HT Powerline
Italian police and magistrates are examining photos and video to decide whether one of the country's best-known footballers gave a fascist salute. Paolo di Canio appeared to make the gesture after his team Lazio beat local rivals Roma by 3-1. Di Canio, a Lazio fan all his life, had played well and scored a stunning goal. On Saturday, though, Italian newspapers carried pictures of Di Canio's face distorted with pride. His right arm was apparently Nothing apparent about it, it's the real il Duce.
raised in a straight-armed Roman salute that would have been instantly recognised by the former fascist leader of Italy, Benito Mussolini. It would also have been recognised by the minority of far-right, racist supporters who have given Lazio a bad name over the years. It has now been confirmed that police are sifting through photographs and film footage of the incident to see if Di Canio's actions merit any criminal charge. Italy's football authorities are also expected to examine the evidence.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/09/2005 8:15:29 PM ||
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Isn't this the same guy who smacked a referee a few years ago when he was playing in England? Kind of the EU's version of Randy Moss.
#2
Di Canio is a problem child and he did play for a number of English Premier League clubs including West Ham under Harry Redknapp if my memory serves correct.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
01/09/2005 22:41 Comments ||
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The EU and europe tend to get all worked up over this when they have real terrorists living and plotting against them. Going after crap like this is a waste of time. I think you better spend time checking on Abu the bomb maker and Imam/recuter at the local mosque instead.
The BBC has some of its executives under guard in London after receiving threats for airing, "Jerry Springer -- The Opera," Sky News reported Sunday. The execs' families were subjected to "a large number of abusive and unpleasant calls" after their private telephone numbers were posted on a campaign group's Web site, the BBC said. The site was taken down following legal action by the network. Personally, I find the elevation of Jerry Springer into opera most offensive of all, but that's just me.
More than 45,000 complaints about the show were received, the most in the BBC's 78-year history. The threats call the show "blasphemous" for its 8,000 swear words and portrayal of Jesus Christ as "a bit gay." BBC chief Mark Thompson said as a practicing Christian, he found nothing about the show to be blasphemous. Golly gee! Death threats over blasphemous material. Sounds like the usual Islamic fatwah-itis. Oh, wait. These are Christians doing the threatening. Such religious fragility is always pathetic, no matter whose ox messiah is being gored.
A truck driver has disappeared with the 3.6 million nickels he was hauling to the Federal Reserve Bank in New Orleans, police said Friday. Angel Ricardo Mendoza, 43, picked up the coins, worth $180,000, December 17 from the Federal Reserve in New Jersey and was supposed to haul the cargo -- weighing 45,000 pounds -- to New Orleans for a trucking company subcontracted by the Federal Reserve, police said. On December 21, Mendoza's empty truck and trailer turned up at a truck stop in Fort Pierce, Florida.
Minus the nickels, we take it?
Good luck trying to trace them ...
Miami-Dade police, the FBI and the Federal Reserve police are investigating. "We are concerned for his safety because he's missing," Miami-Dade Detective Randy Rossman said. "We suspect foul play. We are concerned and we are still investigating." Mendoza lives in Miami-Dade County but has no family in the area. Police said he has a wife in Cuba.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
01/09/2005 10:32:31 PM ||
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What did he do: tuck all those coins into his pants pockets? I realize the look is droopy drawers, but this is ridiculous!
#7
One of the fun SS stories is of a nickel counterfeiter during the really big depression. Dumped about 5 tons in a lake to keep 'em safe. The SS did a cost analysis of his operation and figured it cost more than 8 cents each to manufacture.
COVERED in snow and a long way from home, the red kangaroo offered no resistance when cornered by the sheriff's men on a Wisconsin farm. The US capture came in the nick of time, as the wandering marsupial would not have survived a night of sub-zero temperatures. The kangaroo, named "Aussie Frosty" by some local children, is now drying out at the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison, the state capital, and receiving attention deserving of a visiting celebrity. "He needed to be found because this weather is not going to help him at all," zoo director Jim Hubing said. "With everything snow-covered, it would be very difficult for him to find any food, much less shelter."
The marsupial's capture followed a three-day chase that began when motorists spotted him taking a detour off a four-lane highway. How he came to be in Wisconsin is a mystery, but he may have escaped from a truck passing through the area. Until the 54kg hopper's owner claims him, Mr Hubing said, he was welcome to stay at the zoo, which is already home to five red kangaroos and three wallabies.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
01/09/2005 10:19:56 PM ||
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Bad boy, bad boy, wa'chu gonna do?
Wa'chu gonna do wit de kangaroo?
"Tonight on a very special Cops . . . 'Crocodile Hunter' Steve Irwin joins the Madison County Sheriff's Department . . . ."
"Crikey! Ain't 'e a beaut? You've got the right to remain silent, mate. . . . "
Posted by: Mike ||
01/09/2005 7:56 Comments ||
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How he came to be in Wisconsin is a mystery
Sounds like a case for Homeland Security. Kinda makes you wonder about all the TSA airport crap when even a Kangeroo can get into the country illegally.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/09/2005 9:00 Comments ||
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Kinda makes you wonder about all the TSA airport crap when even a Kangeroo can get into the country illegally.
he didn't have any fingernail clippers
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/09/2005 9:34 Comments ||
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How he came to be in Wisconsin is a mystery
Took the bus from Chicago?
Posted by: Fred ||
01/09/2005 9:45 Comments ||
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Hmmmm
In 1966, a female kangaroo was captured by Sheriff's deputies and game wardens after rampaging through Floydada, Texas in the middle of the night. The creature was reported to have knocked down a fence, dug up an old lady's garden, and severely injured a kangaroo-illiterate cat that got too close. The owner was never traced (probably for fear of lawsuits) and the animal was eventually donated to a zoo. The cat recovered.
A 54-year-old British man broke his leg after falling 3m while walking above a nudist beach. The man was walking along a path on a cliff above Congwong Beach — a nudist beach in La Perouse, in Sydney's south-east — when he fell. WOW ! Thats a nice set of.........OUCH!
A Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter spokesman said it was unclear how or why the man fell. "We're not sure at this stage, and if it was (because of the nudist beach), he's not going to admit it," the spokesman said. The man was airlifted to St George Hospital in a serious but stable condition.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
01/09/2005 10:27:31 PM ||
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I admit, sometimes that third leg impedes one's gait.
Posted by: Captain America ||
01/09/2005 12:42 Comments ||
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Seems like a really obvious location for a safety rail.
A strong earthquake shook buildings and sent people scrambling from their homes early Monday in Banda Aceh, but no injuries or damage were reported in the Indonesian city that was devastated by a massive quake and tsunami two weeks ago. The magnitude 6.2 temblor struck at 5:13 a.m. off the northern coast of Sumatra island, according to the U.S. Geological Survey's Web site. The quake was centered at a depth of about nine miles under the seabed in the Indian Ocean, about 40 miles southwest of Banda Aceh, the USGS said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/09/2005 9:25:49 PM ||
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I'm thinking it ain't the last one....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/09/2005 22:35 Comments ||
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The "anaemic" financial effort made by Muslim countries towards tsunami relief has been criticised in a hard-hitting critique published on Saturday. Peter Bergen of the New America Foundation, who is CNN's expert of terrorism, and who also visited Pakistan recently points out in a New York Times column that "this anemic effort on the part of the richest countries is emblematic of a wider political problem in the Islamic world. For all of the invocations by Muslim leaders of the ummah, or the global community of believers, they typically do little to help their fellow Muslims in times of crisis. Arab leaders and their toothless talking shops like the Arab League and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference are excellent at denouncing problems in Palestine and Iraq, but most stood silent as a million died in the war between Iraq and Iran during the 1980s.
That could be because they were rooting for both sides...
Bergen writes that it is "common currency" in the Islamic world that Muslims are perpetual victims of Western and Zionist conspiracies. Yet when Muslims are suffering, it is usually the West, and often the United States, that takes the lead in helping, he notes, recalling that it was the US that came to the aid of Afghans after the Soviet invasion and it was the US that overthrew the Taliban regime. Washington again it was that sent 25,000 troops to help relief efforts in Somalia and came to the aid of the Bosnians being massacred by Serbs. He points out that other than Turkey, no Muslim nation has sent troops to Afghanistan to help stabilise the poorest country in the Islamic world.
And a year after the tsunami, they'll be rioting in the streets and burning American flags again. There's no surprise there. There's no word for "gratitude" in Arabic...
According to Bergen, "Now the same pattern - action by Western countries and inertia from Muslim states - can be seen in the efforts to provide relief for those hardest hit by the Indian Ocean tsunami. While 100,000 of the victims are from Aceh, the most Islamic of Indonesia's provinces, Muslim countries are contributing a relative pittance. Oil-rich Saudi Arabia is contributing the most: a paltry $30 million, about the same as what Netherlands is giving and less than one-tenth of the United States contribution. And no Arab governments participated in the conference in Jakarta on Thursday where major donors and aid organisations conferred over reconstruction efforts." He hopes that the generosity of Western countries will spur Islamic states to recognise that invocations of religious Muslim solidarity will do little to feed the millions of Muslims who remain acutely vulnerable to disease and starvation in the aftermath of this enormous natural catastrophe.
The fact that they're starving and their children are being sold into sexual slavery doesn't matter. What matters is that they have mosques and at least one Koran for every household. And shariah. Lots of shariah.
He adds that there have been a few positive signs in recent days that things may be changing. Spurred by criticism, Saudi state-run television organised a telethon this week that raised private pledges of more than $75 million, and the Islamic Development Bank has pledged $500 million. "Much remains to be done, however. The Persian Gulf countries that are reaping a bonanza from record oil prices should send a meaningful percentage of those windfall profits to their fellow Muslims devastated by the tsunami, rather than lining the pockets of their ruling families. After all, zakat, the giving of charity, is one of the five pillars of Islam," Bergen adds ironically.
You can't use zakat! That would take the bread out of the mouths of millions of holy men!
Posted by: Fred ||
01/09/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Methinks that Muslim charity has much more in common with the "subscriptions" that ordinary Germans paid to help build battleships before WWI or the "State Loan" that Russians paid during Stalin's time than it does with the United Way.
I'm guessing that most of the swag that doesn't get consumed by holy men goes to things like the intifada and Islamic bombs. And the real beauty of living in a high-context society is that nobody has to come right out and say what the scam is. A few hints are dropped and 90% understand.
#4
... it is âcommon currencyâ in the Islamic world that Muslims are perpetual victims of Western and Zionist conspiracies. Yet when Muslims are suffering, it is usually the West, and often the United States, that takes the lead in helping, he notes, recalling that it was the US that came to the aid of Afghans after the Soviet invasion and it was the US that overthrew the Taliban regime.
Just one more good reason that whenever Western countries are obliged to go in and clean up another Muslim trainwreck like Afghanistan, no sort of Islamist government should be allowed to retain or ascend to power afterwards.
The Persian Gulf countries that are reaping a bonanza from record oil prices should send a meaningful percentage of those windfall profits to their fellow Muslims devastated by the tsunami, rather than lining the pockets of their ruling families. After all, zakat, the giving of charity, is one of the five pillars of Islam,â Bergen adds ironically.
This sort of horseshit redlines my cynicism meter. One is forced to assume that if Islamic charity cannot be directed towards the killing of infidels, its only other allowable destination is the pockets of their corrupt mullahs and leaders. Isn't it time to rip the mask from all this blather about how the West is suppressing Islam?
The most oppressive force of all against Muslims is their own religious thugocracy. Untold bazillions of dollars flow into the Arab OPEC nations and they can barely match the donation level of a small European country. This betrayal of their own purported religious kin needs to be etched into the global awareness regarding Islam's outcry about "crusades" against it.
Until Islam steps up to the plate and behaves like a genuine charitable institution, instead of a political juggernaut, it should face serious opposition to its currently unreformed state. All signs indicate that Islam's leaders hold nothing more than a Stalinist meat-grinder attitude towards their own flock.
