Unless a dramatic and historical flurry of activity occurs in the next 9 weeks, 2007 will rank as a historically inactive TC year for the Northern Hemisphere as a whole. During the past 30 years, only 1977, 1981, and 1983 have had less activity to date (January-TODAY, Accumulated Cyclone Energy). For the period of June 1 - TODAY, only 1977 has experienced LESS tropical cyclone activity than 2007. For the North Atlantic basin, Tropical Storm Noel is currently too weak to impact any of these results. However, one should always be prepared for late-season developments since hurricane season ends on November 30.
#2
We're on the beach in NE Florida and we have had 2 weeks of NE winds, rain, squalls, more rain, more squalls and heavy surf. At least it has chased the "red tide" out of here which was as bad as the west-coasters have said it would be. I blame Bush and will not vote for him next year.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
10/30/2007 9:35 Comments ||
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#3
When the weather professionals can't get it right one week in advance and the hurricane professionals can't get it right one season in advance, you've got to be a blithering idiot to believe that Al Gore can predict anything one decade in advance.
#6
Re: #4 - climate change has been politicized beyond recognition, for sure.
That said, if you heat a pot of water very rapidly, as the overheated parts rise cold water will sink. In other words, for a period the temperature in some areas will *drop* as a result of the heating activity.
That's what is claimed IIUC re: local lower temps and global warming.
#8
I just kinda wish Noel would wander on up to Georgia and the other drought stricken regions for a bit. We'd love to share the wealth right now in Brevard County. ;)
#9
None or little Global Warming but the world got summer space explosions + now Comet HOLMES = HOWIE HUGHES [as big as Jupiter?],etal. signs/events courtesy of the Holy Mother Mary, Oliver Stone and the Vietnam Era. * DREAM/VISION > MOTHER MARY OPENING HER ARMS AS IFF TO EMBRACE - ARE YOU READY FOR THE FALL? See also MADONNA. Time to smoke a cigarette like Pepe Le Peu = good Frenchie, or Hollywood.
Historical analysis piece in the Telegraph. True enough as far as it goes; the RAF couldn't stop the Luftwaffe, only Goering could -- and he did, by switching the Luftwaffe's goals from destroying the RAF to bombing the cities. There was never going to be a German invasion of Britain as they didn't have the landing ships do to it.
But let's not take anything away from the brave lads who climbed into Spitfires and Hurricanes to stop the Germans -- they really were The Few.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/30/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
We should honor their bravery, I think, but also remember the absolute waste and folly in sending untrained youths into the sky. Bravery is a fine quality, but it doesn't win wars.
I'd recommend Fighter by Len Deighton. I think it still stands as the finest history of the 1940 battle, decades later.
#2
In July 40 Churchill visited a unit and was presnted arms... with a stick. The British had left all their weapons at Dunkirk. That is whay saying the Getrùman would not invade baecause they had no ships is ridiculous. The Germans only needed to land a few thousand men: givenn the state of the British Army those would have been more than enough to take a harbour and land the rfemainder in this harbour with conventional ships... provided the Luftwaffe had free hands to deal with the Navy.
#3
Speaking of Len Deighton, he wrote an "alternative history" book about Britain after a successful German invasion called "SS-GB" - very good read.
Actually, JFM, British defenses were better than you suggest, and taking a working port would have been difficult - harbor defenses were pretty strong. Most of the transport the Germans had were river barges, etc., not sea-going landing craft. Still, if the RAF and home fleet could have been neutralized, who knows what could have happened.
#4
This article typifies why people don't respect academics. While most British pilots never rose to the level of Luftwaffe aces like Hartmann or Galland, they stood between their country and devastation. They flew every day with the knowledge that many of them would die. Enough of them lived to turn the tide and give England a chance to survive. They deserve better than cheap shots after the fact from lesser men.
#5
Torpedo 8, too. Yeah, they didn't sink anything either. And those guys on Wake. And Bataan. Them too. Sorry, there is nothing more courageous than doing one's duty when one knows all the odds are stacked against you.
Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say: `This was their finest hour.'
Somehow this is more likely to happen than that this wahoo's research will be remembered in a thousand hours.
#6
Part of the ongoing program to devalue valor, patriotsm, and duty.
I agree that Goering changed the Luftwaffe's goals, a colosal mistake, but it wasn't a matter of stopping the Luftwaffe, it was a matter of undisputed air superiority. The barges would have been enough without resistance from the air. The Few, Indeed.
#7
I did a radio interview with a Battle of Britian veteran, sometime in the mid-1980s, at Zaragoza AB. He was there to be a guest-speaker for the NCOA, I believe - and I claimed the honor. Retired Group-Captain, was the CO of RAF Gatow after the war for a while. We were all kind of wondering beforehand what would happen when Brit reticence met fighter-jock flamboyance, but we needn't have worried - he told us all to call him Bobby and talked an arm off. His most amusing story was of the day that he thought his squadron was on half-hour standby, so he was getting some sleep... but they were scrambled anyway. All the time he was airborne he was pleading with God that he wouldn't have to bail out, because he would never hear the end of having to make a parachute descent in his pajamas. Bright orange silk pajamas.
