RAMALLAH, West Bank - Yasser Arafat's nephew said Saturday the lack of a clear reason for his uncle's death raised suspicions the Palestinian leader died of "unnatural" causes. Hmm...viruses are pretty natural.
The comments by Nasser al-Kidwa, after he handed over the 558-page medical dossier to Palestinian officials in Ramallah, were certain to fuel speculation that Arafat was poisoned. Arafat died in a French hospital on Nov. 11. Making it the best damn Veterans' Day in a long time!
Rumors and speculation among Palestinians and the broader Arab world that Arafat was poisoned could make it more difficult for a new leadership to take control. Palestinian presidential elections are scheduled for Jan. 9. Al-Kidwa repeated his statement from last month that the French doctors were unable to rule out the possibility that Arafat had a disease that has killed millions worldwide and shows no signs of abating been poisoned, although they said they had not found traces of "any poison known to them."
"Examinations of X-rays and all imaginable tests ... are still with the same results, the inability of reaching a clear diagnosis," Al-Kidwa said in English at a news conference in Ramallah on Saturday. Maybe it was Mad Cow?
"That is precisely the reason why suspicions are there, because without a reason you cannot escape the other possibility... that there is unnatural cause for the death," he said. Well, yeah...I can't think of any blood infection that could possibly make someone waste away like Yasser did....
Al-Kidwa received Arafat's dossier from French medical officials last month. On Saturday he gave the records to interim Palestinian President Rauhi Fattouh in Ramallah. A committee will look over the file to try to determine the cause of death. Still trying to rule out things like Kuru, bad clams, fugu, etc.
Al-Kidwa and other Palestinian officials have said Israel contributed to Arafat's death by making it real difficult to get his AZT and drug "cocktails" confining him to his battered West Bank compound for the last three years of his life. Palestinian Health Minister Jawad Tibi said Saturday the committee appointed to study the medical records would be composed of Palestinian and Arab doctors who treated Arafat before he was urgently airlifted to Paris on Oct. 29. Maybe they should consult a nice Jewish doctor instead?
Al-Kidwa said Palestinian officials would pursue their investigation until they reach a politically acceptable bullshit story clear conclusion, and vowed to keep the Palestinians in the dark make the diagnosis public. "This file should remain open until the Palestinian people find out the truth," he said. "Dammit, we can't blame Suha for this one!
Posted by: Desert Blondie ||
12/11/2004
9:56:50 AM ||
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#1
Rumors and speculation among Palestinians and the broader Arab world that Arafat was poisoned could make it more difficult for a new leadership to take control.
It's not the rumors or the speculation that's the problem. It's the mentality of the people breeding them.
#5
The Paleos are having a Medical Records Swarm over the 558 page medical novel they just got. When they finish a-buzzin' over that one, maybe they can solve the Mystery of the Missing Billions, or do they have to send in Scooby Doo to solve that one. Morons.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/11/2004 20:07
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#6
actually Mad Cow was my diagnosis of Suha
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/11/2004 20:12
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The high number of women dying in Sudan from causes linked to pregnancy, childbirth and low prevalence of natal care is of serious concern, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) said on Thursday during its annual country programme review in Khartoum. "With the current gap in primary health facilities and the overall number of people affected by the emergency, the situation requires additional efforts to meet the current needs," Nimal Hettiaratchy, UNFPA representative for Sudan, said in a press statement.
The remarks were made during the annual review of the 2002-2006 country programme of the government of Sudan and UNFPA, which focuses on reproductive health, population and development strategies, and awareness on various population issues. "UNFPA's main goal is the attainment of Millennium Development Goal No. 5 - the reduction of maternal mortality by 75 percent by 2015," Hettiaratchy told the meeting. "In the Sudanese context, this means that the maternal-mortality ratios have to fall down to 178 per 100,000 live births, from the current nationwide average of 509 per 100,000 live births - still one of the highest in the world," the UNFPA official continued.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2004
9:31:03 PM ||
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On the eve of the universal day of human rights there are still major human rights violations in Afghanistan, but some improvements have been made in the post-conflict country.
Abdul Sabour Babai was celebrating his freedom two weeks after he was released from a private jail in the northwestern Faryab province. The 35-year-old returnee was arrested and tortured by a local commander when he tried to get back his confiscated land in Pashtun Kut district on the outskirts of Maimana, the provincial capital of Faryab. Sabour returned from the western city of Herat where he spent three years as an IDP [internally displaced person]. The father of five left Pashtun Kut following the increasing number of violations by local commanders after the hardline Taleban was ousted late 2001. However, when he came back he found out that the rule of the gun was still in place in his isolated, mountainous home town. "We were told that all the commanders had been disarmed but that was not true," Sabour told IRIN. "I had all the documents and when I insisted on getting my own land back, the commander put me in his private jail and after three weeks of detention the local elders helped me to run away," he said. Sabour said local police could not do anything to stop the commanders from harassing and intimidating civilians.
As Kabul marks the International Human Rights Day on Friday, rights activists at the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) said the top human rights concerns in the country, still reeling from decades of conflict, were; land grabbing from farmers by local commanders; arbitrary killing and torture; and the general state of impunity. Moreover, violence against women continued unabated. But despite existing challenges, AIHRC believes there has been some improvement in the state of human rights in the country this year.