Until that changes, major proscriptions should accompany Islam wherever it goes.
#5
Zakat for foreigners? Baby needs a new pair of curly-toed slippers Mercedes limousine
Posted by: Prince Naif ||
01/09/2005 13:52 Comments ||
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We also need to highlight how little Arabs care for non-Arab Muslims. Any outcry about the Kurds? About Afghan's misery? About victims of the Tsunami?
Six more Pakistani pilgrims have died in Saudi Arabia over the last couple of days, taking the death toll of Pakistani pilgrims to 30 so far, Ministry of Religious Affairs Secretary Vakil Ahmed Khan said on Saturday. The minister said all pilgrims died of natural causes and had been buried in Saudi Arabia. He said the Pakistani medical mission in Saudi Arabia had attended 55,131 outdoor patients so far and more than 130 were admitted to the mission hospital out of which 98 were discharged after treatment. He said 45 seriously ill pilgrims had been admitted to Saudi hospitals. Khan said that 109 pilgrims lost their air tickets out of which 67 were issued duplicate tickets. He said the Pakistani Haj Directorate had received 546 complaints from pilgrims out of which 481 had been addressed.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/09/2005 00:00:00 ||
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"Trampling" being a natural effect cause of Hajj.
#4
Yes, that's where they keep the "meteor". Actually it's a broken black rock held together by a silver band -- I doubt that anyone has been able to scientifically test the meteor theory.
The "box" is a brick building covered with a black cloth.
Posted by: Tom ||
01/09/2005 15:22 Comments ||
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Just the thing to boost the paranoia levels in certain government sectors in The Hermit Kingdom
Mercenaries is a revolutionary, third person action-shooter game set in the near future and inspired by real world events. How Real world is it?
On the eve of an historic reunification of North and South Korea, a ruthless general stages a military coup, takes control of North Korea and then threatens the world with nuclear war. *nods* Sounds realistic...
In response, the international community launches a global task force to stabilize the country. ...except for that part.
However, when diplomatic efforts collapse and the region descends into anarchy, If you're yelling "Whiplash! Whiplash!" I wouldn't blame you.
they place a one hundred million dollar reward on the head of the North Korean general and on his top military and scientific advisors. The targets are identified in a "most wanted" list in the form of a deck of 52 playing cards. Here's hoping this brings Army First Man out of whatever cublicle they've stuffed that oratorical genius to rot, and put him back on the front page of KCNA.
As one of the top operatives for a private military company called Executive Operations, you have been hired to hunt down the 52 targets. Free enterprise put into the service of felling a communist bastion. Ol' Ronnie (PBUH) must be gazing down from the walls of the Heavenly Zion and smiling.
#1
Oh I am eagerly waiting for this one.
"Blow it up and blow it up again."
My wife saw that ad on TV and said: "How much time will you waste when you buy it?" The question wasn't even if I was going to buy it. I am loving it.
THREE Japanese electronics giants are preparing to establish standards for using domestic electricity wiring for high-speed network services. Panasonic brand maker Matsushita, Sony and Mitsubishi Electric issued a joint statement announcing that they were creating an alliance to set up global standards to allow appliances built by different companies would interconnect. Under the technology, data would be transmitted not via telephone lines but by power lines - theoretically providing powerful internet access in any room that is wired for electricity. And in contrast to telephone lines, power lines would allow computers to run on the same network as appliances such as televisions, refrigerators and heating thermostats, opening new possibilities for secure, remote access. Powerline communication "is considered a critical bi-directional communication channel that will support home networking in the future," the companies said. The technology has been made available in recent years in limited trials in the United States, Europe, Australia and parts of East Asia. Japan, however, has not yet allowed it as it weighs concerns that the technology could interfere with ship and aircraft radio communications.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
01/09/2005 10:23:36 PM ||
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Please give the BPL a rest. I get enough interference to radio communications from leaky transformers right now. Adding BPL noise will not help. This is a form of data transfer that we can do without.
#2
The primary reason they are doing this is to save their antiquated, but still very profitable, infrastructure of centralized energy production. Now that fuel cell technology is exploding, and to a lesser extent very small and safe nuclear reactors (pioneered in Japan and South Africa), they see that high-tension electricity transfer is in decline.
#4
âThe primary reason they are doing this is to save their antiquated, but still very profitable, infrastructure of centralized energy production.â
Electronic technology continues to improve and get much cheaper. Power transmission systems already require communications for monitoring and control. As power systems are better conditioned they also make better communications networks. If a power company can use power lines for communication their operational expenses and cost go down. Once the technology is available to the power companies, it is natural that the power companies would want to offer broadband to their customers.
While big cities have cable and DSL broadband, many smaller communities have no broadband offerings. (No local cable TV service and phone DSL is distance limited.)
TV, stereo, computer, and appliance makers want to add new capabilities without adding complexity. Devices that when plugged into wall socket would automatically detect and communicate with other home devices would improve the customer value. The devices could also relay diagnostic data to a repair center. (Manufacturers are adding wireless communications in a similar manner.)
Electrical transmission systems will still be needed even when more distributed power systems are available. Indeed, the power transmission system will have to be better conditioned to handle local power fluctuations as small power generators come on/off line. Power management will continue to be a high tech, profitable business.
(Iâm all in favor of fuel cells, modern nuclear plants, and distributed power generation. I also agree that too many of our power generation and transmission facilities are antiquated. The companies that arenât antiquated are the ones installing new equipment that will allow new service offerings such as powerline bandwidth.)
#5
While big cities have cable and DSL broadband, many smaller communities have no broadband offerings. (No local cable TV service and phone DSL is distance limited.)
As someone who grew up in a very small community (<500) I'll have to disagree. This might have been true 10-20 years ago but, in the US at least, this bit of common knowledge is rapidly becoming erroneous.
For example, my hometown has had cable television for almost 20 years and cable internet access for a couple of years. There's also a local provider who utilizes microwave links to provide high speed internet access to rural customers. Also, the local telephone exchange owner (an individual) is beginning a project this summer to pull fiber optic cable to every home (rural & in town) in his service area to provide integrated digital cable, telephone, & high speed internet access. Then there's DirecTV's high-speed offering that's available everywhere in the continental US.