That was the atvantage to fighting over England - pilots who bailed out could be back in it within hours, like the guy who had bailed out nine times, and was known ever afterwards as "Nine Lives" Deere.
Not only were they few, they were also very, very young; eighteen and nineteen on average. Many of them had been rushed through training, due to the shortage of pilots, and had only ten hours flight experience in a combat aircraft.
Thinking on the battle itself, I've always thought McCauley put it very aptly; "... how can man die better, Than facing fearful odds, For the ashes of his fathers, And the temples of his Gods?"
#8
I am named after a cousin who fought and died as a fighter pilot. He lived through the Battle of Britain and was murdered by the Germans over Holland. I cannot say I am interested in any criticism of what he accomplished for me and mine.
#9
The Germans would have to keep the entire Royal Navy out of the Channel to pull it off. Not likely. The RN's favored tactic for dealing with the river barges would have been a formation run by destroyers at 30 knots, swamping the barges.
#10
Many of them had been rushed through training, due to the shortage of pilots, and had only ten hours flight experience in a combat aircraft.
And they knew far too well that they had zero chances even against an average German pilot that their mission was to tempt the Geramsn into shooting them instead of going after the few experienced British pilots.
#12
Cum again, Dr. Cumming ? Since there is no good reason to write such bilge except to downgrade dead heros, I suggest Dr. Cumming do 50 laps tied behind my pickup.
#13
Actually the Brits shot down 2 German planes for every 1 they lost. If they couldn't shoot straight, what about the Germans?
The Luftwaffe needed complete air superiority over the Channel so they could bomb the Royal Navy when they attacked the invasion fleet. The Germans didn't get close to achieving it.
As long as the Fighter Arm was intact there would be no invasion of England.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
10/30/2007 12:53 Comments ||
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#14
The Germans would have to keep the entire Royal Navy out of the Channel to pull it off. Not likely. The RN's favored tactic for dealing with the river barges would have been a formation run by destroyers at 30 knots, swamping the barges
Considering what happenned in Creta where the Luftwaffe had only a tiny fraction of the resources it had during the Battle of Britain the main obstacle for the German barges would have been the time lost salvaging the crews of thoqz destroyers.
#16
Stukas, Focke Wulfs, and Messerschmitts some of which were powered by 1000 horse Mercedes-Benz DB 601 made the the German Lufwaffe (airforce) the most powerfull in Europe. They inflicted enough damage to the RAF to make the RAF consider withdrawing from parts of Britain. This was all a part of Operation Sea Lion, an invasion of Britain scheduled for September 20th, 1940. The destruction of the RAF which was required to place first before the landing, was estimated by the RAF to take only 4 weeks, so the attack on the RAF by the German Lufwaffe started early in August, the destruction to the RAF being in the airspace over the channel, with RAF fighters destroyed, German bombers would then work from the British coast line inward preping for Operation Sea Lion.
Hitler ordered the shift to attacking the cities rather than destroying the RAF because the British started striking cities in Germany with bombing missions. German fighters did not have the range and could not escort the bombers into Britain and make it back, so the RAF, the destruction thereof not complete, decimated the Luftwaffe. Operation Sea Lion was postponed.
#18
As is so often the case, Winston Churchill summed it up best:
The gratitude of every home in our Island, in our Empire, and indeed throughout the world, except in the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of the world war by their prowess and by their devotion. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.
#19
The German deadline, as I recall, was October. Since the rather primitive landing craft were not built to withstand the Channel's autumn gales, the RAF only had to outlast the Luftwaffe. This the Air Force did in the finest tradition of British valor.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has suggested setting up a Russian-funded institute in Brussels or another European capital to keep an eye on human rights issues in Europe.
"With the aid of grants, the EU helps develop such institutes in Russia," Mr Putin was cited as saying by Reuters, after an EU-Russia summit on Friday (26 October). "I think the time has come for Russia, given the growth in our financial capabilities, to make its contribution in this sphere as well", he added.
President Putin's personal envoy for relations with the 27-nation EU, Sergei Yastrzhembsky, explained Moscow's intentions further. "This is not going to be a joint venture," Mr Yastrzhembsky said, underlining "the institute will be monitoring the situation in Europe concerning rights of ethnic minorities, immigrants, media and such".
Should be at least as effective as the UN Commission on Human Rights. Maybe more so, since he pro'ly won't be hammering Israel on a daily basis.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy showed flashes of temper and abruptly terminated a television interview aimed at introducing him to US audiences. In the 60 Minutes interview, broadcast in the US on Sunday, the French president sparred with the reporter, called his press secretary an imbecile, said he was too busy to make time for a "stupid" interview and ended the whole conversation abruptly when asked about the state of his marriage to Cecilia.
The Sarkozys' divorce was announced about two weeks later. "If I had something to say about Cecilia, I would not do so here," he said before cutting off further questions.
In two interviews, a brief one aboard a plane and a more formal one several weeks ago, he expressed his admiration for both the US work ethic and its pop music. Asked about his father's fears years ago that anyone with a Hungarian last name like Sarkozy could not succeed in France, he said one thing he admires about the US democracy is its openness and opportunities to all kinds of people. "You can be called Schwarzenegger and be governor of California," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/30/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
I kinda like this guy! It is so refreshing to see a politician just walk out on an interviewer who mistakes things like Britney Spears panties for real news.
