[TELEGRAPH.CO.UK] The 29 stone silverback gorilla whose escape sent London Zoo into lockdown made an "opportunistic" exit through two unlocked doors into a corridor where a keeper was working, the zoo said.
Professor David Field, the ZSL's zoological director, said Kumbuka was kept calm by the member of staff, with whom he is close personal friends had a "close bond".
Armed police were called to the central London attraction and visitors were evacuated when the alarm was raised following the ape's bid for freedom on October 13.
The incursion into the zookeeper area culminated in Kumbuka glugging five litres of undiluted blackcurrant squash,
...not the vegetable, but an English fruit juice-based flavouring generally mixed with water or club soda..
before being tranquillised and moved back to safety, an in-house investigation into the incident said.
Despite the animal's security breach, Professor Field said the whole affair was "less dramatic than some would have you believe".
He added: "I can certainly tell you that there were no broken locks, Kumbuka did not smash any windows, he was never 'on the loose', and his normal gorilla posturing reported by visitors earlier in the day was unrelated to the incident."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/21/2016 00:00 ||
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#2
Speaking of random purple spray... coupla anniversary items:
The Greeks were out lookin' for Helen;
I'm seekin' the Strait of Magellan.
It's strange, you'll agree,
Over all this damned sea...
Why they named it for me, there's no tellin'.
In Charlestown of late, Lilliputians
Desire a less warlike solution:
Bad Navy! No cannons!
Go green for your penance
And peacefully battle pollution.
Brits nurse flagging hopes for detente in
Their colony, so wild and wanton:
"This 'Liberty' slogan
Won't drive us to Logan;
We'll soon see sweet reason in Taunton."
[REUTERS] A report by a Venezuelan congressional commission accused Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) [PDVSA.UL] of corruption on Wednesday, saying about $11 billion in funds went missing from the state-run oil company while Rafael Ramirez was at the helm from 2004-14.
It's been reported previously that Maria Gabriela Chavez, 35 and Hugo's daughter, has $4.2 billion in assets held in American and Andorran banks. Perhaps that estimate was low?
"It is more than the (annual) budget of five Central American countries," said Freddy Guevara, comptroller commission president and a member of one of Venezuela's hardline opposition parties, alleging widespread malfeasance at the state oil producer.
"We're talking about $11 billion they cannot justify," he added, as he presented a report by the legislative body that audits the state.
PDVSA, which manages the world's largest oil reserves, brings in about 95 percent of Venezuela's export revenues and has been the country's financial engine during 17 years of leftist rule in the OPEC member nation.
Critics have long accused PDVSA of corruption, but the company has maintained it is the target of a right-wing smear campaign, led by the United States and compliant international media, to sabotage socialism.
Neither PDVSA nor Ramirez, currently Venezuela's United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... envoy, responded immediately to requests for comment on the report by the commission headed by Guevara.
Venezuela is engulfed in a protracted economic crisis exacerbated since 2014 by a sharp decline in world oil prices.
Raising the specter of default, cash-strapped PDVSA said on Monday it "could be difficult" to pay large looming debt commitments if a proposed $5.3 billion bond swap does not go through.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/21/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Kind of hard to blame the US when they were allowed to do it "their way".
#2
saying about $11 billion in funds went missing from the state-run oil company while Rafael Ramirez was at the helm from 2004-14.
...I'm sure ol' Rafe is keeping an eye on it somewhere. Making sure it's safe from the Colossus of the North(TM).
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
10/21/2016 4:45 Comments ||
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Something going on. Nicholas is out of the with no return date, the recall election has been pretty much cancelled, rumors of troops on the Auto Pista. Who knows, what a mess.
Great images of Russian and Brit naval ships and aircraft at the link. Worth it for that alone if you like that sort of thing.
ROYAL Navy warships will “man-mark” a menacing Russia fleet that is preparing a pincer move on the English Channel, the MoD has said.
Eight Russian vessels led by a aircraft carrier are heading down the North Sea and are expected to pass through the Dover Straits tomorrow morning. And they are expected to link up with two more ships there, meaning TEN heavily-armed Russian ships will be operating just miles from the British coast.
The drills are being observed by both the Royal Navy and a Norwegian vessel as they head down the North Sea. The Russian Northern Fleet is being stalked by two British warships, while two corvettes heading to Britain through the Bay of Biscay are being tracked by HMS Dragon.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/21/2016 00:00 ||
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Boy, those Russki boat sure do have a big, high ... front. A British admiral at the link said the Russians were 'Willie waving".
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/21/2016 7:38 Comments ||
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#2
By incredible coincidence, today is Trafalgar Day.
Posted by: Matt ||
10/21/2016 10:11 Comments ||
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Interesting that only the Brits went out to shadow the squadron. Where are the French, Belgian, Spanish, Swedish etc ships? The EU navies are invisible. The real story is the underwater traffic jam as half a dozen subs trailing the flotilla try to avoid running into one another
North Korea's exports of iron ore to China have surged dramatically despite fresh UN Security Council sanctions against the North in April, Voice of America reported Thursday.
China says one thing and does another. I know you're surprised by this...
Quoting data from the Korea International Trade Association, VOA reported that Chinese imports of North Korean iron ore increased 67 percent on-year from April to August. In April, Beijing banned trade of 25 items like iron ore, coal, aviation fuel and rocket fuel with the North.
But it allows import and export of goods necessary for people's livelihood, and the drastic increase in iron ore trade shows how China and the North are taking advantage of loopholes and exceptions.
And the Chinese need for iron ore...
Overall trade of banned items between the two countries, however, dropped 8.1 percent on-year. China's exports of aviation and rocket fuel to the North fell 16 percent.
Rocket fuel?
