THE United Nations — desperately in need of some positive spin — is considering a ploy to steal some of the Norwegian Nobel thunder by launching its own annual peace prize. It doesn't hurt that the highly politicized Nobel Peace Prize has been bestowed to such unpeaceful types as Yasser Arafat and appeasers like Jimmy Carter. "The United Nations peace prize would be announced each year with the fanfare of a Live Aid-like concert, to be broadcast on a youth channel like MTV," said one source. "In the face of widespread corruption in Iraq's oil-for-food program, weapons proliferation and terrorism, it strikes one as both tone-deaf and feckless of them even to have that on the table."
Wonder if Koffi will award himself the prize?
Posted by: Steve ||
12/06/2004
9:55:28 AM ||
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#1
Wow. Just when you couldn't think of anything more meaningless than a Nobel Peace Price comes... the UN Peace Prize.
#7
You get a plaque, a picture of you and Kofi, and a lovely blender.
No doubt Saddam will be the first winner.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
12/06/2004 12:18
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I'm betting on Kimmie-boy-the-baby-killer (N. Korea) for the first UNpeace prize followed closely by whatever is in charge in Sudan and the the Mullah's of Iran....
Saddam is a big disappointment to the UN since he is no longer in power and cant torture his own people any more.
#16
The United Nations peace prize would be announced each year with the fanfare of a Live Aid-like concert, to be broadcast on a youth channel like MTV.
I can see it now: hosted by Ben Affleck, with special appearances by the VichyBlixie Dixie Chicks, Green Day, Ashlee Simpson & Her Lip-Sync Orchestra, Barbara Streisand, Joan Bayez, Bruce Springsteen, Tone-Loc, the surviving members of the Village People, . . . .
Posted by: Mike ||
12/06/2004 15:12
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the prize is a beautiful statuette of a UN member dining on a mound of dead women and children.
The Budwiser Coors Miller Center for Public Affairs at the University of Virginia is to announce plans today to record an oral history of the life and career of Senator Edward M. Kennedy, a six-year, multimillion-dollar project that is the center's first effort to chronicle the history of a sitting senator.
"It's Miller Time!"
Kennedy, who suggested the project and will extort raise money to cover its $3.5 million cost, will sit for 75 hours of talks with the center, which also plans to interview more than 100 of the veteran senator's former and current staff members, colleagues from both sides of the aisle, family, and other notable figures who have known him.
Pity Mary Jo is still dead.
While the center has completed an oral history of President Jimmy Carter and is completing similar projects for presidents George H. W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton, it has never made a senator the subject of a historical study. Kennedy will be able to provide insights into the presidency of his brother, John F. Kennedy. Although the senator, who earned his law degree at the University of Virginia, will raise money to fund the project, he will not control who is interviewed or what questions are asked, said Stephen Knott, associate professor at the Miller Center.
Right, and I've got this bridge for sale....
Historians said they could not recall a case in which such an exhaustive project was undertaken for a senator, especially a sitting senator. ''This is very unusual. Even an important senator or president will write a memoir or do some interviews with a ghost writer, and that is basically it," said historian Michael R. Beschloss. But the oral history project Kennedy will participate in ''is just the way an historian would like to see it done -- without fear or favor," he said.
Uh huh
Kennedy said the project does not presage the close of his 42-year Senate career. He intends to run for a ninth term in 2006, he said. The project will also touch on the senator's sometimes rocky personal and family life, Knott and others said. While the questions have not been written yet, historians said they expect that the center would address the Chappaquiddick episode and other nonpolicy-related matters.
You mean like his alcoholism and the family habit of dropping their pants at the drop of a waitress?
Posted by: Steve ||
12/06/2004
9:43:34 AM ||
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#1
Teddy's history? It's just water under the bridge, man.
#7
Especially moving will be the interviews with young Teddy's swimming instructor, as well as the 312 upstairs maids his family went trhough during his teenage years.
#9
Heh, Heh-heh, they said oral. With appologies to Beavis and Butthead.
Posted by: Jim K ||
12/06/2004 13:41
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#10
I suppose there is someone who holds some regard for this lefty socialist windbag. I for one do not , nor do I know anyone who does. Just another pat on your back thing to be covered widely by the self fulfilling MSM in my mind.
Posted by: Bill Nelson ||
12/06/2004 14:18
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Last Wednesday, Norm Coleman, a Republican from Minnesota and co-chairman of the U.S. Senate subcommittee investigating the United Nations oil-for-food program in Iraq, called on UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to resign in a commentary published in The Wall Street Journal. While Britain, Germany, France, Russia and China quickly rallied to Mr. Annan's defence, there can be no doubt that the senator is correct: Mr. Annan has to go.
As Mr. Coleman argues, "the most extensive fraud in the history of the United Nations occurred on [Mr. Annan's] watch." Over the decade-long run of the oil-for-food program, the UN and several member states looked on as Saddam Hussein siphoned off at least 20% of its $100-billion revenues for his personal use. Hundreds of millions went to rebuilding the Iraqi army; more was paid out in kickbacks to Western politicians, governments, political parties, journalists and UN officials who looked the other way. Tens of millions funded terrorist training and operations around the world, particularly among Palestinians. The grandiose, sprawling palaces U.S. troops discovered when they liberated Baghdad and other Iraqi cities were constructed by Saddam and his family with the proceeds from oil sales meant to pay for food and medicines for ordinary Iraqis. Critics of the American- and British-backed sanctions against Iraq that were in place from the early 1990s until the 2003 invasion claimed they were responsible for the deaths of 100,000 Iraqis per year through malnutrition and disease. But we now know it was Saddam's lust for gold plumbing fixtures and weapons that caused the lion's share of Iraqi hardship.
snip
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/06/2004
9:40:55 AM ||
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#1
Kofi should go--Kofi should stay. Who cares which way? If the goons and hoods national representatives keep Kofi, our funding dries up. If someone else comes in, they will not have the authority to make the needed changes. The UN is too rotted out to fix. It is the dead skunk in the middle of the road, stinking to high heaven. (With apologies to Loudon Wainwright III)
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/06/2004 11:24
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As many as a dozen homes in a new housing development burned down early Monday morning, and Maryland fire investigators suspect arson.
Can you say "ELF"?
The upscale Hunters Brooke subdivision in Charles County was still under construction; home prices ranged from $400,000 to $500,000, WTOP radio reported. As many as 100 firefighters were called out to fight the house fires. Environmentalists opposed construction of the 300-home enclave. According to WTOP, the Sierra Club said the construction would "destroy a forest adjacent to state-preserved wildlands and severely degrade one of Maryland's largest magnolia bogs."
Sounds like a Eco-Terror arson job to me. EFL doesn't always announce their work with a press release, but it's got their fingerprints all over it.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/06/2004
9:26:08 AM ||
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"the Sierra Club said the construction would "destroy a forest..."
"So we burned it down! Now they'll have to...er...cut down more trees to replace the lumber...D'OH!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/06/2004 9:52
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#2
The local news radio is busily wringing its hands: "O, why did this happen? Who could do such a thing?"
#4
Instead of torching someone's legally bought property they should have petitioned the state on conservation principles if those arguments were legitimate. I'm not an enviro-nut but am a big time conservationist in the spirit of Teddy Roosevelt. Same thing is happening here on the NC coast, developers are fighting w/locals over building on wetlands, endangered species habitats etc. Nasty court battles to ensue, which is better then destroying private property. We are not doing a very good job in this country (imho) of city planning and controlling sprawl. No forethought for posterity.
#6
Jarhead, native species tend to be pretty resilient (the whole "producing more offspring than the environment can support" thing that Darwin noticed). Give them half a chance, and they will recolonize their original range, and then some. Its been observed that if a small part of a coastal fishing range is left untouched, it acts as a nursery, and fish numbers quickly rebound. The lady who with me co-chaired our elementary school nature preserve got me started planting species native to our county, and now the plants in my little 1/3 acre woods are colonizing the neighbor's gardens. Animal life appears to be following the plants (I've got salamanders, box turtles, chipmunks, and at least one very rare snake in addition to the usual garter snakes and black snakes...and of course birds). If you are interested, I've got some good catalogs!
#7
ELF, ALF (Animal Lib. Front), the UK ARM (Animal Rights Militia) and PETA are all in this ecoterrorism movement right along with the Sierra Club. There have been some previous Rantburg posts about ELF's non-charismatic Craig Rosebraugh, who has no qualms about advocating violence.
Posted by: Dar ||
12/06/2004 12:42
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severely degrade one of Maryland's largest magnolia bogs
Anyone consider the option of planting lots of magnolias throughout the suburban development?
December 6, 2004: No one really noticed, but the pass rate of those in training to be U.S. Navy SEAL commandos has gone way up. But the navy isn't worried about the quality slipping. One of the rarely discussed, or even mentioned, aspects of the SEAL training was that the number passing in each class depended more on how many SEALs the navy needed, than on the quality of the candidates. The final cut was not made randomly. Increasingly difficult (like sitting in the cold California surf at night until enough people passed out) tasks would be assigned to the students until enough failed to leave the magic number of candidates the navy had jobs for. One could say that this was simply a way to get the best of the best, or grading on the curve. And many SEALs accepted it as a reasonable way to train elite fighters. But the fact remains that many qualified trainees were flunked. Now, everyone that qualifies, gets to be a SEAL. The navy is expanding the SEAL force and needs all the qualified people it can get. It's doubtful that there will be any noticeable decline in the quality of SEAL commandos.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/06/2004
9:16:47 AM ||
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"Itâs doubtful that there will be any noticeable decline in the quality of SEAL commandos."
-yeah, bullshit. There's a reason why 5'7" white boys who run a 5.4 40 yard dash don't play in the NFL (disclaimer for punters/place kickers).
#3
I don't know, but the bad thing - whether or not StrategyPage is right - is that any degradation will be noticed mainly at the cost of SEALs' lives :-(
#4
Frankly the Navy has flushed a lot of high quality folks out of BUDS for the very reason the article states: Navy needs 40 SEALs that year and they aren't going to graduate 41. The unfortunate thing for the Navy is that you can't disperse BUDS graduates throughout the fleet, like the Army does with Rangers. A SEAL is of little use in an engineroom.
I met guys in the surface Navy who had the misfortune of spraining an ankle two days before Hell Week. Can't run, can't graduate, and the Surface Navy gets another batch of embittered sailors.
#5
Well, Dreadnought, maybe this means that your embittered sailors will get another shot and if they pass again, be confirmed? :)
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
12/06/2004 17:46
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Only 40 per year? Is it really the case that the quality of #s 51-100 is significantly lower than for #s 1-40?
To use the NFL analogy, that would be like saying the NFL's capable of filling out only one Pro Bowl squad. Doubt it. It's a big country, I'm sure we can come up with another 100 or so standouts for the SEALS program. We're fighting a global war on dozens of fronts across Africa, middle east, south and central and east Asia. We need all the talent we can get.
#7
Lex, the article says "Now, everyone that qualifies, gets to be a SEAL."
a lot of people qualify to be Marines to, doesn't mean they get to be Marines or should be Marines, just that they qualify. Take it from someone whose been through some grueling military ran schools, that's a big difference.
#8
a lot of people qualify to be Marines to, doesn't mean they get to be Marines or should be Marines, just that they qualify.
What Jarhead meant to say was:
There's an upper level of "qualification" and a "lower" level. When the need is greatest....ALL "qualified" personnel are accepted for training, and MAY, after successfully completing training...graduate.
When the need is reduced...only the BEST qualified are accepted for training, but they still have to graduate before the "bear the title Marine", or SEAL, if that's their wont.
A group of Muslims has reported a Danish broadcaster to the police for repeatedly airing a controversial film about Muslim oppression of women, Danish media reported on Sunday.
Some 20 Muslims are pressing charges against Danish public broadcaster Danmarks Radio (DR) for airing recently murdered Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh`s film "Submission" in its entirety, as well as for repeatedly showing clips from the film in newscasts.
"My clients feel deeply offended," Laue Traberg Smidt, the lawyer representing the group, told DR on Sunday, adding that both Muslim clerics and members of the general public were among his clients.
"They have all come to me independently of each other because they feel that Danmarks Radio has gone too far, and that it is ignoring that the film is seen as an extraordinarily serious and manipulative insult against their religion," he added.
Van Gogh was brutally murdered on November 2 by a suspected Islamic radical apparently angered by his portrayal of Islam in the film, which shows women talking about abuse dressed in see-through robes with texts from the Koran painted on their bodies.
DR news director Lisbeth Knudsen rejected that the broadcaster`s decision to air the film and clips from the film constituted incitement to religious hatred.
"We are not airing clips from the film to feed on sensationalism or to offend those who have been offended by it (the film). We show these clips to put the debate over limited or unlimited freedom of speech into perspective," she said.
Posted by: tipper ||
12/06/2004
9:15:09 AM ||
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Actually they may have a point. Granted, this mini-movie is very important, but it's only one movie. They should produce dozens of others, a wholescale deluge that depicts wife and child abusers as utter monsters, who drink liquor and eat roast pork on the sly and are secret devil worshippers, while pretending to be pious and moralistic. These villains should get their comeuppance, too, by women who suddenly refuse to stand for their antics. Previously abused women who just happen to have a butcher's knife under their dress, which comes out halfway through a beating, and *scene ends*. Well, you wouldn't want to depict *violence*, now would you?
While the results of this year's American election may have liberal Democrats and much of the extended international community shaking their heads in disbelief, a surprising number of Arabs seem to have not only expected President George W. Bush's return to power but also supported it. Since I began teaching in Damascus six months ago, I have been continually surprised to find support and even admiration for Bush in that city, mixed in with the usual polemics about American imperialism. The presumed wildfire of anti-American and anti-Bush sentiment that has consumed much of Europe and Asia has apparently skipped over parts of the Arab world, where people often have more in common with Middle America than they do with the Middle East... "But doesn't he scare you?" I asked finally, unable to contain my personal feelings and throwing the lesson plan out the window. "Because of Bush's ideas many people in my country think that all of you are terrorists." Rahaf and most of the others just shrugged. Maybe that was all true, they said, but he was still a good president... An interesting combination. They both respect Bush and utterly abhor many things the liberal left support.
Posted by: Anonymoose ||
12/06/2004
9:13:58 AM ||
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It's that strong horse thing Binny talked about.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/06/2004 9:41
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#2
What a novel take on the American election by a professor. Bush won because the proletariat are a bunch of homophobic, gun-totin', religious-sheep, ignorami. Such deep and insightful thought.
#3
What the libs don't understand is that in other cultures, strength is respected. Negotiation is a sign of weakness. Arabs do abhor the exporting of porn, abortion and drugs which have come to represent America to much of the world.
Posted by: John Simmins ||
12/06/2004 10:27
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#4
Actually, negotiating itself isn't a sign of weakness. It's not establishing that you will negotiate from a position of strength (which can be as simple as pointing out that what the other party is delivering is not what was originally promised).
And thus I came to realize something that the Democrats could never admit: that there exists a support base for both the Republicans' domestic and foreign agenda among the very people we thought most opposed current U.S. policy. The cultural background and value systems which inform many of these young Arabs' outlook on the world mean they will always favor men like Bush over men like Kerry. The tenets of faith, family and, yes, "moral issues" determine the overall political leanings of a considerable number of the Middle East's future leaders, in rejection of Democratic stump issues like increased liberalism, internationalism and scientific progress.
Though Democrats are often quick to criticize their opponents for seeing the issues in stark black and white, "us and them" terms, perhaps they ought to step back from their own obsession with "red" and "blue" dichotomies and recognize this nuance of Middle Eastern reality. Having a truly even-handed and practical approach to peace in the Arab world means realizing that not everyone, and certainly not all of the elites in Arab society, sympathize with the anti-American movements taking place within their own ranks, and that these heartland Arabs could prove a valuable ally in future U.S.-Arab relations.
Iran has launched what officials termed its largest military exercise ever. Officials said the Iran Army began the exercise on Dec. 3 in western Iran near the border with Iraq. They said the aim of the exercise was to demonstrate ground force capabilities and weaponry in an effort to deter any attack from the United States. U.S. officials said the administration wants to increase defense and security cooperation with Saudi Arabia which is regarded as the key to the U.S.-led war against Al Qaida and the containment of Iran in the region, according to the current edition of Geostrategy-Direct.com.
The exercise tested a range of indigenous missiles, rockets, armored personnel carriers, main battle tanks and unmanned aerial vehicles developed over the last decade. Officials said many of these weapons and platforms were introduced into service over the last two years, Middle East Newsline reported Officials said the exercise included 10 infantry divisions as well as artillery, missile and electronic warfare units. They said the air force was providing support for ground units as part of a demonstration of the interoperability between the services. The exercise also contained seven brigades and three air transport units. Four artillery units also participated in the exercise, which covered an area of 100,000 square kilometers in the provinces of Islam, Hamadan, Kermanshah, Khozstan and Lorestan. During the live fire exercise, Iranian infantry troops fired mortars and rocket-propelled grenades in an effort to block a mock ground invasion from Iraq. The air force was said to have transported equipment as well as carried out attacks in support of the ground forces.
In Manama, Iran and its Gulf Cooperation Council neighbors discussed a new regional security regime. Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi told a Gulf security conference in the Bahraini capital on Sunday that what he termed "a collective security project" would ban its members from "signing unilateral agreements with outside powers that may threaten, directly or indirectly the security of other countries." "The new regional organization would combat all sorts of terrorism and violence," Kharazi said in a message read at the conference.
#4
Now would be a good time for the US to attack, think of how confusing and then demoralizing it would be to their armed forces to be wiped out in hours.
#5
In war the Revolut Guards and collusory military units will suffer the same fate as Saddam's forces - their real plan to wage static guerilla war like Saddam's loyalists while using the anti-America UNO and LeftMedias to do damage, ala "NO WMDS IN IRAN". Post-Kerry the Left is still out to discredit and "justify" Socialism and OWG upon the USA, even iff it means putting the lives of millions of American citizens and warriors at risk of injury or death vv regional war(s) and new terror attacks. They are now promo themselves not only as the "NEW GOP/RIGHT", or the "REAL GOP/RIGHT", but as the PARTY OF REASON, FAIRNESS, AND JUSTICE, like your old school teachers reviewing and grading your homework, threatening you to either redo your work, shape up, or your parents will be called for conference, needing to do this or that.
#6
Pragmatically, US Battlespace/MilTech Dominance + AYMMETRIC WARFARE > America's enemies need GROUPS OR MASSES OF ARMIES, GOVTS, NATIONS or REGIONS just to achieve warfighting PARITY/
SUFFICIENCY/ECONOMIES against US Milfors. Think of the Mullahs and NorKor as part of the Clintons DIALECTIC "CENTRISM" and "THIRD WAY" , aka THIRD -PARTY OR TERTIARY ALIBISTS in jurisprudence-based lawyerspeak, committing crimes by using the law or working with the law, not against it, sub i.e committing a crime(s) by not committing a crime(s). Thus INTERNAT/GLOBAL WAR FOR SOCIALISM/COMMUNISM/OWG = MERITORIOUS DEFENSE AGAINST US [and only US] IMPERIALISM, AGGRESSION, AND "FASCISM" even though under Clintonism every American and GOP-DEM is a "FASCIST" DESERVING OF DESTRUCTION, iff only surreally!?
At least four explosive devices detonated Monday around Spain after telephone warnings from callers claiming to speak on behalf of the armed Basque separatist group ETA, news report said. Explosions were reported in Leon and Santillana del Mar in the north, and Avila and Ciudad Real in central Spain, the news agency Europa Press reported. There was no immediate word on injuries or damage.
UPDATE:
ETA has bombed seven cities in attacks timed to coincide with a national holiday marking the anniversary of the signing of Spain's modern democratic constitution. The bombs went off shortly after two anonymous callers claiming to speak for the terrorist group told a Basque newspaper the names of the cities that had been targeted. The Spanish Interior Ministry said three people including two police officers were injured in the central city of Ciudad Real and two more in northern Santillana del Mar. Blasts were reported shortly after 1.30pm on Monday in the northern cities of Leon, Santillana del Mar, Valladolid and Avila, and in Ciudad Real, Alicante and Malaga in the south. A woman and a girl suffered light injuries in the blast in Santillana del Mar, in northern Spain. No other injuries have so far been reported. Police had enough time to try to evacuate the areas in which they believed the bombs had been placed. But in at least three cases, a false location had been given by the anonymous caller.
In Leon a bomb went off, causing light damage, in a cafeteria in a central square that had been evacuated after it was identified by the first caller, said local police. Valladolid's central square, which was full of tourists, was also evacuated and sealed off. A low-intensity bomb went off in a cafeteria there that was closed, police said. In Santillana del Mar, a bomb went off in the parking lot of a zoo, police said. All the attacks were timed to show ETA's opposition to the Spanish state as they went off on Spain's Day of the Constitution, which marks the 26th anniversary of the signing of the democratic constitution in 1978.
The latest attacks on Monday follow five bomb blasts at petrol service stations in Madrid on Friday in which seven people suffered minor injuries. The attacks caused major disruption to traffic on the eve of a holiday weekend, in what authorities said was likely the work of Basque separatist group ETA. Spanish Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso, in a live address to the nation on Spanish television, said "everything points to ETA" in the first attacks to hit the Spanish capital since the 11 March train bombings earlier this year, which killed 191 and injured nearly 2,000. The low-intensity blasts went off at nearly the same time in the early evening shortly after a caller to the Basque newspaper Gara, claiming to represent the militant separatist group, warned the attacks were imminent.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/06/2004
8:57:21 AM ||
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Seems that ETA is not learning the Al-Qaida lesson: Murder a few hundred Spaniards without warning, and the government will accede to your most pressing demands.
The grave marker in the front row of Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery looks like almost every other marker in that precise arrangement on the grassy burial ground, but for Sikhs, it is one of a kind. Under that gray-white headstone lies Sgt. Uday Singh, the first U.S. soldier of the Sikh faith killed in the war in Iraq. A group of three dozen Sikh people from the area came yesterday morning to honor the first anniversary of the 21-year-old Army gunner's death in Iraq with a modest service, and just as important, to remind the rest of the world that Sikhs are Americans. ...
The youths at the ceremony wore the typical trappings of U.S. teenagers -- Old Navy fleece jackets and designer boots. But they carried their heritage as well, leading their parents and fellow churchgoers in a centuries-old battle cry that Sikhs yelled when fighting Moguls who were trying to forcibly convert everyone to Islam. "Whoever replies to this chant . . . " the children shouted in the Punjabi language. "Let them be victorious!" the adults responded.
Sgt. Uday Singh was on patrol in Habbinayah, Iraq Dec. 1 when an enemy ambush took his life.
Singh, an armor crewman with the 1st Battalion, 34th Armored Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, was honored posthumously in a Jan. 12 ceremony in which his parents accepted the Meritorious Service Medal and the Purple Heart on his behalf.
âHe was a courageous young boy and the Army was in his blood, and he died with honor,ââ said his mother, Manjit Singh.
Singhâs father, Preet Singh, is a colonel in the Indian Army. The parents flew in from India to accept the awards. Col. Singh spent time with Soldiers that knew his son at a luncheon, thanking them for their service and the friendship they had with his son.
A Panhandle couple is under arrest after notifying police Thursday that their quarter-pound stash of marijuana was stolen and that they needed the weed back, because they were going to later sell it. "They're America's dumbest criminals," said Lt. Ricky Ramie, head of the Bay County Sheriff's Office narcotics task force. Deputies arrested 18-year-old John Douglas Sheetz and 17-year-old Misty Ann Holmes and charged the duo with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver and possession of drug paraphernalia. According to the police report, the couple returned to the home they share and found the home broken into and a quarter-pound of marijuana missing. They immediately called authorities to report the break-in and theft.
"Dude, where's my dope?"
Police said the couple told them they were going to resell the marijuana and allowed the detectives to search the apartment. Investigators discovered several marijuana stems among other drug paraphernalia during the search, The News Herald in Panama City reported for Saturday editions.
Easiest bust they ever made.
They were taken to the Bay County Jail and are each being held on $17,500 bond.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/06/2004
8:44:29 AM ||
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The truly sad thing was that the pot was later found in the apartment, hidden in a box of laundry soap. John said "Dude! I knew Misty would never look there!"
