The co-founder of the Cali drug cartel, which at its peak ruled the world's cocaine industry, was sent in handcuffs on a plane Friday to the United States to face trial for drug trafficking and related charges. Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela, known as "The Master" for his genius in concealing cocaine shipments, was indicted in Miami in 2003 along with his brother, Gilberto, on charges of drug smuggling, money laundering and obstruction of justice. The brothers face maximum life sentences if convicted. Gilberto was extradited three months ago.
Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela, surrounded by armed guards, walked slowly across the tarmac of the Palanquero Air Base before boarding the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration plane to Florida. Wearing a bulletproof vest and with his hands cuffed behind his back, he earlier flew aboard a Black Hawk helicopter from the Palo Gordo prison in central Colombia to the base southwest of Bogota, the capital. Interior Minister Sabas Pretelt said he hoped Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela's extradition would deter other Colombians from trafficking in drugs. "Let this be a warning (for traffickers) not to continue in the business because they will pay for it in a U.S. prison," Pretelt told Caracol television.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/12/2005 2:17:02 AM ||
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Mohammad Khatami, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran arrived Friday morning in Miraflores presidential palace to enter into several agreements, most of them related to energy. The meeting of the Iranian ruler with Venezuelan President Hugo Chävez was delayed as Chävez had to stay one extra day in Paris due to faults in the presidential plane. Chävez welcomed Khatami at 9:15 a.m. in Miraflores presidential palace, according to AFP. The Iranian president arrived in Venezuela Thursday afternoon as part of a tour focused on the execution of energy agreements by the two OPEC member countries that overtly run counter to Washington policies. Agreements include the construction of cement facilities, double taxation, central banks and housing, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry reported. On Friday afternoon, Khatami will deliver a speech in the National Assembly. On Saturday, Khatami and Chävez will visit the mining city of Ciudad Guayana to open a tractor assembly plant. Also:
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez offered his support for Iran's nuclear development plans while attacking Washington for trying to "impose its doctrine, its politics and its interests on the world".
"So unlike my good friends in the Islamic Republic of Iran," he added.
Speaking after talks with Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, Chavez declared that Iran has "all the right to develop its atomic energy", and that Venezuela opposes any attempts "to deny the Iranians this right." Khatami, on a three-day visit to Venezuela, said the two countries "are firmly opposed to any aggression which takes place in the their countries", adding that "instead of polarity and terror we want peace and security in the world". On Friday Chavez awarded Khatami one of Venezuela's top honorary decorations, "The Order of Liberator Simon Bolivar".
Posted by: Seafarious ||
03/12/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
Hey! Its prime targeting conditions. Two for the price of one!
#4
Oh, looky the sash! And the chain around neck with a spindly star (or maybe a spindly crescent, hard to tell)! Chavez and Khatami, twins separated at birth?
This pretty much sums it up: Pro-Abortion Shumer is willing to select Anti-Abortion candidates if thats what will get the Dems back into control of the Senate. They are willing to sell out their core principles in their lust for power.
Democrats woo abortion opponents for Senate
WASHINGTON - The indefatigable senior senator from New York, Charles Schumer, has spent a career crusading for abortion rights. Now as the head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Schumer's job is to chip away at the Republican majority of 55.
Be advised, its MSNBC, and thus slanted news. The language gives it away: "Pro-Roe" (they use that throughout hte article) is actually pro-abortion. Once again the press slants things and uses language to obfuscate, not clarify, the truth.
As an indicator of who is and who isn't for abortion rights, consider a March 12, 2003 vote on a measure offered by Sen. Tom Harkin, D- Iowa, which said that the Supreme Court's 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade "secures an important constitutional right" and should not be overturned.
The only current Democratic members of the Senate to vote against Harkin's measure were Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, and Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas, while 45 Democrats, including Schumer, voted for it.
Schumer and other Democratic leaders aren't changing the party's orthodoxy on Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion nationwide, but are accommodating candidates such as Casey (PA Senate candidate) who could begin the long march back to 51. Democrats now hold only 44 seats in the Senate, the fewest since 1931, so they're seeking the strongest candidates they can, even if such candidates are doctrinally abhorrent to abortion rights groups.
In addition to Casey, Schumer is also trying to recruit anti-Roe Rep. Jim Langevin to run against pro-Roe Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee in Rhode Island.
One gets the feeling that these people would sell out their own mothers if thats what it took to get back into power. Lunatic fringe opposition to the liberation of Iraq, hoping NKorea and Iran turn into disasters for the US - and now selling out their own principles. The mask is off. These are power mongers who do not have the best interests of the US in mind - only their own grab at power is important to them. All the more reason to get out and work hard to oppose these monsters.
