#1
Way to go, CNN. Keep throwing him softball questions so he doesn't have to think too much about his answers. That way he looks like he still has his marbles.
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Voters trickled to the polls on Sunday as Burkina Faso voted in presidential elections with incumbent Blaise Compaore expected to win a fourth term amid fears he could extend his grip on power indefinitely. Yeah, well I still want to know what they did with Upper Volta.
Mr Compaore, 59, has led the impoverished African nation since 1987 when he staged the country's fifth military coup since independence in 1960. Now that I think about it, you never seem to hear anything about Lower Volta, either...
Speaking as he cast his ballot with his wife Chantal at a polling station in the centre of Ouagadougou, Compaore urged as many people to vote as possible. And Central Volta hasn't even made it to Wikipedia...
"We want to see the people turn out in massive numbers as this is a moment which allows us, including those of us who are in power, to assess where we are and also to look to the future," Mr Compaore said. "We must place our faith in the choice of the people and we await their choice with confidence," the president added. ... though the Chevy Volta has...
But turnout was visibly low in early voting today in the capital Ouagadougou and other main cities, residents said. When I was a child we used to think Oogabooga was a nonsense word. We'd holler it at each other and cackle for no particular reason. Now we find out people actually live there. Go figure.
A low turnout is expected to play into Compaore's hands. Turnout was 57.6 per cent in 2005, when Compaore won 80 per cent of the vote. Supporters say Mr Compaore has brought stability to the land-locked former French colony and established himself as "mediator-in-chief" in other West African nations beset by crises. I guess having a president-for-life who's been in office for 23 years is stability of a sort...
The country remains one of the poorest in the world with nearly half of its 16 million population living in poverty. ... just not the best sort.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
I thought Burkina Faso was a backup point guard for the Knicks.
[Arab News] Ata Allah Al-Rashidi, the young Saudi who claims he was stabbed by a member of the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Haia) during a fight in Hail, said he would pursue charges against his alleged attacker, the daily Al-Watan reported on Sunday.
The youth refused to comment on a recent report that the accused Haia member, who is currently in jug, expressed contrition for the incident. "At a particular moment I lost control of myself and stabbed Al-Rashidi in the Barzan Souq," he reportedly said while asking for forgiveness for taking out a small knife of a fingernail clipper and using it after the young man and a friend allegedly attacked him.
The fight started when Al-Rashidi's wife was shopping at the Barzan Souq on Nov. 12 accompanied by her husband Ata and her blood brother. The Haia member ordered the woman -- who was wearing niqab -- to cover her eyes, too. This led to fisticuffs involving the husband and his brother-in-law and the Haia member.
The Haia member then pulled out his little knife and inflicted a 1.5-cm-deep wound on Ata's back. Ata also sustained a five-cm-long cut to his arm. The Haia member was discharged from hospital after receiving first aid the same day.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2010 00:00 ||
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(KUNA) -- British Prime Minister David Cameron insisted Sunday it was "perfectly possible" to cut immigration to the tens of thousands a year.
MPs have cast doubt on whether a limit on numbers from outside the European Union can significantly reduce net migration from its current level of almost 200,000 a year.
But, in an interview with Sky News, the Prime Minister indicated he remained committed to more than halving immigration and insisted that it was achievable.
"If you stand back and look at the big picture, actually immigration between Britain and the rest of the EU is pretty much in balance," he said.
"It's between Britain and the rest of the world where it's got out of balance and we have this large level of net migration into the UK." "So I think if you tackle all of those things it's perfectly possible - it's my ambition - to get to net migration from the rest of the world coming down to the tens of thousands rather than the hundreds of thousands," he noted.
The Home Affairs parliamentary Committee warned recently that the cap would make little difference to overall immigration and could damage the economy.
It said fewer than one in 100 migrants entering the UK might be affected. An announcement on the cap - replacing an interim limit on non-EU immigration already in place - is expected within the next few weeks.
