1.... he tells you he's taking your blood pressure while strapping something around your waist.
2.... the framed photos on his desk are of 72 virgins.
3.... he lists his patients as HMO (Health Maintenance Organization), PPO (Preferred Provider Organization), and IED (Improvised Explosive Device).
...
6.... his mountain vacation home is in Tora Bora, not North Carolina.
7.... his office gets regular courier service from FedEx, DHL and Al-Jazeera.
8.... he can't stomach the TV in the waiting room being tuned to FOX News. (Caution: this could alternately mean he is a Democrat).
...
19.... his "vacationing" practice partner is pictured in an orange jumpsuit.
20.... the vanity license plate on his car reads "DR G HAD".
Posted by: Tom ||
06/03/2005 15:19 ||
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Artist Mike Bouchet's odorific "Celebrity Hot Tub for Kofi Annan" sculpture — which features a rotting sausage stewing in a tub of noxious water — produces an overwhelming stench that is sickening visitors to the MoMA-affiliated museum. No warnings are posted at "Greater New York 2005," the current show of emerging New York artists, and museum staffers nod wearily at visitors' complaints. "The second floor? Sure,it's terrible, everyone complains, someone vomited," said a staffer. "It got real bad, we didn't know you had to clean it out. The guards are really mad about this."
[...]
The sculpture is a full-sized Jacuzzi fashioned from cardboard, loaded with capocollo, and left to ferment. Smoked pork shoulder butt rotting slowly in standing water. Yep, that about sums up Kofi's accomplishments as UN head.
After installing the work, Bouchet took off for Germany, where he recently moved, without leaving instructions for maintaining the work. Ooops!
Finally, after six weeks, Bouchet's assistant replaced the water and sausage, and the odor went away — but only briefly.
#2
Sounds like plaintif's too embarrased to admit to having TF. For God's sake it's the TwentyFirst Century terminal flatulence can be treated if not entirely cured.
Jack Straw is today preparing to pull the plug on Britain's referendum on the EU constitution. Senior Whitehall sources said the Foreign Secretary will announce on Monday that the Bill paving the way for Britain's vote is to be put on hold. The move, which follows "no" votes by the French and Dutch, is a further sign the controversial treaty is in its death throes.
Britain is unwilling to be the first country to declare the treaty dead, but Mr Straw is expected to use his statement to MPs to make clear the difficulties of resuscitating it. According to reports, he will tell MPs the Bill allowing for a referendum in the UK is to be put on ice indefinitely. A Foreign Office source said: "We are going to make a statement. We haven't decided exactly what the statement is going to say but it will refer to the Bill."
Straw is helping the EU-niks. No way a referendum would get a 'yes' vote now. This actually keeps the topic alive.
Europe Minister Douglas Alexander said public opinion could not be ignored. His words left no doubt that Tony Blair wants the constitution to be abandoned when EU leaders meet to discuss the crisis on 16 June.
But the Prime Minister was fighting behind the scenes against pressure from France and Germany to go through the motions of holding a UK referendum - which ministers think would end in an even bigger rejection. Mr Alexander said: "These two no votes leave the constitutional treaty in serious difficulties ... but it is not for one country to declare it dead."
He said it was now up to the French and Dutch to say whether they could ever pass it. He expected talks to take several months.
Excuse me, but weren't you paying attention?
While British party leaders were unanimous in declaring the constitution dead, German chancellor Gerhard SchrËder joined forces with France's Jacques Chirac in refusing to accept the verdict. Germany was reported to be proposing an "inner core" of EU members to recreate the old Franco-German axis.
Way to go, Gerhard. Nothing like the words "German" and "Axis" to bring Europe closer together.
Luxembourg, which holds the presidency of the EU Council, piled the pressure on Britain to go ahead with a referendum next year.
Sir Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman, said the decision to kill off the Bill was "inevitable".
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/03/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Further indication that the Yes crowd will not take NO for an answer. Regardless that the constutition says it is already dead.
#2
British party leaders were unanimous in declaring the constitution dead - Both the Labour and Conservative parties are breathing a huge sigh of relief over this one. The splits in the Tory party over Europe will not come to the fore before the next general election. Nor will Labour suffer any damage from promoting deeply unpopular legislation. I don't see the UK voting on this for at least five years... if ever. *cracks a beer*
Posted by: Howard UK ||
06/03/2005 4:33 Comments ||
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#3
He said it was now up to the French and Dutch to say whether they could ever pass it.
I'm surprised Chiraq has not announced that the voting population will be decimated until it passes the measure.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
06/03/2005 7:32 Comments ||
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#4
The euro elites arent going to let a little thing like the will of the people discourage them. They sound like they are going to ram this down their throats.
#6
Dang I was going to give them at least five years before the EU slid off into the oblivion. I like the EU officials trying spin this in a positive way. Listen fellas if two of the richest members decide to not join the club, its real hard to keep the club open.
#8
Actually, from a pure realpolitik prespective, it probably makes some sense for Germany and France to split off, devalue the euro massively so as to give a large and immediate boost to their exports, and create their own Fortress Europe in alliance with Putin's Russia, Iran, China, Venezuela and any other anti-US state they can find.
Mind you, this is not a formula for growth or peace or lolng-term prosperity; it's a formula for preserving the domination of the German and French political elites within their own countries. Isn't that what it's all about for these guys?
"They're out to get me! They're all out to get me!"
President Hugo Chavez warned Thursday that his opponents are allegedly plotting his assassination and urged supporters to implement "revolutionary" changes in Venezuela if they succeed. During a speech at Miraflores Presidential Palace, Chavez told a group of Venezuelans participating in government-organized employment programs that "there are still plans to kill me." Chavez was short on details, and he did not say who was behind the purported assassination plot on Thursday. In the past, he has accused the United States government of being behind plots to kill him. "I put myself in God's hands and, besides, we are working hard so that they don't kill me," said Chavez, whose presidential guard boosted security measures in March in response to an alleged assassination plot. "If this ever happens, God forbid, you must not lose your cool ... take power and intensify the revolution," Chavez added.
Chavez opponents dismissed Thursday's announcement as another government show aimed at diverting attention from domestic problems that have plagued Venezuela since Chavez took office in 1999. Detractors said scant evidence has been presented to support the claims.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/03/2005 12:59:52 PM ||
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#1
Is there anybody out there that he thinks is NOT plotting his assassination?
Not WoT related, but something we should keep our eyes on just the same.
Bolivia's embattled government was teetering yesterday as the capital ground to a halt after two weeks of protests about an issue that has already toppled one president - the ownership of energy resources. Roadblocks shut down 60% of the country's main arteries, isolating several cities including La Paz and the main international airport. Fuel shortages were being reported in the capital, which has been rocked by sporadic violence for three days.
Tens of thousands of mainly indigenous protesters have descended on La Paz calling for the gas industry, the chief source of wealth, to be nationalised. They also want the constitution to be rewritten. The protesters, comprising miners, farmers, teachers and students, have tried to storm the heavily fortified plaza outside the national parliament, but have been repelled by teargas and rubber bullets. Some miners have thrown dynamite at the police ranks. Others have fanned out to wealthier neighbourhoods, smashing the windows of shops and parked cars.
Yeah, that'll make things better.
It was the worst breakdown of order since similar protests two years ago toppled the then president, Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada. His replacement, Carlos Mesa, has struggled to assert his authority, and has ordered congress to resolve the standoff, though he has promised not to use violence.
"We want to nationalise the gas because it is ours and it should be utilised first and foremost for the benefit of Bolivians and not the transnationals," said Nestor Guarachi, a 33-year-old teacher from El Alto, the poverty-stricken, 800,000-strong city overlooking La Paz which has been the hub of disaffection for two years. The vast majority of the protesters are also from El Alto, where more than three-fourths of the population are Indians, jobless, and survive on less than $2 (£1.10) a day.
Coup rumours are in the air. Last week two army colonels called for the Bolivian president to resign and some police officers were said to be considering mutiny.
The threat of separatism also looms large. The big gas region of Santa Cruz has long grown exasperated with the chaos in the country and local news reports have highlighted a plan by business and civic leaders to secede, including attempts to negotiate "protection agreements" with Brazil and Argentina.
It's almost as if they've heard about the Republic of Eastern Arabia.
An August referendum on greater autonomy for Santa Cruz is stoking heated debate in parliament.
But the cause has also been picked up by a broad cross section of society, particularly after congress refused two weeks ago to reassert full state control over the gas sector. It opted for a half-measure, raising taxes on multinationals. This alienated foreign investors without going far enough to satisfy the protesters.
Despite formidable gas reserves, Bolivia is South America's poorest country. Protesters argue that they, and not multinational corporations, should benefit from the country's natural resources. Alvaro Garcia, a sociologist in La Paz, said Bolivia's free market economic policies were only adding to the social exclusion the indigenous majority have had to live with for centuries.
"Neoliberalism has caused extreme poverty for the indigenous and given them justification for their efforts to recover the natural gas, which they consider to be a societal inheritance that must not be wasted," he said.
It's also been exploited by the Reds, who've been stirring the pot for decades.
But since privatisation nine years ago, the annual state take from the gas industry has fallen considerably, even though known reserves have grown ninefold. "Bolivians have the knowledge and expertise to do the job as good as foreign companies," said Enrique Mariaca, a former president of the state gas company and the founder of the Committee for the Defence of National Patrimony, one of the protest groups.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/03/2005 00:00 ||
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Seriously, Bolivia's always either having a revolution, just wrapping one up, or getting one started. I think they've had 130 governments by now. I may be underestimating the number.
It reminds me of one thing my mama told me about Bolivia when I was a tiny tot. She said they call off the revolution down there when it rains. They hate it when their bullets get wet.
Posted by: Mike Tyson ||
06/03/2005 11:17 Comments ||
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#5
I used to have this girlfriend who was from Bolivia. One day a bunch of my friends and I were sitting around the kitchen table arguing politics when she came in, snorted at us, and said something like:
"Capitalism. Marxism. Fascism. Socialism. We Bolivians have tried all of them and nothing works!"