#1
It's a effort that is destined to fail. That is, their tactic is for the dominant radical wing to *permit* moderates to get elected. However, the republicans can offer the democrat moderates what the radicals cannot, largesse and real power. The former offer is only for one day, election day; but the latter offer is for the six years in between. It will not take a rocket scientist to figure out that if they individually build their power base over the course of six years, they won't *need* the radical's duplicity. And eventually, the moderates will dominate the party. The republicans can spend their money in a focused way, targeting the most radical democrats; while the national radical democrat rank-and-file will bitterly resent the party giving support to democrat moderates. Eventually, I suspect that it will give rise to a strong bloc of DINOs (democrats in name only).
#2
This suggests that the Deaniacs and Soros-On have so much influence that the only future for moderates is to do an "end run". Unfortunately, if one sleeps with dogs, you end up with Republicans. (No insult to fleas implied.)
Posted by: john ||
03/12/2005 16:51 Comments ||
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#3
They have a track record for taking their constituency groups for granted. Organized labor and urban-dwelling minorities, to name two.
"Where ya gonna go? To the Republicans?" they sneer.
One day, enough of them will, and the Democrat Party as it is constituted today will pass away. Until then the Dems will continue to serve their one Overriding Core Principle: "We deserve to be in power."
...Rice pointedly declined to rule out running for president in 2008 on Friday during an hour-long interview with reporters at WASHINGTON TIMES, top sources tell DRUDGE. Rice gave her most detailed explanation of a 'mildly pro-choice' stance on abortion, she would not want the government 'forcing its views' on abortion... She explained that she is libertarian on the issue, adding: 'I have been concerned about a government role'... Developing late Friday for Saturday cycles... MORE...
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
03/12/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
Condi vs. the Hildebeast? Do you think the Dims would see the irony of a female, minority candidate being a Republican?
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/12/2005 0:18 Comments ||
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#6
Condi vs. the Hildebeast? Do you think the Dims would see the irony of a female, minority candidate being a Republican?
Who liberated the slaves? The Republicans. Who gave the right to vote for women? The Republicans. And when the Johnoson administration took its in initiatives about civil rights it was the Republican represntatives who gave it unanimous support while many Democrat represntatives opposed it.
Oh, and who has a KKK senator? The Democrats.
Democrats are not for minorities. They are for big governemnt and for welfare. But a welfare who keeps minorities in their (inferior) place so they don't mix with their betters (the Democrats).
#7
This news ought to upset a certain somebody.
You suppose Hillary wishes Bill weren't in the Hospital, so she'd have someone to throw something at...
"How the f**k could this happen?", the Junior Senator from New York said, as a senior staffer dove for cover when a crashing sound could be heard against the wall ...
#8
Do you think the Dims would see the irony of a female, minority candidate being a Republican?
They have already made clear what they think of it. They view her (and any other 'uppity n-r') as a 'oero cookie' (black on the outside, white on the inside), or as a 'house servant' of the whites, or as that slave character on 'Gone with the Wind' (I dont know nuttin about no babies!).
They can't fathom her being damn smart with a PhD. To them a 'minority' is too stupid to get through college without their 'affirmitive action' help.
#9
The thought of her running makes me all tingly. Can't wait for the barrage of hypocracy from the left.
Imagine 2 straight shooting no BS American presidents in a row? Just the sort of thing that's needed to illustrate the Clintoon "legacy".
#10
She should run for governor of Caliphornia first.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/12/2005 7:30 Comments ||
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#11
I'm going to disagree with you on that one, Mrs. D.
In ordinary times, I would agree that she should run for another office first. During the GWOT, the need for someone with strong defense, international relations and negotiating skills overrides the question of domestic politics. Since I think it's going to be a loooonnnngggg decade or so for us, I'm behind Condi all the way.
Or do you WANT to see Hillary in the White House? Heh ....
Posted by: too true ||
03/12/2005 7:44 Comments ||
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#12
I am still concerned that a black woman is unelectable as POTUS. I would dearly love that she were/is. Condi's substance and symbolism would send a devastating message to many especially the Left
Disclaimer: I am not an American.
#13
Yes. It would be the final nails in the coffin of the Great Society artists. She couldn't do anything permanent with a Republican legislature. She would become a frustrated embarassment. Bush will have taken care of Iran and Nork by then. After one term we'd get two terms of Condi with no more Robert KKK Byrd, Paul Sarbanes, etc. Pelosi and Kennedy should have completed their self-embalming by then.
I'd rather a one term Hilly and a two term Condi than the opposite.
I'm also not convinced Hillary will win the nomination. Vilsack or Beredsen, or Easley would make much better candidates. And if she does get the nomination I don't think Hilly can beat Giuliani. And if enough Americans think they want her to pull that lever, I think they deserve to live the experience first hand so they can learn.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/12/2005 7:53 Comments ||
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#14
phil_b, I think you're wrong about the American people.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/12/2005 7:55 Comments ||
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#15
Mrs. D, I'm not willing to live through 4 years of Hilly. I'm too old and too tired of fighting that crap.