This community is a small isolated town in the middle of nowhere in the midwest, far from any major (or even minor) city. If that many access options are available there it's safe to assume that the buildout is continuing apace and will reach most everyone in relatively short order.
#7
Data transmission over electric power lines causes interference to communications in the high frequency spectrum. This is the region where most international emergency communications take place. BPL effects those trying to hear them. It is a bad idea.
Installing and maitaining cable is cheaper. RF broadband at UHF and above is also availible. BPL is bad news. As some one who uses HF com links daily I know just how much this will damage my ability to hear the person trying to talk to me. I already suffer from encroachment from man made unintentional interference, BPL is intentional interference as powerlines are just huge antennas. Nothing that the Power company can do will stop the signal genereated by BPL fron radiating into the enviroment. This is just greed and stupidity.
BPL can never compete with fiber, cable or phoneline on cost or bandwidth. It won't be used to get broadband to the rual markets it will be used in built up metro areas where their is a faint hope that money can be made from it. It costs a ton of money to deploy and maintain, it's destructive to the HF radio environment and is going to be a nightmare. This is one rathole we don't need to toss money down.
NEW Zealand supplied Agent Orange chemicals to the United States military during the Vietnam war, a government minister has revealed.
Ohfergawdsake. Who the hell cares now?
The disclosure led to immediate claims that New Zealand was in breach of the Geneva convention and could face a flood of lawsuits from veterans and Vietnamese.
Okay. I guess the ambulance chasers care...
... Ramsey Clark might give a hoot ...
Transport Minister Harry Duynhoven said the chemicals were sent to a United States base in the Philippines during the 1960s. "The information that has been given to me is that products used to make Agent Orange were shipped from New Plymouth (New Zealand) to Subic Bay in the Philippines," he told the Sunday News newspaper. After nearly three decades of official denials, a high-level parliamentary committee formally acknowledged late last year that New Zealand soldiers in the Vietnam War were significantly exposed to Agent Orange, but no mention was ever made that the country was a supplier. Some New Zealand veterans are seeking compensation for chronic illnesses suffered by them and their families. Although the National Party was in power during the Vietnam War, Mr Duynhoven said his current Labour government was responsible for setting the record straight. "Any government has to deal with the situation it finds itself in and it's always a problem if previous governments leave a mess."
"See? It wudn't us! It wuz them!"
From 1961 to 1971, the US and South Vietnamese military sprayed millions of litres of toxic herbicides, mainly Agent Orange, over South Vietnam to destroy the vegetation used by communist forces for cover and food. Hanoi says the defoliant has caused health problems for more than one million Vietnamese and continues to have devastating consequences. A study released in August last year by scientists from the United States, Germany and Vietnam found that Agent Orange was still contaminating people through their food. Dioxin, the defoliant's deadly component, can cause an increased risk of cancers, immunodeficiencies, reproductive and developmental changes, nervous system problems and other health effects, according to medical experts.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
01/09/2005 10:17:34 PM ||
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Let's lay on the guilt! Australia supplied thousands and thousands of gallons of Agent Grape.
World Vision has praised Australians' generosity after a nationwide telethon raised more than $20 million for the organisation's tsunami relief effort. A benefit concert staged at Sydney's Opera House last night and an associated telethon was broadcast on all three commercial television networks and the ABC's Asia Pacific network.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
01/09/2005 10:52:50 PM ||
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Buck a head, pretty dang impressive, where's Jerry?
AUSTRALIAN experts have been called on to rescue coral reefs and fisheries damaged in the Indian Ocean tsunami. A team led by the CSIRO will focus its attention on the Maldives, a string of 1200 coral atolls off the southwest coast of India, which was devastated by tidal waves caused by a massive undersea earthquake off northern Indonesia. Diving tourism and seafood are key industries for the Maldives, which is a popular holiday destination, particularly for Europeans. The offer was made after the President of the Maldives, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, told Prime Minister John Howard during the ASEAN tsunami summit in Jakarta last week repairing the coral reefs was one of his country's main priorities.
Mr Howard today announced the formation of the CSIRO-led team. "Australia's expertise in the management of coral reefs and fisheries will be used to help this tiny Indian Ocean nation repair its marine resources which are fundamental to the country's economic life," Mr Howard said. The team is likely to include scientists from the Australian Institute of Marine Science, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, James Cook University and the Reef Co-operative Research Centre. The exact extent of the damage to Maldives' reefs has yet to be determined. But it is known that when a tsunami passes, reef structures grind into each other, causing extensive damage. Another problem is the amount of silt, sand and organic matter churned into the water which can smother plant and marine life. It is likely some parts of the reef could take hundreds of years to grow back, given that reef-forming coral grows only about half a centimetre a year. The health of the reefs could in turn affect the size of fish stocks which rely on them.
Mr Howard also today announced a team of 15 teachers would be sent to the Maldives later this month for the start of the school year. Many schools were damaged or destroyed in the tsunami. The prime minister said the Maldives president had told him getting children back to school was also a government priority. The Maldives lost 74 people in the tsunami, according to the latest count, and about 50,000 are in need of aid. Australia sent a medical and relief team in the immediate aftermath of the disaster.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
01/09/2005 10:22:03 PM ||
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If they sink all the pirate ships in the area to the proper depth, the free-swimming juvenile coral critters will attach themselves to the hulks, quickly creating new sections of reef. Rubble piles from bits of destroyed roads and buildings would be even better, and more quickly available...although less intrinsically satisfying in the long run, and considerably less aestheically pleasing for the the scuba divers.
Yushchenko's going to be president of Ukraine, not of Illinois. He'll be reacting to internal Ukrainian political currents. Some we're going to like, others we're not going to like. Where's the surprise here?
