I love this country. I came here almost 19 years ago and have spent the majority of my adult life here.
It pains me to say it, it really does. But the fact is that in so many areas and walks and ways of life, the United States is now a better country than Canada.
There, I've said it. Because I'm so very tired of the way, particularly in the last two years, that we Canadians have come to define ourselves not by who we are but by who we are not...
#1
In Canada, this sort of column is usually a farewell piece. It does, however, have the ring of truth, just not what I expected to see in a Canadian paper.
Iraq's majority Shiite Muslims won nearly half the votes in the nation's Jan. 30 election, giving the long-oppressed group significant power but not enough to form a government on their own.
The Shiites likely will have to form a coalition in the 275-member National Assembly with the other top vote-getters — the Kurds and Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's list — to push through their agenda and select a president and prime minister. The president and two vice presidents must be elected by a two-thirds majority.
The Shiite-dominated ticket received more than 4 million votes, or about 48 percent of the total cast, Iraqi election officials said. A Kurdish alliance was second with 2.175 million votes, or 26 percent, and Allawi's list was third with about 1.168 million, or 13.8 percent.
"Until now there is no estimation regarding how many seats the political parties will get, when the counts are final the number of seats will be divided according to the number of votes," commission member Adel al-Lami said.
Elsewhere Sunday, insurgents attacked a U.S. convoy and a government building near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, leaving at least four people dead, hospital workers said. Two Iraqi National Guard troops were also killed while trying to defuse a roadside bomb.
Of Iraq's 14 million eligible voters, 8,456,266 cast ballots for 111 candidate lists, the commission said. That represents a turnout of about 60 percent, several points higher than the predicted 57 percent.
"This is a new birth for Iraq," commission spokesman Farid Ayar said.
The figures also indicate that many Sunni Arabs stayed at home on election day, with only 17,893 votes — or 2 percent — cast in the National Assembly race in Anbar province, a stronghold of the Sunni Muslim insurgency.
In Ninevah province, which includes the third-largest city, Mosul, only 17 percent of the voters participated in the National Assembly race and 14 percent voted in the provincial council contests.
A ticket headed by the country's president Ghazi al-Yawer, a Sunni Arab, won only about 150,000 votes — less than 2 percent. A list headed by Sunni elder statesman Adnan Pachachi took only 12,000 votes — or 0.1 percent.
Parties have three days to lodge complaints before the results are considered official, the election commission said.
Also Sunday, gunmen assassinated an Iraqi general and two companions in a Shiite neighborhood of Baghdad. The attack occurred as Brig. Gen. Jadaan Farhan and his companions were traveling through Baghdad's Kazimiyah district, an Iraqi police officer said on condition of anonymity.
A claim of responsibility for the attack in the name of al-Qaida quickly surfaced on a Web site that often posts statements by Islamic militants. The claim described the brigadier general as a senior commander in the Iraqi National Guard and the guard commander at Taji camp, an American facility about 15 miles north of Baghdad.
There was no way to verify the claim's authenticity.
Meanwhile, U.S. hopes for a larger NATO (news - web sites) role in Iraq suffered a setback when German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer on Sunday rejected calls for the alliance to protect U.N. operations there. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) also ruled out a U.N. security role.
In the battle just north of Mosul, insurgents fired on the convoy in Al-Qahira district, leaving at least four people dead and two wounded, doctors at the Al-Jumhuri Teaching Hospital said.
Insurgents also fired a rocket at the governor's building in Mosul, killing one woman and one man, as well as injuring four others, officials at the hospital said. Two Iraqi National Guard troops were killed on Mosul's airport road while trying to diffuse a roadside bomb, police said.
NATO's role in Iraq has been limited to a small training mission in Baghdad and logistics support to a Polish-led force serving with the U.S. coalition. Iraq war opponents led by France and Germany have prevented the alliance developing a wider role, and have refused to send their own troops, even on the training mission.
Fischer, Germany's foreign minister, said his country would not veto a NATO decision to do more, if it was backed by the other 25 allies. But he insisted "we will not be sending soldiers to Iraq."
Fischer emphasized German efforts to help Iraq in other ways — through military and police training outside the country, economic aid and debt relief.
Posted by: ||
02/13/2005
9:34:49 AM ||
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#1
Wotta surprise!
(NOT)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/13/2005 11:42
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The Italian foreign minister Gianfranco Fini, whose government has been accused of paying to free hostages in Iraq, has ruled out buying the release of the latest kidnap victim Giuliana Sgrena, a journalist. Sgrena, 57, who works for Il Manifesto, a left-wing newspaper, was seized nine days ago while driving away from a mosque in Baghdad after interviewing Sunni Muslim refugees from Falluja. An unnamed source quoted by the newspaper claimed to have seen her twice since her capture and said she was well. Asked whether his government would agree to a ransom, Fini, 52, said in an interview: "Italy does not have dealings with criminals. Italy is working for her release."
The belief that Sgrena's kidnappers will demand money has gained ground among intelligence officials. In Baghdad, Sabak Kadum, a spokesman for the interior ministry of the Iraqi provisional government, said he was certain that the captors wanted money and was optimistic the journalist would be released. When two Italian aid workers, Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, were freed in September, the Rome government denied paying a ransom. But an Italian intelligence official claimed their release cost $5m, raising fears that this would encourage kidnappers to target Italians.
Silvio Berlusconi, the centre-right prime minister, has indicated a willingness to negotiate for the release of Sgrena. On the day her abduction was announced he said: "Negotiations have begun." Fini, who is from a different party, the National Alliance, said: "What Berlusconi meant to say was that initiatives, rather than negotiations, had begun — political, diplomatic and intelligence efforts to obtain her release." Italy's message, Fini said, was that Sgrena was a journalist and a friend of the Iraqi people who "had always expressed views that were very critical of the presence of multinational forces in Iraq". This showed that those who seized her "did so for reasons that have nothing to do with the Iraqi people". Fini said an appeal for Sgrena's release that he had made on Al-Jazeera, the Arab television station, the day after her capture had had a "positive effect" — "Sunni clerics and politicians had appealed for her freedom". Fini said that Italy still did not know who the journalist's kidnappers were. Statements have been posted on Islamic websites setting two ultimatums for Italy to withdraw its troops and then announcing Sgrena's execution, but Italian officials have dismissed these as unreliable.
Posted by: Bulldog ||
02/13/2005
9:11:24 AM ||
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#1
test
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/13/2005 23:33
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Iran rejected a European demand to stop building a heavy-water nuclear reactor that provides a simpler way of extracting weapons-grade fuel, and it warned the United States on Sunday "not to play with fire" by repeatedly threatening Tehran. Iran has indicated previously it will keep its heavy-water reactor, but Sunday's announcement that it will not replace it with a light-water reactor was the clearest statement yet of its nuclear plans and represented a hardening of its position. Both plants in question can be used to enrich uranium, a critical part in nuclear programs, but the extraction of weapons-grade material from a light-water reactor is more difficult. Uranium enriched to low grades is used for fuel in nuclear reactors, but further enrichment makes it suitable for atomic bombs.
The statement underscored the unresolved differences between Iranian and European negotiators, who are continuing their talks over Iran's nuclear program even as the United States escalates its criticism of Iran. Earlier this month, President Bush accused Iran in his State of the Union speech of being "the world's primary state sponsor of terror" and pursuing nuclear weapons. Although Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said a military strike against Iran was "simply not on the agenda at this point," Bush has said his administration would not rule out any option. On Sunday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi reiterated previous statements by top officials that Iran would not tolerate any acts of aggression, particularly from the United States. "Rice and other U.S. officials are aware of Iran's capabilities." Asefi told reporters at a news briefing. "During the talks with the Europeans, we told them in clear terms to tell their American allies not to play with fire, and the Europeans clearly got our message." Iranian President Mohammad Khatami last week warned that Iran would turn into a "scorching hell" for any possible attackers... Precognition?
#3
The scenario:
1 Iran will reject the EU demands.
2. The EU will counter with additional requests and suggestions, but not realy Demands, per se.
3. The MMs will continue to play Mindf**k with the EUs as they continue this negotiation charade.
4. THe MMs will continue with their plan, which involves getting Bushehr on line to produce plutonium for a bomb that will mount on a missle, and will continue U235 enrichment program for a Uranium bomb.
4.5 The US may go to the UNSC for the hell of it to see if it will be Saddam Redux 2005.
5. The US will keep on clando ops and intel gathering for war plans. This will keep the MMs looking over their shoulders.
That is how I see it.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/13/2005 21:54
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#4
4.75 When the UNSC chokes, the U. S. Congress cuts financial support of the U. N. to zip.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/13/2005 22:18
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#5
The US may go to the UNSC for the hell of it to see if it will be Saddam Redux 2005.
That would be a waste of time and effort. There's no question it would be.
Labor Minister Ghazi Al-Gosaibi blames 'indoctrination that teaches young people they can kill justifiably'. Countering the assertion of many in American academia, a Saudi official said extremist teachings, not poverty or unemployment, are the root causes of terrorism in the kingdom, the homeland of billionaire Osama bin Laden and 15 of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers.
Ignorance and poverty may manifest themselves in violence, which is why places like rural Bolivia have high incidences of people killing each other. Terrorism is different from plain old background noise violence: it's cultivated and directed, whether by the KGB or by holy men. It doesn't happen spontaneously.
At a news conference in Riyadh, Labor Minister Ghazi Al-Gosaibi blamed the spread of terrorism on the "indoctrination that teaches young people they can kill justifiably" and training in Afghan camps, reported Arab News, an officially sanctioned Saudi newspaper. How'bout these pinacles of mooselimb educayshn--madrassas? You reap what you sow.
"I don't believe that terrorist movement has anything to do with unemployment," the minister said. Al-Gosaibi, noting the wealth of bin Laden and his associates, said "I am not aware that somebody has been driven to terrorism simply because he could not find a job." So, do you think he will make the quantum leap to the idea that the culprit may be the Messenger and his merry holy men? They just don't pull the message from their sphinxters.
Posted by: Sobiesky ||
02/13/2005
8:29:50 AM ||
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#2
One thing I always wanted to do, before leaving the Magic Kingdom, was to get a hold of a school curriculum. An American woman married to a Saudi pulled her daughters out of Saudi Public school because she was horrified at the amount of time the teachers spent spreading hatred. The poor woman had to sent her girls to private school in Bahrain because they (and all saudis)are not allowed to attend the International School(American Curriculum) beyond Kindergarden. God forbid that their experience there would contradict what has been drilled into their brains from birth.
#3
LOL. That road sign fits perfectly. What we need is more rain in Riyadh. Maybe then others in the Magic Kingdom would also come to realize the obvious.
#4
I'm trying not to overwork any particular graphic. But the 72 virgins have been idle lately. I don't like that...
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2005 12:42
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#5
Well, he is stating the obvious, but that is quite unusual for a Soddy official [to understate it and look ma, no jooos] . Therefore, he does deserve a flying pig moment, imho.
#7
In the long term, it is less about "teaching", which works off the assumption that these "teachers" just come up with this on their own, and more about their government promulgating a version of Islam that isn't overtly or subtly xenophobic and ultraviolent. The obvious solution is for the Saud family to replace the Wahabbis with Sufis, in a slow, methodical, and determined manner. Start by declaring "factionalism" illegal, denying Wahabbis identification with their cult. 'We are all Muslims, there is no such thing as "Wahabbis" or "Sufis", and to call yourself such is heresy.'
A New York Post survey of readers sampling nearly 20,000 people ranks Bill Clinton second to Adolf Hitler as the most evil person of the millennium.
Not who you thought, is it?
Hitler received 8.67 percent, or 1,664 votes, and Clinton received 8.47 percent, or 1,625, placing him well above mass-murdering Soviet leader Josef Stalin, who got 6.69 percent, or 1,284 votes.
What makes the president's appearance on the survey more astonishing is respondents had to write his name in, while Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Dr. Josef Mengele and others were listed on the survey. First lady Hillary Clinton came in sixth on the survey, with 3.99 percent and 765 votes -- all write-ins.
Hee hee hee. Some NY Post readers don't think too kindly of Bubba and the Hildabeest, do they?
Others on the list included Saddam Hussein, Charles Manson, Idi Amin, Genghis Khan, Jeffrey Dahmer, Benito Mussolini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, Ivan the Terrible, Fidel Castro, Vlad the Impaler, Timothy McVeigh and Marquis de Sade.
I wouldn't put the Clintoons in the company of these clowns. Bubba and Hildy aren't that talented.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/13/2005
7:31:32 PM ||
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#1
Their sample must be awfully screwed up to get Bubba in ahead of Stalin and Pol Pot, et al.
I didn't like Bill Clinton, but I dont for a moment believe he was "evil". "Amoral" comes closest in that when it came to decision making, he really didnt consider morality nor ideology, just what was in it for him. He was just in it for the fame, power and, ahem, all the "cigars" he could get. I'd bet that his only idealogical bends came from Hildabeeste's nagging.
#3
A second rate president - sure. Narcissistic - you bet. Evil - no. Clinton's policies were misguided. Clinton allowed evil to take root and gain a foothold in the Middle East and Asia. But no rational person could call him 'evil'.
#4
My top three most evil pople of the millenium would be Hitler, Mao, and Stalin. And that would be based on the number of people murdered on their orders. Pol Pot, Genghis Khan, Kim Sung Il, Napolean, Saddam Hussein for dishonorable mention. The rest of the list is just no account thugs.
Could you see a similar immediate and out of hand dismissal for charges of being "evil" against Reagan or Bush on DU or other liberal boards?
Just goes to show you, who is thinking and being truthful (The Burg), and who lets their ideaology and hatred overrule truth and common sense (DU and Koz, et al).
#8
Well, AJackson, perhaps Mao, Stalin, and Hitler killed more because they had access to more power. Pol Pot had a much smaller, weaker state to work with, but he killed a greater percentage of the people under his power.
Personally, I think Lenin was more evil than Stalin. He killed more people per year, but was fortunately crippled early on. Stalin was willing to let the children of "traitors" live. Lenin gave written orders to kill them, too.
Of course, this is like asking whether Baal or Satan is more evil.
At first, I was going to ask where George Bush was, but them I remembered that Bush = Hitler, so his total would be lumped in there.
#9
Oh, come on. The New York Post and its readers must know better. As New York Post reporters Jack Newfield and Pete Hamill agreed, the list of the most evil people of the century or the millenium should be:
Adolf Hitler
Josef Stalin
Walter O'Malley
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
02/13/2005 22:17
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#10
Look at the ultimate source. This is a photoshop job, not reality.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/13/2005 22:21
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#11
Their sample must be awfully screwed up to get Bubba in ahead of Stalin and Pol Pot, et al.
I didn't like Bill Clinton, but I dont for a moment believe he was "evil". "Amoral" comes closest in that when it came to decision making, he really didnt consider morality nor ideology, just what was in it for him. He was just in it for the fame, power and, ahem, all the "cigars" he could get. I'd bet that his only idealogical bends came from Hildabeeste's nagging.
Could you see a similar immediate and out of hand dismissal for charges of being "evil" against Reagan or Bush on DU or other liberal boards?
Just goes to show you, who is thinking and being truthful (The Burg), and who lets their ideaology and hatred overrule truth and common sense (DU and Koz, et al).
#13
Their sample must be awfully screwed up to get Bubba in ahead of Stalin and Pol Pot, et al.
I didn't like Bill Clinton, but I dont for a moment believe he was "evil". "Amoral" comes closest in that when it came to decision making, he really didnt consider morality nor ideology, just what was in it for him. He was just in it for the fame, power and, ahem, all the "cigars" he could get. I'd bet that his only idealogical bends came from Hildabeeste's nagging.
Could you see a similar immediate and out of hand dismissal for charges of being "evil" against Reagan or Bush on DU or other liberal boards?
Just goes to show you, who is thinking and being truthful (The Burg), and who lets their ideaology and hatred overrule truth and common sense (DU and Koz, et al).
HT to Polipundit. Is there NOTHING Kim can't do? Pyongyang, February 12 (KCNA) -- Foreigners have expressed their strong admiration for leader Kim Jong Il who has provided wise and dynamic leadership to the field of cinematic art when they visited the revolutionary museum at the DPRK Ministry of Culture. Head of the group of Chinese technicians working for the construction of the Taean Friendship Glass Factory Cui Baoyu, said that the Korean feature film "The Flower Girl", scripted from immortal classics "The Flower Girl", is a flawlessly perfect masterpiece. flawlessly perfect? redundant and repeating
It is entirely thanks to the on-site guidance and instructions given by Kim Jong Il to the field of cinematic art on many occasions for the past several decades that the Korean cinematic art has reached such a high level as we have seen today, he said, adding: We hope that the Juche-based cinematic art of Korea would further develop and effloresce under his guidance. Viktor Yeliseev, head of the State Academy Ensemble of the Ministry of Interior of Russia, said that the museum clearly bears witness to the greatness of President Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il and the glorious course covered by the Korean cinematic art, which has made great progress under their wise guidance. Our visit to the museum convinced us that Kim Jong Il is a genius of art, he added. Swedish delegate Agneta Gustavsson, head of the Austrian delegation Brigiter Waych and other participants of the 9th Pyongyang Film Festival said after visiting the museum that they are firmly convinced that the cinematic art of Korea will make greater progress in the future as it is guided by Kim Jong Il, its great master. He WAS awesome in Team America. Wonder if they showed it?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/13/2005
7:27:38 PM ||
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Team America: Fuck, yeah! :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/13/2005 19:32
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#2
Yes, but can he leap tall buildings in a single bound?
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/13/2005 19:35
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#3
Doubtful, DB, but I'll bet he thinks he can leap short buildings in a double bound. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/13/2005 19:38
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#6
..SNL did a hilarious mock news conference with Kimmie last night, where it was also revealed that he is the third highest all-time NBA rebounder.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/13/2005 20:19
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#7
"Third Highest"? This blasphemy would have you sent to the mines in NKor in no time.
On a sadder note, the international film industry (Hollywood, Japanese and European) is doing a brisk trade with NK when it comes to comic movies. A lot of the stuff is drawn by North Koreans. I don't think they make enough in a month to buy a movie ticket.
He feels so bad, he's got a worried mind;
The glass factory's so lonesome all the time
Since Kimmie left on-site guidance behind at Cui Baoyu;
Watching "The Flower Girl", killing time,
Working for Kimmie till the sun don't shine,
Looking forward to happier times than Cui Baoyu.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/13/2005 20:35
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#9
*holds up card* 8.2.
Good style, but points off for failure to work in Army First policy.
Saudi Arabia's morality police are on the scent of illicit red roses as part of a clampdown on would-be St Valentine's lovers in the strict Muslim kingdom.
The Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, Saudi Arabia's powerful religious vigilantes, have banned shops from selling any red flowers in the run-up to February 14.
Florists say the move is part of an annual campaign by the committee -- whose members are known as "mutawwaeen" or volunteers -- to prevent Saudis marking a festival they believe flouts their austere doctrine of "Wahhabi" Islam.
"They pass by two or three times a day to check we don't have any red flowers," said a Pakistani florist in Riyadh's smart Sulaimaniya district. "Look, no red. I've taken them all out," he said pointing to a dazzling floral collection covering every color of the rainbow except one.
Saudi Arabia's purist version of Islam recognizes only two religious occasions a year -- the Muslim feasts after the fasting month of Ramadan and the Haj pilgrimage.
Celebration of the Islamic New Year or the Prophet Mohammad's birthday, common in other Muslim countries, is frowned upon in Saudi Arabia.
Valentine's Day, or the "Feast of Love" in Arabic, is beyond the pale in a country where women must cover themselves from head to toe in public and be accompanied by a male guardian.
"For the last week, we've had no red in the shop," said Ahmed, a flower shop manager. "You can't even have red cards."
Despite the prohibition, demand for the banned roses has been strong and unofficial business was booming, Ahmed said.
"Wait 10 minutes," he told one customer as an assistant slipped into the shadows to collect a bouquet of crimson flowers. At 10 riyals ($2.70) each they were double the usual price. "They would put us in prison for this," he smiled.
Another customer asked if he could deliver 30 red roses to Riyadh's diplomatic quarter, a potentially tricky mission which meant crossing a tight police security cordon. "No problem," Ahmed said. "That's the regular police, not the mutawwaeen."
The government-funded mutawwaeen patrol the streets of Saudi Arabia, particularly Riyadh in the Wahhabi heartland, ensuring women are covered and five daily Muslim prayers are observed.
Shopkeepers who fail to shut down for half an hour during each prayer risk a night in jail if they are discovered.
Despite government calls for them to show greater leniency, and some recent efforts to improve their own image, the bearded volunteers are not universally popular.
"The mutawwaeen are just backward," Ahmed complained. "It's the Saudi women who want these roses anyway."
#3
And Israel is the racist state in the middle east, eh? These tyrants are so frikkin' paranoid even a HINT of other cultures sends them into a tailspin.
Please God, this will be bad enough...if it's Jihadis, it's going to be a very bad week. Update:
A Central New York mall is still under lockdown tonight after gunmen opened fire inside the shopping center. Police say the gunmen entered the Hudson Valley Mall and started shooting this afternoon. Officials say at least five people were shot. One person was shot in the abdomen and was airlifted to Albany Medical Center. One of the gunmen has been taken into police custody as officials continue to search for other gunmen. At this hour police are evacuating employees from the mall and screening them thoroughly as they exit. A Gap employee told Fox News that mall workers and shoppers were told to move and stay in the back room of the store just after the first shots were fired.