Posted by: too true ||
03/12/2005 8:10 Comments ||
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#16
Mrs D, I didnt say she was unelectable, I said I was concerned about it. My concern is to get an approriate successor to Bush. Right now Condi is far ahead of anyone else in my view, but race and gender are still issues for many people (remember RB is a forum where ideas, articulation and humor outweigh your physical attributes (not that we are aware of them), i.e. we are not typical).
#19
Condi needs to have run an election, called her opponents guttersnipes, won the election, worked with her opponents to pass legislation and govern, face the music of public opinion. Then she can be president. She's done none of the above. Hillary has only done the easy half. Neither is likely to be a successful president without elective executive branch experience.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/12/2005 10:20 Comments ||
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#20
Get yer bumperstickers and start campaigning now: Rice2008.com
This "racist" Pennsylvania Republican white boy is really looking forward to supporting Lynn Swann (R for PA governor) in '06 and Condi in '08!
I should add every interview or profile I've read of Condi on the issue indicates she is a staunch supporter of the 2nd Amendment as well.
Posted by: Dar ||
03/12/2005 10:33 Comments ||
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#21
Mrs. Davis, having grown up in Iowa with family still there, I can, without hesitation, veto Vilsack. He and his record in Iowa would wilt in the heat of a national campaign. Further, although I live in San Diego, I spend a lot of my time working in the Deep South, Georgia and Alabama and I can say unequivocally that Secretary Rice can carry Southern Republicans. The good old boys that I deal with view her as the next best thing to a third term for W.
#24
Blondie, the diference for Ike was he rant this little thing called SHAEF - as political a position as you could get in WW2. And achieved quite well, little thing called Overlord that is far above and beyond any organizational and leadership challenge faced by any current politician, Rumsfeld and the President excepted.
4 years as Sec State is not the equivalent.
Give her 4 years a gov of CA, and then set her loose on the Presidency - that automatically brings California into play, the biggest plum that has been out of reach for Republicans, and puts the Dems on defense in the biggest Blue State there is without giving up the key Red states (FL, OH and TX).
I want her as a full 2 term president. If she runs in 08, thats not going to happen - she will have too much learning on the job stuff gpoing on domestically, and that will hurt her badly, at least initially. And we all know how the anti-repub liberal collectivist MSM will savage even her smallest misstep: she is the bigest rebuke to them that there is - a woman from a minority group who is powerful and independant and not bowing down to them thankfully.
I'd rather Condi get more experiences so she is in a cannot fail, cannot lose position.
#25
I have to agree with OldSpook. I want Condi to be successful, whether she decides to be President or Commissioner of the NFL :-)
To do that she needs some electoral experience. Governor of California would be good (kinda wish she'd run instead of Arnie in the recall, but too late now to argue about that). Even Senator would be okay, because at least that would get her experienced in running a campaign, taking the slings and arrows, etc. Boxer looks mighty vulnerable. Boxer v Condi in 2006 would be a great election to watch. Beating Boxer would make her nationally pre-eminent.
Regardless, Condi needs to run an election or two. She needs to be successful as a governor or senator. Then two terms as President.
As to the Hildebeast, everyone except her keeps forgetting that she has to win her re-election in 2006 first. If she doesn't she's a goner. She's been doing all the right things politically, but she's still vulnerable if either Pataki or Rudy decide to run.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/12/2005 13:26 Comments ||
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Managing Montgomery, Patton, Bradley, et al for Marshall, Churchill and Roosevelt to conquer France and Germany is a pretty substantial and unusual accomplishment.
I would give Eisenhower only mixed results as a President. Certainly his foreign policy was better than average, but domestic policy included several recessions. He left it to Kennedy to cut war time tax levels.
Regardless of one's opinion of Ike's presidency, he is the exception that proves the rule, being the only president in the 20th century to serve two full terms not to have previously been a governor. Nixon was elected twice, but failed to finish his second term. He also had the good fortune to run against Humphrey and McGovern.
Ike also defeated a former governor, Stevenson, twice. The only other times in the 20th century a non-governor defeated a governor were Harding over Cox, Hoover over Smith, and Bush over Dukakis. All single term presidents, Harding due to death.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/12/2005 13:32 Comments ||
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#27
Lets be realistic - running as a "mildly pro-choice" candidate in the Republican party will not work. What the hell is "mildly pro-choice?" Conservatives will stay at home in droves. My opinion of her changed (for the worse) after reading the Washington Times article.
#28
#17. Shipman, instead of VP in '08, what about being GW's veep in 2006 and 2007. Dick Cheney could decide for health reasons to resign next year;Bush could then appoint Condi as Cheney's replacement. There's a rumor speculation that this may happen.
If that doesn't happen, how about: RNC gets worried with 2008 elections looming and no obvious "traditional" (ie not Condoleeza) candidate, so they talk Cheney into running as Prez, with Condi as V.P.