The issue has caused friction within the coalition, with Business Secretary Vince Cable expressing concern about the ability of firms to bring highly-skilled employees to the UK.
Cameron told the House of Commons this month that the cap should not affect intra-company transfers and that he wanted "much better immigration control without disadvantaging business." Cameron said today the Government had been discussing the cap with business and that it would try to exempt intra-company transfers.
"Businesses have been discussing with us their concerns and worries and I'm quite convinced you can tackle immigration and control it properly and at the same time make sure businesses can move people around the world." He added "I'm very convinced we will be announcing plans that show controlled immigration but business-friendly immigration at the same time".
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2010 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] Prince William and his fiancee Kate Middleton should be Britain's next king and queen, not the heir to the throne Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, two polls has shown.
An ICM poll, published in Britain's News of the World newspaper, showed that 64 percent of people wanted William and his future bride as next in line to the throne, while a YouGov poll in the Sunday Times found the majority of Britons thought William would make a better king than his father Charles. Charles, 62, is currently next in line to the throne, now occupied by his mother Queen Elizabeth, 84.
The British public has no say in who should be their next king or queen, a largely symbolic role in a country run as a parliamentary democracy. The ICM survey also found that fewer than one in five people wanted the crown to pass to Charles and Camilla. The YouGov poll showed that 44 percent of people thought Charles should make way for his son to become the next king, against 37 percent who thought he should not.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
The Bishop of Willesden had some uncomplementary things to say about the entire Royal Family recently: he likened the Prince and his fiancée to shallow celebrities.
He said the Royal Family was full of broken marriages and philanderers and expressed disappointment that the wedding would cost the public an arm and a leg. I managed to avoid the last disaster in slow motion between Big Ears and the Porcelain Doll, and hope to avoid this one too.
I give the marriage seven years.
#3
It will be Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Mum who decide what head the Crown rests upon next. I don't think Elizabeth will let Charles take the throne, for many reasons including his overt sympathies for the Islamic hordes.
Actually, it was Queen Victoria and the Elizabeths who were the exception to the long line of Tudors, Stuarts, Hanoverians, and Windsors, that set the 'gold standard'. The rest have been pretty much a randy group. Though Mary and Anne seem also to have been an exception. I detect a pattern here. It's that terrible consequence of droit de seigneur they can't seem to get out of their lower brain stem group.
#9
IMHO they have become more political than Regal in the past 50 or so years. But that is the case with almost all the royal families in Europe. Charles married probably the only women in England he hadn't slept with. William is wrapped securely around Kate's little finger. Harry is about the only normal person (maybe Fergie too).
#10
Prince Harry wants to have fun and be a soldier, like his Uncle Andrew. Prince William will work hard to do a good job at being a figurehead beloved of his people. Besides, what's abnormal about a man meeting the woman he'll be happily married to all his life his freshman year at university? I met Mr. Wife at my freshman orientation, and his employer seems to find him a steady sort. And unlike his son, Prince Charles seems about as intellectually gifted as both his previous and current wives, whereas it appears both Princes William and Harry have tended toward the mean.
Your request for nuclear weapons is approved. Please contact the Japanese Defense Force at your earliest opportunity for shipping and delivery instructions. :-)
#2
Given our current President, and Congress, I think SKor and Japan might be seriously considering developing their own Nuclear program - if they haven't already.
#4
Considering the UN and the Administration's incompetent handling the issue, I'd suggest the SKors to ask the Israelis. It's not like the Beltway has any real intent on stopping proliferation.
#5
ION TOPIX > JAPAN DEPLOYMENT NEAR [disputed]ISLES MAY WORSEN CHINA TIES.
As a Reminder, NORTH KOREA > is well-aware that CHINA WON'T HESITATE TO DESTROY NORTH KOREA TO SAVE CHINA PER SE IN MAJOR WAR, hence IMO the NOKORS won't risk being seen by HISTORIC-OVERLORD-N-POST-KOREAN WAR/1950-DPRK-SOVEREIGNTY-GUARANTOR CHINA as "TOO SUCCESSFUL" in Chin's view as per any indigenous NucProgs ventures, be it for NucEnergy andor NucWeaps.
