Is this the result of more blacks getting a higher education? I doubt the system has changed much for at least 20 years, if not longer.
A year after the election of America's first African-American president, blacks in the United States are expressing optimism about racial progress not seen in a quarter-century, according to a new report by the Pew Research Center.
Thirty-nine percent of African-Americans said the "situation of black people in this country" is better than it was five years ago, nearly twice the 20 percent who said the same in 2007.
The optimism is not limited to the present, but covers the future as well. A majority of African-Americans polled, 53 percent, said that life for blacks in the future will be better than it is now. Two years ago, the number was 44 percent.
The historic election of Barack Obama to the White House appears to have played a role in the positive sentiment.
Fifty-four percent of African-Americans said they think Obama's barrier-breaking election has improved race relations in America. One-third of whites polled agreed, while 45 percent said his election has made no difference in race relations.
Personal finances have improved for blacks, according to the report. One-third of African-Americans polled rated their financial situation as excellent or good. In 2006, the number was 27 percent. During the same time frame, economic fortunes for whites slumped, dropping from 52 percent then to 35 percent now.
Even with the upbeat findings, more than eight in 10 African-Americans said the country needs to make more changes before blacks have equal rights with whites. About one-third of whites agreed.
The phone survey of 2,884 adults was conducted October 28 - November 30, 2009, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.0 percentage points for the full sample. Error rates vary among sub-groups within the survey.
#2
Personal finances have improved for blacksthe PAYEE, according to the report. One-third of African-Americans polled rated their financial situation as excellent or good. In 2006, the number was 27 percent.
During the same time frame, economic fortunes for whitesPAYERS slumped, dropping from 52 percent then to 35 percent now.
#5
You may call it stereotyping if you must. I call it simple 'behavioral identifiction.' When the 95%'r voting block crowd begins to endorse LTC(Ret) Allen West for congress, reading Williams, Perkins or Sowell, saying something respectful about Supreme Court Jusice Clarence Thomas....please ring me up. Until then, I'll continue to believe my old lying eyes.
#6
You happen to be wrong, Besoeker. There are plenty of blacks who are payers, and plenty of whites who are payees. I see it every day.
Might want to re-think your opinions.
What you say may be true, but the scales are tipped heavily in a particular direction. I will leave it for you to figure out which direction.
Opinions or biases, you're way too easy with the stereotypes...
Stereotypes exist for a reason, it's because they are based on reality and far more common that the sensitive Liberals would like to accept. You sound like a Liberal.
#7
On NPR this morning, if I can recall correctly, they conceded that the improvement in the situation for blacks had been occurring for years but blacks had only felt comfortable conceding the point after the election of a black president. Similarly, I hope this allows them to open their minds enough to cast their vote individually on the basis of their interest rather than as a racial block based on party initial. If so, something positive will have come of The One's victory.
#8
I'm not a big fan of stereotypes, per se. However, more often than not when people use the phrase, "stereotypically speaking," what they really mean is "statistically speaking," and I have no problem with statistics. The data don't lie.
#10
I agree with Besoeker. I never owned slaves. My dad never owned slaves. My grandparents never owned slaves. None of my great-grandparents ever owned slaves. Yet I'm paying an economic penalty for the evils of slavery by way of quotas and preferential hiring. How is that fair? Should I not be bitter? I see racial progress, but only in the sense of institutionalized racial classes, racism in a very pure form. We should have equality of opportunity -- NOT equality of results. I feel especially bad for Asians who overachieve simply through hard work and are penalized at least as much as White folk. Why shouldn't Blacks be feeling good? The entire system is totally rigged in their favor. They have it made.
#11
Golly, if it's so great to be black, I'm sure you'd rather trade your life for that of an American black at a comparable relative position in the black hierarchy to the one you hold in the white. I know I wouldn't.
#12
I yelled at this black youth tonight on the train about the noise level on his cell phone. After some grumbling and a word from his gf to 'let it go', there was no more noise. Am I failing to do my part? Am I mean spirited?
#17
Someone needs to regress this against opinions of public sector and unionized workers. Blacks are disproportionately employed in the public sector. I suspect that Barry's deliberate and massive shifting of wealth and resources toward these groups from private sector non-unionized types would explain much of the optimism seen here.
#18
Black unemployment has doubled to 16.2%. Forget it if you are a young, black and untrained. BLS: THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION -- DECEMBER 2009 Unemployment rates for the major worker groups--adult men (10.2 percent), adult women (8.2 percent), teenagers (27.1 percent), whites (9.0 percent), blacks (16.2 percent), and Hispanics (12.9 percent)--showed little change in December. The unemployment rate for Asians was 8.4 percent, not seasonally adjusted.
What has changed is the color of the occupant in the White House: Red. It's all about propaganda.
Posted by: ed ||
01/13/2010 23:33 Comments ||
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#19
Scooter, that's the dumbest thing you've said on this site. Think before posting.