The thinking would be that Cheney represents the Bush administration legacy, and thus attracts the votes of those folks who voted for Bush but would not necessarily vote for "Generic Republican A", and Condi brings the excitement to the ticket.
Posted by: Carl in N.H. ||
03/12/2005 18:25 Comments ||
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#30
The only way I can see her splitting the abortion difference is a form of "pro-choice/anti-Roe". Her statement that the federal gov't shouldn't be too involved is a step (and correct, too -- I don't think regulation is within Congressional powers).
#31
...Has anyone considered the possibility that SECSTATE Rice might be turned loose during the '06 Congressional elections? If that works half as well as I think it might, you could see the Dhimmicrats drop to 42 or even 41 in the Senate - something that could sink any Dem candidate in'08 and set Rice up as a political powerbroker without her holding elected office.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
03/12/2005 18:57 Comments ||
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#32
Condi running for a Senate seat is a terrible idea. The nature of that body is such that in order to build any sort of record of accomplishment one will have to enter into many temporary alliances of convenience requiring that one routinely vote against one's principles in an attempt to secure larger goals. The nature of that body accounts for the absolutely dismal record of US Senators who've run in Presidential elections. Plus there's also the danger that the built-in 8-12 point lead the Democrats begin with in CA might prove insurmountable for any Republican candidate, much less one so closely associated with this administration (let's face it: W is NOT popular here in California).
Governor of CA is a slightly, but only slightly, better idea. At least it's an executive position where she can lay out her own agenda and set her own course in an attempt to arrive towards her desired goals. That said CA is a mess and our state legislature is over 60% Democrat, most of them of the far left obstructionist variety. She'd either have to follow Arnolds tack (but somehow I can't see her holding a press conferences and calling the legislature "losers" or "girly-men") and attempt to run over them or sell out to build a consensus. Either is a tough road given the political dynamic (read "far left") out here.
I don't see a benefit to her seeking any elected post out of California at this time.
#33
AzCat: I agree, the right platform is the Vice-Presidency. But the real doo-doo starts hitting the fan when she outs herself on racial preferences and the like.
#34
She's already on record as being pro-affirmative action. Couple that with her recent statements on abortion and she looks like a less viable candidate simply because she'd have a tough time winning the primaries. But then again that's the problem *all* '08 Republican Presidential candidates face, there are several who'd beat the Hildebeeste but none of them could clear the primary hurdle where the far right holds sway.
#35
She need's to be the Mayors' Veep, then President.
Sorry, Ship and others...I don't mean to pee in the cornflakes, but I do NOT think Rudy G's going to get the Republican nomination in '08, or any other year. I think the Bernie Kerik flap would come back to haunt him, along with his own (ahem) somewhat messy personal life.
I'm not a blue-nosed puritan by any stretch of the imagination...but I think the Republican women would veto him out of hand. I've see it before on a smaller scale - a number of years back, my Congressional district (1st - WA state) was represented by a Republican who was a reeeeeally big pusher of the "family values" schtick. But...and there's always a "but"...he decided to start fooling around with a sweet young piece of twentysomething eye-candy.
And, of course, he made the mistake of showing up in public in this sweetie's company. The District's Republican women activists found out about it and just went ballistic - they immediately got on the jungle telegraph to all their friends and told them not to vote for this guy. One good friend estimates his wife PERSONALLY cost this jackass at least a dozen votes. Soooo...now we're stuck with Jay Inslee - a more politically savvy version of Baghdad Jim McDermott who's probably just as unassailable as Jimbo himself, due to (1) the sizable moonbat population in this district, and (2) a fat war chest that he scarcely had to tap last November.
Be warned, folks. A LOT of women on our side of the aisle heard Ross Perot's judgment of Clinton ("if his wife can't trust him, how can the country?"), and started applying it to our own candidates. They don't expect perfection...but they do expect a basic level of decency in the way they lead their lives.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
03/12/2005 21:12 Comments ||
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#36
I fear you're probably right Ricky, I'm hoping for a little selective amnesia.
#37
Blondie, the diference for Ike was he rant this little thing called SHAEF - as political a position as you could get in WW2. And achieved quite well, little thing called Overlord that is far above and beyond any organizational and leadership challenge faced by any current politician, Rumsfeld and the President excepted.
4 years as Sec State is not the equivalent.
Give her 4 years a gov of CA, and then set her loose on the Presidency - that automatically brings California into play, the biggest plum that has been out of reach for Republicans, and puts the Dems on defense in the biggest Blue State there is without giving up the key Red states (FL, OH and TX).
I want her as a full 2 term president. If she runs in 08, thats not going to happen - she will have too much learning on the job stuff gpoing on domestically, and that will hurt her badly, at least initially. And we all know how the anti-repub liberal collectivist MSM will savage even her smallest misstep: she is the bigest rebuke to them that there is - a woman from a minority group who is powerful and independant and not bowing down to them thankfully.
I'd rather Condi get more experiences so she is in a cannot fail, cannot lose position.