Mighty generous of you to admit it. Mighty generous...
"There have been some encouraging signs of improvement in the human rights situation in Afghanistan this year, however, the situation on a number of issues remains concerning," Nader Nadery, a commissioner of AIHRC, told IRIN on Thursday in the capital, Kabul. According to Nadery, in the first six months of 2004 land grabbing accounted for 31 percent of all violations that AIHRC had investigated, while currently that figure has dropped to 18 percent. Some improvement has also been observed regarding the issues of torture, forced migration and forced marriages.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2004
9:29:04 PM ||
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Uganda's government must do what it can to protect children and women from violence, while the rebel Lords Resistance Army (LRA) must immediately and unconditionally stop abducting, killing and exploiting Uganda's children, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Thursday.
Thank you for that little dose of moral equivalence. The Ugandan government, for all its failings, has been doing what it could to prevent its citizens from being abducted, raped and/or murdered. The LRA, on the other hand, is pretty consistently evil.
"Children are being killed and raped in Uganda," UNICEF's resident representative Martin Mugwanja said during the national launch of the agency's State of the World's Children 2005 report, entitled "Childhood Under Threat", in the northern town of Gulu. "Childhood is being destroyed. First and foremost, I appeal to the LRA to immediately and unconditionally stop the abduction, killing and exploitation of children," he added. "These acts are not only unconscionable, but are also flagrant violations of the children's right to life."
Appealing to them hasn't worked for 18 years. No doubt it will soon, though. All you have to do is keep repeating the same old pleas...
The LRA has targeted children throughout the 18-year war, forcibly recruiting boys to fight amongst its ranks and forcing girls to become sex slaves for its commanders. Relief agencies estimate that up to 20,000 children have been abducted across northern Uganda.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2004
9:24:58 PM ||
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UN troops shut down a militia camp on Thursday in the embattled northeastern district of Ituri in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a UN official said on Thursday. Christophe Boulierac, a spokesman of the UN Mission in the DRC, known as MONUC, said the militia camp was near a transit demobilisation centre that had been set up in the town of Mahagi, to receive fighters from the Forces armees du peuple Congolais (FAPC) militia group. "The operation aimed to force the militiamen out of the camp because they were a threat to demobilised soldiers whom they threatened with death," Boulierac said.
MONUC broke up the camp early on Thursday. It subsequently discovered 15 AK-47 rifles, a rocket, munitions and some documents. "A small number [of militiamen] accepted to leave of the camp and surrender their weapons, the others fled and about ten of them went to the transit camp for demobilised soldiers," Boulierac added. Boulierac said UN Pakistani soldiers were now occupying the militia camp. The Mahagi demobilisation centre was one of five set up to receive soldiers as part of the country's disarmament, demobilisation and reinsertion programme.
MONUC's operation on Thursday came in the wake of allegations on Sunday that child combatants, who had accepted to be demobilised, were executed; that other civilians were also killed; that taxes were being levied illegally; and that there were other violations by FAPC militiamen in another camp in Ndrele, 20 km southeast of Mahagi. It also comes as the public prosecutor is investigating these abuses. According to MONUC, the prosecutor arrived in Ndrele on Wednesday and has begun interviewing some of the accused militiamen. "There are testimonies on executions, on children being used in Ndrele as workers or sexual slaves and the existence of an illegal detention facility," Boulierac said. Boulierac said MONUC had discovered human bones in the dismantled militia camp, but it was unclear if they belonged to one or more persons.
In DRC they could be leftovers from lunch last week. Is anybody missing any pygmies?
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2004
9:20:29 PM ||
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Just a snippet from a larger story.
In a worrisome sign, one of the candidates on the 228-member United Iraqi Alliance list was killed after ignoring warnings to remove his name. Sattar Jabar, a leader of Iraq's Hezbollah Shiite movement, was gunned down with two other people Thursday night, aide Essa Sayid Jaafer said. "Sattar Jabar received a threatening letter two days before the assassination," Jaafer said. "The letter mentioned that if you are nominated, you will be killed, but he did not give the threat any attention."
#6
I believe this coalition (United Iraqi Alliance), though dominated by Shia, is more broadly based. They went to great lengths to convince some Sunni & Kurd (&, I think, Chaldean) leaders to participate. It would be no surprise if the more radical Sunni thugs murdered a 'traitorous' Sunni who agreed to participate in the election.
#9
HV, Hizb'Allah means Party of God or Army of God, something like that. (Any Arab speakers online? I need some help here!). There are lots of transliterated variations out there, depending on the flavour of the Arab who is speaking, and the aural acuity and spelling acumen of the reporter. Some of these groups are related, others not, but they are all radical ... and not at all nice people.
Can't tell the players without a program. Here are some of the main leaders in the United Iraqi Alliance: ABDEL-AZIZ AL-HAKIM
Top billing on the list goes to this black-turbaned, pro-Iranian cleric who heads the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq and opposed Saddam Hussein from exile in Iran before returning after last year's U.S.-led invasion. Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim was a member of the dissolved Iraq Governing Council and is allied to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Hussein al-Sistani, the country's top Shiite cleric, who was instrumental in setting up the coalition.
