A mud brick tomb dating back more than 4,000 years has been discovered near the Egypt's most ancient pyramid in the Saqqara complex south of Cairo, antiquities official announced Monday. The tomb, which was found by an Egyptian-Australian mission, belonged to Ka-Hay, who kept divine records, and his wife, said Zahi Hawass, Egypt's antiquities chief.
Excavators found five wooden statues depicting the tomb's owner and his wife in a niche at the tomb's forefront. Among the wooden figures was a unique double statue of a seated Ka-Hay and his wife, Hawass said. The tomb, which also features two offering tables and a wooden false door, was found near the famous Step Pyramid of King Djoser - believed to be Egypt's oldest pyramid - in the necropolis of King Teti, a funerary area containing scores of burial chambers, false doors that ancient Egyptians said the souls of the dead would use to leave their tombs, and temples.
The necropolis where the mud brick tomb was found is built alongside the collapsed pyramid of Teti, who ruled during ancient Egypt's 6th dynasty, more than 4,300 years ago. The Ka-Hay tomb dates back to the late 5th or early 6th dynasty, Hawass said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/20/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Minor correction: The tomb, which was found by an Egyptian-Australian mission, belonged to Ka-Hay, who kept divine records, and his wife, said Zahi Hawass, Egypt's antiquities thug-in-chief.
#2
I yawn everytime I see Dr Zawi Hawass on TV. He is always so excited, presenting the latest discovery as if it were the untouched tomb of a great king - another Tut and then you see some rather boring artifacts, the odd mummy, some broken clay objects.
Bit like Geraldo Rivera and Al Capone's vault...
Posted by: John Frum ||
02/20/2007 7:12 Comments ||
Top||
#3
JF,
I knew some real archeologists in school and they could get really excited at the damnedest things. I yawn when I see Hawass too, but I think he's sincere. Too, he is working in a second language.
#5
I knew some real archeologists in school and they could get really excited at the damnedest things. I yawn when I see Hawass too, but I think he's sincere.
As an armchair archaeologist I too get excited over things most people find deathly boring. I also think Hawass is sincere (despite my earlier comment) - the problem I have is he runs Egypt's Antiquities Dept. like his personal candy shop. No scientist digs as much as a spadeful of sand in Egypt without his blessing, and their views on Egyptian history must conform to his or no-go. Whatever's found by whomever, he makes sure to get the lion's share of TV face time discussing it.
#6
Thread carefully! It's now the 16256894235678596th Holiest Site of Islam. I see a riot coming, and some major seething, and possibly some UN involvement too.
The immigration minister of the Bahamas Shane Gibson has resigned after the publication of old pictures of him embracing the model Anna Nicole Smith, who died earlier this month.
"I want to apologise to all persons who may in any way have been offended by anything that I have said, done or perceived to have said or done."
Amid criticisms that Mr Gibson may have fast-tracked a residency visa for the former model to live on the island, he announced his resignation saying he had made the decision for the well-being of his family. Mr Gibson denied abusing his ministerial office by accelerating Smith's application for residency and said he had not had a sexual relationship with the 39-year-old.
"I did not have sex with that woman!"
"I want to apologise to all persons who may in any way have been offended by anything that I have said, done or perceived to have said or done," he said.
Reports suggested that a police investigation will be launched after an official complaint against the former minister. Six days ago, The Tribune of Nassau published two photographs on its front page of showing Smith and Mr Gibson, both fully dressed, embracing on a bed decorated with pink flowers. Critics said Smith's successful residency application - based on the disputed ownership of a waterfront mansion on the island - was the result of her close friendship with Mr Gibson. Mr Gibson, a former trade union official, said his continued presence on the front line of politics would make it more difficult for the government to deliver its message.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/20/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Actually, I did have sex with Ms. Smith. Where should I send my DNA sample ?
American meat eaters are responsible for 1.5 more tons of carbon dioxide per person than vegetarians every year.
That's because us meat eaters eat cows and pigs and little lambs and sheep and goats and deer and walruses and such, which all pass gas, thereby contributing to global methane accumulation. Vegetarians, on the other hand, live on nuts and berries and roots and tofu, which causes them to not only emit the vapors themselves, but to aggravate the offense by yammering about their virtue.
The vegans keep all their gases trapped inside, which actually explains a lot ...
As Congress begins to tackle the causes and cures of global warming, the action focuses on gas-guzzling vehicles and coal-fired power plants, not on lowly bovines. Yet livestock are a major emitter of greenhouse gases that cause climate change.
Back in the days of my youth, when brontosaurs ruled the world, we had real problems with methane emissions. We used to have global warming every two or three weeks, by golly. 'Course it was always followed by nuclear winter. The elementary school version of me used to get really confused because just as I got used to having one species of velociraptors running around they'd suddenly die out and I'd have to get used to a new one.
And as meat becomes a growing mainstay of human diet around the world, changing what we eat may prove as hard as changing what we drive.
Boy, do I miss the trilobites! There's nothin' more fun than a primoridial soup full of trilobites...
Livestock are responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse-gas emissions as measured in carbon dioxide equivalent, reports the FAO. This includes 9 percent of all CO2 emissions, 37 percent of methane, and 65 percent of nitrous oxide.
It's not just the well-known and frequently joked-about flatulence and manure of grass-chewing cattle that's the problem, according to a recent report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Land-use changes, especially deforestation to expand pastures and to create arable land for feed crops, is a big part.
