A woman's sex drive begins to plummet once she is in a secure relationship, according to research.
Researchers from Germany found that four years into a relationship, less than half of 30-year-old women wanted regular sex. Conversely, the team found a man's libido remained the same regardless of how long he had been in a relationship.
Writing in the journal Human Nature, the scientists said the differences resulted from how humans had evolved. The researchers from Hamburg-Eppendorf University Hospital interviewed 530 men and women about their relationships.
They found 60% of 30-year-old women wanted sex "often" at the beginning of a relationship, but within four years of the relationship this figure fell to under 50%, and after 20 years it dropped to about 20%. In contrast, they found the proportion of men wanting regular sex remained at between 60-80%, regardless of how long they had been in a relationship.
The study also revealed tenderness was important for women in a relationship.
About 90% of women wanted tenderness, regardless of how long they had been in a relationship, but only 25% of men who had been in a relationship for 10 years said they were still seeking tenderness from their partner. Dr Dietrich Klusmann, lead author of the study and a psychologist from Hamburg-Eppendorf University Hospital, believed the differences were down to human evolution.
He said: "For men, a good reason their sexual motivation to remain constant would be to guard against being cuckolded by another male." But women, he said, have evolved to have a high sex drive when they are initially in a relationship in order to form a "pair bond" with their partner. But, once this bond is sealed a woman's sexual appetite declines, he added. He said animal behaviour studies suggest this could be because females may be diverting their sexual interest towards other men, in order to secure the best combinations of genetic material for their offspring.
Or, he said, this could be because limiting sex may boost their partner's interest in it. Professor George Fieldman, an evolutionary psychologist from Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College, said: "These findings seem to fit in with anecdotal studies and his explanations seem plausible. "The rational for why a woman's sex drive declines may be down to supply and demand. If something is in infinite supply, the perceived value would drop."
Posted by: john frum ||
12/31/2007 14:58 ||
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Females have two: to get the best male DNA for their offspring; and to bond with the best provider male to help them raise their offspring. However, when there is an abundance of males, these are usually not the same guy.
This is why people evolved that concept of marriage. It raises the relationship to a better than biological level for all concerned. The female promises the male that the offspring will be his. The male promises exclusivity to the female and nurturing to her offspring. And it is far better for the offspring to have two parents.
But marriage only works when it is an enforced contract. Since society itself no longer enforces it, the courts have stepped in to replicate its advantages--on behalf of the offspring.
It has yet to replicate all the advantages to both females and males that exist in marriage, but I suspect it will develop in that same direction. DNA testing definitely changes the equation.
#4
This is Germany... and German men. And both women and men expect husbands to have affairs while their wives wait at home for the repairman to show up.
#5
That may be mythical. I imagine if Helmut even suggests an open marriage, Helga hits him over the head with a cast iron skillet, as much as if they were people anywhere else.
Or, when he proposes a threesome, she says, "Fine, who is the other guy?" That shuts hubby up in a hurry.
New! Coming to Save the World! From Religion of Peace Industries! Akran Al-Hashemi, Iraqi journalist: I survived an assassination attempt in Iraq. I was hit by bullets more than 70 bullets. I used oils, lotions, and all sorts of medicine, but unfortunately, nothing helped. Not even Inshallah Magic Bullet Wound Cream...
I happened to meet Hajja [Samiya], and she said: "I can heal you. I will recite Koranic verses over olive oil for you the Al-Fatiha chapter, the Al-Kursi verse, and the Al-Ma'wiztein." From the very first night, I felt a difference, and after one week I started walking normally. Now I run the hundred in 9 flat and am on the Iraqi Olympic team! Thanks, Haaja! And thank you Koranic Verses Olive Oil!
Interviewer: Hajja Samiya, it was you who recited Koranic verses over the oil, which he rubbed on his leg, and Allah has used you as a means for his healing. That's right, Bob. Don't ask me why, I don't have a friggin clue either...