#38
Blondie, the diference for Ike was he rant this little thing called SHAEF - as political a position as you could get in WW2. And achieved quite well, little thing called Overlord that is far above and beyond any organizational and leadership challenge faced by any current politician, Rumsfeld and the President excepted.
4 years as Sec State is not the equivalent.
Give her 4 years a gov of CA, and then set her loose on the Presidency - that automatically brings California into play, the biggest plum that has been out of reach for Republicans, and puts the Dems on defense in the biggest Blue State there is without giving up the key Red states (FL, OH and TX).
I want her as a full 2 term president. If she runs in 08, thats not going to happen - she will have too much learning on the job stuff gpoing on domestically, and that will hurt her badly, at least initially. And we all know how the anti-repub liberal collectivist MSM will savage even her smallest misstep: she is the bigest rebuke to them that there is - a woman from a minority group who is powerful and independant and not bowing down to them thankfully.
I'd rather Condi get more experiences so she is in a cannot fail, cannot lose position.
The French Ministry of Environment in co-operation with Environmental Ministries of other European countries is working out a plan of "environmental forces". The European Union is expected to initiate this international institution as one of the reformed UN's structures in September this year, ITAR-TASS reported. Paris aims to get wide commissions for the "world-wide environmental police". It is supposed to implement monitoring and writing out penalties for countries and enterprises violating international environmental standards.
Posted by: phil_b ||
03/12/2005 1:21:49 AM ||
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#1
Oh my, I am all really not excited over this. Chirac as Bender says "You can bite my shinny metal ass."
#6
This will be aimed at crippling US economic advantage. It's a serious threat and not just a keystone cops farce.
Chirac hates us and wants to take us down.
Posted by: too true ||
03/12/2005 6:42 Comments ||
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#7
Just to be clear - such an agency would not need to set one foot on US soil to damage our interests. It would just need to selectively focus on our companies doing business overseas.
Posted by: too true ||
03/12/2005 6:43 Comments ||
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#8
Chirac will be in a french prison before he ever gets that far.
#9
I'm not so sure. There have been more and more open statements of glee at international conferences in response to proposals to tie us down. Chirac could be executed by firing squad at the foot of the Eiffel Tower but the push will go on.
Posted by: too true ||
03/12/2005 8:02 Comments ||
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#10
... as one of the reformed UN's structures in September.
#12
I'm sure they'll focus on Africa, China, NKorea, and Russia, no?
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/12/2005 11:09 Comments ||
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#13
The French environmental bureaucrats/police will take our homeland industry to task for lower energy efficiency than "European standards". Our efficiency runs lower in large part because our energy costs are lower (due to our use of domestic coal and domestic natural gas) and thus the payback for higher-cost, higher-efficiency equipment is not there.
"The European Union is expected to initiate this international institution as one of the reformed UN’s structures..."
Now that's one fascinating sentence fragment! It embodies the French plan to do us in using the EU and the UN. Their vision on this item is to ram Kyoto and worse down our throats to help strengthen their planned "multi-polar world".
Let's just stop the diplo-speak now and tell Chirac that none of his world government ploys are going to fly, but if he persists he just may take down a few existing world institutions with him, especially the UN. What will the UN be when it loses our funding and our our military participation?
Kofi was touting "U.N. success in Afghanistan" this week as an example of cooperation to defeat terrorism. What would he be touting in Afghanistan this week if the U.S. had not intervened in Afghanistan? Nothing! The Taliban would still be in control.
Keep it up, you world-government fans, and when the "American street" finally gets it you will pay dearly. You will have to pay -- because we won't. It will be one step forward and two steps back for you. In the meantime, George Bush is sending a representative to the UN to convey our sentiments.
Posted by: Tom ||
03/12/2005 11:47 Comments ||
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#14
It would just need to selectively focus on our companies doing business overseas.
Let the jerks try something. Patience with the Phrench is something that is not likely to be in abundant supply these days.
#15
If it can be vetoed in the UNSC, Bush just put in place the man who will take a great deal of pleasure in doing it. Besides, we already have our own environmental police: the EPA. I think we're a couple of decades ahead of them on this, just like our '68-ers got going in '65.
#17
I wouldn't worry too much about the US losing an advantage on this. The US already has some of the toughest environmental laws around. In many ways US firms are at a disadvantage due to having to comply with these laws whereas firms in other countries don't. .com is right: trade agreements are the place where "international standards" will come up.
#19
You'll note that there was no mention of any efforts or costs associated with cleaning up any pollution. So this just amounts to another international tax. That is, an oil tanker cracks up: whoopee! free money!, with no concern at all for the cleanup. The idea here is to reinforce the notion that the entire Earth is community property.
#20
Pollution at the industrial plant site is not the only issue, Spot. There are energy efficiency standards involved that affect pollution back at the power plants. For example, lower electricity use translates into less coal burning back at the power plants. US laws on energy efficiency are NOT "some of the toughest environmental laws around". The "police" will go after our weak points, not our strong points.