#2
Anytime, anyone, walks out on 60 minutes is a hero moment for me. They are the most deceptive, biased, negative journal on TV. You really have to watch them with a juandiced eye. But to see that idiot's look on Lesley Stahl is worth it.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
10/30/2007 9:39 Comments ||
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#3
Didn't see the Sark piece, but watched about 7 minutes of the Scott Pelley (I think) drivel about an airstrike in Afghanistan that supposedly killed 4 generations of one family. Pelley was so sneeringly anti-American that my brother-in-law and I couldn't come with any more expletives to shout at the screen. The conclusion seemed to be that the US is viewed more negatively in Afghanistan than the Russians were. There isn't enough Fabreze and Airwick in the world to cover that bullshit. We clicked it off.
Posted by: Tibor ||
10/30/2007 19:43 Comments ||
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#4
Not a fan of the French, but Sarkozy may be OK.
It looks as though Greece may be in blatant violation of human rights norms. Reports released this month by Greek and German refugee organisations suggest that the Greek coast guard in the Aegean Sea has been systematically maltreating and obstructing asylum seekers arriving on their shores.
Sorta like how the Mexican government treats Guatemalans.
Fact-finding missions conducted in the summer and October of 2007 by the German Working Group on Refugees, Pro Asyl, and the Greek Group of Lawyers for the Rights of Refugees and Migrants found that refugee seekers' boats, often barely afloat, are being forced out of Greece's territorial waters. Some passengers are being set ashore on uninhabited islands on the Turkish Greek border region, provided with no water or food.
The investigative missions visited three detention centers on Greek islands and found the conditions to be "degrading and inhuman." In one case, on the island of Chios, there were reports of electric shock treatments, mock executions and beatings.
In an independent report, the Greek branch of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), described the detention center on Samos, an island less than two kilometers from the Turkish coast, as being "deplorable" and demanded that the government close it down. Fully 391 people were found living in a room designed for 120. The staff consisted of one doctor, one social worker and a caretaker.
Many of the new arrivals are coming from war-torn Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia. They are often referred to in the media as "illegal immigrants" while in fact most have the right to seek asylum under the Geneva Convention. "Branding the entire group as illegal creates the impression that it is legitimate to 'struggle to curb' this influx," wrote Bruce Leimsidor, a professor of EU immigration law in Venice, in the International Herald Tribune earlier this month. "But it is hardly legitimate to hinder access to asylum, and it puts Greece in violation of international accords concerning asylum and human rights."
Greece has repeatedly been criticised by the UNHCR for preventing access to asylum. At 2 percent, the country recognises the lowest percentage of asylum claims in the EU, where an average of 20 percent of all refugee claims are granted.
According to Pro Asyl, all refugees -- including minors -- are detained upon arrival on the islands. They are placed under deportation orders and not provided with any information about their rights or legal counsel. Most are detained for about three months before being forced, often physically, to leave. These practices are in violation of the Geneva Convention, the European convention of human rights and Greek and international law.
#1
"...coming from war-torn Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia. They are often referred to in the media as 'illegal immigrants' while in fact most have the right to seek asylum under the Geneva Convention."
Whatever happened to sovereignty? AND DIDN'T THESE PEOPLE PASS THROUGH A FEW OTHER COUNTRIES TO GET TO GREECE? Do asylum seekers get to pick any host anywhere?
If SPIEGEL ONLINE is so worked up about it, they should volunteer to relocate the illegals to Germany.
Ooooookay...
PHILADELPHIA - Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich questioned President Bush's mental health in light of comments he made about a nuclear Iran precipitating World War III. Welcome back, Dennis. When were you beamed back down?
"I seriously believe we have to start asking questions about his mental health," Kucinich, an Ohio congressman, said in an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer's editorial board on Tuesday. "There's something wrong. He does not seem to understand his words have real impact." Unlike...mine.
Kucinich, known for his liberal views, trails far behind the leading candidates in most Democratic polls. He was in Philadelphia for a debate at Drexel University. Who was he debating, the voices in his head?
Bush made the remarks at a news conference earlier this month. He said: "I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them (Iran) from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon." Oh, man, the words of a raving friggin lunatic...
Kucinich said he doesn't believe his comments about the president's mental health are irresponsible, according to a story posted on the newspaper's Web site. "You cannot be a president of the United States who's wanton in his expression of violence," Kucinich said. "There's a lot of people who need care. He might be one of them. If there isn't something wrong with him, then there's something wrong with us. This, to me, is a very serious question." And, believe me, I know nuts. Have you seen my supporters?
In response, Republican National Committee spokesman Dan Ronayne said it was hard to take Kucinich seriously. ...and that he should be hunted down with a tranquilizer gun.
#1
Tony Blair's wife had reportedly admitted that the former PM had suffered from "POUNDING HEART" episodes due to [office] stress. ADD TO WELL-KNOWN REPORTS OF DICK CHENEY'S HEALTH - MUST BE IN THE BLOOD.