Read the Rantburg archives on the family al-Hakim. Very enlightening.
Al-Hakim headed his organization's armed wing, the Badr Brigade, which oversees security in several southern cities. His older brother, Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, was assassinated in a car bombing in Najaf last year.
IBRAHIM AL-JAAFARI
A Shiite and the main spokesman for the Islamic Dawa Party, Ibrahim al-Jaafari was born in Karbala and educated at Mosul University as a medical doctor. The Dawa Party was previously based in Iran and launched a bloody campaign against Saddam's regime in the late 1970's. Saddam crushed the campaign in 1982. The group said it lost 77,000 members in its war against the toppled Iraqi dictator.
AHMAD CHALABI
A secular Shiite and one-time Pentagon confidant who led the Iraqi National Congress, a major umbrella group of numerous disparate groups, including Iraqi exiles, Kurds and Shiites. A 58-year-old former banker who left Iraq as a teenager, Ahmad Chalabi fell out with Washington this year after claims he had passed on intelligence information to Iran. He also has many critics who are opposed to anyone ruling Iraq after spending so many years abroad.
al-Hakim also spent many years abroad in Iran.
Chalabi was convicted in absentia of fraud in a banking scandal in Jordan in 1989 and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Had been touted as a possible Iraqi leader, but lacks support from other opposition groups.
HUSSAIN AL-SHAHRISTANI
One of six figures chosen by al-Sistani to draw up the coalition list of candidates, Hussain al-Shahristani is a nuclear scientist whose refusal to work in Saddam's nuclear program led to his 1979 jailing. He escaped in 1991 after the U.S. military bombed the Abu Ghraib prison during the first Gulf War, enabling him to head for Jordan. Educated and married in Canada, al-Shahristani worked for human rights organizations in Iran and London. After Saddam was toppled, al-Shahristani's reputation for being nonpolitical saw his name floated as a possible interim prime minister, but the job went to Ayad Allawi.
SHEIK FAWAZ AL-JARBA
Head of the powerful Mosul-centered Sunni Shemar tribes, Sheik Fawaz al-Jarba is a cousin of interim Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawer, and has close ties with both Shiite and Kurdish groups. The Shemar tribe is one of Iraq's most prominent Sunni clans, crossing into Iraq from Saudi Arabia in the 17th century and scattering across the country. Sheik Fawaz refused Saddam's plan to "Arabize" the Kurdish north, and the participation of his predominantly Sunni tribe makes him a valuable partner in the Shiite-dominated coalition.
#1
Being that Sunnis are the majority in Iraq, and most of the Shi'ite 'leaders' are pro-Iranian, the Sunnis win the majority vote the Iranian backed Shi'ites could try and trigger a civil war where the two sects converge south of Baghdad, in the Karbala district after the national elections, which Coalition forces would have stop. Let's hope this does not transpire.
Hussain al-Shahristani seems like a resonable man, after reading his bio.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
12/11/2004 1:45
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No the Shi'a are the majority - approx 60% of the pop.
Hey, theres no need to cross out the abroad, Iraq and Iran are hardly the same country, they hate each other; remember the bitter bitter war they had in the 80s? Thats pretty uneasy bedfellows.
#4
That's not true in the Shi'a south. Saddam fought Iran - and his armies were majority Sunni, with the officer corps almost exclusively so. All of the leading Shi'a Ayatollahs and lesser Clerics are Qom-trained. This does not necessarily mean pro-Iranian, but certainly far far less antagonistic than your statement implies.
#5
This does not necessarily mean pro-Iranian, but certainly far far less antagonistic than your statement implies.
I agree, i did word it a little too strongly. But i stand by my implication that many iraqis and iranians are opposed, ideologically / religiously, if not culturally. But of course you're right that a great many would happily ally with each other.
#6
tell a persian you thought he was an arab and see if you get a peaceful response or a smite on the neck with a dull blade--p.s. DUCK
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
12/11/2004 3:49
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#7
Be careful around here WingedBinger, there are fact checkers and snark masters galore. It might be best to do a season in Double A just to get a feel for the game.
#12
ISTR I once suggested to Gentle that she go over to nicedoggie.net for a "more congenial audience". Come to think of it, I haven't seen her since...
Posted by: Dave D. ||
12/11/2004 14:09
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#13
You fed that nice Muslim girl to the dogs! What an evil infidel you are, Dave D. [Murat too?]
Posted by: Tom ||
12/11/2004 16:47
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#14
"[Murat too?]"
I wanted to give the Emperor's subjects something to amuse themselves with, not inflict them with an annoying pain in the ass.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
12/11/2004 18:38
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#15
LOL - Misha would rip his head off in one bite!
Posted by: Tom ||
12/11/2004 19:27
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It's there somewhere...
