by God"!, in righteous indignation.
#9
The Western political class isn't weak or cowardly per se. It is suffering from a pathological mixture of zero civilizational confidence, self-hatred and masochism. This results in erratic and occasionally functionally insane behavior.
Putin in contrast is a rational, cautious, deterrable, amoral, explorative and opportunistic aggressor. He has just been provoked by the West's provocative weakness that has been on display for well over a decade.
#10
he has a theory about American power that is quite paranoid
Actually Puti thinks USA are muscle for EU leaders dreams of World Dominance (not for some selfish or racist reasons but for "Human Rights", "protecting the environment", the freedom to choose your gender, and---the most important one---freedom from thinking).
#11
Considering we are 18 trillion in debt and lack the political will cut Big Bird out of public television with 350+ channels of cable television I would say he sees America as financially and politically bankrupt.
Putin is pulling a Ronald Reagan and seeing an opportunity to accelerate Americas ability to react effectively. Quite ironic.
#13
Actually Puti thinks USA are muscle for EU leaders dreams of World Dominance (not for some selfish or racist reasons but for "Human Rights", "protecting the environment", the freedom to choose your gender, and---the most important one---freedom from thinking).
Meanwhile, on Earth Prime, Russia's kept afloat financially by Germany's arbitrary, baseless decision to use Russian-resold Kazakh natural gas instead of German coal, while France sells them assault ships and fire control electronics for their tanks. The German president who made this decision (which Merkel refuses to reverse) collects a salary (or maybe it's a commission) from Gazprom.
#14
#11 Considering we are 18 trillion in debt and lack the political will cut Big Bird out of public television with 350+ channels of cable television I would say he sees America as financially and politically bankrupt.
Posted by: Airandee
Airandee nailed it squarely! Faced with the decision of 'guns or butter EBT cards,' Champ will always take the cards.
#17
Consider the source: McClatchey press, the Pravda of the leftist press outlets, dedicated to propping up Obama and progressivism, no matter how many lies they need to print to do it.
#18
Thing, I know you won't believe me now. But, the return to multipolar world is a good thing. Not just for Russians---it's a good thing for you Americans as well.
A handful of studies on public-private partnerships, or P3s, in highway construction suggest that such arrangements have built highways slightly less expensively and slightly more quickly, compared with the traditional public-sector approach, a Congressional Budget Office researcher told a special House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee panel on March 5. CBO cautioned, however, that data on P3s in highway projects are scarce, so its difficult to conclude definitively that other P3 projects would see similar results. Right. Only climate scientists can make rock-solid projections based on a little historical data.
The costs of financing a highway project privately is roughly equal to the cost of financing it publicly once you factor in costs associated with the risk of project losses which taxpayers ultimately bear and the financial transfers made by the federal government to states and localities, Kile told the panel. Any remaining difference in costs results from the effects of incentives and conditions established in the contracts that govern P3s, he said.
Kile also emphasized that private financing increases the availability of highway construction funds only if the state or local government restricts its spending through legal constraints or budgetary limits. How many of the 57 states have NOT maxed out their highway budgets?
The reason is that revenues from the users of roads and from taxpayers are the ultimate source of money for highways, regardless of the financing mechanism chosen. Pardon me, Mr. CBO guy? The public pays, either way? Are you tellin' me there ain't no sucha thing as a free lunch?
The House T&I Committee established the special panel in January to explore the use of and opportunities for P3s across all modes of transportation, economic development, public buildings, water, and maritime infrastructure and equipment.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/10/2014 09:03 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"have built highways slightly less expensively and slightly more quickly, compared with the traditional public-sector approach,"
BFO. No bid contracts to two or three road outfits that corner the market for state (sub-)contracts that include a line item which one way or another is functionally "kick-back patronage [including the state employee union political fund] and nepotism hiring program"
#2
Most of the ridiculous contracting rules which governments impose on themselves are pushed down onto private contractors as well. Makes it hard to realize much in savings when you have to do all the same stupid and wasteful things that the government does.
#3
I finished one of these P3s and am working on another, now. In the first. the State loaded up on testing requirements, equating loads of tests with high quality. So we wasted some dollars, which (as the article said), ultimately come from the taxpayer. Five years, $1.5 B, roads and bridges.
The agencies like having the private cash, but - deep down - they believe they could do a better job if only the State would give them the time and money. So the CBO report tends to feed that theory/fantasy.