Actually, I think that's the first dumb thing Scooter has posted here. I'm quite certain he won't do it again, independent of the fact that we really don't want to know such things.
PARIS, Jan 13 (Reuters) - French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Wednesday he feared everyone inside the United Nations headquarters in Haiti were killed when the building was destroyed by a powerful earthquake.
"The U.N. building has collapsed and it seems that all those who were in the building, including my friend Heni Annabi who was the special envoy at the United Nations ... are dead," Kouchner told France's RTL radio.
However, he said Haiti's President Rene Preval had managed to escape his collapsing palace during the earthquake that rocked Porte-au-Prince on Tuesday.
Kouchner did not specify how he had obtained the information, although he said he had spoken to France's ambassador to Haiti who reported chaos and destruction in the capital. "Certainly I'm going to talk to President Preval, whose presidential palace also collapsed but he got out. I'm going to speak to him soon," Kouchner told RTL, according to a transcript of the interview.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/13/2010 09:36 ||
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#1
Some people regret it wasn't in UN's New York HQ.
#2
ahh, a sign of cosmic karma coming into balance..
Posted by: abu do you love ||
01/13/2010 14:38 Comments ||
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#3
I stopped listening this morning when I heard the UN was sending a team to Haiti to coordinate our aid efforts.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2010 18:44 Comments ||
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#4
I stopped listening this evening when I heard former President and UN Special Envoy to Haiti Bill Clinton encourage donors to send money to the Red Cross, Red Crescent, or Clinton Global Initiative.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti Haitians piled bodies along the devastated streets of their capital Wednesday after the strongest earthquake hit the poor Caribbean nation in more than 200 years crushed thousands of structures, from schools and shacks to the National Palace and the U.N. peacekeeping headquarters. Untold numbers were still trapped.
The devastation was so complete that it seemed likely the death toll from Tuesday afternoon's magnitude-7.0 quake would run into the thousands. France's foreign minister said the head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission was apparently among the dead.
International Red Cross spokesman Paul Conneally said an estimated 3 million people may have been affected by the quake and that it would take a day or two for a clear picture of the damage to emerge.
Aftershocks rattled the city of 2 million people as women covered in dust clawed out of debris, wailing. Stunned people wandered the streets holding hands. Thousands gathered in public squares singing hymns.
People pulled bodies from collapsed homes, covering them with sheets by the side of the road. Passersby lifted the sheets to see if a loved one was underneath. Outside a crumbled building the bodies of five children and three adults lay in a pile.
The United States and other nations began organizing aid efforts, alerting search teams and gathering supplies that will be badly needed in the Western Hemisphere's poorest country. The international Red Cross and other aid groups announced plans for major relief operations.
"The hospitals cannot handle all these victims," Dr. Louis-Gerard Gilles, a former senator, said as he helped survivors. "Haiti needs to pray. We all need to pray together."
Even relatively wealthy neighborhoods were devastated. An Associated Press videographer saw a wrecked hospital where people screamed for help in Petionville, a hillside district that is home to many diplomats and wealthy Haitians as well as the poor.
"A school near here collapsed totally," Petionville resident Ken Michel said Wednesday after surveying the damage. "We don't know if there were any children inside." He said many seemingly sturdy homes nearby were split apart.
U.N. peacekeepers, many of whom are from Brazil, were distracted from aid efforts by their own tragedy: Many spent the night hunting for survivors in the ruins of their headquarters.
"It would appear that everyone who was in the building, including my friend Hedi Annabi, the United Nations' Secretary General's special envoy, and everyone with him and around him, are dead," French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Wednesday, speaking on RTL radio.
At least four Brazilian soldiers were killed and five injured, Brazil's army said. Jordan's official news agency said three of its peacekeepers were killed and 21 were injured. A state newspaper in China said eight Chinese peacekeepers were known dead and 10 were missing though officials later said the information was not confirmed. Some 9,000 peacekeepers have been in Haiti since 2004, including 1,266 Brazilians.
Much of the National Palace pancaked on itself, but Haiti's ambassador to Mexico, Robert Manuel, said President Rene Preval and his wife survived the earthquake. He had no details.
In Washington, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said that U.S. Embassy personnel were "literally in the dark" after power failed. "They reported structures down. They reported a lot of walls down. They did see a number of bodies in the street and on the sidewalk that had been hit by debris. So clearly, there's going to be serious loss of life in this," he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/13/2010 09:32 ||
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#1
PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > UP TO 100,000 PERSONS FEARED DEAD IN HAITI QUAKE [estimated, not actual body count].
#1
That building doesn't look completed, let alone like a hospital.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
01/13/2010 11:17 Comments ||
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#2
Many very sad videos coming out. The absence of crazed, chanting gangs of hooligans, burning George Bush effigies and torched US Flags is however encouraging.