The president-elect of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, said repeatedly on the campaign trail that if elected, he would swiftly pull his country's troops out of Iraq. If he stays true to his word, he risks putting America's little Ukraine and his American wife, Yekaterina Chumachenko, in an extremely embarrassing position, not to mention all the organizations and other nonprofits that helped him, many of which did so unlawfully at the American taxpayers' expense. Which gives rise to the question: Just who is responsible for making U.S. foreign policy, anyway?
Clearly, America's large, well-organized Ukrainian community, whose members hail primarily from the country's western half, placed their bets on Yushchenko. Nevertheless, legislation in the United States prohibits meddling in the election campaigns of foreign states. Be that as it may, realities on the ground are such that even if President Bush had wanted to keep Ukrainian Americans from intervening in their former homeland's elections, he would have been hardpressed to do so. He wouldn't even have been able to stop people like George Soros or other private citizens from participating. On the other hand, U.S. organizations like the National Endowment for Democracy, the International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute, sustained by taxpayer dollars, are required, in principle, to spend this money to benefit, and not damage, U.S. interests. Already many Americans, including Republican members of Congress and other loyal supporters of George Bush, are demanding an investigation into possible transgressions of the ban on foreign elections intervention. If Yushchenko pulls out the Ukrainian battalion from Iraq, the number of unhappy people in the United States would obviously grow.
Most of us would like to keep the Iraq coalition from unraveling further, while simultaneously preventing U.S. relations with the Kremlin from deteriorating; we also understand full well the important role Russia plays with respect to the international security and global energy issues. The coalition in Iraq is, frankly, anything but awe-inspiring. Ukraine, with its 1,600-troop contingency, is one of its most representative members after Great Britain (8,300), South Korea (3,600), Italy (2,700) and Poland (2,500). A troop pullout would potentially deal a serious blow to, if not to the military strength, then definitely the morale of coalition forces. Given the difficulties in Iraq, such a blow would be extremely unpleasant for Washington. Yekaterina Chumachenko, who worked in Ronald Reagan's administration and is, logically, a supporter of President George Bush, finds herself in an awkward position, too.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/09/2005 1:16:02 AM ||
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The real story is not Yushchenko the man. It is what he represents. For him to carry the majority of Ukrainian votes is the story. It could have been Homer Simpson who won and, had Homer represented what Viktor represents and the majority of voters voted for Homer, it would still be the story.
Posted by: Captain America ||
01/09/2005 12:49 Comments ||
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It's only "appeasement" when it refers to Muslims or to Hitler, it's never "appeasement" when talking about the need to prevent "U.S. relations with Kremlin from deteriorating".
What are the words that Edward Lozansky strongly avoids? "Democracy" and "Freedom", those are the words.
Lefty filmmaker Michael Moore has been tipped he's going to win the People's Choice Award tonight, Tom O'Neil reports at goldderby.com. This is the first year these awards - which insiders have long suspected notifies winners in advance - resorted to online voting instead of a Gallup poll. Tinseltown has been buzzing about organized campaigns on behalf of Moore's Bush-bashing "Fahrenheit 9/11," which goes up against the likes of "Spider-Man 2" and "The Incredibles" for favorite movie, as well as for Mel Gibson's equally controversial "The Passion of the Christ," which is up for best drama. Moore's flacks didn't return Post movie critic Lou Lumenick's calls, but sources confirmed he is snubbing tonight's New York Film Critics Circle awards to attend the Hollywood ceremony, where polar opposite Gibson is also expected to make an appearance. Page One only because its happening tonight.
Bush and Blair increased their first driblets of "aid" only when it became clear that people all over the world were spontaneously giving millions and that a public relations problem beckoned. The Blair government's current "generous" contribution is one-sixteenth of the £800m it spent on bombing Iraq before the invasion and barely one-twentieth of a £1bn gift, known as a soft loan, to the Indonesian military so that it could acquire Hawk fighter-bombers.
On 24 November, one month before the tsunami struck, the Blair government gave its backing to an arms fair in Jakarta, "designed to meet an urgent need for the [Indonesian] armed forces to review its defence capabilities", reported the Jakarta Post. The Indonesian military, responsible for genocide in East Timor, has killed more than 20,000 civilians and "insurgents" in Aceh. Among the exhibitors at the arms fair was Rolls-Royce, manufacturer of engines for the Hawks, which, along with British-supplied Scorpion armoured vehicles, machine-guns and ammunition, were terrorising and killing people in Aceh up to the day the tsunami devastated the province.
The Australian government, currently covering itself in glory for its modest response to the historic disaster befallen its Asian neighbours, has secretly trained Indonesia's Kopassus special forces, whose atrocities in Aceh are well documented. This is in keeping with Australia's 40-year support for oppression in Indonesia, notably its devotion to the dictator Suharto while his troops slaughtered a third of the population of East Timor. The government of John Howard - notorious for its imprisonment of child asylum-seekers - is at present defying international maritime law by denying East Timor its due of oil and gas royalties worth some $8bn. Without this revenue, East Timor, the world's poorest country, cannot build schools, hospitals and roads or provide work for its young people, 90 per cent of whom are unemployed.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: tipper ||
01/09/2005 9:52:23 AM ||
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#1
John Pilger is like an insufferable ex-wife, telling her new, dickless lover what a bastard her ex hubby was, saying only the parts of the truth her new love interest can't check out and making up the rest...
These forces are part of a movement against inequality and poverty and war that has arisen in the past six years and is more diverse, more enterprising, more internationalist and more tolerant of difference than anything in my lifetime. It is a movement unburdened by a western liberalism that believes it represents a superior form of life; the wisest know this is colonialism by another name. The wisest also know that just as the conquest of Iraq is unravelling, so a whole system of domination and impoverishment can unravel, too.
#2
Along with Robert Fisk, Pilger practically invented the Hate America Cult in a career of Goebbels/Streicher invective and distortion that dates back to the 1960s. This has found fertile ground among the Brtish status-seeker classes and their sycophantic colleagues in the Dominions, providing a new target for the raging bigotry that is the centuries-old basis for this evil mob's collective ego and worldview. The Brit-bigot class's smug superiority took a beating
in the Twentieth Century, when they were run out of a large part of the world by ungrateful natives, and when victory in two World Wars served only to bring the hated British working classes to power.