A shopper told CNN by phone that when shots were fired the numerous amount of people filling the mall corridors were tripping over each other trying to exit the building. Hudson Valley Mall is in the Town of Ulster near Kingston and is about 50 miles south of Albany. Several law enforcement agencies are searching the mall for any gunmen that may still be at large. Ulster County officials have scheduled a news conference for 6:00pm.
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/13/2005
5:43:18 PM ||
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shades of Clancy's "Teeth", huh?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/13/2005 18:26
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#2
I wonder if that mall has/had any armed security folks working there. I doubt that many NY'rs have ccw permits.
#3
As with any traumatic incident with lots of people around, initial reports were wildly confusing and contradictory. The local police just held a press conference (per Fox and CNN). There was one shooter, a 24 year old male. Witnesses say he was white. He fired several shots in the Best Buy store, there were just two unjuries (one leg wound, one by flying glass). He ran out of ammo and was tackled by store employees. That is all.
Yes, SPoD, that does explain things . . . [roflmao]
Posted by: Jame Retief ||
02/13/2005 19:33
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#6
One thing's for sure: he's a lousy shot. (thank goodness)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/13/2005 19:45
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#7
Point of order:
Per A.C.'s comment #3, the headline needs to read:
ThreeTwo One Gunman Opens Fire At NY Mall
Posted by: Carl in N.H. ||
02/13/2005 20:14
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#8
The story on Drudge says that he opened fire with an 'assault rifle' and then says the type of gun wasn't identified. You'd think that this kind of glaring error wouldn't make it past an editor. But what, that would be expecting a reporter actually committing the crime of Journalism instead of propaganda.
Not in the southern part of the state, anyway. They're virtually impossible to get if you're not an ex-cop or can show that you make bank deposits in the middle of the night or some such.
Posted by: too true ||
02/13/2005 20:38
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#10
So much for Gun Control - of either type (restricting guns, or hitting what you aim at).
A lone gunman opened fire with an assault rifle Sunday inside a crowded mall in upstate New York, wounding one person before running out of ammunition and being subdued by employees, authorities said.
The gunman began shooting inside the Hudson Valley Mall shortly after 3 p.m. in Kingston, nearly 90 miles north of New York City.
The 24-year-old gunman went into a Best Buy store and started firing. When he ran out of ammunition, he was captured by mall employees, police said
An Army recruiter was shot in the leg but was not the target of the attack, said Lt. Col. Paul Fanning, a National Guard spokesman. The recruiter was evacuated by helicopter to an Albany hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.
Another person was injured in the hand, but police said the injury was not a gunshot wound.
Ulster Town Supervisor Fred Wadnola identified the gunman's weapon as an AK-47 assault rifle. snip
Ali Afshar, owner of a mall kiosk, said he saw the gunman being tackled from behind by two men who worked at a sporting goods store. "They hit him and took him to the floor and held him there," Afshar said, adding that the shooter was dressed all in black. snip
Arent they illegal, as are all fully select-fire weapons, except if you get the federal license?
Or does the press really mean something else - a cut down AK based weapon, like the Mahdi from Egypt?
In either case, small wonder he didnt hit much anything, AK-47's at anything more than a few dozen yars aare very hard to be precise with, especially in the hands of an inexperienced and untrained shooter (I.e. firign form the hip likley, and got all his technique from Rambo movies).
Arent they illegal, as are all fully select-fire weapons, except if you get the federal license?
Or does the press really mean something else - a cut down AK based weapon, like the Mahdi from Egypt?
In either case, small wonder he didnt hit much anything, AK-47's at anything more than a few dozen yars aare very hard to be precise with, especially in the hands of an inexperienced and untrained shooter (I.e. firign form the hip likley, and got all his technique from Rambo movies).
Arent they illegal, as are all fully select-fire weapons, except if you get the federal license?
Or does the press really mean something else - a cut down AK based weapon, like the Mahdi from Egypt?
In either case, small wonder he didnt hit much anything, AK-47's at anything more than a few dozen yars aare very hard to be precise with, especially in the hands of an inexperienced and untrained shooter (I.e. firign form the hip likley, and got all his technique from Rambo movies).
No one's trying to stir up trouble. This is important.
Britain's chief driving examiner has risked the wrath of the country's women motorists by declaring that men are better drivers. Robin Cummins, who oversees the driving tests of 1.5m learners each year as the chief instructor for the Driving Standards Agency, claims men display more natural ability. Not only are they better at control and manoeuvring, they also need less tuition. He says a man learning to drive needs on average 12.2 hours of lessons and has a 46% pass rate. Women need an average of 15.3 hours of tuition and their pass rate is 40%.
While women take an average of 2.12 tests to pass, men need 1.87. "I'm not saying anything that isn't in the figures," says Cummins. "Of course there are plenty of women who are excellent drivers and plenty of men who are terrible, but overall it does seem to be that men can pick up the basic skills more quickly. With young men there seems to be more natural ability. Some females — though not all — take a lot more teaching." For both sexes the pass rate is highest for 17-year-olds (56% for women and 60% for men) and lowest for those 50 and over (29% for both men and women). Reversing is the most common problem for women failing the test.
The Advertising Standards Authority has rejected complaints that a poster claiming women were better drivers than men was untrue after an insurance company presented evidence to back the statement. It accepted women in general had fewer accidents and had made fewer claims. But a study by another insurance firm showed a women was, on average, more likely to have an accident and her claims would be higher.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/13/2005 17:44
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#5
Can one of you fine gents drive up to the store for me? I need some more hair spray, PMS pills, and bonbons. Then could you swing by the dry cleaners'? My frocks are ready to be picked up. Thanks ever so. All those...what are they called, gears? are sooooo confusing...
#8
TGA: I don't like manuals. I can drive a manual on flat ground, but I just don't have hills to practice on around here.
(Oh, and I thought I'd clarify: I usually think a lot of the arguments about "women can't do math" are bunk, for reasons which I'll be glad to discuss at another time. I just keep thinking of that "Evolution of man and woman" cartoon from a while back...)
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
02/13/2005 18:12
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#9
Well, we can conduct a scientific experiment: Rent a car out of Heathrow Airport with a manual transmission. Get some men and women for the study group who drive with steering wheels on the left side of the car. Let them drive out of Heathrow during rush hour and have them go through a roundabout. Set up a methodology and scoring system. Take pictures inside the car and outside on the roundabout. Gather data. Do some Stat 101 on the experiment. Summarize results in a study. See what happens.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/13/2005 19:42
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Posted by: Rafael ||
02/13/2005 19:56
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#12
They also have round-a-bouts in Boston. I was stuck on one for three days back in '91. I learned to drive a manual transmission on a farm in South Alabama, otherwise known as LA (Lower Alabama).
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/13/2005 19:58
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#13
I did the Heathrow thing in July of 82. Made it through the roundabout with everyone honking at me. My first experience driving on the left. Then drove through Wales dodging sheep. Got to be a regular trooper in Ireland. We kept a jug of Paddy Whiskey under the seat for conversation lube when we talked to farmers. Got REAL good at driving down one lane roads with stone fences and a big assed lorry barreling down on us.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/13/2005 20:06
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#14
Starting a manual car on a hill is a mandatory part of the UK driving test. I first learned to drive in the midlle of the Fens, where it is flat as a billiard table as far as the eye can see. The only place where you could practice a hill start was in places where a road ascended the side of a embankment along side the drainage canals that cross the region. Basically you had about 25 feet of roadway before you landed in the canal. I'll never forget the instructor always took off his seatbelt and put one hand on the emergency brake before every attempt. I asked if he had ever gone into the canal. His reply was "More than once."
#15
When I learned to drive a manual on a grade, Thomas, the guy I was working for, took my watch and put it behind the rear wheel. I didn't roll backward.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/13/2005 20:15
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#16
My defensive driving instructor stood a cigarette on its butt on the dash and said: "OK, handle the stick like it's your girlfriend's knee. Now drive. And don't tip my fag over."
#17
Been there, done that, TGA. Scotland. Hadn't driven a stick-shift in 20 years. As soon as I got into traffic driving on the left side of the road, the stick-shift was the least of my concerns. When I got to a traffic circle, praying set in.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/13/2005 20:43
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#18
In Germany driver lessons are usually given on manual cars so few people ever have an issue.
And face it: Would you really want to drive a Porsche at 150mph on the autobahn with automatic gear???
#19
I learned to drive on a manual, Mama's Volkswagen Beetle. Then Daddy had me test using his automatic whatever-it-was, because it would be easier for me (I gave Mama her first grey hairs that year). Failed the bloody test 5 times because there was no stick shift or clutch. I didn't drive an automatic again until I was 25, and am still not happy without something for my right hand and left foot to do...
But I must shamefacedly admit to being almost stereotypically bad behind the wheel. And my ability to get lost is becoming legendary. Trailing Daughter has taken to volunteering to take over if I appear to be tired. She is very much looking forward to getting her temps in 18 months, just to replace me. We'll all be happier, I think, although I solemnly promise you all that it will be Mr. Wife who teaches her, not me.
Found via Michelle Malkin. EFL - read the whole thing - its very well worth it.
With more than half his blood draining onto an Iraqi battleground, a bullet-riddled Brad Kasal feared he might never again see his family in Afton, Iowa. But the first sergeant's resolve to save a younger Marine lying next to him pushed aside such thoughts. "I was losing consciousness," a recuperating Kasal recalled last week. "I forced myself to stay awake. I was worried about saving him and keeping the enemy at bay."
What happened during the hour or so leading up to that moment is a story of wartime loyalty, bravery, brotherhood.
They were five days into Operation Phantom Fury, the American assault on the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.
Troops were clearing buildings of terrorists when Kasal spotted a wounded American who said at least three Marines were trapped in a nearby house filled with "bad guys."
Kasal rounded up a crew and led the way.
"I knew it was the toughest fighting we were doing," he would recall.
He entered first to give the Marines more confidence.
He noticed several dead Iraqis on the floor. He pointed two of his men toward a wounded American, then took Nicoll with him to check an "uncleared" room.
Shots burst from an AK-47 assault rifle 2 feet from Kasal. He backed up, then returned fire.
"I stuck my barrel right in his chest, we were that close," said Kasal. "I kept pulling the trigger until he went down . . . then I shot him two more times in the forehead to make sure he was dead." I bet the MSM wets their pants on this.... but this guy's a hero in my book.
From a staircase behind him came another barrage. "I never even saw it coming," Kasal said.
Round after round after round, nearly cutting his leg in half.
He watched Nicoll get sprayed, too, and saw him bleeding from the midsection.
In spite of his own wounds, Kasal crawled back to help his comrade.
Sliding on his belly, Kasal kicked away the insurgent he had killed and pulled Nicoll into a tiny adjoining room for cover. On the way, he was shot in the buttocks.
Both men were bleeding profusely but protected by a wall. Kasal wrapped a field dressing around Nicoll's leg.
Then came the grenade-exploding just 4 feet away.
Kasal rolled on top of Nicoll, trying to protect him from the blast.
Omahan Mitchell came running into the room to help. He, too, was hit by grenade shrapnel.
At Kasal's behest, Mitchell tended to Nicoll's injuries. Kasal laid his rifle in the doorway - a sign to other Marines that friendly forces were inside - then pulled out his 9 mm for protection.
Mitchell radioed other troops, who came later to pull the wounded Marines out.
The dire circumstances brought together three Marines who had served together in Kilo Company before Kasal shifted to Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines.
Mitchell calls Kasal the epitome of a Marine. Kasal says he was honored to fight beside a trusted comrade like Mitchell. Both praised the younger Nicoll's courage.
And they did not forget other Marines, who ultimately collapsed the house on remaining insurgents. Mitchell said the two lance corporals shown in the photo pulling Kasal to safety are heroes, too.
"It's crazy what a human body is capable of doing when you actually have meaning to do something," Mitchell said. "You're completely willing to put your life on the line for your fellow Marine."
Shot multiple times in the firefight was yet another Marine with Midlands ties, Cpl. Ryan Weemer. The Fremont, Neb., native had hobbled out to seek help, passing Kasal and Mitchell on their way in.
The final rescue phase of the battle claimed the life of Sgt. Byron Norwood, whose parents were spotlighted during President Bush's State of the Union address.
"He's badly shot up, but he's still got his weapons and he's not quitting," Alexander said of the photograph. "That's the kind of men you want fighting for your country."
Sixty percent of Kasal's blood was shed that day.
"I'll be honest. A couple of times I didn't think I was going to make it out," he said. "I thought I was going to bleed to death."
Separation from his unit during recovery ached more than the wounds, he said. "It's hard to explain - just that bond."
The hospital stay, however, did produce lasting memories. Kasal's father, Gerald, beams over a photo of a special December visitor, President Bush, who met with his son at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.
Kasal plans to retire in 2006, capping two decades of active duty. He wants to get into real estate and settle in Iowa, near the farm where he and four brothers, all of whom served in the military, grew up. Damn well deserved I'd say!
Retirement will wait, though, until Kasal gets better.
"I want to go out as I came in - healthy and in uniform, with pride."
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/13/2005 17:20
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#3
....file under the very best we have,
"But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day."
William Shakespeare
#4
With men like these how can we lose? I know Victory can be thrown away by politicians. I lost some good friends in Vietnam and I've lost one young friend in Iraq. A great young man who only wanted to serve his country and do what was right. Cpl. Reid, I think of you often. There literally is no bond stronger.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/13/2005 18:40
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#5
My work colleague's son is in Fallujah. He said that 3rd battalion, 1st Marines had the worst of it.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/13/2005 19:24
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#6
Guys like this I served with. I know their hearts. I hoep mine measures up - they are better men than I in my opinion. At elast the bad guys I took on had uniforms on, or were clearly identified and we coudl choose the time and place.
The Marines and soldiers, this band of brothers, these are the people the LLL despises because these guys SHAME the LLL in the core of their being; in their heart of hearts the LLL simply are too cowardly to even understand what it takes to put your life on the line for your country and (more imporantly, in my experience) to willingly do whatever it takes for the troops in your command, and even more so, for your buddies. [Even harder than thinking it for the LLL is actually doing it]. Its the same reason the LLL is anti-Christian. The ethos here is that of the Christian Warrior - in Jesus' own words:
John 15:13,"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
#7
Thats a lot to live up to, if you think about it.
So the LLL instead of trying to live up to it, or even simply admitting they cannot do so and admiring those who do - they, the LLL try to tear them down so they (the LLL) will not feel so small in comparison.
#8
OldSpook---John 15:13 is one of my favorites.
Re #7 comment: The LLL always tries to tear down. This is the socialist thing, even in legislation. Instead of having the top ones bring the ones up that are behind, the socialists and LLL believe in bringing down the top ones to make things equal so all are at the bottom. We see this in public education in our country. We see this worldwide in the Kyoto Treaty. We see this all over the world in punishing high taxes for achievers. And we also see it in the LLL attitudes toward our achieving military, like OldSpook so elequently points out.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/13/2005 22:01
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#9
Guys like this I served with. I know their hearts. I hoep mine measures up - they are better men than I in my opinion. At elast the bad guys I took on had uniforms on, or were clearly identified and we coudl choose the time and place.
The Marines and soldiers, this band of brothers, these are the people the LLL despises because these guys SHAME the LLL in the core of their being; in their heart of hearts the LLL simply are too cowardly to even understand what it takes to put your life on the line for your country and (more imporantly, in my experience) to willingly do whatever it takes for the troops in your command, and even more so, for your buddies. [Even harder than thinking it for the LLL is actually doing it]. Its the same reason the LLL is anti-Christian. The ethos here is that of the Christian Warrior - in Jesus' own words:
John 15:13,"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
#10
Thats a lot to live up to, if you think about it.
So the LLL instead of trying to live up to it, or even simply admitting they cannot do so and admiring those who do - they, the LLL try to tear them down so they (the LLL) will not feel so small in comparison.
#11
Guys like this I served with. I know their hearts. I hoep mine measures up - they are better men than I in my opinion. At elast the bad guys I took on had uniforms on, or were clearly identified and we coudl choose the time and place.
The Marines and soldiers, this band of brothers, these are the people the LLL despises because these guys SHAME the LLL in the core of their being; in their heart of hearts the LLL simply are too cowardly to even understand what it takes to put your life on the line for your country and (more imporantly, in my experience) to willingly do whatever it takes for the troops in your command, and even more so, for your buddies. [Even harder than thinking it for the LLL is actually doing it]. Its the same reason the LLL is anti-Christian. The ethos here is that of the Christian Warrior - in Jesus' own words:
John 15:13,"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
#12
Thats a lot to live up to, if you think about it.
So the LLL instead of trying to live up to it, or even simply admitting they cannot do so and admiring those who do - they, the LLL try to tear them down so they (the LLL) will not feel so small in comparison.
Long story on the X-47 project, and what it means. Hat tip to the Blogs of War.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/13/2005
4:03:21 PM ||
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#1
As seen in the motion picture "Deal of the Century,," starring Chevy Chase, Sigourney Weaver, and Gregory Hines. Featuring the line, "A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking real money."
I remember watching it with friends, and then saying, "That could never happen."
#6
Roman, you sound like an irredentist democrat. Everett Dirksen was a grand old man of the US senate and had one of the most mellifluous bass voices I ever heard, like the bass note of a cathedral organ. If you want mediocre, look at Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, and Robert Byrd.
#8
It is due to Everett Dirksen and the Republican Party that the Civil Rights act of 1964 was passed. The Kleagle and his confederate Democrats threatened a fillibuster and it was only Dirksen and the Republicans who passed the cloture allowing the bill to go to the floor. Funny how some folks tactics never change.
His hands were huge. I shook them. One of those guys who could hold a basket ball in one hand.
Interesting not only becuase it shows Kurds in Iran are getting restless, but also it indicates serious infrastructure problems. Tehran, Feb. 13 - Thousands of people flooded the streets of Mahabad (northwest Kurdistan province in Iran) this morning, clashing violently with State Security Forces after days of gas, water, and electricity interruptions. According to local residents, household gas has been cut off in the town for the past four days, electricity has been out for more than 24 hours, and water was repeatedly cut off for several hours at a time over the past day. Protestors gathered in front of government offices, complaining that there was extreme shortage of bread as bakeries could not provide them during the energy blackout.
Temperatures in Mahabad have reportedly dropped to as low 15 degrees below freezing over the past few days. The demonstration quickly turned into a mass rally and youths set fire to banners and poster celebrating the 26th anniversary of the revolution that toppled the monarchy and brought to power Iran's turbaned clerics, residents reported.
SSF agents, plainclothes police, and members of the Bassij (Iran's paramilitary police) attacked the demonstrators with clubs and batons, arresting at least ten individuals, as residents shouted slogans against the Iranian regime. Eye-witnesses reported that at least two plainclothes policemen were injured during the ensuing clashes.
Sixty years ago Sunday, Allied bombers attacked Dresden and the thousands of residents and refugees who lived there. Traces of the militarily dubious decision to bomb the city remain visible today.
On the evening of Feb. 13, 1945, nine Mosquito fighter planes and 244 Lancaster bombers from the Royal Air Force's 5th fleet took off from their base in the south of England. Dresden's air raid sirens started to wail at 9:39 p.m. Around 20 minutes later the first target-marking bombs fell on the stadium just outside of the city center. The first air raid lasted about 30 minutes and was so dense that the entire inner city was engulfed by a firestorm.
"There, between exploded trams, I saw the first scorched dead, charred, shrunken, some of them just brushed by the flames but still asphyxiated," a soldier recounted. "Women, children, men -- the horrible death had taken them all." Rest at the link.
Posted by: True German Ally ||
02/13/2005
14:48 ||
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#1
Sorry, something went wrong with the link.
It was about now when the sirens started howling... and the fire we had sent out returned to us.
Come, come, TGA: is this the modern spirit? No, Europe must heal its wounds. What you should say is, "Weren't we all equally victims of American bombs?" That is how Europe brings itself together in these times.
#5
Dresden is a symbol of the horrors of total war. To me, who to blame means nothing in a situation like this. Total war is something that those of us who have not expierenced can not fathom. The bombing of Dresden was and is a tragedy. The bombing of London was a tragedy. Much as we don't like it and wish to avoid it there were, and may be in the future, times when total war is the only acceptable alternative to cultural annihilation.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/13/2005 16:29
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#6
I know what you are alluding at, Angie, but I'm not in the mood for sarcasm.
The attitude to which I'm alluding (which I admit I have only seen sporadically) is shocking and appalling, and makes me uneasy for the future. But perhaps my wit was ill-timed. I certainly didn't mean to snark at you.
#9
It is on these days when I get so wary of classical media coverage. Yesterday, in Munich, maybe 1000 or 2000 people took to the street protesting the Security Conference. A weird assortment of "peace activists" they were, waving Che Guevara (how peaceful was he?) and even Soviet (!) flags. The media cameras zoom in and you get a totally wrong impression of what was going on in Munich on that day. Zoom out to wide angle and you see regular street life, people shopping and not even stopping for a second to look at the demonstrators, some just shrugging or shaking their heads in annoyment or disbelief.