Hajja Samiya: Allah be praised, he was healed the very next day. To be honest, I myself was surprised. I'm not the one who needs to be thanked I feel that God has given me a gift. I still don't know how it works exactly, but it works. So, Ishallah, 19.95 and 19.95 shipping and handling and you can be cured of what ails you too! Order before midnight! The Prophet would want you to...
Egyptian Islamic scholar Zaghloul Al-Naggar: We have recently realized the value of the use of amulets. It has been scientifically proven that water is affected by what is recited over it. Scientifically proven, I tells ya...INFIDEL!
Japanese researcher Masaru Emoto has had a unique experience. He said that he had read in a book that each snowflake falling from the sky is unique. He said that his scientific instincts told him that this was not true. The geometric shape of the snowflake is determined by its chemical composition. The composition of water is well known two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. So how come snowflakes that fall from the sky are different from one another? He said: "I was determined to prove that this theory was false." He built a laboratory, consisting of a deep freezer with a regulator, because no liquid, subjected to sudden freezing, can assume a geometric shape. The freezing must be slow, so the atoms have the chance to crystallize into the shape decreed by Allah. What's he think of that one?
He says he doesn't like it. Try it again.
There was a deep freezer with a regulator, a cold room at the temperature of -7°C, and several microscopes equipped with cameras, so he could photograph the snowflake before it melted. The scientists working in this room wore warm clothing. He said: "I took samples from two faucets in the laboratory, I froze them, and each sample gave me a different snowflake. The samples came from two different wells, two different rivers, from two different lakes. I almost went crazy and thought this was witchcraft." Yeah, I can tell you're a scientist, because I believe "witchcraft" is step seven of the scientific method...
A Saudi student at the University of Tokyo happened to meet him, and asked him what was wrong. Masaru told him his problem. The student said to him: "We have blessed water, called Zamzam water. I will give you a sample of this water so you can experiment on it. The Zamzam water is not affected by witchcraft or jinns, so using it can prove or disprove the whole theory." Emoto took a sample of Zamzam water, and said: "I couldn't crystallize it, even by diluting the water by 1,000." In other words, he turned one cubic centimeter into one liter. Well, it's obvious! It's because it's witchcraft and jinn free! And you call yourself a scientist?!
He said that when he diluted the water by 1,000 and froze it, he got a uniquely-shaped crystal. Two crystals were formed, one on top of the other, but they assumed a unique form. When he asked his Muslim colleague why there were two crystals, he told him it was because "Zamzam" is composed of two words: "Zam" and "Zam." Isn't that obvious, dumb goofy infidel! It would be even stronger if it was called Zamzamzam water! Or even Zamzamzamzam water!
Emoto said: "My Muslim colleague offered to recite Koranic verses over the water. He brought a tape-recorder and played some Koranic verses, and we got the most perfectly-shaped crystals. Then he played the 99 names of Allah. Each name produced a uniquely-shaped crystal. Isn't...that...amazing! Then he began cursing the water. We said: Water, you are impure. You are not suited for consumption. The water, in this case, did not freeze, or produced an extremely ugly crystal." When they uttered bad words like "war" or "fighting," the water did not freeze, or else produced an ugly shape. Do not mock me filthy, bad infidel water! You suck! I curse your jinns and witchcraft!
When the man completed these experiments, which lasted 15 years, he published a five-volume book called Messages from Water. He wrote: "I have proven that water, that peculiar liquid, is capable of thinking, fathoming, feeling, getting excited, and expressing itself." Okay, the human body is composed mainly of water. If a glass of water is affected by the Koran, wouldn't the human body be affected? Yes. Take the research one step further. Really push that envelope...
Interviewer: An engineer called Sharif Shukran invented a device which contains water. He calls it a..."glass". It has amazing magic powers!
He records Koranic verses in it, and the voice turns into electromagnetic waves that pass through the water, giving it healing powers. ...and you have my word on it.
