The Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality hearing scheduled for Wednesday, February 14, 2007, at 10:00 a.m. in room 2123 Rayburn House Office Building has been postponed due to inclement weather. The hearing is entitled Climate Change: Are Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Human Activities Contributing to a Warming of the Planet?
The hearing will be rescheduled to a date and time to be announced later.
DC WEATHER REPORT:
Wednesday: Freezing rain in the morning. Total ice accumulation between one half to three quarters of an inch. Brisk with highs in the mid 30s. North winds 10 to 15 mph...increasing to northwest 20 to 25 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation near 100 percent.
Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy. Lows around 18. Northwest winds around 20 mph.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/14/2007 00:00 ||
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Mother Nature has a sense of humor when it comes to True Believer Idiots. Good job, Ma!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/14/2007 0:16 Comments ||
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#9
Even here in Atlanta, it's been really cold. Had an ice storm a few weeks ago. Average high for this time of year is in the low 50's, and it's been highs in the upper 30s/low 40s for weeks on end now. Fully expect that Gore will be giving a global warming climate change speech at the Jimmy Carter Center any day now.
Posted by: BA ||
02/14/2007 9:35 Comments ||
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#10
If i remember correctly the last time the Global Warming "Consensus" Group held a meeting it was socked in with blizzard conditions. Yes God does have a sense of humor, which also explains Al Gore almost becoming President.
Banks in Zimbabwe are no longer distributing bills smaller than $10,000 through their automated teller machines, which some observers are taking as a sign the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe might have to lop more zeroes off the currency this year. The Z$10,000 note is worth US$2 on the parallel foreign exchange market.
The central bank trimmed three zeroes off the currency on July 31, 2006, in what the monetary authority called Operation Sunrise, then called in all old bank notes in a chaotic process in which police arbitrarily seized sums deemed to be ill-gotten. But the so-called bearer notes issued during and after that currency overhaul quickly lost their value as the exchange rate on the parallel currency market gravitated to around Z$5,000 per U.S. dollar while the official rate has remained at Z$250.
Bankers said that with inflation approaching 1,600% it makes no sense to load ATMs with small-denomination bills. Soaring inflation is also putting pressure on Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono to delay the introduction of a new currency. Reserve Bank sources said new notes were printed by the German firm Giesecke & Devrient in July and were intended to be introduced some time this month.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/14/2007 00:00 ||
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The problem with most morons who come to power is that they think since they now control the printing presses they can just print money to buy their way out of troubles.
It doesn't work that way.
It is going to be a very bad year in Zimbabwe.
Posted by: DanNY ||
02/14/2007 5:54 Comments ||
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A weekly television and radio address by the Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, is due to become a daily show, albeit in a shortened version.
Since 1999, his four-hour programme, Alo Presidente, has run on Sundays. It will now become a 90-minute TV show broadcast on Thursdays, with a live radio show on the other weekdays. Mr Chavez will continue to highlight what he says are the achievements of his administration, as well as openly insulting his political enemies.
For thousands of his supporters in Venezuela, Alo Presidente's familiar theme music is a cue to tune in to see what is, undoubtedly, a colourful show. Mr Chavez uses the programme to celebrate his political agenda, to announce ad-hoc policies and to insult his opponents, most often President George W Bush. He also takes calls from members of the public on Alo Presidente, to discuss their grievances and supposedly solve them live on air.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/14/2007 00:00 ||
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Russian prosecutors said on Tuesday they were investigating a campaign group's complaint that conscripts were bullied into working in a prostitution ring run by older servicemen. In the latest embarrassment for Russia's military, one soldier said he was tortured with electric shocks until he agreed to have sex with clients, according to testimony collected by a campaign group.
The group also said it had witness statements that conscripts were sold to clients outside the gates of their unit in St Petersburg's historic center, and that other liaisons were arranged on the Internet and by telephone. "Conscripts are very well aware of places such as special clubs where they can be picked up," said Ella Polyakova, St Petersburg head of the Soldiers' Mothers Committee, a non-governmental organization. "We have several witnesses to it, and one of them gave us a written statement that he was forced to do it after he had been beaten and tortured with an electric current," Polyakova said.
