Hi there, !
Today Fri 02/27/2009 Thu 02/26/2009 Wed 02/25/2009 Tue 02/24/2009 Mon 02/23/2009 Sun 02/22/2009 Sat 02/21/2009 Archives
Rantburg
533676 articles and 1861901 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 84 articles and 254 comments as of 18:45.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Operations    WoT Background    Opinion    Local News    Politix   
Mulla Omar orders halt to attacks on Pak troops
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 3: Non-WoT
3 00:00 Frank G [13] 
3 00:00 JosephMendiola [6] 
13 00:00 JosephMendiola [6] 
1 00:00 john frum [9] 
10 00:00 Nimble Spemble [2] 
3 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [5] 
7 00:00 trailing wife [3] 
2 00:00 Old Patriot [5] 
0 [3] 
1 00:00 rabid whitetail [2] 
6 00:00 g(r)omgoru [4] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
0 [6]
2 00:00 Procopius2k [6]
0 [8]
3 00:00 Mike N. [5]
6 00:00 ed [8]
2 00:00 swksvolFF [8]
0 [8]
9 00:00 Deacon Blues [3]
0 [5]
2 00:00 rammer [14]
1 00:00 3dc [20]
0 [8]
0 [7]
1 00:00 trailing wife [6]
2 00:00 bman [4]
0 [3]
0 [4]
0 [10]
0 [9]
0 [8]
1 00:00 Omoter Speaking for Boskone7794 [14]
1 00:00 trailing wife [5]
0 [10]
Page 2: WoT Background
0 [7]
13 00:00 DMFD [11]
0 [14]
6 00:00 Hammerhead [7]
0 [3]
4 00:00 Ming the Merciless [5]
1 00:00 Old Patriot [3]
2 00:00 trailing wife [4]
0 [5]
0 [7]
1 00:00 Old Patriot [3]
2 00:00 trailing wife [2]
0 [3]
4 00:00 Old Patriot [5]
12 00:00 Rambler in Virginia [9]
0 [4]
0 [2]
14 00:00 JosephMendiola [4]
6 00:00 Old Patriot [9]
5 00:00 JosephMendiola [4]
2 00:00 Mitch H. [6]
0 [4]
1 00:00 Old Patriot [2]
0 [3]
Page 4: Opinion
0 [6]
0 [3]
6 00:00 Procopius2k [12]
1 00:00 john frum [8]
1 00:00 trailing wife [5]
3 00:00 Rambler in Virginia [4]
1 00:00 JosephMendiola [10]
0 [5]
1 00:00 ed [6]
3 00:00 Deacon Blues [5]
3 00:00 eltoroverde [4]
3 00:00 ed [6]
Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
9 00:00 Seafarious [11]
0 [6]
5 00:00 Alaska Paul [8]
1 00:00 Seafarious [9]
6 00:00 swksvolFF [3]
2 00:00 mojo [6]
5 00:00 JosephMendiola [3]
6 00:00 CrazyFool [5]
8 00:00 JosephMendiola [5]
17 00:00 JosephMendiola [6]
7 00:00 Procopius2k [12]
Page 6: Politix
3 00:00 JosephMendiola [4]
8 00:00 Besoeker [5]
3 00:00 Nimble Spemble [6]
-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Global Warming Alert: Global Warming Satellite burns up over Antarctica
Feb. 24 (Bloomberg) -- A satellite launched from California failed to reach orbit today, crashing into the sea near Antarctica and dooming a $273 million mission to study global-warming gases.

"The mission is lost," National Aeronautics and Space Administration spokesman Steve Cole said in a telephone interview from the launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

The NASA satellite was to orbit 438 miles (705 kilometers) above Earth and observe how carbon dioxide enters and leaves the atmosphere, helping scientists predict future increases in the main greenhouse gas blamed for global warming. Instead, the satellite fell in the ocean near Antarctica though the mission manager said at no point did the craft pass over land.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 02/24/2009 12:01 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "It's disappointing because it was giving us novel information to help us move our understanding forward on global warming," Alan O'Neill, science director of the Reading, U.K.- based Centre for Earth Observation, said in an interview.

Umm...how can it have given any information since it crashed; novel co2 info of a falling satellite? Or is it like those chinese spacewalk missions which take place before the launch?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/24/2009 14:28 Comments || Top||

#2  I Blame Global Warming!!!!
Posted by: DoDo || 02/24/2009 15:15 Comments || Top||

#3  Good job, Wron.
Posted by: mojo || 02/24/2009 15:20 Comments || Top||

#4  The satellite might have found out Global Warming wasn't caused by greenhouse gas so Gore and his fanatics had it shot down. To cover their tracks they hired SPECTRE.

Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 02/24/2009 15:44 Comments || Top||

#5  While launch and separation of the rocket's first stage went as planned, a clamshell-shaped "fairing" covering the satellite failed to open, meaning it was too heavy to reach orbit, Brunschwyler said on NASA's online television station.

Couldn't figure that out before you sent it up?Some "rocket scientist" you are...
Posted by: tu3031 || 02/24/2009 16:58 Comments || Top||

#6  You misunderstand. it's not that the satellite was too heavy, it was the satellite AND the aeroshell that was supposed to be jetisoned halfway up that was to heavy.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 02/24/2009 17:24 Comments || Top||

#7  too heavy.

sorry, my keyboard is broken.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 02/24/2009 17:25 Comments || Top||

#8  The launch rocket was apparently, no shit, a "Taurus XL".