Yet this is a scene you won't see.
Google "Dresden" on Google News today and most entries make a big story of the assortment of Neo-Nazis parading through the city. Again, what you don't see is the overwhelming majority of Dresdeners wearing white roses as a symbol of peace, reconciliation and protest against Nazis (The "White Rose" was a student resistance movement against the Nazis in 1943). In the Kreuzkirche, pastors of Coventry and Rotterdam read the sermons together with a German pastor and a Jewish rabbi.
#10
Dresden and the Tokyo fire bombings and Hiroshima and Nagasaki are all examples of what happens when one culture finds it necessary to eliminate another culture. And just as the Nazis and the Japanese Empire got their due, the Islamic world will get the same if it cannot get its evil tendencies under control. Islamic fundamentalists with missiles and atomic bombs are no different than Nazis with missiles and atomic bombs. And while I feel for the innocents, my family members who had to fight in WWII and the workers in the World Trade Center were innocents too.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/13/2005 18:07
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#11
This may offend some people.
I am not sorry but I feel no remorse for Dresden. I don't think I ever will. The people who freely elected and supported Hitler were and are guilty. Who started WW2? When it came back to Germany are we are supposed to feel sorry? Sorry? According to my late father I lost an uncle in the Battle of the Bulge just prior to this bombing of Dresden. Tell it to my dead Uncle I never knew OK.
Before the war to liberate Iraq, Germany once again made a decision to be on the opposite side of the US. Germany chose to actively oppose the US. Germany's freely elected government campaigned on an active anti US platform for re-election. Germany now wishes to sell military hardware to a nation that at some point will become a active foes of my country. Tell me again how Germany is our friend?
Most of you are totally unaware of the constant anti-American propaganda that is passed off as news in Germany. I think that this site David's Medienkitik might open your eyes. Particularly you can see how some Germans react when confronted with the truth of the anti-American media in their country. You will have to read the comments to some past postings. Yes we have a few friends in Germany but we do not have a nation called Germany that we should consider our friend. The German government and media are controlled by â1968ersâ who completely hate the the US and it's people and everything we stand for.
No we and the UK do not need to be sorry for Dresden. Only the Tranzis buy into that as it furthers their agenda. Yes war is horrible Germany. Maybe one day you will learn what causes them. A look at your media shows you don't?
#12
I will never be offended by some honest commentary.
Dresden was not an "innocent" city, nothing set it apart from Hamburg or Munich, which suffered similar losses of people. Only the children are innocent wherever they are.
I for one am truly sorry for Coventry, Rotterdam or Warsaw.
SPOD, don't underestimate the collective trauma of total annihilation. As for Medienkritik... if you stick to the Independent, the Guardian. the Mirror and the BBC you might get a similar impression about "constant anti-American propaganda that is passed off as news" in the UK. Things are a bit more sophisticated though.
Lots of people wore friendship pins with US and German flags yesterday in Munich.
As for the "1968ers", they'll face their moment of truth in 2006 and may be eligible for premature retirement.
#13
OK, let's try to settle this right here: Heisenberg...did he or didn't he purposefully delay the German atom bomb project??? (during WW2 of course)
Posted by: Rafael ||
02/13/2005 18:49
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#14
War is worse than hell. Hell is for evil people who do evil things and deserve to be there. War gets everyone, children, old , mentally incompetant. No descrimination.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/13/2005 18:49
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#15
"The more precisely the POSITION is determined,
the less precisely the MOMENTUM is known"
#16
it's an uncertainty, Raphael, at least to me....
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/13/2005 19:10
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#17
I hate physics sometimes.
Posted by: Schroedingers Kat ||
02/13/2005 20:01
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#18
Not to interfere, but I saw a comment by Mr. Kat's ghost on another thread and it was also time-stamped 2005-02-13 8:01:03 PM.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/13/2005 20:14
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#19
Um... I guess they shouldn't have anexxed the sudetenland afterall....
Posted by: Mark E. ||
02/13/2005 20:46
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#20
You know, the neo-Nazis strutting around could have been very useful. People could have pointed to them and said "The city was bombed because we let people like that run the country. Don't ever do it again."
#21
It's kind of like the Golden Rule in reverse. If you don't wish no ass-kicking to fall upon you, don't go starting it with someone else.
"Until halfway through the war more women and children in Britain had been killed than soldiers."
http://www.worldwar2exraf.co.uk/Online%20Museum/Museum%20Docs/Theblitz4.html
No offense to you personally TGA, but I have no pity for those in Dresden. Just because the Brits did something better than the Deutschers doesn't mean it was "more" or "less" wrong for them to do it at all.
Monkeys will pay for a glimpse of power and beauty, scientists have found, much as people pay for magazines offering a peek at Donald Trump's wedding or Jennifer Lopez's Oscar gown.
We had this a while back...
Posted by: tipper ||
02/13/2005
1:29:40 AM ||
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Make that some "people pay for magazines...."
The rest of us have slightly higher brains than monkeys do.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/13/2005 2:14
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Gives us a good idea of the brain power of those who adore Hollywood and other celebs.
SOUTHERN Command Chief Lt. General Alberto Braganza finally deployed some 40 US-trained soldiers to Jolo Friday as fighting with the combined forces of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) breakaway group and Abu Sayyaf entered on its sixth day. The soldiers were members of the elite Light Reaction Company (LRC), which has been trained by US trainors to fight terrorism in the country.
Meanwhile, the prospect of negotiating a ceasefire agreement with the government appears slim after the military suffered heavy casualties, including an army lieutenant colonel and a marine lieutenant. Certain concerned Muslim sector members who wanted to broker peace in Sulu admitted this Friday. Amina Rasul, the leader of the Philippine Council on Islamic Democracy (PCID), said there is a need for the top leaders of the National Government and the MNLF to intercede to resolve the on-going conflict in the province. She even mentioned the need to tap incarcerated Nur Misuari, still recognized by the renegade MNLF breakaway forces as their true leader, as the best possible solution to end the peace crisis in Sulu. "There was a positive feedback for the military and the Misuari Break-away Forces (MBF) to talk for (a possible ceasefire), but yesterday (Friday), the military changed their mind because of the killing of Lt. Col. Villanueva. It was really a big disappointment for all of us," Rasul revealed in a press conference Friday, at Garden Orchid Hotel (GOH) in Zamboanga City.
My advice? Leave the thug in jug and don't let him talk to his "people." There's not even a tiny chance he wants peace. Just ask Hamas.
The military also reported the death of rebel Commander Basir Bashiri in the Sulu fighting whose group based in Pilas Island, Lantawan, Basilan, reinforced their beleaguered combatants in the war-torn Sulu archipelago. His body, however, was not recovered as his followers reportedly brought his cadaver back to the native island of Pilas for immediate burial. But a former MNLF official, however, said Bashiri was only wounded in the clash and did not perish. Braganza claimed the rebels have now decreased in number from their initial strength of 500 to only about 200 or 300 in the five-day continuous fighting. But the military is checking reports that the rebels are recruiting new members into their group, enticing them of juicy offers, including jobs by the time Misuari will be freed from his prison camp in Taguig, Rizal.
"Yeah! The Abu Sayyaf job market is exploding!"
This article starring:
BASIR BASHIRI
Moro National Liberation Front
NUR MISUARI
Moro National Liberation Front
Moro National Liberation Front
Posted by: Seafarious ||
02/13/2005
1:29:11 AM ||
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WASHINGTON — A prominent Egyptian human rights activist has accused President Hosni Mubarak's government of perfecting the art of using scare tactics to repress opposition to his 23-year rule. The soon to be injured and silenced activist, Saad Eddin Ibrahim, writing a guest column in The Washington Post, said those who exercise power in Mubarak's government argue that radicals would win any unfettered election should he choose to allow true democracy in the country.
Ibrahim, who spent more than a year in an Egyptian jail before being exonerated on charges related to his election-monitoring activities, said none of Mubarak's Western listeners ever demand answers to pertinent questions in the face of the president's scare tactics. "What, Mr Mubarak, have you done to preserve the popularity of non-religious forces in the country?" Ibrahim wrote. "What has your regime done with more than $100 billion in foreign aid and remittances from Egyptians working abroad? Why has Egypt's ranking during your rule steadily declined on every development index?"
'fessing up on the American aid would be interesting.
Ibrahim said those failings feed popular discontent and contribute to the religious right's popularity. Meanwhile, scores of supporters of a detained opposition leader demonstrated outside the attorney-general's office in Cairo yesterday, demanding that he be freed immediately. They chanted slogans denouncing the incarceration of Ayman Nur, leader of the recently-established Al-Ghad (Tomorrow) party and submitted a memorandum to Attorney-General Maher Abul Wahid calling for Nur to be set free.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/13/2005
12:58:44 AM ||
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Have Iraqis voted for a dictatorship?
The election should be seen as a manifestation of power that Ali Sistani wields on the Shiite population of Iraq. His decree, making it a religious obligation for Shiite Muslims to vote, was responsible for the huge turnout.
The Sunnis, recall, imposed a religious obligation not to vote. My own agnostic position would have been to vote if you care about the future of Iraq, but there aren't many (acknowledged) agnostics in Iraq, a country where religious obligations are more important than they are in Western countries.
The Shiites recognise that the US occupation is a historic opportunity. If they are disciplined and patient they will rule Iraq. Their principal opponents will be quashed by the US itself. Is it the old Leninist: kto kvo?; who (rules) whom?
It's also a basic principle of representative government. If you've got a majority, you're going to have a proportionate input in how things are done.
The Bush administration is under the false impression that the elections in Iraq have heralded the era of democracy in Iraq and thus justify the Bush pre-emption doctrine. What, it seems, they cannot see is that the US has just facilitated a major transfer of power in the Arab World from Sunnis to Shiites.
In a majority Shiite country that's been ruled (not governed) by Sunnis...
Thanks to the US the Arab Shiites will now control Baghdad the jewel in the Islamic crown after a millennium. They did not rule over Baghdad even under the glorious Fatimid dynasty (909-1171) that governed Egypt, North Africa and Syria but had only a tenuous hold over Baghdad, briefly under the Buwayhid tribal confederation, before the Turkic Seljuks invaded and captured the city with help from the Abbasids... Actually, US foreign policy is rooted on a type of enabled inclusivism, which was propped with the intent of eliminating terrorism and Islamic revolution (inqilab), by forcing both the Seculars and Islamists to submit to democratic choice. Reality dictates that when faced with the socio-economic results of their social idiocy, most Muslims point their inherently fanatic fingers at the Seculars (an extinct group in de-Baathist Iraq, and near extinct elsewhere among the slaves-of-allah). Ergo: US facilitation of Islamofascist successes in quasi-democratic process, legitimates that global-genocidal ideology. On Sept. 11, 2001, over 19,000 Islamofascists polluted Egyptian jails. Last I heard, State Dept. clerico-centrist inclusivism has enabled half of that scum to pollute Egypt's streets (if not the streets of Baghdad). I respect the democratic choice of Iraqis, as much as I respect the choice of the Germany majority that once favored Nazism: zero, zip, nada. The problem with Islamofascists is: their lives.
That's a dissertation on theory. When you actually have to make and implement policy you've got to use the materials that're actually available, rather than import theoretical participants. Iraq is a mostly Arab, majority Shiite country, period. There's no way to change that, short of mass deportations like the Assyrians used to do, and setting up colonies of Americans to alter the demographics. So you've got to look at the materials at hand and try to figure what you can do with them.
In the immediate aftermath of Sammy's deposition, the U.S. established al-Khoei as its preferred Shiite holy man. He was quickly bumped off by al-Sadr. SCIRI, the Hakim family business, was seen as an Iranian tool and we went to work on co-opting them. The Bad Guyz have attempted to counter that by bumping off al-Hakims, but luckily there are more of them than there were al-Khoeis. Rather than dismantling MKO, we've kept it in existence to use as a tool against the black hat ayatollahs in Iran. We've done a fairly delicate diplomatic and political dance with Sistani and his handlers, and we've thumped al-Sadr because he's nakedly controlled by the Iranians.
You're making the assumption of a monolithic Shiism, which doesn't apply, not even within Iran. You're also discounting the historic antipathy between the Arabs (to include the Semitic pre-Arabs) and the Iranians (to include the ancient Elamites). Those are all political tools, that are being used by people who're hopefully smart enough to use them. You're looking only at military operations, rather than at the diplomatic picture, which is the more important.
We can't have a policy in the Middle East that doesn't involve Arabs and Muslims. Period. That applies whether you like Islam or not. You have to make all the fine differentiations among the players. If it were not for the advent of Khomeiniism in Iran, the natural Western alliance would have been with the Shiites and Sufis. What we're trying to do now is break off the "friendly" Shia of the Najaf school and isolate the adherents of the Qom school. The Najaf school isn't the one pushing for clerical rule, though I'm sure they expect to have rather more clerical influence than we'd prefer.
Posted by: IToldYouSo ||
02/13/2005
12:53:24 AM ||
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#1
The Sunnis would certainly know about dictatorships; they've been connected with one for what, 40 years?
I know my nanoviolin must be around here someplace....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/13/2005 11:45
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Sunni control of Iraq originated from a Shiia boycot of British attempts to form a government in the 1920s.
#4
Does anyone here remember any Iraqi voters saying they were standing in line to vote and possibly get killed because the imam told them to? Me neither.
#5
The Sunnis listened to their own Mullahs and stayed home when they should have been voting. They may have not liked the new game, but by boycotting the vote they threw away any influence in their future, except for the charity (if any) of the Shiites. Like one RBer said, "Payback's a bitch." The oil is in the north with the Kurds and in the South with the Shiites. They will bargain and horsetrade. The Sunnis (ex Saddamites) will be on the sidelines watching the action. Hopefully Iraq can work through things without Iran helping the local terrorists too much. My big worry is that Iran will keep stirring the pot to destabilize Iraq. The MMs need something for them to seriously chew on that will get their attention.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/13/2005 20:30
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Maybe the DEmocrats should copy Sistani's strategy of "Get out the Vote" next time?
Unfortunately the DemocRats don't seem to know how to get out the vote with anything but sheer hatred for the other side. And I don't think that was Sistani's "strategery."
And now with Mad Howie in charge of the Dems....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/13/2005 21:14
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They just haven't been the same since Fox News bought them, have they?
DOHA, Qatar - The US government may view al-Jazeera as little more than an anti-American mouthpiece, yet the journalists who work at the satellite TV station consider it the only free-press bastion in an authoritarian Middle East. And the prospect of being sold to the highest bidder has many deeply worried.
Love to see Rupert Murdoch buy it.
An order by the ruler of this small Persian Gulf country to come up with a privatisation plan for the pan-Arab station - owned by the Qatari government since its start in 1996 - has many wondering who will buy, and what the station will look like in the future. "Our editorial policy is the red line," the station's director, Wadah Khanfar, said in a recent interview. "The moment we feel the privatisation issue will interfere with our editorial policy, the project will be abandoned."
Not everyone is so sure. At the station's headquarters here, many employees have begun expressing fears that privatisation could effectively destroy the station as an independent news source for Arab viewers, said a senior editor, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity. Few details are known about the privatisation plan, or why the Qatari government is pushing it.
Embarrassment?
They've taken a lot of heat over al-Jizzsplat, including Jordan and Soddy Arabia.
The idea has been under discussion for over a year, Al-Jazeera executives say, but gained momentum when this kingdom's emir, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, ordered the government to produce a plan on how to turn the channel into a private shareholding company. Khanfar said a final report on privatisation was recently presented to the station's board of directors. But he would not release details, except to say the board would meet within the next few weeks to discuss it.
"I will say no more!"
It is widely expected the station will be listed on Qatar's stock market, with most shares available for purchase only by Qatari nationals and citizens from Gulf Cooperation Council countries and a minority stake open to foreign investors. Saudis - who already own many of the Arab world's media companies - would be eligible to buy under those rules, as their country is part of the GCC. The station has a wide viewership across the Arab world. But it has also been heavily criticized by some Arab governments, including Saudi Arabia, mostly because - unlike Arab state-run media - it airs the views of local opposition figures and their criticisms of their countries' rulers.
Too bad their investigative reporters aren't as effective as their embedded reporters with the jihadis in Fallujah.
The station's offices have been closed down in some Arab countries, including Iraq. "Pressure has not stopped since Al-Jazeera's foundation," Khanfar said. The network also has been criticized by a number of senior US officials for its coverage of the war on Iraq and for broadcasting videotapes and audiotapes purportedly from al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden or his aides. Al-Jazeera says it is merely presenting both sides of the story. In Washington, a State Department official said the US government hasn't been pushing for the station's privatisation, and doesn't have a position on who should own the station. The official spoke on condition of anonymity. But US President George W. Bush's administration has taken issue with the station's reporting, with US officials calling it biased and irresponsible. The Bush administration has on occasion privately called in Qatari diplomats for talks in Washington to try to influence the station's coverage, according to an Egyptian official with knowledge of one such meeting, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "The (Qatari) government has been helpful," Khanfar said. "It was under pressure, but it never pressured us. It funded us and took a step back. ... The government is the trustee for the independence of the channel."
What role Qatar's government might play once the company goes public, however, is unclear. The government has said in the past that Al-Jazeera's independence is part of its efforts to introduce political reforms and move toward transparency and democracy. Qatar funds the station with roughly US$100 million (Ã78 million) a year, and Al-Jazeera generates other revenue from advertisements, sponsorship deals, program sales and subscriptions in Europe and North America, although Khanfar said it remains a losing enterprise. "I doubt that there are any 24-hour news channels that are making a profit. We're no different," he said.
The station is believed to have the Arab world's biggest market share, estimated at 35 million people, but also faces de facto advertising boycotts from some countries, including Saudi Arabia, the Arab world's largest advertising market at US$1 billion. "The Saudis won't advertise with us," Khanfar said. "We still have an outstanding account that we haven't been paid for, for over a year."
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/13/2005
12:50:02 AM ||
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#1
an independent news source for Arab viewers
HAHAHAHAHA! *snort*
"Independent." Yeah, right.
Independent of decency and honesty, that's for sure.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/13/2005 2:21
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*snicker* There is already a lot of competition out there for Anti-American Anti-Israel news bias.
The leader of a new Pentagon espionage unit has resigned his position, shortly after public disclosure that the Defense Department is expanding into clandestine operations traditionally undertaken by the CIA. The Strategic Support Branch and its departing leader are controversial among the elite special operations forces assigned to work with them on high-risk intelligence missions overseas, some of whom aired complaints in a Jan. 23 Washington Post story about deficits in the training and performance of the unit's officers. Defense officials with firsthand knowledge said the unit's leader, reserve Army Col. George Waldroup, surprised his staff in the first week of February with an announcement that he was stepping down immediately.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, subordinates said, is pressing ahead with plans for independent Pentagon intelligence operations around the world. The Post disclosed last month that Rumsfeld has reinterpreted U.S. law to grant him broad authority to dispatch clandestine teams into friendly and unfriendly nations, whether or not conventional war is in prospect. Designed to help cure what Rumsfeld described as his "near total dependence on CIA," the Strategic Support Branch gathers intelligence alongside newly empowered forces from the military's Joint Special Operations Command.
In Congress, the House and Senate intelligence committees have held closed briefings in the past two weeks with senior defense officials, including Undersecretary for Intelligence Stephen A. Cambone. In sometimes heated exchanges, witnesses said, members of both parties complained to Cambone about learning from a newspaper account that the Pentagon created a new espionage team more than two years ago, using funds "reprogrammed" from congressional appropriations. Members of Congress also asked about Pentagon legal theories under which defense personnel could conduct "routine" and "traditional" operations without notifying Congress.
Can't go around Congress, boys.
Republicans, in public, have said Cambone's answers reassured them, and chairmen of the House and Senate Armed Services committees have expressed support for the program. "I asked very direct questions and got answers to those questions that are satisfactory to me," said Rep. Heather A. Wilson (R-N.M.), a former Air Force officer who chairs the subcommittee on technical and tactical intelligence.
On the condition of anonymity, two Republicans said Cambone did not adequately answer some of the questions about the plans, legal basis and operations of the Pentagon's new intelligence arm. One Republican committee member said Rumsfeld is rushing to create independent capabilities before the arrival of a director of national intelligence, a position created by Congress in December to oversee the 15 U.S. intelligence departments and agencies. Democratic colleagues echoed that sentiment.
In news briefings late last month, defense officials stressed that funding for the unit in its current form was approved by Congress in the 2005 budget, and said they had no intention to evade congressional oversight. They said confusion had arisen about the program because the name of the effort had changed over time. They also emphasized that the Pentagon was working cooperatively with the CIA in developing the program, not trying to bypass it.
During the same week, defense officials said, Jacoby began asking subordinates to account for reported deficiencies in the new organization. Waldroup announced his departure a few days later.
Meanwhile, the DIA has stepped up a recruiting campaign for candidates with "outstanding foreign language skills" and "a background in hard science or special operations." "You are the unseen and hear the unspoken," said one advertisement placed in the Army Times and other newspapers with large military readerships. "You could be anybody, anywhere. You are Intelligence. Be DIA."