#4
When I started reading blogs right after 9/11, I thought the warbloggers were making these guys up. They were such dreadful cartoons; surely they can't exist in real life. I was so disappointed to find out they (Chomsky, Fisk, Pilger, Sontag, etc.) were really saying those awful things. And other people actually paid them to say it. Ugh.
Private US donations to aid tsunami victims in Asia and Africa have passed 337 million dollars and could soon dwarf the 350 million dollars pledged by the US government, The Washington Post said Saturday, citing figures reported by US charitites. Individuals, corporations and foundations together have donated 150 million dollars to the American Red Cross alone, the group said in a statement Friday. Many US charities that specialize in international aid are reporting record contributions, the Post said. Many are raising money faster than they can spend it and are holding some back for long-term reconstruction.
The donations ranges from actress Sandra Bullock ponying up one million dollars, to President George W. Bush giving 10,000 dollars, to a nine-year-old California boy who asked his mother to send the money she would have spent on his birthday to children who lost parents in the tsunami. Most of the donations have been small, averaging 80 to 100 dollars, the Post said. Fundraising experts said the only foreign disasters that inspired comparable responses were Hurricane Mitch in Central America in 1998, and the Ethiopian famine of 1984-1985. Americans raised two billion dollars on donations for the families of nearly 3,000 people killed in the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, the Post noted.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/09/2005 11:50:05 PM ||
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"... let us not get carried away with generosity for rebuilding lands that have been mismanaged since the beginning of time.
If we are going to go further in debt to ease human pain and suffering, here are a few numbers to keep in mind. When one of our young military heroes dies in Iraq or other combat, his or her next of kin get only a $6,000 "death gratuity" (half of which is taxable), up to $1,750 for burial expenses, plus $833 a month for surviving spouse until remarriage and $211 per month per child until 18.
If our soldiers, anticipating dying in the line of duty, want to provide more for their children, they have to pay for such insurance out of their meager wages. There are, apparently, some strict limits to our generosity. "
#3
Tomp - every servicemember gets Serviceman's Group Life Insurance [SGLI] unless they take overt action by written request not to have it. When I left 10 years ago, it was around $10 a month and paid out $250K. As for pay, the tables are usually available on line at places like the Army/Navy/Air Force Times. Count the number of servicemembers for twenty years , multiply by the monthly deduction, subtract the payouts for deaths [combat and non-combat] and you'll see a relatively healthy principle still on hand for a while. The military is its own insurance pool. It is not funded by appropriations by Congress. While the VA and other payouts are shameful, the MSM seems to always overlook this bit of $250K information. Also note that all military members have social security deduction also, so children are entitled to the same SS payments anyother citizen's children would receive. The children also receive access to TRICARE, the military HMO system, till they reach 18 or 21 if they attend college. There are other compensations not listed as well.
Posted by: Don ||
01/09/2005 7:40 Comments ||
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#4
Old Media still behind the times. Actual donations by private Americans in excess of $456,917,000 and climbing.
See The Stingy List [PDF file] for verification. Also, please note the "vast" number of celebrities who donated millions to defeat George Bush who have also donated to tsunami relief. See Tsunami: Hollywouldn't
#6
Not wanting to throw cold water on this achievement or malign the personal generosity behind all the donations, but....
I have serous reservations about the ability of the varoius aid organizations to spend the money they are receiving. The logistics of relief suggest there are only so many emergency kits, tarps, blankets, medical supplies, and such available at a moments notice. Which means a lot of the money will be channelled into the upstream supply pipeline. By the time the supply ramps up, the initial emergency will be over, and a lot of money will be left sitting in account. The NGOs go from relief supply to money managers, budgeting priorities, growing management process, and looking for even more money to match their new level of importance. Ultimately it can lead to the type of corruption we now see being uncovered at the UN.
Not to suggest the giving is wrong, just trying to understand the gap between giving and receiving is not necessarily a direct link.
Posted by: john ||
01/09/2005 14:42 Comments ||
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#7
The diplomad has yet another tale of life in the Turd World and observations on how the Indonesians are taking the death of all their fellow citizens. It looks like some of that PEST therapy may not be necessary.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/09/2005 14:52 Comments ||
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#8
I've long suspected that the MSM's Private donations total is WAY under what it really is! Heck, today I went to Costco, and they had a huge plexiglass box that was filled with money (not just $1 bills, either). A corporate e-mail was taped on top, which said (it was dated Jan. 7) that Costco employees had donated over $1 million, that Costco shoppers have donated over $2 million and that Costco corporate had donated $1 million. So that's $4 million just from one company and it's shoppers! Just like the Prez said, "The relief we're seeing in America doesn't come from its government, it comes from the goodness of the American people." (my paraphrase).
Posted by: BA ||
01/09/2005 15:42 Comments ||
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#9
BTW, all of Costco's donations are going to the American Red Cross.
Posted by: BA ||
01/09/2005 15:43 Comments ||
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#10
There are many worthy charities out there, and I'm sure a great many of them give a great portion of the receipts to the beneficiaries, but the American Red Cross has a pretty great record in terms of the amount of money that makes it through the organization and the means to get assistance where it needs to go. ICRC, on the other hand... but I don't do IT for them.
Kind of makes me wonder why South Park tagged Sally Struthers and not ICRC.
Posted by: Mr. Spock ||
01/09/2005 19:12 Comments ||
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Your numbers are wrong. But that is because Tony Blankley didn't bother to use Google either. Congress raised the death benefit to $12,000 and removed the full amount from taxability on November 11, 2003. It's very late, so I'm not going to do any more homework for you and Blankley tonight.
In any case, our tsunami aid has absolutely *nothing* to do with military pay and benefits.
Your numbers are wrong. But that is because Tony Blankley didn't bother to use Google either. Congress raised the death benefit to $12,000 and removed the full amount from taxability on November 11, 2003. It's very late, so I'm not going to do any more homework for you and Blankley tonight.
In any case, our tsunami aid has absolutely *nothing* to do with military pay and benefits.