The group alleged that the prostitution ring revolved around an Interior Ministry unit based next to the Hermitage Museum, the former Tsarist palace and home to a world-renowned art collection that attracts thousands of tourists a year.
Andrei Pichugin, a spokesman for the military prosecutor's office in St Petersburg, confirmed that an inquiry had been opened. He declined to make any further comment.
Russian media quoted an Interior Ministry spokesman in Moscow saying the conscript at the center of the complaints was mentally unstable. The spokesman said prostitution claims were "intended to discredit the institution of military service."
Bullying and abuse is commonplace in Russia's military, where recruits serve 18 months and face hazing by older soldiers called "dedovshchina," or "rule of the grandfathers."
In some cases death or serious injury results. Doctors last year had to amputate an abused soldier's legs and genitals. That caused deep embarrassment for Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, widely expected to run to replace President Vladimir Putin in 2008 when he steps down.
More often, dedovshchina means soldiers are forced to steal or beg and hand over earnings to their tormentors. Some officers have been prosecuted for renting soldiers out as laborers.
#1
I'm not saying this didn't happen, but I do find it hard to believe that there are a lot of people out there who are dying to pay for an encounter with a Russian Army conscript. Pretty Woman this ain't.
#3
This is old news, and it doesn't pertain just to women. There is plenty of evidence (I've seen some of it, heard about other) dating back to the 1950's. Soviet conscripts were little more than uniformed slaves, and could be used for just about anything.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/14/2007 21:53 Comments ||
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Staff at Paris's Louvre museum have gone on strike, demanding a bonus for the stress of looking after the Mona Lisa and other popular masterpieces.
Access to the museum was made free for visitors after strikers blocked access to ticket desks, reports say.
The Musee d'Orsay was also shut after attendants there stopped work.
Attendants are demanding a bonus they say other categories of staff have been offered, and because they suffer more stress being on the floor.
"The stress is clearly linked to the number of visitors", one Louvre attendant, who did not want to be named, told the AFP news agency.
"What's unbearable is the constant hubbub of the crowd, especially in the really popular rooms like the one with the Mona Lisa or the Venus de Milo.
"On Sundays, when the museum is free, it is even worse. There can be 65,000 visitors on one day. It's unbearable and even sometimes dangerous."
'Managing the flow'
Staff in the hall leading to the Mona Lisa - which most of the visitors to the museum want to see - said they spent much of their time reminding the public that flash photography was banned in the room where the painting was displayed.
"Sometimes you just blow your top," one staff member said.
Christelle Guyader, of the union staging the strike, said: "When the number of visitors gets so large - we had more than 7.5m in 2005 and 8.3m last year - with no increase in the number of attendants, and when more and more rooms are opened, then our work is reduced to simply managing the flow."
Management at the Louvre said that only a small percentage of the museum's attendants were on strike and that it was "having little effect", AFP reported.
#2
I've heard family stories about my great uncles in the Canadian Army "accidentally" calling in the coordinates of a Belgian town to be bombed. Seems they were trying to play both sides of the game during WWII.
#3
I don't find this at all surprising. Brussels today is the center of the new darkness, and its tentacles reach throughout the EU. I wouldn't mind if the Brits launched a "space shot" from somewhere in Scotland and it "malfunctioned", "accidentally" striking EU Central. I'm sure most Europeans not of the ruling class would applaud.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/14/2007 21:56 Comments ||
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Mitt Romney officially entered the 2008 presidential race Tuesday, a former one-term Republican governor of Massachusetts suggesting that his record of leadership inside and outside government uniquely positions him to tackle the country's challenges.
"I do not believe Washington can be transformed from within by lifetime politicians," Romney said, seeking to turn a potential liability, his limited political experience, into an asset. "There have been too many deals, too many favors, too many entanglements - and too little real world experience managing, guiding, leading."
The comment was a veiled swipe at his top rival for the GOP nomination, four-term Sen. John McCain of Arizona. In elective office only four years, Romney is not nearly as well known nationally as McCain and former two-term New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, political celebrities who consistently lead popularity polls.