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/13/2005
12:30:33 AM ||
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#1
More WAPO crap. The real story, buried under a headline meant to look like a shake up, a lead in meant to look like a Rumsfeld power-grabbing conspiracy and a resignation by Waldrup that is meant to imply discontent. Yet none of those things pan out if you bother to read far enough:
In news briefings late last month, defense officials stressed that funding for the unit in its current form was approved by Congress in the 2005 budget, and said they had no intention to evade congressional oversight. They said confusion had arisen about the program because the name of the effort had changed over time. They also emphasized that the Pentagon was working cooperatively with the CIA in developing the program, not trying to bypass it.
It's like reading the Globe or Enquirer. Headline: JONBENET'S MOTHER CONFESSES!! And then you open it up and it's a picture of her coming out of a confessional booth and a short bit about her joining a new church.
#2
So right, 2b. As usual, the MSM misses the real story in its zeal to attack the administration. Obviously, something important is going on here, but what is it? The article doesn't tell us.
The guy is a reservist. He was probably brought in as an outsider to shake things up ala Wild Bill Donovan. So was he incompetent as the article implies, or was this a case of the institution closing ranks on an outsider and forcing him out? And why am I sitting here asking these kinds of J-school 101 questions instead of the reporter and his editor?
This is the Drudge blurb, you can read the long, detailed WaPo account for more.
The Bush administration has been flying surveillance drones over Iran to seek evidence of nuclear weapons programs and detect weaknesses in air defenses, the WASHINGTON POST is planning to splash on Sunday.
Newsroom sources tell DRUDGE: The small, pilotless planes, penetrating Iranian airspace from U.S. military facilities in Iraq, use radar, video, still photography and air filters designed to pick up traces of nuclear activity to gather information that is not accessible to satellites, the officials said. The aerial espionage is standard in military preparations for an eventual air attack and is also employed as a tool for intimidation.
It's also good, basic intelligence, though WaPo somehow thinks that's evil.
"The Iranian government, using Swiss channels in the absence of diplomatic relations with Washington, formally protested the illegal incursions, according to Iranian, European and U.S. officials."
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/13/2005
12:26:27 AM ||
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Lol! So some poor Swiss Diplodink had to sit there and take the MM tirade? How funny! More! More! Call in the French and Belgians for a dose, too - since we're allies and everything.
#8
AzCat-
It depends on what kind of drone they're using as to how easily they can take them out. I am reasonably sure these aren't Predators, which are tactical battlefield drones. More than likely these are LockMart Dark Stars or Boeing GlobalHawks - both of which have capabilities that are close to the U-2/TR-1, and which have radar crossesctions roughly equivalent to a baseball. The Iranians don't have the training or the equipment to pose a SERIOUS risk to them, but there is always a slim chance that one could be brought down...IF they can even find it.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/13/2005 10:13
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Besides that, the CIA has several officials in the very top levels of the Iranian government on the payroll. At least that's what my Mossad buddy told me.
#11
The Swiss have been looking after US interest since Iran and the Us broke their diplomatic relations. I always thought that's like a mouse looking after the interest of an elephant.
#12
I seem to remember someone saying that now the Iranians will be moving their weapons and how bad this was . . . IMNSHO that would be great if they would move them, since we can track the movement of the trucks to determine where they went to . . . and bomb it flat.
Posted by: Jame Retief ||
02/13/2005 19:46
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Gotta think, we probably have more than just low-end air breathing assets to task in the area. Probably a lot of manned SLAR and other stuff going along the borders, as well as ground placed automatic stuff that can be dropped. Think about how small modern web-cams are and the wireless LAN chipsets have become. Combine that with probably "listening posts" along the borders (now that we have people on all sides of Iran as well as off the coast). The UAVs are probably jsut icing on the cake, and probably up there jsut to bait them into revealing thier air defense networks -as well as siple letting them know, in no uncertain terms, that we ARE paying attention. And possibly to lull them to sleep - after all the UAV coudl just as well be armed with a guided munition as it could be with a camera or sensor set.
Too high tech? Nah.
Remember that the F117 Stealth was actually active in the early 1980's, and the SR-71 in the early 1960's - decade or so before most anyone ever saw or heard of them.
There are likely big surprises out there that nobody has imagined yet outside fo some "Skunkworks" someplace between Silicon Valley California and the wilds of Nevada.
#14
As long as they can't move them somewhere safe. I dunno if Azerbaijan, Turkmenstan, or Tadjikistan would be willing to play the role of Syria to Iran. Perhaps western Afghanistan or Pakistan, if the government doesn't have control there?
#15
Gotta think, we probably have more than just low-end air breathing assets to task in the area. Probably a lot of manned SLAR and other stuff going along the borders, as well as ground placed automatic stuff that can be dropped. Think about how small modern web-cams are and the wireless LAN chipsets have become. Combine that with probably "listening posts" along the borders (now that we have people on all sides of Iran as well as off the coast). The UAVs are probably jsut icing on the cake, and probably up there jsut to bait them into revealing thier air defense networks -as well as siple letting them know, in no uncertain terms, that we ARE paying attention. And possibly to lull them to sleep - after all the UAV coudl just as well be armed with a guided munition as it could be with a camera or sensor set.
Too high tech? Nah.
Remember that the F117 Stealth was actually active in the early 1980's, and the SR-71 in the early 1960's - decade or so before most anyone ever saw or heard of them.
There are likely big surprises out there that nobody has imagined yet outside fo some "Skunkworks" someplace between Silicon Valley California and the wilds of Nevada.
#16
IF THE IRAQ FREEDOM FIGHTERS ARE KICKING TURKY AND CORN RAISED MORONS IN SUCH SPLENDID WAY JUST WAIT AND SEE WHAT THE PERSIANS WILL DO TO YOUR FUCK UP ARMY OF ONE? OR ARMY OF MANY..... POOR IDIOTS.............PLEEZZZ SEND THEM A TOILET PAPER BECOUSE AMERICAN ARMY IS FULL OF SHIT!!!!
#17
Gotta think, we probably have more than just low-end air breathing assets to task in the area. Probably a lot of manned SLAR and other stuff going along the borders, as well as ground placed automatic stuff that can be dropped. Think about how small modern web-cams are and the wireless LAN chipsets have become. Combine that with probably "listening posts" along the borders (now that we have people on all sides of Iran as well as off the coast). The UAVs are probably jsut icing on the cake, and probably up there jsut to bait them into revealing thier air defense networks -as well as siple letting them know, in no uncertain terms, that we ARE paying attention. And possibly to lull them to sleep - after all the UAV coudl just as well be armed with a guided munition as it could be with a camera or sensor set.
Too high tech? Nah.
Remember that the F117 Stealth was actually active in the early 1980's, and the SR-71 in the early 1960's - decade or so before most anyone ever saw or heard of them.
There are likely big surprises out there that nobody has imagined yet outside fo some "Skunkworks" someplace between Silicon Valley California and the wilds of Nevada.
They've learned NOTHING!
EU Referendum post: ...Of equal interest is Booker's second story, which concerns what the Government describes as "a small, technical and non-controversial" Bill now being nodded through Parliament. This will give the equivalent of diplomatic immunity to the employees of a range of 'international organisations", mostly organs of the EU. The "privileges and immunities" it grants will be enjoyed not just by staff members of these bodies, but to all members of their families and 'households'.
Although questioning of this curious Bill has been led by the tireless Eurosceptic Lord Pearson of Rannoch, it has raised the eyebrows of even such a committed Europhile as Lord Wallace of Saltaire. He was surprised to discover that, since his wife is a director of the Robert Schuman Centre, part of the European University Institute, he will share her "immunity from domestic taxation" and other privileges, as her "dependent spouse".
The danger of this Bill, according to Lord Wallace, is that it will create "two classes of people- those of us who are subject to domestic law and pay our taxes and parking fines, and an increasing number of people who do not". While insisting he is a "strong supporter of the further development of the European Union", he regards "the powers, privileges and status of the Commission and many of its agencies with mixed feelings", fearing that "there is a real danger of a popular backlash against the emergence of this privileged elite". The significance of this is that, as Lord Wallace himself pointed out, there are ever more of these EU bodies whose staff enjoy privileges above national law. In response to a question from Lord Pearson, the Government itself only named 28, ranging from the European Railways Agency and the European Plant Variety Office to the European European Monitoring Centre for Racism and Xenophobia, although the Foreign Office concedes its list will have to be updated "as new bodies are added".
What the Foreign Office would never explain, however, is how these fast-proliferating organs in many ways now represent the true government of our country. Just why therefore the privilegentsia which works for them should be granted the immunities traditionally accorded to diplomats of a foreign power is likely to inspire not just puzzlement but, as Lord Wallace suggests, very great resentment....
Posted by: anonymous2u ||
02/13/2005
12:24:11 AM ||
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Oh, ferchrissakes.
I knew Europe was fucked, but I didn't think they'd go out of their way to speed it up.
Throw off your chains before it's too late, Europeans!
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/13/2005 0:37
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This differs in no significant way I can see from the "promoting no more than its own self-interest" position of the New New Left in America, per tipper's excellent The Real Engine of Blue America post. The Tranzis are playing for keeps, and themselves, of course.
1) The Institute of Directors has come out firmly opposed to the UK ratifying the constitution following a poll of its membership. An unrelated MORI poll of big businesses found the same proportion - about 60% - opposed.
2) One of Blair's closest aides and allies has reinforced speculation that the PM would quit if he lost the referendum for which he will be campaigning for a Yes vote - that would be about a year into the next Parliament. The Tories, if they won, would reject the constitution out of hand.
#13
Some brief googling seems to indicate that the "Plant Variety Office" is an office concerned with the patenting of agricultural breeds.
The article is making me believe that this is the UK government pushing forward the bill, not the EU. If this is the result of some EU directive, it's not stated.
#15
It's clearly a Bill to pre-empt the astonishing taxation-and-legal immunities which will be required by the proposed European Constitution. Such "immunities and priviliges" are standard for organisations such as the UN, the CE and NATO. But then, none of the above have anything like the power and ambitions of the EU with its many-tentacled arms. It's a run-of-the-mill Labour paving-the-way-for-the-Superstate exercise, and just another part of the current British Government's efforts to expand EU powers at the expense of national sovereignty. Nothing to see here...
#16
Bulldog - y'all need to figure out a way to take your country back while you still have one.
Quick.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/13/2005 12:38
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#17
y'all need to figure out a way to take your country back while you still have one.
If UK is still a democratic nation, then the way is obvious: Convince a majority of his countrymen that they should withdraw from the EU.
Btw, mind if I ask what state you come from? I ask because .com had tried to convince me a while back that no true Southerner ever uses an apostrophe in "y'all". Thanks.
#18
If UK is still a democratic nation, then the way is obvious: Convince a majority of his countrymen that they should withdraw from the EU.
The British public don't need me to convince them. The EU and its supporters are doing a great job themselves. The majority of opinion polls show that an overwhelming majority don't want the UK to ratify the proposed constitution, indicating that they consider further integration EU integration undesirable. According to the latest Eurobarometer, as many Brits think membership is a bad thing as think it's a good thing, and almost half (47%) think the UK has not benefitted from membership (as opposed to 30% who think otherwise).
It's only a matter of time before we pull out, the way things are going.
#19
Aris - I'm from Virginia. Lived here most of my life, except for short stints in Texas, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, and Germany.
I missed that post by .com, but I usually use the apostrophe when writing "y'all" anytime I would pronounce the word "y'all" when speaking, particularly when writing to (or to be read by) people who aren't Southerners. People who are native Southerners would recognize "yall," and probably non-southern Americans would, but I'm not sure non-Americans or people for whom English is a second language would.
(Obviously, "you all" is understandable to everyone, though non-southerners don't seem to understand that "you all" is NEVER singular. When we say "you all" to a single person, as in "you all come see us" (though it's usually pronounced "y'all"), we're including their immediate family and sometimes their cousins and their crazy aunt, too.) ;-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/13/2005 14:23
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#20
It's only a matter of time before we pull out, the way things are going.
Hope it works out well for you, Bulldog. The UK is a great nation, but it looks to me like the tranzis have gotten far too much control.
Next y'all need to work on getting some of your freedoms back. I understand there are those who have already started. :-)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/13/2005 14:27
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GAZA CITY: Israel has agreed in principle to return all the Palestinians it expelled from the West Bank, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said yesterday. Erekat said no time-table has been set for the repatriation.
About 55 Palestinians were expelled to the Gaza Strip and Europe. Some were exiled after a month-long siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem in 2002.
Oh right, those guys, the respectful ones who trashed the church.
Raanan Gissin, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, confirmed the deportees would be allowed to go home, but he had no time-table for their return. "We promise that they won't be arrested upon their return," Gissin said. 'We are freezing all proceedings against them as long as they refrain from terror activities."
I hope they have the GPS devices implanted.
The men spoke after Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas met with deportees in Gaza City. "Today, we received good news that an agreement was reached with the Israeli side to allow us to return to our cities... each to his home, each to his city, within a short period of time," said Ghanem Sweilem, who was exiled from his home in the Balata refugee camp near Nablus more than two years ago.
*Hamas last night said it will honour a de facto truce it agreed upon with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas before he declared a ceasefire with Israel, but will wait to see how Israel conducts itself before deciding on an official cessation of hostilities. Its leader Mahmoud Zahar said after Hamas leaders met Abbas that the group is "committed to what is called 'quietness'" until it sees whether Israel stops military activities, halts its targeted assassinations, and discloses according to what criteria Palestinian prisoners will be released.
The targeted assassination thing being most important to the Hamas bigs.
Following his meeting with Hamas, Abbas proceeded to a meeting with the Islamic Jihad militant group. Before that meeting, a Jihad leader said the faction wanted to hear from Abbas whether there were "guarantees and obligations" before deciding about a cease-fire.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/13/2005
12:21:29 AM ||
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Raanan Gissin, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, confirmed the deportees would be allowed to go home, but he had no time-table for their return
I'd like to think that the Israeli's are learning to speak the political language of their Arab neighbors...but I know it's just wishful thinking on my part.
Algeria's leading opposition Islamic party will back a general amnesty aimed at ending more than a decade of rebel violence if an emergency law restricting political activity is lifted, media reported yesterday. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has called for an amnesty to end the conflict, which has killed an estimated 150,000 people and almost destroyed Algeria in the 1990s. The amnesty, which is expected to be put to a referendum later this year, is expected to include rebels and security forces but no details have yet been given. "The general amnesty will not have an effect if the state of emergency is not lifted," said Abdallah Djaballah, leader of the main legal Islamic party El Islah. He said the long-running conflict would not end unless democracy was strengthened.
In 1992 militants started a rebellion after the army canceled legislative elections a now banned Islamic party was set to win, plunging the North African nation into near-civil war.
Djaballah's support for an amnesty is important as he is seen as the voice for the moderate Islamic movement and is expected to be influential on undecided rebels on whether or not they lay down their arms, analysts say.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2005
12:18:14 AM ||
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MILWAUKEE - John Treslley shakes his head in awe when he thinks about his 20-year-old son driving a Hummer through the minefields of Iraq. "I wish I had half the guts he has," Treslley, 47, says in a whisper.
Back in 1977, when Treslley was that age, the notion of military duty never crossed his mind. The draft ended in 1973, and two years later, so did the Vietnam War. "I was busy in those days playing football, drinking lots of beer and chasing women," says Treslley, a pilot and former game farm operator in Hayward, Wis.
All across America, thousands of parents like Treslley, baby boomers with no military experience of their own, are watching anxiously as their children head off to war. Most are proud. Some are angry, either at their children for taking on such a potentially dangerous mission or at the military for recruiting their sons and daughters. Nearly all say they are scared. For many, frankly, they just don't get it.
#1
He's 47 and part of the "anti-war generation"? Jeebus, MSM, do the farging math. I'm 47, and Saigon fell my senior year in I was in high school. The draft had ended. Virtually all our troops had been pulled. What war was I anti?
Posted by: Dr August Balls of Nice ||
02/13/2005 18:50
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#2
He's 47 and part of the "anti-war generation"?
Maybe the anti-war generation followed the AARP's example, and lowered the qualifying age?
#3
I saw your Head Comix cover pic, Fred, with Mr. Natural. Sheeh! Brought me back to my Berkeley daze in the sixties that I would rather forget, heh heh. Flakey Foont, the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers with Fat Freddie's cat sh*tting in his headphones, the Checkered Demon, Captain Pissgums, Ruby the Dyke (twist them grips, goils!). I found a couple of Zap comics in my old papers a few months ago. Originally thought they were funny. Well, they were, but they were gross. Threw em away.... And Paul Krassner was one twisted and perverted writer (the Realist, IIRC). No wonder the LLL is so loonie. They cut their teeth on that twisted sh*t. I got out with me life....
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/13/2005 20:01
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#4
Threw em away....
Nooooooooooooooooo!
Posted by: Roman Haruska ||
02/13/2005 20:06
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#5
I thought that they would probably we worth money now, but, sigh, they were SEARED, I say, SEARED onto my mind. I needed to get away to a quiet place.....
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/13/2005 20:08
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#6
The left glomms together everyon born between 1945 and 1964 as "Baby Boomers". Ans automatically associates them with the hippes and vietnam as the "main events" in their lives.
Problem with that is basically anyone born from 56 onward know little if anything about the vietnam war becuase it as practiucally over before they came of age (1974).
So its much more realisitic to group the 1940-1955 into the "bommers", and the 56-76 into a differnt group.
Demographics show the "Pre-Gen-X" (The Gap as they are sometimes called) is not only a larger than the boomers, most know little of Hippies and less of Vietnam, considering it happened when they were small children up to teenagers. This grouping if FAR more cohesive interms of similar views and political positions than is the pre-1955 group is (their teen early 20's were in the middle of Vietnam and the hippie age, as opposed to the "gap" group who came after all that was done).
Demographics show that this generation of roughly 31 to 49 year olds is far larger, more influential economically, more conservative, more religious and patriotic than the boomers. Perhaps that is why the liberal social science peopel and MSM want to split them in half and roll them half in to GenX and halfinto the Boomers - it hides a HUGE group ofg peopel that cannot be lumped with groups that are identified as "basically liberal".
After all THAT generation, the "Gap" generation, was the one the filled and staffed the Volunteer Military through winning the Cold War and provided the backbone of the miltiary (privates, lower NCOs and Captains) for the first Gulf War and "peackeeping" of the 1990's (and now staff the senior positions in the War On Terror military), and drove huge technical innovations (The PC, Etc) and economic growth in the 1980's and 1990's, and the resurgence of Conservatism, starting with Reagan (when most of them politically came of age) in their early adulthood.
Don't read the MSM labels - they are dead wrong - and mislead you because they deliberately ignore and distort the Gap generation's record.
The Boomers never did ANYTHING to merit all the attention they got - indeed they got us involved in Vietnam the wrong way, miscalcualted in the cold war, the "war" on poverty, etc, and voted in Nixon and Jimmy Carter and creeping socialism in the US. And they gave us the inflated late 1960's, and the recession bound 1970's thru the early 1980's. The Boomers (truly defined) should be a generation cursed by all others for thier selfishness, short-sightedness and deliberate idiocy.
The Greatest Generation and the Gap Generation are ones we owe for our position today, the Greatest winning WW2 and giving us the boom of the 50's and early 60's, the Gap winning WW3 without a shot and innovating our way into the booming from the mid 80's and 1990's.
Tomorrow we will owe those kids and young people who are now shaping the world post 9/11, the children of the Gap Generation - I call them the "Bravest Generation" - because the ones that are out there astound me with their guts on a day to day basis, be they in military, or in the business world.
(This of course discounts the professional malcontents in places like Berkely and the Ivy League who have not yet seen through their distorting and lying Boomer prof's like Churchill in Colorado).
#7
true OS - was '59 - too late for the draft and too early for registration
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/13/2005 20:41
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#8
Problem with that is basically anyone born from 56 onward know little if anything about the vietnam war becuase it as practiucally over before they came of age (1974).
The nightly recitations on the evening news of the numbers of dead and wounded for both sides always stood out. I was just a kid when I heard the names "DMZ", Hanoi, Saigon, Cambodia, Pathet Lao, and the Ho Chi Minh Trail. And I was a teenager when Saigon finally fell. I wouldn't know all the details until much later, but I never forgot what I saw or heard on the news.
#9
OS, Every President you mentioned was from the "Greatest" Generation. In none of the dates you mention were the boomers in control of anything, including their libidos. Blame the boomers for Clinton and the '90s, but the "Greatest" Generation was in charge of Viet Nam and Watergate and Carter, not the boomers.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/13/2005 22:16
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#10
I was born the day Marilyn Monroe died. I agree with OS that I have nothing to do with those born 1946-58. (I say '58 because they would remember Kennedy being shot. Arbitrary point.)
Although I don't think you can blame the Great Society on them, since it was laid down in 65-66. Or, for that matter, most of the idiocy of the 70s. Sure, they voted for those the people who did that damage, but they were not boomers themselves, but were mostly members of the "greatest generation." (Obviously, some of them weren't so great.)
The Generation that is most interesting is the one from 1924-1943, the Silent. This was the first generation in the nation's history to have no one be elected President of the United States. They were empty suits who failed to pick up the ball when the exhausted "Greatest" Generation started dropping it in the '60s. Had Reagan not been elected President, Every GG president would have been a loser, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Bush I. Not a stellar cast.