#6
"Not WoT related, but something we should keep our eyes on just the same."
The terrorists have linked up with both the human and drug traffickers of Latin America and Al Qaeda even said to have entered through Mexico courtesy of MS13, the Salvadoran street gang. A Hezbollah member crossed via Mexico and is in custody in Detroit. They are funded by drugs and no nation is untouched by terrorism. I think the problem is few recognize the connections and generally ignore our own backyard, which is rife with corrupt governments and unstable economies. This could be WoT related if we don't get a handle on illegal immigration as terrorists have a sixth sense for finding weaknesses to exploit. They should rewrite their constitution, hopefully patterned after the US.
Russia will take "adequate responsive measures" to a move by any country to put weapons in space, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said here Thursday, quoted by Russian news agencies. "Should any state make plans to or begin to deploy weapons in space, we will without a doubt take adequate responsive measures" in response, Ivanov said, quoted by the news agencies.
His comments came two weeks after the US daily The New York Times reported that the US Air Force was seeking a national security directive from President George W. Bush that could lead to fielding offensive and defensive space weapons. The White House denied the report.
"Russia's position on this issue has not changed for decades: we categorically oppose the militarization of space," he said.
random points from elsewhere.. The Terra-3 laser complex at Sary Shagan reported as having in fact illuminated Challenger, 10 Oct 1983, at minimum power. Followup program on Il-76MD, 60-tonne laser apparatus, which replaced the usual weather radar bulge. Optical elements retracted into fuselage on top, between wings and tail. Analogous modifications made to an A-50 and Tu-142 (antisubmarine version of Tu-95 Bear), otherwise still secret. The Il-76MD (or A-60) was itself retired in 1990.
The USSR maintained an active antimissile program in 1970s including energy weapons, EM launchers. Most builders closed it off after it appeared unpromising; could not even on paper meet the goal of annihilating the US nuclear capability within the requisite 20-25 minutes.
#2
IOW, the Russkis, PC formerly known as the Soviets, started the militarization of space race FIRST, but their programs didn't work, and now are angry because America's does. America's not only works but America also has working/
operational space weapons and recce platforms IN PLACE. US GMD = NO MORE NUKE BULLY STICK = COMMIES ARE BACK TO BEING THE WEAK, GLORIFIED THIRD-WORLD OR LESS MINOR NATIONS THEY ALWAYS WERE, AND HAVE REMAINED = WAIT FOR INEVITABLE IMPLOSION OR ELSE MAKE FINAL, BE-ALL, END-ALL MAD WAR AGS AMERICA AND THE WORLD, i.e iff Communism and Socialism can't rule the world, no one will; aka iff Communism and Socialism dies, the World will die with it unless anti-Communists/anti-Socialists make unilateral and unconditional concessions, etc.
China is developing an aircraft designed to match the performance of the American F-22. Models are undergoing wind tunnel tests in preparation of the construction of a prototype. The aircraft will use warplane technology China has developed, bought or stolen in the last decade. The Chinese plan to use two of their own WS10A engines (Chinese copy of SU-27's AL-31) in the new aircraft, referred to as the J13. In fact, all of the technology going into the aircraft is expected to be Chinese. For that reason, the J13 won't enter service for another decade, at least. This project demonstrates the Chinese resolve to develop a world class military aircraft industry, something they have been working on energetically since the 1980s.
Posted by: ed ||
06/03/2005 16:32 ||
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#1
Methinks they need to stop copying and borrowing and start creating new stuff if they ever want to get ahead.
#4
For that reason, the J13 wonât enter service for another decade, at least. This project demonstrates the Chinese resolve to develop a world class military aircraft industry, something they have been working on energetically since the 1980s.
So they've been working on it for the past twenty years, and won't be ready to go for another ten. Check.
#6
sounds good - Taiwan is safe til 2015... roughly 7 years after they acquire nukes
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/03/2005 18:50 Comments ||
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Hilarious.
After the Chiese assembled the first of their Su27s. the Russians had to send a team to rebuild the aircraft (so they could actually fly).
The Russians did not provide tech transfer for the AL31 engines. Chinese ability to reverse engineer this is extremely doubful.
They are unable to design something like a Flanker, yet they are going to design a competitor to the F-22 ?
Posted by: john ||
06/03/2005 18:55 Comments ||
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#8
yet they are going to design a competitor to the F-22 ?
It's good to have big dreams, even if just on paper. Of course, you still need skilled pilots to fly the thing.
#9
Of course, you still need skilled pilots to fly the thing
plus the casualties in test-piloting and ramp-up on maintenance...ask the Indians
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/03/2005 20:11 Comments ||
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#10
One needs to be realistic as well. They are two generations behind in technology.
Even with (Israeli) tech from the Lavi program and a sample F-16 (courtesy of Pakistan), the Chinese are struggling to build a clone of a F-16A.
So why claim to be building a F22 (i.e. militarily matching the US)?
What is in the Chinese psyche that demands this parity?
No other nation does this.
Posted by: john ||
06/03/2005 20:27 Comments ||
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rjs: Methinks they need to stop copying and borrowing and start creating new stuff if they ever want to get ahead.
Usually, you need to copy somebody else's technology before you can start improving upon it. There's that little matter of mastering simple production technologies before moving on to more complicated ones. The Imperial Japanese Navy copied British designs. The US and Soviet Union copied German designs. The Germans copied the bazooka to come up with the Panzerfaust, which the Soviets copied to create the RPG. If they can rig up an F-22, I'll be real surprised. The reason it's so expensive is that it's got a lot of new moving parts and weapons systems. To do it from scratch would probably cost them as much as it cost us, given that we have the production technology for building the F-15 and they don't.
#12
Here's hoping it f*cks up in one way or another - or our military hasn't put out enough in the open for "passerby" to notice.
How good is the WS10A anyway?
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
06/03/2005 20:40 Comments ||
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Is it even a real engine?
The Russians denied the Chinese a license to build the Al-31. The engines are instead shipped complete from Russia.
The Chinese would find it extremely difficult to copy this.
Posted by: john ||
06/03/2005 20:58 Comments ||
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#14
here's hoping they try to bring one down a la P3-Orion.....heh heh
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/03/2005 21:06 Comments ||
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#15
Of course, a manned F-22 is no match for an unmanned aircraft that is faster, more maneuverable, has better armaments and auto damage control. And it *especially* is no match for an air-to-air laser or other energy weapon, that could burn both it and its missiles out of the air before the pilot could push a botton.
#16
War is very much a clash of systems - suring WW2 without LendLease the best Stalin could hope for on the Eastern front was stalemate, and more likely defeat. Except for expendable manpower, China does not have the resources of the former USSR now Russia - she would be similar to WW2 Japan in being heavily super-dependent on overseas imports. CBS just showed programming whereby Russian citizens were surprised to learn that many of the weapons they or their ancestors fought the Nazis with during WW2 were American, not Russian!?
June 3, 2005: For the second time in twenty-six months, a Chinese Ming-class submarine has had a major accident. The Ming is a Chinese variant of the Russian Romeo-class submarine. The Mings displace 2,113 tons, have eight 21-inch torpedo tubes (six forward, two aft), and a top speed of 33 kilometers per hour when submerged. Mings differ from the Romeo in having a slightly different powerplant (giving it a 9 kilometer per hour advantage over the Romeo's top submerged speed) and a larger hull that adds about 400 tons of displacement.
The 2003 accident involving a Ming-class submarine, known as Number 361, killed 70 crew. The 2003 accident possibly involved a valve malfunction that deprived the crew of oxygen, although it should be noted that the Chinese have not officially disclosed the cause (other possibilities mentioned were a possible release of chlorine gas from an interaction between the batteries and sea water, or a leak of poisonous torpedo propellant). The cause of this second accident is unknown (right now, speculation is centering on a fire aboard the submarine), but what is known is that the submarine is under tow to a Chinese port in the South China Sea. It is believed that this submarine was taking part in an exercise, since other vessels (three or four surface vessels and at least one other submarine) were in the area. The submarine managed to get to the surface, and was taken under tow toward Yulin on Hainan Island.
This is not the first time the Ming-class has had problems. The initial prototypes, built in the 1970s, had numerous problems, including a fire in one ship. The prototypes were so troublesome that they were scrapped in the 1980s. A revamped design, the present Ming-class submarine, was then built to the tune of 18 units, with four others possibly under construction.
For China, this has some serious implications. The Ming is a much simpler design than some of the other submarines China is trying to build (like the Song-class and Yuan-class SSKs, variants of the French Agosta-class and the Type 93 and Type 94 nuclear-powered submarines). If there is a high rate of serious accidents (say, one about every 13 months that knocks a submarine off-line) involving a simple design that is not really old (Number 361 was only in service for eight years before her accident), this raises questions about how reliable the more advanced designs will be. China's SSBNs will form the main arm of their strategic nuclear deterrent, particularly against the United States. SSBNs have enough troubles from American SSNs to deal with — questions about whether something will go wrong is a complication that will not help matters any.
The recent accident also raises question of how effective their submarine force will be in two other aspects: Blockading Taiwan, and defeating American carriers. In both cases, the large (China has 69 attack submarines in service) force would be relied upon to primarily attack surface ships, or the eight Kilo class subs being purchased from Russia. The backbone of this force consists of 35 Romeos and 16 operable Mings at the present time. Quantity is the advantage that China has over Taiwan at the present — and now, the quantitative edge could be in question due to a flawed or unreliable design — rather than having 34 relatively new submarines backed up by 35 Romeos (which are worthless against anything other than a merchant vessel), China would only have 16 — and they would be dealing with Taiwan and the Seventh Fleet, with Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force possibly in the mix as well. China already faced long odds in a conflict over Taiwan. These recent accidents involving the class that is a major component of their submarine force only makes these odds longer.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/03/2005 09:13 ||
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Is it just me, or is the Chinese focus on American aircraft carriers seem a little too focused? Like forgeting all the American attack/killer subs? Not that I mind, but damn this seems so .... Chinese.