#4
Is the guy in the foreground wearing a construction hard hat? My BS meter has tripped, I'm afraid.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
01/13/2010 12:08 Comments ||
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#5
Me thinks that was a controlled demolition. You can hear what sounds like explosions before the thing collapses. Of course, this in no way diminishes the tragedy of what happened.
#6
The second part looks legit.
The first part, the collapse, seems bogus. The guy taking the pic, and the guy in front of him taking the pic, aren't concerned about themselves. Nothing is bouncing and nothing else is coming down.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
01/13/2010 13:14 Comments ||
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#7
pure bullshit. the tall trees, and the radio tower are not swaying in the least.
Posted by: abu do you love ||
01/13/2010 14:43 Comments ||
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#8
Definitely bogus. Read the comments at LiveLeak. The first part is spliced on to the front of actual hurricane video.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/13/2010 22:38 Comments ||
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a RB "semi"regular (and good guy) with EMT training and contacts blogs - sounds like chaos:
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/13/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
This could not have happened to a worse country. Most impoverished nations get by with subsistence agriculture and such. Haiti is America's poverty programs on an international scale. The people have been given aid for so long that they know no other life and have little means to fend for themselves.
#2
Haiti is a cesspool but the world's solutions haven't helped one whit. Other Caribbean island nations comprised mostly of descendents of slaves grow their own food and fishfarm, and are not dependent upon aid but their cultural backgrounds are different. Some were Dutch, allowing persecuted Jews freedom in the New World, some French and Catholic explorers claiming any wealth, and others British and even settled by Protestant missionaries. Now add the mix of UN personnel and corrupt regimes--not much to rebuild and a possible vermin nest in our backyard. Excerpts from AP reports:
Among the missing is the head of the U.N. mission, Hedi Annabi, who had been in the building, Le Roy said. At least eight of the 125 Chinese stationed with the U.N. in Haiti were killed, China Daily said Wednesday, citing the Chinese vice president of earthquake disaster rescue, Liu Xiangyang. Chinese officials told The AP, however, they could not confirm any casualties. Another three peacekeepers from Jordan were killed, while 21 Jordanians were lightly injured, Jordan's army said, according to country's Petra News Agency.
Mulet, who was Annabi's predecessor in the Haiti post, said the U.N. headquarters building had been constructed in the 1960s with reinforced concrete, and was previously the Christopher Hotel. Other U.N. installations in Haiti were also seriously damaged, Le Roy said, including the headquarters of the U.N. Development Program, where many people were wounded.
The U.N. logistical base near the airport and a U.N. hospital run by Argentine troops were damaged, but not severely, and the hospital was receiving people hurt in the earthquake, Mulet said. The U.N.'s entire Haitian mission includes 7,000 peacekeeping troops, 2,000 international police, 490 international civilian staffers, 1,200 local civilian staffers and 200 U.N. Volunteers, Le Roy said. The force was brought in after a bloody 2004 rebellion (against former priest Aristide) following decades of violence and poverty in the nation.
The archbishop of Port-au-Prince was killed in the devastating earthquakes that have demolished the Haitian capital and taken untold lives since striking Tuesday, according to a dispatch from the Vatican. The body of Msgr. Joseph Serge Miot, 65, was found under the rubble of the archdiocese, and may be one of only hundreds of victims trapped in the ruins of Church buildings on the island. The apostolic nuncio in Haiti, Msgr. Bernardito Auza, said that the cathedral and all the major churches and seminaries in Port-au-Prince were devastated and reduced to piles of rubble. Hundreds of seminarians and priests were trapped in the rubble, he told Vatican Radio.
#3
All indications are that this is awful and only going to get worse.
Posted by: Mike ||
01/13/2010 14:36 Comments ||
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#4
SOUTHCOM is thinking about sending in 2k Marines and a BCT from the 82nd. Vinson arrives tomorrow. 2 Coast Guard cutters already on location. Port of Port-au-Prince is a mess. USAF Spec Ops has a team at the airport to restore air traffic controls since Anderson Cooper almost got killed this morning.
Still do not know where the amphibs are coming from. May take a few days to recall folks from I & I.
#5
When do the Chinese hospital ships arrive on station? I mean, it's their century and all.
Posted by: Matt ||
01/13/2010 18:02 Comments ||
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#6
In my humble opinion, most of the phueching reporters and their staffs should get the flock out of Haiti. All they represent is more mouths to feed, and people who take up room. They are not contributing to the relief effort. NBC had three big names (Brian Williams, Ann Curry and Al Roker) there. If Anderson Cooper is there too, all of the MSM have big name representatives there. They should have one per network, and one person to hold the camera. They don't need hair stylists, wardrobe people,and all the usual hangers on. If the reporters can't get out, they should roll up their sleeves and start helping by distributing supplies.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/13/2010 20:15 Comments ||
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#7
When do the Chinese hospital ships arrive on station? I mean, it's their century and all.
When oil's discovered off the coast of Port-au-Prince.