IOW, IT BEHOOVES NORTH KOREA TO OFFICIALLY/
OVERTLY DENY + LIMIT ANY ACHIEVEMENTS AT INDIGENS NUCDEV EVEN IFF ITS EFFORTS WERE ACTUALLY VERY SUCCESSFUL.
SUB-IOW, ironically it also behooves the DPRK to collude wid NUCLEAR PAKISTAN + NUKE-WANNABE ISLAMIST IRAN, etal. + IS IN US STRATEGIC INTERESTS TO DO SO AGZ RISING CHINA, ala "GREAT GAME".
* NEWS KERALA > US SCIENTISTS [in] "SHOCK" OVER NORTH KOREA'S NUKE ADVANCES IN NEW FACILITY.
ARTIC > US Pert ROBERT CARLIN = "Everybody predicted that they [DPRK] were [only] AT A VERY EARLY STAGE... ... THE POLICY WE HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING SEEMS TO BE AT A DEAD END".
ARTIC also read, "2012" + IRAN, MILTERRS, + other ROGUE GOVTS-STATES.
D *** NG IT, WE THOUGHT WRONG [once again]ON NORTH KOREA'S NUCPROGS, DIDN'T WE!
* Also from NEWS KERALA > LONDON VARSITY SCHOLAR: NORTH KOREA ENGAGING IN SECRET [covert Nuclear] ACTIVITIES IN MYANMAR | INDIA SHOULD CHECK CHINA'S INFLUENCE IN MYANMAR.
ARTIC > PERT = Unlike the DPRK, believes that BURMA'S = MYANMAR"S RULING JUNTA IS RICH ENOUGH TO OVERTLY BUY NUCTECHS ANDOR NUCWEAPS, ETC. ON THE OPEN MARKET [widout having to hide or cover up its tracks]???
#1
So, Al, what you are saying is you pandered to Farmes in hopes of getting elected. The Tennessee Farmers didn't take the bait, you didn't win your "home" State. Dickweed.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
11/22/2010 12:37 Comments ||
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"First generation ethanol I think was a mistake. The energy conversion ratios are at best very small.
"It's hard once such a programme is put in place to deal with the lobbies that keep it going."
He explained his own support for the original programme on his presidential ambitions.
"One of the reasons I made that mistake is that I paid particular attention to the farmers in my home state of Tennessee, and I had a certain fondness for the farmers in the state of Iowa because I was about to run for president."
And there you have it. Stupid, ignorant, and corrupt.
But the technology may hold some unwelcome surprises if the carbon dioxide finds its way out and up to groundwater aquifers, a new study by Duke University researchers indicates. It could react with minerals there and increase levels of pollutants, perhaps so much that federal regulators would deem the water undrinkable, experiments suggest. Gotcha coming and going!
The hypothetical "groundwater" in the experiments became more acidic, CO2 dissolved in water becomes C2HO3 = carbonic acid, the bubbly in your soft drinks
which in turn had the effect of dissolving some of the minerals in the sediments. In particular, the concentrations of iron, cadmium and zinc, among other minerals, increased by more than 1,000 percent after exposure to carbon dioxide. That's where all the flavor comes from! Have you ever tasted distilled water? Nobody has - it's tasteless!
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/22/2010 15:53 ||
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And who is the World leader in Carbon Sequestration? Haliburton!! They will eventually kill us all!
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
11/22/2010 16:38 Comments ||
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[Arab News] Malaysia's elder statesman Mahathir Mohammed, the favorite politician of the Mohammedan man in the street and former prime minister, is never far from controversy.