Troops always gripe. But confronting the defense secretary, filing a lawsuit over extended tours and refusing to go on a mission because it's too dangerous elevate complaining to a new level. It also could mean a deeper problem for the Pentagon: a lessening of faith in the Iraq mission and in a volunteer army that soldiers can't leave. The hubbub over an exchange between Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and soldiers in Kuwait has given fresh ammunition to critics of the Bush administration's Iraq policy. ...I can feel it...
It also highlighted growing morale and motivation problems in the 21-month-old war that even some administration supporters say must be addressed to get off a slippery slope that could eventually lead to breakdowns reminiscent of the Vietnam War. ...and here it is: Vietnam. More at the link, if you care.
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/11/2004
8:04:11 PM ||
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#1
Sigh. I wish we could institute legislation that would force everybody taking a degree in journalism to take at lest 3 classes in military history. Then maybe they could see that morale problems have been occurring ever since Ogg the caveman started bitching about the quality of the mastadon meat served at the mess cave.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
12/11/2004 20:34
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#2
My son is nearing the end of his deployment in Iraq.
And in the last ten months, his loudest complaints have not been about anything connected with his own situation over there: they've been about the dishonest, disloyal news media and about articles like this little masterpiece, slyly crafted to help undermine the resolve of the people back home.
Vietnam and "slippery slopes" are a perpetual object of the media's fascination in this struggle. So are quagmires, which we began hearing about when the war was barely four days old. These bastards WANT us to lose.
And if we do, it won't because of any discontent among our troops: it will be because, just like with Vietnam, our Fifth Column leftists in the media succeed in convincing us to give up.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
12/11/2004 20:39
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#3
To be fair, the journo does acknowledge this in the article:
For thousands of years, soldiers have grumbled about everything from their commanders to their equipment to shelter and food.
But of course the greater point that the journo is trying to make is that Iraq is, in fact, a quagmire:
The growing restiveness of U.S. troops in the Middle East echoes a drop in optimism at home that a stable, democratic government can be established in Iraq.
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/11/2004 20:42
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#4
And if we do, it won't because of any discontent among our troops: it will be because, just like with Vietnam, our Fifth Column leftists in the media succeed in convincing us to give up.
Enough is enough. If the press can't be counted on to just report and let the public decide, then time to do away with those embeds, NOW.
#5
"The growing restiveness of U.S. troops in the Middle East echoes a drop in optimism at home that a stable, democratic government can be established in Iraq."
And what has caused that "drop in optimism"? It has been caused by articles just like this, whose very intent is to undermine that optimism and make failure a self-fulfilling prediction.
And since when is Iraq "in fact" a quagmire??? That judgement sounds more like an opinion to me, not a "fact"-- especially when you consider that things in Iraq sure as Hell aren't going any worse than they were in Germany at the end of 1946.
One thing that can tempt people to write Iraq off prematurely, is the notion that our ONLY objective over there is to create a stable, democratic government. Yes, it's an important objective in the overall war; and it's one of the few that the administration can discuss openly. But there are many, MANY other purposes to our being there, and few of them are any more than peripherally dependent on making Iraq into a modern democracy.
Yes, a democratic Iraq is something to strive for; but it's hardly the main reason we're over there.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
12/11/2004 21:16
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#6
One of the CNN talking heads led off a piece late this afternoon with the announcement, delivered in a cheery tone, that "many" American soldiers were deserting. The support for this was a clip about Kinzman, who was shocked to learn that the Army expected him to be ready to kill people.
Posted by: Matt ||
12/11/2004 21:27
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#7
Dave, that was supposed to be sarcasm :) I never include the /sarcasm tags because I feel it spoils the fun.
The reason I posted this was the following assertion:
growing restiveness of U.S. troops in the Middle East echoes a drop in optimism at home
Oh really??? The only thing missing from this article is the dreaded "e" word escalation (from the Vietnam era). I'm sure it was meant to be in there but was overlooked.
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/11/2004 21:35
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#8
Matt, this probably signals a new CNN offensive: focusing on the troops :) Interesting to see how far they go with it.
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/11/2004 21:38
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#9
Relax, folks: this is a sign of MSM desperation as elections approach. Notice how they've gone silent about Afghanistan now that elections have taken place, Karzai's exerting his authority and all their predictions have been shown to be foolish. They know the same fate awaits them in Iraq next year, and these neo-Vietnam stories should be viewed as the last-ditch fusillade of a group of dead-enders.
#10
"I never include the /sarcasm tags because I feel it spoils the fun."
Whew! Thanks for clarifying. :-)
Posted by: Dave D. ||
12/11/2004 21:52
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#11
"...and all their predictions have been shown to be foolish. They know the same fate awaits them in Iraq next year..."
Though I'm pretty confident that democracy in Iraq will eventually "take", I'm not too sure it's going to be as easy as it was in Afghanistan. I'd been puzzled at how peaceful and straightforward the Afghan elections seemed; but thinking about it I realize the Afghanis actually have a long history of consensual government, though in a form that's not very familiar to us: that loya jerga grand council thingamajig of theirs.
I don't expect it to be as straightforward in Iraq, though: there's a long history of brutal autocracy and inter-tribal abuse that may take years to erase to a point where Baghdad or Fallujah bear any resemblance to Peoria.