Sharif Shukran: I was trying to deal with a problem that has not been discussed so far Satan uses humans to record negative thoughts in water. For 14 centuries, we've known for certain that Koran verses are recorded in water, but we never imagined that everything that is said is recorded in water. I found out that one of the methods employed by Satan is to make human beings think certain thoughts, while cooking, for example. When a human being is near any type of liquid, he might pass his negative thoughts on to the water. What if he has good thoughts but pisses in the water? Is that good or bad?
When a mother cooks... I've asked many mothers what they think about when they are cooking, and they said they were thinking about problems. Without realizing it, they insert all the problems into the food. This couscous sucks, ma. You been thinking the bad thoughts again?
What does this device do? It supplies enough water to offset the water in the body that carries negative words. A person cannot go every day to someone who would read the Koran over him, nor can he recite it himself all day long. So how much would you pay for this amazing device? 200? 300? A thousand dollars? How about 19.95!
Interviewer: Let's see how it works. Yes, let's...
Sharif Shukran: The entire Koran is recorded inside this device. What I did was to use the same method of recording used by human beings. You can hear the voice, but if we press here, we stop the voice. Amazing! Ooooh! Do it again! Do it again!
A couple on the verge of divorce began using the water. The wife used to complain all the time. After a month and a half, she stopped entirely. Acid bath? Honor killing?
Things that she used to make a fuss over seemed simple all of the sudden. I asked myself how this could be, and I realized something or at least, this makes sense to me. If a person replaces most of the water in his body with Koranic water, his body begins to emit steam which contains the Koran. This creates a halo of steam around him, containing the Koran, which fends off Satan. Well, if it makes sense to him, that's good enough for me. Cuz he's an Islamic scholar, ya know. Another problem solved by Islamic Science! And our Friends at Religion of Peace Industries!
#1
But wait THERES MORE! For the next 30 minutes we'll throw in these knives. Perfect for beheading infidels or for use in family honor killings. Now how much would you pay? ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/31/2007 13:07 Comments ||
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#4
No mention is made of the potetial rejuvenation of a failing fallus (pour some on your doinker and its flagpole time!!) , of unwilling goats ( just let the beast take a drinkee-poo of the majic waters and she is YOURS!!!!!)
wonder what kind of mileage benefits for the family flivver you can see?????
#10
Sounds like their version of "The Reverend Ike", "I have prayed over this HOLY CLOTH, on the Altar of my church, Kneel on this"HOLY CLOTH and Pray, all your prayers will be answered. Just send $5 and this "HOLY CLOTH" will be activated for you.(Paper Printing, One side, Not even Cloth)
I sent Him a photocopy of one side of a $5, never bothered me again.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/31/2007 14:24 Comments ||
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#11
I wonder when CSICOP will investigate this.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
12/31/2007 15:01 Comments ||
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#12
Ima gonna make a fortune with Koranic Spray On Hair.
Posted by: Ron Popeil ||
12/31/2007 15:45 Comments ||
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#13
I'm starting to feel bad for Allan. Imagine being an onmipotent deity and having this bunch of nincompoops for followers. Man, if I was Allan, I'd be inflicting earthquakes and tidal waves and plagues of locusts on my sorry-assed people until they woke up and got it together. Losers. Why would I give you three pounds of brains if I didn't expect you to use them?
#14
Arabs tell that when Abraham expelled the female slave who had brought her Ismael (the ancestor of all Arabs) they were on the verge of dying of thirst when they heard the zam zam noise of a source. For that reason that source is deemd sacred by Arabs. Since it is conveniently close to Mecca most pilgrims bring home large quantities of it. Call me cynical but I suspect that the Saudis don't sell it cheap.
#17
"I still don't know how it works exactly, but it works."
You hear this kind of line from almost anyone who has ever been duped. It transcends cultures. Doesn't matter if it's healing water, perpetual motion, or magic beans. If you ever hear yourself say such a thing, remove yourself from the gene pool.
#20
A friend in Miami wants to know if it comes in an ultra strength good against 7,000 bullets? Who says happy fire is limited to the mideast has never been outside on new years in miami. Kids wear those "steel pots" tonight, look out in-coming!