Posted by: Tom ||
03/12/2005 15:49 Comments ||
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#21
Tom, please explain to me how they can "go after our weak points" if they are not simple let in?
If we don't enter into some form of treaty agreeing to this, then they can jump as high as they can in righteous excitement and point fingers, but that is all. Well, beside hiring ACLU or other stooges in kind.
#23
Tom-
Efficiency is irrelevant if emissions are controlled adequately (though cost is a factor). Anyway, as Sobiesky says the "police" wouldn't be let in. Trade agreements/market access is where they would likely get us.
An express passenger train derailed Saturday in central Vietnam, killing 11 people and injuring dozens, hospital and railway officials said. Some 350 passengers and crew members were aboard the train, which was heading from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, when eight of the 13 cars came off the tracks near the famous Hai Van mountain pass just south of Hue, Vietnam Television reported. Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Minh of Hue Central Hospital said 10 people had died at the scene and another man died in the hospital.
Authorities were investigating the cause of the derailment, which left at least two carriages completely on their sides, while the others were leaning off the tracks. Witnesses said the E1 train was traveling at a high speed when it rounded the curve. Television footage showed the remote accident site bordered by the ocean on one side and the mountain on the other. Rescuers were forced to reach the site by boat and used dozens of fishing boats to transport the wounded from the area. Doctors at the site were told that at least 84 people were injured and being given first aid at Phu Loc district clinic before being transported to hospitals in Hue or Danang, Minh said. The hospital in Hue is treating 35 people, 11 of whom required surgery, he said.
At Danang General Hospital, a total of 31 injured people were admitted, 12 of them seriously wounded, said Dr. Tran Thi Hoa Ban. The north-to-south railway network was temporarily disrupted but would resume by Sunday morning, officials said. The remaining passengers were being transported to their destination by bus.
The Onondaga Nation will claim ownership of a 40-mile-wide swath of land stretching from the Thousand Islands to Pennsylvania in a historic lawsuit it will file today against New York, Onondaga County and Syracuse.
The Onondagas will ask a federal court to declare that New York illegally acquired the land in five treaties between 1788 and 1822, and they will ask for title to that land.
The disputed territory includes roughly 4,000 square miles - including nearly all of Syracuse, plus Oswego, Fulton, Watertown, Cortland and Binghamton. About 875,000 people live in the claim area.
Syracuse is the biggest U.S. city to be included in a Native American land claim, according to attorneys and historians familiar with such cases.
While the lawsuit asks a judge to declare the entire area as Onondaga property, Chief Sid Hill stressed the nation will not sue individual property owners or evict anyone from their homes.
The Onondagas - a nation of 1,500 members who live on about 11 square miles just south of Syracuse - are not seeking monetary damages in this action.
The suit asks the court to declare that New York violated federal and state laws when it bought the Onondaga land, said Joseph Heath, the Onondagas' attorney.
Hill said the Onondagas hope such a ruling would force New York officials to bargain with them on compensation for the illegal sales and to compel New York to better clean up environmental hazards in the claim area - especially Onondaga Lake.
If those state negotiations fail, the Onondagas could return to court to ask a judge for damages...
#1
I don't know anything about Indian treaty law, so I can't comment on the merits of the Onandagas' case. That being said, I'm having a lot of trouble purging from my mind the image of Custer and his surviving troopers, on the hill surrounded on all sides by charging, screaming Indians led by a guy named "Chief Sid"!
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
03/12/2005 18:11 Comments ||
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Egyptian opposition leader Ayman Nour was ordered released on bail from prison, a judicial official said Saturday, a detention that had caused tension with Washington. It wasn't immediately clear whether Nour would be released on Saturday, but prisoners freed on bail have to follow certain legal procedures which could last between hours or days. Nour has yet to even be formally charged. "Prosecutor general Maher Abdel Wahed ordered the release of Nour," said the official on condition of anonymity.
Nour was arrested on Jan. 29, accused of presenting fraudulent signatures in order to win the license for his party - but he and his supporters say the charges are political, aiming to eliminate him as a rival to the ruling party. His detention had caused diplomatic tension with Washington, which had also called for his release.
Nour's Al-Ghad Party welcomed the prosecutor's decision. "Now we hope that Ayman will be referred to a fair and quick trial," said Ragab Hilal Hmeida, the party's secretary general. Nour last week announced his decision to run for the presidency since President Hosni Mubarak surprised the country last month by ordering a constitutional amendment to allow multi-candidate polls for president. Egypt has until now held presidential referendums in which people vote "yes" or "no" for a single candidate approved by parliament.