Are they counting acres, or are they looking at percentage of land surface? People are often suprised when they fly to see just how little land area is actually used for cities and towns and even farms and ranches.
So is the use of energy to produce fertilizers, to run the slaughterhouses and meat-processing plants, and to pump water. "Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today's most serious environmental problems," Henning Steinfeld, senior author of the report, said when the FAO findings were released in November. Livestock are responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse-gas emissions as measured in carbon dioxide equivalent, reports the FAO. This includes 9 percent of all CO2 emissions, 37 percent of methane, and 65 percent of nitrous oxide. Altogether, that's more than the emissions caused by transportation.
Pfeh. Not a patch on the brachiosaurs. Sometimes a single herd could go over 100 percent of all methane emissions. They used to eat all that stuff growing at the bottom of the swamp, and the resulting greenhouse gas emissions could drop a pterodactyl at five miles.
The latter two gases are particularly troubling even though they represent far smaller concentrations in atmosphere than CO2, which remains the main global warming culprit. But methane has 23 times the global warming potential (GWP) of CO2 and nitrous oxide has 296 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide.
On the other hand, it'll cause you to giggle your head off about it.
Methane could become a greater problem if the permafrost in northern latitudes thaws with increasing temperatures, releasing the gas now trapped below decaying vegetation. What's more certain is that emissions of these gases can spike as humans consume more livestock products.
If the brachiosaurs come back it'll be the age of the great apes all over again. Temperatures will rise worldwide, as will humidity. Suddenly we'll all grow fur and tails and start swinging from the trees in the reawakened rainforests. I plan to spend most of my time copulating and then sitting around eating overripe fruit while flies buzz around my hindquarters. And I absolutely refuse to lay in any supplies for nuclear winter.
As prosperity increased around the world in recent decades, the number of people eating meat (and the amount one eats every year) has risen steadily. Between 1970 and 2002, annual per capita meat consumption in developing countries rose from 11 kilograms (24 lbs.) to 29 kilograms (64 lbs.), according to the FAO. (In developed countries, the comparable figures were 65 kilos and 80 kilos.) As population increased, total meat consumption in the developing world grew nearly five-fold over that period.
At the same time the proportion of humanity heating their homes with coal, peat, and lignite has dropped dramatically, as has the black haze hanging over most cities.
Beyond that, annual global meat production is projected to more than double from 229 million tons at the beginning of the decade to 465 million tons in 2050. This makes livestock the fastest growing sector of global agriculture.
Mmmmm! Meat! My favorite! Compare a pound and a half of beefsteak, gently rubbed with a bit of salt, delicately peppered, and closely - but not intimately! - acquainted with a clove of garlic, rested lightly on a very hot grill for precisely 6.5 minutes per side, with a big old bowl of tofu with some nice cauliflower on the side.
Animal-rights activists and those advocating vegetarianism have been quick to pick up on the implications of the FAO report. "Arguably the best way to reduce global warming in our lifetimes is to reduce or eliminate our consumption of animal products," writes Noam Mohr in a report for EarthSave International.
Either that, or we could just enjoy the global warming, secure in the knowledge it'll be followed soon enough by nuclear winter and the extinction of Bigfoot.
Changing one's diet can lower greenhouse gas emissions quicker than shifts away from fossil fuel burning technologies, Mr. Mohr writes, because the turnover rate for farm animals is shorter than that for cars and power plants. "Even if cheap, zero-emission fuel sources were available today, they would take many years to build and slowly replace the massive infrastructure our economy depends upon today," he writes. "Similarly, unlike carbon dioxide which can remain in the air for more than a century, methane cycles out of the atmosphere in just eight years, so that lower methane emissions quickly translate to cooling of the earth."
The air will clear even more quickly if we open the windows...
Researchers at the University of Chicago compared the global warming impact of meat eaters with that of vegetarians and found that the average American diet including all food processing steps results in the annual production of an extra 1.5 tons of CO2-equivalent (in the form of all greenhouse gases) compared to a no-meat diet. Researchers Gidon Eshel and Pamela Martin concluded that dietary changes could make more difference than trading in a standard sedan for a more efficient hybrid car, which reduces annual CO2 emissions by roughly one ton a year. "It doesn't have to be all the way to the extreme end of vegan," says Dr. Eshel, whose family raised beef cattle in Israel. "If you simply cut down from two burgers a week to one, you've already made a substantial difference." Staff writer Peter Spotts contributed to this report.
#8
Since plants take in carbon dioxide Vegeterians are eating up the carbon sinks. I'm going to do my best to preserve carbon sinks, especially Spinach.
#11
Procopius2k, before we invented cows, the world was full of massive herds of wooly mammoths, buffalos, yaks, elk, giant reindeer, mooses and the like, all with digestive systems roughly the same as cows. I would be willing to bet that their combined flatulence was at least the equal of our current bovine population.
#13
Did ya ever light a fart? That's methane. The biggest source of Volitile Organic Chemicals (VOG's)in the workplace is Human Bioefluent Emissions (HBE's) otherwise known as burps and farts. What are the major causes of burps and farts? Vegetables. Especially, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, raddishes, onions, peas, and beans. Maybe we should just stop eating and die off.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/20/2007 19:00 Comments ||
Top||
#14
DB's got a point. Note how none of the major methane contributors are carnivores.
Therefore, to do my part to reduce my personal methane emissions, and to reduce those of livestock, I'm gonna have me some bacon. Mmmmmm.