This is what we get for using discontinued Ford sedans to make our orbital insertions.

I know someone who's a subcontractor in the satellite business who says he's glad that his outfit decided to *not* use these clowns to send up their latest package. He was muttering about using the French or Brazilians.
Posted by: Mitch H. || 02/24/2009 17:33 Comments || Top||

#9  COMET LULIN's view from GUam was rather poor - however, there were several FIREBALLS over GUAM-WESTPAC REGION which may or may not had been due to the recent US-RUSSIAN SATELLITE COLLISION = DEBRIS FIELD, as various Space XPerts had proclaimed that Earth will be entering a virtual "shooting gallery" corridor of space rocks in 2009.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/24/2009 17:34 Comments || Top||

#10  ION GUAM K57 RADIO NEWS > DID YA FEEL IT? 6.1 EARTHQUAKE OCCURS NORTHEAST OF GUAM.

Oh yeah.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/24/2009 17:52 Comments || Top||

#11  Launch Vehicle?



Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 02/24/2009 17:59 Comments || Top||

#12  Film of the incident. Beware of the dreaded Clamshells. It was SPECTRE.

Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 02/24/2009 18:16 Comments || Top||

#13  ALa STARS-N-STRIPES, I've seen the pic of COMET LULIN's PURPLISH HAZE [Hendrix], which reminded me of a similar-colored sky burst o'er Guam's night skies recently. NOW I WANNA SEE THE IMAGE OF A PLANET WHICH SUDDENLY APEARED THEN
"DISAPPEARED".

D *** NGED POWER DRINKS!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/24/2009 19:33 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Congo, U.N. to step up ops against Rwandan rebels
KINSHASA, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Congolese soldiers and United Nations peacekeepers will launch a new wave of operations against Rwandan Hutu rebels despite the planned withdrawal this week of Rwanda's army, Congo said on Monday.

Neighbouring Rwanda sent thousands of troops into eastern Congo's North Kivu province last month and the former foes are conducting joint operations against Rwandan Hutu rebels that have been at the heart of 15 years of conflict in the region. The operations are politically sensitive for Congo's President Joseph Kabila given that Kinshasa has frequently accused Rwanda of abuses and looting natural resources in the east during Kigali's past forays into Congo to hunt rebels.

Rwanda has said its soldiers will withdraw by Wednesday. "There is a plan for South Kivu that concerns only the Congolese army and (the U.N. peacekeepers). We will not involve the joint force," Congolese Information Minister Lambert Mende told Reuters on Monday. Mende did not say when operations would start but said they would continue "until the threat is eliminated 100 percent".

The Rwandan rebels, known as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), are spread out between the two eastern Kivu provinces and number about 6,000 fighters. While there has been an increase in numbers of FDLR joining a U.N.-backed disarmament programme since the joint operations began, the offensive has failed to capture or kill significant numbers as rebels have melted into the bush.

Human Rights Watch said earlier this month that 100 Congolese villagers have been killed in reprisals by the rebels during the operations and aid agencies have accused U.N. peacekeepers of failing to protect civilians.

With some 17,000 soldiers in Congo, the U.N. force, known as MONUC, helped usher the country to post-war elections in 2006. But it is thinly stretched amid fighting in the Kivus and violence to the north, where Ugandan rebels have killed hundreds in response to another regional attack on Congo-based rebels.

The U.N. force has been sidelined from both joint operations and has also complained about the involvement of Congolese officers accused of war crimes.

A MONUC spokesman confirmed that peacekeepers would take part in the mission in South Kivu. "It will begin. We do not have the date yet. But first, there will be a planning meeting to talk about the role MONUC will play," said MONUC's Madnodje Mounoubai.

Some of the FDLR took part in Rwanda's 1994 genocide and then fled into Congo's east, where they were pursued by Kigali's Tutsi-led army, sparking cycles of killings and two Congo wars. Congo's 1998-2003 war sucked in six neighbouring armies and sparked a humanitarian crisis that has killed over 5 million.

Fighting at times alongside Congolese government soldiers in a complex regional conflict, the FDLR have long since integrated into communities in Congo's east, where they survive through farming, mining and extortion rackets.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/24/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  what they gonna do rape their little sisters?
Posted by: rabid whitetail || 02/24/2009 17:07 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
4 sued for '71 killing
A case was filed against four people here yesterday on charge of killing three freedom fighters during the country's Liberation War in 1971.

Abdul Hashem Sheikh, son of late freedom fighter Abdul Goni Sheikh of Kumlai village in Rampal upazila, lodged the case against Sheikh Shamsul Alam, Rustam Talukder, Sheikh Yunus Ali and Hamid Sheikh of the same village for their alleged involvement in the killing of his three family members.

According to the case filed with the court of senior judicial magistrate Md Yarab Hossain, the four persons allegedly killed Hashem's father Goni Sheikh, brother Hamid Sheikh and cousin Abul Kashem in the middle of November, 1971.