#8
Chinese had many more troops in Haiti than we did before the quake. 300 or so. Some with UN, some on "aid" missions. More coming as part of search and rescue.
A major earthquake struck just off the coast of Haiti late this afternoon, reportedly causing extensive damage in the capital of Port-au-Prince, and one aid worker said "there must be thousands of people dead."
The quake had a magnitude of 7.0 according to the U.S. Geological Survey, and was centered just 10 miles from Port-au-Prince. The center was also relatively shallow, less than 10 miles below ground, raising the risk of damage.
Karel Zelenka, a Catholic Relief Services representative in Port-au-Prince, told U.S. colleagues before phone service failed that "there must be thousands of people dead," a spokeswoman for the aid group told The Associated Press.
"He reported that it was just total disaster and chaos, that there were clouds of dust surrounding Port-au-Prince," Sara Fajardo said from the group's offices in Maryland.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/13/2010 00:00 ||
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Kampala AS different sectors coalesce into the regional co-operation under the ambit of the East African Co-operation, considerations to include defence are on the table.
During his address at the East African security meeting at Munyonyo in October 2009, President Yoweri Museveni called for the creation of an East-African defence force to solve conflicts and counter threats both from within and outside the region. The call comes at a time the region is emerging from years of conflict with the only conflict left being that in Somalia.
For years Burundi was immersed in unending conflict. So was Uganda and Rwanda. Calm has returned to these once volatile countries and now stability underpins their rise from chaos. But Somalia is a powder keg which though not a member of the East African Community (EAC), poses a security threat thanks to its proximity. It is feared the conflagration there could spill over and engulf the region. Already reports have it that Al Qaeda is moving its bases into the war-torn country.
A joint East African force would effectively contain it and also be on standby for deployment to deal with any threats on the members countries. At the moment, two forces constituting the African Union Mission to Somalia are from EAC's Uganda and Burundi.
Since the re-birth of the EAC in 1999 the idea of a joint East African Brigade has featured. It is not exclusively confined to East Africa for it has the support of the African Union which is considering using regional armies to foster security on the continent.
Other regional blocks already have mechanisms for regional security. For example, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) force played a role in solving conflicts in Liberia. The South African Development Cooperation (SADC) has a loose military pact that saw some member countries rush troops to the DR Congo to bolster the regime against an invasion from Uganda and Rwanda in 1998.
Presidents and chiefs of defence forces of the five East African countries have unanimity on East African Joint Forces; what remains is the drawing up of the mechanism of building it.
Kenya Army (KA)
The Kenyan Armed Forces number between 40,000 and 45,000 officers and men. According to recent reports, at least 2% of GDP is spent on the army every year. It is largely a peace-time army. It has been a candidate for many a peace mission.
The army is divided into several formations. These include the infantry, the air force, the navy and paramilitaries which are better equipped than armies in the other East African countries, especially so in the transportation sector.
Kenya's army for example has over 23 transport helicopters, 37 attack choppers and 31 fixed wing transport aeroplanes.
#1
ION WAFF > [NYTimes Artic] RUSSIAN ADVICE ON AFGHANISTAN | RUSSIAN GENERAL SAYS SHOULD NATO FAIL IN AFGHANISTAN, RUSSIA WILL INVADE.
ARTIC = Russ Gen believes that the entire WORLD, NATURE OF WAR has de facto changed since the 1980's. RUSSIA DEEMS NATO MILITARY OR MILPOL SUCCESS IN AFGHANISTAN [read, AFPAK] AS VITAL FOR RUSSIA, NATO itself, WESTERN SECURITY, + CENTRAL ASIA. RUSSIA + its CSTO ALLIES are training CSTO RAPID REACTION FORCES IN CASE OF NATO FAILURE/FIASCO VEE ISLAMIST MILITANTS.
*NATO SECRETARY GENER RASMUSSEN: ACTIVE PARTICIPATION OF MUSLIM STATES, SERVICEMEMBERS AGZ TALIBAN WILL END AFGHAN WAR.
** CHINESE MIL FORUM > SKEWED CHINESE BIRTH RATES WILL LEAVE 24.0MILYUHN CHIN MEN SINGLE AFTER 2020.
#2
US Army Africa is giving a bloggers' roundtable interview once a month. Based on those talks, and some navy interviews, it looks like certain nations are becoming regional powers. Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and Uganda all seem to be the big boys on their respective blocks. Freakin' Ugandans are everywhere, Chad, Congo, Iraq.
[Bangla Daily Star] A woman activist of outlawed Gano Mukti Fouj in Kushtia was arrested yesterday. Nasrin alias Dadi Nasrin, 25, was arrested by a team of detective branch of police at Amlapara in Kushtia.
Police arrested Nasrin on charges of her involvement in the killings of Bheramara Awami League Joint Secretary Meherul and college teacher Banda Fattah. She is an accused in five general diaries (GDS) with different thanas of Kushtia.