#2
Wasn't this story here a week or two ago? At the time, I wondered aloud if we're beginning to see cracks in the commies' military? 2 "accidents" in 2 years doesn't bode well for those more advanced designs they're working on. Having to scrap 16 subs won't be cheap either. Like any other communist gov't...maybe we're seeing the beginning of the end?
Posted by: BA ||
06/03/2005 9:48 Comments ||
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#4
I suspect that they intend to use their submarines in "wolf pack" mass attacks against US submarines, figuring that even if three out of four of their ships are destroyed unmasking a US sub, the fifth will be able to destroy it. The same applies to a carrier group attacked by six or eight subs. If just one or two can get through, they figure they might be able to knock a carrier offline, if not sink it.
Italy's labor minister called for a referendum to see if Italians want to temporarily bring back the lira after widespread popular discontent over high prices that many blame on the introduction of the euro. The idea was promptly dismissed Friday by both the European Commission and leaders of Italy's governing coalition, and currency markets shrugged off the news. "The euro is here to stay," retorted EU Commission spokeswoman Amelia Torres in Brussels.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/03/2005 12:56:03 PM ||
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#1
Actually he's an idiot because Italy is one of those countries that benefitted most from the Euro
#7
Latest polls would give Merkel an absolute majority...
Her popularity went up 10% in a few days.
Together with the Liberals (free market) fall sounds promising.
#11
Hey, TGA, my aunt (father's sister) married a Schroeder...
I have a cousin I don't like. The operative for me has always been, "WHAT is a Schroeder?"... Now that question can be applied to international politix...
#12
Schrder is from Wheel of Fortune. For every major issue you get wrong you lose a vowel. By Christmas it will be Schrdr. Three vowells, you're out.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
06/03/2005 14:20 Comments ||
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#13
Italy is one of those countries that benefitted most from the Euro Thats debateable. Their economy is shrinking becase they can no longer devalue to maintain competitiveness. When and if they institute the reforms needed to remove the inflationary pressures it will be good news, until then its bad news.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/03/2005 12:49:57 PM ||
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"In 10 to 15 years the EU 'will be a place where civilizations meet ... It will become a global power with Turkey's accession,' he said."
Pffft... Erdogan doesn't know a turkey when he sees one.
Posted by: Tom ||
06/03/2005 12:59 Comments ||
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#2
In 10 to 15 years the EU 'will be a place where civilizations meet...
And they'll promptly decide that "This isn't really where we want to be". And leave.
#3
Recep Tayyip Erdogan also said Turkey would press on with its campaign to join the European Union, arguing that anti-Turkish sentiment was not a major factor in this week's rejection of an EU constitution by voters in France and the Netherlands.
Jeeze Louise! What planet is this guy on? The French and Dutch rejections of the EU Operations, Maintenance, and Overhaul Manual Constitution was based upon the dislike of losing their national sovereignty, along which came loss of social programs, bennies, etc etc. The issues are a bit bigger than liking or disliking Turkey. This guy needs a grip on reality. A cluebat or something.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/03/2005 17:10 Comments ||
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Jean-Claude Juncker, the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, warned today that he would resign if his country becomes the third founding member state of the European Union to reject its new constitution. Luxembourg currently holds the rotating EU presidency - which passes to Britain on July 1, nine days before Luxembourgers vote on the treaty. For that reason, Mr Juncker has been deeply involved in co-ordinating Europe's response to the resounding rejection of the constitution by both Dutch and European voters in the past week. Ironically, his political survival might rest with the fact that many of the 14 European nations still to ratify the treaty are now coming round to the UK view - that that it would be best to shelve the ratification process while a solution is found to the EU crisis.
Mr Juncker was asked today if he stood by a comment made last year that he would resign if Luxembourg votes against the charter on July 10.
"It is a question of basic decency towards the voters of Luxembourg," Mr Juncker replied. "If there is a 'no', it is not the people who have to quit. It is up to me to go."
The French and Dutch 'no' votes appear to have fanned anti-European sentiment across the continent, including in Luxembourg, where opinion polls suggest that the constitution now risks defeat - inconceivable only a few months ago. Opinion polls in Denmark yesterday showed that the 'no' campaign has also taken the lead there for the first time, after a swing of 17 points in the last week.
Mr Juncker admitted that he was worried earlier this week, after a poll showed that the 'no' camp in Luxembourg had surged to 41 per cent from 24 per cent in October. "I will employ all my energy and all my determination to get the 'yes' through in Luxembourg ... I will commit myself with passion for a 'yes' and to unmask the populists," he said today. "The recent opinion polls do not suprise me."
Mr Juncker is one of the EU's long-serving leaders and head of one of the EU's six founder members. He is also the only European leader to have explicitly tied his personal future to the fate of the constitutional charter. President Chirac of France and Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Netherlands, whose countries have both voted no, have made no offer to quit. Instead, they insist that the process of ratification must continue. They want a June 16 EU summit, chaired by Mr Juncker, to reaffirm that.
Chancellor Schroeder of Germany, whose Parliament has already ratified the Consitution, agrees and is to meet M. Chirac in Berlin tomorrow to agree a common position. But other nations yet to hold referenda, including Ireland, Portugal and Denmark, are coming round to the British position, that there is no point going to the voters unless the treaty still has a realistic chance of coming into force, according to Anthony Browne, Europe Correspondent of The Times.
There was now a chance, Mr Browne added, that the June 16 summit could agree to shelve the ratification process until a way could be found for France and the Netherlands to ratify the treaty. As things stand, the treaty has to be ratified by all 25 nations in order to take effect.
"There has been a significant movement because a lot of the other countries having referenda are having doubts about them," Browne said.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/03/2005 11:53 ||
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"Go ahead, Jean-Claude. I don't think you got the guts to type up that resignation."
Posted by: Mike ||
06/03/2005 12:05 Comments ||
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#2
This sounds just like that bunch of Hollywood and far-left clowns that teased us with the threat of moving to canada if Bush was re-elected. They reneged and so will this guy. If Europe can't get this done in referendum, they'll take it to parliment. Watch and see.
#10
I've always figured we'd read about our little Greek buddy someday along those lines. I can easily picture him glomming onto some EUrocrat to become his chief strategist for scamming the EU system. And if it went wrong he'd be the fall guy, of course, since the EUrocrat would be connected and our little schemer would get the shaft. 15 minutes of infamy and ~5 years in prison. Of course, that's when he would really begin to shine, having found his niche in life.
No one knows for sure to what extent economic anxiety influenced the decisive "Non!" by French and Dutch voters against the new European Union Constitution this week. But one thing is certain: the French and much of the rest of the European Union have much to be economically anxious about.
The French unemployment rate has hovered around 10% for nearly a decade, and almost half of the jobless have been out of work for at least a year. If the U.S. had an unemployment rate as high as France, there would be about six million more non-working Americans -- the equivalent of placing every worker in Michigan on the jobless rolls.
Our point here isn't to engage in gratuitous French-bashing. The truth is that the economic anemia afflicting France has become the standard bill of health to varying degrees in virtually all of the nations of Old Europe, particularly Germany and Italy. Once upon a time the intellectual elites in Europe and the U.S. trumpeted the economic accomplishments of European social welfare state policies. Today the conclusion is nearly inescapable that this economic model simply doesn't work to create jobs, wealth or dynamism.
As the nearby table shows, the U.S. has substantially outperformed Old Europe in wealth and job creation. The economic growth rate of the European Union nations since 2003 has limped along at about half that of the U.S. In the 1980s and '90s the U.S. created about 40 million new jobs; Western Europe created some 10 million, well over half of which were in the public sector. If this divergence in economic performance continues for 40 years, the American worker will be roughly twice as wealthy as his European counterpart.
The Europeans have created a vast constellation of domestic policy interventions that are cloaked in the seductive rhetoric of compassion, fairness and cultural sophistication. These policies include highly generous welfare benefits for the unemployed; state ownership and/or subsidy of key industries (such as Airbus); rules that make it difficult to hire and fire workers; prohibitions against closing down plants; heavy protections of labor unions against competitive forces; mandatory worker benefit packages that include health insurance, child care allowances, paid parental leave, four to six weeks of vacation; shortened work weeks; and, alas, high taxes on business and labor to pay for these lavish benefits.
In sum, European nations penalize work and subsidize non-work, and no surprise, they have gotten a lot of the latter and far too little of the former. By contrast, the U.S. model -- allegedly cruel and "laissez-faire" -- has done much better both by economic growth and worker opportunity.
The frustrating irony is that, at the very moment in history when Europe's model is in disrepute, many U.S. politicians still want to emulate it. In Congress today there is some bill to provide virtually every social welfare benefit that Europe now offers. And the Congressional Budget Office predicts that if America's federal entitlement programs are not reined in, by 2030 government's share of the U.S. economy will close in on 50% of GDP, or even more than Europe's share today. The good news is that at least Washington has begun to debate how to reform these programs.
Which brings us back to the future of the EU. We have consistently supported European integration, especially the liberalizing and efficient force of the euro. But most of the economic maladies that face France and Germany today are incidental to whether the EU itself gains or loses power in the months and years ahead. In many ways the European Union has always been the right answer to the wrong question. The common market was originally established with economic goals in mind, to reduce trade barriers (which has been a good thing), followed years later by a single, stable currency (another good thing).
But the Brussels bureaucracy has to this day purposely ignored the Continent's central ailments: high tax rates, bloated welfare benefits, and industrial policies that pick winners and losers, usually the latter. Those topics are essentially taboo in Brussels, which has pursued an economic "harmonization" strategy in part to inhibit the benign impact of tax cutting and tax competition among member countries by creating a de facto multi-state cartel. The nations that have prospered the most in recent years -- Ireland in the 1990s, now the nations of Central Europe -- are those that have resisted the harmonizing orders.
Europe is now paying a high price for this failed experiment with welfare state socialism. Today's populist revolt against economic integration in France and Germany suggests that these nations remain mysteriously impervious to the need for change. A bigger mystery is why some American politicians are so intent on repeating Europe's mistakes.