#4
"I've told people that if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them (Iran) from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."
apparently he's advocating the assassinations of Iranian scientists and their NK teachers...I'm OK with that
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/30/2007 20:50 Comments ||
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#5
The scariest thing about Dennis Kucinich is that there are 126,633 people in west Cleveland (Ohio's 10th district) that voted for him.
Democrats are losing the battle for voters hearts because the partys message lacks emotional appeal, according to a widely circulated critique of House Democratic communications strategy. Lacks intellectual appeal for the most part, too. But that's neither here nor there. Why would they push the emotional side of appealing to the voters? Do they actually think the intellectual side is good enough? I smell hubris.
Our message sounds like an audit report on defense logistics, wrote Dave Helfert, a former Appropriations spokesman who now works for Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii). Why are we defending [the State Childrens Health Insurance Program] instead of advocating a Healthy Kids plan? Careful, heresy like that will get you $hit-listed.
Helfert sent the memo this week to an e-mail list of all Democratic press secretaries and communications directors after staffers met on Monday to discuss rolling out the Democrats latest message. I don't care what we're advocating! Fiddle with it until we get a platform that gets us into power and then we'll be able to coast intellectually and morally.
He said the meeting left him cold because it focused on what polling shows voters want rather than how to present persuasive messages. Republicans have done a better job by developing poll data into focus group-tested messages like culture of life and defending marriage, along with attacks like cut and run and plan for surrender in Iraq, he argued. Heck, just use their results then. As Ann says, if Donks had any brains they'd be Republicans!
In particular, Helfert points to Republican pollster Frank Luntz, who helped develop the 1994 Contract with America and is credited with helping Republicans come up with terms for polices like Healthy Forests and Death Tax. Well, it is a death tax after all. Deal with it. But it may be a good thing. Too much money inherited at too young an age makes a person useless to society.
Republicans have been kicking our rhetorical butt since about 1995, Helfert wrote.
Democratic leadership aides were not impressed, and indicated that the memo did not have a vast and immediate impact. Fine. Stay stupid.
Everybodys a message expert, said one Democratic leadership aide. The fact of the matter is Democrats are working hard to communicate our accomplishments. There is work to be done and thats why Democrats are working together and mounting an aggressive campaign to discuss the real victories we have won for the American people. Why should a party have to work so hard to communicate an accomplishment? Isn't it obvious? Or are they working hard to spin defeat into victory for a select audience?
On the record, they were a bit gentler, if not enthusiastic. We appreciate input from those who have been on the front lines, and we value their opinions, said Nadeam Elshami, spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Translation: "Whatever."
But another Democratic aide said Helferts memo reflects the frustration of many of those with a role in getting the message out. Several hundred of them assembled for Mondays meeting in the Ways and Means Committee room. "Not that the sentiment is widespread or anything!"
I dont agree with every point hes making, but the sentiment of exasperation I totally agree with, said the aide. Exasperation that really came on strong when it looked like the US was starting to win the Iraq conflict and the Dems had nothing to hide behind?
As a case in point, he cited Democrats frustration over the likely showdown with President Bush over supplemental spending for the Iraq war. Democrats are discussing not sending a supplemental spending bill to the floor until Bush changes course on the war. But that makes many Democrats nervous that Bush will use the tactic to say Democrats arent supporting the troops. If it's blatantly true, can you still call it a tactic? I guess you can if you're a Donk.
Are we any more prepared to deal with the threats that are going to come about cutting off funds to the troops? asked the aide. No.
But he also noted that the number of the memos readers might have been limited by the fact that the memo was a long attachment, which makes it less likely to be read by BlackBerry-wielding aides. Takes a lot of words to get someone to suspend rationality.
Republicans were amused. Brian Kennedy, spokesman for House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), said, House GOP communicators would take his remarks as a compliment. Too simple. Donks probably took it literally, but that's funny in itself!
Helfert wrote a masters thesis in 2004 on how the Bush administration sold the Iraq war to the public. He was the Democratic spokesman for House Appropriations from 2003 to 2006, when he left to teach at American University for a semester. He returned to the Hill this year to become Abercrombies spokesman. Ah. A master's thesis. At a conservative university I assume?
He said he did not send the memo to the media. Hes gotten about 30 e-mails applauding his sentiments, most of them short attaboys. Staffers at the House Democratic Caucus, which is in charge of setting the Democratic message, were a little less than pleased. You're screwing up my intellectual house of cards, man!
Im not trying to stage a coup, Helfert said. Im hoping leadership and some of the members will embrace these principles. Careful, they'll switch over to the Dark Side.
His memo is sharply critical of Republican policies but also suggests a neurological explanation for Republican message success: By using emotional appeals and warning of dire threats, Republicans can trigger neurons called amygdalae in the temporal lobe, which is the seat of the fight or flight response in the brain. That happens in creatures that are aware of what's going on in their surroundings, yes.
Almost every Republican message contains a simple and direct moral imperative, a stark contrast between good and evil, right and wrong, common sense and fuzzy liberal thinking, Helfert wrote. Meanwhile, were trying to ignite passions with analyses of optimum pupil-teacher ratios. Looks like the Trunks took all the good stuff before you guys got there and left you the crumbs to work with, eh?