A serious contender even though he is little more than a blip in such surveys, Romney is seeking to convince Republican primary voters that his record of success in the private, public and voluntary sectors proves he has the know-how to lead a country at a crossroads.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/14/2007 00:00 ||
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"I do not believe Washington can be transformed from within by lifetime politicians," Romney said
While he looks like a slick politico, I like this guy's style. Jeebus, how did he even survive 1 term in Taxachusetts. To me, a POTUS needs to be able to manage issues, thus the reason that Governors do so well in Presidential elections. They do NOT need to be another "Legislator" (attorney) who've only crafted bills for their district and wheel-n-deal with the big money fatcats. Thus, the reason that Senators do so poorly in POTUS elections.
Thus, that leaves only few standing.....Giuliani and Romney. While I don't like some stances Giuliani has made on social issues (gun control, abortion, etc.), I've gotta wonder about Romney's background. Could care less that the guy's a Mormon...I'm more interested in which businesses he ran, is he a lawyer, etc.? That'll help me make up my mind on Rudy vs. Mitt 2008.
Posted by: BA ||
02/14/2007 9:25 Comments ||
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Nice guy. Decent governor until he realized what a lost cause it was and pretty much disappeared for the last year to start his campaign.
Would I want him as president? No.
#5
I do not believe Washington can be transformed from within by lifetime politicians
Gimme a frickin break. His dad, George Romney was elected three times as governor of Michigan and served as Secretary of the old HUD which ought to be enough to discredit him all by itself. This guy's been a part of the establishment since the day he was born. Just because he has some experience other than politics doesn't exactly make him an outsider who can transform Washington. He's just another politician who will say whatever he thinks he has to say to get elected.
#6
"His dad, George Romney was elected three times as governor of Michigan and served as Secretary of the old HUD which ought to be enough to discredit him all by itself"
yeah, cause we all know how consie Republicans hate guys whose dads have lengthy insider resumes, right? LOL!
SAN DIEGO (AP) - The CIA's former No. 3 official was indicted Tuesday on suspicion of accepting lavish vacations, helicopter rides and private jet flights from a defense contractor who was also charged. A federal grand jury returned 11 counts of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering against Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, executive director of the CIA until he resigned in May, and his close friend, San Diego defense contractor Brent Wilkes.
Leave him alone in a locked room with a pistol and a single bullet. He'll know what to do.
The charges stem from the same investigation that sent former U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham to prison last year. The indictment said that Wilkes paid for Foggo and his family to join Wilkes and his family on a vacation in Scotland in August 2003, doling out $12,000 for private jet flights, $4,000 for a helicopter ride to play golf and $44,000 for a stay at an estate.
Foggo is accused of arranging that fall for one of Wilkes' companies to be a middleman in selling bottled water to the CIA. In December 2003, Wilkes introduced Foggo at a party at Wilkes' headquarters in Poway, Calif., as a future executive. Wilkes paid $32,000 for Foggo to join him on a vacation to Hawaii in December 2003 and January 2004, the indictment charges. Foggo and Wilkes, both 52, are accused of making illegal money transfers of $815,000 in government contract funds from a Virginia shell company to Wilkes' companies.
Foggo and Wilkes could each be punished by up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
In a separate indictment, Wilkes was charged with 25 counts of conspiracy, bribery, money laundering and unlawful monetary transactions to Cunningham in return for government contracts. The indictment included three counts of laundering more than $12 million.
A man described as a co-conspirator in Cunningham's 2005 plea agreement, John T. Michael, was charged with one count of obstruction of justice.
Wilkes could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison if convicted on the second indictment. Michael faces up to five years if convicted.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/14/2007 00:00 ||
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"Dusty" and "Duke" ... welcome to Marion "Maxi" Illinois Penitentiary. Have a nice long stay.
#1
I'm a little skeptical. I have a feeling the whole thing was staged to get the girl a green card. Call me a cynic. Seems to me that the easiest way to get yourself one is to declare yourself a Falungong follower and request asylum. Same as some of the folks who showed up pleading persecution under the one-child rule.
Washington, Feb 14: McDonnell Douglas Corp has received a fresh 15.79-million dollar contract to make 10 Harpoon anti-ship missiles for Pakistan, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.