As for the GG winning WWII, The FDR generation and the Eisenhower generation may have had something to do with that too. No doubt most of the people shooting, getting shot at and dying were from that generation, no doubt. But they didn't win the war alone.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/13/2005 22:33
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#12
I grew up on Long Island, NY. I joined the Navy just after HS graduation in 1974. What I do remember was that I was only one of a handful to enlist. I remember my guidance counselor telling me that I was "ruining my life". Military haircuts were rare for men. I was stationed in Norfolk, VA. It was the Carter-era military. College co-eds would have nothing to do with you. Many junior enlisted sailors were on food stamps. Reagan did amazing things in revitalizing the respect, professionalism, and stature of the military.
#13
Mrs Davis - who were the ones that protested the war and provided the "Useful Idiots" for Lenin's spawn? They may not have set the policy, but they certainly damanged the US in terms of their actions.
And BAR, you are unusual - I know people of your age, and in 1969, they were all about the moon walk and the space program, not about the casualty lists on the evening news.
Its not about what happened, but what were the pivotal events of thier early lives that defines the generations - the Greatest won WW2 - they came of age and fought and won. The rank-and-file, they came home, went to school, rolled up their slevves and worked, buidling the interstates, the booming housing markets, and the initial parts of the Computer Age. Eisenhower and conservatism are enigmatic of the payoff of the Greatest Generation. Their payoff phrase: New Fontier.
The Boomers came of age wiht the War and Hippies being the big influences. They protested and spit on soldiers, hated thier own government, and got politicians like Jimmy Carter held up as heroes. The rank and file wanted wage and price controls (from Nixon), and the "war" on poverty that fueled inflation. They innovated little other than to react weakly - Carter's sweater is more a symbol of their political acts, and the failure in Iran (Hostages and failed rescue) and Afghanistan (Soviet invasion) are the culmination of thier loud demanding liberal political stance. Their payoff word? Malaise.
The Gap Generation: Ronald Reagan, the wall coming down and the first Gulf War (and the rehabilitation of the military in the eyes of the public) are the big events in this genrations growing up. The innovations of the PC, and the widespread acceleration of communications and computing are the hallmarks of this generation - they laid down the internet, won the cold war, and even their worst blunder was a comparatively lesser (Clinton compared to Nixon/Carter). Their word: "Freedom"
I say this as a "Boomer". The Gap Generation is unheralded, but should be seperated from the Boomers: the formative events are far different, and the results speak for themselves.
#14
The left glomms together everyon born between 1945 and 1964 as "Baby Boomers". Ans automatically associates them with the hippes and vietnam as the "main events" in their lives.
Problem with that is basically anyone born from 56 onward know little if anything about the vietnam war becuase it as practiucally over before they came of age (1974).
So its much more realisitic to group the 1940-1955 into the "bommers", and the 56-76 into a differnt group.
Demographics show the "Pre-Gen-X" (The Gap as they are sometimes called) is not only a larger than the boomers, most know little of Hippies and less of Vietnam, considering it happened when they were small children up to teenagers. This grouping if FAR more cohesive interms of similar views and political positions than is the pre-1955 group is (their teen early 20's were in the middle of Vietnam and the hippie age, as opposed to the "gap" group who came after all that was done).
Demographics show that this generation of roughly 31 to 49 year olds is far larger, more influential economically, more conservative, more religious and patriotic than the boomers. Perhaps that is why the liberal social science peopel and MSM want to split them in half and roll them half in to GenX and halfinto the Boomers - it hides a HUGE group ofg peopel that cannot be lumped with groups that are identified as "basically liberal".
After all THAT generation, the "Gap" generation, was the one the filled and staffed the Volunteer Military through winning the Cold War and provided the backbone of the miltiary (privates, lower NCOs and Captains) for the first Gulf War and "peackeeping" of the 1990's (and now staff the senior positions in the War On Terror military), and drove huge technical innovations (The PC, Etc) and economic growth in the 1980's and 1990's, and the resurgence of Conservatism, starting with Reagan (when most of them politically came of age) in their early adulthood.
Don't read the MSM labels - they are dead wrong - and mislead you because they deliberately ignore and distort the Gap generation's record.
The Boomers never did ANYTHING to merit all the attention they got - indeed they got us involved in Vietnam the wrong way, miscalcualted in the cold war, the "war" on poverty, etc, and voted in Nixon and Jimmy Carter and creeping socialism in the US. And they gave us the inflated late 1960's, and the recession bound 1970's thru the early 1980's. The Boomers (truly defined) should be a generation cursed by all others for thier selfishness, short-sightedness and deliberate idiocy.
The Greatest Generation and the Gap Generation are ones we owe for our position today, the Greatest winning WW2 and giving us the boom of the 50's and early 60's, the Gap winning WW3 without a shot and innovating our way into the booming from the mid 80's and 1990's.
Tomorrow we will owe those kids and young people who are now shaping the world post 9/11, the children of the Gap Generation - I call them the "Bravest Generation" - because the ones that are out there astound me with their guts on a day to day basis, be they in military, or in the business world.
(This of course discounts the professional malcontents in places like Berkely and the Ivy League who have not yet seen through their distorting and lying Boomer prof's like Churchill in Colorado).
#15
Mrs Davis - who were the ones that protested the war and provided the "Useful Idiots" for Lenin's spawn? They may not have set the policy, but they certainly damanged the US in terms of their actions.
And BAR, you are unusual - I know people of your age, and in 1969, they were all about the moon walk and the space program, not about the casualty lists on the evening news.
Its not about what happened, but what were the pivotal events of thier early lives that defines the generations - the Greatest won WW2 - they came of age and fought and won. The rank-and-file, they came home, went to school, rolled up their slevves and worked, buidling the interstates, the booming housing markets, and the initial parts of the Computer Age. Eisenhower and conservatism are enigmatic of the payoff of the Greatest Generation. Their payoff phrase: New Fontier.
The Boomers came of age wiht the War and Hippies being the big influences. They protested and spit on soldiers, hated thier own government, and got politicians like Jimmy Carter held up as heroes. The rank and file wanted wage and price controls (from Nixon), and the "war" on poverty that fueled inflation. They innovated little other than to react weakly - Carter's sweater is more a symbol of their political acts, and the failure in Iran (Hostages and failed rescue) and Afghanistan (Soviet invasion) are the culmination of thier loud demanding liberal political stance. Their payoff word? Malaise.
The Gap Generation: Ronald Reagan, the wall coming down and the first Gulf War (and the rehabilitation of the military in the eyes of the public) are the big events in this genrations growing up. The innovations of the PC, and the widespread acceleration of communications and computing are the hallmarks of this generation - they laid down the internet, won the cold war, and even their worst blunder was a comparatively lesser (Clinton compared to Nixon/Carter). Their word: "Freedom"
I say this as a "Boomer". The Gap Generation is unheralded, but should be seperated from the Boomers: the formative events are far different, and the results speak for themselves.
#16
The left glomms together everyon born between 1945 and 1964 as "Baby Boomers". Ans automatically associates them with the hippes and vietnam as the "main events" in their lives.
Problem with that is basically anyone born from 56 onward know little if anything about the vietnam war becuase it as practiucally over before they came of age (1974).
So its much more realisitic to group the 1940-1955 into the "bommers", and the 56-76 into a differnt group.
Demographics show the "Pre-Gen-X" (The Gap as they are sometimes called) is not only a larger than the boomers, most know little of Hippies and less of Vietnam, considering it happened when they were small children up to teenagers. This grouping if FAR more cohesive interms of similar views and political positions than is the pre-1955 group is (their teen early 20's were in the middle of Vietnam and the hippie age, as opposed to the "gap" group who came after all that was done).
Demographics show that this generation of roughly 31 to 49 year olds is far larger, more influential economically, more conservative, more religious and patriotic than the boomers. Perhaps that is why the liberal social science peopel and MSM want to split them in half and roll them half in to GenX and halfinto the Boomers - it hides a HUGE group ofg peopel that cannot be lumped with groups that are identified as "basically liberal".
After all THAT generation, the "Gap" generation, was the one the filled and staffed the Volunteer Military through winning the Cold War and provided the backbone of the miltiary (privates, lower NCOs and Captains) for the first Gulf War and "peackeeping" of the 1990's (and now staff the senior positions in the War On Terror military), and drove huge technical innovations (The PC, Etc) and economic growth in the 1980's and 1990's, and the resurgence of Conservatism, starting with Reagan (when most of them politically came of age) in their early adulthood.
Don't read the MSM labels - they are dead wrong - and mislead you because they deliberately ignore and distort the Gap generation's record.
The Boomers never did ANYTHING to merit all the attention they got - indeed they got us involved in Vietnam the wrong way, miscalcualted in the cold war, the "war" on poverty, etc, and voted in Nixon and Jimmy Carter and creeping socialism in the US. And they gave us the inflated late 1960's, and the recession bound 1970's thru the early 1980's. The Boomers (truly defined) should be a generation cursed by all others for thier selfishness, short-sightedness and deliberate idiocy.
The Greatest Generation and the Gap Generation are ones we owe for our position today, the Greatest winning WW2 and giving us the boom of the 50's and early 60's, the Gap winning WW3 without a shot and innovating our way into the booming from the mid 80's and 1990's.
Tomorrow we will owe those kids and young people who are now shaping the world post 9/11, the children of the Gap Generation - I call them the "Bravest Generation" - because the ones that are out there astound me with their guts on a day to day basis, be they in military, or in the business world.
(This of course discounts the professional malcontents in places like Berkely and the Ivy League who have not yet seen through their distorting and lying Boomer prof's like Churchill in Colorado).
#17
Mrs Davis - who were the ones that protested the war and provided the "Useful Idiots" for Lenin's spawn? They may not have set the policy, but they certainly damanged the US in terms of their actions.
And BAR, you are unusual - I know people of your age, and in 1969, they were all about the moon walk and the space program, not about the casualty lists on the evening news.
Its not about what happened, but what were the pivotal events of thier early lives that defines the generations - the Greatest won WW2 - they came of age and fought and won. The rank-and-file, they came home, went to school, rolled up their slevves and worked, buidling the interstates, the booming housing markets, and the initial parts of the Computer Age. Eisenhower and conservatism are enigmatic of the payoff of the Greatest Generation. Their payoff phrase: New Fontier.
The Boomers came of age wiht the War and Hippies being the big influences. They protested and spit on soldiers, hated thier own government, and got politicians like Jimmy Carter held up as heroes. The rank and file wanted wage and price controls (from Nixon), and the "war" on poverty that fueled inflation. They innovated little other than to react weakly - Carter's sweater is more a symbol of their political acts, and the failure in Iran (Hostages and failed rescue) and Afghanistan (Soviet invasion) are the culmination of thier loud demanding liberal political stance. Their payoff word? Malaise.
The Gap Generation: Ronald Reagan, the wall coming down and the first Gulf War (and the rehabilitation of the military in the eyes of the public) are the big events in this genrations growing up. The innovations of the PC, and the widespread acceleration of communications and computing are the hallmarks of this generation - they laid down the internet, won the cold war, and even their worst blunder was a comparatively lesser (Clinton compared to Nixon/Carter). Their word: "Freedom"
I say this as a "Boomer". The Gap Generation is unheralded, but should be seperated from the Boomers: the formative events are far different, and the results speak for themselves.
BEIJING (AP) - China has told the United States it will push for a new round of six-nation talks on the North Korean nuclear standoff and would be in contact with Pyongyang and other countries involved, the government said Sunday.
Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing spoke by phone with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Saturday night and told her Beijing stands firm in supporting a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula, the ministry said in a statement. ``China will stay in touch with all relevant parties ... so that the six-party talks could be resumed as soon as possible,'' Li told Rice, according to the ministry.
"We try to curb our dog but he is so ... difficult," he noted.
Beijing has hosted three rounds of six-nation talks - which also involve South Korea, Japan and Russia - since the nuclear dispute flared in late 2002.
The North confirmed on Thursday that it has nuclear weapons and said it would stay away from the six-nation talks until Washington changes its ``hostile'' policy toward the country. Pyongyang also demanded one-on-one talks with Washington, but the White House insisted discussions remain within the six-party framework.
China's statement did not specify what exactly Beijing would do to promote a new round of talks. China has thus far resisted U.S. appeals to pressure its reclusive ally, but analysts say the escalating nuclear standoff could spur Beijing to use its leverage to force Pyongyang back to the negotiating table.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/13/2005
12:14:13 AM ||
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#1
I keep looking for similarities between the Chinese invasion of India, the Chinese invasion of Vietnam, and now. Does the same trigger mechanism still apply? Will the US forces and the Skor army suddenly hold a very dispersed field exercise, deploying Patriot batteries all over the place?
#2
Please expand and explain your comment, Anonymoose -- what trigger mechanism are you talking about, and what's this about a dispersed field exercise?
Posted by: trailing daughter of the trailing wife ||
02/13/2005 12:11
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#3
China has a historic claim to North Korea which is linked to its claim to Taiwan.
#4
China should do all the talking. NKor is their creation, not ours.
Anybody know how to say "consequences" in Mandarin?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/13/2005 19:42
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#5
It's in China's interest to stay quiet. Unless of course, Taiwan develops an interest in nuclear reactors for, um, their looming electricity shortage. And Japan starts developing new rockets for their, um, "fledgling" space program. How do you say "oops" in Chinese?
Posted by: Rafael ||
02/13/2005 19:50
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#6
"short-term interruptions" on the pipeline. anyone?
A British charity has been accused by the American government of financing Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. The Islamic Relief Agency (ISRA), which is based in Birmingham and provides aid for orphanages and water wells in countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, has been designated by the United States treasury as being part of a network of "terrorist" charities that have allegedly "provided hundreds of thousands of dollars to Osama bin Laden". "... Let's call it the: Islamic Relief Agency"
"Islamic Relief Agency? Won't that give it the initials IRA?"
"I suppose so. Something wrong with that?"
"IRA ... the Irish terrorists! Already been taken..."
"Oh. I can see your point. Might confuse. Hmm. Mmm. Hey! I know, let's add an extra letter - say the 's' from Islamic!"
"... To give ISRA! Genius! Nothing wrong with that, is there?"
"None at all. Good Muslim name if ever I heard one."
"Let's call the London branch ISRA-L."
The Telegraph has also discovered that Yusuf Islam, the singer formerly known as Cat Stevens who was refused entry to America last September because his name was on a security watch list, has previously donated thousands of pounds to the Birmingham charity. The reason for his exclusion has never been publicly revealed, but last night American officials indicated that the entertainer's funding of the ISRA was one of the reasons for him being banned. Mr Islam has always denied financing terrorism. British security services are now investigating the finances of the charity, which last year reported an income of £479,000, and are under pressure from the Americans to freeze the charity's bank accounts.
The concern about the British charity's activities is disclosed in documents published by the US Treasury's office of public affairs. It states that a charity called the Islamic African Relief Agency (IARA), which has its headquarters in the Sudan "was co-founded and financed by Osama bin Laden and is the precursor organisation of al-Qaeda". It says that this charity is linked with, or has interchangeable names, with a number of other charities, including the ISRA in Britain. The US treasury has frozen the assets of the American branch of the IARA, making it a criminal offence for anyone to supply money to any of its offices, and is attempting to persuade other governments to do likewise with branches of IARA and ISRA in their countries.
David Summers, the executive director of the ISRA, whose office is above a tatty second-hand clothes shop run by the charity on a Birmingham high street, said that he was aware of the accusations, but denied any involvement with terrorist organisations. He said that although his charity acts "autonomously", it has had recent financial links with the American branch and others. He had now severed all contact, however, because of the action by the American authorities, even though he thought it "very unlikely" that any of them were involved in terrorism.
Mr Summers said: "The first we knew of this was Dr Evil, the head of the Islamic African Relief Agency in America rang us and said, 'We have a problem'. He is a very meticulous man who has a PhD. I can't imagine he is involved with bin Laden. We used to get about £18,000 a year from them for the sponsoring of orphans. When we realised that the Americans were accusing all the ISRA charities, we had an emergency meeting of our charity's trustees and decided to change our name to Feed the Poor to distance ourselves from the others," he said. "We have broken off our dealings with the other charities too. We also had a meeting with a lawyer who told us that this would filter down to us so it is no surprise to know that the security services are looking at us now. We have nothing to hide though. We are very careful about where our money goes and always see the projects ourselves and ask for photos to prove where the money has gone."
Edin Jahic, 35, a trustee of the charity, confirmed that Yusuf Islam had donated "several thousand pounds" about nine years ago, but said that he had not had any contact with them since. Mr Islam, 56, who changed his name when he converted to Islam in the 1970s after a successful pop music career, was detained overnight and then deported by FBI officers five months ago when his flight from London to Washington was diverted to Maine. An official from the American department of Homeland Security, said: "Mr Islam was barred from the US for making financial contributions to charities with known links to terrorism." Neither Mr Islam nor the Islamic African Relief Agency could be contacted for comment. Some snipping. More at the link.
#3
"... Letâs call it the: Islamic Relief Agency"
"Islamic Relief Agency? Wonât that give it the initials IRA?"
"I suppose so. Something wrong with that?"
"IRA ... the Irish terrorists! Already been taken..."
"Oh. I can see your point. Might confuse. Hmm. Mmm. Hey! I know, letâs add an extra letter - say the âsâ from Islamic!"
"... To give ISRA! Genius! Nothing wrong with that, is there?"
"None at all. Good Muslim name if ever I heard one."
"Letâs call the London branch ISRA-L."
That totally killed! Some how I picture them as paper cutouts, a la the new Guiness ad campaign.
An official spokesperson for the influential Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS) has said that his organisation refuses to help in writing a new Iraqi constitution as long as the country remains under occupation. Dr Muhammad Bashar al-Faithi said a constitution written while an occupying army is in charge of the country will invariably be influenced by the aims of the occupation itself. "Such a constitution will fulfill the aims of the occupation", he told Aljazeera.net. The AMS position is that many Iraqis head to the polls unaware of the implications of their vote, he said, adding that religious and political coercion pushed many to vote. Sunni participation in the 30 January vote was low, due to boycott calls, threat of violence or disaffection with the political process among a community struggling to come to terms with the loss of power.
This article starring:
MUHAMAD BASHAR AL FAITHI
Association of Muslim Scholars
Association of Muslim Scholars
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2005
12:10:40 AM ||
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#2
I think AMS needs to watch "Life of Brian" again, for the hilarious scene where John Cleese tries to educate a buyer about proper bargaining procedures. In this case, AMS is in no position to influence events by their 15-minute "stands" on particular issues. The Sunnis won't in the end opt for being outside the tent. I see a bad end (from their point of view) to the AMS' comical brinksmanship .....
#3
Ah, it's good to see they are back to being the "influential" Association of Muslim Scholars. For a while, I thought they were gonna slip and call them the "12 Baathist academics with all the credibility of Ward Churchill" AoMS.
Jailed Sudanese politician Hasan al-Turabi will be released soon once the government ends a state of emergency, Sudan's foreign minister said in remarks published on Saturday. Sudan has been under a state of emergency since 1999, a measure which allows the government to detain people without charge. The government promised to end emergency law after a peace deal signed in January to end a civil war in the south. Al-Turabi, a former ally of President Umar Hasan al-Bashir, was jailed last September after the government accused his party of attempting a coup and of involvement in a separate rebellion in Sudan's western Darfur region, which started two years ago. Foreign Relations Minister Mustafa Usman Ismail told the pan-Arab daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat that Sudan would release al-Turabi and all political prisoners as emergency laws were lifted. "Now we are moving to a stage in which we will lift the state of emergency and not use any exceptional laws. When we reach this stage then Dr al-Turabi, certainly, and all those remaining will be released," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2005
12:09:51 AM ||
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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has branded the United States a "terrorist state" while rejecting Washington's criticism of Caracas for its arms purchase from Russia. Chavez, a fierce critic of US President George Bush and the US-led war in Iraq, on Saturday brushed aside US opposition to the agreement to buy 100,000 automatic rifles and about 40 military helicopters from Moscow. "One has to ask whether there was transparency in the invasion of Iraq. The world knows President Bush lied openly about Iraq having chemical weapons," Chavez said. "They keep on bombing cities, killing children, they have become a terrorist state," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2005
12:06:31 AM ||
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#1
Is it just me or does Hugo look like a chubby, brunette Reinhard Heidrich?
#4
The propagandist's favorite logical method today is the preemptive charge and it seems to be the traditional first act of despotic liars. The Dhimmicrats used it extensively in 2004. Now where else have we heard this "the US are the terrorists" crap? Heh.
#13
Ahh, have pity on the poor troll, people! He hates ISZRA so much, he's under God' curse, and obviously is suffering from it. I mean, every time he's reminded that "BUSH WON, KERRY LOST", he writhes in sheer agony.
And THAT'S just the beginning.
Take my advice, NI: either change your tune regarding Israel and God's chosen people, or suffer the consequences.
OR, you can choose to govern your own fate and follow these instructions to shorten your misery if you can't handle admitting that you and your ilk have always been wrong, and will continue to be wrong, about almost everything in the world:
1. Pull head out of ass.
2. Insert hand grenade up ass.
3. Reinsert head up ass.
4. Pull pin of hand grenade with teeth.
5. Pull head out of ass.
6. Kiss ass goodbye.
#15
What's really galling for the poor twit (NUKE IZRA, not Chavez) is that his computer probably has Israeli-made components all over its motherboard.