The biggest "patronage" for the completed project was the 40% goal for the various disadvantaged groups. In the finest 'Chicago' tradition, we were threatened with disbarment if we didn't meet the goal - by far, the highest the state had ever attempted/mandated (not Illinois, BTW). We achieved about 90% of the 'goal' and ultimately got some praise from the agency. Minority goals add some 5-10% to the final cost, but agencies refuse to recognize that.
The current project, just underway, seems a lot more reasonable (10% goals), but the various groups are still jostling for position.
Giant corporations tend to lead the way for mega-projects, but carry a lot of subcontractors with them - minority and otherwise. As long as the state doesn't regulate the P3 concept to death.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/10/2014 12:16 Comments ||
Top||
#4
small and minority contractors aren't generally capable of handling large complex projects (like bridges). That's why they're small and minority contractors
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/10/2014 12:39 Comments ||
Top||
[An Nahar] Ukraine said Sunday it could sign later this month part of a crucial EU agreement for greater integration, even as the former Soviet state remains in a state of upheaval.
"The political association with the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... could be signed on March 17 or 21," Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsya said in an interview with Ukrainian 1+1 television.
The new government in Kiev had already earlier said it planned to sign the political parts of an EU association pact before snap presidential elections on May 25.
The dates given by the minister correspond to a meeting of European Union foreign ministers on March 17, and a summit of EU leaders on March 20/21.
Kiev was close to signing an association pact and free trade deal with Brussels in November but former president Viktor Yanukovych scrapped the agreement at the last minute in favor of closer ties with Moscow, setting off mass protests in the country that resulted in 100 deaths and Yanukovych's eventual ouster last month.
The signing of the EU accord will take place after a March 16 referendum in Ukraine's autonomous Crimean peninsula, whose pro-Moscow leadership wants to become part of Russia amid the worst East-West confrontation since the Cold War.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
[Egypt Independent] Russian forces tightened their grip on Crimea on Sunday despite a U.S. warning to Moscow that annexing the southern Ukrainian region would close the door to diplomacy in a tense East-West standoff.
Russian forces' seizure of the Black Sea peninsula has been bloodless but tensions are mounting following the decision by pro-Russian groups that have taken over the regional parliament to make Crimea part of Russia.
The operation to seize Crimea began within days of Ukraine's pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovich's flight from the country last month. Yanukovich was toppled after three months of demonstrations against a decision to spurn a free trade deal with the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... for closer ties with Russia.
In the latest armed action, Russians took over a Ukrainian border post on the western edge of Crimea at around 6 a.m. (0400) GMT, trapping about 30 personnel inside, a border guard front man said.
The front man, Oleh Slobodyan, said Russian forces now controlled 11 border guard posts across Crimea, a former Russian territory that is home to Russia's Black Sea fleet and has an ethnic Russian majority.
President Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... declared a week ago that Russia had the right to invade Ukraine to protect Russian citizens, and his parliament has voted to change the law to make it easier to annex territory inhabited by Russian speakers.
The worst face-off with Moscow since the Cold War has left the West scrambling for a response, especially since the region's pro-Russia leadership declared Crimea part of Russia last week and announced a March 16 referendum to confirm it.
U.S. Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... , speaking to Russia's foreign minister for the fourth day in a row, told Sergei Lavrov on Saturday that Russia should exercise restraint.
"He made clear that continued military escalation and provocation in Crimea or elsewhere in Ukraine, along with steps to annex Crimea to Russia, would close any available space for diplomacy, and he urged utmost restraint," a U.S. official said.
President Barack Obama They get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them... spoke by phone on Saturday to the leaders of La Belle France, Britannia and Italia and three ex-Soviet Baltic states that have joined NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... . He assured Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, which have their own ethnic Russian populations, that the Western military alliance would protect them if necessary.
Shots fired
A spokeswoman for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said military monitors from the pan-Europe watchdog had on Saturday been prevented for the third time in as many days from entering Crimea.
Shots were fired on Saturday to turn back the mission of more than 40 unarmed observers, who have been invited by Kiev but lack permission from Crimea's pro-Russian authorities to cross the isthmus to the peninsula. No one was hurt.
Crimea's pro-Moscow authorities have ordered all remaining Ukrainian troop detachments in the province to disarm and surrender, but at several locations they have refused to yield.