The company, a subsidiary of Boeing, will supply the missiles as part of a contract with the naval air systems command under the foreign military sales programme, it said.
Pakistan wants to use the Harpoon missiles with its P-3C maritime surveillance aircraft that are being refurbished to improve their attack capabilities and with its surface ships and submarines.
The contract is for 10 Harpoon Block II, Grade B all-up- round missiles and an equal number of MK631 containers. The bulk of the work will be carried out in Missouri, and some parts will be executed in other parts of the US.
The Pentagon also announced the contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal.
Last June, the Defence Security Cooperation Agency had informed Congress about Pakistan's request for an assortment of missiles, including the Harpoon Block II missiles, containers and missile modifications. It had placed the value of the deal at 370 million dollars.
According to defence industry daily, the Harpoon Block II is an upgrade programme designed to improve the missile's ability to attack targets in congested littoral areas, where nearby land masses and other ships can provide cover for targets.
Harpoon Block II missiles can be deployed from all platforms that have the harpoon missile system by using existing command and launch equipment.
Posted by: john ||
02/14/2007 18:53 ||
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It was hardly a Hallmark moment. As a Valentine's Day card smoldered, more than 100 members of the Hindu extremist group Shiv Sena gathered in central New Delhi chanted "Death to Valentine's Day" and "People who celebrate Valentine's Day should be pelted with shoes!"
Valentine's Day has in the past two decades made strong inroads in India as the country has slowly opened itself up to the outside world its economic boom bringing in not just foreign investment, but also aspects of Western culture virtually unknown here a quarter-century ago. Across the country, stores stocked heart-shaped balloons and chocolates, restaurants offered Valentine's Day specials and young lovers found refuge from prying eyes in the parks.
It's a state of affairs that enrages Hindu and Muslim hard-liners, who on Wednesday vented just as they do every Valentine's Day burning cards, holding rallies and even threatening to beat couples caught canoodling in public, a strict no-no for those who claim to defend traditional Indian values.
"This is a conspiracy to misguide the young people of our country," said Jai Bhagwan Goel, chief of the Shiv Sena's north India branch. In his hand the card, with its image of a Victorian couple pictured in a tepid peck under a parasol, went up in flames. "We have come to know that in America, even unmarried girls as young as 11 or 12 years have become mothers ... and every second man there is divorced," Goel told reporters after reducing several greeting cards to a small pile of ash. "This is their culture - it cannot be accepted here." Goel and his indignant followers left soon after when about 60 riot police stopped them from advancing on nearby restaurants offering Valentine's Day specials.
For the day, the Hindu hard-liners found themselves, unusually, on the same side as Islamic separatist groups in Indian-controlled Kashmir, a predominantly Muslim region in the Himalayas.
About 40 protesters, calling themselves the Forum Against Social Evil, marched on a popular restaurant area in Srinagar, the region's main city, calling on shop owners to refuse to serve couples and refrain from un-Islamic practices on Wednesday. "The government is promoting such obscenities," said Asiya Andrabi, the leader of Kashmir's only women's separatist group, Dukhtaran-e-Millat, before police ordered them away, too.
Weather intervened to stop Hindu extremists in the northern city of Lucknow from carrying out their threats to beat couples found kissing, hugging or even holding hands in public. With torrential rains pouring down, young lovers stayed out of the parks where they usually seek privacy.
Still, even if some lovers stayed out of sight, they made their desires known, placing ads on special Valentine's Day pages in newspapers. "My heart is like a cabbage," declared a man named Manoj to some lucky lady. "Divided into two; the leaves are for others and the heart for you."
#4
more than 100 members of the Hindu extremist group Shiv Sena
In a city of 12.6 million people...
Posted by: john ||
02/14/2007 16:19 Comments ||
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In a nation of 1 billion people, probably 200 people total make a fuss and they attract all this media attention
Posted by: john ||
02/14/2007 16:20 Comments ||
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I think men in general should protest Valentines day, as it is just another Hallmark Moment. Below is what I call my Holiday Hierarchy; feel free to plagerize / tailor as required for your own particular needs:
If you do not see any particular day that is customarily observed as a holiday listed, then you are safe to assume that its importance is below that of the last one listed.