Posted by: Mike ||
02/13/2005 8:48
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#16
The troll could be a South American Muslim. In South America, we receive a healthy dose of anti-Americanism throughout our lives. If the troll is indeed born in South American, that is double the hatred. We do share a common philosophy with the animals. It is never our fault. It is always the Oligarchs (anybody who owns a house or a car) under the US patronage that is to blame for our poverty and lack of education.
On the subject of education...it always amazes me that a lot of us consider an education to be able to write and read.
#25
What I meant to say by "I am lurker nowâ was that I used to post more when I was living in Saudi. The regulars know me by the name Anon 4617I. I am a living here, in the US, now but my entire family is in Venezuela. We keep in touch weekly and the news/events from there are not encouraging.
#29
I thought they have lower-case letters in San Jose. Apparently not.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/13/2005 16:10
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#30
Many fonts suffered major losses in trading with the Utes and in snowstorms while crossing the rockies. Thisn why folks on the left coast are known as California Cases.
#38
Maybe we ought to slip 10K rifles and ammo across the border to peopel opposed to Chaves. Give him a tase of his own domestic terrorism. Wanna bet we could find a Venezuelan "McVeigh" and give him a rental truck filled with 2 tons of ANFO, and the address to where Chavez's family is living?
#40
Maybe we ought to slip 10K rifles and ammo across the border to peopel opposed to Chaves. Give him a tase of his own domestic terrorism. Wanna bet we could find a Venezuelan "McVeigh" and give him a rental truck filled with 2 tons of ANFO, and the address to where Chavez's family is living?
#41
HEY STUPID BASTARDS , SO YOU DO NOT LIKE TO BE CRITCIZED... YES YOUR FUCK UP COUNTRY IS A TERRORIST ARSEHOLE AND YOUR COUNTRY WILL BE NUKED AND YOUR STUPID INEDUCATED MASSES DEPORTED TO SOUTH AMERICA AS CHIP LABOR .... 20 YEARS FROM NOW CINA GONNA NUKE YOUR TOILET AND SOUTH AND CENTRAL AMERICAN GONNA HAVE A SWEET REVENGE!!!!
#43
Maybe we ought to slip 10K rifles and ammo across the border to peopel opposed to Chaves. Give him a tase of his own domestic terrorism. Wanna bet we could find a Venezuelan "McVeigh" and give him a rental truck filled with 2 tons of ANFO, and the address to where Chavez's family is living?
Hizb Allah — the Islamist resistance group based in Lebanon — has denied it was attempting to wreck the Israeli-Palestinian truce. In an interview with the Reuters news agency, the group's Deputy Secretary-General Shaikh Naim Qassim also said that disarming its fighters as demanded by a UN resolution, was not possible "now or in the future". Qassim termed baseless reports that Hizb Allah was trying to recruit Palestinian resistance fighters to derail the latest peace efforts in the Middle East. "They show the existence of an Israeli cell working to spread such ideas before Israeli actions to destroy the truce by repeated aggressions against the Palestinians," he said.
He said Hizb Allah propounded a Palestinian right to resist Israeli occupation of their land, by which the group usually means both Israel and the West Bank and Gaza Strip that the Israelis seized in the 1967 war. "When we speak of support, it is moral support that does not interfere in Palestinian daily life," Qassim said. Qassim said Hizb Allah hoped the European Union would resist US pressure to put the group on a list of terrorist groups. "That, in my belief, would harm the EU's credibility in the Middle East because it would make its position unacceptable — it would be the same as the American position, which is hated in the Arab and Islamic world," he said. Qassim also said disarming Hizb Allah fighters was not up for discussion. "Hizb Allah's arms are the arms of resistance taken up for the Lebanese people and they liberated the south and will liberate the Shebaa Farms and confront the Israeli danger that is crouching over the region," he said. "Giving up these weapons is not on the table."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2005
12:05:41 AM ||
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#3
That is a full blown Fascist's salute. That leaves no question about where Hizbolla is on the political spectrum. Iran will do anything it can to harm Israel. Iran could care less about the Palestinians they are just tools to attack Israel that is all.
China has failed to heed U.S. warnings to stop missile exports to Iran. U.S. officials said state-owned Chinese defense firms continue to send missile components and technology to Teheran. The officials said that despite repeated warnings the flow of Chinese components and technology has bolstered Iran's medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missile programs. "On numerous occasions we have expressed our concern about these entities to the Chinese government and have asked Beijing to subject exports by these serial proliferators to persistent and close scrutiny," Undersecretary of State John Bolton said. "Unfortunately, we continue to see transfers by these serious proliferators of missile-related items to rogue states and outposts of tyranny such as Iran." Addressing a conference in Tokyo on Feb. 8, Bolton identified China's main missile clients as Iran, Libya, North Korea and Pakistan. He said Chinese state-owned firms have been sanctioned for providing ballistic missile technology to these countries, some of them proliferators themselves.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2005
12:04:59 AM ||
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#1
Bolton is publicly checking off one of the China boxes and clarifying the murky for the brain-dead. Now a chip to play in the EU - China Arms Embargo game.
The acceleration of the polarization in major-player global politics is something to see. If the E3 countries maintain the current course regards the China Arms Embargo, the ramifications for future relations are clear: they're permanently poisoned.
The price tag that must be attached to selling sophisticated Western tech to a country we will face as deadly adversaries, not to mention that China turns around and resells it to the insane regimes of the world, is a situation that can never be rectified, once undertaken. France has lost all credibility and lives in utter delusion, so this is to be expected. But the UK and Germany? They are clearly committing a form of suicide - for purely transient mercenary reasons - and they are fully aware of it. This is some seriously ugly shit. Allies. Yeah, right.
#2
"The only way the French or the Chinese will ever be persuaded to stop providing these WMDs to irrational regimes is for them to experience firsthand the horror of what these weapons can do, forcing them to totally reorder their national prerogatives, as did the Japanese after Hiroshima and Nagasaki."
The architect of assassinating Palestinian insurgents has been selected to head Israel's domestic intelligence service. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has appointed Yuval Diskin the new director of the Israel Security Agency. Diskin, 49, the youngest chief of Israeli domestic intelligence and security, was the initiator of the policy of identifying and targeting Palestinian insurgency operatives in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The policy, encouraged by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, led to the assassination in 2004 of much of the Hamas leadership. "It's an excellent choice," former ISA director Yaakov Peri said. "This was a relative rapid promotion." Officials said the challenge of the incoming ISA director would be to ensure internal security while renewing cooperation with the Palestinian Authority. They said Diskin and most ISA commanders have opposed Sharon's decision to release Palestinian inmates convicted of murder as well a military withdrawal from West Bank cities.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2005
12:01:36 AM ||
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#1
Heh.
Works for me!
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/13/2005 0:38
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HOBART, Ind. -- A man whose friends initially said he was killed by gunfire outside a Gary liquor store actually died after he donned what he thought was a bulletproof vest and asked a cohort to shoot him. A friend then shot Daniel Wright with a .20-gauge shotgun, but it turned out the vest Wright had put on Thursday was a flak jacket not designed to stop a bullet. Wright, 20, was mortally wounded in the shooting and died later at a Gary hospital after two of his friends drove him there.
Three Hobart men who are now charged in the Crown Point man's shooting death said they concocted the story that he was murdered by a stranger outside a Gary liquor store in a panic after the Wright unexpectedly died. Hobart police Lt. Leo Finnerty said Friday that Wright was going to join the military and wanted some battlefield experience. So he went to a field in Hobart with his friends, donned what he thought was a bulletproof vest, and then told them: "Shoot me. I'm ready." No really, go ahead, I've stocked up on plenty of "Near Death Experience Pills(TM)" "He voluntarily put on the vest because he wanted to experience what a .20-gauge shotgun would do," Finnerty told the Post-Tribune of Merrillville. I would laugh, but unfortunately, it's not funny. However, I am surprised this didn't happen in Al Gore's state.
The Lake County coroner's office said the plastic cartridge fired from the shotgun's blast pierced Wright's chest and some shotgun pellets ripped into his heart. Robert Lee Stottlemire, 20, of Hobart was charged with reckless homicide for allegedly shooting Wright in the chest from a distance of between 3 to 6 feet. Two other Hobart men, Brock Bieker, 19, and Michael J. Searle, 18, are charged with assisting Stottlemire by concealing the homicide. Bieker and Searle also are charged with giving Gary police false information, a misdemeanor.
Hobart police said that after Wright was mortally shot, Searle reloaded the shotgun and fired a round into the windshield of the car they were driving to make their story of the shooting outside the liquor store more believable. But Gary Police Detective Thomas Decanter said the story started to fall apart as soon as he began questioning the pair at a Gary hospital. Sixteen hours after the shooting, a fourth man who witnessed the shooting but ran off after Wright fell to the ground walked into the Hobart police station with his parents and told the actual story of the shooting.
Posted by: Poison Reverse ||
02/13/2005
11:38:44 AM ||
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#1
Definite Darwin Award contender.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/13/2005 12:35
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PR, we here in Tennessee don't have a monopoly on Morons. They're everywhere.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/13/2005 12:46
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LOL, PR, no offense taken. The KKK leader who shot the new member in the head last fall was only about 25 miles from where I live. Talk about a bunch of Morons!
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/13/2005 14:38
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#6
The deceased young man Wright, was 20 years old, his friends are 20,19,& 18 and another witness !
Clearly, It's not the guns that were dangerous.
Posted by: he was an idea person ||
02/13/2005 18:28
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#7
What is with these test the vest types? I have a threat level 3 vest. I have no desire to see how it works, ever. I fully expect to end up in the hospsital if I ever need it. The laws of physics are not repealed by some modern man made materials.
#8
SPoD, right you are. A "bullet proof vest" may stop a round but you will have one HELL of a sore spot and possibly a broken rib, depending on where the round hit. The laws of physics don't disappear just because one has on a vest. A very good buddy had on one in Vietnam. A VC stepped out from behind a tree and was no more than 3 feet from him with an AK. Two rounds penetrated at that distance. The third didn't only because the first two knocked him into an angle where the third was only a glancing blow. "Stupid people should be killed", Lazarus Long.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/13/2005 19:21
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#9
A flak vest, such is this kid was wearing, is only designed to stop shrapnel and not a direct hit from a projectile.
Even a good vest will not stop all rounds, especially from 3-6 feet whent the rounds are at their best velocity. If this poor kid had shot his friend from, say 30 feet, he might have not killed him. Still would have put him into the hospital, though.
Posted by: Jame Retief ||
02/13/2005 19:52
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Great news! Syria releases some wrongfully accused men from prison...
Authorities on Saturday released 55 members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood who had spent up to 20 years in jail, a human rights group said.
Oh. Maybe not such great news.
The Human Rights Association in Syria(!) issued a statement welcoming the releases and urging the government to free "all political prisoners and detainees and stop detentions outside the law."
"Well, all the bloodthirsty Sunni ones, anyway."
Those released were 46 Syrians, five Palestinians, two Lebanese, an Iraqi and a Tunisian, said Anwar al-Bunni, a lawyer and human rights activist. Al-Bunni said all were charged with belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood, which Syria banned in 1982 after the late President Hafez Assad cracked down on a violent anti-government insurgency blamed on the brotherhood. No further details were available. Syrian officials were unavailable for comment.
"Tehran told us we can say no more."
The 55 prisoners had spent from three to 20 years in jail and their release followed the Dec. 7 freeing of 112 political prisoners, the largest single amnesty in three years. Since succeeding his late father in 2000, Bashar Assad has released hundreds of political prisoners, but also cracked down on pro-reform and pro-democracy activists, showing that his administration will tolerate dissent only to a certain limit.
Victorious candidates in Saudi Arabia's first round landmark municipal polls in the capital dismissed accusations that they were Islamists, insisting yesterday that they represented mainstream Muslim society.
Dr. Ibrahim ibn Hamad Al-Quayid, a prominent academic who is among seven winners in Thursday's elections in Riyadh, dismissed charges that certain candidates used religion and formed coalitions violating electoral laws to win. "Even, Grand Mufti Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh was dismayed to hear such accusations and told me that no religious authority backed any candidate or approved any list of candidates", Al-Quayid said.
They didn't have to. In Soddiland, these things are understood.
Refuting charges that candidates backed by religious sheikhs had emerged victorious, he said "the whole election process was democratic and transparent. All candidates, who won are top professionals and moderates with Islamic orientation."
From the right families, go to the right mosques, only beat their wives twice a year...
He pointed out that out of seven winners five have doctorates and four of them are Western-educated. "They are, of course, Muslims and they represent the mainstream Muslim society not any extremist ideology," he added. Abdul Aziz Al-Omari, another winner, also refused to be so labeled, saying the "whole Saudi society is Muslim." "Many of the candidates who lost are more Islamists than myself, or any of the winners," said the lecturer of history and real estate developer. "The (political) system in Saudi Arabia is based on Islam. Anyone who claims not to want to implement the Shariah would be breaching order," he added, stressing the Islamic character of Saudi society. The comment brought a protest from another elected candidate, Suleiman Al-Rashudi, who said there is "nothing called Islamist and non-Islamist in Saudi Arabia."
"The whole society is Islamist ... We are all Muslims," he said. "We are all against extremism and terrorism," he added. Forty-four-year-old Rashudi, who chairs a local company, refused to be termed a Wahabist.
"It is an insult for me to be called Wahabist. We are Muslims.. We are forbidden to adopt other names (except Muslims)," he said.
Winner Tareq Al-Kassabi said he too refused to be linked to any Islamist trend. "There are no Islamist trends in Saudi Arabia," he said, insisting that as an engineer he had an election platform related only to "the jurisdiction of city councils."
Asked about the complaints that a list of seven Islamists was circulated via cell phones and the Internet a day before the poll, Al-Quayid told Arab News: "I personally received some six different lists on my mobile and luckily my name figured in all these lists. But who composed these messages, what is the motive behind it, nobody knows."
"It does not mean that some religious scholars have approved the names. Anybody can write the names and circulate through SMS," he said.
"In fact, the game plan was to garner support with religious blessing," said Al-Quayid, but the plan failed miserably. "Interestingly, if one makes a perusal of the whole campaign carefully, it is evident that those candidates who, in fact, invited clergymen to address the voters, lost the elections," said the academic who preferred not to name those candidates. Al-Quayid is probably the only candidate who won substantial votes at 70 polling stations out of 73 in the capital city. He also won the highest number of votes in the sixth electoral precinct, where he lives with his family.
Asked whether he even unknowingly used religion in his campaign, Al-Quayid, a former assistant secretary-general of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) said: "I did not use any religious slogan in my campaign and no Islamic scholars were invited by me to address the audience during the campaign period".
"Losing candidates are crying foul. Such misleading arguments cannot be justified. These allegations are part of the Western propaganda to belittle the Saudi government's maiden effort of reform, which succeeded in the form of municipal elections", said Al-Quayid, who is also a member of the executive committee of the National Society for Human Rights.
Posted by: tipper ||
02/13/2005
1:10:50 AM ||
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The Kyoto Protocol takes effect this week with fanfare but Japan, where the landmark environment treaty was sealed, is not fully prepared itself, with industry scared that a push to cut pollution will set back economic recovery.
Signed in 1997 in Japan's old capital, the ambitious treaty aimed at curbing global warming obliges the world's second-largest economy to cut greenhouse gas emissions six percent by 2008-2012 from the 1990 level.
However, 11 of Japan's 30 industry sectors including steel and power risk failing to meet their self-imposed targets in cutting carbon dioxide emissions, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said this month.
The study found that Japan's emissions were going up as the economy expands from a decade-old slump.
The survey has led the powerful trade ministry to reopen talk of imposing government, rather than voluntary, targets on emissions with taxes to coax violators -- an idea steadfastly opposed by big business.
Forms of a "carbon tax" have been introduced in parts of the European Union. The United States, the world's biggest CO2 polluter, is boycotting Kyoto, with President George W. Bush saying it would unfairly burden US industry.
A tax on Japanese polluters was originally proposed by the environment ministry and was intensely debated by specialists and politicians last year.
The ruling coalition parties ultimately decided to forgo a tax, the size of which has not been set.
Japan's most influential industry body, the Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, firmly rejects a pollution tax, saying it is unnecessary and could harm the economy and Japanese companies' competitiveness.
"The environment ministry's CO2-emission tax is a simple tax increase to business, which will in turn result in a hollowing out of plants abroad," said Meguri Aoyama, the chief economist of Keidanren.
"We had set targets ourselves in 1996, before the government decided their policies (for the Kyoto Protocol) in 1998. Although we have a track record on the C02-emission issue, bureaucrats are looking for another place to squeeze" taxes from, Aoyama said.
Indeed, Japanese industries have a greener record than most other countries, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
Setting fuel efficiency of Japanese steelmakers as a base of 100, with lower figures showing more a eco-friendly policy, the EU average stands at 110, the United States is at 120, Russia is at 125 and China is at 150, according to the ministry.
If Japan fails to achieve its six-percent emission reduction target under Kyoto, it would be forced to cut by another 30 percent as a penalty in addition to the original six percent under the second stage of the treaty from 2013.
A poll of the general public in December by the Asahi newspaper found that 37 percent favored a carbon tax and 50 percent were opposed, although surveys showed a majority of Japanese also felt anxiety about global warming.
One option under Kyoto is a system of credits. A country which cannot meet its own goals can make up for it by buying credits from nations which have exceeded their targets or by setting up clean-energy projects in the developing world, which is largely exempt from Kyoto.
However, "this will be very expensive to Japan," said Takamitsu Sawa, professor at the Institute of Economic Research, Kyoto University.
The swaps are "a system favorable to sellers of credits. Countries such as Russia and Ukraine may set extraordinarily high prices on credits, in which case Japan, which doesn't have a choice but to accept the offered price, will incur financial burdens," Sawa said.
Industry is also skeptical of the credit system, known formally as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), which will be coordinated through the United Nations.
"It is hard to get permission from a partner country and the United Nations CDM Executive Board, as most of them are on the side of developing countries, which need not cut gas emission" under Kyoto, said Aoyama of the business lobby.
Press reports have said Japan is considering using foreign aid to green projects overseas to claim credits, a plan that could draw international criticism.
Sawa, the professor, believed a carbon tax would be helpful in reducing emissions as it could prompt corporate efforts to create new technologies -- both in production and the end product -- that eat up less energy.
He cited the example of Japan's largest company, Toyota Motor, which has created the world's first mass-produced hybrid car, the Prius, which emits 50 percent less carbon dioxide than a regular car and has proven a hit with US consumers.
However, Sawa noted that Toyota began work on the hybrid car well before the Kyoto Protocol -- and not in response to a tax.
Posted by: tipper ||
02/13/2005
1:07:09 AM ||
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#2
A nice example of how Kyoto results in increased CO2 emissions as energy intensive industries like steel migrate from developed energy efficient countries to less energy efficient countries that don't have to reduce CO2 emissions under Kyoto.
#3
The 1990 numbers are largely sloppy self-inflicted estimates. But now the fools that signed on are going to be increasingly bound by those very-real numbers and increasingly by very-real measurements.
"this will be very expensive to Japan,"
Indeed. Please pass the popcorn.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/13/2005 13:44
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#4
Whatn I find funny is the U.S. CO2 emisions are about 30% lees than 20 years ago.
PARIS — France wants complete compliance with a UN resolution that effectively calls for Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, the president's office said yesterday after a meeting between President Jacques Chirac and the special UN envoy to Lebanon. Lebanese parliamentary elections set for May "represent a step that the international community will be very sensitive to," Chirac's office said.
I'll give the Froggies a "B" for effort on this one.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/13/2005
1:02:01 AM ||
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#1
France used to control Lebanon and a lot of people there speak french.
Of course France's real power still is within spitting distance of zero.
#7
TGA, are you saying that was a result of the French as opposed to the Lebanese? Anybody who was ruled by the frogs had to overcome a great impediment to achieve anything.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/13/2005 8:51
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#8
Don't be silly, being ruled by the Frogs was wonderful compared to being ruled by Arabs.
TGA's right: Beirut was the "Paris of the Middle East" for its cosmopolitan beauty and ways. They had a lot of tension there (1958, anyone?), but having the Paleos move in set off the final wrecking of the country.
Let the French work to clean Lebanon out and rehabilitate it. It's about all the Froggies can handle :-)
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/13/2005 12:24
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#10
Pretty much any place the Paleos move into turns to a $%#@ hole. Have any guesses about how any Paleo state is going to look?
Lebanon would be fine if it kicked the Paleos out and killed off the Iranian wannabe trogs off.
#1
".....in predominantly Muslim countries with secular traditions, such as Turkey, Senegal and Mali, roughly seven-in-ten respondents completely agreed that religion should be kept separate from government policy. In the U.S., significantly fewer (55%) expressed that view."
Plus some other interesting stuff from Pew, which isn't exactly a neo-con hotbed. (The Pew Trust gives a lot to NPR, e.g.)
#7
Louisian has another unit in Iraq. One of the companies from the 1st Battalion 23rd Marines is from Louisiana (the rest of the battalion is from Texas). The 1/23 is a Marine Reserve infantry battalion that has been deployed in Anbar province since last September. They're scheduled to come home in about 6 weeks.