#1
Dems are only emotive, never rational or just. Soros, socialism, populism, and government programs up the wazoo. Lot's of headspace and absolutely no timing. Wanting to force US to lose this war by any means necessary with no thought of consequence.
Party of single issue voters and special interest Proposing goodies to the public when the public is already broke and in great debt. Tis okay, "just raise the taxes" is a good answer for everything. Shared misery beats individualism. Afterall, it worked so well the other 24 times it failed in other countries.
#2
It's all "neurological" and "fight or flight" eh? If raw emotion is what's needed, then by all means, put the folks at DU and Kos and Fortney Hillman Stark, Jr. to work drafting all your speeches--and don't pull their punches!
(There. That oughtta get the moonbats going.)
Posted by: Mike ||
10/30/2007 7:51 Comments ||
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#3
I want all the donks to start have their speeches written by the Kos Kiddies. It would appeal to their loudest base while pissing off the rest of America.
#5
It's a cognitive disorder. One operating arm of the party wanted to get the majority seats in Congress, so they recruited middle road Donks to run in their districts on policies that appeal to middle of the road voters cause they knew if they ran left, they'd lose as usual and therefore would not get seats. Another operating arm of the party is now distraught that the party as a whole can't get their neo-socialist message sold to the public. The same neo-socialist message that if used in the previous election probably would have left the Trunks in power to appoint committee heads and assign leadership. The echo chamber response "He's gotten about 30 e-mails applauding his sentiments, most of them short 'attaboys.'" shows heâs in an echo chamber of like minds. They can't recognize the disconnect.
#6
How long until the Dem party splits? The middle-of-the-roaders can't possibly stand the far left nutcases. Like P2K said, they had to move to the center to pick up the seats, but the loudest (and most obnoxious) part of the party keeps moving further and further left. I wonder if we might see a 3 party system in the not so distant future. I vote republican, but to me the far right is just as bad as the far left. I can easily vote for a socially liberal Republican (ala Rudy) so long as they understand and recognize the islamist threat.
#7
There is work to be done and thats why Democrats are working together and mounting an aggressive campaign to discuss the real victories we have won for the American people.
Real victories huh? Hmmm that one sounds like a tough sell. I mean whatya got? Lets see here now increasing the minimum wage? Hokeedoakee .and then there was that time you conned the old fogies into thinking that Social Security reform equals Soilent Green. Hmmmm .after that theres not a lot that to hang yer hat on is there? Yesss...a tough sell indeed. Hey here's an idea I hear that Taco Bell monkey that rides a dog is looking for work.
#9
I realize I'm not exactly the Dem's target demographic, but I find the message "Amerikkka Sucks. We should surrender!" to be unappealing both emotionally and intellectually.
#12
Democratic leadership aides were not impressed, and indicated that the memo did not have a vast and immediate impact.
Great news.
It should have the Republicans redoubling their efforts to educate Americans on why liberty is preferable to socialism, and why strength is better than weakness.
#13
As far as the public goes, I think they generally vote based on a single mood: if they want government to do things or not. If they do, then they vote for whoever promises change; if they do not, they vote for the party that promises least.
That is, in the last elections, the public was very tired of government. The Democrats promised nothing, so they won big. But what is the mood for the upcoming elections?
If the public mood is against government doing things, then the Republicans should constantly talk about Hillary's socialized medicine and how much annoyance and noise it will create. But if the public mood has changed and they want government to do something, then the Republicans should offer their own program.
#14
TOWNHALL > ANN COULTER > HAVE YOU HUGGED AN ISLAMOFASCIST TODAY? + THE END OF AMERICA AS WE KNOW IT [John Hawkins]; + REDDIT > THE RISE OF
SECULAR AMERICA, and various others before.
*Logically, shouldn't the anti-US Globalists, Lefties, and anti-Dubya/Cheney/GOP critics be ECSTATIC - ITS SOCIALISM AND GOVTISM, is it not, and under Dubya's = the GOP's watch???
Jerusalem, 29 Oct. (AKI/Asian Age) - Guess what unites Jews and Palestinians amidst bitter conflict? Amazingly, the late Indian movie star and legendary producer and director Raj Kapoor and his memorable repertoire of simply depicted melodic tales of love and hope.
In 'Old Jerusalem', the great Bollywood showman's iconic 1956 film Awaara transcends the very visible communal barriers to inspire identical delight amongst Jews, Muslims and all hues of Christians.
Amidst the old it evokes a nostalgia of the many black and white screenings of The Wanderer (Awaara, with Hebrew subtitles). And young faces will still light up and happily join in a chorus of the movie's main musical number, "Ichak daana, beechak dana".
All Israeli children learn the enchanting Hindi song as part of a selection of world music prescribed in schools.
Literally cashing in on the huge sustaining appeal for anything that is Bollywood is the runaway success of 'Bharati', a 5 million dollar musical extravaganza that celebrates India's diversity its languages, history, lifestyles and traditions through an elaborately choreographed medley of Bollywood songs.