Posted by: bruce ||
12/31/2007 18:20 Comments ||
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#21
The Food Standards Agency is advising consumers not to drink bottled water on sale that is labelled as Zam Zam water, as it may contain high levels of arsenic.
Tests carried out last year found that bottled water labelled as Zam Zam water contained arsenic at almost three times the permitted level, which could contribute to increasing people's risk of cancer.
In addition, nitrate was found at twice the permitted level. While this is not a problem for most people, it could be for infants because they are more sensitive to nitrate's effect on the blood's ability to carry oxygen.
Recent tests by Leicester City Council (reported to the Agency on 15 September) have confirmed that elevated levels of arsenic continue to be found in bottled water labelled as Zam Zam water.
Genuine Zam Zam water, which is sacred to Muslims, comes from a specific source in Saudi Arabia and cannot legally be exported from that country for commercial sale. Therefore, any product found in the shops would have an uncertain origin and could pose a safety risk.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/31/2007 19:47 Comments ||
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#22
In recent meetings with the Agency's Muslim Organisations Working Group, the FSA was informed of the continued sale of bottled waters labelled as Zam Zam water.
In view of this, the FSA's advice remains that people should not buy or drink commercially available brands of Zam Zam water and should inform their local authority environmental health or trading standards department if they come across Zam Zam water on sale. Enforcement officers are empowered to carry out appropriate tests on these waters and also remove them from sale if necessary.
This advice does not relate to the genuine Zam Zam water being brought into UK by returning pilgrims as an accompanied 'personal import'.
Given that the demand for Zam Zam water is likely to increase during the month of Ramadan, the FSA has written to all heads of environmental departments and directors of trading standards asking local authorities to take appropriate enforcement action.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/31/2007 19:48 Comments ||
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#23
Arsenic in the Zam Zam water, eh? I feel I've just gained a much deeper understanding of Islam.
As Kenya's incumbent president Mwai Kibaki was being sworn in less than an hour after being declared the winner of the country's bitterly disputed presidential election, plumes of black smoke billowed up from blazes ignited by protesters rioting in the capital. The swearing in comes after three days of increasing rioting and violence as the country impatiently awaited the results of the election, which opposition leaders say were marred by fraud.
During his swearing in Kibaki urged calm. "I ask all of us ... to embrace a new spirit of national unity, to respect the people's choice and maintain peace and unity," he said.
"Since I won, heh-heh," he added.
His challenger, opposition leader Raila Odinga, said he would not accept results announced today and accused Kibaki's Party of National Unity (PNU) of rigging the election. "This is a side of him that Kenyans will remember forever," Odinga said as he left the electoral commission media briefing, just before the results were announced. "Kenyans will not accept these results. No force will stop them, like the River Nile cannot be stopped, it will flow into the Mediterranean Sea," he said.
Odinga's party, the Orange Democratic Movement, held press conferences all day accusing the government of stuffing ballots and changing vote tallies. Several constituencies that are considered Kibaki strongholds did not report any results at all until at least two days after the election, and ODM members said those results had been doctored to give Kibaki enough votes for a victory.
Odinga is calling for a complete nationwide re-count after ODM election officials detected irregularities in 48 of Kenya's 210 provinces. Last night, the Election Commission of Kenya (ECK) met with representatives of ODM and PNU to conduct an informal audit of the election results so far. Members of the ODM said the results announced by ECK chairman Samuel Kivuitu do not match the original election results that local officials signed off on. They claimed that votes were added to the final tallies and called for the commission to provide documentation showing how it arrived at the final results that were announced today.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2007 00:00 ||
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I didn't put this in WOT background, but it could go there. Look for the UK forces to be even more badly underfunded and for Brown to pull back from Afghan and other commitments.
Gordon Brown today issues a bleak assessment of the world economy as he braces Britain for a year of belt tightening in the wake of the credit crunch. In a strong warning, which sets the backdrop for a campaign to revive his premiership, Brown tells Britain to prepare for 'global financial turbulence' in 2008. 'Our strong economy is the foundation,' Brown writes in his new year message. 'With unbending determination in 2008, we will steer a course of stability through global financial turbulence. The global credit problem that started in America is now the most immediate challenge for every economy.'