Moscow denies that the Russian-speaking troops in Crimea are under its command, an assertion Washington dismisses as "Putin's fiction". Although they wear no insignia, the troops drive vehicles with Russian military plates.
A Rooters reporting team filmed a convoy of hundreds of Russian troops in about 50 trucks, accompanied by armored vehicles and ambulances, which pulled into a military base north of Simferopol in broad daylight on Saturday.
The military standoff has remained bloodless, but troops on both sides spoke of increased agitation.
"The situation is changed. Tensions are much higher now. You have to go. You can't film here," said a Russian soldier carrying a heavy machine gun, his face covered except for his eyes, at a Ukrainian navy base in Novoozernoye.
A source in Ukraine's defense ministry said it was mobilizing some of its military hardware for a planned exercise, Interfax news agency reported. Ukraine's military, with barely 130,000 troops, would be no match for Russia's. So far Kiev has held back from any action that might provoke a response.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
As things stand this Am, IMO it does appear that Putin is indeed going for a "Guantanamo" scenario or outcome in the Crimea, NOT FORMAL ANNEXATION DESPITE THE PRO-MOSCOW FERVOR OF LOCAL RUSSIANS - the question is, will the sovereign Ukraine + US + NATO-EU agree???
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > ITAR-TASS - VLADIMIR KONSTANTINOV: CRIMEA HOPES TO REMAIN A PARLIAMENTARY REPUBLIC IFF IT JOINS RUSSIA.
versus
* TOPIX > [Washington Examiner] UKRAINE'S CRISIS WILL MAKE IRAN'S MULLAHS MORE INTERESTED IN NUCLEAR WEAPONS.
* RELATED SAME > UKRAINE'S VULNERABILITY DUE TO LACK OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS IS NOT LOST ON IRAN.
#2
Surprising how these evil Ruskis insist on pursuing their national interests despite the protests of International Community. Don't they grasp their innate inferiority to highly educated Tranzi elites?
On Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that the Kremlin annexing Crimea would close any available space for diplomacy.
The warning is disconcerting because there are three general ways that this crisis could play out: Russia keeps advancing into east and south Ukraine, Russia annexes Crimea and then applies further financial and political pressure on the new government in Kiev, or Russia makes limited concessions and the crisis de-escalates.
Or the Ukraine would agree to a partition, or the Ukraine would throw the Russians out (right), or the EU could grow a spine (double right)...
By Kerry saying that the diplomatic window is closed if Russia annexes Crimea which is almost a forgone conclusion then the best path for de-escalation is obstructed.
"We need a de-escalation and that can only happen via talks," German Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, who spoke with Putin in Moscow last week, told Der Spiegel. "It's not a question now of whether we react in a 'hard' or 'soft' manner; rather we have to act in a clever manner."
You can almost see Sigmar wringing his hands...
Furthermore, on Sunday U.S. national security official Tony Blinken said that America won't recognize the March 16 referendum and will increase sanctions on Moscow if and when Crimea secedes.
Meanwhile, experts agree that Vladimir Putin is not going to give up Crimea.
Why should he? He has a winning hand internationally and at home. This is extremely popular in the Russian Federation and in the Crimea itself.
"What's happened in Crimea is a fait accompli. You aren't going to get the Russians out of there," Stephen Larrabee, who specializes in European Security at Rand, told NPR. "I can't see Putin agreeing to withdraw troops that are already there. It would be losing face with his own public."
It would be an invitation for him to be overthrown as the now-weak horse...
Last week geopolitical expert Ian Bremmer told Business Insider that "Russia is not going to back down from Crimea, irrespective of U.S. pressure," and that the Obama administration is "going to have to find a way to come to terms with that."
Given that Kerry says that the diplomatic window would be closed if Crimea joins Russia, it doesn't sound like the White House has come to terms with what's happening.
The White House hasn't come to terms with reality lots of stuff so this isn't surprising...
Bremmer said the U.S. "should be working to get the Ukrainians to accept a referendum on [Crimea] in exchange for Russian recognition of Ukrainian territorial integrity and a process that will lead to the election of a new Ukrainian government."
On Sunday, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said that not an inch of land will be ceded to Russia.
You're a little behind, Arseniy. Have you been talking with John Kerry instead of minding the store?
Events on the ground imply further escalation of the crisis, both politically and militarily, which is exacerbated by Kerry's threat that the diplomatic window is closing as the annexation of Crimea plays out.