#7
This is very typical of Florida. I lived in Ft. Lauderdale and you did NOT need a T.V. you could sit outside and watch car's being stolen out of the parking lot's of ones complex or the shopping malls. You see a Toyota Four Runner used with 50.000 miles on it was shipped out of Port Authority in Miami and sent to Iran, Iraq and re sold for $35,000.00 any U.S. 4x4 was
priceless overseas. A couple from the mid west was vacationing in Ft. Lauderdale and while at the beach they found a neat package that "floated up onto the beach". They wondered what it was....while carrying it back to their car, they were stopped by beach patrol and arrested for possession. The elderly couple thought they found a "present". A co worker of mine had rented a Toyota from the Ft. Lauderdale
INternational Airport and was stopped at the end of an exit ramp in Ft. Lauderdale, a car hit Mark from behind ...so Mark reported the accident to Hertz, Hertz road service came out gave Mark a new car and towed the damaged Toyota back to the airport. At 2 a.m. the Ft. Lauderdale police were knocking on Marks' door He was being arrested for transporting drugs...You see in trunk of the damaged toyota rent a car "someone"
who rented the car before Mrk did had forgotten their "stash" and Mark was now to "take the fall". Florida can be like Manhattan, fast and nice to visit, but NOT reside there. I lasted
10 weeks and moved back to Massachusetts.
END OF STORY *
Andrea
Posted by: andrea ||
12/06/2004 17:33
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#8
You are probably correct on your diagnosis!
Ignorance of the law is no excuse! Too bad
F.Lee Bailey use to practice law in Florida
before his "legal termoil and disbarment".
He was hired by many and highly recommended.
Andrea
Posted by: andrea ||
12/06/2004 18:00
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Albania's government on Friday declared that an emigrant who died fighting as a U.S. Marine in Iraq is an Albanian martyr. Cpl. Gentian Marku, 22, of Warren, Mich., was killed in Fallujah on Thanksgiving. He emigrated to the United States at age 14. "Upon the proposal from the premier (Fatos Nano), soldier Gentian Marku was declared a Martyr of Homeland," government spokesman Aldrin Dalipi said. Marku was the second Albanian emigrant killed fighting with U.S. troops in Iraq. Albania, a small, predominantly Muslim country, backed the U.S.-led campaign and has sent 71 of its own troops to Iraq. Marku's body was expected to arrive in Albania on Monday for burial at his home village of Piraj, 40 miles north of the capital, Tirana, accompanied by two Marines. "All the proper honors will be held at his birthplace," Dalipi said. According to a profile posted last year on the Pentagon's Web site, Marku said moving to America transformed him from a trouble-making teen to a respectful, responsible person. "Everything changed when I got to the United States," he said. "I started studying. I stayed out of trouble, and I got my first job as a busboy." Marku, a 2001 graduate of Warren Woods Tower High School, had wanted to be a Warren police officer but could not do so until he was 21. He thought joining the Marines might give him an advantage in the police academy.
#2
Marku, a 2001 graduate of Warren Woods Tower High School, had wanted to be a Warren police officer but could not do so until he was 21. He thought joining the Marines might give him an advantage in the police academy.
3rd verse "Marine's Hymn"
Here's health to you and to our Corps
Which we are proud to serve;
In many a strife we've fought for life
And never lost our nerve.
If the Army and the Navy
Ever look on Heaven's scenes,
They will find the streets are guarded
By United States Marines.
A next-generation leukemia pill designed to help patients not cured by the successful drug Gleevec works even better than doctors had hoped, researchers said on Sunday. The new drug, made by Bristol-Myers Squibb, put 86 percent of patients who tried it into remission -- meaning signs of their cancer disappeared, the researchers said. Although this was only a Phase I trial meant to show the drug was safe, the effects were dramatic, the doctors told a meeting in San Diego of the American Society of Hematology. "Certainly it is wonderful. It will save lives," said Dr. Alan Kinniburgh, senior vice president of research for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, which helped sponsor the study.
Rumors of the new drug's success have been leaking for months because cancer experts are so excited by the results. Oncologists hope the approach may work in many other cancers, too. The new drug is being tested in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia, which affects about 4,400 Americans a year and 10,000 people around the world. The drug is known by its experimental name BMS-354825. During the trial, also financed by Bristol-Myers, 31 of 36 patients with advanced CML who had not been helped by Gleevec had a complete hematologic response, meaning their bodies stopped producing leukemia cells. This translates to an 86 percent remission rate, said Dr. Charles Sawyers, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at the University of California Los Angeles who is helping test the drug.
Gleevec, made by Swiss drug company Novartis, targets an enzyme called BCR-ABL that leukemia cells use to proliferate. It attaches to the cancerous cells and stops them from growing and spreading. Sold in Europe under the name Glivec, it was the first "targeted" cancer drug. It made headlines when it was approved in 2001 because never before had a simple pill shown such dramatic effects in cancer. Later on Sunday Novartis will report on its new compound AMN107, dubbed "super Glivec," also designed to overcome the weaknesses in Gleevec. Gleevec, or imatinib, is Novartis's second-biggest product, with sales in the first nine months of this year of $1.1 billion. But in a few patients, perhaps 12 percent, the cancer cells mutate just enough to slip out of Gleevec's grip. The cancer comes back. So some of the researchers who worked on Gleevec teamed with Bristol-Myers Squibb to develop the new pill, which is less picky about how it grabs onto a cancer cell to deactivate it.
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After 10 months of unsuccessful job applications, Christian Noelte accepted a position paying 1.50 euros ($1.99) an hour. Noelte is one of the first volunteers for a controversial German work promotion scheme paying far below a living wage. The government hopes it will drive the long-term unemployed back to work or at least make them more employable. Critics say the posts will exacerbate, rather than alleviate, the problems of Germany's labor market, potentially destroying existing positions and cutting the incentive to work.
The jobs are not as bad as they seem. Those earning the meager monthly salaries of up to 180 euros ($239) retain their jobless benefits. Noelte, 25, was one of about 300 people who applied for 70 low-paying jobs in the Berlin suburb of Spandau. The positions also offer the promise of something better. Noelte worked previously as a gas and water system installer but now has a nine-month stint at a nursing home -- a change he hopes will prove to future employers that he is keen to work. "For me it's an opportunity to make myself more attractive to an employer and to show that I have drive," he said.
Part of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's controversial labor market reforms, the scheme starts officially in January. An extensive pilot program aims to employ around 50,000 long-term unemployed by the end of this year. There had been talk of 600,000 such posts by the end of 2005, but that target has been cut to about 350,000. Thousands of Germans have taken to the streets to protest the labor market reforms, which include benefit cuts for the long-term unemployed and increased pressure on them to take up jobs even if they are overqualified. The new scheme's posts were instantly dubbed "one euro jobs" by Germany's media, although the Federal Labor Office prefers "top-up job." The official title is "extra expense allowance" or MAE for short.
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#3
Cut the German draft and go to an all voluntary force. This will open up some jobs that are currently taken by pacfists in the draft program and will certainly save Germany a boatload of money since they don't really need an army they won't really use anyway.
Every German schoolroom should display a stuffed Dutchman as a horrible example to youth, wrote the poet Heinrich Heine in 1831. For Americans, the horrible example to youth at the taxidermist shop is Western Europe. Last month the US re-elected a president despised by enormous European majorities. Europeans hate and fear the United States, but Americans barely can summon the energy to ignore Europe, which they have written off as a decadent and soon-to-disappear civilization.
In the major newspapers of the US east coast, to be sure, Europeans continue to read about their sad little concerns. What "red state" Americans hear, by contrast, is that Europe is dying, like the now-vanished "evil empire" of Soviet communism. I have been viewing a video titled The Siege of Western Civilization (Storm King Press, www.stormkingpress.com, US$19.95) in which a former US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) official, Herbert Meyer, advises Americans on what they may do to avoid Europe's dreadful fate. Meyer's Siege video better reflects America's mood than the international pages of The New York Times.
When the administration of president Ronald Reagan determined that Soviet communism could be crushed, not merely contained, I observed recently, CIA director William J Casey "routinely ignored the legions of Russian-studies PhDs, reaching out instead to irregulars who could give him the insights he required" (How America can win the intelligence war, June 15). Herbert Meyer led the irregulars who broke with the established CIA view to argue that the Soviet economy was at the edge of breakdown.
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Saudi Arabia yesterday criticized its neighbors for forging separate economic and security agreements with foreign powers, accusing them of weakening Gulf solidarity.
"It is alarming to see some members of the GCC enter into separate bilateral agreements with international powers in both the security and economic spheres, taking precedence over the need to act collectively," said Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal.
"These separate arrangements are not compatible with the spirit of the charter of the Gulf Cooperation Council. They diminish the collective bargaining power and weaken not only the solidarity of the GCC as a whole but also each of its members in both the intermediate and long terms," he told a conference in Manama on security in the Gulf.
"In the economic sphere, the agreements entered into are in clear violation of the GCC's economic accords and decisions. What is more important, these agreements impede the progressive steps needed to achieve full GCC economic integration... They will ultimately have a negative impact on the economic sectors in all GCC countries, which in turn will have dire consequences and will adversely affect the GCC business community," he said.
The GCC, which groups Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, is due to hold a summit in Manama later this month. Saudi Arabia is the only GCC state that is not a member of the World Trade Organization.
"In the military sphere, any agreement with a third party cannot compensate or substitute for the necessity of developing the indigenous resources of the GCC," the foreign minister said. In2002 , Kuwait renewed for a second10 -year term a defense pact with the United States and it also has a defense pact with Britain. Qatar also signed a defense agreement with the United States in2002 .
Prince Saud stressed that the GCC states must realize that their individual and collective needs are best served by uniting economically and militarily, and developing a clear security strategy.
GCC foreign and finance ministers will meet in Manama tomorrow ahead of this month's GCC summit, which is to focus on economic integration and fighting terrorism.
The meeting will review progress on plans for a common market and a unified currency ahead of the Dec.20 - 21summit in the Bahraini capital, GCC Secretary-General Abdul Rahman Al-Attiyah said in a statement from the group's Riyadh headquarters.
In their bid to establish a monetary union in2005 , a common market in 2007 and a single currency at the start of2010 , the GCC states have agreed on several key criteria to bring their economic and fiscal policies closer.
The ministers will also discuss relations with other economic groups, including the European Union, in addition to regional and international developments and combating terrorism, Al-Attiyah said.
Their meeting will also focus on the situation in Iraq, developments in the Middle East peace process and relations with Iran, including its territorial dispute with the UAE over three strategic islands, he added.
Al-Attiyah has also said that the summit will discuss a feasibility study by Kuwait to build a railway linking the GCC states.
Serious safety breaches were found last year at a Commission-owned nuclear plant in the Netherlands, but further investigations were blocked by authorities, it has emerged.
According to Dutch daily De Volkskrant on Saturday (4 December), a police raid in September 2003 revealed dangerous abuses of environmental and safety standards at a reactor based in Petten, which is owned by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre.
However, documents from the Dutch Justice Ministry, obtained by the paper, show that the Dutch government hindered further judicial investigations against the plant.
The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs allegedly feared a diplomatic conflict with the European Commission.
The Commission had stated in a series of letters to the Dutch authorities that it would find prosecution of the Petten plant staff unacceptable, as Commission employees working at Petten possess legal immunity in the Netherlands.
Ongoing investigations against the plant by the Dutch public prosecutor were therefore hastily broken off in March 2004.
Explosion risk
However, after the police raid, Dutch prosecution authorities characterised the situation at Petten as very serious.
The investigations had revealed that toxic waste was stored without protection, bearing a risk of explosion.
De Volkskrant quotes concerned Dutch officials at the Public Prosecutors Office, who fear a situation of lawlessness at the Commission's power plant.
One official is quoted as saying that a "nuclear free-haven" has been created at Petten.
However, both the Joint Research Centre and the Dutch Ministry for the Environment reacted over the weekend saying that after a series of recent improvements, safety at the plant is now guaranteed.
French president Jacques Chirac has suggested three conditions before EU membership talks with Turkey can begin.
First, it must be clear to Turkey that negotiations could end with much less than full EU membership, Mr Chirac has insisted, according to the Financial Times.
Mr Chirac has also underlined the ultimate right of the French people to reject Turkish EU membership in a referendum.
Finally, the president has asked for accession talks not to start until the second half of 2005.
The last demand is to make sure that the discussion on Turkish EU membership is separate from the debate on the EU constitution.
A French referendum on the Constitution is expected already in Spring of next year.
"If there is a link between Turkey and the constitution, we will lose the referendum. It's as simple as that", the French foreign minister Michel Barnier was quoted saying by the Financial Times.
German opposition worried over EU future
The debate about Turkey's EU membership continues in the EU's largest member state, Germany.
The leaders of the CDU and CSU, Angela Merkel and Edmund Stoiber, have sent a letter to the German Chancellor, out of "great concern" about Europe's future.
In it, they ask Gerhard Schröder to prevent membership negotiations with Turkey, due to be agreed at the end of next week, from leading to full EU membership.
1) Turkey must declare eternal emnity with the U.S.
2) Turkey must change the name of the country to 'Jacquesland'.
3) Chirac to get $1 billion in a secret numbered Swiss account.
#2
"It must reliably be ascertained that hell has frozen solid. Verification is the key."
Posted by: Matt ||
12/06/2004 19:02
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First, it must be clear to Turkey that negotiations could end with much less than full EU membership, Mr Chirac has insisted, according to the Financial Times.
Or, put another way, "you will probably not get what you want."
Mr Chirac has also underlined the ultimate right of the French people to reject Turkish EU membership in a referendum.
Phrance is only one of many members. What about the others? Don't their votes count? Or does Phrance have sole veto power?
Heh, it looks like the Turks are at the end of a losing proposition. And to think, they gave the U.S. the shaft for nothing. Haahahahaha...
#8
Every country has veto power when EU accepts new member states.
Sounds as if one no vote will torpedo the whole deal, and any one country can say no. Could have the potential to make some people pretty angry, with consequences to follow.
#9
So, Aris, if France wanted someone in, Belgium could veto it? Uh-huh.....
Yes, it could. That's the meaning of the word "veto".
Now if you want to debate that it *wouldn't* because that wouldn't be prudent on its part and ruin valued partnerships and so forth, all that's self-evident, but it has nothing to do specifically with the EU, with France, or with Belgium.
#10
:-( Back to realpolitik and Franco-hegemony, is it?
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/06/2004 22:07
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#11
France sure has a lot of Gaulle. [ok, that being said]
Chiraq is just toying with Turkey like a cat plays with a ball or a mouse. If I was the Turkish govt, I would be furious, insulted, humiliated, and would tell Chiraq just where he would stick it.
The EU has lots of issues to be dealt with before it can have a chance to succeed. But Chiraq's manipulation and his twisted agenda will sink this entity faster than anything. If the EU members don't tell him to take a hike, they can watch the organization go down the tubes.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/06/2004 22:16
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#12
That's your game, not mine.
The wisdom of pissing on the collective desire of 24 other nations is something that all states have to deal with, great or small. That's why solo vetoes tend to be counterproductive IMO. Spain and Poland once blocked the Constitution -- when Spain yielded however, Poland decided it wouldn't do her good to be alone in its objections. So it also yielded rather than veto alone.
"realpolitik"? That's not the way the word is used AFAIK. Realpolitik basically means the giving up morality for benefit. I'm talking about the imprudence of pissing on your partners instead. You veto them, they'll veto you -- and it might hurt more when your turn comes.
And Francohegemony? Alas, most solo vetoes have come from the UK, I believe, so Britohegemony, I'd say.
#13
"Every country has veto power when EU accepts new member states. Which is as should be, I think."
I understand you mean that this is a good thing.
"The wisdom of pissing on the collective desire of 24 other nations is something that all states have to deal with, great or small. That's why solo vetoes tend to be counterproductive IMO."
Oops, are you now saying this is a bad thing? Or are you saying it's intentionally designed as a bad thing, so you can piss and moan and gripe and bitch about those nasty nations that exercise the sole veto they're entitled.
"Alas, most solo vetoes have come from the UK, I believe, so Britohegemony, I'd say."
Oh, those damned blasted Brits! Their filthy nationalism and imperialism! Damn them all to burn in hell for exercising the rights granted them as a member state of the Holy EU!
Or not, Aris? It's really rather tiresome, to be so nuanced as to avoid any sort of discrimination whatsoever.
Lest anyone suggest that this is Aris-bait, please note that the door was left wide open.
For fun reference:
"The pacta conventa, imposed on Henri de Valois, in 1573, put all important power in the hands of the diet, fixing the times and places of the sessions, as well as the length of each session. In spite of the unanimous agreement declared necessary to give force to the decisions of the diet, a majority of votes governed in its deliberations up to 1651. Sycinski, a deputy from Upita, gave at that time the first example of the liberum veto, annulling, by his protest, all deliberations taken and to be taken. This abuse, tolerated at first, was constitutionally recognized in 1718, and placed the country, so to speak, at the mercy of a single man. In this way diets were seen broken up by a single veto, pronounced even before the opening of the session. It sometimes happened that the author of the veto, when the gauntlet was thrown down to him, carried his opposition with him into the tomb, and in that way restored full liberty of action to the deputies. The liberum veto was abolished at last by the constitutional diet, which lasted four years, from 1788 to 1792, and which gave to Poland the wise constitution of May 3."
http://www.econlib.org/library/YPDBooks/Lalor/llCy370.html
#16
Chirac is probably saying Turkey is going to have to accept an inferior status compared to other EU members. We have already heard of immigration restrictions. Turkey will probably not get agricultural subsidies and will get cut out of industrial coops. If France can get enough poison pills in preconditions,Turkey might say no thanks.
Chirac and the referendum bit is saying Turkey will have to convince the French populace-NOT the French govt.(Chirac is trying to guarantee that his successor doesn't have option on saying Yes to Turkey.)
Posted by: Stephen ||
12/06/2004 23:32
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#17
No problem and no worries, Asedwich. I think France will veto, and to heck with the consequences.
#18
Asedwich> "I understand you mean that this is a good thing."
Yes, I feel the veto must exist because membership and sharing sovereignty is a huge thing. It's only through the existence of the veto when deciding membership (and ofcourse through the possibility of withdrawal from the Union), that abolishing the veto in other lesser decisions is justified.
Oops, are you now saying this is a bad thing?
No, I'm not. The existence of the possibility of the veto in membership is a good thing. It's a safety measure.
At the same time however the veto is a sign of *failure*, failure to convince the other nations of the rightness of your position. It's a last resort.
For years and years Greece was the one that was using the veto against Turkish membership not as a last resort but as an automatic kneejerk reaction. "Turkish memb--?" "We veto!"
It was a stupid tactic that (among other issues) helped keep Greece isolated from the rest of the EU members. Everyone was pointing at big bad Greece that was stopping the European integration of Turkey. And then suddenly Greece decided to call the bluff of other nations and said that now it *supports* Turkey's EU membership.
At which point other nations, France, Germany so forth, were forced to stop hiding behind Greece's veto and they brought forward their own objections -- they didn't want Turkey in the EU either. See? The veto was counterproductive in Greece's case. It helped her none at all.
Alas, most solo vetoes have come from the UK, I believe, so Britohegemony, I'd say." Oh, those damned blasted Brits! Their filthy nationalism and imperialism! Damn them all to burn in hell for exercising the rights granted them as a member state of the Holy EU!
Yes, exactly. Yawn.
Do you know the difference between "should have the right to do" and "should do"?
For example, I think that everyone should have the right to do drugs. At the same time I despise the very idea of people doing drugs.
Is that "overnuanced" for you? I see it only as a matter of freedom and responsibility. Yes, UK is only exercising the rights given her by the treaties -- that's "freedom". And yes, I have the right to call the UK an obnoxious sabotaging ass that should burn in hell, when I feel its abusing those rights in order to harm the rest of the Union. That's "responsibility".
On other matters, and to make myself clear, I support the existence of the veto when deciding membership. I oppose however the veto in every other decision.
#19
Of course France will veto. They've got enough problems with unassimilated muslim population, the EU "free travel" rules would open the floodgates...
Oil exporters have sharply reduced their exposure to the US dollar over the past three years, according to data from the Bank for International Settlements.
Members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries have cut the proportion of deposits held in dollars from 75 per cent in the third quarter of 2001 to 61.5 per cent.
Middle Eastern central banks have reportedly switched reserves from dollars to euros and sterling to avoid incurring losses as the dollar has fallen and prepare for a shift away from pricing oil exports in dollars alone.
Private Middle East investors are believed to be worried about the prospect of US-held assets being frozen as part of the war on terror, leading to accelerated dollar-selling after the re-election of President George W. Bush.
The BIS data, in the organisation's quarterly review, state that Opec countries' stock of dollar-denominated deposits has fallen by 4 per cent in cash terms since 2002 in spite of Opec revenues' surging to record levels this year.
Opec officials say the cartel is trying to protect its purchasing power per barrel, as Europe is its largest trading partner. Opec imports from Europe rose 29 per cent between 2001 and 2003 while those from the US fell by 14 per cent, according to Morgan Stanley, the US investment bank.
Simon Derrick, head of currency research at Bank of New York, said: "It makes sense to diversify their reserves as much of their spending is in the eurozone and Japan."
Opec officials also point to political motivations after the 2001 terror attacks on the US.
Middle Eastern foreign exchange reserves are relatively small - those of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and Qatar are estimated at $61bn by BNP Paribas - but any switch may be seen as indicating the mood of private investors in the region, who control far greater wealth.
Hans Redeker, global head of foreign exchange strategy at the French bank, said the Patriot Act, introduced after September 11 to stop US financial institutions being used by terrorists to launder money, was worrying private investors.
"If you trade with what the US regards as a 'dodgy' bank, you are at risk of your assets in the US being frozen," he said. "After the re-election of George Bush, the Middle East started to sell dollars like crazy due to the fears of assets being frozen."
The BIS report also showed that, in spite of oil prices having risen 85 per cent since the fourth quarter of 2001, overall OPEC bank deposits have barely risen. "Oil reserves have not been channelled into the international banking system in the most recent cycle," the report said.
One school of thought is that Middle Eastern businesses and individuals increasingly prefer to invest at home, leading to sharp rises in real estate and equity prices in many countries. Another argument is that many Opec governments are having to increase public spending to support rapidly growing populations.
#2
Opec imports from Europe rose 29 per cent between 2001 and 2003 while those from the US fell by 14 per cent
Meaningless statistics unless the base numbers are given. Prior to these changes, did Europe import as much oil as the US? A lot less? More?
It matters.
in spite of oil prices having risen 85 per cent since the fourth quarter of 2001, overall OPEC bank deposits have barely risen. "Oil reserves have not been channelled into the international banking system in the most recent cycle.
One school of thought is that Middle Eastern businesses and individuals increasingly prefer to invest at home, leading to sharp rises in real estate and equity prices in many countries.
Another argument is that many Opec governments are having to increase public spending to support rapidly growing populations.
Yup - they are facing real demographic strains.
Posted by: too true ||
12/06/2004 20:42
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#3
This is part of an overall trend away from holding reserves in USD, which is in a large part the cause of the US trade deficit. Countries should hold their reserves in currencies that reflect their trade, otherwise the currencies of exporting countries are artificially depressed relative to those of the country whose currency you keep in your reserves (causing unsustainable trade surpluses for some countries and deficits for others), which is the problem currently for the USA (and unremarked by the world media Australia has an even worse problem - its trade deficit is 20% larger as % of GDP).
My Grandaddy's thinking of putting a bid in. Uncle Bob thinks it's pretty silly, though...
A WOMAN who turned to eBay to auction off her father's ghost asked buyers to show some restraint as bidding reached the $US14,000 ($17,923) mark over the weekend in a media-driven frenzy. "I can't believe this went so far. Please keep the bidding at a minimum," said Mary Anderson in a posting on the online auction site today.
Has anyone who's alive put in a bid yet?
Ms Anderson, who hails from Hobart, Indiana, said the unexpected attention generated by her whimsical eBay sale had "left her a nervous wreck", and that she had cancelled some of the more "outrageous bids". She reiterated that the purpose of the exercise was simply to reassure her five year-old-son who was uneasy about living in a house that he felt was haunted by his "mean" grandfather.
"Y'little brat! I'd belt ya, if I still had arms!"