#3
I'm not so certain the people of Massachusetts have low standards. The Kennedy Machine there is extremely powerful. Similar to our situation in Alabama trying to get rid of George Wallace. What really has to happen is for the Republicans to find an extremely strong candidate to run against him and even that probably won't work. He survived the death of Mary Jo so he can probably survive anything. It's really unbelievable how much power the Kennedy Machine has in Massachusetts.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/13/2005 8:29
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#4
Deacon Blues, the K-machine may be powerful and that, but peepul of Mess-a-choo-sets are the ultimate arbiters.
#7
" It's really unbelievable how much power the Kennedy Machine has in Massachusetts "
Fascists !!
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
02/13/2005 10:37
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#8
It says a lot about the people of Mass. that they keep electing him.
Two problems contribute to this - 1) Kennedy worship and 2) a historically weak state Republican Party which, to a large degree, is RINO. In the state Senate Republicans don't have toe votes to kill vetoes, so Romney (governor) tends to get rolled. A lot.
#1
There's a lot to chew on here. Much of it rings true on the first pass as it delves into the twisted miasma that is "New New Left" liberal politics. The roots in the War on Poverty and the devolution into a political whore "promoting no more than its own self-interest" is so accurate that I had to read the passage twice to be sure the author wasn't pulling the punch somewhere. Nope. Nailed it.
#3
Here is Oz we had a strikingly similar result at the last election Labor won every inner urban electorate and the Liberals (Howard) won almost all of the suburban and rural electorates. However the analysis indicated the reason was Labor was the party of the urban singles and the Liberals the party of the married suburbanites. Their relative perspectives could be summarized as the singles are idealists but don't have to deal with real issues, while the marrieds are concerned with bread and butter pratical problems - schools, jobs, mortgages, etc. Not that I think the article's analysis is wrong but I think there is more to it.
#4
It's 3:AM and I STILL can't sleep, but I've poured myself a very stiff one, which is beginning to kick in, and I've been looking out the window and pondering this article.
And...(remember, the drink is kicking in) what I'm left with is the thought of a "company dinner". The kind where the group goes out. Someone from the group, chooses one of the better restaurants, (proving their own sophistication and taste) and it begins.
Now, mind you, if you went out to dinner with just yourself and your spouse at this same restaurant, the total bill might be $70.00. But get your HELOC checks out, cause you are going to need them.
There are certain people in this world, who given this situation, will think to themselves, "I know we are going to spit this bill in an even fashion, so I'm going to order the steak and lobster with the creme brule". But what these people never seem to realize is that, ultimately their own purchase will be in the final total that they must split. So as they order more wine and more hors d' oeuveres, it never, ever, seems to occur to these idiots that, even though they are evenly splitting the total, that the "split" will ultimately cost them at least another $30-40 bucks. In their mind, it's just going to cost them less than it would if they ordered all of these same items on their own. But it doesn't cross their mind that are still paying to have their cake and eat it too.
Anyway....that's what this whole "tax eaters" story reminds me of. People who don't grasp that if you order the fine wine and the creme brule, you are going to pay more for it in the end.
#6
oh..and I forgot. These same people...they are the ones who ...when the final staggering bill comes to the table ..think to themselves, "hey, I didn't eat the mushroom canapes nor did I have a final nightcap, so....I shouldn't have to pay the full amount".
So what do they do? They don't put in their full share. So ultimately, the person who really "eats it" is the waitress...who might best be described as "someone other than me".
#8
Heh, sorry - your description elicited a memory which led to that - one of my pet peeves. Right up there with folks who believe they have a right to win the lottery. Very Arab.
#10
Interesting piece and, sadly, all too true. As a frequent visitor to San Francisco I'm always amazed at the blocks and blocks of gleaming palatial state, local, & federal government buildings surrounded primarily by decaying private businesses that cannot afford to exist in anything like the state the government creates for itself and the multitude of ragged people sleeping on the street whom those in the palaces are charged with helping. The same exists, to a lesser degree, in many urban areas in the US but somehow no contrast is quite so stark as that here. If this is allowed to persist it will eventually lead to Marx's predicted final victory for collectivism over capitalism.
Sadly it seems that even the unsightly bulk and ominously creaking weight of federal, state, & local budget deficits isn't awakening the citizenry in anything like the numbers necessary to thwart this behemoth. Random factoids from other sources: in the past 20 years the growth in state and local spending has more than tripled, far outpacing the growth in runaway federal spending; in the previous (2000) presidential election, just over 50% of eligible voters were dependent in some way on federal, state, or local governmental payments for their livelihood or well-being. It appears that that proverbial horse has fled the proverbial barn. *sigh*
In the roughly 20 years since I received my very aptly-named BS I've gone from employee, to contractor, to owner, to employer, to contractee, to outsourcer, to unabashedly setting up outsourcing operations with capital supplied by foreign governments. Sadly the America I loved died before I entered its workforce; it was killed by those mentioned in the article linked above and their ilk.
Years ago I realized, with great sadness, that there would come a day when I would, with assets safely tucked away in foreign jurisdictions, stand on the shores of this once-great nation and bid her a final farewell as she sinks slowly into the swamps of collectivist rule. Iâm heartened that others see the dangers even if they donât explicitly identify the endgame but I fear that the die has been cast and the course of this nation irretrievably set. Ah, what could have been ⦠and once was!
#11
Historically over 90% of workers were farmers and most of the others worked in manufacturing. As farm productivity increased, workers moved into manufacturing or service jobs. (Thus increasing the power of private sector unions.) With increased productivity in manufacturing labor moved into the service industry (including expanded public service).
Private industry is more aggressive at pursuing automation (or at outsourcing labor intensive operations to other countries). Thus over time public service jobs tend to increase as a fraction of the total work force.
The next wave of automation is occurring in service industry jobs. Fewer people are needed to push paper. Labor has moved from farming to manufacturing to service. Where will labor move next? (Personal services, entertainment, defense, knowledge?)
Changing labor patterns should be considered when reading this article.
AzCat: âmultitude of ragged people sleeping on the street whom those in the palaces are charged with helpingâ
I suspect that many of those âragged peopleâ are mentally ill. Their presence on the street is likely due to misguided efforts to get mentally ill patients out of hospitals and into ânormalâ life. Their prominence on the streets of SF is likely due to mild climate, historically generous public services, and a lack of aggressive police. (The public restrooms in my local community are locked at night to discourage the homeless from camping on the local beach. Even so, there are a few obviously insane people wandering about.)
#12
Hark, what's that I hear? Methinks that perhaps itâs the mellow sound of a liberal entirely missing the point? Why yes, I do believe it is precisely that!
For a small fraction of what is spent building, maintaining, and staffing palatial digs for our local royalty public sector, we could, for example, build a shiny new home for each and every homeless person in the Bay Area. Yet somehow there's always money for more state/local employees, newer & more ostentatious public sector office space, more regulators to turn the screws on the private sector (you might remember them, the ones who actually PAY the bills for all of this), yet there never seems to be enough money left at the end of the day to actually help anyone.
That last bit is odd, particularly here in Northern California where even Howard Dean is considered to be more than a bit too conservative. The laudable but severely misguided utopian dream of 60s leftists ends not in a paradise of equality and high quality governmental services for all but in a bureaucratic circle-jerk of Soviet proportions, one that will consume all wealth, then stagnate and die.
But there is, of course, a solution: simply raise taxes! Said tax money will of course be spent building, maintaining, and staffing even more palatial digs for our local public sector and in the end there wonât quite be enough left to actually help anyone so â¦. Wash, rinse, repeat.
Itâs extremely sad that this nation is going to have to actually experience the economic depression and rampant third-world style poverty that this cycle is going to cause before it even begins to come it its collective senses. Oh well, by the time that happens Iâll be on a nice white sandy beach somewhere sipping mai tais while the political left is here wondering why thereâs no one left to tax.
#13
I don't happen to be very community minded either, especially since I choose to live in one of the bluest of the blue.
My main gripe is with the Teacher and Police unions in these parts. In my neck of the woods where property taxes of between $8,000 to $12,000 are common, it is not unusual to have newly tenured 3rd grade teachers making $80,000 and 4th year patrolmen making close to $70,000.
Lone voices in the wilderness like mine who go to town council meetings and complain about this sort of thing during the public portions of the meetings are looked at like you have 3 heads. My parting shot to them every other Wednesday night is - Had I known then what I know now, I too would have choosen to suck at the public teat.
#14
Azcat, Iâve seen this rhetorical tactic used by the LLL. Link an extravagance to a visible problem and then conclude that the first causes the second and the people involved are bad. E.g., Americans spend more money on dog food than on saving starving children in Africa so the US is bad. In your case, it is âpalacesâ and âragged peopleâ. The technique is the same. I donât like it when the LLL does it and I donât like it when I read it on Rantburg.
SF spends a lot of money on government buildings.
SF has a problem with street people.
Tying the two together creates a false connection. Excessive rhetoric such as calling office buildings âpalacesâ appeals to the readerâs emotions to strengthen the false connection.
From what Iâve read the problem with street people isnât supplying housing to the homeless. The problem is that many of the homeless are mentally ill and are incapable of maintaining an independent household.
I would guess that SF spends so much on buildings because SF fancies itself as a beautiful, distinctive city. (I wouldnât choose to spend my tax dollars that way but then I donât choose to live in SF.)
I would guess that SF spends so much on the homeless that people drift from other communities to live on public handouts in SF. I think it is unlikely that a lack of public funds is keeping people on the street in SF. Thus I believe it is unlikely that money spent on buildings is significantly contributing to people living on the streets.
#15
That's odd, I've seen many LLLs use your tactic as well: utterly ignore the big picture; focus instead on a minute example of a much larger trend/problem; criticize the example; conclude that the trend/problem therefore does not exist (or at least give such impression in oneâs discussion of said example).
If I had time to write a novel on the topic I could cite literally hundreds (and I'll wager with a bit of thought, thousands) of other examples of the stagnation & malaise heaped on our once-fine nation by our overstuffed public bureaucracies.
Sadly I donât have that sort of free time so I chose one example that is stark, striking, and extremely visible. Bash it all you like but that doesnât in the slightest change the fact that government is a staggering burden for our society and the trend is towards a rapidly worsening situation.
China has accused Japan of a "severe provocation" after Tokyo moved to take over a lighthouse built years ago by right-wing activists on a small, disputed group of islands in the East China Sea. An unidentified official from the Foreign Ministry's Asian department had made solemn representations to the Japanese over the incident, the ministry said in a statement seen on its Web site (www.fmprc.gov.cn) on Saturday. "Japan's actions are a severe provocation and infringement on China's territorial sovereignty and are absolutely unacceptable by the Chinese government and people," the official said.
"The unilateral moves taken by the Japanese side are illegal and invalid," the official added, echoing a statement by Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan on Wednesday. The official reiterated China's claims to sovereignty over the islands, known to Chinese as the Diaoyu islands and to Japanese as Senkakus, saying "China has irrefutable sovereignty over all these islands". In Tokyo, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda told a news conference on Wednesday that Japan's Coast Guard would take over maintenance and management of the lighthouse, adding that the group who built it had given up their rights to it. Despite growing economic interdependence, bilateral ties have been chilled by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to a Tokyo shrine which honours war criminals along with other war dead. Territorial disputes and a Chinese nuclear submarine's intrusion into Japanese waters in November are other irritants.
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#1
Heh. Nibble, nibble. Poke, poke. The ChiComs are receiving their wake-up call - bit by bit - and grumpy got up on the wrong side of the bed. This is getting very interesting.
#2
Perhaps the Chinese leadership should start building an invasion fleet to take over these islands. It is so humiliating to their sensitive natures, and they have nothing better to do.
#3
If they don't like the Japanese now, wait until North Korea's nuclear sabre rattling and South Koreas lefty cowardice combine to force Japan to re-arm, with nukes of their own.
That'll scare the crap out of China. A high tech military power in their own back yard. With plenty of reach into China, via missles, aircraft, and more imporatantly, electronics (spy satellites, radars, and the internet).
#4
OldSpook is dead on - an armed extremely high tech military like Japan on your door step is enough to give any nation pause.
The word is that Japan is a de facto nuclear power. All they have to do is assemble the weapons at this point. All the bits and pcs. are there - have been.
#5
after the missile from NK cleared Japan's mainland they'd be fools not to
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/13/2005 19:49
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Thing is, the Chinese and Koreans (and perhaps the Philipinos) are the ONLY people in the world who are ahead of the US in terms of worrying about a remilitarized, nuclear armed Japan.
Surveys in Japan have in the past shown plenty of the racial superiority doctrine still hold part fo the beleifes of the Japanese as a people, and the martial parts of its society can be easily regrown in such fertile soil, especially under threat. The problem with that is to get the genie back in the bottle before it starts reaching out to grab what it beleives is "due" to Japan as its "right".
So yes this scares the Chinese and eventually the Koreans. But in the long run, it scares the US as well - the ONE opponent we do not want to have to go against is a remilitarized nuclear Japan. And that will temper our foreign policy in terms of playign the "Japan Card" to increase the Chinese urgency and the need to clear N.Korea and the nutbag Kim.
Because if Japan becomes China's worst problem, within a generation it will be a big problem for the USA as well.
#7
If they don't like the Japanese now, wait until North Korea's nuclear sabre rattling and South Koreas lefty cowardice combine to force Japan to re-arm, with nukes of their own.
That'll scare the crap out of China. A high tech military power in their own back yard. With plenty of reach into China, via missles, aircraft, and more imporatantly, electronics (spy satellites, radars, and the internet).
#8
Thing is, the Chinese and Koreans (and perhaps the Philipinos) are the ONLY people in the world who are ahead of the US in terms of worrying about a remilitarized, nuclear armed Japan.
Surveys in Japan have in the past shown plenty of the racial superiority doctrine still hold part fo the beleifes of the Japanese as a people, and the martial parts of its society can be easily regrown in such fertile soil, especially under threat. The problem with that is to get the genie back in the bottle before it starts reaching out to grab what it beleives is "due" to Japan as its "right".
So yes this scares the Chinese and eventually the Koreans. But in the long run, it scares the US as well - the ONE opponent we do not want to have to go against is a remilitarized nuclear Japan. And that will temper our foreign policy in terms of playign the "Japan Card" to increase the Chinese urgency and the need to clear N.Korea and the nutbag Kim.
Because if Japan becomes China's worst problem, within a generation it will be a big problem for the USA as well.
#9
If they don't like the Japanese now, wait until North Korea's nuclear sabre rattling and South Koreas lefty cowardice combine to force Japan to re-arm, with nukes of their own.
That'll scare the crap out of China. A high tech military power in their own back yard. With plenty of reach into China, via missles, aircraft, and more imporatantly, electronics (spy satellites, radars, and the internet).
#10
Thing is, the Chinese and Koreans (and perhaps the Philipinos) are the ONLY people in the world who are ahead of the US in terms of worrying about a remilitarized, nuclear armed Japan.
Surveys in Japan have in the past shown plenty of the racial superiority doctrine still hold part fo the beleifes of the Japanese as a people, and the martial parts of its society can be easily regrown in such fertile soil, especially under threat. The problem with that is to get the genie back in the bottle before it starts reaching out to grab what it beleives is "due" to Japan as its "right".
So yes this scares the Chinese and eventually the Koreans. But in the long run, it scares the US as well - the ONE opponent we do not want to have to go against is a remilitarized nuclear Japan. And that will temper our foreign policy in terms of playign the "Japan Card" to increase the Chinese urgency and the need to clear N.Korea and the nutbag Kim.
Because if Japan becomes China's worst problem, within a generation it will be a big problem for the USA as well.
The two electoral powerhouses representing Iraq's Shia and Kurdish communities are poised to clinch the countr's two top jobs, with results from the landmark January 30 polls expected any time. "Looking at the partial results, it appears that the Sistani list will have more than 50 percent and that Kurdish parties will come second," said Sunni politician Saad Abdel Razzak. "They should therefore share the posts of president and prime minister between themselves."
Partial results announced on Monday showed that the Shia coalition backed by Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani had obtained 2,244,237 out of 4,366,843 votes counted, or 51.4 percent of ballots cast. It could even improve this score when the rest of the polling stations in remaining Shia-dominated southern provinces are counted, securing around 140 out of the National Assembly's 275 seats. Meanwhile, a very high turnout in the northern Kurdish areas also guarantees the joint ticket formed by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) a strong presence in parliament and plum posts in the government. With 1,075,534 votes, the Kurds are emerging as the second political force in the country, ahead of the Iraqi List of incumbent prime minister, Iyad Allawi. More counting in the Kurdish province of Arbil should ensure the Kurdish bloc retains its edge on challengers and secures around a quarter of all seats in parliament.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Gee... looks like the Sunni's only managed to pee in their *own* punchbowl. looks now they will have to drink it down.
Parade, a weekly magazine, has included President Pervez Musharraf among the "world's 10 worst dictators", a listing it published last year as well.
Well, that's certainly an authoritative source...
Parade, which gets distributed with every newspaper delivered to an American home or sold on the street or at a newsstand at weekends, says about the Pakistani leader, "Two years after seizing power in a military coup that overthrew an elected government, Gen Pervez Musharraf appointed himself President of Pakistan. He recently agreed to step down as head of the military, then reversed the decision, claiming that he was best suited to unite Pakistan's contentious political and military elements. 'The country is more important than democracy,' he said. Pakistan has endangered the world by spreading nuclear technology. Last year, it was discovered that Abdul Qadeer Khan, head of Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme, has been selling nuclear technology to North Korea, Libya and Iran. As for civil liberties in Pakistan, a woman who has been raped may present her case only if she can produce four Muslim men who witnessed the attack."
Two who were on the list last year — Fidel Castro of Cuba and King Mswati III of Swaziland — have failed to "make the grade" this year. President Musharraf was not on the list last year. The No 1 dictator on the list is Kim Jong II. "Dishonourable Mentions" this year include Lexander Lukashenko of Belarus. The Parade list was compiled in consultation with Human Rights Watch, Freedom House, Amnesty International, and Reporters Without Borders. Parade's contributing editor, David Wallechinsky, who put the list together will soon be publishing a book entitled 'Tyrants: the world's 20 worst living dictators'.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Hu Jintao, Prince Abdullah and Pervez Musharraf are worse than Cuba's Castro and Venezuela's Chavez? You gotta love it.
#13
So when does the Parade list of the 10 Best Dictators come out?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/13/2005 14:26
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#14
Musharaf is a lying scumbag. Three months after attending a sham "peace" summit with India, he launched a surprise attack on the mountain regions of the Indian province of Kashmir. He labeled the nuclear proliferator, Khan (who was hand delivered nuclear information from Paki employees of the Atomic Energy Commission and other foreign agencies) a "state hero," and did nothing when Khan delivered WMD technology to North Korea and the Persian Islamofascist entity. Mushy's Pakistan Muslim League party slavishly shares power with the terrorist' Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal in Punjabi occupied Balochistan, and jointly carried out a moment of silence in the provincial assembly when a Paki terrorist was justly executed for slaughtering 2 CIA employees on American soil. The US-Paki alliance is an insult to American dead. Its time to finance Sindhi, Balochi independence movements to enable them to break free from the Punjabi terrorist entity.
#16
With Musharaf we had to make a deal with the devil in order to get into Afghanistan. We also have to have enough "in" with somebody in charge in order to have a handle on Pakistani nukes so they do not fall into the hands if Jihadi nutcases. Musharaf is a scumbag, but we have to deal with him. The alternatives are pretty bleak. Kinda like rollerskating in a gravel pit. It ain't too pretty a process.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/13/2005 18:47
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#17
Musharaf we deal with because we slept through the 1990's. Bills come due - and this is how we are paying the bill for ignoring Afghanistan [where Pakisatan set up the Taliban] (except for a few cruise missles) and Pakistan in the 90's.
Yes its ugly, but its what we have to do, at least for now.
#18
Musharaf we deal with because we slept through the 1990's. Bills come due - and this is how we are paying the bill for ignoring Afghanistan [where Pakisatan set up the Taliban] (except for a few cruise missles) and Pakistan in the 90's.
Yes its ugly, but its what we have to do, at least for now.
#19
#6 Perv may not belong among the 10 Worst Dictators but he is certainly among the 10 Best Dressed Dictators. Very smart uniform. I can't wait to see Joan & Melissa Rivers interview him on the red carpet at this year's Dickie Awards.
THIS POSTER MUST BE FROM A BANANA REPUBLIC
#20
Musharaf we deal with because we slept through the 1990's. Bills come due - and this is how we are paying the bill for ignoring Afghanistan [where Pakisatan set up the Taliban] (except for a few cruise missles) and Pakistan in the 90's.
Yes its ugly, but its what we have to do, at least for now.
A statement in the name of the al-Qaida in Iraq (terror group posted Saturday on the Internet accused Arab satellite network Al-Jazeera of trying to win U.S. favor by reporting false information about an attack the group had claimed responsibility for.
"Lies! All lies! Al-Jazeera is a very untrustworthy organization...take our word for it!"
The statement, which could not be immediately verified, related to a Friday bombing outside a Shiite mosque in Balad Ruz, 45 miles northeast of Baghdad, that killed 12 people as worshippers left prayer services. News reports suggested the mosque was targeted. But the group led by Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claimed the target was actually a nearby Iraqi National Guard convoy.