Sources said the court received the case and ordered the officer-in-charge of Rampal thana to take necessary action in this connection after investigation. Local sources said only Shamsul Alam is alive among the four suspected war criminals.
Posted by: Fred || 02/24/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If they keep that up, much of the older generation of Pakistan will find themselves up on charges -- how humiliating for the poor dears!
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/24/2009 13:32 Comments || Top||

#2  The Bangladesh civil war and India's support for the rebels is well-documented. I wouldn't feel sorry for any of the pro-Pakistanis who did all kinds of dispicable things to Bangladeshis before they lost the war. The pro-Pakistanis are responsible for about 80% of the jihadist activities and a huge percentage of criminal behavior in Bangladesh.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 02/24/2009 14:44 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Mexican Mayor evacuates his family to the US.
EL PASO -- Police are investigating threats against Juárez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz, who moved his family to El Paso for safety, El Paso police Detective Carlos Carrillo said Monday.

"We received information that the Juárez mayor lives in El Paso, and that possibly they were going to come to El Paso to get him," Carrillo said. "He has not asked us for our help, but it's our duty to protect any resident of our city who may be under threat."

Juárez police said written threats against Reyes Ferriz and his family were left in different parts of Juárez after the police chief, Roberto Orduña Cruz, resigned Friday. The threats were written on the kind of banners and posters that the Juárez drug cartel has used to send messages to police and others.

Meanwhile, Mexican authorities were unraveling a shooting Sunday in Chihuahua City that killed one of Chihuahua Gov. Jose Reyes Baeza Terraza's bodyguards.

Alejandro Chaparro Coronel died while defending another state agent in a convoy. He was a commander who served on the Chihuahua state police force for 11 years.

The assailants wounded two other bodyguards, both also members of the state police.

Mexican officials said police returned fire and wounded one suspect, Eduardo Hernandez Valdez, 36. He served in the Mexican army from 2001 to 2003.

The Chihuahua governor, who drove his own vehicle with the bodyguards behind him, said earlier he did not know whether the attack targeted him or stemmed from an unrelated dispute between his bodyguards and the armed suspects.

"We cannot speculate and will comment only about what we know," the governor said.

Chihuahua state officials said they had indications that the shooting was an isolated case stemming from a disagreement between the governor's bodyguards and one of the suspects.

Officials said the bodyguards stopped one suspect's vehicle because they thought it was following the convoy. Then a second vehicle approached, from which two armed men exited and started firing at the bodyguards.

The suspects' vehicles, which were stolen, were found burned outside Chihuahua City.

Both the Juárez mayor and Chihuahua governor belong to the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).

Hector Garcia, the federal attorney general's regional director in Chihuahua state, said at a Monday news conference that the government will investigate any federal violations in connection with Sunday's shooting.

Garcia, who is serving his second tour in Juárez, gained notoriety in 2003 when he claimed publicly that the Juárez drug cartel had been dismantled and no longer existed.

Juárez city official Guillermo Dowell said the violence in Juárez and Chihuahua state is comparable to what occurred in Ireland and Iraq, "where people were killed not because of what they did or failed to do, but to plant terror in a city and its authorities."

He said Reyes Ferriz remained committed to fighting back with a clean and competent police force.

"The mayor's position is that the city police have to serve the public and not some organized criminal band, and he will continue to clean up the police force in a process he began since the first moments of his administration," Dowell said.

Violence against high-ranking politicians in Mexico is not new. In 2001, Patricio Martinez Garcia, then the Chihuahua state governor, survived an assassination attempt by the Juárez drug cartel and a corrupt policewoman.

FBI agents in El Paso had warned him about the cartel's plans. A Chihuahua state policewoman was charged and imprisoned in the plot.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 02/24/2009 18:38 || Comments || Link || [13 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Congress, WHERE IS THE G*D DAMNED FENCE?

Tar, Feathers for Congress.
Posted by: OldSpook || 02/24/2009 19:14 Comments || Top||

#2  It is really beginning to head south (metaphorically speaking) in the border-towns. There are more and more upper-class and middle-class Mexicans moving over the border with their families - quite legally, I might add, and buying upscale houses on the San Antonio market.
Posted by: Sgt. Mom || 02/24/2009 20:12 Comments || Top||

#3  the sad thing is there are a large majority of law-abiding and success-seeking Mexicans who will be suffering in this corrupt civil war.

That said, build the fence
Posted by: Frank G || 02/24/2009 21:05 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Indian aircraft carrier set for induction in 2014
Two years behind schedule, the indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) is expected to be delivered to the Navy by 2014. Under construction at Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL), the first part of the aircraft carrier will be ready in 2010 after which the giant ship will float.

Subsequently, the warship would be taken to another dock where the remaining part of the work would be completed over the next four years, naval sources said. Once completed, India will only be the fourth country after the US, Russia and France to indigenously design and construct an aircraft carrier of 40,000 tonnes class. While the 14-storied IAC’s initial tonnage was 37,500 tonnes, it had been upwardly revised to 40,000 tonnes in the updated design.

From bow to stern, the ship’s overall length is 260 mt and it will have a maximum speed of 28 knots. The formal keel-laying function marking the beginning of ship assembly will take place on Saturday in the presence of Defence Minister A K Antony and Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Kumar. The carrier will have a mixture of 30 aircraft – MiG-29K and naval version of LCA as well as Ka-31 helicopters. However, the naval LCA is still on the drawing board and will take years before it can be accommodated on board IAC.