ISLAMABAD - Pakistans government introduced a bill in parliament Tuesday seeking to end the forced marriage of women and girls and allowing females to inherit property, officials said.
The move by the party of President Pervez Musharraf comes as part of the pro-US rulers policy of enlightened moderation, which aims to turn back conservative and Islamist customs and laws. The Anti-Women Practices Bill will end the decades-old subjugation of women, said Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, president of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, after the bill was presented in the National Assembly.
The bill, which has yet to be adopted by parliament, would outlaw notorious customs like vani, where blood feuds in rural areas are settled by offering young girls in marriage to the offended party. The legislation would also end the practice of marrying women to the Koran -- the Islamic holy book -- which effectively deprives them of their right to inherit property.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said the legislation would prevent the exploitation and discrimination of women and showed the government was committed to womens rights.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/14/2007 00:00 ||
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KATHMANDU - Maoist leader Prachanda vowed on Tuesday to push to abolish the monarchy and create a new Nepal as he addressed tens of thousands of supporters in his first public speech in the capital in 25 years. Unless the monarchy is eliminated, a new Nepal cannot come into existence, Prachanda, or the fierce one, said as his flag-waving supporters roared their approval.
The rally, which brought the heart of the city to a standstill, took place on the 11th anniversary of the start of the Maoist revolt that ended last November when the rebels signed a historic peace deal with the government. Security was tight as the demonstrators listened to their formerly reclusive leader, who has emerged from a quarter-century underground vigorously to press his cause.
This is a memorable day for us as our 10 years of peoples war has been able to establish new norms and values for the country to head towards the path of a republic, he added, in what organisers said was his first public speech here since the early 1980s. The Maoist leader spoke for just under an hour in a vast open-air theatre and was frequently interrupted by cheering supporters waving red flags and holding banners declaring Long live the Maoist party, and Long live Prachanda.
The former rebels entered parliament earlier this year, taking 83 out of 330 seats, but have yet to be given positions in the cabinet.
Prachanda is not a member of parliament. But he said late last year he was willing to serve as president of a future Nepal republic if the masses want to give me the responsibility and if my party chooses me as the best candidate.
And it'll be the last decision the 'masses' ever get to make.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/14/2007 00:00 ||
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Well Gooollleee, Sergeant Carter, who would've known that after allowing the Commies into the Gubmint they're gonna kill the monarchy anyways.
#2
"Ultimately, we will have to fight with the Indian army. That is the situation. Therefore, we have to take into account the Indian army. When the Indian army comes in with thousands and thousands of soldiers, it will be a very big thing. But we are not afraid of the Indian Army."---Prachanda, leader of the Maoists of Nepal, in an interview to a Maoist journalist of Latin America
Posted by: john ||
02/14/2007 5:42 Comments ||
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The Maoists could well win in Nepal but that would be a much bigger disaster, for they belong to the same tradition of ultra-egalitarian and anti-foreign extremism that animated the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia and Sendero Luminoso (the Shining Path) in Peru. Mercifully, the latter group never attained power, but between 1975 and 1979 the Khmer Rouge murdered about a quarter of Cambodia's population in a drive to exterminate everybody who was a "class enemy" or had been exposed to foreign influences.
"Comrade Prachandra", the 42-year-old former horticulture teacher who is the Nepali Maoists' leader, never gives interviews, but the deputy leader, Baburam Bhattarai - whose PhD thesis was a Marxist analysis of Nepal's problems - was chilling when asked whether his movement's policies would be similar to those of the Khmer Rouge: "There is no independent and authentic account of events in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge available so far. Whatever is emanating from the Western media appears to be highly exaggerated." In other words, they are the same.
Posted by: john ||
02/14/2007 5:48 Comments ||
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#4
john, you wanna arrange a meeting between this guy and Achmadiwhackjob?
Posted by: ed ||
02/14/2007 08:34 ||
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India, China, Russia call for fairer world order
A more accurate title would be: India, China, Russia: Pay me! This is why India will never be as steadfast an American ally as France. Trade with India, but never count on it.