Following the arrest, she was taken to Kushtia police headquarters. She outright denied her involvement with any extremist organisations while talking to journalists at the headquarters yesterday. Besides, she said she had been staying in Dhaka and came two days back to Kushtia.
Nasrin also informed the journalists that she has a handicrafts business at her Amlapara residence.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Alamgir Hossain said Kushtia DB police on November 2 last year in a raid arrested Nasrin's sister-in-law Taslima Khan Ankhi who was a general secretary of Mahila Awami League, Kushtia unit. The police also recovered AK-47 rifle and 82 rounds of bullets from Ankhi.
Later on November 6, police arrested Ankhi's younger sister Nahid Parveen Champa from a house at Aruapara in the town, the ASP added.
The ASP alleged that Nasrin and Champa had long been members of the extremist outfit and were involved in arms and narcotics peddling.
Nasrin's brother Billal is a friend of Shaheen, a leader of Gano Mukti Fouj. Nasrin and Champa got into the illegal activities and started working as women members of the outfit after being acquainted with Shaheen.
With yesterday's arrest, a total of six women members of the extremist outfit have been detained.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2010 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Teodoro Garcia Simental, one of Mexico's most wanted drug traffickers, has been captured along with one of his brothers.
Simental, a drug kingpin known for having the corpses of tortured rivals dissolved in acid and whose gang is blamed for much of the surge in violence in the northern border city of Tijuana, had a reward of USD 2.3 million on his head for his capture.
Simental -- popularly known as "El Teo" -- and his brother "El Torito" were captured on Tuesday in the northwestern Baja California peninsula, a federal police official, who declined to be named, said.
Both have been detained in La Paz, Baja California Sur.
One of Garcia's hitman -- called "The soup maker" -- last year confessed to dissolving hundreds of bodies in acid for him.
El Teo's arrest is the second major victory for Mexican President Felipe Calderon's controversial clampdown on organized crime in less than a month.
In December, top drug lord Arturo Beltran Leyva died in a shootout with marines in a raid south of Mexico City.
More than 15,000 people have been killed in drug violence over the past three years in Mexico.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Good job, guys. Now go shoot their mother and her sisters.
China says it has successfully carried out a test of military technology to shoot down missiles in mid-air. The news comes in the wake of tensions between Beijing and Washington because of American missile sales to Taiwan, an island China considers part of its territory.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu Tuesday told reporters her country's test of emerging military technology was successful. Jiang says Monday's test of "ground-based, mid-course missile intercepting technology" had what she describes as "the expected result."
There have been few details about the test. But the Chinese spokeswoman says it has not left any debris in space orbit and does not constitute a threat to the security of other spacecraft.
She emphasizes that the anti-missile test is in line with what she calls China's path of peaceful development and is not targeted at any country.
Jiang says China has what she describes as a "defensive international defense policy." She says China is stepping-up its defense modernization in the interest of national security, sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The apparently successful test came soon after the United States cleared a sale of advanced missiles to Taiwan, despite strong opposition from Beijing.
The NYT has all the hysterical political he-said, she-said you could want on this here.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/13/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Please send a "Thank You" note to:
The Honorable William J. Clinton
55 West 125th Street
New York, N.Y. 10027
I have been assured by my left wing friend that missile defense will never work.
Posted by: Kelly ||
01/13/2010 18:10 Comments ||
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#4
CHIN MIL FORUMS > Chin's successful indigenous Missle Defense test means that US NUCLEAR INVINCIBILITY/SUPERIORITY IS NO MORE; + MASTER OF MISSLE DEFENSE: CHINA'S SUCCESSFUL CNMD-CTMD WILL FORCE THE ARROGANT IMPERIALIST US TO BECOME SLAVE TO THE CHINESE PEOPLE AND CHINA'S GLOBAL AGENDUM [US can thank POTUS' CLINTON, OBAMA, + ISRAEL for its loss or decline in international power]???
----------------------------
ION WMF > END OF STALEMATE: CHINA TO MAKE MAJOR STARTEGIC OR GEOPOL MOVES ON ALL FRONTS AGZ USA. US TO PREPARE LAST-DITCH DEFENSE OF IMPERIALISM BY TERROR PROXIES. FINAL VICTORY WILL SLOWLY BUT INEVITABLY BE WON BY CHINA.
* SAME > US COVERT OPERATIONS IN YEMEN TO SUPPORT US-LED DOMINATION OF ASIA AND GLOBAL HEGEMONY. US TO BEGIN "WAR FOR AFRICA" BY LAUNCHING PROXY TERROR ATTACKS AGZ SOMALIA AND KENYA FROM YEMEN BASES..
#5
WMF > CARRIER CRACKDOWN: CHINA'S ROAD-MOBILE DF-21C CARRIER KILLING MISSLE [ASBM] CAN REACH MOST OF ASIA AND US BASE ON GUAM. THE DF-21C IS THE WORLD'S ONLY MRV-CAPABLE MEDIUM BALLISTIC MISSLE WHICH CAN BE FURTHER DEVELOPED/IMPROVED FOR STRATEGIC STRIKE MISSIONS AGZ HAWAII AND US WEST COAST [LR anti-Naval/Carrier, ICBM "Land Attack" agz CONUS].
