Foxnews broadcast added that the top Nigerian muslim cleric was among the dead
ABUJA, Nigeria A Nigerian airliner carrying more than 100 people crashed Sunday near the airport in this West African nation's capital and a television station reported at least six people survived.
The plane crashed shortly after taking off from the airport in Abuja during a storm, state radio reported. The airline was carrying 104 passengers and crew members, the radio station said, citing Rowland Iyayi, head of the National Air Space Management Agency. The state radio station said no survivors had been found but privately owned Channels Television said at least six people survived the crash.
The plane was headed to the northwest city of Sokoto, Channels and state radio said. Channels had earlier reported the plane was headed to Lagos. A local radio station, Ray Power FM, reported that the plane was owned by Aviation Development Co., a private Nigerian airline.
Angus Ozoaka, head of the accidents investigation bureau in the Aviation Ministry, said the crash had been reported to his office but he had no details. "I'm trying to get to the scene now. I can't say anything more until I've been to the scene," Ozoaka told The Associated Press by telephone from Abuja.
ADC last suffered a crash in November 1996, when one of its jets plunged into a lagoon outside Nigeria's main city, Lagos, killing all 143 aboard.
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/29/2006 09:30 ||
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update: Among those aboard was the sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Maccido, who is the spiritual leader of Nigeria's Muslims, according to Mustapha Shehu, spokesman for the Sokoto state government. Shehu said the sultan's son, Muhammed Maccido, a senator, was also aboard, along with Abdulrahman Shehu Shagari, son of former Nigerian President Shehu Shagari, who was in office between 1979 and 1983.
About half of Nigeria's 130 million people are Muslims. The country is the most populous in Africa and the continent's leading oil exporter.
Security forces kept reporters away from the crash site. At the airport in Abuja, security officials are keeping away a crush of people seeking information about friends or family aboard the plane
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/29/2006 9:53 Comments ||
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#8
Or it could be due to shoddy maintenance and the good ole "Inshallah" attitude of the Muslims. That attitude does not go well with high maintenance items like airlines, or functional economies.
#9
not too mollifying for the other dead passengers... say a prayer for them, at least. They likely didn't deserve this by any determination
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/29/2006 19:32 Comments ||
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From the BBC story:
Poor safety
After visiting the crash site, Federal Territory Minister Mallam Nasir el-Rufai told the BBC that the condition of the plane was "deplorable", with "bald tyres".
The government had already announced a major plan to overhaul the aviation industry and improve safety following last year's disasters, which killed more than 200 people.
Posted by: James ||
10/29/2006 19:39 Comments ||
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The "bald tyres" would not seem very relevant considering that the plane crashed after take-off.
Oil multinationals Shell and Chevron have this week been forced to shut down around 60,000 barrels per day of oil production after a community dispute in Nigerias turbulent oil producing delta region.
Villagers earlier this week raided four oil pumping stations in the eastern delta region in an apparent dispute between villagers and the multinationals over community development projects and supply contracts. Shell sources said the villagers were on Thursday set to leave the Ekulama I and II and Belema flow stations as the dispute was close to being resolved and insisted the raid was not due to militant action.
Shell company sources said the incident would halt over 40,000 barrels per day of their production. A Chevron official said they had also shut down a nearby station, which normally pumps around 15,000 bpd. Both companies were unable to say for sure how long the disruption would last.
The shut down adds to around 500,000 bpd lost due to militant attacks in the western delta in the worlds eighth largest oil exporter early this year. A spike in militant activity in the delta, including around the Ekulama area, this month forced Shell to shut in a further 21,000 bpd.
While such disputes are frequent in the delta, security analysts say that some communities are turning towards armed groups who can act as hired guns to intervene in community disputes. Experts say the flow of weapons into the delta is increasing at an unprecedented rate, largely funded through the sale of illegally shipped crude oil.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/29/2006 00:00 ||
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This seems suspiciously tied in to the above article about the "Leaders" going down in a Plane Crash.
Did any of them control oil exports?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/29/2006 12:17 Comments ||
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I should have know, when OPEC talks about production cuts it is only for US and EU companies. Not state owned companies and certainly not companies owned by royal families. They will still pump hard enough to bust the pipes.
#3
Dear Sir: I am Seymour Abacha, the son of Mrs. Mariam Abacha, wife of the late president of Nigeria. I was recently laid off most unfairly by Shell and Chevron from my job in the Nigferian oil industry. On my last day at the office, I managed to place the sum of ONE MILLION SIXTY-FOUR THOUSAND THREE-HUNDRED THIRTY EIGHT DOLLARS AND SIXT-TWO CENTS (11,064,38.62US$) from over-invoiced contracts on deposit with a reputable and very discrete security company in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. I would like to invest this amount in your country . . . .
Posted by: Mike ||
10/29/2006 23:17 Comments ||
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Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been re-elected in a landslide victory, in the second round of presidential elections.
With nearly all the votes counted, the Brazilian electoral court said Lula had won 60% against rival Geraldo Alckmin.
Election officials said Mr Alckmin would not be able to pull ahead even if he won all of the remaining votes.
Correspondents say voters gave Lula another term for his efforts to ease poverty while improving the economy.
Votes in Sunday's run-off were cast using electronic ballot boxes, allowing officials to deliver a swift result.
'Resounding victory'
A partial count showed the incumbent president had 60% of the vote - an insurmountable lead. Shortly after, the head of Brazil's electoral court declared Lula re-elected.
The BBC's Steve Kingstone in Sao Paulo says it is a resounding victory for a man who was written off by many just over a year ago, when his Workers' Party was at the centre of a cash-for-votes scandal.
But Lula weathered that storm and another during the first phase of this campaign when party colleagues were again accused of corruption, our correspondent says.
Lula narrowly failed to win outright in the first round four weeks ago.
During the ensuing campaign the president suggested to voters that Mr Alckmin might scrap welfare benefits for the poor and privatise Brazil's remaining state companies.
Privatisation is generally viewed with suspicion in Brazil. Despite repeated denials by Mr Alckmin, the accusation undoubtedly cost him votes, our correspondent adds. I gather that rather than leftist, Lula is a nationalist, with a real distaste for the IMF and other international institutions.
Hit the link for a good roundup of what's happening in Oxaca now.
StrategyPage pointed out several weeks ago that the Oaxaca protestors thought the Mexican government was about to respond with force (and as I recall one of the sources for that StrategyPage October 6 post was an email from a Mexican who had been in the area there was also a Reuters report).