#2
Translation, (Bang spoon on High Chair) "We wanna be boss, Waaahh, Waaah, Whine."
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/14/2007 10:10 Comments ||
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#3
I have an idea. Countries should be expected to match the contribution of US to world GDP per capita, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion. Fair is fair, right?
#7
SS: We are setting the bar pretty low here as far as steadfast allies are concerned.
India will always be there for us when it needs us. Note that India abetted Bangladesh's secession from Pakistan with an armed invasion. If it hadn't, I seriously doubt that the Kashmir situation would be quite as bitter as it has been - imagine if Uncle Sam backed the secession of Tamil Nadu from India with an armed invasion.
#9
All three nations have Islamic problems. All three are great powers. They should have created a working relationship long ago. Military as well as trade. If they are trading they are less likely to be fighting.
You seem to jump on any inkling of a reason to bash India... will rarely, if ever, comment on any Indian stories that are positive, but come in full force at anything remotely negative. You're not a Pakistani in disguise, are you? :)
The Bangladesh "war" was in 1971... long after Kashmir became a bitter issue. Kashmir became bitter right after partition when 100's of thousands on both sides died in the name of religion.
#11
And, the France of Lafayette's day is NOT the Phrawnce of today, Zhang. Jeebus, man, quit drinking the kool aid.
Posted by: BA ||
02/14/2007 13:07 Comments ||
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#12
Wait I just went to your blog... Chinese-centric. Explains it. I'm sure you'd find even Pakistan more trustworthy than India.
Regardless, if you are going to suggest that India will be with us only as long as they need us, you are probably right... And that is exactly why we are courting India now as well--we would like to have them on our side. Otherwise, if India were a small nation with minor potential, do you honestly thing we would give a damn about them? It works both ways.
#13
S: You seem to jump on any inkling of a reason to bash India... will rarely, if ever, comment on any Indian stories that are positive, but come in full force at anything remotely negative. You're not a Pakistani in disguise, are you? :)
That's because India's less reliable than France. Tell me about the Indian special forces units that are fighting in Afghanistan. You mean there aren't any? But I thought India was our best buddy? Like I said, trade with India - just count on it.
#15
India has done a ton for development of Afghanistan after the Taleban--with billions of US$ in aid (second only to the US) and building hospitals, roads, and educational institutions, to the extent that Hamid Karzai calls India one of his greatest allies. The new Afghani Parliament was built by India as well. Not good enough for you?
#16
Practically speaking, we, as in the US, needs to create a new perpetually assembled "round table", like the UNSC used to be.
Voting members are the US, Russia, China, India, Japan, and the EU. But you only get a vote if you commit a large number of military personnel to whatever situation is on the floor. Vetoes are only operational vetoes, not mission vetoes.
Any time any member wants to do something, it announces it, and asks if others want to join in, or have military objections to it. Members can veto only by threatening each other over actions. If they won't put their money where there mouth is, they have no veto. Whining does nothing.
Operational control is the other veto. This amounts to two or more participants agreeing to split the mission. If one doesn't want to do what the other does, then it doesn't. That is its operational veto.
This is not a round table of friends. This is a round table of enemies. Working in contention instead of faux alliance will often produce far more positive results than playing nice.
#17
That's because India's less reliable than France. Tell me about the Indian special forces units that are fighting in Afghanistan. You mean there aren't any? But I thought India was our best buddy?
The coalition in Afghanistan doesn't include India because that would totally freak out Pakistan. That was one demand that Perv made for cooperation with the US. The coalition in fact includes no troops from countries that border Afghanistan or have interest there.
That means no Iranians , No Pakistanis, No Indians, No Russians.
There are probably Indian SF in Afghanistan, just not there legally. India operates an airbase with helicopters and fighters in Uzbekistan. It was at Ayni Airbase that the Northern Alliance commander Ahmad Shah Masood died after the suicide bomb attack on the day before 9/11. India operates a military hosipital there for the Northern alliance. Its military trainers are there. It has SF there.
Posted by: john ||
02/14/2007 16:13 Comments ||
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#18
Note that India abetted Bangladesh's secession from Pakistan with an armed invasion
The Indian invasion stopped a genocide. But not before the Pakistan army murdered 1-3 million Bengali people.