Posted by: too true ||
06/03/2005 10:30 ||
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#1
It's the same mystery as why anyone would vote for an air-head like Kerry or a bloated corrupt politician like Ted Kennedy.
#2
Tom Friedman has his limits but this quote is pretty good:
"[The French No vote] is interesting because French voters are trying to preserve a 35-hour work week in a world where Indian engineers are ready to work a 35-hour day. Good luck."
Posted by: Matt ||
06/03/2005 11:34 Comments ||
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#3
To the floods of Islamic immigrants entering europe, the social welfare lifestyle must be lavish compared to tribal lif in Warizistan or Lahore. Why work when you have never in your wildest dreams had so much money? Social welfare robs people not only of their dignity and independence, but also of their initiative.
Recent Dutch warship sales to Indonesia violate the European Union's code of conduct on exporting arms, Raul Romeva, the European Parliament's rapporteur on military exports, said on Thursday. "These projects clearly violate the code of conduct on arms exports, which prohibits arms supplies to unstable regions, countries in conflict and countries in which respect for human rights is disregarded," he said.
According to a statement from the Greens group in parliament, of which Romeva is a member, the Dutch government has authorised a national shipyard to build two small corvette warships for the Indonesian navy. The project comes on top of an earlier order for two corvettes, and is valued at up to 800 million euros (980 million dollars). Another Dutch company is also modernising a military vessel previously delivered to Indonesia.
"In the Aceh conflict in 2003 similar ships were used by the Indonesian authorities during coastal assaults. That issue has not been solved yet and Indonesia is meanwhile ravaged by internal conflicts," Romeva said. "It is shocking that so soon after the devastating tsunami an EU member state would encourage Indonesia to spend hundreds of millions of euros on new warships," Romeva said, referring to the December 26 quake-triggered disaster that killed nearly 300,000 people across the Indian Ocean. i guess thats where all the tsunami funds went ?
He said other EU states are also supplying military equipment to Indonesia, which is a former Dutch colony.
CODES?
I think it is who is providing the decoder ring. To understand the code issues, one must understand the SOURCE of the code. That's why there is a problem!
The only known German diagram of a nuclear weapon. The diagram, which has never been published before, is schematic and is far removed from a practical blueprint for an atomic bomb. It was discovered by one of us (RK) earlier this year in a report written shortly after the Second World War by an unnamed German or Austrian scientist. Although the weapon is shown to be a fission device based on plutonium, the report also reveals that German scientists had worked intensively on the theory of a hydrogen bomb.
A pair of German and US historians said Wednesday they had found the only known diagram for the nuclear bomb that Nazi scientists strived to build during World War II. The rough schematic does not imply that the Nazis built or even were close to building a nuclear bomb, but it shows they had progressed farther toward that goal than is conventionally thought, they said.
The 60-year-old document is part of a report that appears to have been produced just after the end of the war in Europe in May 1945 and describes the work on nuclear weapons that had been carried out during the conflict. The report is undated and in addition lacks a title page, which means its author or authors cannot be identified. It came from a "private archive," the historians said.
In addition to the rough plan for a bomb, the Nazi report estimates, comparatively accurately, that a plutonium warhead of just over five kilospounds) was needed to achieve critical mass -- the chain reaction that leads to a nuclear blast.
The historians are Rainer Karlsch, an independent historian based in Berlin, and Mark Walker of Union College, Schenectady, New York state. Karlsch stirred controversy earlier this year when he published a book in Germany, "Hitlers Bombe," in which he claimed that the Nazis had successfully tested a primitive nuclear device in the last days of World War II as Allied troops were closing in on both sides. The device, tested in Thuringia, eastern Germany, killed several hundred prisoners of war and concentration camp inmates, the book said.
That assertion was scoffed at by other historians, who said that by the end of the war, the Nazis still did not understand some of the physics of chain reaction. The knowledge gaps include the way in which fast neutrons emitted by plutonium or uranium-235 atoms trigger further fission reactions. This ignorance in turn caused the Nazi scientists to grossly over-estimate the amount of nuclear material needed to achieve critical mass, according to the critics' view.
Karlsch and Walker rebut this, saying that new sources of historical material, such as documents squirrelled away in Russian archives, are trickling out, showing that the Nazis were farther down the road to acquiring nuclear capability than was thought.
Germany's "uranium project" was launched in 1939 to investigate nuclear reactors, isotope separation and nuclear explosives. Unlike the US-led Manhattan Project, which harnessed thousands of people and several billion dollars to devise the bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, the German effort amounted to no more than a few dozen scattered scientists.
Scientific files seized after the war, and bugged conversations of 10 German nuclear scientists held in a British prison camp in 1945, forged the conventional belief, prevailing today, that even though Hitler craved a nuclear bomb, he was still months or more likely years from ever getting one.
#1
Roosevelt spent $2 billion dollars (1940's dollars) on the Manhattan project based on reports of German WMD's. Other than this recently discovered drawing, there was little evidence found of these WMD's. He then used the excuse of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor to go to war with Germany. There was never any proof that Germany was involved in the Pearl Harbor attack!
#3
I, for one, am completely glad that the MSM was on our side in WWII. You forgot to add though, that after the war we uncovered how brutal Saddam Hitler was to certain ethnic/religious groups. Man, the similarities are eerie, eh?
Posted by: BA ||
06/03/2005 8:35 Comments ||
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#4
BAH! (waves hand)
Brutal Smutal! Nobody had panties on their heads so we didn't care.
#8
Here's the full-size image. Can anyone read the label on the purple thing on the upper half of the drawing? If that's meant to be fissile material, too, it looks a bit as if they're trying to make a gun-type weapon with plutonium.
#12
....Guys, I am NOT an expert on nuclear weapons - conventional airmunitions were my career - but for a lot of reasons, this didn't smell right. A Gentleman of My Aqcuaintance who is a specialist in this field, however, has made a few points:
For starters, the design would seem to show that this is a gun-type bomb - where a slug of Uranium is fired into a larger receptacle of uranium, starting the explosion process. But the bomb shown here uses plutonium - which is used for implosion weapons, a completely different type and design. (Note that there also appears to be no way for the slug to enter the sphere at the front of the design). Second, the shape of the slug is wrong - it is flat at both ends - there's no reason for the needless complication of it being aerodynamic. Third, the bomb is labeled 'Uranium Bomb Mark I' - but the material inside, again, is plutonium.
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/03/2005 21:15 Comments ||
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#16
Now for something a little sobering.
Rent or buy the film "Patton." Look for all the news reels commentaries. You hear the word Americans only once of dozens of references. Instead you hear the words "Allies" or "Allied" in lieu of the proper description American.
The MSM then were likely cowed into going along but by no means loyal, in my opinion.
Serbian police have arrested at least eight men they say are shown in a video killing a group of Bosnian Muslim prisoners from Srebrenica, a top Belgrade official said Thursday. The arrests came after the footage was shown Wednesday at the U.N. court in The Hague, Netherlands, said Rasim Ljajic, head of the Serbia-Montenegro government body in charge of cooperation with the U.N. war crimes tribunal. The prosecution introduced the footage during the hearings in the trial of former President Slobodan Milosevic, indicted for his alleged role in atrocities during the Balkan wars, including the Srebrenica massacre. The amateur footage, apparently made by Serb troops, showed six civilians taken from a truck, hands tied behind their backs and lined up on a hillside. Four were shot one by one in their backs. Two other prisoners were ordered to carry the bodies into a nearby barn where they too were killed.
U.N. prosecutors contend the killings were carried out by the Serb paramilitary unit known as the Scorpions somewhere on Mount Treskavica near the wartime Bosnian Serb capital Pale. The Scorpions were allegedly under orders from Serbian police in Belgrade and the link could directly tie Milosevic with the crimes committed in Bosnia. The footage was broadcast late Wednesday by several television channels in Serbia and shocked the Balkan republic. It also prompted the police sweep, Ljajic said. Those arrested were all identified as the executioners shown in the footage, he said. Earlier Thursday, during a visit to Belgrade by U.N. Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte, Serbia's Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica announced that "several suspects" from the footage shown at The Hague court were detained. Del Ponte praised the arrests as a "brilliant operation." "The police will continue the sweep until all suspects are in custody," Ljajic said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/03/2005 00:00 ||
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a new, more aggressive politics in what has begun to be referred to as an "urban archipelago" of major metropolitan centers, aging industrial cities and college towns that represent progressive blue islands in what appears on electoral maps to be a red sea of conservatism. These are crowded islands, with enough voters to influence politics far beyond their borders, and they remain bastions of American liberalism: Every American city with a population of more than 500,000 voted for John Kerry in 2004, as did about half the cities with populations between 50,000 and 500,000. In virtually every state that backed the Democratic presidential nominee last year--even traditional Democratic strongholds like Illinois, New Jersey and Michigan--it was only thanks to overwhelming majorities in urban areas that Kerry prevailed. At a time when the federal government is dominated by right-wing Republicans, and when liberal state governments are rare, cities are electing a new generation of progressives [...]
Part of a longish piece from "The Nation" in which the author talks about the lefties' wet dream of cities shaping the future, thanks to the large populations and the ability of the government to use local laws to enforce the "public interest." It's wishful thinking, though. Read the whole thing, if'n ya wanna laugh.
#1
The solution is for the Federal govt to stop sending massive $$ subsidies to the cities, which have large public payrolls and services usually paid for by more rural citizens.
Posted by: too true ||
06/03/2005 12:47 Comments ||
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#2
Asinine. A city today is more or less meaningless in economic and social terms. If you're going to aggregate urban voters, the meaningful unit of analysis is metro areas (MSMAs), not cities. If you look at MSMAs, the big shift continues to be from the cities to the suburbs, and from the suburbs to the exurbs. ie, from areas controlled for the most part by the Dem machine to centrist or right-of-center suburban up-for-grabs districts.
Also, even if you look only at cities, the fastest growing major cities are in the red states: Phoenix ( soon to overtake Philadelphia for the # 5 spot, after Houston). San Antonio. Orlando.