The presidential election prevented Fox from taking action against the protestors barricades and the subsequent hung election, with its extended unrest, also restricted him. (For example, see the StrategyPage post of September 24, which is down the page from the October 6 post on the link above.) Now Calderons narrow victory has been ratified and Lopez Obradors Mexico City protests are subsiding. Fridays murders up the ante. It appears Fox doesnt want Calderon to begin his term with the Oaxaca problem unresolved. The next three days will be critical. I note in the Reuters report says the local teachers have agreed to go back to work on Monday. Thats a thin slat of daylight a nod toward a negotiated settlement rather than a war in the streets of Oaxaca. Stay tuned.
Posted by: Mike ||
10/29/2006 09:03 ||
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The federal government is investigating the takeover last year of a leading American manufacturer of electronic voting systems by a small software company that has been linked to the leftist Venezuelan government of President Hugo Chávez. Wow, I'm betting this will prove to be Karl Rover's cleverest caper yet, after the November results come in.
The inquiry is focusing on the Venezuelan owners of the software company, the Smartmatic Corporation, and is trying to determine whether the government in Caracas has any control or influence over the firms operations, government officials and others familiar with the investigation said.
The inquiry on the eve of the midterm elections is being conducted by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or Cfius, the same panel of 12 government agencies that reviewed the abortive attempt by a company in Dubai to take over operations at six American ports earlier this year.
The committees formal inquiry into Smartmatic and its subsidiary, Sequoia Voting Systems of Oakland, Calif., was first reported Saturday in The Miami Herald.
Officials of both Smartmatic and the Venezuelan government strongly denied yesterday that President Chávezs administration, which has been bitterly at odds with Washington, has any role in Smartmatic.
The government of Venezuela doesnt have anything to do with the company aside from contracting it for our electoral process, the Venezuelan ambassador in Washington, Bernardo Alvarez, said last night. And then his lips could not be found
Smartmatic was a little-known firm with no experience in voting technology before it was chosen by the Venezuelan authorities to replace the countrys elections machinery ahead of a contentious referendum that confirmed Mr. Chávez as president in August 2004.
Seven months before that voting contract was awarded, a Venezuelan government financing agency invested more than $200,000 into a smaller technology company, owned by some of the same people as Smartmatic, that joined with Smartmatic as a minor partner in the bid.
In return, the government agency was given a 28 percent stake in the smaller company and a seat on its board, which was occupied by a senior government official who had previously advised Mr. Chávez on elections technology. But Venezuelan officials later insisted that the money was merely a small-business loan and that it was repaid before the referendum.
With a windfall of some $120 million from its first three contracts with Venezuela, Smartmatic then bought the much larger and more established Sequoia Voting Systems, which now has voting equipment installed in 17 states and the District of Columbia.
ACAPULCO, Mexico The bodies of three state police officers, one of whom had been decapitated, were found Saturday in a sport utility vehicle abandoned outside the Pacific resort city of Acapulco, police said. The two commanders and an agent with Guerrero's Ministerial Investigative Police were kidnapped Friday in Chilpancingo, the state capital. Their remains were found the next morning in a Nissan X-Trail with tinted windows abandoned near a highway linking Acapulco and Mexico City, 180 miles (290 kilometers) to the north, said Jorge Valdez, a spokesman for the state public safety secretary. One commander, identified as Isaac Nava, was decapitated and his head recovered inside a black plastic bag in Chilpancingo, 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Acapulco. Another victim was wrapped in a blanket and the third had colored tape covering his face, Valdez said.
Valdez said revenge may have motivated the killings, saying Nava was involved in a recent operation in downtown Acapulco during which two suspected drug smugglers were captured. No arrests were made.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/29/2006 00:00 ||
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Why so much beheading here recently ? Is there a Muzzie influenece creeping in to the cartels activities. It used to be that they were satisfied to shoot the corpse 50 or 60 times, and that was sufficient. Now, all this beheading.
Shop owners shuttered their businesses and demonstrators built up street barricades Saturday after President Vicente Fox ordered federal police to intervene in this picturesque city torn by more than five months of protests and violence. Fox, who leaves office Dec. 1, had refused repeated requests to use force in Oaxaca even as the southern city slid into chaos. But gunbattles Friday that killed a U.S. journalist and at least two Mexicans apparently exhausted his patience.
Fox's Interior Department issued an ominous statement late Saturday demanding protest leaders "immediately hand over streets, plazas, public buildings and private property" so that federal authorities can "guarantee public order and adherence to the law, as well as preserve respect for the population's individual guarantees."
It was unclear how many officers of the Federal Preventative Police were converging on this long popular tourist destination, though police in gray uniforms and carrying riot shields poured off of transport planes at Oaxaca's airport, which was closed to commercial traffic. Teacher's union leader Daniel Rosas said protesters believed 4,000 federal police had arrived.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
10/29/2006 00:00 ||
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Obviously these obereos didnt buy into Presidente Foxs kinder gentler Run for the Border government sponsored program. So plan B is to thumpem till they do. Why have real reform when you can dump your malcontents and unemployed on your neighbor? Brace for another assault upon the formerly sovereign borders of the United States.
HAVANA (AP) - The ailing Fidel Castro appeared on Cuban state television for the first time in more than a month Saturday, looking thin and tired but walking around and ridiculing recent rumors of his death.
If he's not holding up a copy of today's NYT I don't believe it.
The 80-year-old Cuban leader, who temporarily ceded power to his brother Raul in July following intestinal surgery for gastric cancer, had not been seen since mid-September when photographs of him receiving world leaders at a summit in Havana were released. He was shown walking slowly but steadily in an unidentified room and reading a newspaper in a loud voice.
``They've declared me moribund prematurely,'' he said, holding a copy of Saturday's edition of Granma, the Communist Party daily newspaper. ``But it pleases me to send my compatriots and friends this small video.''
"Which I made before I slipped into a coma. Ciao!"
He said his recovery would be prolonged and not without risk but added: ``I'm not the least bit afraid of what will occur.''
Strangely, neither am I.
He said he was ``coming along just as planned'' and he called rumors of his death ridiculous and insulting, claiming they were the work of his enemies. ``Let's see what they say now,'' he said.
Say 'hi' to Himmler when you get there.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/29/2006 00:00 ||
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If he's not holding up a copy of today's NYT I don't believe it.