Brown's sober analysis comes in the wake of the autumn credit crunch that caused the first run on a British bank in more than a century after the Bank of England bailed out Northern Rock. The sight of thousands of depositors queuing outside branches across Britain to withdraw their savings was one of the factors that contributed to the dramatic fall in Brown's ratings in the autumn.
The Prime Minister knows he must turn round his and his government's fortunes in 2008 if he is to beat off a strong challenge from Conservative leader David Cameron and place Labour in a strong position to secure a fourth successive election victory. Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, today warns that Tory messages are 'resonating' with voters. But Brown receives a boost today as a new opinion poll shows that a 13-point Tory lead has shrunk to five points in just two weeks.
The Prime Minister tackles the financial threat head-on in his message as he pledges to repeat his success as Chancellor, when he helped to stave off recession in the face of a series of global economic crises. 'Just as we withstood the Asia crisis, the American recession, the end of the IT bubble and the trebling of oil prices and continued to grow, Britain will meet and master this new challenge by our determination to maintain stability and low inflation,' he writes.
'We will make the right decisions, not only this year but for the years ahead, to safeguard and strengthen our economy - and, by keeping inflation low, keep interest rates for business and homeowners low.'
Brown's decision to highlight the threat to the economy shows he still believes his track record places him in a strong position to cope with financial instability, despite recent polls that show the Tories closing the gap when judged on economic competence. But Brown also wants to brace people for a bumpy year. He says that '2008 will be the decisive year of this decade to put in place the long-term changes that will prepare us for the decades ahead'.
Brown indicates that ministers will soon embrace a new generation of nuclear power stations. The government believes that renewing Britain's civil nuclear power programme is the most effective way of guaranteeing security of supply while tackling climate change. 'Because a good environment is good economics, we will take the difficult decisions on energy security - on nuclear power and renewables - so British invention and innovation can claim new markets for new technologies and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs.'
Aides described the message as strongly New Labour. He makes clear that Labour traditionalists will receive no comfort as he presses ahead with the reform of public services to better tailor them to the individual. 'Illness is not a nine-to-five condition - and the NHS cannot be just a nine-to-five service,' he writes. This will be welcomed by supporters of Tony Blair who signal today that they are suing for peace with Brown as they declare that their hero is 'history' as a political figure in Britain.
In an article in today's Observer, the former cabinet minister Stephen Byers writes: 'Tony Blair is history. With Tony Blair gone from domestic politics, the task of leading Labour to victory falls to Gordon Brown. It is the responsibility of all of us who want to see a fourth election victory to give him our support.'
#1
Blah, blah, economy, blah, blah, credit crunch (have you looked at interest rates? Do those look like the rates of a credit crunch?) blah, blah, (anybody notice the 4.9% GDP growth last quarter) blah, blah.
With all due respect Mr. Brown, tough economic times come and go. If you had even the slightest clue what you are talking about, you would know for certain that the next one won't have anything to do with this 'credit crunch'.
Cuz it aint one.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
12/31/2007 0:28 Comments ||
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Posted by: no mo uro ||
12/31/2007 6:59 Comments ||
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#4
Actually, Mr. Brown, if you were to de-collectivze Britain even a wee bit (let's say, um, health care, perhaps) you could improve your economy instantly.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
12/31/2007 7:02 Comments ||
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#5
So much for the claim London is becoming the "financial capitol of the world..."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/31/2007 7:17 Comments ||
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#6
There are a couple issues mixed up in the comments here IMO.