Your numbers are wrong. But that is because Tony Blankley didn't bother to use Google either. Congress raised the death benefit to $12,000 and removed the full amount from taxability on November 11, 2003. It's very late, so I'm not going to do any more homework for you and Blankley tonight.
In any case, our tsunami aid has absolutely *nothing* to do with military pay and benefits.
Your numbers are wrong. But that is because Tony Blankley didn't bother to use Google either. Congress raised the death benefit to $12,000 and removed the full amount from taxability on November 11, 2003. It's very late, so I'm not going to do any more homework for you and Blankley tonight.
In any case, our tsunami aid has absolutely *nothing* to do with military pay and benefits.
Your numbers are wrong. But that is because Tony Blankley didn't bother to use Google either. Congress raised the death benefit to $12,000 and removed the full amount from taxability on November 11, 2003. It's very late, so I'm not going to do any more homework for you and Blankley tonight.
In any case, our tsunami aid has absolutely *nothing* to do with military pay and benefits.
Your numbers are wrong. But that is because Tony Blankley didn't bother to use Google either. Congress raised the death benefit to $12,000 and removed the full amount from taxability on November 11, 2003. It's very late, so I'm not going to do any more homework for you and Blankley tonight.
In any case, our tsunami aid has absolutely *nothing* to do with military pay and benefits.
Your numbers are wrong. But that is because Tony Blankley didn't bother to use Google either. Congress raised the death benefit to $12,000 and removed the full amount from taxability on November 11, 2003. It's very late, so I'm not going to do any more homework for you and Blankley tonight.
In any case, our tsunami aid has absolutely *nothing* to do with military pay and benefits.
Your numbers are wrong. But that is because Tony Blankley didn't bother to use Google either. Congress raised the death benefit to $12,000 and removed the full amount from taxability on November 11, 2003. It's very late, so I'm not going to do any more homework for you and Blankley tonight.
In any case, our tsunami aid has absolutely *nothing* to do with military pay and benefits.
Your numbers are wrong. But that is because Tony Blankley didn't bother to use Google either. Congress raised the death benefit to $12,000 and removed the full amount from taxability on November 11, 2003. It's very late, so I'm not going to do any more homework for you or Blankley tonight.
In any case, our tsunami aid has absolutely *nothing* to do with military pay and benefits.
Your numbers are wrong. But that is because Tony Blankley didn't bother to use Google either. Congress raised the death benefit to $12,000 and removed the full amount from taxability on November 11, 2003. It's very late, so I'm not going to do any more homework for you or Blankley tonight.
In any case, our tsunami aid has absolutely *nothing* to do with military pay and benefits.
An Australian doctor working in Sri Lanka says the biggest health problem to face tsunami-ravaged countries in the coming months is depression and post-traumatic stress. Sean Scott, from St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney, says Sri Lanka has already suffered psychological trauma due to its volatile political situation, and the tsunami has added to the devastation. Dr Scott also says the most desperately-needed items in the camps are toilets.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
01/09/2005 10:51:25 PM ||
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Yes, but... is their stress as traumatic as that suffered by those who suffer from PEST?
FOREIGN Minister Alexander Downer predicts a more peaceful Aceh will be a by-product of Australia's $1 billion aid package to Indonesia The war-torn Indonesian province will receive the bulk of Australia's aid in the wake of the December 26 tsunami that has killed up to 100,000 Indonesians. Australia rose to the top of the donor nation list after unveiling a $1 billion package of grants and long-term, interest-free loans to its neighbour. The funds — to be administered by a bilateral commission headed by Prime Minister John Howard and Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono — will be used for both short and long-term reconstruction in Indonesia. Mr Downer told ABC TV he believed the donation would help to build peace in a region where rebels have been fighting for decades for a separate Aceh state.
I doubt it. Too many turbans. The hard boyz want to gnaw off their own little bit of shariah heaven. He's thinking the locals are driven by reason, not by Mecca...
The Free Aceh Movement has been fighting for independence since 1976, and the Indonesian Government stepped up its military suppression efforts with a massive operation that began in May 2003. There have been widespread hopes the tsunami disaster will lead to a breakthrough in ending the conflict. Mr Downer said the catalyst for an improved situation would be a positive response from the Acehnese to the way the Indonesian government had handled the tsunami catastrophe. "I very much hope the effectiveness of Indonesia's response, the Jakarta government's response in Aceh, obviously massively supported by us and the US and others, will be very well received by the Acehnese people," he said. "It might not be very well received by the leaders of GAM (Free Aceh Movement), perhaps nothing would please them, but for the generality of the population in Aceh, I think it is very likely they will respond positively. That is going to be very important in terms of creating a more peaceful environment in Aceh."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: God Save The World ||
01/09/2005 10:35:24 PM ||
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There have been widespread hopes the tsunami disaster will lead to a breakthrough in ending the conflict.
I suppose you could call the wide-spread demise of that province's population a "breakthrough in ending the conflict." Getting my sympathy meter to wiggle for Aceh still continues to be a major problem, though. Unfortunately, for every Aceh Muslim who might be considering this disaster to be a message of displeasure over terrorism from Allah, there will be another who'll regard it as punishment for not having been militant enough. Let's all hope those in the second category figure prominently in the death toll.
A South African scientist said on Saturday HIV/AIDS caused the highest number of deaths per annum amongst all infectious diseases. Ahmed A Azad, Professor at the faculty of health science, University of Cape Town, South Africa, stated this while speaking at a session on the second day of a four-day symposium on "Protein Structure Function Relationship", organised by the International Centre for Chemical Sciences of KU at the HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry University of Karachi.
He noted that HIV/AIDS was responsible for the most devastating social and economic effects in the poorest region of the world. "More than 40 million people are now living with HIV/AIDS, most of them are in the southern hemisphere which is least able to afford the currently used retroviral therapy that has dramatic effect in reversing the AIDS-related morbidity and morality in the developed countries," he said. He asserted that the world eagerly awaited an effective prophylactic vaccine.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/09/2005 00:00:00 ||
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How is this going to affect the current crop of strongmen? It strikes me that their gunmen are most likely to be in the "infected" column. Not to mention their very own august selves.