And if he is, it proves that the Cuban government has better photoshopping skills than Reuters.
#5
Can we start a rumor that Fidel is harvesting organs from young boys like, Elián Gonzalez to stay alive forever?
Posted by: bruce ||
10/29/2006 8:12 Comments ||
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reading a newspaper in a loud voice.
I got students like that, wonder if he uses an index finger? Seems to happen to a lot of lefties, tho he gets points for being a pretty fair 1st baseman.
North Korea is believed to have secured up to 50 kilograms of plutonium, enough to make six or seven nuclear weapons, according to a defence ministry report leaked to the media Thursday. After its first nuclear test on October 9, the communist state is now believed to be researching how to miniaturise warheads to fit them on missiles, according to the report.
"North Korea is believed to have extracted up to 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of plutonium," the defence ministry was quoted by Yonhap news agency as saying in the report.
The North has extracted plutonium from spent fuel rods in nuclear reactors at its Yongbyon site.
The report was submitted to a meeting of top military commanders on October 10, a day after North Korea conducted its first nuclear test which sparked international condemnation and United Nations sanctions.
A defence ministry spokesman said he was checking the existence of such a report.
Defence ministry authorities also told the October 10 meeting that nuclear bombs could be carried by North Korea's Ilyushin 28 jet bombers, according to Yonhap.
North Korea deploys a total of 82 of the Soviet-designed aircraft at Uiju, 125 kilometers (78 miles) northwest of Pyongyang and at Jangjin, 130 kilometers northeast of the capital, the ministry said.
The aim of the North's nuclear test was to compensate for its failure in test-firing a long-range missile in July and to press the United States to enter into negotiations, the ministry said.
According to Yonhap, Seoul defence officials fear the test could spark a nuclear arms race in Northeast Asia, disturb the balance of power on the Korean pensinsula and intensify international sanctions against the North.
Defence Minister Yoon Kwang-Ung said on October 13 that North Korea wa believed to be developing nuclear warheads for its missiles but needs "a few more years" before it can produce them.
#1
China confirms weapons arrests but stays mum on uranium
Beijing (AFP) Oct 26 - China said Thursday that two people had been arrested for trafficking "dangerous weapons" but stopped short of confirming a South Korean media report that uranium was involved.
The pair were arrested on October 16 in Beijing on charges of "alleged trading in illegal dangerous weapons", foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said during a press briefing.
Liu would not specify the nature of the materials being traded or the nationalities of those involved.
He was responding to a question about a report in South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper on Tuesday that Chinese police had arrested a pair of ethnic Koreans for trying to sell about 970 grams (34 ounces) of enriched uranium.
It quoted a Beijing police source as saying the enriched uranium "was presumed to be Russian-made", but it could also have come from North Korea.
Large numbers of ethnic Koreans in China engage in illegal cross-border trade with hermetic North Korea.
The report did not say how enriched the uranium was. Fifteen to 17 kilograms of highly enriched uranium would be needed to produce a nuclear weapon, it said.
Defying international pressure to scrap its nuclear program, North Korea tested a nuclear weapon on October 9, triggering UN sanctions aimed at crippling the program.
The sanctions also mandated inspections of North Korean cargo, as the test raised concerns about whether Pyongyang may intend to smuggle its nuclear material and technology out of the country and into the hands of terrorists.
The US military is considering deploying Patriot interceptor missiles in and around Tokyo in addition to Japan's missile defense plan amid the North Korea nuclear crisis, a report said Sunday.
Japan's defense military plans to set up missile defense systems at four of its bases by 2010, including Patriot Advanced Capability 3 (PAC-3) systems at its base, northwest of Tokyo, by the end of March 2007.
But the United States sees the need for another PAC-3 base in the greater Tokyo area because of the mounting tension over North Korea's nuclear programs, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said.
The United States unofficially informed the Japanese government that it was considering deploying the PAC-3 surface-to-air missiles at its bases, such as Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo and Yokosuka Naval Base in Kanagawa prefecture, south of Tokyo, the newspaper said citing unnamed government sources.
Defense agency officials could not be immediately reached for comment.
Washington protects Japan by treaty as the country was stripped of its right to maintain an armed forces after defeat in World War II.
Japan and the United States started working in earnest on a missile shield after North Korea in 1998 fired a missile over Japan's main island.
The United States stationed its first Patriot missiles in Japan after North Korea in July test-fired seven missiles in Japan's direction.
It is believed that Pyongyang's test of the long-range Taepodong-2 ballistic missile in July was a failure.
But both the Japanese and US governments believe North Korea's intermediate-range Nodong ballistic missile poses a credible threat to Japan.
SENIOR clerics will meet at Sydney's Lakemba Mosque tonight to discuss the future of controversial Muslim leader Sheik Taj al-Dina al-Hilaly - following public outcry over his comments comparing women to meat.
Lebanese Muslim Association spokesman Keysar Trad said the meeting would take place at the mosque in Sydneys west from 9pm (AEST). "It is open to clerics who want to go, and they will be mostly from NSW," Mr Trad said.
Sheik Hilaly has said he will stand down if he is proved to have been deliberately offensive in his sermon that suggested women provoked sexual attacks. The sheik was widely criticised last week for comparing scantily clad women to uncovered meat.
Prime Minister John Howard today said he did not have the power to sack the Muslim leader, and could only call on those with power to resolve the issue. "The responsibility to resolve this matter sensibly rests with the Islamic community," he said. "I don't appoint him, I can't dismiss him.
"And there is no point in people in my position calling for this and that, other than to call upon those who have the power to resolve this matter, to resolve this matter in a way that promotes the interests of harmony in our community and promotes the view Islamic Australians are fully integrated into Australian society."
He said the Islamic community must hear what the rest of the Australian community was saying on the issue and asked them to "discharge their obligations as members of the Australian community". "If this matter is not properly handled by the Islamic community I am concerned that their failure to do so will do lasting damage to the perceptions of that community within the Australian community," Mr Howard said. "His remarks were totally unacceptable - full stop."
Meanwhile, Mr Howard said the Labor government at the time made a "blatantly political decision" to keep Sheik Taj al-Din al-Hilaly in Australia in the late 1980s.