“Since a carrier has a life of 50 years, foreseeable changes in aviation are taken into account. The requirements for naval LCA like a longer runway were considered while designing the IAC,” said a navy officer. Specialised steel for the carrier is being supplied by the Steel Authority of India Ltd. Seventy per cent of the design was carried out by engineers at the Naval Design Bureau. The navy also sought consultations from Italian firm Fincantieri and Russian war ship builders. “Russian expertise was sought in the aviation space as the on-board fighters are Russian planes,” said a navy officer.

A bitter and acrimonious debate between the navy and CSL in the past had led to a five-year delay in the project. However, the navy has provided Rs 200 crore to the CSL to augment the shipyard’s infrastructure, including bringing in heavy cranes.
Posted by: john frum || 02/24/2009 16:50 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  40,000 tn and 260m? Nice little boat they got there

by comparison...

Nimitz Class:

Displacement:
78,280 tons light
101,196 tons full load

Length:
1,040 ft (317 m) waterline
1,115 ft (340 m) overall

Beam:
134 ft (41 m) waterline
257 ft (78 m) extreme

Draft:
40 feet (12 m)
Posted by: OldSpook || 02/24/2009 19:19 Comments || Top||

#2  But it's the same size as the french nuke carrier and the same size/concept as the one India is buying from the Russians. A good first effort that the Chinese haven't been able to accomplish yet. Let's what the next carrier looks like and whether it is full featured.
Posted by: ed || 02/24/2009 19:33 Comments || Top||

#3  ION CV's, WAFF > LARGE OIL SPILL LINKED TO AT-SEA REFUELING OF ADMIRAL KUZNETZOV.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/24/2009 19:42 Comments || Top||


Manned space flight: Indian Govt adds Rs95cr to kitty
MUMBAI: Apart from the Planning Commission approval to ISRO's Rs 12,400-crore manned space flight programme scheduled for liftoff in 2015 from Sriharikota, the Centre has hiked the pre-project funding for the mission by about Rs 40 crore this year, indicating its keenness to back the project.

ISRO chief spokesperson S Satish told TOI on Monday that the government has earmarked Rs 95 crore this year towards pre-project funding activity, which essentially involves initiating more studies relating to a human space flight.

Last year, the figure was Rs 50 crore. "We are awaiting formal Cabinet approval. It is possible that Cabinet will seek more clarifications before we get the final go-ahead," Satish said.

In Delhi, MoS in PMO Prithviraj Chavan said several aspects of the mission would have to be examined to ensure that the project was viable. "Planning Commission has approved it but the Cabinet is still to clear it," he said. The cost of the mission, at Rs 12,400 crore -- roughly the initial spending on NREGA -- has to be factored in before the government gives a green signal even though, as the pre-project funding indicates, it is interested.

The programme is perhaps the most ambitious one during the 11th five year plan after Chandrayaan-1. Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) director K Radhakrishnan told TOI that the mission will lift off with the three-stage Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-Mk2 version). "This rocket will be slightly reconfigured and human rated. Preliminary work has already been initiated," he said.

The GSLV-Mk2 will have an indigenous cryogenic engine and this rocket's maiden flight is slated to take place sometime this year. The current GSLVs are powered with the Russian-made cryogenic engine.

The flight plan envisages the manned vehicle with a two-man crew orbiting in the low earth orbit (LEO) for seven days. The LEO extends up to 2,000 km. There has been change in the flight plan as Satish said that originally it was to operate at an altitude of 400 km. "This has been lowered to 275 km because it will permit a heavier mass to fly and the crew compartment itself will be made more comfortable," he said. Some 16 minutes after lift off, the manned compartment will be injected into orbit.

Satish said that after the seven-day mission is completed, there will be a sea landing of the manned compartment. As precursor to this, ISRO launched the Space Capsule Recovery experiment on January 10, 2007 and successfully recovered it in the Bay of Bengal on January 22, 2007.
Posted by: john frum || 02/24/2009 12:12 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  India's cryogenic engine set for integration with rocket

The indigenous cryogenic engine that would make India totally self-reliant in all aspects of space launch vehicle technology is set to be integrated with the indigenous Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle (GSLV).

"Now, it is getting ready for flight and I hope by the middle of the year, we should be able to make a launch", Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), G Madhavan Nair, told PTI.

Isro officials indicated that they are looking at a June-July date for the launch.

Indigenous development of cryogenic stage was taken up in 1996 for achieving self-reliance in cryogenic propulsion technology.

Technological challenges faced during the development stage include development of new materials, composite thermal insulation, new fabrication techniques, handling of cryogenic fluids at cryogenic temperatures, realisation of facilities for assembly, integration and testing, and associated safety systems.

GSLV flights launched so far by India used Russian cryogenic engine. Seven cryogenic stages were procured from Russia of which five stages have been utilised.

Forthcoming GSLV launch with indigenously developed cryogenic stage would launch GSAT-4 communication satellite.

"GSAT-4 communication satellite carries a lot of experiments. Our main interest will be to see how cryogenic engine performs. We have developed the engine using indigenous technology and indigenous fabrication capability", Isro Spokesperson S Satish said.

"We have completed all qualification tests. We are very confident. We have already conducted flight acceptance test and it has met all parameters", Satish said.