The Dems are becoming the urban metrosexual party focused solely on gays, gazillionaires, public sector union hacks, academics and 20-something DU'ers. Brilliant.
Meanwhile, Ken Mehlman is workign furiously to develop the GOP's large and growing share of the hispanic and african-american votes.
#4
At a time when the federal government is dominated by right-wing Republicans, and when liberal state governments are rare, cities are electing a new generation of progressives..
...In the words of Ren Hoek, "It's all so CLEAR to me now, Guido..."
Woodward's 'Deep Throat' book on tap for July release
By Bob Minzesheimer, USA TODAY Fri Jun 3, 6:22 AM ET
The Secret Man, Bob Woodward's book about "Deep Throat," his key source during the Watergate scandal, will be released next month, his publisher announced Thursday.
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Another possible book is being shopped around by an agent for Deep Throat himself - W. Mark Felt. "I'll arrange to write a book or something and collect all the money I can," the former
FBI official told reporters Wednesday outside his home in Santa Rosa, Calif. (Related item: Woodward met 'Deep Throat' well before Watergate)
Vanity Fair magazine revealed Felt's identity Tuesday, prompting Simon & Schuster to rush Woodward's book into print. It will describe how Felt became Woodward's legendary secret source. His guidance was critical for The Washington Post's coverage of Watergate, which brought down President Richard Nixon in 1974.
The Secret Man, priced at $23, will be "relatively short," says Simon & Schuster spokeswoman Virginia Meyer. The final number of pages hasn't been determined.
Woodward, who promised to protect Deep Throat's identity until he died, has been working on the book for some time. Vanity Fair says Woodward turned down Felt's proposal to collaborate on a book.
Simon & Schuster Publisher David Rosenthal said in a statement that Woodward's book "will be the true final piece of the Watergate puzzle."
"No doubt it will be a best seller," says Jamie Raab, publisher of Warner Books, "but it may not answer all the questions."
Raab says she'll meet as early as today with agent David Kuhn, who's representing Felt, 91, and his family. She hadn't seen a written proposal and didn't know whether Felt, who is in failing health, kept notes during his secret dealings with Woodward more than 30 years ago. "I want to know about his motivations, how he felt, how he did it," Raab says.
TV-movie producers are flooding networks with pitches about Deep Throat's story, although none claimed to have secured rights from Felt or his family.
"Unless it's the diary of Deep Throat, I'm not sure what the movie is," ABC movie chief Quinn Taylor says.
Scott Waxman, an agent who represents another Watergate fixture, E. Howard Hunt, on his proposed memoir, American Spy, says Felt's book deal "could easily be in the mid-six figures," and perhaps as much as $1 million, depending on how much he reveals.
But Random House spokesman Stuart Applebaum says Woodward, author of a string of best sellers, is "the celebrity," and his book could dampen interest in Felt's version.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
06/03/2005 20:36 ||
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George Bush has dug in his heels ahead of Tony Blair's visit to Washington on Monday, when the prime minister will attempt to convince the US to accept a new action plan on Africa that would require a doubling of American aid. Speaking to reporters at a meeting with the South African president, Thabo Mbeki, Mr Bush made it clear he would not drop his opposition to a British plan to create an International Financing Facility (IFF) for Africa to mobilise more foreign aid. "We have made our position pretty clear on that, that it doesn't fit our budgetary process," Mr Bush said, referring to limitations on Congress entering into long-term financial commitments. US officials have rejected British attempts to convince them to make an exception for African aid.
The president also signalled on Wednesday that he believed the leadership of the G8 group of industrialised countries was already moving in the right direction on African aid, and the policy did not need overhauling at July's Gleneagles summit.
Both the US and Britain agree there should be some relief of Africa's World Bank debts, but differ on how it should be financed. Gordon Brown and Mr Blair argue that rich countries should pick up the debt servicing bill. The Bush administration wants the cost to be taken out of direct aid budgets, with the consequence that recipient states do not receive any more funds.
And maybe the banks should cover some of their bad paper themselves.
The US also opposes a British suggestion that some of the International Monetary Fund's gold reserves should be sold to help pay off African IMF obligations.
Aid experts suggest there may be room for compromise when Mr Blair arrives in Washington to drum up support for implementing the findings of his Commission for Africa report. But there are profound differences between London and Washington. John Williamson, an aid expert at the Institute for International Economics said: "It was a wild hope that the Bush people would get enthusiastic about that. In a sense, Europe is a more hopeful route."
Unlike Mr Blair, the Bush administration does not believe increasing aid budgets will do any good without fundamental political reform and the eradication of corruption.
Like we've been saying ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/03/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
I love how Euro politicians are so free with their citizens' money.
#5
the prime minister will attempt to convince the US to accept a new action plan on Africa that would require a doubling of American aid.
Is it just me, or can you see a problem with this pitch before it even gets off the ground? What the hell is he talking about? A plan that requires us to double our aid. Great idea Tony, is that the best idea you came up with, or just the first?
Why doesnt he go hit the saudis up for some dough, they have it on em. Even after they fully fund Hamas for the year.
#6
I'm sorry, I can't quit bitching about this. I'm glad you guys are here to take it or I'd be divorced. That arrogant ass, why doesnt Britain double it's contribution? I think you are right Tony, you should go to europe to look for the money.
#7
Apparently they aren't aware of current trends in welfare in the U.S., i.e. "get a job!".
Posted by: Tom ||
06/03/2005 8:25 Comments ||
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#8
You're right, big jim. This falls right in line with Coffee's announcement of the accelerating rate of AIDS in Africa and how we should do more (read: send more $) to slow down/stop the spread of AIDS. Until those corrupt tribal leaders are thrown out, none of that money will get to where it really needs to go. I guess $15 billion (just for AIDS) wasn't enough? I'm sick and freakin' tired of being the world's feeding trough and then getting stabbed in the back by the money we sent 'em!
Posted by: BA ||
06/03/2005 8:25 Comments ||
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#9
Diversionary, indeed. Kofi's next scam is the renovation of the UN building in Turtle Bay. He wants $1.2B for a job that NY real estate experts say could not possibly cost more than $500M, absolute max. Also asked Congress for an interest free loan on this scam project. Unbelievable.
Here's Hinderaker/Hindrocket with the goods: http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/621yvchq.asp
The United Nations has said its plans to renovate its headquarters at Turtle Bay will cost $1.2 billion.
That strikes Donald Trump as far too much. "The United Nations is a mess," the developer said yesterday, "and they're spending hundreds of millions of dollars unnecessarily on this project."
And he's not the only one. Several Manhattan real-estate experts told The New York Sun this week that renovating premium office space should cost a fraction, on a per-square-foot basis, of what U.N. officials expect to pay.
An executive managing director at the commercial real-estate firm Julien J. Studley Inc., Woody Heller, said a thorough renovation of an office building would probably cost between $85 and $160 per square foot.
An executive vice president at Newmark, Scott Panzer, said renovation prices could range between $120 and $200 per square foot. Mr. Panzer, who works with many corporations to redevelop their buildings for future efficiency and energy cost savings, put a price of $70 to $100 per square foot on infrastructure upgrades. Those would include heating; ventilation; air conditioning; replacing the central plant; fenestration (specifically, switching from single-pane to thermal-pane windows); upgrading elevator switch gears, mechanicals, and vertical transportation; improving air quality, and making security upgrades. On top of that amount, another $50 to $100 per square foot would take care of the inside office improvements. ...It would appear, then, that hundreds of millions of dollars are unaccounted for, even on the most generous assumptions.
Trump has gone further, expressing the view that the expenses projected by the U.N. can only be the result of graft or incompetence. In a speech on the Senate floor on April 6, 2005, Senator Jeff Sessions recounted his conversation with Trump:
Let me share this story with you, which is pretty shocking to me. The $1.2 billion loan the United Nations wants is to renovate a building. Some member of the United Nations, a delegate, apparently, from Europe, had read in the newspaper in New York that Mr. Donald Trump . . . had just completed the Trump World Tower--not a 30-story building like the United Nations, but a 90-story building, for a mere $350 million, less than one-third of that cost. So the European United Nations delegate was curious about the $1.2 billion they were spending on the United Nations. He knew he didn't know what the real estate costs are in New York. So, he called Mr. Trump and they discussed it. Mr. Trump told him that building he built for $350 million was the top of the line. It has the highest quality of anything you would need in it. They discussed the matter, and an arrangement was made for Mr. Trump to meet Kofi Annan, Secretary-General, to discuss the concerns. . . . So according to Mr. Trump, who I talked to personally this morning, they go meet with Mr. Annan, who had asked some staff member to be there . . . When the European asked how these numbers could happen, Mr. Trump said the only way would be because of incompetence, or fraud. That is how strongly he felt about this price tag because he pointed out to me that renovation costs much less than building an entirely new building.
So he has a meeting with Mr. Annan, and they have some discussion. And Mr. Trump says these figures can't be acceptable. He told me in my conversation this morning, he said: You can quote me. You can say what I am saying. He said they don't know. The person who had been working on this project for 4 years couldn't answer basic questions about what was involved in renovating a major building. He was not capable nor competent to do the job. He went and worked on it, and talked about it, and eventually made an offer. He said he would manage the refurbishment, the renovation, of the United Nations Building, and he would not charge personally for his fee in managing it. He would bring it in at $500 [million], less than half of what they were expecting to spend, and it would be better. . . . Yet he never received a response from the United Nations.
#8
LOL, TGA. Kofi's new "Bolton Building":
http://www.chemeco.com/NorthDakota%20Outhouse.jpg
Posted by: Tom ||
06/03/2005 13:33 Comments ||
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#9
Trump builds a tower 3x as high for 1/3 the cost (and I'm sure Trump's is more extravagent). That means that actually it should be around 1/9 of what they want and probably divide that by 2 (as renovation is probably cheaper than building new). Try and take it out of the $15 billion we're giving for AIDS in Africa, Kofi, if you're sooooooo worried about your precious building. When you get a Senator from Alabama and Donald Trump agreeing on this issue....look out!