News Limited newspapers - parent company of News Interactive, publisher of NEWS.com.au - have said that Mr Keating and leading Labor figure Leo McLeay demanded in 1989 that then-immigration minister Robert Ray grant the sheik residency and were furious when he refused. It was the second time the party leaders had attempted to intervene on behalf of the sheik, according to Labor sources.
The sheik arrived in Australia in 1982 but did not gain residency until 1990. "But it's happened now and he has rights as an Australian citizen and those rights have to be respected," Mr Howard said.
Sheik Hilaly said he would not be attending the Multicultural Eid Festival and Fair to celebrate the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan at Fairfield today. A spokesman for the sheik said he did not want his presence to take the focus off the festival itself.
#3
Certainly he meant no harm. Send him on a 120 day prepaid tour back to the ME. Then welcome him back to much acclaim later when things have cooled off. (Just one hitch, if the bastard leaves he may have one hella tough time getting back)
#5
Over at LGF they have a translation of an interview the meat obsessed mufti gave to an arabic radio program a mere two weeks ago. Seems the mufti was calling on all good jihadis to join the fight to resist the infidel occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq.
If memory serves,there are quite a few diggers in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Now can his loyalty to OZ be called into question?
Posted by: Mark Z ||
10/29/2006 11:47 Comments ||
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WHILE MOST of the worlds attention has naturally focused on the catastrophe of Iraq, the nuclear showdown in North Korea and the electoral nemesis approaching for George W. Bush on November 7, it has also been an interesting week in Europe. Obligatory swipe at Bush McChimpyHitlerBurton - check.
Hungarians marked the brutal suppression of their democracy by Soviet tanks 50 years ago by rioting against their elected Government. In Italy, the Governments credit rating was reduced to the same level as Botswanas, and Romano Prodi seemed on the verge of losing a vote of confidence, just six months after sweeping his reviled and derided but much smarter
predecessor, Silvio Berlusconi, from power. The British Home Secretary welcomed Bulgarians and Romanians into the European Union by restricting their ability to seek jobs. I say, wouldn't want those dark-skinned Gypsies coming here to take non-jobs from our home-grown dark-skinned moslems, wot? Acknowledgement that the Brits might be a tad prejudiced - surprise.
The Iraq invasion, disastrous though it has been, Second obligatory swipe at America - check.
may not go down in history as the greatest political blunder of the past decade. That dubious honour will probably belong to an event most people still regard as a triumph: the creation of the euro. Quick, Ethel, my pills! What's this - are the EUro elites finally getting a clue?
What we see today, not only in Italy and Hungary, but also in the other relatively weak economies on the southern and eastern fringes of the EU, is the beginning of the end of the European project. If only.
And if the euro project does turn out to be the high-water mark of European unification, then history will judge it a far more important event that anything happening in the Middle East. A little Euro-centered there, ain'tcha, Bub? European history will always judge something that happened in the Europe to be "far more important" than anything happening in the Middle East, short of Ahma-nutcase setting off a nuke. And not even then, if he manages to destroy the Joooos Isreal in the process.
But what does the euro have to do with the political troubles in Hungary and Italy? And how can I compare the technocratic financial problems connected with the euro to a moral and humanitarian disaster such as Iraq? Third swipe at America by her more "sophisticated" "betters" - check.
These two questions have a very clear answer: democratic self-government or, more precisely, its denial. In Europe? So what else is new?
What we see in Eastern and Southern Europe today are the consequences of the EUs transformation from a union of democratic countries into a sort of supra-national financial empire in which the most important decisions affecting EU citizens are no longer subject to democratic control. Jeebus Cripes on a Crutch! They've actually figured it out! This guy better watch his back for someone menacing from Brussels. (Assuming someone with chocolate is menacing.)
In Italy the Government is on the brink of collapse because of Signor Prodis insistence on implementing tax increases and budget cuts demanded by Joaquín Almunia, the EU Economic Commissioner, under the terms of the Maastricht Treaty. In Hungary, the riots began a month ago because the Prime Minister showed his contempt for democracy by publicly admitting that he had lied, morning, noon and night about the tax increases and public spending cuts that he had promised Señor Almunia before a recent election and after the election was over, he naturally felt that his promises to Brussels were far more important than the ones he had made to Hungarian voters. Hungary is run by Democrats? Who knew?
The resulting budget cuts of 7 per cent of GDP over two years would be roughly equivalent in Britain to closing down the entire NHS. Which would be doing your citizens a favor, but I digress....
And Hungary, remember, is being forced to do this to comply with the Maastricht treaty, without even being admitted to the eurozone. Then they're idiots. Oh, wait - we knew that. They're run by the Democrats.
There is now almost no chance of Hungary, or any other new European country, being admitted to the euro-zone in the foreseeable future. This was demonstrated over the summer when Lithuania and Estonia was refused permission to join the euro on the flimsiest of grounds. Lucky them. Run like hell, guy, while you still can!
This EU decision attracted little attention in Britain but was hugely controversial in Eastern Europe. It effectively meant that the accession countries would continue to have their economic policies set in Brussels and Frankfurt without even being able to enjoy the modest benefits HAH! Benefits to whom, exactly?
of using the single currency. Keep your whatever-the-hell currency you use now, guys - you'll be thankful for it when the Euro goes down the tubes. Shortly.
The political consequence of this asymmetry of power is growing disillusionment in the East, not only with the EU but even with the concept of parliamentary democracy. Why? Europe hasn't really used parliamentary democracy in years. Can't have the proles messing up things for their betters, you know.
The economic effect of forcing Central Europe to abide by deflationary policies designed for the mature economies of the eurozone Oh, brother. That's a super-polite way of saying they've legislated stuff they can't sustain, and aren't willing to admit it.
is the weak demand growth and mass unemployment experienced by the accession countries. This unemployment has been the main driving force behind the huge flow of labour out of Central Europe. And that flood of workers, in turn, has provoked the hostile and ultimately self-defeating rhetoric of the British Government against Bulgarian and Romanian immigrants. At least they seem to want to, you know, work - as opposed to sitting on their asses and getting paid for it.
The Maastricht treaty has turned the Eastern Europeans into second-class citizens. Honey, it's turned everybody (except the ruling elite) into second-class citizens - they just haven't noticed it yet.
The belated recognition of this fact is starting to have the predictably ugly impact on the politics of Europes eastern periphery. But before getting too indignant about the injustices to Eastern Europe, let us spare a thought for the citizens of old Europe who are privileged to enjoy full membership of the eurozone. You'll forgive me if I spare a guffaw snicker instead.