The indigenous cryogenic engine develops a thrust of 73 kilo Newtons (kN) in vacuum with a specific impulse of 454 seconds and provides a payload capability of 2200 Kg to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) for GSLV.

The engine works on 'Staged Combustion Cycle' with an integrated turbopump running at around 42,000 rotations per minute (rpm). It is also equipped with two steering engines developing a thrust of 2 kN each to enable three-axis control of the launch vehicle during the mission.

Another unique feature of this engine is the closed loop control of both thrust and mixture ratio, which ensures optimum propellant utilisation for the mission.

The cryogenic engine is now in the process of being integrated with propellant tanks, stage structures and associated feed lines.

The cryogenic stage is technically a very complex system compared to solid or earth-storable liquid propellant stages due to the use of propellants at extremely low temperatures and the associated thermal and structural problems.
Posted by: john frum || 02/24/2009 12:17 Comments || Top||


International-UN-NGOs
Don't cut aid due to downturn, U.N. body urges
GENEVA - Rich nations should not cut back their aid to the worlds poor because of the global financial crisis, the United Nations Human Rights Council said on Monday.
Why not? "We can't afford it right now seems a valid reason..."
"We haven't yet had lunch!"
Oh. Well. That's different. I guess.
It also said it was time to set up a fairer international economic system.
And they'll decide what is fair, thank you ...
People keep inventing fairer economic systems. They always turn out to be even more unfair than dumb old free enterprise until they collapse. Somehow it's the guys who were running them that arise from the rubble with their pockets full of boodle.
In a resolution that failed to win the support of Western powers, the 47-member council urged all states "to refrain from reducing international financial resources for development, including official development assistance and from imposing protectionist measures".
'Nother words, the only ones who were against it were the guys that would have to pay for it?
It backed recent calls to boost participation of developing countries in international economic decision-making, such as on the boards of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
Gets the pigs closer to the trough that way ...
The reason they're "developing" is that as a rule they're incompetent, often to the point of silliness, which would mitigate against allowing them to get too close to anything too important.
The resolution passed with 31 in favour, 14 abstentions and two absent at the end of a two-day special session on the effects of economic woes on human rights, which was called at the initiative of Brazil and Egypt on behalf of African states.
Brazil used to be a pretty prosperous country, back around the turn of the last century. Egypt was a pretty prosperous country about the time of Nefertiti. Most African states would be providing material for comedy routines in a world that wasn't cursed with political correctitude.
The resolution said the council "expresses deep concern that the universal realisation and effective enjoyment of human rights are challenged due to multiple and inter-related global economic and financial crises".
And it's totally cutting into the ability of the kleptos to rake off their skim ...
But developed countries--including European Union members, Canada and Japan, with backing from Mexico--argued the resolution went too far into fields like trade which were beyond the councils remit.
We actually make money with trade, and letting countries like Zim-Bob-We or Central African Republic tinker with it is not a recipe for anybody's future prosperity.
Many also voiced concern that an emphasis on collective social and economic rights would distract attention from ongoing violations of individual rights, such as free speech and freedom to form labour unions.
C'mon now. Why would the Human Rights Commission be concerned with stuff like that...
Forming labor unions and demanding free money from someone else often go hand-in-hand, so at least they're being consistent.
The Geneva-based body, set up in 2006 to replace the Human Rights Commission that was seen to have failed to genuinely protect rights, has fallen into familiar political patterns with developed and developing countries often squaring off.
Because it's the same people after all ...
Bastids!
Waiter! Menu! Chop-chop, boy!

In successful countries, rights accrue to the individual. In loser rathole states, rights accrue to the state. In successful countries we have individual rights, and in failed states they have Human Rights™, and even they're pretty casually violated by the boodlers at the top.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/24/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It's getting to be like animal farm around here.

Turtle bay will make a great apartment complex for those who may not be able to afford their mortgages.
Posted by: newc || 02/24/2009 0:53 Comments || Top||

#2  Rich nations should not cut back their aid to the worlds poor because of the global financial crisis

Alright, so we won't use the "global financial crisis" as a justification. We'll just stop the aid out of common sense and good judgement.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/24/2009 5:59 Comments || Top||

#3  It backed recent calls to boost participation of developing countries in international economic decision-making, such as on the boards of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

Right out of Atlas Shrugged.... The ones who don't have the money and want it should decide if they get it.....
Posted by: CrazyFool || 02/24/2009 8:28 Comments || Top||

#4  “Universal realization and effective enjoyment of human rights”

This resolution is proudly brought to you by the wordsmiths at The UN Committee for Indefinable Phrases.
Posted by: DepotGuy || 02/24/2009 10:19 Comments || Top||

#5  Uh-huh.

Pass.
Posted by: mojo || 02/24/2009 11:59 Comments || Top||

#6  Every cloud has a silver lining.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/24/2009 12:05 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Kadima officials: Rejecting Bibi's offer a mistake
Despite publically backing Kadima Chairwoman Tzipi Livni, behind the scenes tensions appear to be growing over Livni's declaration that she will not be joining a Likud-led government.

In a talk with Ynet Monday, senior Kadima officials slammed Livni's rejection of Benjamin Netanyahu's offers.

"Netanyahu made a very generous offer, and it's a mistake to reject it out of hand," one source said, dismissing Livni's estimation that a narrow right-wing government will be toppled quickly.