Posted by: BA ||
06/03/2005 13:52 Comments ||
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#10
Thibaud, where'd you get those square feet #s? If I recall, it seems to me that (again, this is rough estimate from memory) I heard that each of the twin towers were like 1 million square feet (and each floor was like an acre in size). There's no way in he!! the UN building is near that size (110 stories vs. 30 stories)!
Posted by: BA ||
06/03/2005 13:54 Comments ||
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#11
If they're going to renovate the existing structure for $1.2 billion, even using Kofinomics that means that there's going to have to be an awful lot of demolition. So we just wait until the demolition contractor is finished and then have the New Yawk Department of Public Safety issue a permanent cease and desist order.
Posted by: Matt ||
06/03/2005 14:02 Comments ||
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#12
Heres an Idea, F#ck the U.N. F#ck Coffi,F#ck them all.
#13
If Studley's Woody can't show Kofi how to do it, nobody can.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
06/03/2005 14:17 Comments ||
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#14
Nice one, Mrs D. Nice joke, that is.
BA: those numbers were from the article.
The U.N.'s Capital Master Plan states that a total of 2,651,000 square feet will be renovated. Assuming that figure to be correct, the per square foot cost would be $452.
But, as reported by the Sun, real estate experts question whether the U.N.'s facilities contain anywhere near that amount of space. According to the U.N.'s website, the organization's headquarters include four main structures comprising 1,029,000 sq ft, as follows:
* Secretariat Building: 39 floors and three subfloors, approximately 500,000 square feet.
* General Assembly Building: Five total floors, approximately 380 ft. by 160 ft., or 304,000 square feet.
* Conference Building: Four stories, approximately 115,000 square feet.
* Dag Hammarskjold Library: Four stories and two sublevels, 219 ft. by 84 ft., total 110,376 square feet.
#15
Ego / turf issues. You inflate the sq footage of everyone's office so that they have bragging rights.
Posted by: too true ||
06/03/2005 14:35 Comments ||
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#16
Each WTC tower contained about 5 million sq. ft. of space. In addition there were 7 other buildings in the complex for a grand total of 12 million sq. ft.
It's kind of difficult to estimate renovation costs when the UN can't even decide if it has 1 or 2.6 million sq.ft. As far as I care, stick their butts on an unused cruise ship and let them work on site (and see the effects) of their projects. Cruise Ships for sale
Posted by: ed ||
06/03/2005 14:42 Comments ||
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#17
Doesn't the 1.2Gigabucks include building an entirely new building to house (temporarily...) the Useless Nations while the current building is being renovated? I read that somewhere....
And you have ti factor in the costs of Conferences in Taiwan, Paris, Turkey, to plan the luncheons which will plans the conferences concerning the color of the carpeting.....
#18
"The United Nations is a mess," the developer said yesterday, "and they're spending hundreds of millions of dollars unnecessarily on this project."
With two bankruptcies under his belt, I'd listen to The Donald. He sure knows how to spend money unnecessarily.
Get the idea that Kofi is frantically trying to divert attention?
Aids is spreading faster than ever, outstripping efforts to contain it, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has said. "Last year saw more new infections and Aids-related deaths than ever before," Mr Annan told a conference in New York.
Only 12% of people with Aids in underdeveloped countries are getting anti-retroviral drugs, he added.
In 2001, the UN set a target date of 2015 to halt the spread of the disease but Mr Annan said better leadership and funding was needed to reach that goal. "The fight against Aids may be the great challenge of our age and our generation," Mr Annan told delegates. "Only if we meet this challenge can we succeed in our efforts to build a humane, healthy and equitable world.
"Instead of setting targets, this time leaders must decide how to achieve them."
Okay, listen to us Americans -- we have a plan. Oh. You don't like that one.
In a report published to coincide with the conference, Mr Annan warns that targets, such as cutting HIV infections in young people by 25% by 2005, will not be achieved. However, his report says funding for Aids work in developing countries has increased from $2bn in 2001 to about $8bn in 2005, although this still falls short of the resources the UN believes are needed to properly tackle the epidemic. It warns that, at the end of 2004, only 12% of the six million people who need HIV treatment worldwide had access to it and only one in five people across the world has access to prevention services.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/03/2005 00:00 ||
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#3
I just read an article about Swaziland having 40% AIDS infection rate. Can a society survive a 40% rate of AIDS cases? Have Africans doomed themselves?
#4
answer: yes - there will be massive depopulation of Africa, while the American president who's devotd the most actual resources and attention to the problem, Geo. W. Bush, will undoubtedly be the problem, not the solution. Welcome home, Alice
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/03/2005 0:27 Comments ||
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#5
IINM South Africa's infection rate is now ~25% of the population. Given the MSM's obsession with reporting mistakes and failures in Iraq, where are all the articles describing the "miserable failure" that is post-apartheid S Africa?
#6
The reality is that AIDS is a lifestyle disease and any attempt to reduce transmission by antiviral drugs needs to take into account their effect on lifestyle as this article illustrates. In fact its worse because treatments that prolong life of infected persons means they have longer to infect others. The brutal reality is they condem millions more to HIV infection and AIDS. More treatment = faster spread.
#7
Not a concern in South Africa, where the gov't views Western anti-AIDs medications with the same horror as the Mullahs view the polio vaccine further north.
#8
I see the opportunity for group as well as individual categories in the Darwin Awards. It is sad for the individuals involved, but reflects incredible stupidity. Portions of our gay community are equally obtuse.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
06/03/2005 7:26 Comments ||
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#9
Bravo, Mrs. D. Well said. It is sad that these entire communities may be doomed to be Darwin Award candidates.
Posted by: BA ||
06/03/2005 8:12 Comments ||
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#10
UN calls for lots and lots and lots of money action to halt Aids
#11
Must be impacting their food-for-nookie program. Nonthing else can get Kofi's attention. Genocide, wholesale torture and murder doesn't so why should the welfare of millions of AIDS victims turn Kofi's head?
#14
where are all the articles describing the "miserable failure" that is post-apartheid S Africa?
More like the miserable failure that is Mbeki, if you ask me. Under Mandela, despite his miserable foreign policy prediliction, SA was doing relatively well economically, and had made the change to majority rule surprisingly peacefully, despite a major crime problem. AFAIK the economic growth continues, as does the crime problem (if it hasnt actually intensified) Democracy still seems to be alive and well - but unfortunately thousands of South Africans will not be, cause of the AIDS policy. OTOH, South Africans have protested against the misguided AIDS policy, and theyre all still free - something you wouldnt find too many other places on the continent.
Mbekis incompetence on AIDS is more likely to take the ANC down than to take post Apartheid SA down, I think.
#15
Yeah, S. Africa has some crazy dude in charge of their health system that preaches herbal remedies for aids and discourages people from using antiretroviral drugs. Probably because he stole all the money we sent them for the drugs and blew it on hookers and booze.
"South Africa is a middle-income, emerging market with an abundant supply of natural resources; well-developed financial, legal, communications, energy, and transport sectors; a stock exchange that ranks among the 10 largest in the world; and a modern infrastructure supporting an efficient distribution of goods to major urban centers throughout the region. However, growth has not been strong enough to lower South Africa's high unemployment rate; and daunting economic problems remain from the apartheid era, especially poverty and lack of economic empowerment among the disadvantaged groups. South African economic policy is fiscally conservative, but pragmatic, focusing on targeting inflation and liberalizing trade as means to increase job growth and household income. "
#17
Maybe if the UN peacekeepers would stop forcing themselves on all the underage girls, the infection rate might not be so bad.
Posted by: Mike ||
06/03/2005 11:07 Comments ||
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#18
LH, you're describing the legacy of the afrikaners. The stats you omit include
-- ~50% unemployment
-- around one-third of South African women have been raped
-- Jo'burg is the most dangerous peacetime city on the planet
That's a pretty astonishing record of colossal failure across the board. SA today is a good example of the core African problem: brutal, kleptocratic, unbelievably incompetent regimes. Time for regime change, not debt forgiveness.
Democratic Republic of Congo, June 3 (UPI) -- A United Nations peacekeeping soldier who came under fire in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has died of his injuries, the BBC reported. The mission was attacked Thursday in Ituri, an area known for lawlessness and violence.
The U.N. troops were following up allegations of rapes of local women by militiamen in March when they came under fire. Four peacekeepers were injured. The dead soldier was from Nepal.
They ain't gonna like that. The last time UN peacekeepers got killed, they sent out a convoy to draw fire and had a few helicopter gunships trailing them to wack the shooters. Course, they had to take out a village to do it.
In other developments, two employees of the charity Medecins Sans Frontieres were kidnapped by armed men in Ituri, the BBC said. More details were not available. Various militia units in the region have been clashing since 1999, resulting in the deaths of some 50,000 people.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/03/2005 14:44 ||
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LONDON (AFP) - World oil prices rebounded on disruption to exports leaving
Iraq and concern over possible heating fuel shortages during the northern hemisphere winter, traders said. These A-hole have a new excuse every day. I cant believe they never run out. Now that there hasnt been a refinery fire for at least 17 hours, they have to start in on heating fuel stocks. Yes, Heating fuel stocks in G@dd@amned June!
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in July, gained 49 cents to 54.12 dollars per barrel in electronic deals. Right, in july. So you better raise the price at the pumps immediately.
#1
Was in Las Vegas for the holiday and decided to come back to the Bay Area via the back way on Monday. Big mistake. Gas at Shoshone, Panamint Springs Resort, and Furnace Creek in Death Valley was over $3/gal. Just a teensy bit below $3 in Lee Vining.
#2
Actually its not oil production, but refinery capacity that IS the problem. The US hasnt added a new refinery in 20 years, and current ones are running flat-out. Add to that increased demand, both domestic and overseas (Chinese), and you have a recipe for effectively high petroleum product prices no matter what.