But they'll get there eventually. I think.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
12/11/2004 22:02
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France is to launch a French-language news channel next year in a long-awaited attempt to challenge the dominance of the American view of world current affairs, the prime minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, said yesterday. The government will provide â¬30m (£21m) in start-up funding for the channel, which will "allow international broadcasting that will express the diversity to which our nation is attached," Mr Raffarin said. The CII (International Information Channel) project, better known in France as "CNN à la Francaise", is a pet project of Jacques Chirac's and was first announced shortly after his 2002 re-election.
Cheeze. They can't even come up with an original name...
It was initially greeted with widespread scepticism, seen as yet another Canute-like attempt to preserve French language and culture in the face of the inexorable onward march of English. La langue de Moliere benefits from a battery of laws and directives to protect it at home, but in an age of global communications and the internet it has lost out to English abroad and is now the 11th most widely spoken language in the world. Nor is it any longer the language of diplomacy, even within Europe.
Somehow it had managed to be surpassed by English long before anyone had ever heard of the internet. What's important isn't a language's history, or its euphony, but what you say with it. There's more said in English that interesting, original or profound than there is in Francaise.
I'm not sure a state-controlled enterprise can compete with even a weak sister like CNN's become. In something like an open market, what's it gonna do against Fox News?
An estimated 260 million people around the world speak French as a native or second language, compared with some 700 million thought to speak English with some degree of competence. CII, which will not be broadcast inside France, is therefore likely to transmit some programmes in languages other than French - including English.
France's 35-hour working week will be radically eased under proposals outlined by Mr Raffarin to allow companies and employees to negotiate individual overtime agreements. The unpopular prime minister also pledged to cut France's near-10% unemployment rate to below 9% next year.
Posted by: tipper ||
12/11/2004
7:50:44 AM ||
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#1
I would like to know who has told that thief (I am speaking of Raffarin) he has the right to dig in MY pocket for this endeavour.
I wsould have some respect for that rival of CNN if it were started by people putting their money in it. But it is with money from other people, extorted money from other people.
#4
A news channel in the country's native language broadcast exclusively outside that countries borders? Sounds far more like a French version of the BBC world service than a CNN clone.
#6
Notice they would calim to challenge FNC? It's like the weakling on the playground picking on the cripple. It's sad for both and neither comes out a winner. And exactly how many countries require people to learn French? Talk about a finite audience!
#12
France is to launch a French-language news channel next year in a long-awaited attempt to challenge the dominance of the American view of world current affairs, the prime minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, said yesterday.
I can imagine its slant - Ali Khamenei, Kim Jong Il, Bashar Assad, and Fidel Castro are all decent and honorable men, and Hamid Karzai, Iyad Allawi, John Howard, and Ariel Sharon are all evil scoundrels.
#14
An estimated 260 million people around the world speak French as a native or second language, compared with some 700 million thought to speak English with some degree of competence.
Tee hee, the Guardianistas are so cute! When the inevitable corrections flow in, the GU will of course respond-- drum roll-- "but you're including the US, and we said, 'with competence'!!!"
In reality, the ratio of English- to French-speakers is at least twice as high as these ridiculous figures imply. You have around 450 million English speakers in the western hemisphere, plus another 120 million in British Isles + SA + OZ, plus another ~200 million across Africa and the middle east, plus ~200 million on the subcontinent and ~200 million in non-OZ East Asia. And finally you have another 200 million across continental Europe, = much more than >1 billion, probably 1.3-1.4 billion english speakers across the globe.
With slogans of "Workers of the world--Relax!!!" and "Alarm clocks kill dreams", the Work Less Party is set to field at least three candidates in the next British Columbia election. It should come as no surprise that a political party that advocates working less should first take hold in B.C., the Canadian equivalent of La-La land that is often referred to as British California.
The major plank of the WL (perhaps they should be called "willies") is to bring in a 4-day, 32 hour work week. The party wants to go back to the heady days of the 1950s when robotics were all the rage and people were looking forward to the time when machines took over and the population would have more leisure time. But as the Work Less Party points out, those days never came. We are now all working more while real incomes have declined since the days when a carefree Beaver Cleaver romped happily through the streets of Mayfield.
But not all of the Work Less Party's policies are from the 1950s. According to the party's platform, it is all this work that is responsible for pollution and the destruction of the planet. Working also leads to social decay and too much competition. The WL wants to replace competition with co-operation (where have we heard that before?). Other policies include a greater participation in the arts, as if that is even possible, as well as a tax on luxury goods that pollute. That last policy is a downer--who wants more time off from work if they can't afford a pollution-causing SUV to drive around in?
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: tipper ||
12/11/2004
7:46:08 AM ||
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#1
I think I'm gonna get the "Alarm Clocks Kill Dreams" tee shirt for my brother, if they have it in XL.