#15
Phil, that New scientist article calls methane the number 2 greenhouse gas. My understanding is that water vapor is no. 1, CO2 is no. 2 and methane no. 3. But for some unknown reason, its hard to get the facts on that. Or on the relative significance of each. Or of any other significant greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. That's assuming that these things are known, of course. Do you- or anyone- have any relevant data on these lines? Would appreciate that.
More than 100 Zimbabwean ministers and officials are part of the list of those affected by visa bans and the freezing of assets. The European Union accuses them of human rights violations, and violations of freedom of speech and assembly in Zimbabwe.
(SomaliNet) In what the Zimbabwean president describes as tougher times for Zimbabwes officials, the European Union (EU) extended sanctions on Zimbabwe for another year on Monday including an arms embargo, travel ban and asset freeze on President Robert Mugabe and other top officials.
More than 100 Zimbabwean ministers and officials are part of the list of those affected by visa bans and the freezing of assets. The European Union accuses them of human rights violations, and violations of freedom of speech and assembly in Zimbabwe.
Plans for an EU-Africa summit have been on hold since 2003 because Britain and several other EU countries refused to attend if Mugabe was invited, while African states refused to attend if he was not invited, diplomats have said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/20/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Bob and Zanu-PF ought to go muslim. The EU would drop sanctions quicker'n you can say 'Zimbabwe'.
Zimbabwe's main opposition leader said on Monday that the fight against President Robert Mugabe had reached a new level, a day after police crushed an opposition rally to prevent anti-government protests from spreading.
Heavily armed riot squads stopped the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) from holding a court-approved rally in the capital Harare on Sunday, firing teargas and water cannons at stone-throwing protesters and arresting 122 people. "May I take the opportunity to place on record a growing mood of defiance evident in the past week as our struggle for change takes a new turn," Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the MDC, said in a statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/20/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
The retaliation of the Saudi religious police against those flouting the ban on Saint Valentine festivities, announced last week by the local press, has struck some 30 shops in Jeddah, who were found clandestinely selling gifts and cards for the lovers' fest. According to a report on the Saudi daily al-Medina, the religious police carried out various searches in the run-up to the 14 February celebrations. "Despite the circular from our ministry and the body for the promotion of virtue banning these celebrations we have found businessmen flouting this," said a commerce ministry spokesman.
The offending shops were in the al-Balad and al-Hindawiah areas of the Red Sea port of Jeddah, where in out of sight they had supplies of red love cards and romantic presents which they sold secretly to a few trusted clients. The religious police has fined the 30 shops, confiscating and burning all the material seized.
Last week the same moral police had warned that it wanted to organised anti-Valentines patrols, recalling a fatwa issued by the Saudi chief mufti sheikh Abdelaziz al Sheikh, who wrote that "any Muslim who believes in Allah and in the Day of Judgement cannot celebrate this event".
Despite this young Saudis have shown they want to recognise the lovers' fest, as red roses were sold out, and their price had leapt in just a few days from 5 to 12 riyals each.
#7
Hallmark Hall of Fame presents "Law Goons of Arabia."
Posted by: Mike ||
02/20/2007 9:42 Comments ||
Top||
#8
So, Islam thinks it is strong enough to take on Hallmark, heh ?
Well, let me remind you that a greeting card company can quickly gear up to produce cartoons, and we know how deadly they can be. I'm going to buy a spare seething meter, just in case.
"This is Mullah John Burnell ! This crook thought his powerful sports car could help him outrun the law and deliver his Valentines card but he didnt count on the Saudi Religious PD and now all this hoodlum has got for his troubles is a one way ride to the county jail!"
A teenage Muslim who left her family in Britain to marry an Indian Hindu she met online said yesterday that her father was still refusing to speak to her even though she asked for his forgiveness.
Subia Gaur, 18, caused an international stir when she married Ashwani Gupta, 21, in a ceremony near Delhi last year despite the disapproval of her parents. Such was the interest in the "Romeo and Juliet" tale that the wedding was broadcast on Indian television.
Mrs Gupta, who is visiting her family in Plaistow, east London, said she was now "praying" for her father to forgive her. "My mother has been fine with me, but my father will not talk to me," she told the Evening Standard. "I have told him how sorry I am and I am prepared to repent, but he will not listen."
Have you learned how to sleep with one eye open?
Mr Gupta has now converted to Islam and changed his name to Sohail, and the couple are planning to live in Britain permanently.
"I just hope my dad will speak to me. I didn't want to hurt my family, but I had to be with the man I love," she said.
Mrs Gupta got to know her husband through an online chat room two years before the wedding. They met for the first time in April last year during a trip she made to Mumbai, where her grandparents live. She returned home to sit her A-levels but then flew to Delhi in secret.
When the wedding was finally held in Mr Gupta's home town of Ghaziabad last September it was attended by around 1,000 people.
Her father Abdul Gaur, 46, a shop manager, said at the time of the wedding his daughter had been "brainwashed".
His wife Fameeda, 37, said yesterday that it was possible her husband would one day forgive his daughter but "not today or tomorrow". She said he suffered a heart attack when he found out about the wedding. But she added that "in his heart" he was glad that his son-in-law had now converted to Islam. Well, who would have thunk that was going to happen?
#1
Well, hon, my advice to you would be to keep any attempts at communicating with pops to strictly over the phone.