The Kashmir jihad was launched just months after the Afghan campaign was shut down. Pakistan was able to reorient the jihadis towards Kashmir.
They would have done this even without the Bangladesh secession simply because they were able to. Anytime Pakistan has felt it had local military superiority and could attack India behind a facade of 'freedom fighters' it has.
Posted by: john ||
02/14/2007 16:18 Comments ||
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#19
Posted by: john ||
02/14/2007 16:41 Comments ||
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#20
MIL FORUMS > there are Netters claiming to be from India whom doubt India's ability to become a future superpower. DELHI TIMES.com > November 2005 > Insia's Govt is uncertain how to deal effectively wid various armed ethnic separatists + anti-Western/Moder Socialists + Radicals in its northern cities and provinces.
#21
India, China and Russia Call for Fairer World Order
This from:
India, who burns wives when their husbands die and shuns people into misery and poverty because they are from lower "castes".
Russia, who turns veteran amputees into homeless people in train stations and gives mobsters rule over every facet of life.
China, who mows down people who protest for freedom of speech and corners the world market on intellectual property theft.
YANGON - Myanmars military rulers on Tuesday extended the house arrest of Tin Oo, the octogenarian deputy to democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a senior official said. We extended his detention, a senior official in Naypyidaw, Myanmars new administrative capital, told AFP by telephone.
Another official at the Home Affairs Ministry said Tin Oos house arrest was extended by one year. The government has released more than 100 NLD members who were arrested during the incident, but Aung San Suu Kyi and Tin Oo are both still being held under house arrest in Yangon.
Tin Oo is the deputy leader of Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy party. The international community, as well as local activists, have repeatedly called for the pair to be released. Tin Oo was arrested along with the Nobel peace prize winner in May 2003, after a pro-government mob attacked their convoy during a political tour of the countrys north. He was initially held in prison in Kalay in remote northwestern Myanmar, but in February 2004 was brought back to his home in Yangon, where he has been held ever since.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/14/2007 00:00 ||
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Western political and economic pressure on Iran over its nuclear program has chilled foreign investment to the extent that it is now squeezing the countrys long-fragile energy industry, adding strains to a government that is burdened by sanctions and wary of unrest at home.
The worlds fourth-largest oil exporter, Iran sits on the second-largest oil and gas reserves. But it has struggled in recent years to keep its oil production, currently running at about four million barrels a day, from falling.
Some analysts say that if this acute imbalance between stagnant production and rising demand at home continues unchecked, Iran will have no oil left over to export within a decade. Its oil exports, totaling $47 billion last year, account for half the governments revenue.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/14/2007 18:27 Comments ||
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#3
Some Iran Netters are claiming that their Govt plans to limit the sale and import of new cars + other restrictions on consumer goodies. D ***ng it, CAMELS WILL LEAD THE WAY INTO SPACE.
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.
Banks in Zimbabwe are no longer distributing bills smaller than $10,000 through their automated teller machines, which some observers are taking as a sign the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe might have to lop more zeroes off the currency this year. The Z$10,000 note is worth US$2 on the parallel foreign exchange market.
A weekly television and radio address by the Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, is due to become a daily show, albeit in a shortened version. 
SAN DIEGO (AP) - The CIA's former No. 3 official was indicted Tuesday on suspicion of accepting lavish vacations, helicopter rides and private jet flights from a defense contractor who was also charged. A federal grand jury returned 11 counts of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering against 
It was hardly a Hallmark moment. As a Valentine's Day card smoldered, more than 100 members of the Hindu extremist group Shiv Sena gathered in central New Delhi chanted "Death to Valentine's Day" and "People who celebrate Valentine's Day should be pelted with shoes!"
KATHMANDU - Maoist leader Prachanda vowed on Tuesday to push to abolish the monarchy and create a new Nepal as he addressed tens of thousands of supporters in his first public speech in the capital in 25 years. Unless the monarchy is eliminated, a new Nepal cannot come into existence, Prachanda, or the fierce one, said as his flag-waving supporters roared their approval.