#1
I just want everybody to know that the diplomatic waters are pretty deep over there in the Ukraine and the Russian Bulldogs are very fierce protecting what they think is their territory. I'm just warning you that I have to take a tough stand against these people, and the odds of winning are very difficult to predict, especially with me on your side.
#3
More as related to a possible "GITMO/GUANTANAMO" solution in the Crimea. ...
* BHARAT RAKSHAK > [Independent.UK] DESPITE THE FEARS OF SMALL STATES, PUTIN IS UNLIKELY TO REDRAW HIS COUNTRY'S [Russia] BORDERS.
and
* SAME > [Guardian.UK] NICK CLEGG [UK Deputy PM] HINTS AT CRIMEA DEAL IFF VLADIMIR PUTIN DROPS "KGB MENTALITY", DEPUTY PM SAYS CRIMEA IS A DIFFERENT CATEGORY NEXT TO THE UKRAINE, + RUSSIA [already] HAS A "PRONOUNCED IMPRINT" THERE.
British geopol pragmatism or reality, or the Brits = Clegg proudly surrrendering like France???
#7
..Obama stages of grief:
1.Denial As the reality of loss is hard to face, one of the first reactions to follow the loss is Denial. What this means is that the person is trying to shut out the reality or magnitude of their situation, and begin to develop a false, preferable reality.
2.See Above
3.Blame George Bush
4. Rinse-lather-repeat..
#8
A bit harder than backstabbing Israel, is it John?
Harder in practical terms - easier from the standpoint of American public opinion. Russia has been the enemy for close to 70 years, responsible for close to 500K American GI deaths via the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and the Korean and Vietnam Wars. The real difficulty is Obama's unwillingness to move beyond pro forma steps against Russia. Arming Ukraine would help deter further Russian adventurism, but Obama's timid steps have opened the door to the annexation of Eastern Ukraine and the Baltics after that of the Crimea is done. The EU's purely self-interested actions haven't helped. Maybe the only way to inject some spine into these people is to withdraw from NATO.
#9
"Harder in practical terms - easier from the standpoint of American public opinion. Russia has been the enemy for close to 70 years,"
Lets see that a staunch Cold War warrior, the man who played an important (perhaps critical) role in US adoption of SDI --- IMO, the proximal factor of Soviet Union's collapse, Jerry Pournelle says The great fear of the Cold Warriors at least all of my colleagues and those I associated with was that the USSR would destroy the world in its death throes. Sun Tzu said you should build golden bridges for your enemies. Machiavelli tells us never to do an enemy a small injury. One must strive to keep the respect of your enemies, and never confuse your real objectives with speculative dreams.
And so, when the USSR dissolved, and Yeltsin essentially ended the rule of Communism and the Party and the Nomenklatura, and tens of thousands of nuclear weapons were dismantled, there was some euphoria. A few of us worried, particularly since Yeltsins influence and power began to melt. Putin emerged: a KGB Colonel who restored the established church and made it clear he put Russian national interests ahead of all else: a Tsarist without a Tsar.
And there was opportunity for the United States to play the realist balance of power game in this suddenly created New World with Russia, China, Europe, as players, and the United States as the sole superpower. It was possible to build a world on that.
And then came Clinton and Madeleine Albright, and the Balkan crisis. Of all places where the US had few interests the Balkans ranked quite high: yet because we had this great army we had to do something with it, and liberal ideology prevailed. We intervened in a territorial dispute in Europe, and we did so to the chagrin and humiliation of Russia. It came close to a shooting engagement. And then our air power dropped bridges over the Danube. We wrecked the economy of the lower Danube to no gain of our own, thus infuriating the pan-Slavic Russians and leaving a lasting grudge that will not go away. Instead of looking for common interests with Russia, we chose hostility for its own sake with no national interest of ours at stake, and chose sides in the ancient blood feuds of Christian and Moslem inhabitants of the Balkans. We chose to bomb Christian Slavs, thus making enemies of pro-Slavic Russia.
We sowed the wind and we are reaping the whirlwind; and now we are supposed to rescue Crimea from Russia? It was crazy to intervene in the Balkans. It is stark raving madness to contemplate intervention in the Crimea. Perhaps we can send The Light Brigade?
"Arming Ukraine would help deter further Russian adventurism"
(a) Protecting one's vital national interests i.e. Russia only access to Mediterranean---is not adventurism.