Somalia's parliament passed a motion of no-confidence against the new prime minister and his Cabinet on Saturday, an official said, effectively sacking a government that had been expected to restore order to the country after 13 years of anarchy and war. The deputy speaker of the 275-member transitional parliament Dalhar Omar said 153 members voted against Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Gedi, accusing him of failing to respect power-sharing arrangements reached in complex talks involving warlords and leaders of the country's main clans. Somali President Abdulahi Yusuf Ahmed plans to dispute the no-confidence vote, his spokesman Yusuf Mohamed Ismail said. But the president does not have final authority. Talks were under way between the president, Cabinet and the secretary of the parliament to resolve the crisis, the spokesman said. The president swore in Gedi's Cabinet on Dec. 1. The new government included warlords, clan leaders and technocrats and had been expected to establish the first effective central government since 1991.
Somehow I expected things like this. Swore 'em in less than two weeks ago and already they want to throw them out.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2004
7:44:18 PM ||
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#1
This is the government the UN selected. Dare I say 'selected, not elected!'
Myanmar's ruling military junta announced Saturday that more than 5,000 prisoners have had their sentences suspended and will be freed from various prisons around the country, the third such release in less than a month. A brief announcement on state radio and television evening news programs said a third batch of 5,070 prisoners whose detentions were ruled irrelevant or improper have had their sentences reduced and will be freed. No other details were provided and it was unknown whether any of those to be released were political prisoners. Only a few dozen political prisoners were included in the two earlier releases.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2004
7:41:40 PM ||
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Officials from more than 20 Islamic countries said Saturday that political, economic and social reforms must go hand in hand with steps toward settling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"Yep. Nothin's gonna work unless they get that fixed. Without the Israeli-Paleostinian conflict settled, why, there's no way we can elect our own dog catchers or install ATM machines at our banks!"
The commitment to reforms came during a four-hour meeting that included those Muslim nations, industrialized democracies, the Arab League and other groups. The United States, a driving force behind the conference, sees the changes as a way to make these societies less of a breeding ground for political extremism. At a news conference after the discussions, Secretary of State Colin Powell said he was not disappointed that the Muslim delegates insisted on linking internal reforms to the Mideast dispute.
"Of course I'm not 'disappointed.' We expected the same old hokum."
"We're not starting reform or holding up reform. It's ongoing," Powell said. "Reform has to go on. A child needs an education now." Much of the discussion, conducted mostly in private, focused on raising the low literacy rates in the region and on ways to provide equal treatment for women.
That's a really nice balloon y'got there. Is that lead?
Economic development also was on the agenda. Treasury Secretary John Snow said the region's unemployment rate is about 50 percent. "The best development program is a job," Snow told reporters. "And a job comes from growth."
With 50 percent unemployment, they've got a lot of growing to do. No wonder there's so much cannon fodder available.
The Arab-Israeli dispute was a recurring theme with Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal saying the "real bone of contention" for Muslims is "the Western bias toward Israel."
Yeah, but we weren't discussing Israel. We were discussing your unemployment rate.
A statement issued at the conclusion of the conference said the participants "reaffirmed that their support for reform in the region will go hand-in-hand with their support for a just, comprehensive and lasting settlement to the Arab-Israeli conflict."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2004
7:40:49 PM ||
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Gosh, all these Arab countries sure could free up a lot more time for political reform if they just weren't so busy protracting the Palestinian conflict.
RABAT: US Secretary of State Colin Powell stressed on Saturday the need for economic and political reforms in the Arab world to defeat terrorism. Opening the one-day "Forum for the Non-radioactive Future" conference in Morocco, Mr Powell told delegates from nearly 30 countries that now was not the time "to argue about the pace of democratic reform or whether economic reform must precede political reform". Mr Powell went on to say that "all of us (confront) the daily threat of terrorism" and that to defeat extremism countries must work together to address the causes of despair and frustration that extremists exploit for their own ends. That's kind of tough when so many of the Arab governments are merely using their extremists as non-military proxies to carry out anti-American agendas. A stronger hint may be needed. Like the threat of wholesale nuclear annihilation should even one single Islamic country assist a terrorist nuclear attack upon America. (Thank you, Mrs. Davis)
About 20 Arab, African, Middle Eastern and Asian countries attended the gathering, along with members of the Group of Eight (G8) industrial states, which launched the idea of promoting reform across the region in June. Always a popular topic. It surfaces somewhat routinely during interrogation sessions.
Mr Powell acknowledged on Friday that when the idea was first floated it was regarded by some as "America, once again. dictating to the world". But, he said, the US intent was to help countries modernise and reform in their own way. "We all agree that effective and sustainable change can only come from within," he told the opening plenary session. Independent Moroccan news magazine Le Journal Hebdomadaire called the meeting's organisers delusional and branded the forum "a flop" even before it took place.
A leading Moroccan human rights activist, Khaled Soufani, who had attended a peaceful protest by about 500 people outside the Moroccan parliament on Friday night, said that the forum was imperialist. He added that the fact it was being held legitimised "American military aggression on the Arab and Muslim worlds". Playing the old "humiliation" card, as usual. Boo-f&%king-hoo!
The concept of promoting democracy across the Arab world has been watered down since the plan was first leaked to the press, putting more emphasis on economics and less on political reform. The idea, diplomatic sources said, was to make it more palatable to governments loath to give up power, including constitutional monarchies like host Morocco. It's the perennial vicious scratch-itch cycle. Despotic governments so enjoy their grip on power that it extinguishes all motivation for any reform. Nothing is going to change until the outside world finally institutes more aggressive (i.e., punitive) measures to propel corrupt governments towards political reform (read: regime change).