By way of explanation, Ms Anderson said that her father had died of cancer at home, and towards the end had occasionally become irritated with his young grandson and had tapped him with his walking cane. "It didn't hurt my son, but it hurt his feelings," Ms Anderson wrote. "I promise you he's not a meanie like my son thinks, but it's hard to tell that to a five-year-old when all he remembers is the bad things. My dad was the sweetest most caring man you'd ever meet."
Actually, he told Grandaddy he never really liked the kid. Too whiney. But don't tell her that. It'd just hurt her feelings.
To convince her son that the ghost had indeed gone, Ms Anderson decided to offer her father's walking cane along with his ghost for sale on eBay - with free shipping. And she requested that the winning bidder write her son a letter after getting delivery of the cane to let the youngster know that both buyer and ghost were "getting along great."
What if they're not? When I'm in that condition, I plan on making somebody miserable. I'm gonna howl all night, clank chains, and make people's heads spin around...
The quirky auction entry, which ran under the headline "This isn't a joke," was picked up by the US media, spawning copycat eBay auctions, and driving the bidding up rapidly. With just three hours left to run on the clock on Monday, the highest bid was just shy of $US15,000 ($19,203), according to the eBay website.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
12/06/2004
5:21:30 PM ||
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Hundreds of suicide cases involving young Asian women are being re-investigated to determine whether they were prompted by so-called 'honour crimes'. They can involve false imprisonment, forced marriages - and even murder, as happened to Heshu Yones, 16. Heshu was stabbed to death two years ago in Acton, London, by her Kurdish father - who believed she had dishonoured the family by having a boyfriend. There are 117 other suspected 'honour killings' currently under investigation in the UK alone. Suicides among such women in Britain are three times the national average.
A conference organised by the Crown Prosecution Service is to focus on so-called 'honour crimes' in the Asian community. It will aim to raise awareness of the problem and improve the way such crimes are handled across the criminal justice system. CPS spokesman Nazir Afzal said: "Crimes of honour take the form of many types of violence against women. "Murder, assault, false imprisonment and forced marriage are among them." Among the other speakers will be Meena Patel and Hannana Siddiqui of women's rights group Southall Black Sisters. They will be joined by Foreign Office official Heather Harvey and Jasvinder Sanghera of the Karna Nirvana Refuge in Derby. 'Yvonne Ridley was not available for comment.'
Posted by: Bulldog ||
12/06/2004
5:21:07 AM ||
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#1
"A conference ... to focus on so-called âhonour crimesâ in the Asian community."
Those damn Hindus are to stop immediately!
#2
Wouldn't that also inclue middle eastern women, not just Asains? It's culture and religion that causes this honor killing, the religion tells them it's OK to kill and abuse women.
#3
Wouldn't that also inclue middle eastern women, not just Asiains?
They're using the Kipling usage of "Asian", which seems to mean anyone east of the Med.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/06/2004 12:44
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#4
A "conference"? How about a message of f**king zero tolerance a la We're going to hunt you bastards and prosecute you to the maximum and any other family member that's accessory to cold-blooded murder?
#5
#1, Muslims do honor killing, it is extremely rare in Hindu families, although, they have their share of crazy people. It is true that some of the married Hindu women are abused and on rare occasions, murdered by in-laws, because the brides did not bring the dowry which was promised in their arranged marriages. There are examples on the contrary, one in Hindu myth and two during Mogal (Muslim) dynasty in Indiaâs past, in which women made suicide in order to protect their or family dignity but they were not killed. At the worst, you may say, they were persuaded to commit suicide. Female were free and respectable members of society in ancient India, they went into hiding during the long Muslim dynasty because ruling Muslims were abducting them. Hindu women recovered a little bit during British rule, but never as they were in ancient times. History repeats. The west can only ill-afford to allow repeat of this chapter of history.
The Australian Federal Defence Minister Robert Hill is due to visit Indonesia next week in a sign of strengthening ties between the two countries in the wake of deadly extremist bomb attacks, according to state media. The state Antara news agency said Senator Hill's visit was agreed to by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer during a religious summit held in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta. Canberra stepped up security links with Jakarta in the wake of the October 2002 Bali bombings in which 202 people, including 88 Australians, were killed.
Australian police specialists played a key role in the investigations. The cooperation was extended in September this year when militants detonated a bomb outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta, killing nine people. Both attacks have been blamed on the Jemaah Islamiah regional terror network said to have links to Al Qaeda. Mr Yudhoyono, who was installed as president in October, has promised to get tough on Islamic extremists in the world's largest Muslim-populated country, a stance welcomed by the Federal Government which views him as an ally.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
12/06/2004
5:14:30 PM ||
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EIGHT US soldiers have sued the Pentagon, claiming the military extended their tours of duty in Iraq although their contracts had expired, their attorneys said. It is the only known court challenge by active-duty soldiers against the US Defence Department's so-called stop-loss policy, said attorney Staughton Lynd. About 7000 soldiers are affected at any given time by the policy, which bars them from leaving the military or moving to other units for an 18-month period if they are in units deployed or about to deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan, said Lieutenant Colonel Pamela Hart, an army spokeswoman. "It stops movement of soldiers so units can maintain integrity of strength," Lt Col Hart said. "So, units that deploy together come home together."
Seven of the soldiers in the lawsuit have asked to remain anonymous, but one of them, David Qualls, said at a news conference in Washington that the court challenge is over "a question of fairness." I enlisted in July 2003. I completed and served that one year," Mr Qualls said. "I feel it is time to let me go back to my wife." Mr Qualls signed a "Try One" contract on July 7, 2003, which allows a soldier to serve for one year before deciding whether to extend service. Qualls says no one told him about the stop-loss policy. The other soldiers asked to remain anonymous "because they fear one or another kind of retaliation if their names became known," Lt Col Lynd said. Six of the soldiers are stationed in Iraq, while the two others are in Kuwait and on their way to the embattled country, he said. "Our government has not been honest with Mr Qualls and the other seven plaintiffs in this action," said Jules Lobel, an attorney at the Centre for Constitutional Rights (CCR). "The government must tell them the key facts that may affect his enlistment. One key fact is how long" they are supposed to be enlisted, Lobel said. Qualls has been stationed at Camp Taji, north of Baghdad, since March 2004. It has been the target of suicide bombings and mortar attacks.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
12/06/2004
5:07:09 PM ||
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#1
Qualls says no one told him about the stop-loss policy.
#6
Maybe they can be stationed at the radome at Tin City LRRS, 100 mi west of Nome, Alaska. The radome sits on top of a 45 deg sloped rock ridge with a tram to get up there. Winds blow up to 200 kt gusts occasionally. Sometimes you can even see it if the cloud deck lifts. Welcome to the white hell, REMF.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/06/2004 22:08
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ABU Sayyaf leader Khadaffy Janjalani is still in Central Mindanao, hiding in areas protected by a ceasefire between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), Armed Forces Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Efren Abu said Monday. "He (Janjalani) is hiding in MILF territory. That is what I am trying to say," Abu said, as he denied reports that the elusive chieftain of the Al Qaeda-linked group escaped to Malaysia. "The MILF does not allow him to go there but he's there because he knows the military can't just go there," Abu said at a forum hosted by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines. Abu said the MILF, in the process of resuming peace talks with the government, is "cooperating" with the military to capture Janjalani. He said the MILF allowed the military to conduct air raids in its territories in late November to flush out the Abu Sayyaf leader. Last week, Tawi-Tawi Governor Sadikul Sahali claimed to have received information that Janjalani and some 20 of his men had escaped to Mardanas and Mamanok Islands in Malaysia from Sibutu town in Tawi-Tawi.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/06/2004
4:21:40 AM ||
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As Iran moves closer to obtaining a nuclear weapon, the Pentagon has started eyeing construction of a new military base near the Iran border in western Afghanistan. American officials confirmed yesterday to The New York Sun that the military has begun scouting out an area in the Holang desert area of the Herat province within 20 miles of the Iran border.
That'd be why they had to move Ismail Khan on to more lucrative pickings greener pastures.
Two administration sources familiar with the plan said the base would be largely for the Afghan army but that American aircraft would probably be deployed there as well.
Next year's headline: "Afghans take Sistan-Baluch as Americans move on Qom"?
The development could give America and its allies more military options should the president decide to use force to delay or still the Persian nuclear program. In many ways, American forces have effectively encircled Iran, projecting power not only from a coalition base in Kirkuk, northern Iraq, but also from military facilities in Uzbekistan. Those facilities were initially leased for Operation Enduring Freedom shortly after the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York City and the Washington area. In addition, the American Navy still patrols the Persian Gulf sealanes, making it possible to bring an aircraft carrier into those shallow waters off the coast of the Islamic republic.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/06/2004
4:19:00 AM ||
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#1
We should set up multiple bases on the Iranian border in Afghanistan and in Iraq. We should invite young Iranians to get across the border to these bases and join up for training to liberate their own country.
Rumsfeld wanted a much bigger Iraq force in the war, but was turned down by State. We should have been training Iranians in these bases since the fall of Baghdad. Let's roll.
#4
Rumsfeld wanted a much bigger Iraq force in the war, but was turned down by State.
I thought it was the Pentagon who wanted a larger force, but Rummy turned them down. And State didn't want to invade at all, but just talk them to death.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/06/2004 10:37
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You are mixing up US forces in Iraq with Iraqi forces in Iraq.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/06/2004 12:06
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There are several problems on moving on Iran. The biggest is the Russians. Second is supplying attacking forces. We can't do that through Afghanistan, and there are no decent Indian Ocean ports at all. Bandar Abbas is the closest thing to a port capable of sustaining heavy combat operations, and it's in the narrowest portion of the Persian Gulf. Two other major problems are Syria and Saudi Arabia, neither of which would be happy with a US attack on Iran. We may need to dispose of those two obstacles before we can bring the jaws together on the Iranian mullahs. Taking out Saudi Arabia would also cut a huge amount of funding for the jihadiboomers.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/06/2004 13:39
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Take out Syria and we have several fine ports to use.Totally unrelated:any gamers out there that have beat Splinter cell I could use some help.Embasy2:how do I get the Colonel to activate his pc?I have already interogated him and he still won't activate his pc.Shoot me an e-mail instead of eating up Fred's bandwidth: w_r_manues@yahoo.com
#9
Let's see...that be Zarqawi's old digs before fleeing Afganistan for transit through Iran.
How Iranic...
Posted by: Capt America ||
12/06/2004 16:54
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So the order you take them out is 1) Russia, 2) Syria, 3) Saudis, and then 4) Iraq? Do you secure Iraq first - perhaps wait a couple odf weeks after the election, then start on the above? Or perhaps just get going now? There is no great necessity for troops in western europe, so you could use them.
Maybe the bunker-busting nukes (pre-set for Iran and N. Kor sites) should be accelerated.
U.S. troops fought a gunbattle with insurgents along a busy street in Baghdad on Monday, sending passers-by scurrying for cover, witnesses said, while five U.S. troops were reported killed in separate clashes in a volatile western province as insurgents step up attacks ahead of next month's elections.
The violence came a day after gunmen ambushed a bus carrying unarmed Iraqis to work at a U.S. ammo dump near Tikrit, killing 17 and raising the death toll from three days of intensified insurgent attacks to at least 70 Iraqis.
The attacks, focused in Baghdad and several cities to the north, appeared to be aimed at scaring off those who cooperate with the American military — whether police, national guardsmen, or ordinary people just looking for a paycheck.
They also have targeted Kurdish militiamen and Shiite worshippers in a possible bid to foment sectarian and ethnic unrest.
The latest fighting in Baghdad broke out after armed rebels appeared on the busy Haifa Street, saying they were hunting for Iraqis collaborating with U.S.-led forces.
Witnesses said they shot and killed a man they claimed was working for the Americans. Rebels also were seen on a square just three blocks from the heavily fortified Green Zone that houses Iraq's interim government and the U.S. Embassy.
The U.S. military had no immediate comment, but witnesses said U.S. troops supported by armored vehicles attacked the gunmen.
Haifa Street, a thoroughfare running through central Baghdad, has been the scene of frequent clashes between U.S. troops and resistance fighters.
Earlier Monday, three insurgents were killed and four wounded in clashes with U.S. forces in Haditha, 140 miles northwest of Baghdad in the volatile Anbar province, according to Dr. Bassem Izaldeen, of Haditha Hospital.
The 1st Marine Expeditionary Force also released a statement saying three soldiers attached to the Marines died in two incidents Sunday in the western province, which includes the battleground cities of Fallujah and Ramadi. Earlier, the military said two Marines had been killed in action in Anbar on Friday.
Sunday's bloodshed began when gunmen opened fire at the bus as it dropped off Iraqis employed by coalition forces at a weapons dump in Tikrit, 80 miles north of Baghdad, said Capt. Bill Coppernoll, spokesman for the Tikrit-based U.S. 1st Infantry Division. Coppernoll said 17 people died and 13 wounded in the attack.
Survivors said about seven guerrillas were involved, emptying their clips into the bus before fleeing. The bodies of the victims were brought to a morgue too small to hold them all; some were left in the street.
About an hour later, a suicide car bomber drove into an Iraqi National Guard checkpoint in Beiji, 75 miles to the north, detonating his explosives-packed vehicle, Coppernoll said. Gunmen then opened fire on the position. Three guardsmen, including a company commander, were killed and 18 wounded, Coppernoll said.
Also Sunday, guerrillas ambushed a joint Iraqi-coalition patrol in Latifiyah, south of Baghdad, and attacked Iraqi National Guardsmen patrolling near Samarra, north of Baghdad. Two Iraqis were killed and 10 wounded.
The attacks followed assaults Friday and Saturday that saw insurgents hit a police station, killing 16 men, car bomb a Shiite mosque, killing 14, and car bomb a bus carrying Kurdish militiamen, killing at least seven.
The military said Monday that U.S. soldiers have detained 14 Iraqis suspected of making car bombs and leading insurgent cells in northern Iraq.
Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's group, al-Qaeda in Iraq, claimed responsibility for several attacks Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, another militant group, Jaish Mohammed — Arabic for the Mohammed Army — issued a statement saying its fighters were lying low for "a few days" but planned more attacks against U.S. forces.
The group's statement, which could not be immediately verified, also warned Iraqis against aiding coalition forces and said they would be attacked with similar fury as that directed against the U.S. military.
The latest attacks on Iraqis cooperating with the interim government have been particularly brutal in their scale and have taken on a new urgency in light of the approaching vote.
While Iraq's majority Shiites are eagerly awaiting the election, the Sunnis oppose it, partly because the violence has been heavy in their areas west and north of Baghdad and voter registration there has not begun. About 40 small, mostly Sunni political parties met Sunday to demand the elections be postponed by six months, but stopped short of calling for a boycott.
President Bush, Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and Iraq's Sunni president, Ghazi al-Yawer, have insisted the vote will be held as scheduled.
Also Monday, insurgents blew up part of a domestic oil pipeline south of Samarra, in northern Iraq, sending flames and black smoke billowing into the sky, Col. Mahmoud Ahmed said. Insurgents bent on derailing Iraqi reconstruction efforts regularly attack the country's oil infrastructure.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/06/2004
4:17:16 AM ||
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Syria's President Bashar al-Assad met on Monday PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmad Qurei and Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath in the first official Palestinian visit to Damascus since 1996. Talks during the meeting dealt with the situation in the occupied Palestinian lands and the underway preparations for the Palestinian elections. According to SANA, "President Assad stressed Syria's support to the Palestinian people's resistance and national unity in the face of the forthcoming requirements." For his part, Abbas underlined importance of the Syrian-Palestinian coordination and consultation in the face of the current challenges.
In a joint press conference following their meeting, Abbas expressed pleasure over his visit to Syria and meeting President Assad, adding that talks between dealt with many issues of common concern. He also asserted importance of coordination and consultation between the two sides as soon as possible to deal with issues of common interest in the region, pointing out to the importance of the national dialogue among the Palestinian factions. Qurei said that the most important result that could stem from this visit is reaching a serious, clear and frank coordination between the Syrian and the Palestinian sides. He also pointed out to the importance of coordination among the Palestinians, Syrians, Jordanians, Lebanese and the other Arabs since all sides seek a just and comprehensive solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/06/2004
4:16:16 PM ||
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#1
Okay, I'm game - let's have a JUST solution indeed.
Actually, that's a hard one since there are legitimate grievances on both sides. Sigh.
Posted by: too true ||
12/06/2004 20:19
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Hmmmmm - usually they took their pay from the mid-level terror-managers
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/06/2004 20:20
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The Taliban threatened Monday to launch attacks during the swearing in of Afghan President Hamid Karzai while the U.S. military said every precaution was being taken to protect a ceremony to be attended by top U.S. officials. The inauguration will take place on Tuesday morning at Karzai's fortress-like presidential palace in Kabul, and will be witnessed by Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, as well as other foreign dignitaries. Mullah Dadullah, the most senior Taliban military commander and a member of the movement's 10-man leadership council, warned people they should stay away from government and military installations throughout Afghanistan during the inauguration. "We do not want to harm innocent people," he said, adding that Taliban guerrillas had been given orders: "If you get a chance, disrupt the ceremony."
They threatened to stop the election,too. That worked well, didn't it?
Must be imposters: the real Taliban doesn't worry about harming innocent people.
He said guerrillas all over the country had been asked to be prepared to launch attacks to remind foreigners that Islamist fighters opposed their occupation of Afghanistan. U.S. military spokesman Major Mark McCann said quick reaction ground and air units from U.S.-led forces and NATO-led peacekeepers were part of a comprehensive plan to counter potential militant action. "Every possible contingency has been planned for," he said. McCann told a news briefing all major routes and venues in Kabul would be well-protected and foreign troop units were standing by to carry out explosives disposal and to provide medical and command and control assistance. VIPs attending have been asked to supply their blood groups as a precaution.
Doesn't that add a festive air to the inauguration parties?
McCann said the U.S.-led force, together with the Afghan army and police, planned winter operations throughout Afghanistan, collectively code-named "Lightning Freedom," to create conditions for successful parliamentary polls next spring by squeezing militant groups harder. McCann expressed hope that an offer of amnesty by U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad to rank and file Taliban who laid down their arms would bear fruit. "There have been from time to time reports from the field that there are members of the Taliban who we believe are receptive to the offer of reconciliation," he said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/06/2004
4:15:43 AM ||
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Osama bin Laden is using cash from the Afghanistan heroin market to finance his life on the run, paying bodyguards and buying off warlords in Pakistan, says a congressman who has visited the region. Rep. Mark Steven Kirk, Illinois Republican, said in an interview that bin Laden's al Qaeda terror organization is reaping $28 million a year in illicit heroin sales. Some of the money is funding bin Laden's fugitive status as he pops back and forth between Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal areas and Afghanistan's eastern mountain regions.
"We now know al Qaeda's dominant source of funding is the illegal sale of narcotics," said Mr. Kirk, a member of the House Appropriations foreign operations subcommittee. Mr. Kirk said that, while bin Laden has lots of allies in the Waziristan tribal lands east of Kabul, Afghanistan, he does not speak the native tongues and cannot trust everyone as his entourage moves from place to place. "He is a foreigner in a strange land," Mr. Kirk said. "He must have money to buy off the local warlords. Operating a clandestine, heavily armed organization takes money and running narcotics is the natural way." A Pentagon adviser on drug policy said Mr. Kirk is "on target."
"We know of individuals in Afghanistan who continue to fund al Qaeda with drug proceeds," the Pentagon adviser said. The congressman believes the way to catch bin Laden is to cut off his money. "We have to nail the drug-lord financing first," he said. "Once you hit his income, you head off his ability to pay local warlords."
Bin Laden's major supplier, U.S. authorities say, is Haji Bashir Noorzai, a former Taliban financier who smuggles heroin from the Kandahar area to al Qaeda in Pakistan. The Pentagon adviser said Noorzai helped finance al Qaeda when it operated with the Taliban. The alliance continues to this day. In return for money, Noorzai gets al Qaeda operatives who move his drugs offshore. "If we are able to take out a couple of kingpins, suddenly bin Laden would have to miss a payment to his warlords," Mr. Kirk said. He said the U.S. obtains "credible reports" on al Qaeda and drugs from "people who have contact with the outer ring of the bin Laden organization."
One piece of evidence of al Qaeda drug connection arose last winter, when the U.S. Navy intercepted small boats in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Pakistan and seized large quantities of heroin. Mr. Kirk said the U.S. military interrogated four crewmen and learned they were al Qaeda operatives taking the drugs to the United Arab Emirates. In Quetta, Pakistan, a kilo of heroin fetches $2,000; in the United Arab Emirates, the same quantity brings $10,000.
"This was an attempt by al Qaeda to develop a downstream retail market at which they could increase their profits five times," he said. "[Bin Laden] requires his own protection, and the kind of security apparatus that he is supposed to have around him, that gives a very big signature," Lt. Gen. Safdar Hussain told Reuters. "There is not an inch of South Waziristan or the tribal area which we have not swept time and again, and if he was here in the tribal areas, I can assure you that he wouldn't have escaped my eyes and ears."
But the Pentagon adviser cautioned that "just because they throw up their hands and say he's not here, don't believe he's not." "You've got to remember that area has strong support for bin Laden."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/06/2004
4:14:19 AM ||
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#1
I actually met Congressman Kirk last week, although in a different context and somewhat unexpectedly, so I forgot to mention support for the WOT. I thought afterwards to point him to Randburg:) He is a straight-shooter and good guy.
From his web site: Congressman Kirk is a Naval Reserve intelligence officer who served during conflicts with Iraq, Haiti, and Bosnia. He served four tours at sea and three in Panama. The U.S. Navy named Kirk 'Intelligence Officer of the Year' in 1999 for his combat service in Kosovo. Kirk flew on missions over Iraq and continues to serve one weekend a month in the Pentagon. He is the only member of Congress to serve in Operation Iraqi Freedom and was an air crewman over Iraq during Operation Northern Watch.
#4
I thought you were making a comment about howmany peoploe from RAND post here.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/06/2004 9:33
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well this is convenient. We could wrap up the war on drugs and the war on terror all at the same time just by stopping the movement of white slag around the globe. Here's an idea. Why don't we just manufacture this stuff - getting a big boost in our stock market which, btw we can use to fix social security and medicare - and then if someone is addicted, they can admit themselves for treatment and if that fails, they get a perscription for their ILLNESS. This would cause a huge decrease in crime, end multiple problems in our ghettos, decrease the spread of AIDS, and put both Kimmy and bin Laden out of business. Jeesh. We already realized that prohibition doesn't work. How many people have to die before we get a clue this time around?
#6
Can't do it. Sorry. American-made white slag lacks Songun. We just can't compete...
Posted by: Fred ||
12/06/2004 10:39
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Sorry Fred, but we make an EXCEPTIONAL heroin replacement. I took it for about five months before my wife complained about the personality change, and I quit. It's called Oxycontin, and you can become addicted to the stuff. Anything over about 50mg will screw with your mind as much as White Slag. There are a dozen or so others on the market, as well.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/06/2004 14:04
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#8
Hillbilly Heroin, OP? That stuff is evil.....
Of course, so is the real thing.
If I'm correct, doesn't Haji mean that he's done the whole goin' to Mecca thing? I love it when a holy guy pushes dope.
Gunfire broke out around the U.S. consulate in the Saudi city of Jeddah on Monday and a fire erupted in the building, witnesses said. "I heard a heavy exchange of fire," one bystander told Reuters. Flames could be seen and two black plumes of smoke were rising from the building. Around 200 police and national guards sealed off the area around the U.S. mission in the Red Sea city. Alarms could be heard sounding from the building. Shooting broke out for a second time shortly afterwards. It was not immediately known if it was an attack by Muslim militants seeking to drive Westerners out of the kingdom. "We have an emergency case," an official inside the building told Reuters. He gave no details.
U.S. consulate in Saudi Arabia attacked
A car bomb exploded outside the U.S. consulate in Saudi Arabia port, Jeddah on Monday, injuring several people. According to witnesses, clouds of heavy smoke were seen rising from the area in the latest attacks targeting buildings that houses Westerners in the kingdom. Four of the attackers were holed up inside the building where a gunbattle raged and continued for nearly an hour after the initial explosion, Saudi security forces said. Witnesses said that they heard bursts of gunfire and saw two plumes of smoke rising from the building, as helicopters hovered overhead. They added that the Saudi forces sealed off the area. At least 200 Saudi police and National Guard soldiers are reported to have been deployed in the area. Officials said it was possible hostages were inside the U.S. embassy. According to a Saudi health official, many people injured in the blast were escorted to a hospital in Jeddah, but none were Americans. Saudi officials did not comment on the blast, also no militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Who could it be? Oh, who could it be?