The latest budgetary crisis in Italy may well be averted and the Prodi Government will probably survive for a few more months. But as Signor Prodis huge tax increases begin to bite, the Italian economy is almost certain to sink back into recession. Damn, Italy's run by the Democrats too! Howie does get around, don't he? But don't worry - he has a plan. The same one he uses in America - blame Bush.
Moreover, there will be no chance of Italy tackling any of its real economic problems once unemployment starts rising next year. Honey, it's Italy - where the whole country goes on "strike" the first warm day and heads to the beach. They didn't have a chance anyway.
What Italy needs today is competition, privatisation of grossly inefficient state-sponsored utilities, deregulation of the financial system and changes in labour laws. Such reforms can be hard to implement even in a booming economy. In a stagnant or declining one, they will become impossible. Particularly with Democrats in charge.
To make matters worse, Italy will be tightening its budget at the same time as Germany implements the biggest tax increases in its modern history also in deference to the Maastricht Treaty, if not under quite such direct compulsion from the EU. Damn - is there any country the Dems don't run? Besides this one (and they're trying to lie and cheat their way to that, too).
These simultaneous fiscal blunders in Italy, Germany and Eastern Europe will almost mean another lost century year for the euro zone, with economic performance falling far behind America, Britain and Japan. But the long-term consequences could be more far-reaching.
At some point the people of Europe will realise that there is something rotten in a political system that leaves them forever in the world economys slow lane and which cannot be changed by any democratic process, regardless of how people vote.
Naahhhh - they'll just continue to blame Bush - decades after he leaves office. Even after the moslems take over.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/29/2006 15:10 ||
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European central banks still have large reserves of their old currencies. The Euro has caused major inflation with goods doubling in prices when the Euro was introduced. Then europeans are paying in euro's and their salaries are still payed at the same levels of their old currency.
#3
Yep, and capitalism and communism shared the stage for like 80 years. But who is left standing, and who is in the dustbin of history?
The only reason that the Euro has gained so much clout with a lot of non-European countries is because it is easier and more efficient to figure prices in Euros than in multiple European currencies. Plus, there is a fair share of anti-Americanism in certain countries' decision to switch to Euros - "sticking it to the Man!".
LONDON The biggest buyer of the world's largest airliner, Emirates, said Friday that it would send its own audit team to Airbus before entering talks to address the A380 superjumbo's two-year delay and the fact the plane is 5.5 tons overweight. "We have not yet engaged with Airbus as regards not only the delay but the fact it is overweight," the president of Emirates, Tim Clark, said.
Clark was in London to open a new lounge at Heathrow Airport designed for the A380, which will now not see one of the planes until the third quarter of 2008.
He meant 2011 but couldn't say that.
He said the Dubai-based carrier was set to send its own eight-person audit team to the Airbus manufacturing facilities in To lose Toulouse, France, and Hamburg, Germany, to assess how realistic the plane company's latest proposed delivery schedule was.
"It would be foolish to say we do not expect anything further," Clark said when asked if the third and most recent delay in the A380 would be the last. "By the time we get the first one, we would have had 18 flying" were it not for the delay, Clark said, adding that the delays were costing the airline "hundreds of millions of dollars" in lost revenue.
I hear Boeing makes planes Mr. Clark. You might give them a call, they could be real accomodating.
He declined to comment on what sort of financial compensation Emirates might seek from Airbus over the delays or the weight problem, which could mean the planes use more fuel than promised and run up heavier- than-expected engine maintenance bills.
It's hard to imagine EADS ever turning a profit on the A380. It's a turkey, pure and simple, and EADS will keep at it only because the French and Germans don't dare cancel it and shutter the assembly plants.
Emirates has 43 of the $300 million Airbus A380 superjumbo jets on order and has been a vocal critic of the company, which is running behind schedule after encountering problems in installing wiring in the planes.
Clark said that he planned to lease seven Boeing 777 planes and would hold onto them for 10 to 15 years, giving himself some insurance should there be any further delay to the A380 schedule. Clark said that cancellation was one of many options open in the negotiations but stressed that Emirates still needed the A380. "It will still be a hugely potent profit generator for us," he said. "They are an integral part of the Emirates expansion plan."
Emirates decided against getting two of the freighter version of the A380 and has also balked at taking delivery of the Airbus A340- 600 HGW (for high gross weight) model. Clark said Emirates was interested in Boeing's new 747-8 Intercontinental model, the latest variant of the jumbo, which is due for passenger service in 2010.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/29/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Sending in the auditors is very much like using a house inspector when you have put in an offer on a house. If you are looking for a good reason to get out of the deal, the inspection ( or in this case the audit) will certainly give you what you need to get out.
As weve just seen with Virgin, it seems the contracts for the A380 are laden with lots of 'quit clauses' that are there to try to bind the airlines to that aircraft. Sending in the auditors is the first step towards freeing the airline from those clauses.
Emirates Air has roughly a third of the A380 airframes that have been ordered to date. If Emirates walks away from this comittment, Singapore Air, who holds another third of the ordered airframes would likely start to dump their contract at the same time. This would be very similar process to what happened on the Concorde. When the original orders for the Concorde began to fall, they all fell at once, leaving only the nationalized airlines of the two key manufacturing countries as the eventual operators of the aircraft; originally even obscure airlines such as Braniff had orders for the Concorde. The lesson from this is that until the aircraft is delivered, anything and everything can go wrong. The longer the period from order to delivery, the greater chance that A) something will go wrong or B) Macro things like the world economy or the politics of the countries involved will change and as a result the order becomes impossible to fulfill.
The 747, touted today as an example of a profitable airframe for its builder and for the airlines that fly it, nearly bankrupted Boeing to develop and took almost 10 years for the line to pay off.
It was a risk, a huge risk that could have easily gone wrong. Where the 747 suffered from several crashes during the first 10 years during the 1970s, in todays litigious world a single A380 crash for any reason could doom both the program and the manufacturer. It goes without saying that the chances that an aircraft will crash early in the development process or during its first 10 years is very high indeed. A single crash of an Aircraft with 555 people on board would be devastating to the economy of Europe. One word of warning, our economy would also suffer. Alcoa is the largest supplier of aircraft grade aluminum, its quarterly results have already been impacted by the troubles at Airbus.