Pakistan has arrested the head of a militant Islamic group wanted in connection with the kidnapping of three UN workers in Afghanistan. Syed Akbar Agha, from a group that calls itself the Army of Muslims, was captured in a raid on an appartment block in the southern city of Karachi. The UN workers were captured in the Afghan capital, Kabul, in October, but were released nearly a month later. Afghan officials say no deal was done to free Annetta Flanigan from Northern Ireland, Angelito Nayan from the Philippines and Shqipe Habibi from Kosovo. The Army of Muslims - Jaish-e-Muslimeen (JM) - is believed to be a splinter faction of the Taleban, Afghanistan's hard-line former ruling group.
It's significant, but not surprising in the least, that Agha's in Karachi. He probably lives there.
The BBC's Zafar Abbas in Islamabad says it is not clear what led to the arrest. But he says there are unconfirmed reports that a former member of the militant group tipped off security services, after disagreeing with Mr Agha about a ransom allegedly received for the release of the trio. The suspect was arrested in a raid on an apartment block in Karachi, where he had been hiding along with his family.
Toldja he lived there...
He was still with Pakistani security forces and it was unlikely he would be handed over to Afghanistan, the minister added. Mr Agha commanded Taleban forces in the Maidan-Shahr area, west of Kabul, for 11 months in the mid-1990s. He founded the Army of Muslims in December 2001, soon after the regime fell. But he then fell out with the movement's supreme leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
12/11/2004
7:37:35 AM ||
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sounds like an Army of Oneâ¢
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/11/2004 8:51
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But he says there are unconfirmed reports that a former member of the militant group tipped off security services, after disagreeing with Mr Agha about a ransom allegedly received for the release of the trio.
Naughty, naughty, Agha. No hogging all the ransom money. Any thug worth his weight knows you've got to keep all the palms greased so that they don't tend to pick up knives once your back is turned.
Relief groups on Saturday urged Afghan President Hamid Karzai to remove his planning minister, who has proposed that most aid agencies working in the country be shut down because they waste money. Karzai quickly distanced himself from the remarks by Ramazan Bashardost, the minister, but officials had already begun to refuse visa renewals for some foreign relief workers because of confusion over their status. Presidential spokesman Khaleeq Ahmad said the government "doesn't recognize his comments, they are his own opinions," suggesting he had fallen out of favor with Karzai.
That often happens when you leave the PC road...
"We think he's just trying to get publicity and public support and ensure a good political future for himself," Ahmad said. The main umbrella group for Afghan and foreign aid groups, known as ACBAR, said it would press for a new law that would expose for-profit companies who have registered as non-governmental relief agencies in order to bid for reconstruction work. ACBAR said it would cooperate to root out fraud.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2004
7:32:32 PM ||
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U.S. military commanders in Iraq, where bombings pose the deadliest threat to their soldiers, have welcomed news the Pentagon wants to speed up production of upgraded armored Humvees, a military spokesmen said Saturday. The issue of whether the military is providing enough protection for its troops received new attention this week after an Iraq-bound National Guardsman questioned Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld during a visit to neighboring Kuwait on why he and his comrades must scrounge through scrap piles for metal to protect their vehicles. The Army said Friday it was negotiating with an armor manufacturer, Florida-based Armor Holdings Inc., to accelerate production of upgraded M1114, or Level 1, Humvees. The company said it could boost monthly production from the current 450 vehicles to 550 in February or March. "Commanders are looking for any opportunity to increase force protection for the sake of their troops," said Maj. Neal O'Brien, spokesman for the Tikrit-based 1st Infantry Division. "Uparmor or add-on armor will always be one of those force protection assets they want more of."
I wonder if they've thought about looking for overseas suppliers? Contracts like this would be a good reward for countries like Bulgaria and Poland and Albania, all of whom have the capacity to fill the orders.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2004
7:28:38 PM ||
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I have read, I don't remember where, that the best armors are made of ceramic, but for that you need special oven and these are made overseas and take up to 18mth to manufacture.
#2
The weight of the traditional armor plate is killing the rolling stock. The Military have no viable short term alternative, but they are going to have to find one because the degradation rate on the vehicles is costing them a huge amount.
Posted by: Remote Man ||
12/11/2004 20:16
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SwissTex, that is correct (for the moment; "best" is constantly changing), but remember that we don't need the best. We don't have enemy tanks shooting at us. We need to stop RPGs, IEDs. Not to downplay those, but it's far easier to defend against just those threats if you also don't have to worry about Long Rods and such. Surprisingly, ordinary rubber (sandwiched between steel) does a pretty good job. Reactive armor works, too, but there are tactical difficulties.
Exactly, RM, which is why the Humvees didn't have armor in the first place. They were replacements for the Jeep, not the M1.
Really, the only long-term solution would be to start using real armored vehicles, like the Bradley or Stryker. That's $$$$$$$$$ also, but better than paying off life insurance.