Following closed meeting with Livni, Prime minister-designate convinced Kadima won't join Likud-led coalition; Kadima leader: Bibi did not respond positively to question of whether he would strive for a two-state solution

"This is wrong thinking," the source said. "Netanyahu will have a disciplined government that would be able to conduct itself and vote in unison."

However, Kadima sources expressed cautious optimism regarding the prospects of ultimately joining Bibi's government, pointing to the fact that Livni and Netanyahu were scheduled to meet again and that their first meeting lasted two hours.

Meanwhile, Kadima officials also criticized Livni's management style.

"She manages everything on her own and takes the decisions herself," one party source said. Officials in Kadima are saying that senior party members have not yet openly criticized Livni because "she responds aggressively to every deviation from the path she sets."
Posted by: Fred || 02/24/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  He, he, he.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/24/2009 11:23 Comments || Top||

#2  As Uncle Al used to sing - "Zippy da doo dah, zippy de day, Oh my my what a wonderful day!"
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 02/24/2009 12:21 Comments || Top||

#3  "She manages everything on her own and takes the decisions herself," one party source said. Officials in Kadima are saying that senior party members have not yet openly criticized Livni because "she responds aggressively to every deviation from the path she sets."

Well, what is she - queen or something? Didn't y'all elect her as head of your party? Can't you un-elect her the same way? Or has she got too much dirt on most of you?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 02/24/2009 13:37 Comments || Top||


Israel's Livni, Netanyahu agree to more talks
Israel's political rivals Benjamin Netanyahu and Tzipi Livni agreed to hold further talks about a future government at their first meeting on Sunday since an inconclusive Feb. 10 election.

Netanyahu, head of the hawkish Likud party, whom President Shimon Peres asked on Friday to form a new ruling coalition, vowed to press on with efforts to persuade centrist leader Livni, Israel's foreign minister, to join him in a government.

He called it "the challenge of the hour and the will of the Israeli people" for Israel's two largest political forces to rule jointly to confront what they see as Iran's pursuit of a nuclear weapon, and its militia allies, Hamas and Hezbollah.

Livni, head of the centrist Kadima party, said she and Netanyahu, "didn't reach any agreement, there are substantial differences," but added "it is important to investigate whether there is a common path."

She agreed at Netanyahu's urging to meet again, telling reporters at the Jerusalem hotel where they had met behind closed doors that "there is no reason not to."

Kadima won 28 seats to 27 for Likud in the election for Israel's 120-member parliament.

In choosing Netanyahu, Peres did not follow the tradition of asking the leader of the party with the most legislators to form a government within 42 days. He opted for Netanyahu because a majority of lawmakers pledged their support for him.

But a narrow government comprised of hawkish factions could put Netanyahu on a collision course with U.S. President Barack Obama and his promise to move quickly to a Palestinian statehood deal.
Posted by: Fred || 02/24/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What the Jews think about Gentiles (Non-Jews).


This article appeared in the magazine “Free At Last” under the title
American Law, Fact, Fraud,
and Insidious Insiders