First, interest rates lag behind liquidity, so the current interest rate level isn't a good indicator of whether or not there is a credit crunch. For regulatory reasons, the banks in the UK aren't jacking up interest rates quickly (nor are the banks in the US). However, they aren't lending as much either. In particular, some banks are finding they cannot get the funds guarantees that would allow them to extend credit to good risk consumers. It will take months or perhaps more than a year for that to ripple through the economy and slow down home, car and consumer goods purchases. In the meanwhile, there are 3-4 quarters to go during which the securitized debt instruments which underlie bad lending will unwind. That unwinding may proceed more gently or more violently, depending on a number of outside factors - but unwind they must. And until they do, risk related to already-securitized debt will act as a brake on the economies of the US and Europe. Not necessarily an instantaneous stop, but a slowing down over time.
The slowdown is underway and may accelerate. This credit slowdown may in fact hit the UK harder than the US due to the differences in the way that the Bank of England manages funds guarantees vs. the Federal Reserve procedures. We'll see ....
#7
Re: London as the financial capital of the world, it is still the case that the London Exchange processes over a trillion dollars worth of currency exchange every trading day. That's a separate issue from the state of the British economy.
#10
He's a Stalinist control freak that bottled out of an election (after Bliar resigned) that he was sure to win. He stole £5 billion a year from the peoples' pensions funds from 1997 onwards. He is reknowned for his 'stealth taxes' and the way in which, as Chancellor, he complicated the UK tax code to such an extent that accountants were complaining they didn't understand it anymore. He is known as 'Macavity', because when the shit hits the fan (inevitable with these nouveau Socialists) he is never to be seen.
If you want to know more about the other half of the double-act that has done more to damage this country than anyone could have conceived 10 years ago, then check out www.order-order.com, and start clicking....
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
12/31/2007 14:22 Comments ||
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#11
lotp,
CDO's have been unwinding for two quarters already. Bad loan likely have a as much as a year left. Bank lending rates haven't gone up at all, in fact, they've gone down in response to the decrease in the short rate.
If a liquidity problem emerges, its not going to be from a some bad home loans. Fed actions maybe. Corporate default rates are good. Haven't check in a while, but as of earlier this fall, they were still below historical averages.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
12/31/2007 17:08 Comments ||
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#12
The liquidity problem in Britain isn't due to bad home loans there, Mike, but rather due to a tightening of inter-bank lending. Which comes as a response to the perceived riskiness of previously issued & collateralized sub-prime loans here.
That said ... I know of several small businesses in my state who are finding it harder to get credit for capital purchases that would have been approved a year ago without difficulty. From their perspective there is indeed a credit crunch. But certainly we're not seeing runs on banks here, unlike the Northern Rock scenario in the UK.
#13
You've nailed it. Everybody is afraid of subprime and the paper they it is causing problems with. When subprime and the paper was only able to get as big as it was because of top much liquidity.(and not enough 'responsible' places for it.)
Banks are afraid of the unknown. Once this is done, we'll see it wasn't the problem everyone was afraid it was.
Also, banks were giving loans to almost anyone for almost anything a year ago. A little belt tightening could simply be a return to responsibily. It certainly isn't a crippling credit crunch.
Now, if Bush keeps interrupting the markets with this telling banks to freeze rates thing, we could end up with a major credit crunch. But not because of subprime. Because of politicians.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
12/31/2007 19:29 Comments ||
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#14
Once this is done, we'll see it wasn't the problem everyone was afraid it was.
"it'll be bigger than Y2K, you'll see! And you'll all be sorry!"
/economic AlGore
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/31/2007 19:43 Comments ||
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British business and the City are braced for a grim year for the economy as the global credit crunch, weakening house prices and softening consumer spending look set to make 2008 the worst year since the recession of the early 1990s.
The CBI in its New Year message today warns that it now expects a "difficult year" for the world's fifth largest economy due to the "two big shocks" of the credit crunch and rising prices of food, oil and other commodities.
The doorstep lender London Scottish Bank admitted yesterday that it does not have enough capital to satisfy the regulator and warned that it may not be able to pay a final dividend.
Shares in the troubled financial services group, which also carries out debt collection, ended the day 18% lower at 63p after it revealed it needed to take an extra charge of as much as £22m because customers were failing to repay their loans. The shares have halved in a year.