Bear in mind as well that every contract that Airbus loses on the A380 drops the total revenue on which to make the A350, which is the only new aircraft from Airbus that airlines continue to show a desire to see built.
The fact is that Airbus has committed to building an aircraft for which there is no market at a time when 90% of airlines have no profits to invest.
The A380 will go down in history as the Aircraft that destroyed Airbus, and with it the dream of a Pan-european social welfare " third way" company.
Short Version: Buy Boeing.
Posted by: frank martin ||
10/29/2006 1:44 Comments ||
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Alcoa's issues have more to do with metal markets stabalizing a bit. A380 does impact some, but, the industry as a whole has been moving to LTAs with the suppliers to avoid the spot market buys (which consumption globally has driven cost way up) - instead of 90/10 spot/lta the situtation is more like 60/40 or 70/30 now.
True, an A380 going down will be a litigous mess. There is however a far more common problem; cancellations and delays. Will be very interesting to see what happens as an A380 sits for mechanical or other reasons and the operator scrambles to handle the flux.
#6
Alcoa has little to worry about. Boeing will pull in the slack when the orders roll in.
EADS, what would we expect from a French/Euro company that has sold a large stock chunk to Russia? A tank of an aircraft and a company that announced defeat before the first aircraft is in service. No surprise here.
I only wonder about the 315 or so helicopters the US Army as awarded EADS to build under the LUH program. I read it made it through protest. Now the American taxpayer is going to get to live through our defence department trying to keep EADS alive so our troop will have their aircraft.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
10/29/2006 11:14 Comments ||
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#7
As I recall, those helicopters are being built in Alabama. Could be wrong.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/29/2006 11:32 Comments ||
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#8
Isn't this beginning to look like a metaphor for the EU as a whole? A big bloated, non functioning steaming pile that's going nowhere fast.
#9
EADS is building a factory in Mississippi for the assembly. Like Toyota in KY does for Japan, American labor will build the profit line for the French and Russians.
More importantly is the parts line. Helicopters are costly to maintain and with the French controlling the logistics of the our fleet they can control a slice of out Army's mobility by creating cost increases and shortages. Or god forbid the company threatens to go under after delivering the fleet, forcing us to bail them out. We will be held captive to this turkey and the political winds of France.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
10/29/2006 11:39 Comments ||
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"As part of Braniff's supersonic dreams, the airline started service in 1979 between Dallas/Fort Worth and Washington, D.C., to Paris and London on interchange flights with Air France and British Airways. Flights between Dallas/Fort Worth and Washington Dulles airports were commanded by Braniff cockpit and cabin crews (including Braniff captains Manton Fain, Glenn Shoop, and Dean Smith) while British or French crews would take over for the remaining segment to Europe. Over U.S. soil, the Concorde was limited to Mach 0.95, though crews often flew just above Mach 1; the planes flew at Mach 2 over open water.
"...Unfortunately, the Concorde service proved a fiscal disaster for Braniff. Though Braniff initially charged only a $10 premium over standard first-class fare to fly Concorde - and later removed the surcharge altogether - the 100-seat plane often flew with no more than 15 passengers. Meanwhile, Boeing 727s flying the same route were filled routinely. Consequently, Concorde service ended little more than a year after it began."
"...Although many postcards show a Braniff Concorde, the Braniff livery was never applied to both sides of a Concorde; there are reports of a Concorde painted in Air France livery on one side and Braniff livery on the other, however."
I know. Surprised the hell out of me too!
Posted by: frank martin ||
10/29/2006 12:22 Comments ||
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#11
Two quickies:
1) Late reports last week spoke of A380 not seeing deliveries until 2013. That would pretty much kill it, without auditors getting involved
2) If the 787 pans out the way Boeing expects, look for a major shift from aluminum aircraft to composites. That will have a larger effect on the metals market that the failure of jsut one aircraft model.
#12
Though Braniff initially charged only a $10 premium over standard first-class fare to fly Concorde - and later removed the surcharge altogether - the 100-seat plane often flew with no more than 15 passengers. Meanwhile, Boeing 727s flying the same route were filled routinely.
Concorde bodies were quite narrow and subsequently the plane was cramped feeling. Not surprised people would exchange a longer, more comfortable flight for one that is uncomfortable but shorter.,
#13
Actually 2008 is till the EIS for Singapore Airlines A380 which will fly the LHR-SIN-SYD route as far as I know rather than 2011. However from what I hear and have read in other places the companies wont dump the Whalejet because they are potentially making more in penalties from Airbus than if they were actually flying the frames now.
"What do you mean 'over-engineered'? The handheld version is designed to fit in the back of a pickup truck!"
Almost six extra tons portends a whole lot of missing seats, lower fuel reserves, lost engine hours or reduced luggage and freight capacity.
Isn't this beginning to look like a metaphor for the EU as a whole? A big bloated, non functioning steaming pile that's going nowhere fast.
You may be more right than you can imagine, macofromoc
The A380 will go down in history as the Aircraft that destroyed Airbus, and with it the dream of a Pan-european social welfare " third way" company.
I'm beginning to hope you may be right, frank martin. In light of how Europe continues to endanger this world with its triangulation against American interests and constant appeasement of Islam, it might be best if something like the A380 sank them now, before Muslim demographics take possession of the continent.
#16
In an AP story posted on the seattlePI.com site today, in addition to the auditors already mentioned, Emirates has canceled their A340 order and wants 777s instead. Citing high operating costs, could this be the first twist in the Airbus death spiral? There was also a passing mention about Emirates also interested in the 747-8 pax version. Sounds like they are lining everything up to jettison anything Airbus.
Steven T. Vermilye was a home inspector and general contractor who grew up in Westchester County, went to college in Texas and settled in New Paltz in 1971.
David S. Stairs was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and came to the mid-Hudson Valley in 1927, where as a 16-year-old he pounded hot rivets into the New York Central Railroad at Croton-Harmon and then spent 45 years working his way up through Texaco's research center in Glenham.
Betty L. Johnson came from a small town in Virginia and moved to Beacon when she was 17, raised eight children while boxing duct tape at Tuck Tape and working in the kitchen at the Castle Point veterans hospital.
The three mid-Hudson Valley residents had little in common during their lives, but share one thing now: They all have records of casting a vote after they had died. The new statewide database of registered voters contains as many as 77,000 dead people on its rolls, and as many as 2,600 of them have cast votes from the grave, according to a Poughkeepsie Journal computer-assisted analysis.