“Galatians, 4:16: Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?”–

“We…continue to be amazed with the ease by which Christian Americans have fallen into our hands…naïve Americans…we have TAUGHT them to SUBMIT to our every demand…Americans have not had a presidential choice since 1932. Roosevelt was our man; every president since Roosevelt has been our man. We…have put issue upon issue to the American people. Then we PROMOTE BOTH SIDES of the issue as confusion reigns.
“With their eyes fixed on the issues, they fail to see who is BEHIND EVERY scene. We…toy with the American public as a cat toys with a mouse. The blood of the masses will flow as we wait for our day of WORLD victory…The naïve politicians in WASHINGTON are gullible. Most of them are not too bright…the powerful…lobbyists influenced…years ago (federal funds to aid Israel) and there is no one strong enough to stop it…some of that money is returned to the United States and spent on Zionist propaganda…through B’nai Brith…Conference of Jewish Organizations… World Jewish Congress…tax free so long as we are smart enough to get away with it…
“ANTI-SEMITISM does NOT signify opposition to Semitism. THERE IS NO SUCH THING. It is an expression we…use effectively as a SMEARWORD …used to brand…anyone who brings criticism against (us)…We use it against HATE-mongers… (we) do so. That’s all there is to it.
“…I’d say more than 90% (of us) know what is really happening to our people. We have COMMUNICATION unequalled…It is an established rule to destroy all members of pre-existing government…the Police, State Police, Army officers and their families and relatives…In Russia, there are TWO distinct GOVERNMENTS – one visible and the other invisible…The INVISIBLE rulers in the communist countries have a world CONTROL over the propaganda and the governments in free countries. The cultural and intellectual influence of Judaism is felt throughout the entire world…MONEY is more important than morality.
“We can accomplish anything with money…Israel can now win in any encounter…It will also be the base for World Government Headquarters. We CONTROL EVERY MEDIA of expression…newspaper , magazines, radio, television…even your music! We CENSOR…before long we will have COMPLETE CONTROL of your thinking…
“The richest plum…(we) took over the publication of ALL SCHOOL MATERIALS…could MOLD public opinion to suit OUR PURPOSES. The people are only stupid pigs that grunt and squeal the chants we give them…truth or lies. There is no silent majority…only thing that exists is an UNTHINKING majority and unthinking they will remain…their ESCAPE from our rigorous service is the opiate of our ENTERTAINMENT industry. We have castrated society through FEAR and INTIMIDATION. Its manhood exists only in combination with a feminine…appearance… being so neutered, the populace has become DOCILE and EASILY RULED…their thoughts…only with the present toil and the next meal…You have become addicted to our MEDICINE through which we have become your absolute masters.
“We pretty much CONTROL the U.N…There will be a forced class warfare here in the United States and many will be liquidated…I’m not boasting…I’m giving you the facts! It is TOO LATE for your Christian followers to put up a DEFENCE …Long, long ago we HAD to become the AGGRESSORS…that is undoubtedly one of our great PURPOSES in life…
“Religion…our CONTROL of the textbook industry…news media…able to hold ourselves up as AUTHORITIES…our rabbis now hold professorships in supposed Christian theological seminaries. We are amazed by the Christian’s stupidity …Judaism is not only the teaching of the synagogue, but also the doctrine of every Christian Church in America. Through our propaganda the church has become our most avid supporter…their believing in the lie that we are the ‘chosen people’ and they, the gentiles.” “These deluded children of the church defend us to the point of DESTROYING their own culture…The ignorant Christians…attack the crusaders even if they are members of their own families…Through our influence of religion we were able to involve the ignorant white Christians in WARS against themselves, which always impoverished both sides while we reaped a financial and political harvest…
“Through religion we have gained CONTROL of society, government and economics. The gullible clergy…instruct their parishioners that we are a special, chosen people…These PULPIT PARROTS extol our goodness for loaning them the MONEY to build their temples, never realizing that their own holy book condemns all USURY… pay our exorbitant INTEREST…they have led society into our CONTROL through the same practice.
“Politically, they hail the blessings of DEMOCRACY and never understand that through DEMOCRACY we have gained CONTROL…DEMOCRACY is mob-rule which we CONTROL through their churches, our news media and economic institutions…These RELIGIOUS PUPPET’S stupidity is only exceeded by their cowardice, for they are ruled easily…”
************ ********* ********* ********* ********* *
On Control, you may remember the 8/12/1976 sky-jacking of an Israeli jetliner in Istanbul, Turkey, in which four people were killed and some thirty injured. Aboard was the administrative assistant for then-U.S. Senator Jacob K. Javits (a Jew) of New York, 29 year-old Harold W. Rosenthal (a Jew), whose unfortunate murder that day was not from random bullets that killed the others. Evidence indicates that his was pre-planned, making me wonder if it was due to his lengthy, boastful interview with American Christian editor Walter White.
Please read the full interview at the following link. It is titled ”The Hidden Tyranny” and I hope from the brazen words above you will see why.
http://www.rense. com/general66/ rosen.htm

Posted by: qazi || 02/24/2009 7:24 Comments || Top||

#2  You're quite the Jew-hater, aren't you Qazi.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/24/2009 8:13 Comments || Top||

#3  Clean up in Aisle 1!
Posted by: Spot || 02/24/2009 8:23 Comments || Top||

#4  Damn, that was transparent... it frankly amazes me to contemplate how dumb Quazi obviously thinks the residents of the 'Burg must be.

And then I remember that a majority of Americans voted for the Obaminator, and then I think perhaps Quazi might have good reason to assume the worst.
Posted by: Sgt. Mom || 02/24/2009 8:32 Comments || Top||

#5  I'm thinking seriously about adding the string "rense.com" to the filter.
Posted by: Fred || 02/24/2009 9:21 Comments || Top||

#6  Rense has some fun or even good stuff about UFOs, crytpo-critters, the Hollow Earth, and all, but, on more mundane matters, he/his website/radio give full coverage to holocaust deniers, russian & iranian apologists, antisemites of all stripes draped in antizionism,... when the history of the whole post 9-11 NWO Conspiracy Theories field will be written, I'm pretty sure some will find out that many people in it were not nutters, but useful idiots, or even straight agents of influence, little cogs in the demoralization machine, asserting that the Ennemy is ourselves.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 02/24/2009 13:13 Comments || Top||

#7  anonymous5089 has demonstrated his expertise in such matters. Go for it, Fred!
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/24/2009 13:30 Comments || Top||


Jordan king swears in new ministers in reshuffle
Jordan's King Abdullah II on Monday swore in 10 new members of Prime Minister Nader Dahabi's cabinet in a reshuffle that included replacing the foreign and interior ministers, the palace said.
Posted by: Fred || 02/24/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front Economy
Back to the Well Again for AIG
Here we go again...

This time for up to $100 billion

AIG is in talks with the US government over a new bail-out aimed at giving the stricken insurer, which is already 80 per cent-owned by the authorities, fresh capital to absorb an expected fourth-quarter loss and more time to sell assets.

People close to the situation said AIG could announce the new rescue plan as early as next week, together with fourth-quarter results that are likely to show a loss bigger than the $24.5bn reported in the previous three months.

A new bail-out of AIG would be the third time in five months that the US taxpayers have come to the rescue of a company that was once a global insurance powerhouse and is now fighting for its survival.

Under the planned bail-out, which has not yet been finalized and could still change, the government would swap some of the $60bn five-year loan it extended to AIG in November, and maybe some of the $40bn in preferred stock it owns, for equity
Posted by: badanov || 02/24/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Chinahillarybondsstomptibet
Posted by: newc || 02/24/2009 0:54 Comments || Top||

#2  Have Americans heard of this invention called bankruptcy?