My concern is the impact this will have on British support in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Brown is tepid in supporting MOD under the best of times - and 2008 doesn't look like it will be good times at all for the UK.
Growth in lending to Ireland's private sector was the weakest in four years in November, with Ireland's cooling property market knocking growth in loans to homebuyers to its lowest level since 1996.
And a Happy New Year to all of you
SCOTLAND has the Loch Ness Monster, the Himalayas has the Abominable Snowman and Pyongyang's propaganda machine has the Korean Wall, a bogus barrier that has been a mainstay of North Korea's media for nearly 20 years.
At the weekend, the North's official media called on the South to tear down a concrete wall on the border it says stretches across the peninsula, calling it a "national disgrace". "The existence of this wall is hindering the inter-Korean reconciliation, co-operation and independent reunification," the Korean Central News Agency quoted a communist party newspaper report as saying.
For a wall that is not there, North Korean propaganda has painted a vivid picture of it. It says the border wall stands 5m-8m high, ...
... that is, 3.8 to 6.8 meters taller than Kim ...
... is as thick as 19m and was built in the 1970s by a "South Korean military fascist clique".
One of the greatest hindrances to tearing down the wall is that it doesn't exist but another problem is that North Korea does not allow its citizens to freely leave the country.
Totalitarian dictatorships are like that. They lie and they shoot the people who try to leave. Go figure.
There is little to mark the actual border within the demilitarised zone (DMZ), a heavily mined no-mans-land guarded by more than a million troops. The South has put up scattered concrete, anti-tank barriers near the DMZ but not a coast-to-coast concrete wall on the border, as the North has long claimed.
A few weeks after the Berlin Wall started coming down in 1989, North Korean leader Kim Il-sung said Seoul had built a huge concrete wall to divide the two states, which are technically still at war. Analysts said Kim made the claim to rally support for his state as its communist allies faded with the end of the Cold War. At the time Seoul was working to set up formal ties with the Soviet Union, then the North's biggest benefactor.
On New Year's Day 1990 Kim, founder of one of the world's most isolated and repressive states, called it "a barrier of national division" preventing free travel between the two countries. The North's official media have never corrected Kim, who is revered at home as a god and posthumously declred the country's eternal president.
Uh-huh, you try correcting the little man.
Some international news reports accepted Kim's pronouncement as fact, prompting Seoul to invite journalists and observers a few weeks later to look into the DMZ to see for themselves that the wall did not exist.
Doesn't matter, of course, the journalists already had decided the 'narrative' to the story.
It would take a year or two for such a wall to disappear without a trace, giving Kimmie a huge propaganda victory (if he were willing to show it to the citizens living in his workers' paradise). Suppose something is scheduled to happen in about that timeframe?
Sweden's intifada I?
Some Södertälje residents wishing to catch a bus home after New Year's Eve celebrations will be out of luck. Bus operator Swebus has elected to shut down several stops in response to attacks by gangs of rock-throwing youths in Hovsjö and Ronna.
Last Wednesday one bus suffered damage due to thrown rocks and on Thursday another bus was hit by fireworks. As a result, several bus stops were closed into the weekend.
Swebus drivers ventured out again this past Saturday evening and were once again met with thrown rocks. They stand on the pedestrian bridges over the roads and throw rocks at us when we drive toward the city center. We simply cant risk our drivers or passengers safety, said Kjell Hägglund, head of security for Swebus.
Stops will be closed from 7pm in the evenings until 6am in the mornings until January 2nd.
In civilized countries, the police find and arrest rock-throwers, and state prosecutors, judges and juries put them into prison. In civilized countries.
#1
A few years ago, Fjordman already had examples of this type of low-level intifada, directed against bus lines and similar services by the Youths; same pattern than in France though the ethnic component is different; gee, you could almost imagine this is a cultural meme, the Youths from the colony being footsoldiers in a constant war of attrition against the host society, through crime and anti-social behavior...