"The sanctions against the North are kicking in to some extent, but in many cases like the iron ore trade, it's taking advantage of loopholes," a government official here said. "They must be plugged in a fresh round of sanctions that is being discussed at the UNSC."
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/21/2016 00:00 ||
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Hat tip Instapundit. Why are the Italians arming up? They need to. These purchases, however, are replacements for equipment that is being retired.
The Italian army is a step closer to acquiring new tanks and assault helicopters after plans for the purchases were submitted for parliamentary approval.
On Oct. 11 the defense commission of the lower house of the Italian parliament began debating plans by the Italian military to buy the Centauro II tank and an updated version of its A-129 Mangusta helicopter. The Centauro II is a wheeled tank which boasts improvements on the Centauro tank already in service with the Italian army.
Built by a joint venture of Italian firms Leonardo-Finmeccanica and Iveco, the Centauro II has superior armor to the first Centauro, a 120mm gun (compared to the 105mm gun on the original) and a more powerful, 720 horsepower engine.
The Italian army is meanwhile building up its fleet of Freccia, or VBM, armored vehicles, which will form the basis of new brigades and which first entered service in 2009 before being deployed to Afghanistan.
The documents submitted to parliament said the original Centauro was too old to operate alongside the Freccia — which is designed with net-centric operations in mind — “because it does not have the same minimum requirements for safety, force protection, technology and interoperability.”
The new tank order was accompanied in the purchase request by a plan for the launch of a new “Exploration and Escort Helicopter” program, which will see the development of a replacement for Italy’s army A129 Mangusta helicopter, which will start to be retired from service in 2020.
Built by Italy’s AgustaWestland, now known by the name Leonardo-Finmeccanica, the Mangusta first entered service during Italy’s 1990s peacekeeping mission in Somalia. Designed to fly three-hour missions, the new aircraft will offer a 20mm cannon, 70mm rockets and Spike air-to-ground missiles, with a 1,400 kg payload that may rise to 1,600 kg, according to the documents.
The new Mangusta would also feature satellite communications and Link 16.
In a planning document issued in 2015, the Army said it wanted a new Mangusta to be able to control UAVs and be able to operate better in hot and high conditions. Planned to be a viable assault helicopter for the next 30 years, the new model would have performance and payloads “decisively superior” to the current Mangusta and be at least as good as “the best performing helicopters in its category”, the new document stated.
The Army currently has 48 Mangustas flying, of which 32 have been upgraded from the original spec, while 16 are used for training. The helicopter was flown in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/21/2016 00:00 ||
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#1
Is it really a tank if it doesn't make clanking noises?
#3
A tank, by definition, should be able to withstand a (some) first-round hit. If it isn't too big a round.
A tank destroyer is a tank which can't withstand a hit by anything larger than, say, a fitty-cal. You save on some armor, the cheapest part, and get some additional mobility plus an incremental increase in what will transport the thing--maybe.
Then, when the local commander is scratching around for armor, he can have five TDs, 'cuz that's what they have instead of four MBT. That's okay if you're in the defense and have lots of terrain to hide in and wait for the enemy armor to come into view. Lousy arrangement for the assault. But a TD means one less tank. The best TD is a good tank.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
10/21/2016 6:26 Comments ||
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Is it really a tank if it doesn't make clanking noises?
[Ynet] The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire.... detained 40 soldiers from an air base in the central Anatolian city of Konya as part of investigations into July's failed military coup, Turkish media outlets said on Thursday.
Detention warrants had been issued for 47 more soldiers from Konya, the private Dogan news agency said, in what was the third wave of action against suspected followers of U.S.-based Moslemholy manFethullah Gulen ... a Turkish preacher living in Pennsylvania whom the current govt of Turkey considers responsible for all the ills afflicting Turkey and possibly the entire world... , whom the government blames for criminal masterminding the coup attempt.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
10/21/2016 01:08 ||
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[ChristianPost] The Human Rights Campaign, America's largest national lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer civil rights organization, has threatened to penalize Interesting word choice.
Johns Hopkins University if it does not denounce a report from two of the institution's scholars which concludes that there is little scientific evidence that people are born gay or transgender.
In the special report for The New Atlantis titled Sexuality and Gender: Findings from the Biological, Psychological, and Social Sciences, Dr. Lawrence S. Mayer, a scholar in residence at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Dr. Paul McHugh, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences also at John Hopkins School of Medicine conclude there is very little evidence supporting the "born that way" and other theories on sexual orientation.
"Some of the most widely held views about sexual orientation, such as the 'born that way' hypothesis, simply are not supported by science. The literature in this area does describe a small ensemble of biological differences between non-heterosexuals and heterosexuals, but those biological differences are not sufficient to predict sexual orientation, the ultimate test of any scientific finding," the report said. "The strongest statement that science offers to explain sexual orientation is that some biological factors appear, to an unknown extent, to predispose some individuals to a non-heterosexual orientation."
When it comes to transgenderism, the study explained the phenomenon is even more complex.
Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy ||
10/21/2016 00:00 ||
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Up until the time of the Stonewall riots in the '60's (?) all this crap was classed as mental illness. The change was due to politics not science, nothing has changed except that the victimology has gotten stronger as the need for it has lessened.
#5
The Johns Hopkins people were the first to do sex change operations. But being good scientists, they followed the progress of their patients for decades to see what the long term results would be; they concluded that doing the surgery was causing serious harm to those who asked for it, by ignoring the underlying problems that led to the desire for such drastic body sculpture. They've been trying to get the word out ever since.
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.
[TELEGRAPH.CO.UK] The 29 stone silverback gorilla whose escape sent London Zoo into lockdown made an "opportunistic" exit through two unlocked doors into a corridor where a keeper was working, the zoo said.
[ChristianPost] The Human Rights Campaign, America's largest national lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer civil rights organization, has threatened to penalize 