When a business is incapable of making a profit and it's liabilities exceed it's assets the company is removed from the economy!

That way the economy grows.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/24/2009 6:23 Comments || Top||

#3  Adolf is not going to be happy. He thought they had him covered.
Posted by: tipper || 02/24/2009 6:46 Comments || Top||

#4  No more bailouts for AIG. Take the company and split up if need be, then sell it.
Posted by: Mike N. || 02/24/2009 7:20 Comments || Top||

#5  Splitting the company up and selling it is what they're trying to do. The problem is that if we go the traditional BK route, and I'm not saying we should or shouldn't just why we aren't, the BK court will prevent creditors from collecting what is owed them until a settlement of the estate is reached. This can take time. In the mean time, the creditors of AIG will not receive the cash they had anticipated, causing them to default on their debts and enter bankruptcy. Remember the reaction to Lehaman as opposed to AIG.

Soon, massive portions of the non-bank financial industry, probably including The General Electric Company, will be "under the protection of bankruptcy courts" and commerce will collapse completely. What we are doing by holding up AIG is preventing a run on the insurance and non-bank financial companies that would cost a lot more than bailing out AIG. It's a lot cheaper to keep your finger in the dike than to build a new one.

Why we are in this position is a bigger issue than the mortgage mess. And because the donks have been bought and paid for by Wall Street, it will not be properly investigated and understood. Until the trunks figure out they are the party of Main Street, not Wall Street. I hope Jindal sounds that note tonight. Unlike the mortgage mess where there are lots of greedy parties at fault, the AIG mess is strictly the responsibility of Wall Street. They should be made to pay for it.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 02/24/2009 7:32 Comments || Top||

#6  The reason AIG is in this mess is that they sold insurance against what were effectively systemic risks as if they were acturial risks.

Personally I think AIG acted fraudulently and the people who bought this kind of insurance were idiots, and both deserve to lose their money.

Otherwise NS is correct.

Posted by: phil_b || 02/24/2009 8:53 Comments || Top||

#7  AIG will be back again and again for hundreds of billions more. Consider the $125 billion of US taxpayer money already spent ($1000 for each and every worker) to be a very expensive educational lesson for our rulers. Just AIG's exposure to credit default swaps is around $500 billion. This is just an end about way for the US taxpayer to bail out the entire world.
Posted by: ed || 02/24/2009 9:36 Comments || Top||

#8  phil_b and I are in violent agreement.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 02/24/2009 10:29 Comments || Top||

#9  The reason AIG is in this mess is that they sold insurance against what were effectively systemic risks as if they were acturial risks.

Phil_b,
The reason they are in this mess is because they didn't sell insurance against systemic risks. Insurance policies are regulated and must have part of the proceeds put into a reserve against losses. AIG lobbied (successfully) to have these policies defined as non-insurance contracts. This put them immune from insurance regulations and made them more profitable (provided they didn't all sink at once).

Now that everything has gone to hell, they want the Gov to bail them out. I say f**k 'em, prosecute them for fraud, and fine every AIG officer an amount = to the "bonus" they conned from the taxpayers.

Some people are more valuable dead than they are alive, and the AIG exec are rapidly approaching the tipping point.
Posted by: Frozen Al || 02/24/2009 16:41 Comments || Top||

#10  As someone who has successfully sued AIG to compel performance under a policy, I can supply you with a list of names, should you need it.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 02/24/2009 17:28 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
54[untagged]
7TTP
5Hamas
2al-Qaeda in Iraq
2al-Qaeda
2al-Shabaab
2Govt of Sudan
1Global Jihad
1Govt of Pakistan
1al-Qaeda in Europe
1al-Qaeda in North Africa
1Islamic State of Iraq
1Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh
1Lashkar-e-Islami
1Taliban
1al-Qaeda in Pakistan
1TNSM

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2009-02-24
  Mulla Omar orders halt to attacks on Pak troops
Mon 2009-02-23
  100 rounded up in Nineveh
Sun 2009-02-22
  1 European killed, 9 others wounded in Egypt blast
Sat 2009-02-21
  Handcuffed JMB man pops grenade at press meet
Fri 2009-02-20
  Tamil Tiger planes raid Colombo
Thu 2009-02-19
  MPs visit Swat to pay obeisance to Sufi Mohammad
Wed 2009-02-18
  Four killed, 18 injured in Peshawar car bombing
Tue 2009-02-17
  Surprise! Pervez Musharraf was playing 'double game' with US
Mon 2009-02-16
  Another Wazoo dronezap
Sun 2009-02-15
  Talibs: Pak will surrender in Swat
Sat 2009-02-14
  Suspected U.S. Missile Strike Zaps 27
Fri 2009-02-13
  Canadian Muslim sentenced for firebombing Jewish institutions
Thu 2009-02-12
  Pak arrests 'main operator' in Mumbai attacks
Wed 2009-02-11
  Taliban Attack Afghan Government Buildings, Killing 20
Tue 2009-02-10
  FBI woman sexually harassed me: 26/11 accused terrorist


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.
18.218.70.93
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Operations (23)    WoT Background (24)    Opinion (12)    Local News (11)    Politix (3)