Cuts down on the potential for those possibly fatal "honor" thingies...
They should send Pinchy a picture. I'm sure he'd love to have it framed and up in the lobby.
HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba unveiled a marble plaque on Saturday commemorating the interview 50 years ago by New York Times reporter Herbert Matthews that helped build the legend of Fidel Castro, the state news agency Prensa Latina reported. I wonder if the Times will go black border when Fidel finally croaks?
The plaque was placed on the spot where Matthews met with Castro at his hideout in the Sierra Maestra mountains of south eastern Cuba. Castro had taken to the hills two months earlier with a handful of men who survived a disastrous landing from Mexico to launch a guerrilla movement against U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista.
The government had claimed Castro was dead. Matthews' article, published by The New York Times on Feb 24, 1957, showed Castro was still alive and fighting. It immediately made the 30-year-old firebrand an international figure. I'm sure the Times was glad to help out...
In that glowing article Matthews wrote: "The personality of the man (Castro) is overpowering. It was easy to see that his men adored him and also to see why he has caught the imagination of the youth of Cuba all over the island. Here was an educated, dedicated fanatic, a man of ideals, of courage and of remarkable qualities of leadership." Sounds like Walter Duranty taught him well.
The interview may also have helped Castro by exaggerating the size of his rebel force. Castro later bragged he only had 18 men at the time, but made them pass in front of the American reporter several times. Being a Times reporter, he was probably easily duped. If he even wanted to be...
Less than two years after the interview, Castro and his revolutionary companion Ernesto "Che" Guevara swept down from the hills and overthrew the Batista government in a leftist revolution that steered Cuba toward communism. Another Great Moment in NYT History...
Matthews, a senior editorial writer at The New York Times when he interviewed Castro, died in 1977.
Plus more if you Google I guess (he was instrumental in shaping public opinion in favor of the republicans during the spanish civl war, already a fellow traveller at that date).
#4
Besides which, the spare parts issue for Venezuela is going to be the killer - how are they going to keep all of those new toys running? Guys like Chavez buy the planes and ships without the follow-on equipment and spares being lined up; plus, they seem to think that qualified crews can be magically produced for this new toys of theirs. Where is Chavez going to get nine complete and qualified sub crews for the nine new subs he wants?
Man, nobody likes the UN...
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Songs lampooning politicians have always been a fixture of Haiti's carnival, but this year, musicians have a new favorite target: U.N. peacekeepers.
The airwaves have been filled with satirical songs about the U.N. force, known by its French acronym MINUSTAH, which has been trying to restore order to Haiti since the 2004 rebellion that toppled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. MINUSTAH. I think they were the halftime show at the NBA All Star Game...
"MINUSTAH, you're really just a tourista. You're holding back my country," the group Vwadezil sings in one popular song. "You're just lounging around so why don't you get ... out."
The songs, known as "meringues," add a political dimension to the three-day carnival celebrations. The rum-fueled festivities bring even more chaos to the bustling streets of downtown Port-au-Prince, with tens of thousands of people dancing to live bands on floats.
Haiti's government spent $2 million on this year's carnival, hoping to lure tourists, especially Haitians living in the United States. Wished I'd have known. Well, not really...
The former French colony, plagued since independence with political upheaval and dire poverty, has a long history of skewering public institutions during carnival.
U.N. troops are only the latest addition to a rhetorical menu that typically includes crooked government officials, outgunned police and kidnappers who prey on the population of 8 million. Sounds really hilarious...
The peacekeepers have recently become more aggressive in battling the gangs blamed for rampant kidnappings. On Sunday, they captured a gang leader known as Ti Bazil in the Cite Soleil slum.
But many Haitians feel that the force, which combines soldiers and police from more than a dozen countries, has been too slow in stemming violence."MINUSTAH, you've invaded our country, you must make things better," the popular group T-Vice warns in one of its meringues. Yeah. Not like we should be doing something about it... Other meringues accuse U.N. bureaucrats of spending more time dining in posh restaurants and sunning themselves on the beach than working to solve the poor country's troubles. So I guess it's not just us. Although I'd like to see what a "posh" retaurant in Haiti looks like....
"Since the U.N. is now a part of our society, I touch upon it in my music," the band Vwadezil's lead singer, Fresh La, said in an interview. "They're taking a long time to bring peace to the country, and that's keeping us from moving forward." In Haiti? Moving forward to what?
The U.N. mission takes the jabs in stride. "I think it's part of the Haitian tradition of carnival to make fun of things, even serious things," said Edmond Mulet, the special U.N. representative to Haiti. "It's a way of conveying some sentiments which are genuine and I don't blame for them that. On the contrary, I think they should be welcomed." Ha ha ha...tell them to get in the very long line. But at the end of all this, I will be out of here and they will still be in Haiti. So..ha ha ha.
Some singers have caused problems for the U.N., however. At last year's carnival, the group Demele performed a profanity-laced song that accused peacekeepers of stealing goats belonging to peasants. Despite denials by the U.N. mission, the accusation spread through the streets and became a common chant during anti-U.N. street protests. Goats, huh? Should I be reading between the lines here?
"That song caused a lot of issues between MINUSTAH and the population," said that group's frontman, also known as Demele. He alleged that the offending lyric got him uninvited from this year's carnival lineup. U.N. officials and carnival organizers denied censoring any artists. "Musicians have the right to write any song they like," said Yanick Louis, a member of the carnival's artistic committee.