Al-Arabiya satellite television reported that four attackers in a car tried to storm the building, but the car exploded in front instead. "We can confirm there has been an attack on the consulate," U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Carol Kalin, in Riyadh said. "The incident is still in progress with Saudi emergency forces securing the compound." She added that there was no word on American casualties.
One witness at the scene told reporters that smoke was rising from the area while police trying to keep cars and traffic away. Other witnesses said that gunfire was heard shortly before the blast. "I heard a heavy exchange of fire," one bystander told reporters. Several further rounds of shooting could be heard. "We have an emergency case," an official inside the building told reporters. Alarms could be heard sounding from inside the consulate. "The embassy in Riyadh and the missions in Jeddah and Dhahran have been closed as a precaution. We are still trying to gather information," Kalin said. "The magnitude of this assault on the consulate has taken all Jeddah residents by surprise," Khaled al-Maeena, the editor of Arab News located in Jeddah, said. Saudi authorities have stepped up security around the consulate since a series of bombings in 2003, mainly targeting buildings that house foreigners.
Posted by: Destro ||
12/06/2004
4:14:01 AM ||
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Soddy reaction should tell us whether or not the deal between al-Hawali and the princes fell through again or whether this is just another case of it being okay to kill Westerners but not any of the Master Race in the Magic Kingdom.
I'm hearing car bomb right now.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/06/2004 4:31
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#6
Spot, surrounding is a process, not an action--in the book of Saudi security elements. I am sure that Soddies would execute masterfully that kind of surrounding they are so famous for.
Dan, I am stretching my ears as much as I can, but hear no damn thing. Are you in the Satanic Araby proper at this moment? That would be the only logical explanation I can muster, bare some kind of extrasensory, long-distance perception.
#8
MSNBC - no American hostages, attackers: 3 killed, 2 captured. Wonder what Naif will have to say about it? Asshat
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/06/2004 7:03
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Seems to be some confusion about wether there was a car bomb, or just grenade tossing: Islamic militants threw explosives at the gate of the heavily guarded U.S. consulate in Jiddah, then forced their way into the building, prompting a gunbattle in a bold assault that left seven people dead and several injured before the three-hour long crisis was brought under control.
Several Americans were slightly injured, according to a State Department official in Washington. Three attackers were among those killed, while two others were injured and arrested, the Saudi Interior Ministry announced. Saudi security officials also said four of their forces were killed. The ministry statement didn't mention hostages, though Saudi security officials said some had been taken.
In Riyadh, U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Carol Kalin said two local staff members were injured, but all American staff were safe. "We have accounted for all Americans on the compound in Jiddah and none of them are being held hostage," Kalin said. "We have a local work force that was on duty and we are still in the process of accounting for (them)." Kalin said it was unclear if any of the U.S. Marine guards inside the consulate were involved in the gunbattle. As a precaution, she said, the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh and consulate in Dhahran were closed to the public.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/06/2004 9:16
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#10
From AP story: The statement by a Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman, carried by the official Saudi Press Agency, said a "stray bunch" â a reference to Islamic militants â threw explosives at the gate of the consulate, then entered.
No wonder so many get away after being surrounded - they're strays!
Islamic activists tried to air their grievances by murdering Americans in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia today, but were thwarted when their oppressors hid in a fortified room. The activists were then disenfranchised by Saudi security forces.
#16
UPDATE: JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - Twelve people died when Muslim militants stormed the U.S. consulate in the Saudi city of Jeddah Monday, officials said. Saudi security officials said four of their men were killed by the assailants. Security forces killed three attackers and wounded two, who were then captured. A U.S. embassy spokeswoman said five non-American consulate staff, including a contract guard, had also been killed. Earlier there was confusion about whether the five non-U.S. dead listed by the embassy had included the four dead guards.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/06/2004 12:59
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Between this and Mustafa Hamza (a lot bigger fish than the above article makes him out to be) getting jugged, this could be the beginning of a trend on the part of the mad mullahs. But as long as Saad, Saif, and Sully are being held, I wouldn't bet on it ...
Iran Daily reported of the arrest of a number of Al-Qaeda members in Kurdistan, western Iran. Kurdistan Judiciary Head, Mohammad Mehdi Khamesi said that currently the detainees are in the hands of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps adding: "The present situation in Iraq has had a negative impact on Iran's border regions including Kurdistan." Saying that currently there are five Al-Qaeda detainees in Kurdistan, Khamesi noted: "According to the ruling of the Supreme National Security Council, the non-Iranian Al-Qaeda detainees' cases will be dealt with in Tehran by special judges and if the detainees are arrested in provinces outside Tehran their cases will be referred to the capital."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/06/2004
4:10:51 AM ||
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ON THE FRIDAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING, Michael Scheuer, the former head of the CIA's bin Laden unit, said CIA officials had given him "carte blanche" to attack President Bush anonymously last summer in publicity interviews for his book Imperial Hubris. Specifically, Scheuer said, former CIA spokesman Bill Harlow had told him "We're giving you carte blanche" to do whatever interviews he wanted, as long as the criticism in those interviews was directed toward Bush, not the CIA. Scheuer didn't follow the rules. He took on senior CIA officials in his publicity interviews. As a result, he said, he was "muzzled."
Last week Harlow stepped forward to challenge Scheuer's claim. "His assertion that I gave him 'carte blanche' to attack the president is absurd," Harlow told me in an email. And he continued:
Even [Scheuer] seems to have recognized that, since he was subsequently quoted in the Washington Post on November 2[5] as saying I told him in July to stop his incessant media commentary saying, "This is affecting the president, you're getting involved in the election. The agency is being interpreted as not being evenhanded" and also saying (quite accurately for once) that I told him some of his comments quoted in the media were "inappropriate for a currently serving intelligence officer."
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
12/06/2004
4:08:04 AM ||
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#1
Some believed, naively, that the media would actually read some of Scheuerâs wacky rantings (e.g. "American soldiers are paid to die" or his laudatory comments about [Osama bin Laden]) and dismiss him as a crank.
If CIA officials believed this, they should be fired for being completely ignorant fools. The US press loves anti-American cranks.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
12/06/2004 9:11
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#2
Goss should prosecute him, or at least make his life a living hell, and make sure all the approvers are gone. This should not be tolerated and an example should be made for the encouragement of others.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/06/2004 9:20
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#3
Weren't these guys the ones tasked with bin Laden? If so, it's becoming very clear where we can place much of the blame for the CIA failures in that regard.
#6
Much of the CIA's problem can be laid at the feet of allowing the agency to be dominated by graduates of Yale and Harvard. It is the same "schoolboy" attitude that destroyed British Intelligence during the Cold War. The great irony is that these Ivy League schools have long since surrendered their elite status to other institutions. Today, Yale and Harvard graduates in the CIA are much like West Point graduates are in the Army: looked at as untrustworthy, prone to poor management skills, disrespectful of their peers and subordinates, and less capable of performing their jobs than ROTC graduates from some state university. They are wrecklessly ambitious and superb at hosting cocktail parties and kissing up, and utterly devoid of loyalty.
#7
Most of my experience with Acad grads is not good,most had(like most Ivy Leaque grads)an elitiest(re:snobs)"You don't know shit" attitude.They had no concept of the value of"field experience.Case in point:While on Tac site duty(ROK,Hawk missle battery,1974)we were at state 3 readines,the fog was so thick you could not see 10 feet.Every thing was absolutly soaking,dripping wet.I was 52b30(generator mech),the newest generator we had was built in 1952,4 years before I was born.The main power circuit breakers kept kicking out,Buttur bar 2nd Luie was on my ass.After hours of listening to him,and trying to get him to understand there was nothing I could do about the weather.It finally took a WO4 to get him off my ass.I do not have much tolerance for University educated know nothings with little or no real world experience.
#9
Big difference between snobs and elitists. Snobs will despise you, and ignore your opinions and experience as worthless/meaningless if you are not part of their "in group." Elitists, on the other hand, don't care where you come from or who you are, but have no patiences with those who have not achieved (made themselves part of the elite) in whatever field they value. Thus, Ivy Leaguers and West Pointers will ignore the Master Sergeant or the Tech Specialist because they didn't go to the right school. The Elitist will ignore the school boys, but pay strict attention to the Sergeant and the Specialist, because such people actually know what they are talking about. Elitists tend to be better bosses, but demanding taskmasters.
#11
I think the distinction's between arrogance based on expertise, which is earned and is relevant to the tasks at hand, and arrogance based on social background, which many people still (falsely) correlate with Ivy League degrees. These days most Ivy Leaguers are not silver spoon types but rabid overachievers in certain areas favored by admissions directors: grade-grubbing and volunteerism mainly.
The CIA needs more asian-americans who actually speak farsi, pashtun, arabic, mandarin etc and know those regions intimately from their upbringing and family ties. Where they went to school is secondary.
#12
Thus, Ivy Leaguers and West Pointers will ignore the Master Sergeant or the Tech Specialist because they didn't go to the right school.
Can't speak for conditions in 1974, raptor. But today, while I don't doubt there are some West Point grads who may fit this description, I've got to say that the current crop (who came in just before or after 9/11) by and large don't -- at least so far as I can tell and so far as I can influence them.
My own classes have heard me stress more than once that it is their NCOs that will make or break a young officer and that if they are lucky, they will get good NCOs who will teach them the ropes. I'm not above giving my students the real details of some of the WWII recruits and career NCOs in my own family, such as my uncle / godfather:
one of the light infantry deployed in a pitifully thin line at Bastogne, without artillery, in below freezing weather just after XMAS. Absorbed the thrust of the elite German Nordwind attackers. Regiment had 40% casualties. Uncle ended up with a Silver Star, 2 Bronze Stars and 3 Purple Hearts in a few weeks of action. Took out 3 German pillboxes by himself when his squads were decimated by heavy fire. He was a very junior soldier at the time.
Yes, a war hero. (a real one, ahem) My cadets know -- or ought to know -- that they will be lucky to have the privilege to lead soldiers like Uncle Tatch. (nickname)
One thing West Pointers are taught is to push to accomplish what can be accomplished. Our cadets carry a very heavy academic, military and physical fitness load and there are no acceptable excuses for failing to accomplish any part of it. It may be that in peacetime, some of that attitude comes across as insensitive arrogance, especially in young officers who don't have enough real-world experience to know what is and what is not possible to achieve.
I wasn't around in the 70s so can't begin to compare the Point then to what we teach and require now. The academic side has changed a lot, can't speak to the military side. But I'll point out my husband was an OCS grad rather than USAF academy grad, and he fits in well as a West Point faculty now that he's retired out of uniform. There are a number of active duty faculty in my department who aren't grads here, too, and they bring a different view point. So do the prior-enlisted among the cadets.
Blood donated by President Thabo Mbeki after an urgent appeal in South Africa was destroyed because it was regarded as a health risk, it emerged yesterday. South Africa's National Blood Service incinerated Mr Mbeki's donation after the president failed to complete a compulsory questionnaire about his personal health.
Mr Mbeki's aides said the president never filled in application forms and had asked for a special dispensation. But Ravi Reddy, the National Blood Service's technical director, told the Sunday Independent newspaper that the president's donation had simply been destroyed. "We had to take a decision whether to abort bleeding the president, which would have been a disaster from a publicity point of view, or whether to draw blood and then dispose of it," he said.
But the Sunday Independent said there might have been a further reason for the disposal of Mr Mbeki's blood after he arrived at a clinic in Durban in December 2001. The National Blood Service incinerated many donations from black South Africans because they were considered a high Aids risk, although it had now dropped race from its risk assessments.
Posted by: Bulldog ||
12/06/2004
4:02:12 AM ||
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I wonder if one of his staff would be willing to accept a transfusion from Mr Mbeki if they had the same type of blood, or one that would not react badly to a transfusion from him (ie. Mr Mbeki has O negative and the transfusee has AB positive).
#2
Yessir, none of that damn aids stuff down here. I recently heard a quote from this same fellow to the effect that he had never met anyone with aids. Must not get out much. Either that or he doesn't like girls, who are now the population group with the highest rate of infection.
Posted by: Weird Al ||
12/06/2004 15:13
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Britain has won American agreement to hold an international peace conference on the Middle East in London early next year, The Telegraph has learned. The meeting, planned for late January or early February, is likely to be attended by foreign ministers. But it is not yet clear that Israel will send a delegation at that level. If it does not attend, the conference is expected to go ahead with the Palestinian, Arab, American and European participants. Tony Blair will discuss the details with Israeli and Palestinian leaders when he visits the Middle East this month.
Washington appeared to pour cold water on the idea at first when the Prime Minister met President George W Bush last month. But the plan has been quietly revived and now has America's blessing. Senior diplomatic sources say that preparations for the conference now dominate foreign policy discussions between the US and Britain and are at the heart of attempts to heal the transatlantic divisions caused by the war in Iraq. Even hard-line supporters of Israel in the Bush administration appear to accept the idea of a conference as a means of shoring up the new Palestinian leadership after the Jan 9 ballot to choose a successor to Yasser Arafat, who died last month. The conference will probably be announced only after the ballot and will depend on the election of the front-runner, Mahmoud Abbas, who negotiated the Oslo accords.
The challenge by the populist Palestinian leader, Marwan Barghouti, who has said he will stand for election from his Israeli prison cell, could upset Britain's plans. Washington, which has demanded that the Palestinians choose a new leadership "not tainted with terrorism", is unlikely to deal with a man serving five life sentences for masterminding attacks that killed four Israelis and a Greek monk. Blimey. He only snuffed one Greek monk and a handful of Jews. What's a guy gotta do to get a little bit of forgiveness round here? After all, how many world leaders can honestly say they never got up one morning, went out, and murdered a bunch of random strangers? Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Bulldog ||
12/06/2004
3:56:07 AM ||
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Looks like a carrot to the Paleos to induce them to elect Abbas. My money's still on Barghouti. That cell is going to get pretty crowded.
#5
This kind of international brokering is more effective when there are no outside parties organizing the negotiations, especially, I'm afraid, European ones. Tony means well, but this kind of thing is a set-up where everybody gangs up on Israel. There is no point in negotiating anything until the Arab parties are serious about actually accepting Israel's right to exist within viable borders (the Green Line does not meet that criterion), with no right of return for the Palestinians, and are willing to negotiate a real peace treaty (not a mere cessation of hostilities, ie hudna) on that basis.
#6
Payback for support for Iraq. Fitting that it's timed for right around the Iraqi elections as well. Let's hope Bush's people turn this into a PR victory for us: two free elections for the first time in the muslim middle east, and neither would have happened without pressure by the Bush admin.
#8
'Britain to host Mid-East peace summit (Jan/Feb)
Lex makes a good point , but Mid-East , Peace and summit all in the same sentence , nah !! I dont beleive it !
hosted by us infidels , no arab is gonna take this seriously . Expect a walk out after day one of Israel bashing .
#9
Instead, America and Israel want a businesslike meeting to focus on "practical issues" such as rebuilding Palestinian security services and providing financial support for Palestinians after Israelâs planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip next year.
Wait a minute - hoooold everything!! "Financial support"????
NO. Not until the Paleo "leadership" takes solid steps toward reforming their whole society. They know what these steps are, and nothing else needs to be said about the matter until some action on their part is seen.
So the brits have a whack at it, so much the better.
Wake me up when there's real news.
Posted by: Capt America ||
12/06/2004 17:08
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Amen, BAR. NO SUPPORT until Pallies stop all attacks inside Israel. Measurably. Period.
I saw today that Musharraf is yapping about root causes again, poverty, ignorance, blah blah blah.
So are jihadis too stupid to know it's wrong to kill innocents, too poor to know it's wrong to kill innocents, or indifferent to killing innocents because what matters to them is superlative barbarity when proving the strength of their religious faith?
How many of the 19 hijackers were poor and ignorant? How many were educated, financially secure, and rabid zealots?
End of conference. My fee is $50,000. Here's the door. Click.
#12
I agree with Capt America BIG YAWN. There will always be trouble over there- no matter who is in office. Too many cooks in the kitchen and the pot is always boiling. # 11 Jules 187
you are so right...but where do you come up with $50,000.00- DON'T LET THE DOOR HIT YOUR BACK SIDE. RUN DONT WALK.
ANdrea
Posted by: andrea ||
12/06/2004 17:46
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Andrea-a study was done and everyone in the international community agrees-it's a 5-figure gig. ;)
#14
Expect more of these make-believe show "conferences", "summits" etc on a host of issues, not just Isr-Pal. This is the tribute we're expected to pay PC polite world opinion, represented by Blair above all other leaders, for having been so arrogant as to re-elect Bush.
So we can expect another summit to revise Kyoto, a conference to reform the UN (ie do nothing), more summits on African debt relief etc. Sound and fury, signifying f-all....
Hat tip: Drudge. Edited for brevity.
Scientists said on Monday they have come up with a cell phone cover that will grow into a sunflower when thrown away. Materials company Pvaxx Research & Development, at the request of U.S.-based mobile phone maker Motorola, has come up with a polymer that looks like any other plastic, but which degrades into soil when discarded. Researchers at the University of Warwick in Britain then helped to develop a phone cover that contains a sunflower seed, which will feed on the nitrates that are formed when the polyvinylalcohol polymer cover turns to waste. "It's a totally biodegradable and non-toxic plastic," said Pvaxx spokesman Peter Morris. Just remember to get a new cover every few years before the sunflower eats your phone.
Posted by: Dar ||
12/06/2004
3:53:29 PM ||
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Actually, the original headlines and mine above as well are very misleading--it's not a biodegradable phone, but a phone cover. More precisely, biodegradable plastic. I'm sure the rest of the phone components are just as enviro-friendly as before--especially the batteries.
Posted by: Dar ||
12/06/2004 15:58
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Don't worry about your ear. It's perfectly safe, just do like you mom said and keep it clean and dry.
RUSSIA revealed today it was fitting its strategic bombers with cruise missiles capable of delivering a massive precision strike thousands of miles away - giving away the first clear hint of its post-Cold War military strategy. "Russia's long-range air force finally has a new weapon," the government's Rossiyskaya Gazeta daily announced in a headline. "We now have a strategic cruise missile with a non-nuclear warhead," the paper wrote. "We have broken the US monopoly on the use long-range conventional cruise missiles," an unnamed senior air force commander told ITAR-TASS.
The technology appears to be similar to cruise missiles that the US has long attached to its own intercontinental bombers like the B-2 Stealth bomber. The announcement followed months of cryptic statements from President Vladimir Putin and his top generals that Russia was developing a new missile program that is a step ahead of any Western rivals - including technology developed by the US. Mr Putin declared last month that Russia had "conducted tests of the latest nuclear rocket systems" in a cryptic comment that puzzled military strategists but seemed aimed at Washington and its mooted missile defence shield that Moscow considers illegal. Russia has been developing a range of new missiles capable of penetrating US defences as a result. Generals announced earlier this year the successful tests of a hypersonic intercontinental missile that has no officially-confirmed rival in the US. Moscow is also believed to be developing a multi-stage intercontinental ballistic missile that uses cruise missile technology to zigzag and avoid being shot down once it re-enters the earth's atmosphere. Russia also announced that it was making its most feared and powerful trans-Atlantic missile mobile within the next two years. But the latest technology announced today would see old Soviet-era conventional missiles be carried by strategic bombers with a global range.
#1
Yeah, well, let's seem them actually test some before we all get excited.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
12/06/2004 16:19
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I'm still not worried. US cruise missles only have around 400 mile range. The new versions will most likely only be 600 miles. To get the "thousands" of miles, you have to put them on a plane and fly them, with several in air refuels, to get across the atlantic or pacific. The Russians still don't have anything close to defeating the Slammer (AIM-120 AMRAAM) air-to-air death dealer. The bombers wouldn't even get close to the launch point if they came at the United States. A launch at one of our Middle East bases would be a problem, but not a knock out blow and the whole MAD concept would come back.
#3
Mruise missile: Welcome to the club, 25 years late. Wonder what guidance system it uses, e.g. other than digital terrain mapping? Can it be spoofed?
Maneuvering reentry vehicle: Again 25 years late. Pershing 2.
Air launched non ballistic trajectory missile: Are they they going to launch them from AN-224s or do they propose to launch them over Baltimore to hit DC? Maybe the Russians are really worried about close, and rapidly modernizing, neighbors? Also non ballistic trajectory makes decoy discrimination a snap.
Posted by: ed ||
12/06/2004 17:25
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It's good enough for ME, Central Asia and China. I suspect those are areas of greater concern for the Ruskies than the U. S. and more likely theaters of use, not to mention export.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/06/2004 17:29
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Since, as far as I know, Putin hasn't done much to prevent another Beslan, it seems to me that this announcement is for domestic PR purposes. Much easier to announce you have a new toy than to get rid of Basayev.
Posted by: Matt ||
12/06/2004 17:36
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Matt> Since, as far as I know, Putin hasn't done much to prevent another Beslan, it seems to me that this announcement is for domestic PR purposes
Why would Putin care to prevent another Beslan? More Beslans are good for Putin. After all he took advantage of the last Beslan to abolish municipal elections. Next Beslan he'll just use to abolish any last pretense at democracy. "This last terrorist atrocity shows that we don't have the luxury for the instability of democratic elections, so I'm declaring myself dictator for life. Hurrah."
Putin's much more interested in preventing more Orange Revolutions.
Posted by: Matt ||
12/06/2004 20:16
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US CM's have a much greater range than 400 miles - its only so because we make extensive use of our powerful CVN's, surface warfare ships, subs and airpower to deliver these CM's close to target, as closer means greater accuracy + regional/geopol intimidation. The gen implication here is that Russia has finally dev working MICRO-MISSLES, as compared to the large or huge, comparatively inaccurate but still devastating, air-launched monsters the "former" USSR dev during the Cold War for its air forces. PRIVATELY, I'm NOT convinced these CM's are the weapons, as Russian military editors-commens have been calling for the Russian Navy to dev and convert their mediocre aircraft carriers into full-fledged multipurpose sea control ships capable of using LR nuclearized attack missles plus Unmanned Vehicles for anti-surface and anti-sub defense. Thanks to GMD, SPAWAR/SATWAR, and micro-techs, etc. I believe the dawn of submarine based, wholly underwater FLEET/ NAVAL ACTIONS AND DECISIVE BATTLES, includ UV vs UV, IS ABOUT TO DROP ON THE HEADS OF THE WORLD'S MAJOR NAVIES. Lets all sing the "TRANSFORMERS" SONG, "more than meets the eye, ...robots in disguise"! The Russkis and Chicoms know many of the fluttering "stars" and light streaks overhead at night is actually US GMD, and they know the US tech is way way ahead of anything they can dev or deploy in space, in the air, or on the earth's surfaces land or sea surface - this leaves their navies and hyper deficit -ridden Commie Fascist Commie governments the underwater warfare dimension., besides the Clintons of course, and the Left's 2020 maxima timeline to force or induce America unto anti-sovereign Socialism and OWG, i,e, Communism. International Leftism-Socialism-Communism right now is akin to a desperate wild animal - selfish power for the sake of power matters more than reform, self-worth/dignity, lket alone telling the truth or even making an honest mistake. THEY KILLED 000'S ON 9-11, ARE PUTTING AMERICAN LIVES IN JEOPARDY VIA THIER PLANNED ANTI-US/W INSURGENCY IN IRAQ, WANT AND ARE WORKING FOR THE US TO WAGE WAR AND BE WARRED AGAINST, AND ARE WILLING AND PREFER TO DESTROY THE WHOLE WORLD UNLESS THE USA AND THE WEST CONCEDES TO ANTI-DEMOCRATIC, ANTI-CAPITALIST GLOBAL SOCIALISM, GLOBAL REGULATION, GLOBAL SECULARISM, AND OWG, ETC.!
A British archaeologist has uncovered a cave in the mountains near Jerusalem which he believes conclusively proves that the Biblical figure of John the Baptist existed. [snip]
Rowan Atkinson defended the right of comedians to poke fun at other people's religion last night as he joined the campaign against Government plans to create a new offence of incitement to religious hatred.