The Journal's analysis is the first to examine the potential for errors and fraud in New York's three-month-old database. It matched names, dates of birth and ZIP codes in the state's database of 11.7 million voter registration records against the same information in the Social Security Administration's "Death Master File," a database of 77 million records of deaths dating to 1937.
The state database was current as of Oct. 4, the master death index through the second quarter of 2006.
The same process has been used to identify deceased registrants in other states, but is not yet being used in New York. The numbers do not indicate how much fraud is the result of dead voters in New York, only the potential for it. Typically, records of votes by the dead are the result of bookkeeping errors and do not result in the casting of extra ballots. The Journal did not find any fraud in the local matches it investigated. "Of course we are concerned about people voting if they are dead," George Stanton, chief information officer for the state Board of Elections, said in an e-mail response.
Stanton said an updated version of the voter list is under development. "Any tool that will help us maintain a more accurate voter list will be considered for use," Stanton said.
Among the Journal's findings:
The Journal identified dead people on the voter rolls in all 62 counties and people in as many as 45 counties who had votes recorded after they had died.
One address in the Bronx was listed as the home for as many as 191 registered voters who had died. The address is 5901 Palisade Ave., site of the Hebrew Home for the Aged.
Democrats who cast votes after they died outnumbered Republicans by more than a 4-to-1 margin. The reason: Most of them came from Democrat-dominated New York City, where higher population produced more matches.
#3
Democrats who cast votes after they died outnumbered Republicans by more than a 4-to-1 margin. The reason: Most of them came from Democrat-dominated New York City, where higher population produced more matches
alternative explanation: Democrats are inherently deceitful and don't care about the value and sanctity of your vote if you're a citizen - ESPECIALLY if you're in the military
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/29/2006 16:48 Comments ||
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#4
"alternativeCorrect explanation: Democrats are inherently deceitful"
There - fixed that for ya', Frank.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/29/2006 16:51 Comments ||
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#5
:-) thx - my oversight
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/29/2006 16:53 Comments ||
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#6
"Would you disenfranchise the noble dead?" Walt Kelly in Pogo
Posted by: James ||
10/29/2006 19:46 Comments ||
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When America's liberal elite were offered the chance to pay up to $500,000 each (about £260,000) to attend Bill Clinton's 60th birthday extravaganza tonight - with the added promise of a private Rolling Stones concert - a packed house was expected.
Wife Hillary and daughter Chelsea sent out about 10,000 invitations to Hollywood tycoons, movie stars, captains of industry and Wall Street - with all proceeds to go to the former President's charitable foundation.
Those who pledged the top price were promised the 'Birthday Chair Package', with the best seating for the concert as well as a chance to have photographs taken with Mr Clinton during a round of golf and a three-day series of cocktail, brunch and dinner parties.
The minimum price, with inferior concert seats and no brunch, was set at $60,000 (£31,000). But with many rich Democrats sending their regrets, The Mail on Sunday can reveal that last Wednesday the Clintons drastically slashed prices to $12,500 (£6,500) for one reception and the concert, or $5,000 (£2,600) for just the Stones.
With the looming possibility of Bill and his long-suffering wife and daughter finding themselves amid a sea of empty chairs at the 2,900-seat Manhattan venue, tickets then went on sale to the public for as little as $1,710 (£900).
And there is a danger that the Clintons' plans may end in a total fiasco, after the Stones cancelled Friday's show in Atlantic City when Mick Jagger complained of a sore throat and was ordered to rest by a doctor.
The supergroup has flown to New York in preparation for today's concert but an insider said it was too soon to know whether Jagger will be fit enough to perform.
A friend of the Clintons said last night: "It is all highly embarrassing for Bill and Hillary. When they created the idea, they thought it would go like wildfire. What's not going to please some who did come up with $500,000 is finding regular Stones fans there who got last-minute tickets on the internet."
A spokesman for the Stones insisted it was always intended that the public could attend and that some seats were left unsold because director Martin Scorsese is making a film about the band. He said: "Scorsese didn't know where he wanted to put the cameras. It wasn't until that was decided that the unfilled seats could be put on sale."
Mr Clinton's Press spokesman declined to comment the man from cut-rate tix Hope
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/29/2006 10:47 ||
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A spokesman for the Stones insisted it was always intended that the public could attend and that some seats were left unsold because director Martin Scorsese is making a film about the band. He said: "Scorsese didn't know where he wanted to put the cameras. It wasn't until that was decided that the unfilled seats could be put on sale."
So Martin's footing the bill. What a strange world. Ya gotta pay to see the stars and get a Guild credit.
#6
They don't say what the date was for the party.
Maybe it was supposed to be Nov. 8th, and the REthuglicans were supposed to turn on the TV and not only see their devastating losses, but a massive party with singing and dancing and Billy Boy playing the sax...
#9
Scorsese's calling the shots on dates. That's the movie biz thingy. I thought that Jagger's being "ordered to bed" was almost as precious as the embarrassment of the "We are the President!" couple. Amazing how that always happens among the rich and shiny, no? Doctors orders, lol. I think this is why they are paid so much by their luminary clients - instant unassailable excuses - thought everyone knows it's bullshit, lol.
#16
Why should anyone pay all that money for Billy's birthday? Someone needs to go down to Times Square and fork over a C-note for the sword-swallower he really wants.
The Democrats' congressional campaign committees raised $15.5 million during the first 18 days of October, setting up their final push to reclaim both chambers. Republicans, meanwhile, raised $10.1 million for their candidates, continuing a pace that has lagged this election.
Republicans slightly beat the Democrats' House committee but stumbled on the Senate side, where a $5.5 million fundraising disparity emerged. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee raised $9.1 million; the National Republican Senatorial Committee raised $3.6 million. The Senate fundraising disparity does not reflect individual campaign fundraising, which Republicans said gave them a $14 million advantage during the last complete reporting period.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/29/2006 00:00 ||
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#2
The Senate fundraising disparity does not reflect individual campaign fundraising, which Republicans said gave them a $14 million advantage during the last complete reporting period.
In other words, the Republicans have the real / overall lead; the Dem party committes outscored their Repub counterparts 3-2 in the 8th inning.
This is what passes for 'news' nowadays? Nope, noooo bias here...
#5
This is what those phony polls can do for a failing party. The real bad news is that most of this money comes from Wall Street types who want a mixed Congress so nothing gets done for 2 years.