And despite the harsh tone of some songs, other artists said they mean no offense. "I ridicule the U.N. in the spirit of carnival, which is about having fun and letting go," Vwadezil's Fresh La said. I ridicule the UN because...it's the UN.
#1
Although I'd like to see what a "posh" retaurant in Haiti looks like.
Probably like one in Paris.
The Haitian elite is very wealthy. When the wives want to go shopping they jet off to Paris.
Posted by: John Frum ||
02/20/2007 10:29 Comments ||
Top||
#2
accused peacekeepers of stealing goats belonging to peasants.
Any Pakistani troops stationed there?
Posted by: John Frum ||
02/20/2007 10:31 Comments ||
Top||
#3
QUAGMIRE!!!
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
02/20/2007 10:44 Comments ||
Top||
#4
I hereby move, at the 'burg, to issue a non-binding resolution to show our support for MINUSTAH, but denouncing their recent actions in cracking down on gangs.
Either that, or a sternly worded letter™. Anyone second my motion?
Posted by: BA ||
02/20/2007 10:57 Comments ||
Top||
#5
"You're just lounging around so why don't you get ... out."
Hell, we have been saying that to the UN for years to get out of the US.
HT to Captain Ed RTWT
Hugo Chavez may have lost both the recall referendum in 2004 and the December 2006 presidential election, according to studies conducted by a distinguished multidisciplinary team in Caracas, Venezuela. The team includes the rector of Universidad Simon Bolivar, Frederick Malpica, and a former rector of the National Electoral Council, Alfredo Weil.
Astonishing as it may seem to Americans who believe the contention by Mr. Chavez that he won both elections by a landslide 58% to 42% in the recall and 61% to 39% in the presidential election the studies show that since 2003, Mr. Chavez has added 4.4 million favorable names to the voter list and "migrated" 2.6 million unfavorable voters to places where it was difficult or impossible for them to vote.
None of these additions or migrations to the voter-register has been independently audited in Venezuela. Instead, the votes have been electronically counted by Chavez cronies. So when Mr. Chavez announces a landslide, there has been no way to prove otherwise, even though exit polls and other data have consistently shown that half the voters of Venezuela or more oppose Mr. Chavez.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/20/2007 08:47 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
...*tap*tap*...Damn suprise meter is just NOT workin' today...
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/20/2007 8:53 Comments ||
Top||
#2
..SURprise, doggone it. PIMF.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/20/2007 8:53 Comments ||
Top||
#3
I'm 100% sure he lost. He's pulling a pre-WW2 Hitler.
#9
Darth,
Get a new meter - with a switch for different ranges. Use the 10E7 range setting for Chavez stories; otherwise it will be like hooking your Radio Shack Volt-Ohm meter to a high-tension line - not good for the meter and might get you killed.
The United Nations said Monday it has captured a Haitian gang leader wanted in the killing of family members of two cohorts who had agreed to join a disarmament program.
On a routine patrol Sunday night, peacekeepers arrested Johnny Pierre Louis in the seaside slum of Cite Soleil, the UN mission said in a statement. Louis, also known as Ti Bazil, will be turned over to Haitian national police, UN spokeswoman Sophie Boutaud de la Combe said. The arrest came 10 days after hundreds of UN troops raided Cite Soleil to dislodge armed gangs, which are blamed for a string of kidnappings and killings in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince. At least one gang member was killed and four wounded.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/20/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
After all the bitching about Guantanamo, I wonder by what possible authority the UN can "arrest" anybody.
As the world debates the meaning of the now-famous Feb.10 speech by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Munich Security Conference, the full text was put on the Web site of the Turkish Office of the Chief of General Staff, fueling opinions that Turkey is deeply concerned with Washington's policies on Iraq, Iran and terrorism.
Putin's Feb. 10 speech, in which he accused the United States of stoking a new arms race, damaging the United Nations and acting unilaterally, is a sign that �unipolarity will not continue,� said retired Maj. Gen. Armağan Kuloğlu.
Observing signs of multi-polarity, Kuloğlu noted one of the new poles will be Russia. �Moscow manages and markets its energy resources skillfully, strengthens its economy and creates new resources for modernizing its military and enhancing its technology,� Kuloğlu told the Turkish Daily News over the phone on Friday. �The Russian leader gave a sign that U.S. power is not what it was before. Considering the positions of China, India or European Union, the sole power to give this sign was Russia.�
And did the �gesture� of the Turkish Office of the Chief of General Staff amount to another sign from Turkey? Noting that Turkish-U.S. relations are suffering from issues such as the approaching referendum in the oil-rich Iraqi city of Kirkuk and claims of Armenian genocide, Kuloğlu noted that to balance the situation, Washington uses the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) card as a balm for bruised relations.
The gesture could be interpreted as a message that �There are other powers than the United States,� said Kuloğlu. �If so, the Office of the Chief of General Staff is saying that there are emerging powers in the world now and thus Turkey should not be pushed too hard on issues like terrorism, northern Iraq and Iran. The bilateral dialogue should be on equal footing, as Turkey also has good relations with those other powers.�
Kuloğlu added that the United States will either dismiss the �virtual gesture� as an ordinary act, or will understand that it has to tread carefully. �I don't think it will have much of an effect,� he said.
But Professor Oktay Tanrısever, an international relations expert from the Middle East Technical University, had reservations about this point of view. The gesture should not be interpreted as an approval of Putin's opinions, he told Referans by phone on Friday.