The star of the BBC's Blackadder television series lined up with leading barristers, writers and politicians to oppose the proposed law. 'There should be no subject about which you cannot make jokes'
Ministers say the Bill will protect faith groups - particularly Muslims. Under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill, which will have its second reading in the Commons today, anyone judged to have stirred up religious hatred through threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour, would be liable to a maximum of seven years in prison.
But opponents of the measure say that while it is well intentioned, stopping the right to criticise other religions would end centuries of tolerance and could stoke tensions between religious groups rather than ease them. Speaking at a press conference in the House of Commons, Atkinson said the proposals would destroy one of society's fundamental freedoms - the right to cause offence.
#1
This ill intentioned law is to give the state the right to persecute one for speaking their mind. Nothing less. That this is a law put forth by the left of course one can have no doubt. It's stupid and ill considered.
#3
Mixed feelings: inspired by this brave woman, outraged that it requires such extraordinary heroism for these nightmare societies' quaint customs of honor killings and rapes to be brought to light.
Where the f*** are all the western feminists now? Why are they silent on these horrific and constant attacks on muslim women?
EW YORK - A Yemeni sheik accused of funneling millions of dollars to terrorist networks warned U.S. agents that "Allah will bring storms" to America because of his arrest, according to newly filed court papers. Mohammed Ali Hassan al-Moayad made the remark last year after a German court ordered him extradited to the United States to face charges he helped finance al-Qaida and Hamas, prosecutors said in the documents filed in U.S. District Court.
The statement — spoken in English to agents bringing al-Moayad from Frankfurt to New York on Nov. 16, 2003 — counter defense claims that he has no command of the language, prosecutors said. "Allah is with me," he allegedly told a detective. "I am Mohammed al-Moayad. Allah will bring storms to Germany and America."
Prosecutors have previously alleged al-Moayad was overheard boasting about his relationship with Osama bin Laden, saying in Arabic that bin Laden "tells me that I'm his sheik."
"Who's your sheik?" "You're my big, strong sheik, Mo. Just be gentle with me."
The defense claims his statements during a sting operation at a hotel in Frankfurt were mistranslated from Arabic by FBI informant Mohamed Alanssi, who set himself on fire outside the White House last month.
Oh, crap, there goes that testimony.
The new documents, filed late Friday, offer details of al-Moayad's conversations with an undercover FBI operative posing as an American Muslim eager to donate $2.5 million to terrorist causes.
"Where is my money going to? Is it going to Hamas? Or is it al-Qaida? ... I need to know," the operative demanded during one clandestine meeting, according to the court papers. Al-Moayad allegedly responded: "The way we see it is to support all organizations — Hamas, al-Qaida ... mujahideen and such. Everybody that we learn is fighting jihad to raise God's word we shall support."
The transcripts also say he told the operative he was in regular contact with Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal and had "knowledge of every aspect" of the Palestinian Islamic group. The papers were filed in response to defense motions asking a judge to bar portions of the transcripts from al-Moayad's upcoming trial.
Attorneys for al-Moayad and his alleged accomplice, Mohammed Mohsen Yahya Zayed, have sought to discredit the transcripts by attacking Alanssi, who lured the cleric into the sting and acted as a translator between al-Moayad and the FBI operative. A defense motion called Alanssi's translations "inaccurate, incomplete and frequently embellished." Alanssi is recovering from burns after setting himself on fire, reportedly because he was distraught over his role as a witness against al-Moayad. But prosecutors suggested that because al-Moayad speaks English, he understood what the translator was saying during the sting and did not correct any alleged embellishments. Prosecutors insist the translations were accurate, and said excluding portions of them from evidence would "make it almost impossible for the jury to understand what happened."
Posted by: Steve ||
12/06/2004
2:19:35 PM ||
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. . . warned U.S. agents that "Allah will bring storms" to America because of his arrest . . .
A few observations:
1. How the f*ck does this a**wipe know what allan's gonna do? Here in the US, when deities talk, the person hearing the message either goes to the looney bin or gets a cable show.
2. Why the f*ck would allan care all THAT much about this a**wipe anyway? What's he done, other than "made bad choices?"
3. Haven't just about all of these predictions of such dire consequences⢠not come true?
4. Wouldn't getting your ass kicked so many times get most people to reassess whether they're fighting for the right side?
#6
A Yemeni sheik accused of funneling millions of dollars to terrorist networks warned U.S. agents that "Allah will bring storms" to America because of his arrest, according to newly filed court papers.
We already get storms. Got anything more serious to offer?
#1
Two years ago a South Korean woman reportedly asked a North Korean why President Kim Jong Il was the only fat man in the country, and was detained for several days as a result.
Now that is a legitimate question. Why is Kimmie-boy the only fat North Korean? (And why are North Korean's generally shorter then others?)
Posted by: Don ||
12/06/2004
13:29 ||
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Just for reference TITLE 10 United States Code,Subtitle A, PART II, CHAPTER 39, paragraph 671a says - "Unless terminated at an earlier date by the Secretary concerned, the period of active service of any member of an armed force is extended for the duration of any war in which the United States may be engaged and for six months thereafter."
To cut off whining, SJR 23 is the invocation of war powers. And to those who further whine that just because the phrase declaration of war is not printed on the document, the author Sen. J.Biden (D-DEL) says otherwise here - http://biden.senate.gov/press/release/01/10/2001A24C02.htm
M: (Inaudible) Talbot(?). Senator, thank you for this broad gauged approach to the problems we face. My question is this, do you foresee the need or the expectation of a Congressional declaration of war, which the Constitution calls for, and if so, against whom? (Scattered Laughter)
JB: The answer is yes, and we did it. I happen to be a professor of Constitutional law. I'm the guy that drafted the Use of Force proposal that we passed. It was in conflict between the President and the House. I was the guy who finally drafted what we did pass. Under the Constitution, there is simply no distinction ... Louis Fisher(?) and others can tell you, there is no distinction between a formal declaration of war, and an authorization of use of force. There is none for Constitutional purposes. None whatsoever. And we defined in that Use of Force Act that we passed, what ... against whom we were moving, and what authority was granted to the President.
Posted by: Don ||
12/06/2004 13:46
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WOW. See Reuters RUMSFELD STAYS ON, Hopes Troops Quit Iraq in 4 years. Again What is for the duration??
Andrea
Posted by: andrea ||
12/06/2004 18:41
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Technically; For the duration = till Congress repeals SJR:23. BTW, that is how we ended our involvement in WWI, Congress repealed the war declaration.
Now practically, they would be discharged in a much shorter period of time. These individual have Military Occupational Specialties (MOS), skills, which are undermanned in the manpower inventory. The system is set up to move new manpower, recruitment, into the shortage skills. However, it takes some time to get the soldier from induction to the job. Somewhere between nine months to, rarely, two years, these individuals should be released from active duty. If their original enlistment contract had lapsed, then the individual would be not be subject to further duty particularly if the enlistment was with the National Guard, which was federalized for the duty.
The Navy folks who haunt here could enlight us with the situation for a sailor deployed on ships, what happens when their enlisted contract lapses in the middle of the Indian Ocean, for example.
Posted by: Don ||
12/06/2004 19:45
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— In an exclusive report on Sunday, The Jerusalem Post claimed that the two staff members of AIPAC suspected of spying for Israel were actually set up in an FBI sting. FBI agents apparently coerced Pentagon analyst Larry Franklin into luring the AIPAC officials who already knew him into accepting what he described to them as "classified" information on Iranian plans to take out Israeli operatives in northern Iraq. The report suggested that David Szady, the FBI's senior counterintelligence official, targeted AIPAC, the main Jewish pro-Israel lobby in Washington, out of jealousy for its perceived clout and extensive access to US government leaders.
Gee, would the FBI do something as illegle and petty as that?
Posted by: Steve ||
12/06/2004
1:27:29 PM ||
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Of course not
Posted by: Stephen Hatfill ||
12/06/2004 14:11
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Seem to be getting a lot of reposts today. I posted this yesterday.
Getting ready for the restoration of the lost al-Outbakiyya Caliphate...
Parts of Australia's Outback could soon be overrun by wild camels if drastic measures are not taken to cull them, a wildlife scientist said today.
"How drastic?" Very drastic"
Australia is now home to about 500,000 camels roaming the country's vast tracts of desert, said Glenn Edwards, a senior scientist for the Northern Territory provincial government and camel colony-counting government grant seeker. Camels were first introduced to Australia in the mid-1800s to transport goods across the desert. When trucks and trains made the beasts of burden unneeded, their owners simply turned them loose. With no natural predators and ample grazing land, the camel population has exploded in parts of central, northern and western Australia, and could exceed one million in the next decade, Edwards said. "The feral camel population is growing by about 10% each year and doubling in size every eight years," Edwards said in a statement. "These camels feed on more than 80% of the available plant species in the area they inhabit and have serious impacts on vegetation." Edwards said camels were also beginning to encroach on agricultural land, causing extensive damage to stock fences and rural infrastructure.
"We're also seeing some evidence of a new 'seething' type of behavior...more of a 'simmer', actually, but something we definitely want to keep an eye on."
Combine their spitting with seething and you have a wicked combination, but nothing you can't handle wth a .303 Winchester.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
12/06/2004
12:50:36 AM ||
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I've seen camels out in the Oz desert. They are BIG suckers. Must be 20 foot tall.
#5
Surely there must be some old .303 jungle carbines lying about.
[span class=BreakerMorant]
"Those camels were roaming the outback in violation of Rule 303. We caught them and we shot them under Rule 303."
[/span]
Posted by: Mike ||
12/06/2004 11:16
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#6
Crikies! 'E's a big un! Watch me stick a finger...
#7
I'd like to see PETA against one of the eco-nazi groups on this one. Much like the whitetail deer article the other day, these animals are destroying "natural habitat" and I, for one, would like to see those groups duke it out for once!
Posted by: BA ||
12/06/2004 14:22
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#8
I remember reading a NatGeo article on a woman who crossed Oz by camel. The only danger she faced (and was armed with a shotgun for) was from other camels. She had to dispatch at least one of them. Mean, smelly, ornery, horny beasts, those wild camels.
Note my restraint. Camel toe mentioned by the Sheikh and I did not post any suggestive pix. [See Doc, I'm getting better, heh] Now if I could just control this eye-tic that makes it look like I'm winking 3/second...
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - U.S. soldiers have detained 14 Iraqis suspected of making deadly car bombs and leading insurgent cells in northern Iraq, the military said Monday.
Soldiers from the 1st Infantry Division detained 12 individuals during raids on five houses at about 6:30 p.m. Sunday south of Beiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad. "The raid was conducted to kill or capture members of a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device cell," the military said in a statement.
Later Sunday, soldiers raided a home in the town of Ouja, just south of Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown about 100 miles north of Baghdad, and detained a suspected militant cell leader. Shortly afterward, another raid was conducted in Tikrit, resulting in the detention of a second suspected insurgent cell leader. The 14 Iraqis were taken to U.S. military facilities for questioning.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/06/2004
12:41:52 AM ||
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Them guys in Ouja should have seen it coming. Nuck,nuck.
#3
U.S. soldiers have detained 14 Iraqis suspected of making deadly car bombs and leading insurgent cells in northern Iraq, the military said Monday.
Kill these guys. If Paleos can get away with killing suspected "collaborators" without even the slightest whimper of criticism on the part of "human rights organizations", then these fourteen suspects should get similar treatment.
KATHMANDU - More than 15 Maoists and two security men were killed in separate clashes in Bardiya in west Nepal and Urlabari in east Nepal on Sunday, the official news agency RSS and private media reported on Monday. According to the RSS report, over 15 Maoist and a security personnel were killed in the fighting between the security force and the Maoists at Sainbar area of Bardia district, about 450 kilometres west of the capital, Sunday.
RSS said the clash took place after the Maoists launched an attack on the team of security forces as they tried to remove obstructions placed on the Kohalpur-Chisapani section of the Mahendra Highway that links east and west Nepal. Nepalese media reports said the Maoists blocked the section of the highway for the past two weeks bringing the vehicular traffic to a standstill. RSS quoted security sources in the district as saying one-army personnel died while another sustained injuries in the clash that lasted over three hours.
The English language daily Himalayan Times reported Monday that a security official was killed by the Maoists in Urlabari in east Nepal on Sunday. The newspaper said the policeman was on duty at the traffic post when he was shot dead by two Maoists on a motorcycle.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/06/2004
12:40:04 AM ||
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AMMAN - Fifteen suspected terrorists, including three Saudis, go on trial before Jordan's State Security Court on Monday on charges of planning attacks on targets inside Jordan including the US embassy, judicial sources said Sunday.
They said one of the defendants of the network called "Abu Sayyaf Group" is Saud Mohammad Khalayleh, a cousin of the Jordanian fugitive Ahmad Fadeel Khalayleh, better known as Abu Mussab Zarqawi who is sought for attacks on US-led forces in Iraq. The cell also includes three Saudi nationals who are at large and will be tried in absentia, the sources said.
According to the indictment statement, the 15 people originally planned to go to Afghanistan after US forces entered the country in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. "But, after they found that their mission was impossible, they replaced it with carrying terror attacks on American targets in Jordan including the US embassy," the statement said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/06/2004
12:36:02 AM ||
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BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Two U.S. Marines have been killed during military operations in Iraq's volatile Anbar province west of Baghdad, the military said Monday. The 1st Marine Expeditionary Force released a statement saying two of its Marines were killed in action Friday ``while conducting security and stability operations'' in Anbar province, a vast region which includes the battleground cities of Fallujah and Ramadi. No further details, including how or where the Marines were killed, were provided. Their identities were being held pending notification of relatives.
The killings brought to at least 1,273 the number of U.S. troops to have died since the war began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/06/2004
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Posted by: Steve White ||
12/06/2004
12:28:49 AM ||
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#1
The Norks will push and shove this issue aimed at the South, while denying "unfettered" inspections on it's own production facilities. Why the IAEA would fall for this bait, is anybodys guess.
For now all one needs to know is that a timely recent sale of stock in a company called Taser International, Inc., where he has been serving as an outside member of the board, has made the nation's soon-to-be-confirmed new Secretary of Homeland Security nearly $6 million richer than he was just three weeks ago... It is, for example, by no means clear that Kerik did an especially commendable job during the three months of 2003 when he worked in Baghdad heading up the rebuilding and training of Iraq's post-Saddam police forces. In prepared remarks praising the new nominee last week[...]the President was oddly — and utterly — silent on Kerik's work in Baghdad, and perhaps for good reason. Though Kerik presided over the hiring of thousands of recruits for the reconstituted Iraqi police force, most were hired without background checks, and many turned out to be hardened criminals. As a result, some 30,000 of them, or roughly 25 percent of the entire force, are now reportedly being let go, with the U.S. footing the bill for $60 million in severance payments. Arguable, I guess. But, still, we didn't hear much about what he actually did over there, did we?
There's also Kerik's never-fully explained role in the 1990s as head of a New York City Corrections Department foundation that was secretly funded with roughly $1 million of tobacco company rebates from departmental purchases of cigarettes using city funds. Kerik's hand-picked treasurer for the foundation, Frederick Patrick, is now serving a one-year prison sentence after admitting in court that he pilfered nearly $140,000 of the foundation's money to pay for collect-call phone sex from inmates. Kerik wasn't the one who did this. Poor character judgement, perhaps, but how responsible does that make him? [...] Then the writer goes off on a long ramble about how Tasers really are dangerous though they're claimed to be nonlethal.
For the moment, Kerik seems comfortably in the clear, for whatever his reasons may have been for selling his shares, they are now changing hands for almost exactly what they were selling for when he unloaded them on Nov. 11th — meaning that until now at least, his nomination as security biggie for the homeland has been pretty much a non-event. But I doubt that this is the end stories about Kerik and Taser International, and for what little it may be worth, I at least will be watching to see whether, in the fullness of time, the Department of Homeland Security (or maybe even the Iraqi national police force) becomes a major new buyer of Taser's non-lethal stun guns. I've never heard anything bad about him till this. Sure, one of it means he's a bad pick, but it's sure to come up during hearings.
#1
for what little it may be worth, I at least will be watching to see whether, ...the Department of Homeland Security ... becomes a major new buyer of Taserâs non-lethal stun guns.
ooooh....so it was never about the oil afterall! The war in Iraq and this whole Homeland Security charade is all about the sales of Tasers. It's a vast a deep conspiracy!
#2
Got to be bigger than that. Who manufactures the Zionist Death Ray?
Posted by: Matt ||
12/06/2004 13:44
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Acme.
They do good work.
Posted by: The Mossad ||
12/06/2004 13:50
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I'm still curious about why he left Iraq 3 months into what was supposed to be a 6 month minimum assignment just as the bad guys shifted into high gear - he left right at the time of the bombings of the UN HQ, Jordanian embassy, and the mosque blast that killed 100 people included the cleric in charge of SCIRI. Heck of a time to leave early. There could be a good reason for that, but it's odd no one has ever tried to make the case.
#6
im not sure if he screwed up in Iraq, but I could make a defense of his record in Iraq.
1. at the time, the insurgency was not large, and looked to be in decline. The real problems were looters, street crime, general disorder. Against those you needed experienced cops, who cared if they had some ties to the old regime or were in other ways politically questionable. The urgent need was to restore order from chaos, and QUICKLY, NOT to prepare for a guerilla war - and Kerik was a COP, not warrior. When it became clear that this was NOT a job for a cop, but was part of a counterinsurgency war, he left.
#8
Given that DHS is a sprawling collection of bureaucracies in which real authority lies elsewhere, wouldn't it make sense to have as DHS Director someone with superb managerial skills and a deep knowledge of how to get things done inside Washington? Kerik strikes me as a very odd choice.
It's telling that his nomination won high praise from Schumer and Hillary. Is Rove signalling that New York's in play for 2008?
Militants killed a 19-year-old man who was suspected of helping Israel track down Palestinian fugitives, Palestinian security officials said Monday. The officials said 19-year-old Jad al-Hindi was abducted late Sunday by the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent militant group linked to the dominant Fatah movement. Early Monday, police found al-Hindi's body, saying he had been shot in the head 12 times. An Al Aqsa spokesman said al-Hindi helped Israeli undercover agents track down and kill three of its members in Ramallah on Nov. 21. A neighbor, Salam Yacob, said al-Hindi watched the fugitives and informed on them to Israeli intelligence when the men were killed.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/06/2004 12:24
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So where's Amnesty Int'l or HRW? They got anything to say about this? If not, then can OUR forces go ahead and kill all of the suspected Iraqi terrorists that they've managed to take into custody?
#5
"#2 So where's Amnesty Int'l or HRW? They got anything to say about this?"
If they have, they're saying it very quietly and hoping nobody will notice. Bloody hypocrical bunch.
From the Rantburg Diplomacy Desk:
The tomb of Yasser Arafat has become a pilgrimage site for visiting diplomats, many of whom shunned the veteran Palestinian leader before his death last month. Joschka Fischer, the German foreign minister, added a wreath yesterday to the dozens already decorating the burial site in Ramallah. Others were placed in recent days by Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, and the foreign ministers of Russia, Japan and Spain. Mr. Arafat died in a French hospital at the age of 75 on 11 November. Since then, violence has dropped considerably and diplomats are talking optimistically about the possibility of new peace moves. In parallel, Palestinians are sensing a posthumous easing in world attitudes toward Mr. Arafat. "Many parties are now reviewing their positions," said Abdallah Abdallah, the deputy foreign minister for Palestine. "Even US officials now are talking about Arafat serving his people and the peace process."
Posted by: Seafarious ||
12/06/2004
12:11:30 AM ||
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"Even US officials now are talking about Arafat serving his people and the peace process."
#4
Arafat's grave should be a hazardous waste site. What is Jack Straw doing at that landfill?
Arafat was a lifelong terrorist and a thief of billions from his own people. They should have packed him in lye to purify the earth.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/06/2004 1:25
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Jack Straw... is a fitting prop at the hazardous waste site. He is not just a POS, but a whole refuse.
#7
Just think of all these asshats going there is a clear message. WE HATE ALL JEWS! Europe needs a good cleaning it appears anti-semitism is still rampant there.
#8
That pilgrimage thing again. The 3,278 most holy site in Islam.
Posted by: john ||
12/06/2004 4:59
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We now have a new pilgrimage site for Islam.
Miracles are already happening.... after the visit the length of Mr. Straw's dick has increased by 2 inches (on a good day). The bad new's is he cant get it up any more because every time he pulls it out, he remembers Arafat's face
and completely looses tumescence.
Also, pregnant women have been known to miscarry
after visiting the Arafish memorial.
We are also witnessing material transmutation....
A poor sheperd passing the grave with a loaf of bread discovered that the loaf turned into high-grade RDX.........
Such is the power and holyness of the grave of the hero of Islam........
Ticket's ? ... Anyone... ???
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
12/06/2004 10:19
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I'm tellin' ya - headstone shaped like a urinal...
#11
Well, maybe they're making the pilgrimage to make sure that the late Arafish is really, and truely most sincerely dead. Dealing with that duplicitious set of scum, I'd want to make very sure. I certainly wouldn't take the PA's word for it.
Posted by: ed ||
12/06/2004 17:46
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For me, regardless of his history Arafat's grave is prob the proverbial "high-water mark" of contemporay Islam, at least for the those generations alive today. Whether one believes that Osama and Radical Islam are PC mercs for International Leftism-Socialism-Communism, or NOT, ISLAM MUST NOW, UNILATERALLY AND INDEPENDENT OF ITS LEFTIST MASTERS, ENTER ITS OWN "FINAL STRUGGLE" BETWEEN DE FACTO COEXISTENCE WITH NON-ISLAM, OR GLOBAL WAR; TO CHOOSE BETWEEN FINAL WAR OR FINAL PEACE. Not just ags Israel but for the very essence and LT survival of its faith, as like anti-US FRANCE Islam must realize that to help destroy the USA only hastens its own inevitable demise at the hands of the Communists. IFF the Failed Left has its way, IT'LL BE WAR!
London, England, Dec. 6 (UPI) -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair met in London with Democratic Unionist leader Ian Paisley Monday about power sharing with Northern Ireland's Assembly. Last week, Blair met with Gerry Adams, leader of the Sinn Fein, the political arm of the separatist Irish Republican Army. Sky News said Paisley is holding out on whether his party will reject or sign on to an agreement with Sinn Fein to resurrect the Assembly. Paisley has maintained there will be no agreement until the destruction of IRA weapons is backed up by photographic evidence, but Adams has refused to take such action. Paisley is also calling for disarmament to be witnessed by Protestant and Catholic clergymen along with Gen. John de Chastelain, the head of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning.
I'm sure they'll come to an agreement any decade now.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/06/2004
1:17:12 PM ||
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About 120 million origami birds were air-dropped over southern Thailand yesterday in an attempt to quell a Muslim insurgency that has led to the deaths of more than 500 people this year. The gesture, heavily promoted by the Thai prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, was intended to show solidarity with the region's inhabitants, but has been derided by critics as pointless and liable to cause a litter problem. More than 50 military aircraft were involved in the exercise, which began at the auspicious hour of 9.09am. But as the air-drop continued a retired prosecutor, Nat Wipaseth, 62, was shot dead at his shrimp farm in Pattani, and a bomb was defused at a roadside where bird collectors had gathered.
Doubtless the shooter used an origami rod, and the sappers defused an origami IED...
#4
the resemblence is uncanny - with the exception of course, that a few of those birds actually gets results and millions of the others has no effect.
#6
I always confuse origami and chirigami. Which one is it you wipe your butt with?
Posted by: Fred ||
12/06/2004 8:40
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ori=folded gami=paper
chiri=rubbish (kozo threads and ground dark bark)
So, to answer your question... if you lack normal toiled paper, you can use both, subject to availability.
Since origami would be folded in some shape, you may have to spend some time unfolding to get the proper wipeworthy area. So, if you have both, chirigami in a sheet form may be more desirable.
Of course, origami may be made of chirigami, which would complicate somewhat your decision process.
#8
Fred, I don't want to complicate the issue, but you may want to get a bit more insight into the paper choices from this lexicon, in the case you plan to visit a restroom in Japan.
#10
There's certainly a sore lack of understanding about Buddhists, lol!
These guys will bomb you with paper good wishes.
Then they will self-immolate just to protest.
Then they will fight hand-to-hand with a bloodlust equal to the berserkers to defend their families.