#6
More from WMF > post-2020 thru 2030's the US anticipates CHINA will deploy its own EFFECTIVE BMD-TMD whose PRIMARY FOCII WILL BE DEFENSE AGZ US MISSLES.
* SAME > "JANES DEFENSE WEEKLY" MEDIA: US BELIEVES CHINA'S PLAN WILL POSSESS THE PROFESSIONAL ABILITY TO EXPAND ITS OPERATIONAL SCOPE + FORCE PROJECTION BEYOND TAIWAN AND SOUTH CHINA SEAS; + "RUSSIA'S AEGIS" FOR PLAN WARSHIPS TO TURN CHINA'S NAVY INTO A POTENT HIGH-TECH, MODERN/PROFESSIONAL NAVAL FORCE CAPABLE OF MILITARILY DEFENDING CHINA'S INTERESTS ANYWHERE AROUND THE WORLD.
NET > CHINA + RUSS + INDIA, etc. are displaying increased willingness to procure NON-INDIGENOUS MILTECHS OR MILSYS TO RAPIDLY MODERNIZE THEIR ARMED FORCES.
E.g. IIRC PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > OVER ONE-HALF OF INDIA'S MILITARY EQUIPMENT IS [seriously]OUTDATED.
[Al Arabiya Latest] The World Health Organization is to examine its handling of the H1N1 pandemic, the group said on Tuesday, after accusations by some politicians that it exaggerated the dangers of the virus under pressure from drug companies.
The United Nations health agency will review the way it dealt with the outbreak of swine flu once the pandemic has subsided, WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib told a news briefing.
"Criticism is part of an outbreak cycle. We expect and indeed welcome criticism and the chance to discuss it," she said, adding the WHO's review would involve independent outside experts and its results would be made public.
But she said it was too soon to say when the examination would take place or which experts would be involved.
In the latest complaint about the way authorities have dealt with the pandemic, the Council of Europe, a political forum of most European countries, is to determine whether drug companies influenced public health officials to spend money unnecessarily on stockpiles of H1N1 vaccines.
Chaib said the WHO took its work of providing independent advice to its 193 member states seriously, and guarded against the influence of vested interests.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
A similar article "Swine Flu 'False Pandemic' seems to be biggest Pharma-fraud of the century".
"It was supposed to be a deadly pandemic, but is so far no more than a serious cold".
Posted by: Tom- Pa ||
01/13/2010 9:41 Comments ||
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#2
While the WHO may have mis-handled the H1N1 problem, I do not agree that this is a fraud.
H1N1 flu had the potential to be very dangerous, and it was good that we jumped on it. So okay, we have lots of vaccine left over. Would it have been better if H1N1 had indeed turned out to be a killer and we had no vaccine anywhere?
I don't expect government to be efficient. I prefer that government err on the side of caution.
The lessons we learn from handling H1N1 will be very useful when (and that's when, not if) the next big epidemic comes along.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/13/2010 13:09 Comments ||
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#4
Good point phil_b. Flu viruses of this type typically spread in 4 or so waves, possibly with mutations during the troughs.
And the big concern remains not the H1N1 variant that started this but the possibility it would transfer its human-human transmissibility to the H5N1 bird flu that is highly lethal.
#6
To the friend of the family who had H1N1 a few months ago, it was no joke. The guy was sick for weeks. We've had a few H1N1 fatalities in the area, and they were people who were otherwise in good health.
Somebody (I think on the Burg earlier) said that H1N1 plan could be considered a trial run for flu pandemics. Some things worked, some things didn't; let's hope the health systems got some good experience.
#7
ION WAFF > EU LIKELY TO SUE GREECE + EU'S NEW FINANCE MINISTER ACCUSES GREECE OF FRAUD [statistics fraud ala 2004-2009 BUDGET DEFICIT + PUBLIC DEBT FIGURES].
Ok...I'll bite: Maybe this is why the Chicoms hate Rantburg
Last week it was reported that China - which has a global monopoly on the production of rare-earth metals - is now threatening to cut off vital supplies to the West. A shortage would jeopardise the manufacturing and development of green technologies such as wind turbines and low-energy lightbulbs. RICHARD JONES is the first Western journalist to visit the rare-earth mines in Inner Mongolia to discover why China is unwilling to give up its precious elements...
It looks like a scene from an apocalyptic science-fiction movie. High on the frozen plains of Inner Mongolia, giant trucks rumble across the floor of a lunar-like crater so vast that it looks as if it might have been gouged out by a meteorite.
As we peer down at the eerie spectacle from the crater's edge, a security guard behind us barks out in Mandarin: 'Explosives! Move away!' Seconds later, a deafening crack rings out and part of a 660ft high rock face is brought crashing down.