Al-Ghad has only seven legislators in Egypt's 454-seat parliament but the detention of the populist politician has drawn wide attention, partly because Nour champions a call for more than one candidate to be allowed to run in this year's presidential elections. International human rights groups have called on Egypt to release Nour, saying his detention is politically motivated. The prosecutor general has denied this. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said she raised "very strong concerns" about Nour's detention when she met Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit in Washington last week.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/12/2005 12:32:26 PM ||
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The Federal Shariat Court on Friday suspended the Lahore High Court's order on the Mukhtar Mai gang-rape case and decided that it would adjudicate the case itself. Warrants were issued for the 13 persons acquitted in the case. The court issued notice to Mukhtar Mai, the advocate general of Punjab and other respondents. It directed its office to procure the entire record of the case including six appeals which have recently been adjudicated by the Lahore High Court. "The appeals filed with the high court were not legitimate since the only competent appellate forum for this case was the Federal Shariat Court," said an order passed by a three-member bench of the Federal Shariat Court comprising Justice Saeedur Rehman Farrukh, Justice Zafar Pasha Chaudhry and Justice SA Rabbani.
Mukhtar Mai was allegedly gang-raped in the presence of a crowd, in compliance with the decree of a jirga (tribal jury) in Meerwala village of Muzaffargarh on June 22, 2002. Fourteen men were accused and a judge, Zulfiqar Ali Malik, of the Anti-Terrorism Court in Dera Ghazi Khan sentenced six of them to death. These six challenged their conviction in the high court. The Multan bench of the Lahore High Court acquitted five convicts and changed the sentence for the sixth to life imprisonment, on March 3, 2005. The Federal Shariat Court (FSC) order stated that an appeal in a case involving Hudood implications should have been made to the FSC rather than a high court.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/12/2005 1:40:13 AM ||
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Now that the ChiComs are in the space race, NASA gets a missile defense kinda guy... Michael Griffin, a former chief engineer at NASA who has also worked on missile defense systems, was named on Friday as President Bush's choice to head the U.S. space agency. Griffin is head of the space department at the Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University, which works on civilian and military space programs, including missile and air defense and national security analysis. Previously, he was president of In-Q-Tel, the CIA's private venture capital arm, and worked at Orbital Sciences Corp., which develops rockets and missiles. Earlier in his career, Griffin served as NASA's chief engineer and as deputy for technology at the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization, founded in 1984 to develop a space-based anti-missile defense popularly known as "Star Wars." The program was abandoned in 1993. The announcement Bush intends to nominate Griffin drew quick bipartisan praise from members of both houses of Congress and from the space-boosting Planetary Society.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
03/12/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
With that background, will he be more results oriented?
#3
Bravo! A proven Engineer, not an MBA. Who'da thunk it? Wow!
Y'know, every time Bush makes a choice like this (Negroponte, Bolton, et al) it surprises me - and others most of the time. I hope we never get used to it and become jaded - he is shaking the tree harder than any predecessor in my lifetime, and doing it for the right reasons. Looking back on the last 4 years I think we've seen two totally opposing phases.
Phase 1 - New President who is following the standard form, playing the political averages and trying to satisfy the nay-sayers, etc, trying to get along in the insane world of Beltway whoring - think people like O'Neill, Mineta, etc. Result? Half-assed success - again, standard form.
the change...
It seems this lasted about 2 years of first term.
9/11 started the turn because it became deadly important. The usual, standard form, Clintonian feel-good bullshit wouldn't do - dangerous beyond imagining. Bush got it - and just as we've learned to trust that he is the ultimate WYSIWYG (thus contradictory) politician - he changed everything, became as deadly serious as the problems he faced and hasn't wasted a single minute since. Every step calculated (checking off the boxes that many see as wasteful, but that are not in his world), every issue prioritized (even when it pisses people off that their current cause de jour is seemingly passed over, example: immigration), every motion calculated to minimize wasted effort and political capital - and maximize needed change.
Phase 2 - A President who has things to do and an unknown timeframe to do them - pre-re-election. He dumped "the Beltway game", pissing off a large chunk of the entrenched status quo - and further infuriating both the Congressional Committees who believe they are the President, it seems, as well as the various unelected Beltway and Academic Dukes and Earls who had become accustomed to wielding power. In point of fact, he has washed his hands of half-measures and compromise (read: compromised) appointments and actions, knowing what he needs to do - and now fully focused on getting it done, without apologies, while he can.
Think of all of the "firsts" - total breaks with traditions - he has already made: from changing the game to hardball with the Saudis to calling the IRA and its apologists what they are, terrorists. I don't doubt we could collectively name 30 or 40 more.
Think of those which are obviously coming, from picking someone who has the stones to take off the kid gloves and deal with the UN honestly, giving it its due, no more / no less, to heaping on the pressure in the M.E. to destabilize the collection of corrupt "nations" and instill the idea and hope of change to the people who had never before, ever, had any reason to hope. Now they do.
Bush is on the job. That means Bad Shit Happens a lot more often - to the people who deserve it most. That also means that Good Shit can Happen to those with the stones to fight for it. Bush will be right there if they do, doing what he can to help them lift themselves up.