Do not think The Land of Smiles is an easy target. It is the only country in SE Asia never to have been conquered and made into a Euro-power colony.
They bend, but do not break.
In "The ABC's of Business in Thailand", "A" is for Assassination. For more, Google why they have been in a "tiff" with Saudi Arabia for a couple of decades, lol! Sent 4 Saudi "diplomats" home in bags for fucking around in a business deal.
Iran's embattled President Mohammad Khatami, isolated as one of the few reformists left in office, has admitted that he cannot wait until his second and final term in office ends next year. "I am counting the moments for my involvment in political affairs to be over," he was quoted as saying during a meeting Saturday with staff from the student news agency ISNA. Rather than stay in politics, Khatami said he wanted to "enjoy my old age in a squalid cell in Qom university atmosphere."
After a stint as the Islamic republic's culture minister and then in the national library, Khatami was elected president with landslide majorities in 1997 and again in 2001 after he reluctantly decided to stand for re-election. But the mild-mannered, mid-ranking cleric's promise to shake-up the way Iran is run and liberalise the country has met with stiff opposition from hardliners who wield more power through the courts, political oversight bodies, the security forces and state media. His image as a lame-duck leader was cemented after his allies in parliament were ousted in February's elections. Most or all reformists were barred from contesting those polls by the Guardians Council, a conservative-controlled legislative oversight body. With Khatami also unable to stem a judicial crackdown on his leftist supporters in the press and universities, the president has also come in for heavy criticism. In recent months he has been barely visible on the political scene. The Iranian constitutional bars any president from serving more than two successsive terms in office.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/06/2004
11:20:16 PM ||
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The degree of difference between an Iranian 'reformist' and a 'conservative' counterpart is the difference between the shade of black in their turbans.
Heavy clashes erupted between Iran's State Security Forces (SSF) and students from the University of Qazvin (western Iran), after SSF agents raided university buildings and attempted to bring to an end a hunger strike that had been organized in protest to poor university conditions. Students defied official warnings of a crackdown on protesting students. University windows were broken and some buildings were damaged in the clashes. Last Tuesday as part of the ongoing hunger strike, students wrote the word 'etesab', meaning 'strike', on the floor of the main university canteen using their food trays. No word has come about the fate of students who were arrested during the ensuing mayhem. The university campus is presently under siege with local residents reporting that in the past few days, faculty staff have not been permitted to leave the university even during nighttime.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/06/2004
11:14:45 PM ||
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#1
"Black Turban, the harder you squeeze the stronger I will become."
#5
Yhis is all just opinion...
I hate to see the leaders of these groups waste themselves on symbolic shit - when they could be part of the real deal... Yes, lex, I would bet there are some CIA folks who have their wits about them and aren't seditious moonbats. And, of course, the handwriting is on the wall - we know about the admin's determination to clean house, so they've known for a long time. Those who aren't near retirement will be looking to cleanse themselves of association and actions which would put them on the block. The problem will be that upper-middle and upper-level management crust nigh unto retirement and with feelings of career suicide... Now if you could threaten the retirement pkg, well sir, then you'd see a magical transformation...
A number of Swiss Muslim activists voiced reservations about the launch of a new forum aimed at making the "moderate" voice of Muslims heard, fearing it could split the community.
"Who sez any of us want to be 'moderate,' anyway?"
They warned, in interviews with IslamOnline.net, that the new forum would be exploited by the media as a pretext to target any Swiss Muslim adhering to his/her religion, label them as "extremists" and even call for their deportation. The forum's chairwoman, Tunisian-born Saida Keller-Messahli, told swissinfo on Friday, December 3, that the forum will have no taboos with respect to issues put for debate and will "criticize in an intellectual fashion."
"Only after the opinions have been presented will we start killing each other and our neighbors. We've learned to be very orderly, living in Switzerland, y'know..."
"We want to show that Islam can be interpreted in a way that is compatible with human rights." With a debate already taking place in Switzerland about whether Imams should be trained at Swiss institutes, Keller-Messahli argued that people were making too much fuss about nothing. "Any person who can read Arabic can interpret the Qur'an, [although] we accept that we are not all Qur'anic scholars," she told the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation's website. Muslim activists in Switzerland showed deep concerns about a proposal put forward by major Swiss Christian groups on the need for a government-supervised institute to educate imams on the "liberal" lifestyle in western societies. The proposal raised some fears within the community that the institute would be a platform for imposing a European Islam, sidelining the Shari`ah and dealing with the Noble Qur'an as an out-dated historical heritage.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/06/2004
11:03:55 PM ||
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A number of Swiss Muslim activists voiced reservations about the launch of a new forum aimed at making the âmoderateâ voice of Muslims heard, fearing it could split the community.
"If you are not an extremist, you are not Muslim!!!"
Posted by: Steve ||
12/06/2004 11:37
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Muslims in Switzerland? Who knew. Sic John Calvin on them.
Lex, I was thinking Hans Brinker.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/06/2004 12:04
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#6
That looks like Shirley Temple (the Czechs favorite American) playing Heidi, to me. Note the edelweiss embroidered on her bodice. I think the directors just didn't know how to make Peter look distinctively Swiss.
#8
"They warned, in interviews with IslamOnline.net, that the new forum would be exploited ......to target any Swiss Muslim adhering to his/her religion, label them as âextremistsâ and even call for their deportation.
A. They are all extremists.
B. What's wrong with their deportation.
The Indian government believes Bangladesh is a hot bed of Islamic terrorism and the threat to Indian cricket team may not be a hoax as is being claimed by the latter. The Centre is likely to take the final decision on sending the Indian cricket team for a two-Test series only after a three-member team of experts submit their report on the situation in Bangladesh.
The Indian authorities have more than enough reason to cancel the team's trip as it has been repeatedly warned in recent times about the growing clout of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI). HUJI is the most prominent terrorist outfit in Bangladesh, with a powerful network in south-east Bangladesh bordering Burma. The group is accused of drumming up death threat to prominent author Taslima Nasrin and attacking another major poet, stabbing a senior journalist, causing several bomb blasts, and carrying out at least one assassination attempt on former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. It possibly is also the group that attacked the US consulate in Kolkota in 2002. Although the Bangladesh government has described the militant outfit as "a paper organisation", Indian agencies believe that the group was set up with the help of Osama bin Laden in 1998.
According to a recent report submitted to the Central government and available with the timesofindia.com, some of Harkat-ul-Jihad-Al-Islami's Afghan veterans, who have returned to Bangladesh after the Taliban regime fall, are staying in hilly terrains of Cox Bazar, Banderban and also along the no-man's land in the Bangladesh-Myanmar border. These veterans are receiving supports from Qaumi madrassas in Chittagong and militant groups among Myanmar refugees in Bangladesh (Rohingyas), the report with the government says.
Among those underground leaders are HUJI idol Mufti Abdul Hannan, Mufti Qamarauzzaman and Mufti Saleh Ahmed - all three believed to be war veterans in Afghanistan and Chechnya.
"Chittagong has become the headquarters from where the Bangladesh Islamic movement is coordinated," the report with the government points out. The Quami madrassas that have mushroomed in Cox's Bazar and Banderban areas serve as recruitment agents to various jihadi outfits, including HUJI.
Illegal arms and ammunitions is freely flowing into Bangladesh, especially the lawless southeast, through the fishing harbour of Cox's Bazar, the report points out. The report says there has been "manifold increase" in activities of Islamic militant groups ever since the BNP government came back to power in 2001.
Gee, ya suppose there might be a link?
Another report on HUJI with the government has quoted a series of articles in Prothom Alo, a Bangladeshi newspaper, as saying that HUJI has established an "active network" through local NGOs and madrassas for its activities. The report says HUJI imparts arms training to groups among Rohingya Muslims and even some Indian groups.
The Prothom Alo report quoted police officers as saying that HUJI has, in recent times, shifted its camps to Naikhangchari border in the no-man's land between Bangladesh and Myanmar. Coincidentally, Indian agencies also believe that the central command of the ULFA (United Liberation Front of Assam) and some other north-eastern insurgents such as NLFT (National Liberation Front of Tripura) and NDFB (National Democratic Front of Bodoland) are also based in that area.
Indian agencies also believe that HUJI is using its influence with Bangladeshi Islamic political groups such as ruling Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Oikya Jote (Islamic Unity Forum) for carrying out its activities.
Islamic politcal groups supporting islamic terrorist groups? Who knew?
According to the reports, HUJI could have a staggering 15,000 members and its main aim is to bring about Islamic regulation in Bangladesh on the Taliban pattern with the greater objective of achieving international Islamic brotherhood in South Asia.
They all want to be the first with their very own Caliphate.
Indian agencies have drawn up a very scary picture of HUJI which must been of serious concern to the authorities as they evaluate threat to the Indian cricket team.
Prothom Alo has quoted confessions of HUJI members to claim that several HUJI top leaders were involved in various bomb blasts in Bangladesh. One of reports with the government says in March 2002 the interior ministry of Bangladesh had instructed police to take action against madrassas and camps of HUJI but there was only a lukewarm response. However, after the new government, which is a coalition of Islamic parties that are not very friendly with India, came to power, "no more circulars" were issued against HUJI, the report points out.
Tap, tap, nope.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/06/2004
11:03:41 AM ||
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#1
A good Bengali friend of mine used to be obsessive about cricket. India's team is one of the best and they are very proud of them. If anyone tried to hurt those guys, India would definitely go nuts, and not in a good way.
#2
Of all things British to take up India and Pakistan go for Cricket. Not British Common Law or the English Enlightenment, not superior British Railroading skilz, not the nautical genius no! They go for Cricket. It would be like Germany ending up with a Junker Monarchy and NASCAR. Which actually would be kinda entertaining. I'd like see Trusty Rusty down deep in the Karousel. LOL!
#3
Ship: I think India uses common law, and I know theyve got some good railroading skills, as i once personally knew somebody who worked at Indian National Railways, before coming over and making a successful career in the States. Of course the RRs there are not capitalized the way a 1st world system is, but given their national income levels, etc, thats to be expected. I dont think RRs have been a constraint on growth, not like their hostility to trade (prior to 1990) was. Of course Im talking about India, not Pakistan.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/06/2004 16:30
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Jeez LH! It's the thought that counts!
I will likely stand corrected about British Common Law... except for the odd quaint local customs, wife burning etc. :) I am less certain of their railroading skilz, I shall work up an accident/mile figure. Riding on the roof is usually contra indicated in a country with a well establish Bar. :)
A day after the Thai government bombed the restive south with paper doves as a peace gesture, militants exploded two bombs injuring a solider and a civil servant. The police said the first explosion occurred at a gathering point for police and military personnel in Narathiwat, one of three Muslim-dominated southern provinces rocked by a separatist insurgency that has left more than 550 people dead this year, including as many as three at the weekend. The explosion took place in Rangae district injuring a soldier. About three hours later, a second bomb blew up at the side of the road some 800 meters from the site of the first explosion, lightly wounding a district official, according to the policeman. "We are investigating, but it was likely to have been a remote-control bomb," he said. In the weekend's violence, a retired chief prosecutor from Pattani province was gunned down at his shrimp farm on Sunday, while a policeman was killed in Narathiwat on Saturday evening when his patrol unit was ambushed. A 64-year-old grocer, Suthon Sridaeng, was shot dead at his shop in Pattani on Sunday. Security forces also found and defused a bomb near the border with Malaysia just before the government used 50 aircraft to scatter some 120 million paper birds across southern Thailand on King Bhumibol Adulyadej's 77th birthday. The paper birds carried messages of peace. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra signed one of the paper birds, promising a scholarship or job to whoever found the bird with his signature.
Posted by: Seafarious ||
12/06/2004
11:02:16 AM ||
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#1
Overall, a good lesson for the children. They read in their children's books that if you just dropped a bunch of peace cranes that the bad guys will be impressed and learn to share the love. 120,000,000 children just learned that it's a nice children's story, but not true.
#5
Oh well, they got their chance - their one free shot - and they've blown it. Time for more racking 'n stackin' down south. I believe that incident was the work of the Border Police, who are tough and nasty types. Toxin won't hesitate to give as good as he gets.
Much of the Thai Police and Military have been merely ceremonial, chaperoning the Royals around, for decades. That will change and they'll become hardcore soldiers as the weak ones get iced. This is a Darwinian lesson for the Thais. They'll "get it" and start dishing it out. The asshats have been on their southern border for several hundred years and never took a square inch - but now the Wahhabi funding has re-awakened the tradition of spreading Islam by force. It will be met with force.
Developing...
The Pentagon Metro station is closed at this hour while authorities investigate what they're calling a "chemical incident." Metro spokeswoman Cathy Asato says the station closed around 10:10 a.m. after people started complaining of eye irritation. Asato say it's unclear at this time what is going on. Trains are not stopping at the station. Asato says they're being turned around at the Pentagon City and Arlington Cemetery stations. Stay tuned...
Posted by: Dragon Fly ||
12/06/2004
11:00:06 AM ||
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Posted by: Tibor ||
12/06/2004 12:07
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WMAL just reported that it may be Pepper Spray that was unintentionally released. Strange, eh?
Somebodies "goawaymuggersandrapists" kit malfunctioned, or some really wussy freelance jihadi trying to stir panic? How would we ever be able to figure out the difference?
Iran's judiciary has tried a number of arrested al Qaeda members and verdicts have been issued, a senior judiciary official was quoted as saying on Monday. Tehran Justice Department head Abbasali Alizadeh told the semi-official Fars news agency Iran's "high-ranking officials are satisfied with the issued verdicts," but did not elaborate on what the verdicts had been.
"Heros of the Islamic Revolution" comes to mind
News of the trials is likely to anger Washington, which has repeatedly called on Iran to hand over all al Qaeda suspects it is holding. Guilty verdicts sentencing them to long jail terms would make that an even more distant prospect.
Like there was any chance of them turning them over in the first place
Reuters could not immediately reach judiciary or government officials for comment. Western intelligence and Saudi sources believe Iran may have captured al Qaeda's security chief and a son of the group's leader Osama bin Laden. Iran has extradited scores of suspected al Qaeda militants who fled Afghanistan and Pakistan in the last three years. But it has rebuffed U.S. calls to hand them all over and last year announced plans to put around a dozen on trial. Hossein Mousavian, secretary of the foreign policy committee of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said in June that the suspects were middle-ranking al Qaeda members. He said they had been: "plotting against the national security of Iran and they have planned for terrorist activities inside Iran."
The United States has long believed Iran was harboring al Qaeda militants who escaped Afghanistan after U.S. troops invaded in late 2001 after the September 11 attacks. It has said Iran-based al Qaeda militants plotted suicide bombings in Saudi Arabia and that Tehran gave safe passage to several of the 19 hijackers who carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington. Iran acknowledges that al Qaeda members have managed to cross into Iran over its long and difficult-to-police borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan. But it denies providing safe-haven to al Qaeda members and says it deeply opposes the group's methods and philosophy. The most important figure that Western intelligence agencies say may be there is Saif al-Adel, an Egyptian. He is widely believed to have taken charge of al Qaeda operations after Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the September 11 attacks, was captured in Pakistan. Saudi sources said last year that Iran had also detained Saad bin Laden, a son of Osama, as well as al Qaeda spokesman Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, who is a Kuwaiti.
Detained or held as hostages? I could see them doing that.
Iran has refused to name the al Qaeda members it is holding. Alizadeh said the trials had been conducted by a "special judge" after taking into account information presented by security and intelligence officials.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/06/2004
1:08:11 PM ||
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First, they tried to give them money, but they wasted it doing stupid things. Then they tried to get them to go to Iraq and fight against the Americans, but they wouldn't follow suicide orders given by their handlers...
The good times just keep rolling along in Sweden's social-democratic paradise. Welcome to a veritable welfare wonderland, where everyone is taken care of from the cradle to grave; where alcoholics can retire on government pensions; where the average worker calls in sick one day a week, even if he or she is not sick; where drug addicts get disability checks and the where the real unemployment rate is close to 25 percent. If all this sounds like a recipe for disaster, congratulations for grasping some basic economic principles that most Swedes, and in fact, most Europeans, still haven't figured out.
If Sweden ever was an economic paradise, welcome to what is turning into paradise lost. Economists here seem to think that all that is needed are a few tweaks. But this bloated welfare state needs more than a tweak. That's not likely, because most Swedes, and most of the world, assume Sweden has found a combination of socialism and capitalism that works. But does it work?
"Uh, No," comments Frederik Erixon. "It's quite simple. No, it doesn't work."
Erixon, one of the few free market economists in Stockholm, says Sweden's standard of living continues to fall farther and farther behind.
"Sweden is much poorer today in comparison to other countries than say 10, 20, 30 years ago," Erixon continues. "The GDP (gross domestic product) growth has been declining for a number of decades."
Sweden's official unemployment rate is six percent, but that figure is "cooked", to use an economic expression. Because it doesn't include another six percent on sick leave, at least 10 percent on disability, and a significant chunk of the nation's high school and college graduates are well, just loafing. This according to top Swedish Economist Stefan Folster:
"If one adds all that together, it's probably fair to say that one in four people is not in work but could be," Folster says.
All Swedish workers get a minimum of five weeks of vacation every year. Not enough, apparently, because, as we mentioned, the average worker also takes one sick day a week, often to work a second job, because taxes take at least half of their first income.
Sweden's welfare state has even managed to turn alcoholism into a career option, since government policy effectively pays people to stay home, drunk.
But if you want to be a Swedish entrepreneur, then you have a problem. Most small businesses in Sweden consist only of the owner. It's too expensive to hire employees and too difficult to fire them. Just ask Trucking Company owner Lars Jansson.
"Somebody said it's easier to divorce your wife than to terminate an employment," explains Jansson. "When you hire someone it's extremely difficult to fire him if he's not doing his job."
"Economically productive behavior is very difficult to pursue," agrees Erixon.
But it's a similar situation across most of Europe, which continues to fall farther and farther behind the United States.
A study by the Swedish free market think tank Timbro found that the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy now have a lower per capita Gross Domestic Product than all but four U.S. states.
So you might think that would make Europeans want to change their economies to be more like ours, and you would be wrong.
First off, most Europeans don't know that they're poorer than Americans are. Their media, which is largely anti-capitalist, and people like Michael Moore, tell them that the quality of life in America is awful.
In fact, there are so many European misconceptions about America that it took a book to hold them all. In "Cowboy Capitalism", German journalist Olaf Gersemanna, a business reporter who lives in the U.S., demolishes the strange myths that many Europeans believe about America: that most of us have to work three low-wage jobs just to make ends meet; that America only has low unemployment because we throw so many people into prison, and that most Americans don't have healthcare.
Even the head of one of Germany's most pro-business parties has said that in America, "âŠfreedom is the freedom to sleep under bridges."
Our cameraman discovered that's also a freedom enjoyed by Europeans.
But Swedish economist Folster says Swedes would rather be poor than have an American-style economic system, which is so cruel.
"Poverty is to a greater extent than in most European countries," points out Folster. "Homelessness, wide income distribution, and things like that that many Swedes are afraid of."
They should be afraid of their own future. Mauricio Rojas, a free market economist from Chile, who has lived in Sweden for 30 years, says the welfare state is turning what was once one of the hardest working nations in the world into a nation of idlers, which is also killing the welfare state itself.
Says Rojas, "Because the welfare state needs people paying taxes, working, behaving in a moral, responsible way. But people say, 'I don't need to go work. I have too much. I'm tired. My children need me.' And the state's going to pay."
And Sweden's problem is Europe's problem: high taxes, low growth, huge welfare payouts, and a shrinking population.
Gersemanna says these days, German politicians refer to "the American way" with a sneer. But compared to Europe, the American way looks pretty good.
Yvonne Ridley, the British ditz journalist who made international headlines three years ago after her dramatic capture and release by the ousted Taliban regime in Afghanistan, believes her life completely changed to the better, thanks to Islam.
"I was pretty stoopid before I converted, y'know. That's all changed now..."
What started out as a purely research about Islam following her release turned into a soul-searching trip that culminated with the firm conviction that Islam is not about oppression or violence, but rather peace, tolerance and understanding, she recently told Malaysia's English-language The Star newspaper. Embracing Islam in August 2003, the Sunday Express journalist admitted that she used to "work hard and play hard" and was a "prolific drinker", but found herself now healthier, happier, and more content.
I think it was the drugs, myself...
"And my girlfriends can see this, and they ask: 'What is this that has changed your life so much?' And I say it's Islam. And they say: 'No, really, what is it?'" Ridley was in Malaysia last week to raise funds for the UK-based Islamic social service organization Al-Khaaem.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/06/2004
10:57:54 PM ||
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Islam, Fosters, tolerance, peace: one out of four aint too good, Yvonne.
#2
Yvonne then concluded the interview, saying that her husband told her that if she didn't come in the house RIGHT NOW, that he would beat her to a senseless pulp, and there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it.
"âWhen I look back at my experience now, and I see the shocking images of Guantanamo Bay , and the horrendous images and stories emerging from the Abu Ghraib prison , I thank Allah I was captured by the most evil and brutal regime in the world and not by the Americans.â
Ridley, as an anti-war activist at the time, recalled how the US intelligence sent a dossier to Taliban alleging that she was a spy to silence her anti-war movement."
#5
What about the horrendous images of your fellow Muslims beheading people with dull knives, you hypocritical twit.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/06/2004 1:04
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â'And my girlfriends can see this, and they ask: âWhat is this that has changed your life so much?â And I say itâs Islam. And they say: âNo, really, what is it?â'"
I'd go with: she's a stereotypical left-wing self-loathing attention-seeking pseudo-feminist who would rather see her own society replaced be a primitive superstitious barbarism than accept its minor imperfections as things she alone can't change. A jibbering moral pervert.
#8
The Road to Dhimmitude, First Waypost: Large Prominent western journalists given to self-hatred (and substance abuse, and possibly emotional disturbances) convert to Islam.
#9
Large Prominent western journalists given to self-hatred (and substance abuse, and possibly emotional disturbances) convert to Islam.
Speaking strictly from experience, substance abuse per se does not a dhimmi make. You will notice journalists who have signed off on Islam are usually leftwing/liberal, which basically means their egos are so huge they think that embracing a hostile ideology makes them the smartest person in the world.
This is how western cultures will be destroyed; by journalists, substance abusing or not, decide on their own that immolating a decent society will be their own contribution to mankind, the consequences be damned.
#11
Badanov, "This is how western cultures will be destroyed"
I would use 'might be destroyed'. I don't belive it will be, despite the possibility of moonbats flocking to Islam in droves at some point. It will just make the recon of the enemy more accurate, after some state of confusion.
In the end, we'll win. Not saying it will be pretty in between now and then...
#14
Its always easier to 'just do as your told and dont think' then it is to have, and be responsible for, your own freedom.
I think many slaves were (and are in the instance of Sudan, Saudi-Arabia and other ISLAMIC countries) perfectly content in their lot as 'slaves' - they dont have to think or be responsible, they just do what their 'master' says and everything will be all right.
#16
CF took the words out of my mouth. She just wants the koran to do her thinking for her vice using her own brain. Typical crutch of the addictive & self loathing personality.
#17
She's probably being PAID to say this. Lotta islamic money looking for cracks in the West.
They're smart, they know we think they're women-haters, and if they get a woman journalist (supposed symbol of an independant, critical thinker) then that is a powerful symbol for recruiting more of US!
Don't forget: their goal isn't to defeat us militarily but culturally. Their goal is to make us Islamic!
#24
Ridley, as an anti-war activist at the time, recalled how the US intelligence sent a dossier to Taliban alleging that she was a spy to silence her anti-war movement.
Hmmmmmm. We must've been busy that day.
Posted by: The Mossad ||
12/06/2004 13:48
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Is it me or does she look something like St. Pancake?
#26
And my girlfriends can see this, and they ask: âWhat is this that has changed your life so much?â And I say itâs Islam.
Dont mean to insult anyone, or to miss the very real problems with violence that Islam today has, but doesnt this sound EXACTLY like what you hear from a certain kind of new Christian, the proverbial "Jesus freak"? Or even a new member of Chabad (the ultraorthodox group that proselytizes among secular Jews)? Its just the standard hippie found religion reaction.
#27
She has been on the wagon way too long. Get that girl a drink.
Posted by: d guy ||
12/06/2004 16:29
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Is it me or does she look something like St. Pancake?