Put together by Anat Bernstein-Reich of A&G Partners, a company that helps Israelis do business with India, Bharati has, since 2005, completed 150 soldout shows in Israel and across Europe, including Germany, the UK and France. It ran to packed houses in Tel Aviv's National Opera Theatre 14 times.
The grand India show was collectively funded by the Sahara Group and a number of Israeli investors. It has been produced by Gashash Deshe, whose earlier successes include Fiddler on the Roof, Little Shop of Horrors and Joseph & the Amazing Technical Dream Coat.
Infusing just the right Bollywood flavour is writer Kamlesh Pandey's scripting and the choreography by Jojo Khan.
Bharati is now set to open in Warsaw, Brussels, Prague, Lyon and Vienna through November to January and February next year. Later in 2008, there are plans to take the 100-person troupe of singers, musicians and dancers with their 1,000 costumes across the Atlantic to North America.
Success in Israel was inevitable for the Bollywood extravaganza. Many people on the cobbled streets of Jerusalem or in Tel Aviv warm up to Indians.
There is the charming archaeologist, Tikwah, who absolutely loves Raj Kapoor and wants to know "what the words Ichak dana beechak dana actually means".
Inside the Walled City of Jerusalem, a young Palestinian shopkeeper in the Muslim Quarter insists on reciting dialogue from another Bollywood classic, "Amar, Akbar, Anthony".
In Tel Aviv's newest shopping mall, most young people tell you they have travelled in India, and those that haven't are most likely still in the process of completing their three years' of mandatory military service.
Over 40,000 Israeli youngsters use the year between their compulsory military service and the start of college to visit India, many of them backpacking across a familiar itinerary including Dharamsala, Manali, Pushkar and Goa.
Anat Bernstein-Reich, who is also deputy chairperson of the Israel-India Chamber of Commerce, says the lasting cultural interest in India has helped awaken Israeli interest in the huge potential for business and trade with a country that could potentially emerge as the biggest economy in the world.
"We (the chamber) have now begun looking sexy to investors," she said.
#1
Meanwhile, in Gaza, "Red Wire/Green Wire/Blue Button/White", is playing. Inspired by Dr. Seuss' imaginative books, the show seeks to educate young attendees on the fine art of bomb belt making.
There's always been one traditional way to remove the excess young males from a population ...
HYDERABAD, India, Oct 29 (IPS) - Experts at the 4th Asia Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights are painting an apocalyptical vision of the Asian region where 163 million women are missing and the sex ratio continues to decline as a result of easy access to modern gender selection techniques.
China tops the list of countries with a skewed sex ratio at birth (SRB) with just 100 females for every 120 males. India follows going by the countrys 2001 census, which revealed that the SRB had fallen to 108 males per 100 females.
Experts worry that unless action is taken, Nepal and Vietnam may soon have skewed SRBs. Countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh are already beginning to follow Asias largest countries with people resorting to medical technology to do away with the girl child at the foetal stage. "We place it (skewed SRB) in the context of discrimination against women," said Purnima Mane, deputy executive director UNFPA, while addressing the press. "Women are not valued. She predicted that a continuing unhealthy SRB trend could lead to increased violence, migration and trafficking as well as greater pressures on women.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/30/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
So if both China and India have surplus males (shortage of females) it would make better sense for them to ally with each other and go to war with countries with a shortage of males and a surplus of females. Places like Western Europe and North America? Or does it just seem like a surplus of females because so many of the males are feminized?
#5
Horrifying, yes. But also our best defense against being over-run by Morlocks. Excepting India - which should be ashamed - it is no accident this form of cultural suicide is adopted by woman-hating fascists.
Give this technology to the Saud terror entity at once.
#7
The normal ratio ia about 105 baby boys for 100 girls: humans have naturally a few more boys than girls, a kind of safety net because even as babies boys tend to die more than girls (mortality ratio between male toddlers is 50% higher than between girls) and later the boys are more likely to engage in tree climbing and similar accident prone activities.
So when they say that the ratio in India is 108 to 100 it means that selectiva abortion is in fact relatively rare. So the only country who instensively aborts unborn girls is China. Now before you praise India, the fact is that infanticide of girls is common there.
#8
nothing new here for Asia, men are worth more than women, plus theres no pesky dowry to pay when you marry off your boy. THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS FOLKS.
#9
One of the commonest teachings of Prophet Mohammad, with which all Pakistanis are familiar, relates to not burying daughters alive (a practice in Arabia before the advent of Islam)." Aha, yet another look into the soul of our beloved Arab cavemen. So, Mohammed actually improved the species, but left so much undone.
Now they only bury them half way, and stack stones atop the other half from fifty feet away. Well, maybe it's not an improvement.
#10
JFM, it is worse than that. While 105 males are born, the higher mortality rate of males more than makes up for it.
In 2005, the estimated overall sex ratio was 107.5 males per 100 females in India
Contrast with 0.967 male(s)/female in the USA and 0.956 male(s)/female in France. 10% of the females are missing in India and 20% missing in China.
Posted by: ed ||
10/30/2007 12:05 Comments ||
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#11
In 2005, the estimated overall sex ratio was 107.5 males per 100 females in India
Posted by: ed ||
10/30/2007 12:07 Comments ||
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#12
A son will provide for you when you're old. A daughter joins her husband's family, and is not often seen after she marries.