"The speech also included some statements that could disturb Turkey, notably on energy lines and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline," he said. "The General Staff might have put the speech on its Web site to inform people of the Munich Conference and the timing with Büyükanıt's visit to Washington might just be a coincidence. Governments have much more effective ways of conveying messages to each other."
#1
It appears to me that America is not in an arms race... and no other country is capable of, or interested in, the investment even to get within sight of where we were a decade ago.
PARIS: Mounting pressure from European governments Monday blocked a long-awaited restructuring plan for EADS that was expected to result in thousands of lost jobs at the company's troubled Airbus unit.
The latest standoff seemed to lay bare the frustration among top Airbus management after weeks of squabbling by politicians in Germany, France and Britain all lobbying hard to preserve jobs in their countries. The board of EADS said Monday that it had failed to reach agreement on the plan, which the plane maker had intended to announce this week. In a terse statement issued from Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, France, the Airbus chief executive, Louis Gallois, stressed "the need to very quickly find a solution that overcomes national issues."
"There are still a lot of the old French and German conflicts that haven't been resolved."
"I made proposals which I deem balanced, both from an industrial and a technological point of view, and which serve our objective of economic competitiveness," Gallois said. "I wish that they can lead to the consensus we urgently need."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/20/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
In other news Dothan Alabama offeres up 60 million American dollars to lure new Airbus Factory. Euros are shown map noting closeness to Panama City.
WARSAW - Poland and the Czech Republic said Monday they would work together in talks with Washington on the missile defence shield it wants to set up in central Europe.
We are trying to set up an information-sharing system for discussions on this proposal, Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said during a press conference with his Polish counterpart Jaroslaw Kaczynski. We have agreed that both countries are likely to give (Washington) a positive answer. Talks will begin after that, Topolanek said. It is in our interests to negotiate on this issue. It is in the interests of our countries to host the anti-missile shield, he added.
Poland has said that the United States can expect an answer in the coming two weeks. Kaczynski and Topolanek have said that they are minded to approve the US request, although both premiers face opposition at home.
The United States said last month it would soon begin formal talks with Poland and the Czech Republic on deploying a missile defence system in Europe, designed to intercept potential attacks from Iran and North Korea. The system calls for missiles to be deployed in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic by 2012.
Russia has objected to having the shield stationed on its doorstep threatened to pull out of a treaty with the United States limiting short and medium-range missiles. We are trying to convince Russia that the system -- and this seems self-evident -- is not directed against it, said Kaczynski.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/20/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
A federal judge has reopened a bankruptcy case in which a trustee is demanding that one of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's brothers repay more than $100,000 in purported loans from a carnival outfit whose owner was pardoned by President Clinton.
Anthony D. Rodham received $107,000 in payments from Tennessee-based United Shows of America Inc. before the company went bankrupt in 2002, according to court records. United Shows' owners -- Edgar Gregory Jr. and his wife, Vonna Jo Gregory -- were pardoned by Mr. Clinton in March 2000, despite an objection by the Justice Department. The couple was convicted of bank fraud in 1982 for illegally giving loans to friends. Mr. Gregory died in 2004.
After court-appointed trustee Michael Collins took over the company's finances, he obtained a default judgment against Mr. Rodham, saying he "received the benefit of the loans without making any repayment." Mr. Collins' collection effort spawned court actions last year against Mr. Rodham in D.C. Superior Court and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Alexandria.
In September, an attorney for Mr. Rodham, of Vienna, Va., persuaded a federal judge to set aside the default judgment, saying he did not get proper notice of some of the proceedings. After setting aside the default judgment, the case was essentially closed because of what Mr. Collins called a procedural glitch.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Marian F. Harrison on Jan. 30 granted a request by Mr. Collins to reopen the case. A status hearing was scheduled for today in Nashville, Tenn., but likely will be continued until next week, Mr. Collins said. "We want to get the case on a scheduling track, so we can proceed to trial," he said.
Mr. Rodham has declined to speak about the case, and his attorney did not return a phone call yesterday.
Mrs. Clinton, New York Democrat, announced last month that she was forming a presidential exploratory committee. Yesterday, a spokesman for her presidential exploratory committee had no comment.
When Mr. Clinton pardoned the Gregorys, Mr. Rodham reportedly said he worked for United Shows as a consultant. He denied taking money to lobby for the couple's pardon. Mr. Rodham has not filed an answer to Mr. Collins' complaint. But in legal pleadings, his attorney, Samuel Crocker, said Mr. Rodham says the money that he received from United Shows was compensation, not loans. "Defendant was owed compensation for the services he rendered," Mr. Crocker stated in the filings.
However, Mr. Collins, in bankruptcy filings last year, said each of the 16 checks from United Shows to Mr. Rodham had a note at the bottom indicating that the payments were loans. In addition, Mr. Crocker said Mr. Rodham received a summons but never found out that there had been a motion for a default judgment because the notice was sent to the wrong address. Mr. Rodham previously lived in the District.
Once Mr. Collins obtained a default judgment last year, he hired attorneys to file collection judgments to pursue Mr. Rodham's assets in the District and Virginia. Mr. Collins said he is not ruling out a settlement in the case. He said an out-of-court agreement seemed to be a possibility.
Although the default judgment was set aside, Mr. Rodham has been ordered by Judge Harrison to pay more than $19,000 to cover Mr. Collins' legal expenses in connection with the collection efforts. Mr. Collins said Mr. Rodham has complied with that court order.