#6
Actually, .com, this guy has an MBA, in addition to degrees in several forms of engineering.
(I don't reember where I saw a list of his academic degrees... but I'm unsure about whether he's actually slept.)
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
03/12/2005 13:19 Comments ||
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#7
Looks like just the guy to get the Golden Goose (aka Shuttle) program dismantled before it kills anyone else.
I have suspected for some time that the new Bush space initiative, postulating a return to the Moon and eventual flights to Mars, is really just a way to get NASA's fossilized legacy programs out of the way.
By the time it reaches the stage of serious Moon efforts, it will probably have been superceded by events, with the success of Rutan's Spaceship One being only the first step in an exponential progression toward genuinely economical spaceflight.
#8
Forgot my plug: If we absolutely positively had to build a big Moon base or get people to Mars in the short term, there are some guys who know how to do it.
#9
Speaking of flagrant commercialism, but relevant: While you're there, check out the NuclearSpace online store. Besides the usual coffee mugs and mousepads, we have Project Orion jacket patches and the new "Hot Stuff" NuclearSpace thongs and boxer shorts.
Off topic for Rantburg, I think, but I came across this fine specimen of well-meaning moonbattery while researching my post on the recently deceased Egyptian Islamic scholar Chawki Deif. I'm compelled to share:
We, Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies (HumanDHS), are a network of concerned academics and practitioners. We are committed to reducing - and ultimately help eliminating - destructive disrespect and humiliating practices all over the world. Our work is inspired by universal values such as humility, mutual respect, caring and compassion, and a sense of shared planetary rights and responsibilities.
We are first and foremost a global network of people with the aim of raising awareness and creating framings and visions that promote equal dignity for all. We wish to fertilize and generate interdisciplinary research (both intra and interculturally) and disseminate information aimed at enhancing awareness of human dignity. We also encourage the application of creative educational methods and strategies, as well as fertilize more to-the-point intervention projects and public policy planning...
And so on and so forth. Lots of words with little substance. But a little later on, they do start making sense:
Humiliation is maybe the "missing link" that explains why conditions at times are perceived as illegitimate violations justifying counter-violence, at other times not, and why wealthy people may organize and perpetrate terror. It is perhaps possible to claim that humiliated hearts and minds are the only "real" weapons of mass destruction, particularly in a globalized and interdependent world that embraces the human rights ideals of equal dignity for all.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
03/12/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
OK, Seafarious, let's do a thought experiment...
"You kafir! I had to breathe air in the same room with you! I have to restore my dignity! Off with your head!"
Hmmmm
"Mustafa, I have to talk to you". "Yes, mother".
"You are under age. I saw Fatima this morning approach a man in the market. I feel so humiliated. You have to restore the family dignity! You have to kill your siter, Mustafa!"
Let's see, we have humiliation there -- a perceived illegitimate violation justifying counter-violence; dignity is there too.
Lets not humiliate the izzies, and off ourselves beforehand so we all can keep our equal dignity, eh?
Seafarious, it's not about humiliation. That is just a projected perception. It is about power.
#2
USDA Choice Moonbattery, Seafarious! This stuff is so warm and fluffy that you could insulate your house with it and cut 25% off your winter heating bill.
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.
The co-founder of the Cali drug cartel, which at its peak ruled the world's cocaine industry, was sent in handcuffs on a plane Friday to the United States to face trial for drug trafficking and related charges. Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela, known as "The Master" for his genius in concealing cocaine shipments, was indicted in Miami in 2003 along with his brother, Gilberto, on charges of drug smuggling, money laundering and obstruction of justice. The brothers face maximum life sentences if convicted. Gilberto was extradited three months ago.
...Rice pointedly declined to rule out running for president in 2008 on Friday during an hour-long interview with reporters at WASHINGTON TIMES, top sources tell DRUDGE. Rice gave her most detailed explanation of a 'mildly pro-choice' stance on abortion, she would not want the government 'forcing its views' on abortion... She explained that she is libertarian on the issue, adding: 'I have been concerned about a government role'... Developing late Friday for Saturday cycles... MORE...
The French Ministry of Environment in co-operation with Environmental Ministries of other European countries is working out a plan of "environmental forces". The European Union is expected to initiate this international institution as one of the reformed UN's structures in September this year, ITAR-TASS reported. Paris aims to get wide commissions for the "world-wide environmental police". It is supposed to implement monitoring and writing out penalties for countries and enterprises violating international environmental standards.
The Federal Shariat Court on Friday suspended the Lahore High Court's order on the 
We, Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies (HumanDHS), are a network of concerned academics and practitioners. We are committed to reducing - and ultimately help eliminating - destructive disrespect and humiliating practices all over the world. Our work is inspired by universal values such as humility, mutual respect, caring and compassion, and a sense of shared planetary rights and responsibilities. 