I mean, it's like this: "If you have a son, then you have permission to withdraw from Social Security when you get old. If not, then get to like the taste of cat food."
It's Asian culture, thousands of years old. Us ain't gonna change it.
#14
Either the number of new male births drops drastically, or males start dying off rapidly.
In locations where there are no women around to provide relief, men usually turn to each other for same. Homosexuality is already rampant in the MME (Muslim Middle East) and it will rapidly become so in China and India. Stir in one massive AIDS epidemic and, viola!, no more excess male headcount problem. All three areas are in dire need of population reduction, especially so in the MME, which is long overdue for such a culling.
#17
Kobrin, and her Israeli co-author, counter-terrorism expert Yoram Schweitzer, describe barbarous family and clan dynamics in which children, both boys and girls, are routinely orally and anally raped by male relatives; infant males are sometimes sadistically over-stimulated by being masturbated; boys between the ages of 7-12 are publicly and traumatically circumcised; many girls are clitoridectomized; and women are seen as the source of all shame and dishonor and treated accordingly: very, very badly.
Shoebat confirmed the widespread sexual abuse of both boys and girls in Palestinian society. "It is a strange society. Homosexuality is forbidden but if you're the penetrator, not the penetrated, it's okay." He is describing prison sexuality. "If you're a teenage boy with no hair on your legs other boys your age will pinch your butt and tease you. Once, I saw a class of clothed teenage boys sexualize their gymnastics exercizes. And once, on a hiking trip, I saw a line of shepherd boys waiting for their turn to sodomize a five year old boy. It was unbelievable."
Shoebat's father also told him stories about starving Arab men who would barter sex for meat from Iraqi soldiers. According to Shoebat, teenage boys prey upon younger children; older male relatives prey upon pre-adolescent and adolescent boys and girls. They do not have intercourse with the girls since this would render them un-marriageable and bring shame upon their families. I heard many stories in both Afghanistan and Iran about the male preference for anal sex, even within marriage, either as a form of birth control or as a preferred homosexual practice.
#18
1. The author you are quoting from is a psychoanalyst who married a Muslim man almost 50 years ago and quickly regretted it. She just might be biased.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/women/story/0,,1746156,00.html
2. The article you cite is anecdotal and does not prove your point (homosexuality rampant in the MME).
3. The next line after what you quoted is:
"Most Arabs and Muslims will deny that this is so."
4. Your repeated use of a "broad brush" paints your diatribes for what they truly are.
#19
There are states in India with skewed sex ratios. Others are normal.
Here is one statistic from an Indian abortion clinic about a decade ago. Out of 1000 abortions, 999 fetuses were female.
Surprisingly even some middle class urban enclaves suffer from this. When you consider that some of the most highly educated females (Doctors - Oby-Gyn) are involved in the practice, education doesn't seem to be the answer.
Punjab is one such afflicted state and the Sikh priests have begun to campaign against this. Muslim imams and Hindu priests have also joined the campaign.
I suspect that nature itself will have to impose a solution on this cultural preference.
Only when the shortage of females is so great that entire villages lack marriage age females (as has begun to happen in some parts of India), will things change. There will be a massive cultural change.
No consolation to the sans-female generation of men though.
Historically in China, an abundance of males produced lawless regions and civil war.
The same could be true in parts of India.
In India itself, the Kashmir jihad coincided with a surplus of males unable to find mates.
Punjabi men have resorted to arranging marriages with Bangladeshi women.
One good thing... traditional barriers of religion, caste, class etc are falling because of this.
Posted by: john frum ||
10/30/2007 17:30 Comments ||
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#20
The traditional method for reducing excess male population is aggressive warfare.
#21
Lest we fergit, the overt failure(s) of Leftism-Socialism and Big Govtism, etc. induced the women in many nations/cultures to simply REFUSE TO HAVE SEX ANDOR KIDDIES. Lest we fergit PART II > MSM > Muslim women were for a while threatened wid beheading and torture-death iff they refused to have children despite seemingly never-ending local extreme poverty. FORTUNATELY FOR THESE WOMEN, NOT EVEN WEST/INFIDEL/WORLD-THREATENING RADICAL MULLAHS WANTED TO CHANGE DIAPERS OR BABYSIT OR ATTENDS PTAS FOR LONG PERIODS, etc. Radical Mullahs > went on pretending their orders for sex and babies weren't being ignored by their own women.
Myanmar's military government stepped up its propaganda campaign against the United States, accusing Washington of inciting last month's pro-democracy demonstrations in hopes of installing a puppet government.
I'm waiting for when they say the U.S. is going to nuke them back to the stone age then install our puppet government.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejed has ordered the sacking of local officials who are deemed to be "indifferent" to the problems of people, the press reported on Tuesday.
Ahmadinejad has made provincial issues a central plank of his presidency, visiting all of Iran's 30 provinces and giving speeches promising drastic improvements in local infrastructure.
"We will soon send a secret letter to provincial governors with the names of officials who should be encouraged," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by the hardline Kayhan newspaper.
"But also there will be the names of officials who are indifferent. As soon as the governors receive this letter they must sack these officials," said Ahmadinejad.