#2
United Shows' owners -- Edgar Gregory Jr. and his wife, Vonna Jo Gregory -- were pardoned by Mr. Clinton in March 2000, despite an objection by the Justice Department.
Makes you wonder if this had anything to do with Grady Lobster Boy Stiles getting off with only fifteen years probation for first degree homicide.
#3
You can pick your wife and you can pick your nose but you can't pick your brothers and sisters. Whatever business Huge Rodham is involved with is his responsibility. Hell I would hate to answer for things my relatives have done and unless he is her ward than she has no responsibility towards him. This is like tying the fact that Bush's daughter ordered a margarita in a resturant in Texas while she was not of legal drinking age. Unless the President was at the table when she ordered the drink then I can't see how he can be blamed for his daughters behavior. Focus on Hillary not her family, it makes for poor politics.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday denied that her campaign traded money for an endorsement from one of South Carolina's most influential black politicians.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Clinton responded to questions about the consulting contract her campaign negotiated with state Sen. Darrell Jackson, who last week endorsed her candidacy rather than of top rivals John Edwards or Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.
"Senator Jackson was someone who was involved in my husband's campaigns. He was someone we turned to for political advice and counsel and I'm proud to have him on my team," Clinton told the AP.
Soon after the endorsement, Jackson acknowledged that his media consulting firm had negotiated a $10,000 per month contract with Clinton's campaign. Jackson has said he turned down more lucrative contracts from other candidates.
Although he backed Edwards, the former North Carolina senator, in the 2004 Democratic presidential primary, Jackson said he now supports Clinton because she has the best shot of winning the White House.
Mo Elleithee, a Clinton spokesman, said Friday that Jackson's firm will advise the campaign on "political matters in South Carolina, outreach, organizing issues" and purchasing advertising.
Earlier in the day, Jackson introduced Clinton when she spoke to more than 1,500 people gathered at Allen University, a historically black college in Columbia.
Clinton, who spoke to the AP during her first trip to this early voting state since announcing her White House bid, also said South Carolina should remove the Confederate flag from its Statehouse grounds, in part because the nation should unite under one banner while at war.
"I think about how many South Carolinians have served in our military and who are serving today under our flag and I believe that we should have one flag that we all pay honor to, as I know that most people in South Carolina do every single day," the New York senator said.
"I personally would like to see it removed from the Statehouse grounds."
Other Democratic hopefuls, including Sens. Joe Biden of Delaware and Chris Dodd of Connecticut, have said the flag should come down. The banner, which once flew over the Statehouse dome and now flies nearby, is the subject of an ongoing NAACP boycott.
Clinton is one of several Democrats to draw huge crowds during campaign stops in the state, but she said during the interview that her party will have a tough time winning in GOP-heavy South Carolina.
"I think it's going to be hard for any Democrat to carry the state," she said. "The Republican Party is very strong here."
Clinton's visit comes close on the heels of Obama's two-day trip to the state in which he drew crowds of about 2,000 people.
Posted by: The Ghost of Vince Foster ||
02/20/2007 9:17 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Hillary also said South Carolina should remove the Confederate flag from its Statehouse grounds, in part because the nation should unite under one banner while at war.
Whoa! My irony meter just vaporized!
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/20/2007 9:45 Comments ||
Top||
#6
That statement she made about unifying proves that God does not strike people down with lightning for being hypocritical liers.
#7
The absolute corruption of the democrat party comes full circle. Now, the sleezy candidates have to buy off their supporters. It used to be the sleezy supporters paid off the candidates for future favors, now the future has been flushed down the toilet, so we demand payment up front, heh ?
Hillary is also a complete asshole when it comes to money, (what a great president she would make). Didn't she spend over a million on lunch during her last campaign, and she didn't even have a serious challenge. Since Hillary actually never earned a penny in her life, her understanding of the value of money is non-existent.
#8
I'ma just waitin' on Edwards to take up the old Dean mantra: "I want to be the candidate for the pickup driving, Confederate flag toting, God-fearing South."
Hillary's already stuck her foot in mouth with that flag comment, and then, added insult to injury with this payoff. I don't suspect she actually had much traction in S.C. (or most of the rest of the South, for that matter), so she's already written it off.
Posted by: BA ||
02/20/2007 10:49 Comments ||
Top||
#9
in part because the nation should unite under one banner while at war.
From party who sent prominent KKK members to Senate I think she was meaning that the nation should unite behind the Confederate flag.
A new poll released Monday shows Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., as a distant fourth in a Democratic primary match-up in his home state. The Quinnipiac University poll shows Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., leading Democrats with 33 percent. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., is in second with 21 percent, leaving Dodd with 8 percent, trailing former Vice President Al Gore who came in third with 9 percent.
The poor showing for Dodd would not seem to bode well for his White House aspirations. If Sen. Christopher Dodd can't even come close to winning a Democratic primary in his home state, that's obviously a bad sign for his presidential campaign, said Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz.
This article starring:
Al Gore
Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz
Sen. Barack Obama
Sen. Chris Dodd
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton
Posted by: Fred ||
02/20/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Chris Dodd is still living? Who knew?
Posted by: Mike ||
02/20/2007 6:28 Comments ||
Top||
#2
running on ego
Posted by: Captain America ||
02/20/2007 8:23 Comments ||
Top||
#3
he'd still be treated like a king if he visited Daniel Ortega.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/20/2007 8:34 Comments ||
Top||
#4
So not with a bang but a whimper, the Chris Dodd Era has ended.
chirp...chirp...chirp...