CrazyFool, yes. noticed it too. It is the type. I knew a few of them, they all look alike and follow the pattern. I could almost bet that if I see another one, she would be in the same mold. Not sure how to explain it, though. Some form of morphology and state of mind correspondence. Weird.
#36
SPofD, google "Rachel Corrie" and then say a good Act of Contrition.
Posted by: Matt ||
12/06/2004 22:43
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LOL I don't have to google. Now I get the " St. Pancake" bit now. Funny a D9 will do that if you get terminally stupid around one. I think you can also google "terrorist felching" and get a hit on her too.
#40
Plus--wasn't she the wacko idiot that took her young daughter to Afghanistan after she was set free? She said she saw some of her abductors and was "really nervous" (about 'nice guys'?) Anyway, she's an example of the post-trauma classic attempt of a victim to revisit the site of the crime to "prove" that they've mastered the situation of the abuse. And as a "Moslem" she can be pretty certain that the guys won't hurt her again.
Tripoli/ 5 al Kanoon/Jana The Leader of the Revolution received King Abdullah II of Jordan and his high ranking delegation who arrived in Great Jamahiriya Sunday within the frame work of constant consultations and coordination. The meeting was also attended by General Mustafa Mohamed al Khroubi, the Secretaries of General Peoples Committee and the General Peoples Committee for Foreign Liaison and International Cooperation, the Leader and King Abdullah II studied the latest developments of the situation in the region, and international issues of common interest. The Leader of Revolution hosted a lunch banquet in honor of King Abdullah II and his accompanying delegation.
"More chicken, yer majesty?"
"No, thank you, Colonel. I've got to leave soon. I'm on my way to see Bush, y'know."
"Hmmm... I've been waiting for my invitation to Crawford for awhile now..."
"I'll mention it to him."
General Mustafa Mohamed al Khroubi, the Secretaries of General Peoples Committee and the General Peoples Committee for Foreign Liaison and International Cooperation were present in banquet. King Abudallah II of Jordan Kingdom arrived in Great Jamahiriya earlier today . General Mustafa Mohamed Alkaroubi was at the head of the welcoming delegation at Metiega International Airport. The Secretary of the General People's Committee for Foreigin Liaison and International Cooperation, and the Ambassador and members of the Jordanian Embassy were at the airport to receive King Abdullah.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/06/2004
10:51:26 PM ||
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More pictures of Guh-Daffy's bodyguards, please!
Posted by: Dar ||
12/06/2004 10:39
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Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Thursday described Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as the Palestinians' best chance for peace. Mubarak's comments echoed those of his foreign minister, who returned the day before from a rare trip to Israel, that were strikingly upbeat and could mean warming relations between the Jewish state and an important Middle East peace mediator at a crucial time. "I think if they [Palestinians] can't achieve progress in the time of the current [Israeli] prime minister, it will be very difficult to make any progress in peace. He [Sharon] is capable of pursuing peace, and he is capable of reaching solutions, if he wants to," Mubarak told reporters in Port Said, where he had gone to inaugurate a new port project.
Mubarak urged the Palestinians, who are to elect a successor to Yasser Arafat on January 9, to unite behind Mahmoud Abbas, the interim Palestinian leader. He criticized rival Marwan Barghouti's decision to run in the election. "Israel's prime minister said he was ready to do what the Palestinians want, to facilitate the election and help in removing the checkpoints. He only asks for one thing: the end of the explosions, so they can work together on a solid basis," Mubarak said. Israel will not launch attacks or raids against Palestinians if the situation remains calm and it is not provoked, Sharon said at a meeting of newspaper editors on Thursday. However, Israel would act if it had information about "ticking bombs" or if Palestinians fired rockets at Israel, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/06/2004
10:47:01 PM ||
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Mubarak urged the Palestinians, who are to elect a successor to Yasser Arafat on January 9, to unite behind Mahmoud Abbas, the interim Palestinian leader.
Uniting behind Mazen is not enough. The Paleos need to give up the Jew-hating. They must stop the constant conspiring to attack Israel, the constant teaching of Jew-hatred in Paleo schools, and crush all the organizations dedicated to Jew-hating. There must be no ground given to the Paleos until these things happen. Is Mubarak willing to lead the way? He can, by making these points nice and clear.
#2
That will be hard for him, BaR. Mubarak's government sponsored a 10-part TV special based on the Protocols of the Elders of Zion during Ramadan last year. The ancient Jewish communities of Egypt, some founded during the time of Alexander the Great, were eradicated after 1948. And how can the West demand such things of the Muslim world, when our own universities teach that Israel is the root of all evil? (I have a 14 year old daughter who will head to a good university in a few years -- if she keeps up her grades. She tests for her black belt this Friday, and does not tolerate idiocy well. I am very concerned about her college experience, as they like to call it.)
#3
Mubarak is a no good hypocrite who does what is convenient for him at the moment.
We should not judge him by his declarations but by what he does.
Egypt had a large part in the weapon smuggling into Gaza through the egyptian border.
They have their own agenda to push (which we should not blame them for) and we must not be misled by PR stunts they ocassionaly perform.
Posted by: Elder of Zion ||
12/06/2004 10:27
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Abbas beating Bargouti, and Mubarak pushing Pals to vote for Abbas against Bargouti, may not be everything wed want, buts its a good step.
Mubarak telling Pals that Sharon is their best chance for peace, is a massive piece of reality centeredness on his part - something not only other arabs need to know, but lots of people in the West.
Yemeni militants denied to an appeals court on Saturday the main charges against them in a case involving various Al Qaeda-linked terrorist attacks since 2002, but some of the defendants did confess to ties to top terror operatives. The 15 Yemenis were convicted and sentenced August 28 to between three years and 10 years in prison, after a three-month chaotic trial. One was sentenced to death and another was sentenced in absentia. The defendants all had denied charges of plotting and executing the 2002 bombing of a French oil tanker, the 2002 attack on a helicopter carrying employees of a US oil company, the attempted assassination of the US ambassador to Yemen and the killing of a Yemeni security officer.
"Nope. Nope. Wudn't us. We wuz jes' standin' around, mindin' our own bidnid..."
On Saturday, one of the men accused of the attempted assassination, Qassem Rimi, said the group only discussed the idea of an assassination. "Such talk doesn't amount to a crime," he told the court, asking for his five-year sentence to be revoked. The two-hour hearing was held under tight security. Since the trial began, the defendants have accused authorities of not following proper procedures and of undermining their rights. Often, lawyers and prosecutors have hurled insults at each other. The prosecutors, in the opening of the appeal case, demanded tougher penalties, saying eight of the 14 men should receive the death penalty.
Fawzi Wagih, sentenced to 10 years for his role in the attack on the French oil tanker, told the court he had met with a top Al Qaeda operative who is currently in US custody and believed to be a close associate of Osama Ben Laden. Wagih said he met Abd Rahim Al Nashiri in the United Arab Emirates, and that Al Nashiri gave him $50,000 to give to another person in Yemen. The defendants had previously denied links to Nashiri.
The Saudi-born Nashiri, an alleged mastermind of the USS Cole attack, allegedly gathered money for the French tanker operation, including money to buy explosives and to buy the boat that rammed into the tanker. Nashiri, sentenced to death in the Cole bombing, is in US custody at an undisclosed location. US officials believe he is closely associated to Ben Laden and besides the Cole attack, he is also suspected of helping direct the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Wagih told the court that he had no idea where the money that Nashiri gave him was going. Wagih also said Saturday that he was in Mukalla, the port city in Aden where the French tanker was located, two days before the attack on it. Khaled Galoub, another defendant, acknowledged to the court that he had rented a house for an Al Qaeda operative.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/06/2004
10:41:05 PM ||
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The Representatives of the Chechen Committee in Turkey informed the Kavkaz Center reporter on the massive raid in Istanbul against the Chechens temporary residing in this country. The informer reported that early in the morning on December 2, brigades of Turkish special units, armed up to their teeth broke in refugees' homes and arrested people without submitting any kind of identity cards. Rummages in apartments and houses of the Chechens were made in a pretty severe manner. Special units men were wearing masks that arouse the rumours among the Chechens, that there were Russian FSB people among the special units members. According to the informer, there were all in all from 10 to 20 persons detained. Information on the number of the detained is being updated. As the informer reports, the representatives of the Chechen Committee have already applied to the authorities for explanations of this anti-Chechen campaign. The authorities of Turkey have not till now provided the access to the detained persons, explaining that in accordance with the law on antiterrorist activity, the authorities have the right to keep the detained persons during four days without bringing a charge. For this reason, the Chechen Committee representatives consider the large-scaled detainments of the Chechens to have been performed as a part of preparing to Vladimir PutinÂŽs visit to Turkey, which is planned for December 5-6. Evidently, they decided in Turkey to demonstrate like that their loyalty to Russia while expecting the guest from Moscow.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/06/2004
10:33:06 PM ||
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Fearful of being left behind, Syrian President Bashar Assad has been telling people something quite startling - that he is willing to resume peace talks with Israel unconditionally. The Israeli and US response so far has been lukewarm, with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon insisting Thursday that Syria first must crack down on militants. Publicly, Assad's government has backpedaled. Yet the overtures - documented by visitors including UN Mideast envoy Terje Roed-Larsen - are another clear sign of how a virtually dead Middle East peace process has suddenly reached its most hopeful moment in years.
You don't suppose it has anything to do with Yasser being in stable condition, do you?
"I don't think anybody is sitting very comfortably and nobody is pleased with the status quo," said Rami Khouri, executive editor of Lebanon's English-language Daily Star. "I think everybody - the Syrians and Israelis - are eager and even, I would say, desperate for a negotiated peace." The Syrian outreach may end up resulting in little, despite the optimism. Many analysts believe Sharon will focus first on talks with the Palestinians, who are seen by Israelis as more open to deals after the death of Yasser Arafat and next month's Palestinian elections. And the United States appears far more interested in pressuring Syria to stop militants from crossing into Iraq than in any vague peace overtures. Yet Assad - under strong US pressure on many fronts and needing international credibility to open his country economically - has clear reasons for reaching out now. "I would wager to say it has a lot to do with US pressure," said Jonathan Lincoln, a senior research associate at the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/06/2004
10:30:12 PM ||
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#1
Syrians and Israelis - are ...desperate for a negotiated peace
Hmmm...negotiated peace? I'd say that at this point we are all fed up with "negotiated peace" and looking for real peace.
#3
the UN official announced with the same sort of enthusiasm he used to show about Yasser Arafatâs peaceful intentions ha!...someone should tell the assad man that the 20th Century ended on 9/11/2004 and we are in the 21st now.
Is it just this glass of wine, or does this article really say that the assad-man is being informed by many sources that if he doesn't pull out of Lebananon and work with Israel that he's next?
via Drudge - developing, as they say
NYT PAGE ONE SPLASH TUESDAY: Classified cable sent by the CIA's station chief in Baghdad has warned that the situation in Iraq is deteriorating and may not rebound any time soon... Developing...
Doing anything they can to take W down. Goss? Clean house!
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/06/2004
10:21:23 PM ||
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Maybe this is great news. Since when has the CIA been correct about Iraq?
Recent news that the Shia are consolidating on a block of candidates and will take the election seriously sounds to me like a silver lining.
Weeks before the Egyptian Interior Minister made a rare visit to Teheran, Iran handed Egypt a senior Islamist member of the outlawed Gamaa Islamiya, the London-based al-Hayat newspaper reported Sunday. Al-Hayat, quoting a statement by the London-based al-Maqrizi Centre for Historical Studies, said Mustafa Hamza was currently in an Egyptian prison. Hamza was one of the gunman allegedly involved in a 1995 assassination attempt on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak during a summit in Ethiopia. He was also wanted for the 1981 assassination of former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, and served three years in prison until he escaped to Afghanistan.
Al-Hayat said Hamza was delivered to Cairo under a deal that includes establishing Iranian cultural centres in Egypt, and Egyptians giving Iran security information about Iranian opposition members living in Egypt. Another part of the deal, al-Hayat reported, includes "improving the image of Iran in the US administration through Egyptian mediation". Hamza faces three death sentences in Egypt. His name is included in a 1996 Egyptian list of 14 "most dangerous wanted Islamists living abroad". Egyptian Interior Minister Habib al-Adli made a rare visit to Teheran last week to take part in a meeting of Iraq's neighbouring countries' interior ministers.
Last week, the same London-based centre announced that a senior leader of al-Gamaa al-Islamiya, Rifai Taha, detained in a Cairo prison since 2001, was continuing to refuse to renounce violence as a condition for a reduced sentence. Taha was an aide of Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden and was seen in a 2000 interview alongside him and Egyptian Islamic Jihad leader Ayman Zawahiri during which they renewed a call for jihad (holy war) against the United States.
He's one of the signatories to Binny's declaration of war on us. Knowing he's safe in an Egyptian calaboose makes me feel better, though just in case they do decide to spring him I'd feel even better if he had an "unfortunate accident."
I'd feel better if we knew he was being held in double super-secret solitary...with not as much as a rat to screech at preach at.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/06/2004
10:21:22 PM ||
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Turkey and Russia are interested in the normalization of the situation in the Caucasus region more than anybody else, stated Vladimir Putin in an interview with the Turkish media on the eve of his visit to Turkey. "I believe that Russia and Turkey are states that are interested in the normalization of the situation in the Southern Caucasus more than anybody else. We understand the current situation in the region better than anyone else does, and we are more interested in its normalization than anybody else because we are neighbors of that region. We have close economic and humanitarian ties with the region," the Russian President underlined. According to Mr. Putin, it is in the interest of both Russia and Turkey to solve effectively the existing problems in the region without unnecessary rivalry and involvement of additional outside forces.
In addition, the Russian President expressed his concern about continuing violence in Iraq. "We will do everything possible to improve the situation in Iraq as soon as possible using the UN framework and our traditional channels of interaction with Iraq," Mr. Putin stated. In his opinion, full and final reestablishment of the sovereignty of Iraqi people might be a sign of normalization of the situation in Iraq. Answering the question about Russia's intention to send its troops to the north of Iraq if an independent Kurdish state is established there, Mr. Putin emphasized that "sending the military is an extreme measure, which is not always the most effective."
"There are plenty of other methods. Generally, we should not bring the situation to the point where the intervention of the military is necessary. Yet our position remains clear: we stand for the territorial integrity of Iraq and against the division of the country on quasi-states," the Russian President announced. He said that the Russian and Turkish positions on that issue coincided.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/06/2004
10:15:35 PM ||
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#1
I believe that Russia and Turkey are states that are interested in the normalization of the situation in the Southern Caucasus more than anybody else.
Sounds like a press release for the actions listed in the article above re: Turkey raiding Chechens. As for the veiled Kurdish threat...at this point, I'd put my money on the Kurds.
#5
Chechnya is the North Caucasus. South Caucasus is Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Its possible in Russian terms S. Caucasus extends into northern Turkey and Iran.
And it's the first I've heard about Russia sending troops (sounding more like invading) to Iraq if the Kurds get independence. Putin's playing a deep and dangerous game.
#6
Why would Putin be concerned about Kurd independence? Turkey, I understand -- it is an article of faith to them that they retain the final remnant of the Ottoman Empire. Syria"s concerns make sense, too -- in a terror state, loss of control in one area presages loss of control overall. But why should Russia care?
#8
Putin's just brown-nosing again. After 9/11, he got on TV and declared, "We are with you [Americans]."
Last week he went to India and declared his support for a UNSC seat with a veto for India.
Yesterday he went to Turkey and parroted the Turkish line that there will be no Kurdistan.
Congenital insincerity, perhaps. More likely diplomatic jujitsu from a wannabe superpower.
#9
We will do everything possible to improve the situation in Iraq as soon as possible using the UN framework and our traditional channels of interaction with Iraq," Mr. Putin stated. In his opinion, full and final reestablishment of the sovereignty of Iraqi people might be a sign of normalization of the situation in Iraq.
Using normal UN channels and acknowledging the sovereignty of Iraq sounds like Russia intends to do nothing, in re: to Iraq, to me. Also a big n.o. on military intervention.
phil_b: thanks for the informative map and the insight.
Posted by: too true ||
12/06/2004 10:13
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#12
I must bow to the superior minds. I always thought "they" should split Iraq into three to avoid a civil war and to prevent sectarian fighting. But reading this I see I was wrong. Kurds are much better off attached to Iraq - with an army and a bigger claim to the land than Turkey has. I admit I was WRONG.
#14
Meanwhile, Pooty Poot enables Iran to have plutonium. Can't have it both ways. He helped to build Iran into a monster that will eventually bite him in the ass.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/06/2004 11:36
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Hands-down, the most effective Iraqi fighting force is the Kurdish peshmerga. Properly equipped, they could handle the Turkeys stupid enough to cross the border - a risk that might lead to re-uniting those the Kurdish areas in both Iraq and Turkey, that vestige of the Ottoman Empire mentioned above... Of course we now must realize that Gul & Co aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer, so... And if the Mad Mullahs are toppled, perhaps that section of traditional Kurdistan could, also, rejoin... Many dominoes lined up here - and the Kurds deserve better than they have ever gotten - as proven during the no-fly period where they flourished even under the threats and subversive actions of Saddam. The Kurds rock in many, many ways.
I've been a proponent of partition since day one in Iraq - and still see no valid reason to change that assessment. Just make sure the Kurds get the northern oil lands around Kirkuk and play nice with the Turkmen and Arab minorities in their zone, and they'd do a bang-up job of showing the Arabs what you can do if you "get" capitalism and aren't held back by Islamic sectarian idiocy.
A loose Confederation of 2 or 3 Partitions may, yet, be the outcome for Iraq - a BS entity created by Sykes and Picot - prolly over drinks. British and French arrogance knew no bounds in those days... which must be why there is such a hue & cry over American power, today. Imagine what they would do with it. Back on-point: There is no sanctity to the current confabulation called Iraq - period. It is a ME version of Yugoslavia. That worked out really well, eh?
#17
The whole Middle East is version of Yugoslavia. There are lots of words the English langauge needs and doesn't have. Balkanize means to break up a state into multiple warring smaller states. It has a heavily negative connatation (and incidentally the state of Yugoslavia was created to solve the problem of balkanization). What we need is the equivalent term that describes breaking up into multiple competing and succesful states. The best I could come up with was Balticize (for the succesful small states around the Baltic).
Posted by: Andrea In Memory of Pat Tillman ||
12/06/2004
10:14 ||
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#1
This falls under the category of "don't you have anything better to do, Coll?" My take: the writer is so insecure about his own lack of manhood that he became obsessed with proving to the world that the Pat Tillmans of the world are the weak - while he, the brave reporter who poured through Pentagon document after Pentagon document, is the real hero warrior. Good luck in your quest for testosterone, little girly man.
With efforts spent on stories like this, no wonder their circulation numbers are so tanked.
#2
I disagree, 2b. Pat Tillman gave his life to protect us all, and the Pentagon should have been forthright from the very beginning as to the circumstances of Pat's death.
Everyone knows that bad things happen in war, and hiding the truth was disrespectful to Pat, to his family, and to the American people.
#3
True. Be that as it may, what was gained by all of the effort that went into this? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. This is nothing more than Steve Coll pissing on Pat Tillman's grave in order to make himself feel bigger than a hero, who fought and died for his country.
#4
IIRC the Pentagon declared it a friendly fire incident fairly quickly. This article is just flogging a memory to try and devalue the "hero" status Tillman rightfully deserved for giving up all he had to serve our country. That acclaim just enrages the left and the WaPost social circle to no end.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/06/2004 10:48
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#5
well put Frank. If guys like Steve Coll keep up the good work, their numbers will continue to decline until they finally collapse allowing us all to be spared from their misery.
#7
The whole situation truly sucks. Blue on blue fratricide is one of the commander's worst nightmares, we practice hard to prevent it but it's the shitty part of war. Shitty things happen to good people no matter what it seems. We must try to minimize it as best we can. Pat Tillman was a special breed in the modern synical lights of the superficial professional sports world. He was a real role model for youngsters and will be sorely missed. One Pat Tillman is worth more then any Ron Artest, Terrell Owens, or Mike Tyson any day. An inspirational young man indeed.
#8
In Phoenix, the local "civic leaders" decided to throw a great party in honor of Tillman, a great big photo-op to show how sensitive and caring they were, and how much they adored this "hero". According to Tillman's family and friends, he always despised such people. Tillman's youngest brother, Rich, wore a rumpled white T-shirt, no jacket, no tie, no collar, and immediately swore into the microphone. He hadn't written anything, he said, and with the starkest honesty, he asked mourners to hold their spiritual bromides.
"Pat isn't with God," he said. "He's f---ing dead. He wasn't religious. So thank you for your thoughts, but he's f---ing dead."
This statement was greeted with shock and dismay by those who hoped to capitalize on Tillman's death, but they have since forgotten it, focusing instead on still trying to squeeze every dime and ounce of publicity from the deal.
#9
Frank G is correct. The Army admitted Mr. Tillman died as a result of "blue on blue" VERY soon after the fact (within 48 hours if memory serves). I started to read the WAPO piece yesterday and wasn't able to finish same. Why? Because the bile being regurgiatated by the WAPO writer was so evident. The WAPO piece doesn't seek to hail Mr. Tillman, it seeks to undermine the mission. It seeks to undermine our national resolve to win. Given the chance, I'd spit in the face of the WAPO writer Steve Coll.
Posted by: Mark Z. ||
12/06/2004 11:44
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#10
Moose, you'll have to provide a source for crap like that.
I agree that this story is full of bullshit and bile, signifying nothing more than the continued treason of our so-called press. When I heard this story on the radio this morning, they said it took "five weeks" for the "real story" to come out. My reaction was "that's no time at all" -- and it isn't, considering the circumstances and the nature of the event.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
12/06/2004 12:05
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#11
RC: Moose, you'll have to provide a source for crap like that.
#12
Zhang, If you or others are using the SF Chronicle as a record of source for this claim, you're wasting everyone's time. We watch the Chronicle for bad reporting, false reporting and bogus claims all the time. They never fail to provide us with grist for the mill. The SF Chronicle is a biased a rag as you'll find in the United States. The columnist provides no back up or substantiation for her claims
#13
He was a soldier who disdained self-aggrandizement. His memory has been trashed by pygmies for whom self-aggrandizement is a way of life, including the idiots at WaPo who are playing "gotcha!" when the Pentagon never made any effort to conceal the fact that friendly fired killed Tillman. Good for Tillman's brother for calling them out.
#14
I wrote this piece to announce to the world and to record for posterity what a small and hateful little man I am.
Posted by: Steve Coll ||
12/06/2004 12:58
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#15
I have known a lot of guys like Pat Tillman. To put it in more ordinary terms, "He was a real guy." He liked sports and cars and Guiness, not the ballet and Sartre and white wine. He could be at home camping, or hunting, or even at a Monster Truck Rally. He was a Red State guy. And after giving his life in patriotic service to his country, a bunch of Blue State fops decide to use his good name for their self-aggrandizement, and maybe to make a few bucks. I understand exactly what his brother was really saying to them: "up yours, you jackals."
#16
"The U.S. military has confronted a series of prominent friendly-fire cases in recent years, in part because hair-trigger technology and increasingly lethal remote-fire weapons can quickly turn relatively small mistakes into deadly tragedies. Yet the military's justice system has few consistent guidelines for such cases, according to specialists in Army law. Decision-making about how to mete out justice rests with individual unit commanders who often work in secret, acting as both investigators and judges. Their judgments can vary widely from case to case."
What a case of BS. The blue on blue killing is an aspect of the chaos of the battlefield. You try to eliminate or minimize it, but it does happen. It is not an immediate subject of judicial investigation. The WaPo hack is building a straw man arguement. These events are studied like a bridge failure for problems in tactial execution, doctrine, training and potential technological applications to minimize the events. It is only looked in a judicial manner when in the normal review process, it appears that some act of commission or dereliction of duty of duty as occured which resulted in the casualties.
If you want some background on blue on blue casualties try here
Posted by: Don ||
12/06/2004 15:26
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RC: Zhang, If you or others are using the SF Chronicle as a record of source for this claim, you're wasting everyone's time.