When the dust settles, 170-ton dumper trucks close in to scoop up the rocks. They are taken to refineries where rare-earth metals - known in the mining industry as 'unobtainiums' because they are so scarce - will be extracted using boiling acid and other toxic chemicals.
This two-mile-wide crater in one of the most remote corners of China is the secretive Baiyun Obo mine. It's the world's biggest mine and the largest single source of rare-earths, the metallic elements that are driving the global revolution in green technology.
The rare-earths blasted out of rocks here feed more than 77 per cent of global demand for elements such as terbium, which power low-energy lightbulbs; neodymium, which powers wind turbines; and lanthanum, which powers the batteries of hybrid cars such as the Toyota Prius.
They are also used in mobile phones, computers, iPods, LCD screens, washing machines, digital cameras and X-ray machines, as well as missile guidance systems and even space rockets. Industries reliant on the rare-earths are estimated to be worth an astonishing £3trillion, or five per cent of global GDP.
I was the first Western journalist to set foot inside the mine. What I saw at Baiyun Obo and the poisoned refineries it feeds raises disturbing questions about the future we are buying into - and who will control it.
A brave worker agreed to smuggle me past tight security and the police patrolling the perimeter in four-wheel-drive vehicles to show me around the site which is run by the state-controlled Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare-Earth Hi-Tech Company.
On the crater floor, Terex dumper trucks, the largest in China, towered over us as they shifted 168 tons of rare-earth rock. It's a 24-hour-a-day operation.
Front line: A worker's clothes are peppered with holes burned by the acid used by refineries to extract the rare-earths from the rocks. The rocks are full of rare-earth metals combined with iron ore, and the rare-earths are extracted as a supplementary process to the iron-ore extraction, making it the most productive source of rare-earths on the planet.
It is a source upon which the Western world has become dependent. In 2008, China supplied 139,000 tons worldwide, 97 per cent of the world's total rare-earth production.
The architect of modern China, Deng Xiaoping, realised the significance of the elements lurking in the arid wastes of Inner Mongolia almost 20 years ago when he said: 'There is oil in the Middle East but there is rare-earth in China.'
His pride is shared by mine worker Shang Liqing, who drove me to a vantage point overlooking the huge main mine.
'This isn't just the rare-earth home town of China but of the entire world,' he said.
more at the link
#3
35 + years ago I did my senior thesis on pollution in the USSR. Just like now the greenies in the US (aka my mother-in-law) were sceaming about how bad capitalists are.
I researched the heck out of the topic with the help of my Russian ex-pat prof who translated loads of local things with me and found that Communism by definition (look up free good) cannot value nature.
China is just carrying on in the same way for all the same reasons. It is the most polluted hell-hole on the planet. All the water-melons should be swapped for an equal number on normal Chinese folks.
#4
It is the most polluted hell-hole on the planet. Amen, brother. My sister got a job teaching English there in 1994, got so sick from the bad air she had to return within 6 months, it took her 18 months to recuperate. She can't be the only Westerner who has noticed this.
#5
In 2021, there is going to be a close pass to Earth of an asteroid called "4660 Nereus". Right then it will be easier to get to than even the Moon. Then four years later it will make another pass close by Earth.
This is important because it is likely as much as 3% assorted metals. If we could land a mining robot there, it could mine the heck out of the asteroid, then bundle great quantities of ore for shipment to a space station ore processor.
This would refine it to maybe 90% metal, which is good enough to send up a cargo ship to retrieve, if the metal is mostly platinum group and rare earths.
#7
So is it Green Technology because the mess is in somebody else's back yard?
Of course it is. While I admit I like the idea of a lot of the newer technologies out there I also realize that like RAH said "There is no such thing as a free lunch"
#8
My understanding of rare earth metals is that they're not that rare, but the process of extraction generates a lot of pollutants that seep into the groundwater. China is trying to limit exports in order to limit the damage to the Chinese environment. The reason we're buying this stuff from China is because they can mine on the cheap, since pollution controls are non-existent. Done the American way (with pollution controls), the cost of these metals would increase significantly.
#3
Silk armor was used by the Japanese, and composite armor, using tough leather and silk joints would have been quite effective, yet flexible. Since processed hemp makes a very fine, silk-like fabric, it might have made a good laminate armor as well.
#4
Yeah, all okay for Alexander and his Macedonians.
But what if you're a Spartan with an amazing six-pack? Armor...I think not.
Seen research showing the Spartans had this stuff, too.
Which makes a mystery out of the repetitious Iliad trope, "his armor rang 'round him when he fell."
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
01/13/2010 13:18 Comments ||
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#5
Might be because the Trojan War occurred a millenium before Alexander and the Hellenes didn't have the skill to weave fine linen at that point.