Does anyone have a clue as to why Dodd thinks he's got a chance? People like Kucinich are nuts, so that covers that side of the pack, and people like Sharpton and Nader are hunting for matching funds or political donations in general, so that covers them. The people I can't figure are the ones like Dodd who actually have a use for campaign funds other than maintaining their metaphorical fat asses in the perpetual campaign lifestyle.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
02/20/2007 10:53 Comments ||
Top||
#6
I think Dodd is running because he knows the other candidates and can't believe any of those dung beatles could ever be president. In fact, Dodd and the other white male democrat leaders must be ROFLTAO day after day.
EL ALBERTO, MEXICO - Sirens wail, and Rosa Estrada charges down a dirt path, down the side of a mud bank, then picks her way silently across the stinking, swampy earth.
"Get under the bushes!" someone barks in a whisper in the blackness of the night. "Immigration is coming!"
Twenty Mexicans scramble to the ground, crouching among thick branches and brambles.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: John Frum ||
02/20/2007 20:17 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
Oil companies have begun lining up for licenses to tap Cambodias vast oil and gas fields, but experts are wondering whether this new wealth will be a blessing for the country. Firms from China, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Kuwait, Australia, and France have come knocking on officials doors to get permits to explore and develop the countrys energy riches. US giant Chevron Corp. has already drilled in the Gulf of Thailand in the last two years and found oil in five oil wells.
According to several studies conducted by the United Nations, World Bank, Harvard University, and other reliable institutions, Cambodian reserves could contain as many as 2 billion barrels of oil and 10 trillion cubic feet of gas. Based on the current world price of oil and gas, this may provide Cambodia with annual revenues of US$ 6 billion a year over the next two decades, an amount more than the countrys gross domestic product which is only about US$5 billion a year.
Cambodia is one of the worlds poorest countries. Some 40 per cent of its population of 14 million live below the national poverty line of 50 cents a day, 50 per cent of children never complete their primary education, 30,000 children die every year from preventable diseases, and only half of the countryside has access to electricity. Many experts fear a repeat of what has happened in many other developing countries where massive influx of oil money enriched elites without improving the standards of living of the population.
The best example is Nigeria. Since the discovery of oil in the 1970s, the African country has exported more than US$ 400 billion in oil, but that has not benefited its people, 70 per cent of whom continue to live on less than $1 a day. Moreover, the country is carrying a US$30 billion debt.
Cambodia is still viewed as one of the most corrupt countries in the world with the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party using violence in maintaining its power. But in recent years, Prime Minister Hun Sen's government has had to accept some reforms and show some more respect for human rights in order to get foreign aid which represents about 60 per cent of its working budget. However, soon it will no longer need Western aid and could disregard human rights groups altogether. In fact, Prime Minister Hun Sens regime has already created a Cambodian National Petroleum Authority under his full direct control over the oil wealth.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/20/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Another prime target for the Communist Club. Or are they pretty much there already?
#3
What is really sad is that it would not take much at all in the way of infrastructure to really boost Cambodia up. One would not have to actually pave the roads to do a big improvement, simply leveling and properly graveling them would be a big deal in the provinces. Also, simply building standard concrete span bridges in the provinces would be a major improvement to the transportation network.
And if Hun Sen wants to be popular with the locals, pay loads of them to cutback the undergrowth and brush with machetes, at whatever is the prevailing wage there. Plus, if he is smart, Hun Sen could make sure that the workers are given emblem t-shirts and sun hats with his party's insignia on it. He could put a lot of Cambodians to work for a few million dollars a month, and ensure the "happy peasant" pictures for the international media to show.
#4
Shield is right. But oil would bring roads, infrastructure, jobs, etc... Improving the economy for everyone there. Thanks to the UN Cambodia has the highest aids rates in Asia, arguably the world. They have no health care, education is nonexistant, etc... There is an old aisan saying, "All roads lead to Cambodia". We should be there operating, helping and building a relationship with them. Remember Hamballi (sp) was captured leaving Cambodia.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
02/20/2007 9:02 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Good for Cambodia! They are poor people who've gone through alot. I've got some extra cash to invest.
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.
Livestock are responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse-gas emissions as measured in carbon dioxide equivalent, reports the FAO. This includes 9 percent of all CO2 emissions, 37 percent of methane, and 65 percent of nitrous oxide. Altogether, that's more than the emissions caused by transportation. 
The United Nations said Monday it has captured a Haitian gang leader wanted in the killing of family members of two cohorts who had agreed to join a disarmament program. 
PARIS: Mounting pressure from European governments Monday blocked a long-awaited restructuring plan for EADS that was expected to result in thousands of lost jobs at the company's troubled Airbus unit.
WARSAW - Poland and the Czech Republic said Monday they would work together in talks with Washington on the missile defence shield it wants to set up in central Europe.
A new poll released Monday shows 
Oil companies have begun lining up for licenses to tap Cambodias vast oil and gas fields, but experts are wondering whether this new wealth will be a blessing for the country. Firms from China, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Kuwait, Australia, and France have come knocking on officials doors to get permits to explore and develop the countrys energy riches. US giant Chevron Corp. has already drilled in the Gulf of Thailand in the last two years and found oil in five oil wells.