From the New York Daily News: At one point, Richard burst forth with a stream-of-consciousness tribute, insisting Pat did not believe in religion, that he was not with God, that he was just dead. A war veteran standing not far from the stage bristled, while others cheered. Richard, the former quarterback-turned-aspiring comedian, looked more like an Elvis-wannabe, but despite the funky jeans and the cigarette dangling from his mouth, he, too, was clearly a Tillman: an iconoclast rebel daring to challenge the norm, oblivious to convention, slightly crazy.
Richard Tillman is apparently the kid who did not make it to the NFL (or boot camp), instead choosing to go into show business. (Need I say more?). Hey, every family has to have a black sheep. Think of the guy as Clark Griswold's brother-in-law.
Look at it this way - people took time out of their day to pay their respects. And Richard Tillman insulted the heck out of them. If not for the fact that this was his brother's funeral, he should have been beaten to within an inch of his self-absorbed life. This was his deceased brother's occasion, and he chose to use it to grandstand and make a spectacle of himself.
#18
You are CORRECT! I was pressed for time today and could not respond in a manner such as you
of many pen names 1- #17 I agree with your
responses and after thoughts. But WHere are we going? Look at the cost; loss of lives, family members left behind, and the billions spent on this war **##!!
Andrea Jackson
Posted by: andrea ||
12/06/2004 17:02
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#19
Screw Coll, we all knew what Tillman stood for: honor and valor. The scribes can wave the bloody shirt all they want. In this day and age, when baseball players hit drugged up homers, Tillman is the image I want my three boys to see. He is someone who put country ahead of riches, and no two-bit scribe can take that away.
Posted by: Capt America ||
12/06/2004 17:03
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#20
Yes, I agree with what you are saying about Bravery and Valor. I can't comment on Tillmans character- only read about him, when he was killed and I think PEOPLE did a story on him prior to going into the armed forces...about his potential football career and how he was rolling the dice by joining the service! Had he only known his fate.
Andrea
Posted by: andrea ||
12/06/2004 17:07
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#21
Had he only known his fate.
I think he would have gone anyway. He wanted his life to be more than just football, and it was.
#22
Then out spake brave Horatius,
The Captain of the Gate:
``To every man upon this earth
Death cometh soon or late.
And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers,
And the temples of his gods
Former U.S. Army Sgt. Charles Jenkins has said that he believes North Korea intended to make spies out of the two daughters he had in the country with Japanese abductee Hitomi Soga, Time magazine reported Sunday. The article, based on an interview with Jenkins and available on the Time website, said the 64-year-old American began to suspect at one point that his daughters Mika, 21, and Brinda, 19, were meant to be ''spy fodder.''
''They wanted us to have children so they could use them later,'' the article titled ''In From the Cold,'' written by Jim Frederick, quoted Jenkins as saying. He describes his 1965 desertion from his army post in South Korea to North Korea as ''the stupidest thing I have ever done.'' Jenkins realized almost immediately that he had made a mistake, it said. Jenkins and the daughters remained in North Korea when Soga, 45, returned to Japan in October 2002 for the first time since she was abducted by North Korean agents in 1978. In July this year, they were reunited in Jakarta and came to Japan.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/06/2004
10:10:32 PM ||
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#1
do the crime, you do the time. Looks like he did his.
#2
Better to realize a mistake late than to never do - I say welcome back to God's country, where fathers don't think of daughters or kiddies as spies for the almighty State and Socialism.
I'm all in favor of people getting justice for their crimes and all that stuff. But there are some mistakes whose consequences are so severe that further legal punishment really doesn't make any sense. For example, I think people should pay a fine if they try to feed cigars to bears at the zoo. But, if in the process the bear bites off half your face, the courts should pretty much stay out of it.
The story of Robert Jenkins seems to fall pretty squarely into that category. Desertion is bad and should be punished. Defection is even worse. But forty years of hell in North Korea seems to have been a pretty good punishment for his actions. He wasted his whole life, and regretted his decision every day. I was glad to see the army went relatively easy on the guy -- dishonorable discharge, demotion, but only 25 days in the stockade -- while still upholding the principle that what he did was unforgivable. He reportedly had to share as much intelligence as he could as well. If he'd spent the last forty years living it up in a Russian dacha, I would have been glad to see him spend the remainder of his days behind bars. But this seems like the right call to me.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/06/2004 15:36
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Some people's purpose in life is to serve as a horrible example for others. This is such a case.
Iraqi Defense Minister Hazem Shalaan held talks with Pakistani leaders in late November in the first effort by a post-Saddam Hussein government to forge defense and military cooperation with Islamabad. On Nov. 23, Shalaan met President Pervez Musharraf and Defense Minister Rao Sikandar Iqbal. Shalaan was said to have discussed proposals for defense cooperation between the two Muslim countries. Pakistani officials said Islamabad has offered to sell weapons and military platforms as well as provide training to the Iraqi military and security forces. Pakistan has been a leading military ally of Saudi Arabia, who has offered assistance to Baghdad. The officials said Islamabad briefed Shalaan and his delegation on a range of Pakistani platforms. They were said to include Al Khalid main battle tank and the Super Mashak air trainer.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/06/2004
10:09:12 PM ||
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The government envisions Palestinian insurgency strikes on civilian and military targets during a planned effort to expel up to 10,000 Israeli from the Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank in 2005. Officials said the government and military forsee a coordinated effort by Palestinian insurgents, supported by the Palestinian Authority, to attack Israeli soldiers and police deployed to evacuate residents from Jewish communities in the Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank. They said Palestinians could also be planning to launch mortars and rockets toward convoys of Israelis forced out of the areas. "If there will be [Palestinian] fire, Israel will have to respond in the most harsh manner," Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said on Thursday. "We are talking of thousands of trucks, of women, men, children, equipment. We will not allow the evacuation effort to harm in any way those being evacuated." Sharon said he was intent that the expulsion of Israelis from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank begin in September 2005. But he acknowledged that Palestinian attacks would disrupt his timetable and lead to massive Israeli retaliation against insurgency strongholds in the PA areas.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/06/2004
10:08:26 PM ||
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#1
Jeez, you'd think if the joooz were leaving, they'd give 'em a break and lay rose petals on the road out. But no...any chance to kill Hebrews.
Jordan, besieged by domestic and internal threats, plans to restructure its military and security forces. Jordanian officials said the restructuring would aim to bolster border and internal security. They said the focus would be to monitor the Islamic opposition and halt the flow of weapons and insurgents from neighboring Iraq and Syria. On Dec. 1, Jordan's King Abdullah said the kingdom's defense forces would be restructured. He said the effort was meant to maintain the security and stability of the kingdom, which he deemed his top priority. "We will work towards reshaping these forces in accordance with our vision for its modernization and upgrading its efficiency, while preserving its size and numbers, so that it will remain -- as it has always been -- a role model in efficiency, excellence and belonging," Abdullah said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/06/2004
10:06:10 PM ||
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#1
We're going to double the number of Bedu in the ranks, in other words.
#3
Or sympathizers. Remember, Zarqawi is Jordanian and got his start in thugdom by trying to destabilize the government there. No doubt there are old Syria / Paleo / Ba'athist sympathies on the part of some of the senior military staff the current king inherited from his father.
First the half brother, then the unreliable generals and ministers.
Posted by: too true ||
12/06/2004 9:01
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The U.S. military has set a new goal in Iraq: to seize control of the western city of Ramadi from Sunni insurgents. U.S. officials said American and Iraqi forces would assault insurgency strongholds in Ramadi, located near the Syrian border. They said the mission would also seek to block the flow of weapons and insurgents from Syria to the Sunni Triangle. "We believe a solution in Ramadi in now obtainable, now that Faluja has been eliminated as a terrorist safe haven," Gen. George Casey, commander of Multinational Force Iraq, said. "The whole Al Anbar province is an area of difficulty for the interim government, and we will work very hard to bring the security situation there to the point where they have election in January." The U.S. operation against Ramadi was expected to be more rapid than the assault on Faluja in November. Officials said the capture of Faluja shattered the headquarters of the Sunni insurgency in Iraq as well as a way-station for Al Qaida-aligned volunteers recruited and trained in Lebanon and Syria.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/06/2004
10:04:59 PM ||
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#1
Why are we telegraphing our punches? Has Ramadi already been sealed off?
#3
Damn, I can see Al-Zarqawi, right now, beginning to pack his suitcase for the next move. The military needs to announce this stuff only after the ring of iron is placed around the city. Again, let the women, kiddies and baby ducks out along with the elderly men. Then announce that every male would be killed on sight, no prisoners, announce the start and then pull back and use some of those MOAB's we paid for!
#4
Actually our best chance of catching him and his unknown supporters is when they are on the move and comunications are being disrupted. We are forcing him to make a mistake. He doesn't even know it. No pity for the "po foo."
#5
SPoD, sound like you are making a lame excuse. In order to triangulate someone, communications is the best way. I dunno. I suppose there is some thought behind it, I don't know the condition in Iraq good enough to make a judgement. Perhaps it is based on how the terrs react. Maybe it is supposed to get them to move from urban areas, where the fight may be a bit advantageous for terrs vs open country, where they would be sitting fowl.
#6
Actually, SPoD is right. Even in modern mobile warfare, th best time to attack is while troops are on the move. Communications can be messed with and a mobile group hearing over a wireless link some of their security element is under fire will make Zarqawi nervous, forcing them to make mistakes that will reveal his location.
Static communications, on the other hand, stands a really good chance of being spoofed, or false communications. The key for Zarqawi is to stay two steps ahead of the coalition while either in movement or while at rest.
#7
Badanov, I undestand. But what I am objecting to is announcing the moves on the chessboard beforehand so "Zarqawi is to stay two steps ahead of the coalition while either in movement or while at rest."
#8
Actually, I think Zarqawi is always on the move so any announcements we make are not a factor in has decisions of when to move.
However, Zarqawi's decisions of where to move may be affected by our announcements. I don't think we need Zarqawi in Ramadi to capture him. We simply need to have some good intel and get lucky.
A disgruntled French non-commissioned officer gave himself up before dawn Monday after barricading himself in an explosives depot for more than two days to protest his lack of promotion. Officials said the man, Regis Le Tohic, surrendered peacefully after receiving guarantees that his case would be reviewed.
Following in the great French tradition of caving in
Authorities later allowed about 400 people to return to their homes around the weapons dump, after they had been evacuated as a precaution over the weekend. Le Tohic, an explosives expert, locked himself in a fortified storehouse, known as an igloo, holding 64 tonnes of mines.
That'll get attention.
The depot is in the midst of the flat Marne valley battlefields of World War I and World War II. Dominique Dubois, the local prefect, the top regional government official, originally said Le Tohic had threatened to blow himself up, but his lawyer, Gerard Ducrey, said late Sunday that his client was "calm and has no aggressive or violent intentions."
Other than sitting on 64 tons of explosives
Aided by members of Le Tohic's family, specialised negotiators belonging to a gendarmerie rapid response unit (GIGN) kept the soldier talking. Ducrey said Le Tohic had made no attempt to booby-trap the depot, and officials said police did not try to storm it.
"We may be French, but we ain't that stupid!"
"He manifestly needed to hear the voice of someone he knew, someone who would defend him," said Ducrey, who specialises in military cases and had previously represented Le Tohic in a long and fruitless battle with the military hierarchy. Le Tohic was unhappy at being passed over for promotion, which meant that he was being made to leave the army on December 17, his 47th birthday, rather than being allowed to serve until he was 54.
So he decided to celebrate "Passover" in his own way.
Divorced, with no children, he had worked as an explosives expert at the base since 1999. Le Tohic remained in the depot after his shift Friday night, and on Saturday slipped a note under the door addressed to the defence ministry protesting his forced retirement. Ducrey said the military hierarchy had been dysfunctional. He told AFP that Le Tohic had been considered "an excellent professional" by fellow soldiers and "felt that he was a victim of injustices and victimised by several of his superior officers."
"The man is oppressing my client, yer honor!"
After Le Tohic surrendered, Ducrey told reporters, "I have had an assurance that his case will be re-examined. I hope that will be carried out with alacrity, profundity and good will." Ducrey said his client was clearly a good professional and it was therefore "difficult to understand why he has vegetated in the same rank for 14 years." Le Tohic is an adjutant, equivalent to a master sergeant in the US army or a warrant officer in Britain.
Fourteen years as a master sergeant and he's complaining?
The local prosecutor, Vincent Lesclous, said Le Tohic was under arrest at the military base, and faced a possible charge of making a deadly menace for which he could, in theory, be jailed for up to three years. After talks with family members and friends on Sunday, Le Tohic agreed to meet with his lawyer at 6.15 am (0515 GMT) and gave himself up 30 minutes later, the prefect, Dubois, said.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/06/2004
10:00:24 AM ||
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Hard to believe such a stable and responsible soldier was passed over for promotion.
Posted by: Dar ||
12/06/2004 10:43
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#2
Ducrey said his client was clearly a good professional and it was therefore "difficult to understand why he has vegetated in the same rank for 14 years."
Didn't kiss the Commandant's ass enough? Just a guess.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/06/2004
09:50 ||
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#1
OOH, they even quoted John Pike, so you know it's full of genuine unbiased goodness!
The sad thing is, this particular implementation of missile defense may be pretty bad... but thanks to the democrat administrations people like Pike have supported, that have pretended to have meaningful agreements with totalitarian retards like the Kims, our choice is now a risky system or no system at all. We're out of time to develop good options.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
12/06/2004 10:26
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#2
Nothing helps the development of good options (and focuses the mind) as being out of time.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/06/2004 11:21
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#3
Best defense is still the First Strike. Followed by Second Strike, Third Strike, etc, there's nothing but bedrock and Juche being bounced from left to right.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
12/06/2004 13:21
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#4
I am close enough that I see most launches and see the second stage seperate often. Makes me "feel better."
#7
I can see them blow up :p as the crow flies I am betting it's about 60 miles from here. I know I can talk to the area on VHF simplex at very low power. Actually used to talk with a "rocket guy" over there.
#1
registration required(I don't do regi if they do not want me to read thier news screw'em)Most of the NASCAR folks I know do not and would not own a Porche.If this is about Dems trying to appeal to Red-Staters they are screwing the porche(ooops pooch).
#2
Something tells me that an actual Porsche-Driving, Leno-Loving NASCAR fan. I'm guessing (I don't register, either) that the article is about market research driving political campaigns.
The BC04 used a lot of these techniques, as I understand it.
#3
By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE
After the 2000 presidential campaign, strategists for President Bush came to a startling realization: Democrats watch more television than Republicans. So by buying millions of dollars' worth of television advertising time, Republicans were spending their money on audiences that tended to vote Democratic.
What to do? With the luxury of four years until the next election, the Bush team examined voters' television-viewing habits and cross-referenced them with surveys of voters' political and lifestyle preferences.
This led to an unusual step for a presidential campaign: it cut the proportion of money that it put into broadcast television and diverted more to niche cable channels and radio, where it could more precisely reach its target audience.
While advertisers of commercial products have been heading to cable for years, presidential campaigns have generally relied on the reach of broadcast television to try to influence the widest possible audience.
But the Bush team's micro-target strategy could change all that, making an enormous difference to cable channels and networks as they vie for the escalating amount of money in politics. Candidates, political parties and independent groups at all levels of government spent at least $1.6 billion on television commercials this year, more than double the $771 million they spent in 2000, according to the nonpartisan Alliance for Better Campaigns. At least $600 million of this year's total went to the presidential election alone, more than twice the amount spent in 2000.
Kenneth M. Goldstein, director of the Wisconsin Advertising Project, which analyzes political advertising, said the Bush campaign's use of targeted data and its exploitation of cable was likely to be the beginning of a trend, particularly as advertisers pursue new ways of reaching consumers using technology like text-messaging and cellphones.
"We're talking very, very small effects, but we live in a time when small effects can be decisive," Mr. Goldstein said, citing Mr. Bush's 537-vote victory in Florida in 2000, which catapulted him into the Oval Office.
Donny Deutsch, the New York advertising guru, said that now, "the selling of a candidate is no different from the smart media buying for toothpaste and automobiles, especially as people fragment their media habits."
As the Bush team analyzed the data, stark differences between the viewing habits of Republicans and Democrats quickly emerged. The channels with the highest proportion of Democrats were Court TV and the Game Show Network; for Republicans, Speedvision and the Golf Channel.
During the week, Republicans switch off the tube earlier than Democrats do. (Republicans who stay up are more likely to tune in to Jay Leno, while Democrats flock to David Letterman.) Such revelations persuaded the Bush team to alter its media-buying strategy. In 2000, the campaign spent 95 percent of its media budget on network television; this year, that dropped to 70 percent.
The campaign spent no money on national cable channels in 2000; this year it spent $20 million. It spent very little on radio in 2000; this year it spent $12 million, much of it going to religious, talk and country music programming.
"This year, we reached a wider audience of potential Republicans than we did in 2000," said Matthew Dowd, a top strategist for Mr. Bush's re-election campaign.
Democratic strategists working for Senator John Kerry's presidential campaign said they had much the same consumer data as the Bush team, but they stuck largely with broadcast television because that was where their viewers were.
"You're tying one hand behind your back if you're not using the most sophisticated tools possible," said Mark Mellman, a top polling and media strategist for Mr. Kerry.
The additional money in this election allowed the Republicans to experiment with a different media mix and to apply techniques used by advertisers of consumer products.
"Politics is a mass product: 50 percent of American adults 'consume' the election," said Will Feltus, senior vice president for research and planning of National Media Inc., which bought media time for Mr. Bush's re-election campaign.
The most alarming realization for the Bush team, he said, was learning that Democrats watch more television. "It's like Coke finding out that they can't get to their consumers on television as easily as Pepsi can," Mr. Feltus said.
The Republicans' data, compiled by Scarborough Research, a leading market research firm, showed that nationally, Democratic voters were 15 percent more likely on average to be watching television than Republican voters. The research did not investigate the reasons for the lopsided viewing, but some analysts surmised that it had to do with Republicans not trusting the broadcast networks and with more programming being aimed at women, who tend to vote Democratic.
Mr. Feltus said that the Bush campaign, which began analyzing the data shortly after Mr. Bush took office in 2001, ran test projects in 2002 in the Senate race in Texas and in a Colorado Congressional race. The data in Colorado revealed, among other things, which roads Republicans drove as they commuted to work, helping the Republicans determine where to place billboards.
This year, before the Democrats had even selected a presidential candidate, the Bush strategists were considering advertising in movie theaters and health clubs. The data showed that Democrats were more likely to go to the movies than Republicans, so they dropped that idea. But it also showed that health clubs were a good way to reach Republicans and swing voters ages 18 to 34. So the campaign bought time on a cable channel that goes into health clubs across the country. It had reams of data that were not of immediate practical value but that helped the campaign understand its voters: for example, Porsche owners were more likely to be Republican; Volvo owners, Democratic.
Evan Tracey, who analyzes political television advertising for the Campaign Media Analysis Group, said the Bush campaign helped solidify its base of Republicans early with targeted cable commercials. These commercials, he said, were filled with "images of people saying grace and talking about faith and being optimistic about America, but there was also a lot of negative on Kerry."
The Democrats said they used similar data, with help from a new group called Media Vote, based in Los Angeles, but came to different conclusions about how to use it. They focused strictly on the battleground states, buying on local cable instead of national cable but still mainly relying on local broadcast programs.
The Republicans mostly bought on national cable channels instead of breaking down those purchases by market. This had unexpected benefits, like helping Mr. Bush in Hawaii, a reliably Democratic state that Republicans had not focused on. In October, Mr. Bush was suddenly running strong there, a result of his presence on national cable, Democrats said. That forced the Democrats to buy advertising time in Hawaii and route party notables to the state to try to counter Mr. Bush's gains.
The data also yielded unexpected insights. One of the shows most popular with Republicans, especially Republican women ages 18 to 34, turned out to be "Will & Grace," the sitcom about gay life in New York. As a result, while Mr. Bush was shoring up his conservative credentials by supporting a constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage, his advertising team was buying time on a program that celebrates gay culture.
The Bush team broadcast commercials 473 times on "Will & Grace" in markets across the country from Jan. 1 to Nov. 2, according to the Wisconsin project. (The Kerry campaign broadcast commercials 859 times on the show.)
Mr. Dowd said the campaign had not tailored its message to match the demographics of the "Will & Grace" audience or any other audience but rather wanted to reach more viewers who might vote Republican. Besides, he said, "people are interested in broad national messages."
Mr. Goldstein said Republicans did not customize their message because they had one basic point. "If your message is 'Kerry is bad,' you don't have to tailor it," he said.
The Democratic strategy was to focus on swing states and tailor the Kerry message to the market. In Pennsylvania, for example, the campaign ran commercials in Pittsburgh with workers talking about their jobs; in more liberal Philadelphia, it ran commercials with the actor Michael J. Fox, who has Parkinson's disease, talking about expanding embryonic stem cell research.
But such targeting did little to resolve the question of how much difference advertising makes in a presidential campaign, particularly when there is so much of it.
The real force of political advertising may be felt when it is absent.
Bradley Perseke, a Democratic strategist who bought the television time for Mr. Kerry, said that Mr. Bush's get-out-the-vote effort probably made more of a difference in the election than his advertising, although if one candidate had not advertised at all, that candidate surely would have lost.
Mr. Dowd of the Bush campaign agreed up to a point. "What is discussed in earned media is more important than what's on the paid media," he said of news versus advertising. "But if they are in concert and the message is consistent, it has a tremendous effect."
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.
A British archaeologist has uncovered a cave in the mountains near Jerusalem which he believes conclusively proves that the Biblical figure of John the Baptist existed. [snip]
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - U.S. soldiers have detained 14 Iraqis suspected of making deadly car bombs and leading insurgent cells in northern Iraq, the military said Monday.
AMMAN - Fifteen suspected terrorists, including three Saudis, go on trial before Jordan's State Security Court on Monday on charges of planning attacks on targets inside Jordan including the US embassy, judicial sources said Sunday.
About 120 million origami birds were air-dropped over southern Thailand yesterday in an attempt to quell a Muslim insurgency that has led to the deaths of more than 500 people this year. The gesture, heavily promoted by the Thai prime minister, 
Iran's embattled President Mohammad Khatami, isolated as one of the few reformists left in office, has admitted that he cannot wait until his second and final term in office ends next year. "I am counting the moments for my involvment in political affairs to be over," he was quoted as saying during a meeting Saturday with staff from the student news agency ISNA. Rather than stay in politics, Khatami said he wanted to "enjoy my old age in a 
A number of Swiss Muslim activists voiced reservations about the launch of a new forum aimed at making the "moderate" voice of Muslims heard, fearing it could split the community.
A day after the Thai government bombed the restive south with paper doves as a peace gesture, militants exploded two bombs injuring a solider and a civil servant. The police said the first explosion occurred at a gathering point for police and military personnel in Narathiwat, one of three Muslim-dominated southern provinces rocked by a separatist insurgency that has left more than 550 people dead this year, including as many as three at the weekend. The explosion took place in Rangae district injuring a soldier. About three hours later, a second bomb blew up at the side of the road some 800 meters from the site of the first explosion, lightly wounding a district official, according to the policeman. "We are investigating, but it was likely to have been a remote-control bomb," he said. In the weekend's violence, a retired chief prosecutor from Pattani province was gunned down at his shrimp farm on Sunday, while a policeman was killed in Narathiwat on Saturday evening when his patrol unit was ambushed. A 64-year-old grocer, Suthon Sridaeng, was shot dead at his shop in Pattani on Sunday. Security forces also found and defused a bomb near the border with Malaysia just before the government used 50 aircraft to scatter some 120 million paper birds across southern Thailand on King Bhumibol Adulyadej's 77th birthday. The paper birds carried messages of peace. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra signed one of the paper birds, promising a scholarship or job to whoever found the bird with his signature.
The Leader of the Revolution received King Abdullah II of Jordan and his high ranking delegation who arrived in Great Jamahiriya Sunday within the frame work of constant consultations and coordination. The meeting was also attended by General Mustafa Mohamed al Khroubi, the Secretaries of General Peoples Committee and the General Peoples Committee for Foreign Liaison and International Cooperation, the Leader and King Abdullah II studied the latest developments of the situation in the region, and international issues of common interest. The Leader of Revolution hosted a lunch banquet in honor of King Abdullah II and his accompanying delegation. 
The Representatives of the 
Fearful of being left behind, Syrian President 
Former U.S. Army Sgt. 