The North West Frontier Province (NWFP) government has allowed prisoners to keep their wives with them in jail thrice a year, a news channel reported on Saturday. The channel quoted an NWFP government notification as saying that a married woman could spend three days with her husband in jail three times in a year with the district coordination officer's permission. "The women can keep their children with them in jail, who are below six years," the notification added. The channel reported that this facility would be provided to men who had spent over five years in jail. The notification said that the prisoners with more than one wife could spend two days with each wife. The prisoners involved in terrorism and subversive activities would not have this facility, the notification said according to the report. Azam Khan, inspector general prisons, told the channel that separate rooms for such couples were being built in the provincial prisons in compliance with the NWFP government's orders.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/09/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Do y'get the idea we're seeing a propaganda campaign against alk?
JHANG: Four people died after drinking substandard alcohol in Sultanwala near Jhang Sadar, late on Friday. The condition of Zulfiqar, Kamran, Muhammad Afzal, Imtiaz and Anwar Ali deteriorated after they drank the moonshine. They were taken to hospital where Zulfiqar, Kamran, Muhammad Afzal and Anwar Ali died.
In another week they'll be warning of the dangers of secondhand bathtub gin...
And cough syrup, don't forget cough syrup ...
Posted by: Fred ||
01/09/2005 00:00:00 ||
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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.
A truck driver has disappeared with the 3.6 million nickels he was hauling to the Federal Reserve Bank in New Orleans, police said Friday. Angel Ricardo Mendoza, 43, picked up the coins, worth $180,000, December 17 from the Federal Reserve in New Jersey and was supposed to haul the cargo -- weighing 45,000 pounds -- to New Orleans for a trucking company subcontracted by the Federal Reserve, police said. On December 21, Mendoza's empty truck and trailer turned up at a truck stop in Fort Pierce, Florida.
COVERED in snow and a long way from home, the red kangaroo offered no resistance when cornered by the sheriff's men on a Wisconsin farm. The US capture came in the nick of time, as the wandering marsupial would not have survived a night of sub-zero temperatures. The kangaroo, named "Aussie Frosty" by some local children, is now drying out at the Henry Vilas Zoo in Madison, the state capital, and receiving attention deserving of a visiting celebrity. "He needed to be found because this weather is not going to help him at all," zoo director Jim Hubing said. "With everything snow-covered, it would be very difficult for him to find any food, much less shelter." 
The "anaemic" financial effort made by Muslim countries towards tsunami relief has been criticised in a hard-hitting critique published on Saturday. Peter Bergen of the 
Six more Pakistani pilgrims have died in Saudi Arabia over the last couple of days, taking the death toll of Pakistani pilgrims to 30 so far, Ministry of Religious Affairs Secretary Vakil Ahmed Khan said on Saturday. The minister said all pilgrims died of natural causes and had been buried in Saudi Arabia. He said the Pakistani medical mission in Saudi Arabia had attended 55,131 outdoor patients so far and more than 130 were admitted to the mission hospital out of which 98 were discharged after treatment. He said 45 seriously ill pilgrims had been admitted to Saudi hospitals. Khan said that 109 pilgrims lost their air tickets out of which 67 were issued duplicate tickets. He said the Pakistani Haj Directorate had received 546 complaints from pilgrims out of which 481 had been addressed.
THREE Japanese electronics giants are preparing to establish standards for using domestic electricity wiring for high-speed network services. Panasonic brand maker Matsushita, Sony and Mitsubishi Electric issued a joint statement announcing that they were creating an alliance to set up global standards to allow appliances built by different companies would interconnect. Under the technology, data would be transmitted not via telephone lines but by power lines - theoretically providing powerful internet access in any room that is wired for electricity. And in contrast to telephone lines, power lines would allow computers to run on the same network as appliances such as televisions, refrigerators and heating thermostats, opening new possibilities for secure, remote access. Powerline communication "is considered a critical bi-directional communication channel that will support home networking in the future," the companies said. The technology has been made available in recent years in limited trials in the United States, Europe, Australia and parts of East Asia. Japan, however, has not yet allowed it as it weighs concerns that the technology could interfere with ship and aircraft radio communications.
Bush and Blair increased their first driblets of "aid" only when it became clear that people all over the world were spontaneously giving millions and that a public relations problem beckoned. The Blair government's current "generous" contribution is one-sixteenth of the £800m it spent on bombing Iraq before the invasion and barely one-twentieth of a £1bn gift, known as a soft loan, to the Indonesian military so that it could acquire Hawk fighter-bombers.
An Australian doctor working in Sri Lanka says the biggest health problem to face tsunami-ravaged countries in the coming months is depression and post-traumatic stress. Sean Scott, from St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney, says Sri Lanka has already suffered psychological trauma due to its volatile political situation, and the tsunami has added to the devastation. Dr Scott also says the most desperately-needed items in the camps are toilets.
FOREIGN Minister 
The North West Frontier Province (NWFP) government has allowed prisoners to keep their wives with them in jail thrice a year, a news channel reported on Saturday. The channel quoted an NWFP government notification as saying that a married woman could spend three days with her husband in jail three times in a year with the district coordination officer's permission. "The women can keep their children with them in jail, who are below six years," the notification added. The channel reported that this facility would be provided to men who had spent over five years in jail. The notification said that the prisoners with more than one wife could spend two days with each wife. The prisoners involved in terrorism and subversive activities would not have this facility, the notification said according to the report. Azam Khan, inspector general prisons, told the channel that separate rooms for such couples were being built in the provincial prisons in compliance with the NWFP government's orders.
JHANG: Four people died after drinking substandard alcohol in Sultanwala near Jhang Sadar, late on Friday. The condition of Zulfiqar, Kamran, Muhammad Afzal, Imtiaz and Anwar Ali deteriorated after they drank the moonshine. They were taken to hospital where Zulfiqar, Kamran, Muhammad Afzal and Anwar Ali died. 