Crude oil doesnt do anyone any good at all. Its what comes out of the refineries that counts. Refineries maake a mix of product at any given time - go read up on it. Fractional distillation and "cracking" are the primary processes - thats why they have all those pipes, columns and tanks. At any given time a refinery is making a lot of different things, from heavy assphalt-like tars to light volatile products gasoline and benzene. Its messy, complex and changes according to what need to be produced.
And yes, right now is when they start gradually changing product distribution, making less of lighter gasoline in order to make more heavier heating fuels. This is in order to build up stockpiles for the initial delivery rush when cold weather arrives: buying of heating oils is not a smooth curve like gasoline. Its usually only bought in early fall, and during the winter. So stockpiles are needed.
Not defending the greed, just explaining the market for petroleum to you so you can see its not a conspirsacy by Exxon/Shell/Arabs. Its a capitalist economy at work under the burden of state intervention (enviro regs/lawsuits preventing new plants, addtitives and other dictates on production, foreign governments artificially manipulating supply, etc).
#3
Well, OS, we are talking about the raw price per barrel. dis em something ima talk about more when i get back from wisconsin (packing to go now)
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
06/03/2005 12:42 Comments ||
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#4
And please pay attention to the ever increasing volume of Chinese purchase of crude on the world market, care of all your purchases at Chimart rising the economy and living standard of the average mainland citizen.
#5
Yeah, even at $63/barrel cude oil is only $1.50 /gallon. The rest is refining, transportation, and of course TAXES.
On the plus side, I don't need hard to refine RFG; so I just paid $1.94/gal for 87 octane unleaded yesterday.
Posted by: Dave ||
06/03/2005 14:06 Comments ||
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#6
All you need to is demand for oil is rising faster than supply and the price will continue rising until demand slows (through slower economic growth). There isn't any other way out of this situation. BTW, this looks like a record high for oil priced in Euros.
Nine French fighter jets and a radar plane stayed overnight at Atlantic City International Airport after one suffered a mechanical problem and bad weather prevented them from returning to their aircraft carrier off the Virginia coast, authorities said Friday.
The U.S. State Department was contacted by French officials after one of the pilots tried to buy fuel Thursday and couldn't because he didn't have the available funds on his credit card, a Philadelphia television station reported.
"One reported a mechanical problem, so the whole fleet came in," said Holly Baker, an FAA spokeswoman whose office is at the airport.
The planes, scheduled to perform Saturday at an air show at McGuire Air Force Base in Burlington County, were conducting military exercises with the U.S. Navy and landed at about 3:45 p.m., Baker said.
The 10 planes stayed at the airport because of bad weather, she said.
She said two of the pilots, accompanied by FAA security, stayed with the planes overnight. She could not confirm the television report about the failed gasoline purchase.
Atlantic City International Airport officials did not immediately respond to inquiries Friday. A man who answered the telephone at its airport operations desk said he could not release information.
#1
Equipment problems could happen to anyone. OTOH, to have a mechanical problem during a short flight just before you intend to fly at an air show and after time at sea for checkouts .... should be embarassing.
Don't know if French arrogance will shed that like water off a duck's back, though.
Posted by: too true ||
06/03/2005 11:17 Comments ||
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#2
The french don't have very good credit with me either.
Regards,
Kentucky
The planes, scheduled to perform Saturday at an air show at McGuire Air Force Base in Burlington County, were conducting military exercises with the U.S. Navy
Posted by: too true ||
06/03/2005 12:01 Comments ||
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#5
Maybe differences in view-of-reality between the French Military and its civilian leaderhsip?
#6
"She could not confirm the television report about the failed gasoline purchase."
Gasoline! Put that in your frog fighter jet! Another high-quality article from the Associated Press.
Posted by: Tom ||
06/03/2005 12:26 Comments ||
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#7
hey, Tom: the EU says all planes must use 87 octane, lead-free.
And we all know the French abide by every EU regulation ....
Posted by: too true ||
06/03/2005 12:28 Comments ||
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#9
Spook, what happened to those French senior officers who were court-martialed for passing NATO intel to Karadzic?
Also, appreciate any thoughts on this interesting nugget from an otherwise forgettable UK journalist's account of his brief stint with Marines fighting their way into Baghdad in '03: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,923-1636664_4,00.html
#13
I think Angie broke the code. This whole (non) story is about some French fighter jocks who concocted mechanical and weather problems so they could RON in Atlantic City and enjoy the casinos.
#14
fighter jocks who concocted mechanical and weather problems so they could RON in Atlantic City and enjoy the casinos.
Yeah, that's never happened before. Why do you think the specifications for the travel pods for fighters require enough space a flight bag and a set of golf clubs?
Posted by: Steve ||
06/03/2005 15:37 Comments ||
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#15
gThis whole (non) story is about some French fighter jocks who concocted mechanical and weather problems so they could RON in Atlantic City and enjoy the casinos.
No, the whole story is about French pilots fleeing Socialism and asking for political asylum in the USA like in the good old days of Soviet Union. ;-)
#17
"Oh my God, we've got ourselves a natural disaster here."
Posted by: Crash Davis ||
06/03/2005 15:52 Comments ||
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#18
If they had any sense, they would have waited for the Red Flag exercises and claimed asylum in Nevada.
Posted by: ed ||
06/03/2005 16:18 Comments ||
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#19
How about that, the de Gaulle is there: The planes, which had been conducting military exercises, then sought and received permission for emergency landings at the airport here around 3:45 p.m. They were parked overnight on an FAA ramp at the airport and had clearance to take off at noon to return to the French aircraft carrier de Gaulle, off the coast of Virginia.
Now why do I keep getting flashbacks of Midway?
Posted by: Steve ||
06/03/2005 16:22 Comments ||
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#20
Do we surrender now, or wait for the deGaulle to put in at Norfolk for repairs?
Real big of Bob to "allow" this... Zimbabwean leader puts tight conditions on deal Here's an idea. Let 'em starve. Maybe they'll over throw the bastard.
President Robert Mugabe agreed yesterday to allow the United Nations to increase its food aid to Zimbabwe, but under tightly restricted conditions, the World Food Programme said. Mr Mugabe said he would welcome "several hundred thousand tonnes" of food, but stopped short of formally requesting the assistance, in a 90-minute meeting with the WFP director, James Morris, in Harare yesterday. Don't make me beg. That'd be dissin me...
"Three to four million Zimbabweans will need food support in the coming year," said Mr Morris in Johannesburg after returning from Zimbabwe. "We want to see that hungry people will get the food they need." The UN agency will appeal to donors and hope the extra food supplies will arrive in Zimbabwe in up to two months. However, the WFP will not distribute food directly to the general population but will be limited to school feeding programmes, home-based Aids care, and food for work schemes, UN officials confirmed last night. Food for work "schemes"? Vote for Bob or starve?
Mr Mugabe said his government would import 1.2m tonnes of food to feed the general population, according to Mr Morris. The restricted scope of the UN aid will leave the Mugabe government in charge of providing food to the general population. Another shrewd move by the UN. They'll show him.
The Harare government has been accused of withholding food from areas that voted for the opposition in the March 31 elections. See above...
Until recently Mr Mugabe had boasted that Zimbabwe had ample food stocks, but now has admitted the country has a drastic food shortage. However, the president insisted on the face-saving measure of not formally requesting aid but instead saying that he would "welcome" it, WFP officials said. Again., don't be dissin, Bob. Wouldn't want a couple of million starving people to hurt his self esteem.
In January Mr Mugabe ordered the UN to stop its survey of Zimbabwe's crops and to dramatically cut its food distribution. "We don't want to choke on your food," he said. Mr Mugabe accused aid agencies of working against his government. Yeah. Don't let 'em eat too much, Bob. The UN wouldn't want to create an obesity epidemic in Zimbabwe.
As a result of Mr Mugabe's decision, the UN food agency had to cut its provision of food from providing for five million people to helping one million, concentrating on children orphaned by Aids, the elderly and other vulnerable groups. The new agreement will prevent the WFP from resuming a programme of massive distributions across the country. Mr Morris reached the agreement with Mr Mugabe yesterday as a pall of smoke hung over the capital's townships from the large-scale demolition and burning by police of thousands of wooden shacks. I take it they're not on the "eating list"...
The campaign in Zimbabwe's cities has made scores of thousands of families homeless. When asked if the demolition campaign had made Zimbabwe's humanitarian situation worse, Mr Morris paused and then said: "I have no answer for that." Send us lots more money and maybe we'll tackle that in 2 or 3 years.
Mr Morris is a special envoy of the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, charged with looking at how "weak governance" is affecting the food crisis. He said he spoke about the destruction of homes to Mr Mugabe. "I think he heard what I said." Suuuuuuuuuure he did...
Mr Morris said he intended to pass on to Mr Annan the calls by civic leaders that the UN send a special rapporteur to investigate Zimbabwe's humanitarian crisis. "The UN needs to take a look at governance and civil society and its capacity to solve the toughest problems of the day," he told the Guardian. Send us more envoys.
Zimbabwean civic leaders yesterday urged the UN to take a stronger stand with the Mugabe government. "Who is Robert Mugabe to say that there must be no political strings on the UN food aid?" said John Makumbe, political science lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe. Good to know I'm not the only one who thinks that. But we are dealing with the UN here.
Country in despair
· Population 12,835,000
· Life expectancy at birth 33.9 years
· Unemployment 70%
· Inflation around 400%
· 49.6% of the female labour force and 28.9% of the male labour force work in agriculture.
· HIV has infected 25% of the population, decimating the workforce.
· 38% of the population is malnourished, with 64% living on less than $2 a day, while 17% do not have access to an improved water source.
· The Zimbabwe government has seized 5,000 white-owned farms since 2000. Many have been given to associates who know little about farming.
· After a drought in 2001, only a quarter of the maize needed for food was produced, and more than 5 million people needed food aid. Cereal production decreased by 57% in 2002, and the tobacco crop has shrunk by 70% since 2000.
· President Robert Mugabe claimed a harvest of 2.5m tonnes of maize in 2004. Agencies forecast the true figure to be 700,000 tonnes. Zimbabwe needs 2.1m tonnes of grain to feed itself, and will import 1.2m tonnes of maize this year.