(b) You give staff to Ukraine it'll end in Russia. Though Russians don't really need it now: they've access to US tech in Egypt, and---through Iran, in Iraq.
#10
* TOPIX > [Various] LAVROV: RUSSIA DEVELOPING PROPOSALS TO SOLVE UKRAINE CRISIS.
Again, a possible "Guantanamo" Scenario or Solution for Crimea???
versus
* TOPIX > [North Jersey] OPINION: UKRAINE INVASION A MODEL FOR FUTURE CONFLICTS.
OWG Co-Superpower Rising China = East Asia-Pacific, + OWG Co-Superpower Rising Iran = ME + Persian Gulf, ... ... Brazil?, I'M A'LOOKIN AT YOUSE.
* SAME > [NRO] KRAUTHAMMER'S TAKE: CRIMEA WILL LIKELY BE PART OF RUSSIA WITHIN TWO WEEKS. Thers nothing the Bammer = USA can do about it in the short-run.
* SAME > CRIMEAN TATARS FEAR RETURN OF RUSSIAN CONTROL.
This where thingys may get subjectively problematic for Putin as per local Tatar resistance [mass civil disobedience?], BUT MOST ESPEC AS PER FOREIGN MILTERR/JIHADI DESIRE TO UNILATERALLY HELP THEIR MUSLIM TATAR BROTHERS BY "LIBERATING" THE CRIMEA, ETC. PERPHERALS FROM PUTIN'S CONTROL IN THE NAME OF ALLAN + 72 RAISINS.
* WAFF > [Ria.RU] CRIMEA PREPARATIONS FOR JOINING RUSSIA ALREADY UNDERWAY - AKSYROV [Crimea PM Sergei A.].
* SAME > RUSSIA DEPUTY PM [Rogozin] SAYS RUSSIA SHOULD RE-ARM AMID US, ANTO "THREATS".
* RUSSIA TODAY > CRIMEA CREATES OWN MILITARY BY SWEARING IN SELF-DEFENSE UNITS.
* VOICE OF RUSSIA > CRIMEAN AUTHORITIES TO NATIONALIZE UKRAINIAN FLEET, MINERAL-PRODUCING FACILITIES.
versus
* Also from VOICE OF RUSSIA > US WISHES TO SHAKE OFF FINANCIAL AID BURDEN TO UKRAINE ON TO EUROPE [EuroUnion] - PUSHKOV.
Iff true, this is NOT going to endear Amerika's EU Allies to the Bammer + SecState Jaawhn [aka MSM-Net's "Lurch"].
[An Nahar] Iraq's transport minister apologized anew on Sunday for a row in which a Lebanese airliner en route to Storied Baghdad was ordered to turn back mid-flight to pick up his son.
Hadi al-Ameri pledged to turn his son in if an Iraqi investigation found he had carried out any wrongdoing and insisted he would personally bear the costs of the Middle East Airlines flight having to turn around while traveling from Beirut to Storied Baghdad.
"I ask you to forgive me for what happened," Ameri said during a presser at Storied Baghdad airport in which he refused to take questions.
"The time when the sons of officials made mistakes and escaped punishment is over, and if the investigation proves my son made mistakes, I will present him to the courts myself," he added, referring to an Iraqi probe ordered by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ... Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party....
"As a minister, I will bear the costs of transport and the losses at my own expense, because the issue relates to my son."
Leb's Middle East Airlines said on Thursday Iraqi authorities forced its airliner to turn around some 20 minutes after leaving Beirut because Ameri's son, Mahdi, had missed the flight.
MEA said the flight had taken off after repeatedly paging two passengers, who failed to turn up. The missing passenger was identified as Mahdi al-Ameri, and the plane turned back to Beirut.
Following the incident, Maliki ordered "all those responsible for preventing the plane coming from Beirut from landing in Storied Baghdad" be "dismissed and held responsible," his front man Ali Moussawi said.
Later the same day, the deputy head of Storied Baghdad airport was enjugged Please don't kill me! by troops reporting directly to the prime minister, but it was unclear what role the official is thought to have played in the incident.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq
[Dhaka Tribune] Iyad Ameen Madani, secretary general of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, has said Moslems cannot allow turbans interpreting Islam from a "narrow perspective" to hijack the religion.
The visiting OIC chief made the statement after holding meetings with Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali and Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque in Dhaka yesterday.
Terming Islam as a religion of tolerance, Madani said: "We cannot allow ourselves to be taken away by literal translation of narrow minded myrmidons."