"See! It was our bomb! But Mahmoud the idiot put it by the mosque of the infidel Shia instead of in the path of the infidel lackey dogs. And the infidel Al-Jizz twisted our words. We just can't get good help these days, by Allan! What's a terror org to do?
"After we posted a statement (claiming responsibility) ... we found that Al-Jazeera tried to alter the facts and attributed to us (something) we didn't say," said the statement that appeared on an Internet site used as a clearing house for extremist Islamic material. "We didn't say in our statement that we targeted the mosque, but that we targeted the infidel guards, and we hit them directly." It also accused Qatar-based Al-Jazeera of falsifying the report in a bid to "flatter the Americans" and interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's government.
"We bought 'em fair and square! They should stay bought!"
U.S. officials have been critical of Al-Jazeera's coverage of the war in Iraq, and Iraq's interim government closed the station's offices in August after accusing it of inciting violence. Al-Jazeera editor-in-chief Ayman Gaballah defended his station, saying it relied on reports from news agencies operating inside Iraq. "No one will issue a statement saying they are happy with our reporting," he said.
"Why's ev'rybody always picking on me?"
Posted by: Seafarious ||
02/13/2005
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Good Stuff, I hope terrorist and Al-jazeera continue to mistrust each other.
"The al-Qaeda organisation is to be blamed for terrorism in Kuwait and the terrorists are a small group of isolated individuals, says MP Dr Waleed Al-Tabtabaei. Speaking to media persons in Beirut on the sidelines of a conference being held by the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), the MP said the wise political system of Kuwait and the strong ties between the government and Parliament are capable of defeating the plans of terrorists. Kuwaiti citizens are united and proved their solidarity during the Iraqi invasion." Stressing Kuwaiti authorities would treat terrorism in its security, political, intellectual, and social aspects, Al-Tabtabaei said "terrorism hasn't left any country untouched. During my speech in the conference I stressed terrorism is not connected to Islam because it has no religion and is an international problem." Terrorism and extremism are everywhere and even on the Internet, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Hamas promised on Saturday to maintain a de facto truce and, in a major policy change, not to retaliate immediately for any Israeli violence while it weighs Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas's ceasefire with Israel. "Hamas's position regarding calm will continue unchanged and Israel will bear responsibility for any new violation or aggression," Ismail Haniyah, a senior leader of the militant group, told Reuters after talks with Abbas.
"And Rooters will continue to report my words uncritically..."
But in a new understanding with Abbas, Mahmoud al-Zahar, another Hamas leader, said the group would consult with the Palestinian Authority before responding to Israeli military action that fell short of "incursions and assassinations." The arrangement appeared to be aimed at preventing the kind of eruption of violence that occurred on Thursday when Hamas and the Islamic Jihad group launched mortar and rocket barrages at Jewish settlements in Gaza after troops killed a Palestinian. Abbas told Hamas and the Islamic Jihad group, which also agreed to the deal, that "no faction should be allowed to respond on its own to any Israeli violation," a Palestinian official said.
And it's driving the hard boyz crazy. No gun sex for weeks now!
Both groups, which had largely abided by a de facto truce over the past several weeks, said they needed more consultations before reaching a final decision on the ceasefire he brokered with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at a summit on Tuesday.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
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Myanmar leader General Than Shwe on Saturday warned his country to be alert against the West after his military junta was slammed for arresting pro-democracy leaders. "The old and new colonialists alike bent on occupying and holding sway over our union have hatched wicked schemes to weaken our national solidarity which is the foundation of our union," Shwe said.
His message was read out at a ceremony to commemorate Union Day, which marks a key pre-independence event. It came after the United States and United Nations slammed the country's military junta for arresting several pro-democracy leaders and prohibiting groups from commemorating the day. Among those held was Hkun Htun Oo, the chairman of the Shan National League for Democracy, which won 1990 elections in a result the junta refused to acknowledge. "The United States is deeply concerned" about the arrest, US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said on Friday. Boucher also expressed concern the military had prohibited the United Nationalities Alliance, Myanmar's leading coalition of pro-democracy ethnic political parties, from commemorating Union Day.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Yeah, you wouldn't want to give up your military dictatorship, would you? We're so, uh, um, well-dressed and, er, armed!
#2
Watch 'em join the Mugabe/Mahathir band ranting against colonialism. That alibi is more than 50 yrs old and they haven't been able to come up with any better bogeyman. The USA never colonised Burma ; t'was the Brits, crummy dummy! Would they have wished it was the Frogs instead?
The interior minister said a jailed terror suspect died of a heart attack and not due to torture, as some lawmakers have suggested, according to remarks published Thursday. Amer Al-Enezi, 29, was captured in one of four shootouts between security forces and suspected terrorists last month. The Interior Ministry has said Al-Enezi died Tuesday of heart failure at a military hospital. The minister, Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, told Al-Rai Al-Aam daily that Al-Enezi's death "was not the result of torture as some have alleged." He told the newspaper the coroner's report "will prove" his account.
Walid Al-Tabtabaei, a fundamentalist legislator, filed a question in parliament Wednesday asking whether al-Enezi's interrogators had respected a law that forbids torture. Without addressing the legislator by name, Sheikh Nawaf said accusations that Al-Enezi died of torture were not based on evidence. Police detained Al-Enezi, a former mosque preacher, in a Jan 31 raid on a house in Mubarak Al-Kabir, south of Kuwait City. The Interior Ministry said Al-Enezi, the suspected ringleader, and other detainees were wounded in the raid, but the extent of their injuries was not disclosed.
This article starring:
AMER AL ENEZI
Peninsula Lions
Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah
Walid Al-Tabtabaei
Posted by: Fred ||
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Diagnosis: Electric shock from batteries attached to his testicles, caused heart failure.
Two sensitive districts in held Kashmir went to the polls on Saturday to elect municipal councillors, as some elected Kashmiris resigned after militants' threats. Voting in the two districts of Doda and Udhampur was slow with bad weather keeping most of the people indoors, election officer Deeraj Kumar told AFP from Doda. Four previous rounds of voting have also been incident-free although in the lead up to the vote militants had been bombing rallies and killing candidates, party workers and elected officials in an effort to scuttle the elections. Militants shot dead a frontrunner for the job of mayor of the summer capital Srinagar Wednesday, bringing to four the number of councillors and candidates killed in less than two weeks.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Cuban President Fidel Castro warned the United States on Saturday against plotting to kill his most important ally, Venezuela's leftist President Hugo Chavez. "I say to world public opinion: if they assassinate Chavez, the responsibility will fall squarely on the president of the United States, George W Bush," Castro said.
The Cuban leader, who was the target of CIA assassination plots after his 1959 revolution steered Cuba toward Soviet Communism, gave no evidence that Chavez's life was in danger. But he said the United States would be responsible for killing Chavez even if the Venezuelan military was to carry out the assassination. He added: "If they can eliminate him, they will." Populist Chavez has led oil-rich Venezuela into a close alliance with Cuba, raising fears in Washington of Cuban-style communism taking hold in the South American country, a major supplier of oil to the United States. Castro, 78, boasted that he had survived at least 100 attempts on his life. CIA plots against him included such capers as poisoned cigars, an exploding conch shell and toxin to make his beard fall out. "This comes from a survivor. I have survived," he said in a nearly six-hour speech that lasted into the early hours of Saturday.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
So Fidel is pissed at Hugo over something, and about to whack him?
#2
Please let Castro die soon. Hugo can rant and rave all he wants. If he starts trying to cut off our oil then he needs to worry about getting wacked. He might also want to cool his support for rebels in Columbia. Columbia might very well might just wack him.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
02/13/2005 10:29
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#6
Did anyone else see the footage of him in the news? They pushed him out in a wheel chair and helped him up for some kind of event. I was unaware that his health was getting bad.
#9
Has anyone ever suggested to Castro that if would take the time to organize his thoughts, he could shorten those 6 hour speeches to maybe 3 hours and increase the productivity of his country? Castro is the only man in the world who makes Bill Clinton look laconic.
North Korea on Saturday said the United States was seeking to invade North Korea in order to turn the Korean peninsula into a springboard for its dominance in Asia. Rodong Sinmun, the official daily of the Stalinist country's ruling Korean Workers Party, also accused Washington of exploiting "human rights" issues in order to cover up its hegemonic agenda. The comments came two days after Pyongyang said it would no longer engage in multilateral talks aimed at resolving a stand-off over its nuclear programmes, declaring it had made atomic bombs to protect itself against a US attack.
"It is an invariable ambition of the US to invade the DPRK (North Korea) and dominate Asia with the Korean Peninsula as a springboard and establish a global order of its domination," the daily said. "The US has gone arrogant enough to divide countries of the world into this or that category and pursue a hegemonistic and unilateral policy, styling itself the world 'leader'," it said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Invade NorKieLand? For what? Springboard? To where?
ROFL! Who cares, Kimmie & Co? Your infinite LMS (Little Man Syndrome) is a hugely entertaining and futile tantrum, all spittle and helpless, pointless, powerless puffery - the proverbial tempest in a teacup. Stew, baby, stew.
#2
It's a trick PD. North Korea is worth invading for the intrisic value of the holy mountain and the juche forests. Nork rocks are without equal and the gruel recipes are to die for.
#3
I'd give it an 2 out of 10 except that it was filtered through Pakistan and is thus unreliable. It lost points for the "springboard to dominance" nonsense (though I can imagine a great cartoon) and by accusing Washington of exploiting âhuman rightsâ issues -- a position that seems to actually acknowledge that there are some. No songun, no juche -- but maybe the Pakis just didn't share those with us. At best a 2 in its current form.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/13/2005 13:56
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#4
It was obviously written under the influence of cut White Slag. Disqualified, thus it gets no score.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/13/2005 14:37
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#5
It does have hegemonistic, though... that's gotta be worth a little something.
âIt is an invariable ambition of the US to invade the DPRK (North Korea) and dominate Asia with the Korean Peninsula as a springboard and establish a global order of its domination,
Nah... we just want to give the little guy noogies... that's all.
The government has decided to compile a computer database of the personal profiles of militants of Kashmiri origin. Sources told Daily Times that the profiles would detail the entrants' birthplace, family background, sources of income, parent militant organisation and current militant organisation. The sources said the compilation of the record would begin next month and take three to four months to complete. The government has already started compiling a database of militants of Pakistani origin, the sources said. The purpose of these lists is to keep track of the movements of militants across the country, the sources added.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2005
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A special army investigation team has taken Captain Hammad, the prime suspect in the gangrape of a female doctor at Sui, and five other army personnel into custody after finding fresh evidence, sources said on Saturday. Sources said three used condoms had been found in the doctor's room and DNA tests showed that they were used by one man. DNA tests of the hair found from the doctor's room showed that they were from different people, sources said, adding that some stains were also found on the pillow of her bed.
Sources said that all army personnel in custody including Capt Hammad would have to undergo DNA tests after which the doctor would be called to identify the rapist, Online reported. Major General Shaukat Sultan, the director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), confirmed that Capt Hammad was in custody. "He (Capt Hammad) was taken into custody a few days before," the ISPR DG told Daily Times, adding that he was being investigated.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
If those other Army guys at the gang rape testify against him, the Captain might even get sent to prison.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
02/13/2005 0:34
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A grenade exploded outside the home of a US diplomat in Georgia's capital late on Friday, an Interior Ministry spokesman said. The US diplomat's wife and child, who were the only people in the house at the time, were unhurt, said spokesman Guram Donadze. The grenade was thrown into the yard of the private house which is in an area near the centre of Tbilisi where many foreigners and diplomats live, he said. It was not clear who carried out the attack. The US embassy made no comment. Robberies and kidnappings of foreigners are common in Georgia, a mainly Christian ex-Soviet state of 5 million people, but there is no history of bombings targeting foreign citizens. Earlier this month three police were killed in a car bombing in the town of Gori, near the breakaway region of South Ossetia. President Mikhail Saakashvili said it was a terrorist act aimed at derailing peace talks with the region.
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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.
Iraq's majority Shiite Muslims won nearly half the votes in the nation's Jan. 30 election, giving the long-oppressed group significant power but not enough to form a government on their own. 
Iran rejected a European demand to stop building a heavy-water nuclear reactor that provides a simpler way of extracting weapons-grade fuel, and it warned the United States on Sunday "not to play with fire" by repeatedly threatening Tehran. Iran has indicated previously it will keep its heavy-water reactor, but Sunday's announcement that it will not replace it with a light-water reactor was the clearest statement yet of its nuclear plans and represented a hardening of its position. Both plants in question can be used to enrich uranium, a critical part in nuclear programs, but the extraction of weapons-grade material from a light-water reactor is more difficult. Uranium enriched to low grades is used for fuel in nuclear reactors, but further enrichment makes it suitable for atomic bombs. 
Labor Minister Ghazi Al-Gosaibi blames 'indoctrination that teaches young people they can kill justifiably'. Countering the assertion of many in American academia, a Saudi official said extremist teachings, not poverty or unemployment, are the root causes of terrorism in the kingdom, the homeland of billionaire Osama bin Laden and 15 of the 19 Sept. 11 hijackers.
Pyongyang, February 12 (KCNA) -- Foreigners have expressed their strong admiration for leader Kim Jong Il who has provided wise and dynamic leadership to the field of cinematic art when they visited the revolutionary museum at the DPRK Ministry of Culture. Head of the group of Chinese technicians working for the construction of the Taean Friendship Glass Factory Cui Baoyu, said that the Korean feature film "The Flower Girl", scripted from immortal classics "The Flower Girl", is a flawlessly perfect masterpiece. 
The military also reported the death of rebel Commander 
WASHINGTON — A prominent Egyptian human rights activist has accused President Hosni Mubarak's government of perfecting the art of using scare tactics to repress opposition to his 23-year rule. The 
The leader of a new Pentagon espionage unit has resigned his position, shortly after public disclosure that the Defense Department is expanding into clandestine operations traditionally undertaken by the CIA. The Strategic Support Branch and its departing leader are controversial among the elite special operations forces assigned to work with them on high-risk intelligence missions overseas, some of whom aired complaints in a Jan. 23 Washington Post story about deficits in the training and performance of the unit's officers. Defense officials with firsthand knowledge said the unit's leader, reserve Army Col. George Waldroup, surprised his staff in the first week of February with an announcement that he was stepping down immediately.
...Of equal interest is Booker's second story, which concerns what the Government describes as "a small, technical and non-controversial" Bill now being nodded through Parliament. This will give the equivalent of diplomatic immunity to the employees of a range of 'international organisations", mostly organs of the EU. The "privileges and immunities" it grants will be enjoyed not just by staff members of these bodies, but to all members of their families and 'households'.
MILWAUKEE - John Treslley shakes his head in awe when he thinks about his 20-year-old son driving a Hummer through the minefields of Iraq. "I wish I had half the guts he has," Treslley, 47, says in a whisper.
An official spokesperson for the influential 
Jailed Sudanese politician 
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has branded the United States a "terrorist state" while rejecting Washington's criticism of Caracas for its arms purchase from Russia. Chavez, a fierce critic of US President George Bush and the US-led war in Iraq, on Saturday brushed aside US opposition to the agreement to buy 100,000 automatic rifles and about 40 military helicopters from Moscow. "One has to ask whether there was transparency in the invasion of Iraq. The world knows President Bush lied openly about Iraq having chemical weapons," Chavez said. "They keep on bombing cities, killing children, they have become a terrorist state," he said.
Hizb Allah — the Islamist resistance group based in Lebanon — has denied it was attempting to wreck the Israeli-Palestinian truce. In an interview with the Reuters news agency, the group's Deputy Secretary-General Shaikh Naim Qassim also said that disarming its fighters as demanded by a UN resolution, was not possible "now or in the future". Qassim termed baseless reports that Hizb Allah was trying to recruit Palestinian resistance fighters to derail the latest peace efforts in the Middle East. "They show the existence of an Israeli cell working to spread such ideas before Israeli actions to destroy the truce by repeated aggressions against the Palestinians," he said.
China has failed to heed U.S. warnings to stop missile exports to Iran. U.S. officials said state-owned Chinese defense firms continue to send missile components and technology to Teheran. The officials said that despite repeated warnings the flow of Chinese components and technology has bolstered Iran's medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missile programs. "On numerous occasions we have expressed our concern about these entities to the Chinese government and have asked Beijing to subject exports by these serial proliferators to persistent and close scrutiny," Undersecretary of State John Bolton said. "Unfortunately, we continue to see transfers by these serious proliferators of missile-related items to rogue states and outposts of tyranny such as Iran." Addressing a conference in Tokyo on Feb. 8, Bolton identified China's main missile clients as Iran, Libya, North Korea and Pakistan. He said Chinese state-owned firms have been sanctioned for providing ballistic missile technology to these countries, some of them proliferators themselves.
HOBART, Ind. -- A man whose friends initially said he was killed by gunfire outside a Gary liquor store actually died after he donned what he thought was a bulletproof vest and asked a cohort to shoot him. A friend then shot Daniel Wright with a .20-gauge shotgun, but it turned out the vest Wright had put on Thursday was a flak jacket not designed to stop a bullet. Wright, 20, was mortally wounded in the shooting and died later at a Gary hospital after two of his friends drove him there.
China has accused Japan of a "severe provocation" after Tokyo moved to take over a lighthouse built years ago by right-wing activists on a small, disputed group of islands in the East China Sea. An unidentified official from the Foreign Ministry's Asian department had made solemn representations to the Japanese over the incident, the ministry said in a statement seen on its Web site (www.fmprc.gov.cn) on Saturday. "Japan's actions are a severe provocation and infringement on China's territorial sovereignty and are absolutely unacceptable by the Chinese government and people," the official said. 
The two electoral powerhouses representing Iraq's Shia and Kurdish communities are poised to clinch the countr's two top jobs, with results from the landmark January 30 polls expected any time. "Looking at the partial results, it appears that the Sistani list will have more than 50 percent and that Kurdish parties will come second," said Sunni politician Saad Abdel Razzak. "They should therefore share the posts of president and prime minister between themselves."
Parade, a weekly magazine, has included President Pervez Musharraf among the "world's 10 worst dictators", a listing it published last year as well.
"The al-Qaeda organisation is to be blamed for terrorism in Kuwait and the terrorists are a small group of isolated individuals, says MP Dr 
Hamas promised on Saturday to maintain a de facto truce and, in a major policy change, not to retaliate immediately for any Israeli violence while it weighs Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas's ceasefire with Israel. "Hamas's position regarding calm will continue unchanged and Israel will bear responsibility for any new violation or aggression," Ismail Haniyah, a senior leader of the militant group, told Reuters after talks with Abbas. 
Myanmar leader General Than Shwe on Saturday warned his country to be alert against the West after his military junta was slammed for arresting pro-democracy leaders. "The old and new colonialists alike bent on occupying and holding sway over our union have hatched wicked schemes to weaken our national solidarity which is the foundation of our union," Shwe said.
The interior minister said a jailed terror suspect died of a heart attack and not due to torture, as some lawmakers have suggested, according to remarks published Thursday. 
Two sensitive districts in held Kashmir went to the polls on Saturday to elect municipal councillors, as some elected Kashmiris resigned after militants' threats. Voting in the two districts of Doda and Udhampur was slow with bad weather keeping most of the people indoors, election officer Deeraj Kumar told AFP from Doda. Four previous rounds of voting have also been incident-free although in the lead up to the vote militants had been bombing rallies and killing candidates, party workers and elected officials in an effort to scuttle the elections. Militants shot dead a frontrunner for the job of mayor of the summer capital Srinagar Wednesday, bringing to four the number of councillors and candidates killed in less than two weeks.
Cuban President 
North Korea on Saturday said the United States was seeking to invade North Korea in order to turn the Korean peninsula into a springboard for its dominance in Asia. Rodong Sinmun, the official daily of the Stalinist country's ruling Korean Workers Party, also accused Washington of exploiting "human rights" issues in order to cover up its hegemonic agenda. The comments came two days after Pyongyang said it would no longer engage in multilateral talks aimed at resolving a stand-off over its nuclear programmes, declaring it had made atomic bombs to protect itself against a US attack.
A special army investigation team has taken Captain Hammad, the prime suspect in the gangrape of a female doctor at Sui, and five other army personnel into custody after finding fresh evidence, sources said on Saturday. Sources said three used condoms had been found in the doctor's room and DNA tests showed that they were used by one man. DNA tests of the hair found from the doctor's room showed that they were from different people, sources said, adding that some stains were also found on the pillow of her bed.
A grenade exploded outside the home of a US diplomat in Georgia's capital late on Friday, an Interior Ministry spokesman said. The US diplomat's wife and child, who were the only people in the house at the time, were unhurt, said spokesman Guram Donadze. The grenade was thrown into the yard of the private house which is in an area near the centre of Tbilisi where many foreigners and diplomats live, he said. It was not clear who carried out the attack. The US embassy made no comment. Robberies and kidnappings of foreigners are common in Georgia, a mainly Christian ex-Soviet state of 5 million people, but there is no history of bombings targeting foreign citizens. Earlier this month three police were killed in a car bombing in the town of Gori, near the breakaway region of South Ossetia. President Mikhail Saakashvili said it was a terrorist act aimed at derailing peace talks with the region.