He added that other officials would be rebuked for showing "weakness" in their work.
Many economists in Iran have accused Ahmadinejad of stoking its inflation problems by ploughing windfall revenues from high oil prices into local infrastructure projects.
But the government insists that it is merely fulfilling Ahmadinejad's election promises of making people feel the benefits of oil wealth and has inflation under control.
The revelation of the order comes after Ahmadinejad's advisors said on Monday that the president would soon embark on another round of provincial trips to chase up on the fulfillment of the promised projects.
Ahmadinejad was also quoted as saying Tuesday that Iran would move against elements who claimed that people in the Islamic republic were suffering economic problems.
"The United States thinks that it can oblige Iran to yield with various unilateral sanctions and using certain internal elements who affirm that people have economic problems," the state run agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
"But we have identified these economic hecklers and we will soon get rid of them completely."
Since coming to power in August 2005, Ahmadinejad has sacked numerous officials in ministries who were seen as being close to his moderate rivals, ex-presidents Mohammad Khatami and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
#1
"Ahmadinejad was also quoted as saying Tuesday that Iran would move against elements who claimed that people in the Islamic republic were suffering economic problems."
If Bush doesn't hurry up, this guy is going to make ZimBob look like a saint before its all over.
#2
Ahmadinejad was also quoted as saying Tuesday that Iran would move against elements who claimed that people in the Islamic republic were suffering economic problems
"Shut Up!", he explained
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/30/2007 9:51 Comments ||
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#3
Will this "secret letter" explain that after "sacking" the officials the sacks will be tossed into the river?
Oil hit a new record high of $93.80 and the dollar struck a new low yesterday as investors showed their growing certainty that the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates on Wednesday. The same conviction also saw gold approach $800 a troy ounce its highest price for 28 years while equities made gains. The move into gold reflects how investors fear rising inflation from the twin forces of higher oil prices and a weaker dollar.
Weighing on the dollar was the outlook for lower borrowing rates versus those of other economies when a two-day meeting of the Fed concludes on Wednesday. Investors in Fed funds futures have largely priced in a 25 basis point cut in the 4.75 per cent overnight rate amid a deteriorating housing market and recent large writedowns at US banks.
Higher commodity and energy stocks propelled global equity markets while US multinational companies were buoyed by further weakness in the dollar. By the close on Wall Street, the S&P 500 was up 0.4 per cent. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 index closed 0.7 per cent higher, and the FTSE 100 closed up 0.67 per cent.
Asian markets rose sharply. Markets in India, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia set record highs. The Hang Seng rose 3.9 per cent and is up 55 per cent since the Fed cut its discount rate for banks and China said it would allow investors to buy Hong Kong stocks.
The dollar fell to a record low of 76.777 against a basket of six leading currencies, as the euro climbed to a new high of $1.4438. The dollar fell as low as C$0.9541 against its Canadian counterpart, its lowest level in 47 years.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/30/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
This is arguably the biggest story of the day and after 15 hours not a single comment! We haven't really felt the effect of this yet. And with a warm winter, we may be spared the full effect for some time. But come next summer, we're looking at $5.00 plus gas.
The cost to the United States in seigneurage if trading in oil is switched to Euros would be tremendous. So why are we allowing this to happen?
The CW is that it is due to the need to keep rates low because of the sub prime crisis and the response to protectionism.
But the Fed has demonstrated that it can prevent financial system meltdown through artful use of the discount window (for its original purpose. And if the worry is recession, well, expanding the money supply like this won't generate new housing starts when the market is already glutted, it will only create stagflation.
And though our current account deficit is narrowing, there is no way it will be balanced by exchange rate fluctuations. Only a revolution in China will accomplish that, and that won't be painless either.
So why, for the love of Pete, are we doing this?
What aren't we hearing any more?
Calls for China to untie the yuan from the dollar and allow it to float against the dollar.
China's only import is oil. As long as they keep the yuan tied to the dollar, the cost of oil goes up as much for them as for us. And their trillion dollars of reserves is losing value by the day. Effectively we are playing a game of financial chicken with them. But at least our exports are becoming more competitive and taking up some of the slack for a residential construction sector that is ready to hibernate in any case.
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.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has suggested setting up a Russian-funded institute in Brussels or another European capital to keep an eye on human rights issues in Europe.
It looks as though Greece may be in blatant violation of human rights norms. Reports released this month by Greek and German refugee organisations suggest that the Greek coast guard in the Aegean Sea has been systematically maltreating and obstructing asylum seekers arriving on their shores.
Democrats are losing the battle for voters hearts because the partys message lacks emotional appeal, according to a widely circulated critique of House Democratic communications strategy.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejed has ordered the sacking of local officials who are deemed to be "indifferent" to the problems of people, the press reported on Tuesday. 
Oil hit a new record high of $93.80 and the dollar struck a new low yesterday as investors showed their growing certainty that the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates on Wednesday. The same conviction also saw gold approach $800 a troy ounce its highest price for 28 years while equities made gains. The move into gold reflects how investors fear rising inflation from the twin forces of higher oil prices and a weaker dollar.