Addressing the 5th International Shariah Scholars Forum, which was held in Kuala Lumpur recently in conjunction with the Global Islamic Finance Forum (GIFF) 2010, Mahathir in an outspoken attack stressed that the "collapse of conventional banking, finance and the monetary system has exposed their weakness and the ease with which they can be abused."
At the same time, in a stark warning to Islamic banks, he bluntly advised them to avoid getting involved in unethical practices in their pursuit to compete with conventional banks. Islamic banking in its current nascent stage, he added, cannot afford any disaster at a time when the industry is trying to gain acceptance as an alternative to conventional banking.
Mahathir is no stranger to Islamic finance. Although not much credit is given to this fact, it was him and his successive governments in the 1980s through to the 1990s and early 2000s that consistently supported the establishment of Malaysia's Dual Banking Model - a conventional banking system operating side-by-side with an Islamic banking system - cooperating but not interacting.
Malaysia has never looked back since then. Today its Islamic financial architecture is the most developed in the world, complete with enabling legal and regulatory framework; a financial sector master plan, of which 90 percent has been implemented; accounting standards; an Islamic interbank money market (the only one in the world); a thriving government Islamic sukuk and notes issuance program; consumer protection and awareness policies and a Shariah-compliant deposit insurance scheme.
In 1998 he also steered Malaysia out of the Asian financial crisis without resorting to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with a cap in hand begging for a bail-out. The Malaysian solution vindicated Mahathir's policies because it turned to be highly successful, perhaps to the secret admiration of the IMF officials.
As such, on both fronts, the wily Mahathir does know a little what he is on about. The fact that Islamic banking has not yet been abused does not mean it will never be subject to the excesses of its conventional counterpart, which so nearly brought the global financial system to collapse at the onset of the current crisis.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2010 00:00 ||
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Sri Lanka's former top military commander Shavendra Silva, a suspected war criminal who allegedly played a key role in the slaughter of 40,000 civilians in Sri Lanka, has landed a cushy job at the United Nations -- with full diplomatic immunity.
#1
Are these the same "human-rights experts" who claim all the calamities in Gaza are "civilians"? All the turks killed in the recent flozilla were non-violent peace protesters? Nothing about the years and years of terrorism and civilians killed by the Tigers. At least this guy actually did what was necessary to END a continuing and bloody war of attrition. I highly suspect these claims of 40000 civilians killed. But I'm mostly surprised if he really landed a job at the UN who are usually the "experts" who make these kind of claims.
#2
Bad things happen in civil wars. Look at the American Civil War; both sides did things that we wouldn't be proud of today.
General Silva was ordered to crush the Tamil Tigers, and he, along with his military, did so. It was brutal, and we at Rantburg noted that at the time. We also didn't have much sympathy for the Tigers given their history of terrorism.
The so-called 'human rights' activists can be counted on to wring their hand when trouble is afoot and to vilify people when it is absolutely safe to do so.
General Silva may not be a nice man. The job at the time didn't call for one.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/22/2010 12:38 Comments ||
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#3
General Silva got the job done at the cost of 40,000 lives vs. protracting it another 20 years and it costing another God knows how many. Now everyone can get on with their lives.
Thank you, General Silva. I stand with you. Hopefully your talents will no longer be needed in that area of the world.
#4
the same crew that would denounce Truman for using nuclear weapons: sometimes the hard choice ultimately saves more lives on both sides (but especially on your side). We'd still have Norway trying to negotiate a power-sharing between the government and the Tamil terrorists while civilians are killed by the thousands each year
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/22/2010 15:41 Comments ||
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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.
[Pak Daily Times] Prince William and his fiancee Kate Middleton should be Britain's next king and queen, not the heir to the throne Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, two polls has shown. 
But the technology may hold some unwelcome surprises if the carbon dioxide finds its way out and up to groundwater aquifers, a new study by Duke University researchers indicates. It could react with minerals there and increase levels of pollutants, perhaps so much that federal regulators would deem the water undrinkable, experiments suggest.