· 5.5 million people received food aid in 2003. The Famine Early Warning Systems Network warned in January that 5.8 million are at risk.
· Most public transport in Harare has stopped running, owing to fuel shortages; $18.5m has been released by the Bank of Zimbabwe for the purchase of fuel from abroad.
The UN and Bob. Working together to make this paradise even better...
Zimbabwe is about ready to explode in a nightmare mass murder, or bloody revolution. It's not genocide this time, but democide (government killing massive numbers of its own citizens.) The Zimbabwe government, in power since the country became independent in 1980, dealt with increasing unpopularity by terrorizing political opponents, rigging elections, and paying off supporters by driving its most productive citizens (the white farmers) out of the country and stealing their property. This move made it impossible for the country to feed itself. Relief agencies sent in tons of food, but this was distributed in a punitive fashion, with anti-government areas getting less food, or none at all. Last year, the government proclaimed the food emergency over, and said it needed no more charity from foreigners. That was a face saving lie. This year, the government admitted there was a food problem, and requested 1.2 million tons of food.
But it appears that the government will again use the food as a weapon. For the past month, police have been shutting down black markets in the cities, where the anti-government feeling is the strongest. Over 20,000 people have been arrested and several hundred squatters have been driven back into the countryside. The black markets have been a major source of food and other goods for the urban population. Without the black markets, the urban population will be totally dependent on the government for food. In the countryside, where the government still has some support (because of the distribution of land taken from white farmers), people can grow enough to feed themselves, but not the third of the 12 million population that lives in urban areas. Nearly all the farmers use primitive techniques, and live from harvest to harvest. One bad year, and starvation becomes a major factor. There is much disease, and the average life expectancy is 37 years.
There hasn't been any revolution so far because the potential rebels cannot get guns. No one is willing to arm the dissatisfied majority, and over two thirds of the population lives in poverty. The ruling party is corrupt, and hands out what wealth is available only to those that actively support it. There are no large deposits of items like diamonds or gold, that are readily converted into cash. It was that kind of money that fueled the civil wars farther north, in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Religion is not a factor either, with less than one percent of the population being Moslem. Further north, irate Moslem populations have been armed by wealthier Arab nations.
The government seems determined to starve its enemies to death, secure in the knowledge that the victims are unarmed, and the government forces have lots of guns. It's even difficult for the rest of the world to find out what's going on, as foreign reporters were expelled years ago, and the local press is under strict government control. This story will only get reported after the dead are buried.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/03/2005 09:08 ||
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#1
Turn that guy in to the UN, they handled that Sudan thing pretty quickly and efficiently.
Zimbabwe's police say their operation against street traders and illegal housing is entering its final day. More than 22,000 people have been arrested and tens of thousands left homeless in the two-week crackdown. The government says the move is needed to clean up Zimbabwe's cities but some feel it is punishment for areas which voted for the opposition. Lobby group Amnesty International has called for an end to the demolitions, which some are calling the "tsunami".
"Lobby group Amnesty International", BBC finally called one right for a change.
Whole shantytowns and markets have been razed to the ground, while the police are now targeting houses illegally built on farms around the capital, Harare, some of which were seized under the government's controversial land reform programme. "Amnesty International is appalled by this flagrant disregard for human rights. Forced evictions without due process, legal protection, redress and appropriate relocation measures, are completely contrary to international human rights law," said Amnesty's Africa Programme director Kolawole Olaniyan.
"Everything was destroyed without notice," Ernest Rautavaara told the Reuters news agency, standing in front of a half-demolished concrete building which was once a vegetable market. "This is the true meaning of tsunami," he said.
Amnesty said it had received reports that people had been forced to pull down their own homes but police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said this was a sign that people were co-operating with "Operation Restore Order".
With a gun to their head
The police say the operations is targeted at criminals and black marketeers who are subverting the economy.
Reuters reports that open spaces in the poor Mbare district near Harare city centre have been turned into giant warehouses for goods salvaged from the police "tsunami". People are sleeping in the open, even though Zimbabwe's winter has begun. "We are suffering, we have nowhere to go. Our houses were destroyed," said Victoria Muchenje. "Our children are not going to school, we are sleeping outside everywhere... if you walk, everywhere you see people sleeping in the road."
Meanwhile, Social Welfare Minister Nicholas Goche has denied that Zimbabwe needs food aid. He told state radio that the government had bought 1.2m tonnes of corn from South Africa to cover poor harvests.
Earlier this week, World Food Programme chief James Morris said Zimbabwe faced "an enormous humanitarian crisis", with between 3 and 4 million people needing food aid in the next year. Mr Goche, however, said that Zimbabwe would welcome any food it was offered. Zimbabwe has been accused of manipulating food aid for political reasons - downplaying shortages ahead of elections and depriving opposition areas of food.
The government denies that its seizure of white-owned farms has led to the food shortages. It blames poor rains and a western plot to remove President Robert Mugabe from power.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/03/2005 08:22 ||
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#1
I agree with Amnesty International, George Bush should apologize immediately and make reparations to
the people of Zimbabwe and the entire world.
#3
I assume that "illegal housing" means that it's owned by a white guy? Like the U.N., look for a summit at some ritzy coastal S. African town soon for A.I. WTF is wrong with these groups now a days? They start out doing good and making progress and then get taken over by lefties (e.g. Greenpeace, A.I., PETA, etc.).
Posted by: BA ||
06/03/2005 9:25 Comments ||
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#4
BA:
It's O'sullivan's law. Environment groups change from real problems to tranzi socialist schemes. Medical Journals print anti-American propaganda. Even the IEEE has fallen for the global warming hoax.
My first car used to do them.... A cousin even had bumper rollers on his souped up mustang.
(He really scared the hell out of me in the Conn Turnpike... rolling on the wheelie rollers for about a mile....)
#3
Dying while doing incredibly stupid things is a god-given right, and should not be taken away by anyone. Now hold my beer, I wanna show you something.
#5
I had a friend who prided himself on being able to go through all 5 gears doing a wheelie on his bike. One day he was showing off for some girls on an "improved" road (i.e. gravel that's had tar sprayed on it) and got a bit too enthusiastic and went over. It being summer he was just wearing shorts and t-shirt, so he ended up as one big scab of road rash. Fortunately that was the extent of his injuries - except for the bruised ego. We all found it to be hilarious.
#6
Dying while doing incredibly stupid things is a god-given right, and should not be taken away by anyone. Now hold my beer, I wanna show you something.
Bravo, BH! However, I'd note that down here in the South, it's "Now hold my beer. Hey, y'all watch 'is."
Posted by: BA ||
06/03/2005 13:34 Comments ||
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LAHORE: The period from July 15, 2005 to early 2007 will be a dangerous time for Pakistan's leadership because this is when the country's star (Leo) re-enters a Saturn cycle that has been destructive in the past, a leading astrologer has said.
He also got the free space on the Bingo card.
Abdullah Shaukat Chaudhry, a law graduate and Dera Ghazi Khan landlord, shot to fame recently after predicting the imminent demise of the career of Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar. He also claims to have predicted the tsunami disaster that devastated Southeast Asia in December.
"The last time Pakistan's star was in Saturn was from 1977 to 1979, when the country saw instability and former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was hanged," Chaudhry said. "From July 15 the same period starts again, and this will be a dangerous time for the leadership of Pakistan and India".
"Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is a Libra (date of birth September 29, 1932) and 2005 will also be dangerous for him. He could face a serious illness from June 10 to October after which he might resign from the premiership."
The astrologer predicted doom for the Indo-Pak peace process. "The current talks will end, and there are chances that Pakistan could face a 1971-like situation."
And when haven't they?
"The leaders of both countries need to handle matters very carefully (in talks), but I see no solution to the Kashmir dispute in sight. The Kashmiris will not be consulted and it will remain a hot issue between two countries."
Chaudhry predicted that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and President Gen Pervez Musharraf would both lose their offices in the Saturn period. "It is likely that the next leadership of Pakistan will be from the army. The role of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, militant groups and the Pakistan Muslim League (all factions) will also end."
He predicted that former prime minister Benazir Bhutto would return to Pakistan before September 2005, but that she would never be premier again. "She will handle her party from behind the scenes like Indian Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi." Chaudhry, 68, is from New Delhi and was inspired to learn astrology by the late Pundit Raghunandan Sharma.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/03/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
ima predikten hard timez fro chad teh nexet fyoo yeers.
#3
Leo entering the Saturn cycle looks bad for Iran, North Korea, and Syria too. And Palestine, like Kashmir, will remain a hot issue. Five cents, please.
Posted by: Tom ||
06/03/2005 8:22 Comments ||
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#4
Good to see that being an astrologer is ok in Pakistan, but being a Christian or Jew or Buddhist isn't. I thought that astrology was un-Islamic?
#5
Nope. Start at about the 5th paragraph here, DB:
http://www.nickcampion.com/nc/history/articles/islamic.htm
Posted by: Tom ||
06/03/2005 11:25 Comments ||
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#6
I'm predicting their transition to an eighth century society will be difficult too
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/03/2005 12:13 Comments ||
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#7
Heh, Frank. It's with a smile I offer that taking away or disrupting cell phone service would send them reeling back to the glorious days of the Caliphate - in less than a week. Dependence doesn't even begin to describe the addiction throughout the Third World. If you want to hit 'em where it really hurts, that's the tender spot. Saudi "society" would collapse within days - and that is no exaggeration. It has become a priori - especially for jihadis.
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.
President 
Serbian police have arrested at least eight men they say are shown in a video killing a group of Bosnian Muslim prisoners from 
Democratic Republic of Congo, June 3 (UPI) -- A United Nations peacekeeping soldier who came under fire in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has died of his injuries, the BBC reported. The mission was attacked Thursday in Ituri, an area known for lawlessness and violence.
LAHORE: The period from July 15, 2005 to early 2007 will be a dangerous time for Pakistan's leadership because this is when the country's star (Leo) re-enters a Saturn cycle that has been destructive in the past, a leading astrologer has said.