The secretary general arrived in the capital yesterday on a three-day official visit. He is leading a five-member delegation on his first visit to Bangladesh.
Terming the conflicts between Shia and Sunni Moslems, and Sunnis and Sunnis, a sectarian violence, Madani said the OIC would not get involved in the domestic politics of any country.
Regarding Bangladesh's January 5 general election, he said the OIC welcomed the results and looked forward to working with the new government.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2014 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
OIC chief: Extremists will not be allowed to hijack Islam
Too late by years.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/10/2014 11:31 Comments ||
Top||
[NBC Bay Area] NASA now acknowledges what NBC Bay Area's Investigative Team first uncovered last year--that the government agency has been effectively giving a price break on jet fuel to a private company.
In a letter to Iowa senator Chuck Grassley , NASA's associate administrator for legislative and intergovernmental affairs admits the agency was selling jet fuel at below market rates to H2-11, a company owned by the founders of Google. Senator Grassley says he received the letter on Thursday although it's dated Feb. 24. In the letter, NASA's Seth Statler writes, "in light of the concerns expressed with those agreements, NASA has reviewed its pricing approach and...is now charging a 'market rate' for aviation fuel at Ames research center."
Last September, NBC Bay Area examined seven years of fuel records from 2007 through 2013. According to those records, NASA sold to H2-11 discounted jet fuel that was then used to fly a private 757, a 767 and 5 other luxury aircraft all over the world. H2-11's principle owners are the same as Google's: Sergey Brin, Larry Page and Eric Schmidt.
According to the fuel records, H2-11 purchased jet fuel for prices ranging from $2.37 to $3.20 a gallon. At nearby local airports, the exact same jet fuel goes for between $5 and $8.50 per gallon. According to the inspector general's report, the discount fuel saved Google's principals between $3.3 million and $5.3 million since H2-11 was able to purchase the taxpayer subsidized fuel at Ames.
[Details from a September 2013 story: Local officials in Santa Clara County confirm that the company owned by the Google founders, H211, pays no property taxes on the airplanes that are housed at Moffetta potential loss to local tax rolls of up to $500,000 per airplane per year.
This was made possible under a NASA Space Agreement which has allowed these planes to be housed at Moffett Field since 2007. In exchange, H211 agreed to pay NASA first $113,365.74 a month in rent. That figure later dropped to $108,938.62 a month in rent and NASA was allowed to use the planes for science. But an examination of records by NBC Bay Area in May 2012 showed that only 155 out of more than 1,039 flights were actually used for science. And these newly released fuel records show the planes used the below-market-rate fuel to fly to exotic places around the world, such as Paris, London, Cancun, Scotland, Puerto Vallarta, St. John, Hawaii, Liberia and Tahiti.
Googles world headquarters are located is less than 3 miles away from the hangar where H211s airplanes are stored at Moffett Field.]
#3
..... Obama gave Charles Bolden, his idiot appointee, a prime directive that NASA would now focus primarily on making Muslims feel good about themselves. Link
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[DAWN] LAHORE: Veteran photojournalist Majid Mir died of heart attack on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he was working in an advertising firm for over two decades. He was 70.
[Bangla Daily Star] They're called 'snapping' turtles for a very good reason, but this hapless animal lover just had to find out the hard way and ended up in hospital. The Chinese man was reportedly releasing the ferocious-looking creature into the wild but decided he had to give it a goodbye kiss first.
William Guarnere, the real-life World War II veteran whose story of heroism and valor was told in the HBO miniseries "Band of Brothers," has died at the age of 90.
Richard Faulkner, World War II veteran, awarded Purple Heart after declining honor 70 years ago
The reason is that revenues from the users of roads and from taxpayers are the ultimate source of money for highways, regardless of the financing mechanism chosen.
[Egypt Independent] Russian forces tightened their grip on Crimea on Sunday despite a U.S. warning to Moscow that annexing the southern Ukrainian region would close the door to diplomacy in a tense East-West standoff.
...Second and fourth President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
On Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that the Kremlin annexing Crimea would close any available space for diplomacy.
Nouri al-Maliki
[Dhaka Tribune] Iyad Ameen Madani, secretary general of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, has said 
[NBC Bay Area] NASA now acknowledges what NBC Bay Area's Investigative Team first uncovered last year--that the government agency has been effectively giving a price break on jet fuel to a private company.