#6
Over his tunic he wears a non-metallic corselet, the commonest style of hoplite armor since the end of the 6th century[BCE]. Modern writers have variously identified it as leather or as stiffened linen. Ancient writers frequently refer to linothorakes, linen corselets, sometimes coupled with spolades, which seem to be of leather; the linothorax and the spolas are probably linen and leather versions, respectively, of this curiass. The could be reinforced with metal scales, but this is less common now than earlier. The cuirass wraps around the body, tying under the left arm (or, some vase paintings suggest, occasionally down the front) and is split below the waist into strips call pteruges (feathers) for ease of movement; a second layer of pteruges is fixed inside the first, covering the gaps between them. A U-shaped yoke is fixed across the back and arms of the U are brought down forward over the shoulders and laced down on the chest; the shoulder pieces have decorated bronze finials where the lace is attached. [figure] 15b shows the back view; note the rectangular flap which stands up to protect the back of the neck. The cuirass is usually white, often decorated in red and black, with the shoulder yoke and waistband sometimes a different color. Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars, Duncan Head, 1982
Looks like recycling of old material to new audiences. The concept of multiple layers of linen 'glued' [stiffened] together has been known for a while and has been done by reenactors.
#7
lotp
Seems backwards that they had bronze armor a millenium before they figured out how to laminate linen.
Bronze was expensive, more so than iron.
And in those days, all metal originated in a hole with a couple of chumps using a candle and a pick.
Perhaps the aristos had bronze for status and the next rank down the linen, and the conscripted snuffies nothing.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
01/13/2010 20:04 Comments ||
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#8
Yes indeed this is very old material, well known to people interested in the subject.
#9
Seems backwards that they had bronze armor a millenium before they figured out how to laminate linen.
Yep. But as far as metals go, bronze is fairly easy to work. OTOH linen is far more difficult to spin and weave than wool, which was their basic textile. The techniques for retting (rotting) flax stems to extract the linen fibers are relatively easy to master but those fibers are difficult to spin into thread for weaving. In northern Europe it was often done inside damp caves since moisture helps with managing the thread as it is being spun, resulting in a high frequency of crippling arthritis in spinners who specialized in this fiber. Handweavers generally don't attempt to work with linen until they're skilled with other fibers and there are all sorts of tricks for how to set and keep the proper tension on the warp - linen is notorious for slipping as humidity changes.
Also, all the evidence is that the Greeks didn't have the sort of looms needed for fine-weave linen until well into the classical period, if then. A whole lot of odd stones and ceramic blobs with holes from palace workshops that archaeologists once dismissed as meaningless have now been identified as warp threat weights, which means the Greeks of classical time were still using upright frame looms, where each warp thread is tied to a weight to keep it tensed. That works for wool and can work for some types of cotton but is much less useful for linen, especially fine weaves that would hold lacquer.
In contrast the Egyptians used frame looms staked out on the ground, for which multiple slaves were needed to pass the shuttle back and forth, tension the web during weaving etc. Tedious and painful for slaves who had to do it all day, but they managed linens with up to 100 or more threads per inch. (which yielded cloth so diaphanous as to leave nothing to the imagination when women were dressed in it ...)
More than y'all wanted to know, I'm sure. I donated my weaving looms, tools and thread / yarn stash to a college arts program a few years ago after damaging a knee but I still miss the hobby .... ;-)
#11
lotp.
Thanks for the info. I like that kind of stuff.
Loved Burke's "Connections", for example.
Bronze is easier to work than iron, but in the Homeric times--the Bronze Age--there was no comparison, there being little to no iron.
The question in my mind was not the ease of working it, but the availability of it.
The horse lords probably had it--if we believe Homer--but few others, more than likely.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
01/13/2010 23:11 Comments ||
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#12
Lotp, I thought generally hands were used in weaving, not knees! :-)
OK, levity aside, I were making tapestries a lifetime ago, in the old country. Wool or sisal (or both).
VANDALS threw stones at a Sikh temple, adding to religious tensions over a string of attacks on churches in this Muslim-majority country, police said on Wednesday.
Some 20 small stones were thrown into the compound of a gurdwara, or Sikh temple, late on Tuesday in Kuala Lumpur's Sentul neighborhood, district police chief Zakaria Pagan told The Associated Press.
He said only a mirror in the front portion of the temple, which is more than 100 years old, was damaged and there were no injuries.
Stones also were thrown at a telecom building next door. A temple volunteer and office building security guard were alerted when the stones hit the buildings, but didn't see any suspects, he said. Mr Pagan said police believe the incident was 'mischief', and unrelated to attacks on nine churches since last Friday.
Temple chief Gurdial Singh said he was surprised by the attack but not concerned, describing it as an isolated incident by 'someone taking advantage of the situation.'
The church attacks came after Malaysia's High Court on Dec 31 lifted a government ban on non-Muslims using 'Allah' as a translation for 'God'.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/13/2010 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Global Jihad
#1
What, no sticks? And how did the VANDALS get to Malaysia? Moving on from Rome?
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.