#6
These incidents should be treated as attempted murder or as apprehended insurrection. Either way anyone seen to be throwing rocks should be shot on sight and their families deported. If the State refuses to exercise a monopoly on force there are only two alternatives: Anarchy or vigilantism. I am astonished there is enough faith remaining in European states that the latter has not become the order of the day.
The assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto appears to have shifted the focus of the U.S. presidential race to national security and foreign policy issues. VOA National Correspondent Jim Malone reports from Washington.
That gives McCain and maybe Giuliani a bump for the next week or two before the national attention span slips back to whether Mormons think Christ is a close relative of Satan and whether O'Bama's black or white.
Enough of that. What about Lindsay Lohan?
Posted by: Fred ||
12/31/2007 00:00 ||
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Three people went missing and two others died after an Indonesian Navy Nomad surveillance aircraft crashed in Aceh province over the weekend, local press said Monday.
The plane carried seven passengers when it crashed into Ujung Karang waters near Sabang Island, four of them were found floating near the site, reported English-language newspaper The Jakarta Post. "Two were killed while the other two are in critical condition and being treated at the Sabang General Hospital," Navy spokesman Comdr. Iskandar Sitompul was quoted as saying.
Sabang police chief Edwin Rahmat Adikusuma said the pilot reported some engine problems and poor weather in his last contact at around 11:25 local time Sunday. "When the plane reached 200 meters from the coastline, due to the engine problems the pilot decided to attempt an emergency landing on water," he said.
#1
The $USD is still holding the .68 Euro and 110 Yen levels, indicating that the cycle of diversification out of the dollar is decelerating.
There is no doubt that the Euro is still gaining credibility vs. the dollar as a viable alternative currency worldwide. Expect those gains to continue until the U.S. federal budget and trade deficits are significantly decreased.
#2
There is no doubt that the Euro is still gaining credibility vs. the dollar as a viable alternative currency worldwide. Expect those gains to continue until the U.S. federal budget and trade deficits are significantly decreased.
Right. That'll be done when the Donks get full control and gut Defense, finally forcing the US out of defense pacts and retreating from global involvement. When the troops come home, the Euros will find their own budgets busted as they scramble to attempt to even try to make up a portion of that for their own security. Papers and committees are not going to stop the 'boom'. No bucks, no defense. Meanwhile, the smart money will reposition itself back in the US which will be seen for its real secure environment vice that of currency speculators' games done previously under the pre-withdraw environment. Make my day.
#3
Agreed, procopius. The issue is how many controlling interests in key corporations and financial institutions the oil ticks are able to purchase before then due to the weak dollar.
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.
Akran Al-Hashemi, Iraqi journalist: I survived an assassination attempt in Iraq. I was hit by bullets more than 70 bullets. I used oils, lotions, and all sorts of medicine, but unfortunately, nothing helped. 
As Kenya's incumbent president Mwai Kibaki was being sworn in less than an hour after being declared the winner of the country's bitterly disputed presidential election, plumes of black smoke billowed up from blazes ignited by protesters rioting in the capital. The swearing in comes after three days of increasing rioting and violence as the country impatiently awaited the results of the election, which opposition leaders say were marred by fraud. 
Odinga's party, the Orange Democratic Movement, held press conferences all day accusing the government of stuffing ballots and changing vote tallies. Several constituencies that are considered Kibaki strongholds did not report any results at all until at least two days after the election, and ODM members said those results had been doctored to give Kibaki enough votes for a victory. 
Gordon Brown today issues a bleak assessment of the world economy as he braces Britain for a year of belt tightening in the wake of the credit crunch. In a strong warning, which sets the backdrop for a campaign to revive his premiership, Brown tells Britain to prepare for 'global financial turbulence' in 2008. 'Our strong economy is the foundation,' Brown writes in his new year message. 'With unbending determination in 2008, we will steer a course of stability through global financial turbulence. The global credit problem that started in America is now the most immediate challenge for every economy.'
The assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto appears to have shifted the focus of the U.S. presidential race to national security and foreign policy issues. VOA National Correspondent Jim Malone reports from Washington.