The union money was already in the dems pockets, only the slimy rich could make that kind of difference. Thanks, greedy shitheads.
After 25 years of storied service, the F-117 Nighthawk, the Air Force's first stealth fighter, is about to retire. The technology that once made it a unique weapon system has now caught up to it and newer fighter aircraft are now joining the fleet. Still, the Nighthawk was the first of its kind, a fact anyone who has spent time around the aircraft is quick to point out.
Many of these people were gathered here Oct. 29 to commemorate 25 years of Nighthawk history at the Silver Stealth ceremony. Members of the F-117 community, past and present, were on hand to pay homage to the aircraft's illustrious history, a history that contains as many secrets as it does legends.
Since it was officially named a part of the Air Force in 1981, the Nighthawk began making an impression on military officials. Not just because it was "funny" looking, but because the aircraft brought many new capabilities to the battlefield.
The Nighthawk, after all, was the stuff of science fiction. It could fly across enemy skies and through the world's most advanced radar systems without being detected. This capability allowed the aircraft to perform reconnaissance missions and bomb critical targets, all without the enemy knowing who or what had hit them.
"This is a strategic weapon that really reshaped how the Air Force looked at strategic warfare," said Lt. Col. Chris Knehans, commander of the 7th Fighter Squadron here. "It doesn't matter what defenses you put up, how deep you try to hide or how much you surround yourself with collateral damage, this airplane will come and get you."
This fact has made the Nighthawk a vital part of the Air Force's various campaigns since the aircraft's introduction. It has seen service in Panama, Iraq, Afghanistan and Bosnia as part of such operations as Desert Storm, Allied Force, Just Cause and Iraqi and Enduring Freedom.
For those who either fly or provide support to the Nighthawk, the aircraft has been a faithful one. Knowing it is now in its last days is bittersweet for many of them.
"From a pragmatic point of view, we all understand why it's leaving," Colonel Knehans said. "I mean it's a 30-year-old concept now. But when you look at its history, its design and its combat record ... yeah, the Air Force is going to lose basically a very unique weapon system."
For Master Sgt. Byron Osborn, who has worked on the F-117 for almost 19 years, the emotions are clearer.
"For old timers like me, it's a sad day," he said. "A lot of the younger guys like the new, flashier aircraft, but I'll stick with this old dog any day."
The Air Force is saying goodbye to the F-117, but not to the effect it has had on modern warfare. Its successor, the F-22 Raptor, will continue the fight the Nighthawk started, which, according to retired Gen. Lloyd "Fig" Newton, one of the first F-117 pilots, is a hard job to fill.
"Whenever its nation called, the F-117 answered, providing capabilities that had never been known before," he said. "If we needed the door kicked in, the stealth was the one to do it. Never before had such an aircraft existed."
Modern technology may have caught up with the F-117, and new aircraft may be set to take its place on the tarmac, but none will ever be able to replace it
#6
Inflation under 3%? Check
Interest rates steady and historially low? Check
Unemployment below 5%? Check
Job creation of over 6 million? Check
Home ownership up across the board? Check
Taxes down, takehome pay up? Check
Real Wages increasing? Check
GNP up? Check
Productivity up? Check
Wallstreet at multiple record high? Check
And ALL that while running a war? Check!
OK what Riech means by "shit" is that its an economy that's working as well or better than under Clinton, but is not being run by his political cronies.
Thats one of the big injustices of the modern mainstream biased press: that you have NOT seen that checklist brought up when talking about the economy.
Any decent respecter of fact would have bitchslapped Reich with the facts after such a stupid statement. ON the front page of all the US Newspapers, demonstrating how much a fool he is.
Its a shame our press has sold its role in being objective reporters of fact to the American Nation in favor of their lefty politics.
The press has abdicated thier responsibility - they should be thrown in jail for their treason and replaced by people willing to do the job with NO idealogical tilt.
#7
OldSpook, you forgot one important variable: the newspaper industry is going to hell thanks to the competition from the web (and because no one believes the MSM anymore), so all the journalists naturally believe the entire economy is in the toilet. Easy mistake to make, no?
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/29/2006 11:38 Comments ||
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#8
Ain't Reich the one who tried (and failed) to get the Bush administration to intervene on behalf of Enron, and stretch out the suffering until a new batch of suckers was found?
#9
Good point Steve. When one is standing in the unemployment line and no one will even talk to them, it is true that things have gone to shit. Why are the rest of us happy??
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
10/29/2006 11:45 Comments ||
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#10
Inflation under 3%? Check
Interest rates steady and historically low? Check
Unemployment below 5%? Check
Job creation of over 6 million? Check
Home ownership up across the board? Check
Taxes down, take home pay up? Check
Real Wages increasing? Check
GNP up? Check
Productivity up? Check
Wall Street at multiple record high? Check
And ALL that while running a war? Check!
Of course he says the economy has gone to shit -- it's a socialist's worst nightmare!
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/29/2006 15:25 Comments ||
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#16
I actually got to comment to Reich on a radio show, pointed out why we don't need national health care, his response to my email was Britain has improved in the last 1-1/2 years.....
#17
On the other hand,
I sold all my shares in a S&P index fund last month when it finally crawled back up to the level I bought in at, way back in January 2000. I thought I'd quit while I was even.
Redacted by moderator. Comments may be redacted for trolling, violation of standards of good manners, or plain stupidity. Please correct the condition that applies and try again. Contents may be viewed in the sinktrap. Further violations may result in banning.
#24
"Your all a waste of US tax payer money"
1. I pay more taxes than average.
2. I wish your thinking was better than your spelling, but I doubt it is.
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.
Oil multinationals Shell and Chevron have this week been forced to shut down around 60,000 barrels per day of oil production after a community dispute in Nigerias turbulent oil producing delta region.
HAVANA (AP) - The ailing Fidel Castro appeared on Cuban state television for the first time in more than a month Saturday, looking thin and tired but walking around and ridiculing recent rumors of his death.
SENIOR clerics will meet at Sydney's Lakemba Mosque tonight to discuss the future of controversial Muslim leader Sheik 
LONDON The biggest buyer of the world's largest airliner, 
The Democrats' congressional campaign committees raised $15.5 million during the first 18 days of October, setting up their final push to reclaim both chambers. Republicans, meanwhile, raised $10.1 million for their candidates, continuing a pace that has lagged this election.