#4
I've had a composite armor idea I've been working on in my spare time, but I am having trouble making progress because the alloys I wanted to use to begin with weren't readily available.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
12/11/2004 21:46
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Phil F, read Fred's suggestion. I wouldn't be surprised if one of the E European allies could come up with the alloys you seek.
#6
Along the same lines as making politicians fly on commercial carriers; I say we round up all the Pentagon bean-counters who nixed the Iraq troops' armor requirements and and let them take a self-guided tour of Baghdad in an unarmored Humvee.
#7
Think we can get a Congressional delegation together to go on TV and announce a waiver of their laws and regulations in order to expedite the process? No cheap shots a year or two down the road for a public circus? Not likely.
As Blackfive posts - As you might recall, I had pushed for the Rapid Acquisition Authority Bill to be sent out of the Senate Armed Services Committee and into a vote. The RAAB gave commanders the ability to make purchases that would protect their troops in a combat zone - purchases without going through the laborious and lobbyist intense acquisition process for the Pentagon.
Unfortunately, both Republicans and Democrats killed the bill. Their excuse was that the 2005 Defense Budget addressed the need for Rapid Acquisition.
They were/are incorrect.
Nuff said.
Posted by: Don ||
12/11/2004 23:21
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Israel's dovish Labor Party voted Saturday to join Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's ruling coalition, a move that makes it easier for the Israeli leader to implement his Gaza withdrawal plan next year. Yoram Dori, an adviser to Labor leader Shimon Peres, said coalition talks would begin later Saturday. Sharon needs to forge an alliance with Labor to push through his plan to pullout of the Gaza Strip next year and to prevent an early election. Sharon's hard-line Likud Party voted Thursday to open coalition talks with Labor. He invited Labor into the government early Friday. "The Labor Central Committee authorized Shimon Peres to hold talks for a broad coalition. Negotiations with Likud will begin tonight," Dori told The Associated Press. Sharon's plan to pullout of all Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements next year cost him his parliamentary majority.
I'm glad Sharon was able to bring it off, and I hope he doesn't have to give too much away to Peres to get the deal to work. Leaving Gaza's the best idea he's had yet...
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2004
7:25:58 PM ||
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It's been suggested that Sharon and Peres might have reached an odd entente, both irritated with the extreme ends of their own political parties, and annoyed with the power politics played by tiny 3rd parties. This proposal is that, if the two of them broke off the middle and abandoned both the far left and the far right, the would have a huge majority of the center in a new, centrist party. No more extremists demanding and getting largesse from the government, and a stable coalition that would last a decade or two before a *reasonable* centrist alternative arose to compete with it.
#2
The thing that I read about, and the thing I am concerned about is the possibility of Hizb'Allah taking over the power vacuum in Gaza and becoming a threat to Israel's western border. It seems to me that the sooner Syria is out of the terror base business, the less influence the MMs of Iran have in either Lebanon or in this case, Gaza.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/11/2004 20:52
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Taiwan's pro-independence parties lost a hotly contested legislative election Saturday — a defeat that might reduce the risk of a conflict with China but also continue the political gridlock that has paralyzed one of Asia's youngest democracies. The loss was a big blow to President Chen Shui-bian, who tirelessly campaigned for candidates and promised to use his control of parliament to revise the constitution and push for a new Taiwanese identity — pledges that unnerved China. Chinese leaders dislike Chen because he refuses to accept their goal of unification. Taiwan has had loose ties with the mainland — just 100 miles to the west — throughout much of China's history. The Communists, who took over China in 1949, say Taiwan must unify eventually or endure a punishing attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2004
7:23:22 PM ||
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The result is likely to come as a relief to Beijing, which has been angry about Chen's pro-independence stance.
While China's politburo may be exultant over this upset, I remain confident of the fact that such a moderation of Taiwan's pro-independence movement being the result of democratic processes escapes them entirely.
Negotiators from groups battling in Sudan's Darfur region opened their latest round of peace talks on Saturday, with African mediators imploring the government and rebels to resolve their differences through talks. Peace negotiations have failed to stop nearly two years of fighting in Sudan's western region that has killed tens of thousands and left nearly 2 million homeless. African Union officials have said that attacks continued this week. "War will not resolve the problems of Darfur," Sam Ibok, a top mediator of African Union, told delegates. "It's not just a military problem, it's a problem that can be resolved by political means." Representatives from Darfur's two main rebel groups and Sudan's government are attending the talks, which were promptly adjourned Saturday and expected to continue Sunday.
Let us know if anything happens, okay?
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2004
7:21:17 PM ||
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A grenade exploded at a concert of Indian movie stars and entertainers in Sri Lanka's capital Saturday, killing at least two people and injuring 15. The grenade was thrown at the crowd as the three-hour show was nearing its end, military spokesman Brig. Daya Ratnayake said. A man identified as a journalist for a local newspaper and a woman were killed, he said. Audience members first mistook the explosion as part of a fireworks show accompanying the concert until they saw people bleeding, a doctor at Colombo's national hospital told the Press Trust of India. At least 12 of the injured were admitted to a hospital with shrapnel injuries cause by a hand grenade or small bomb.
The Indian entertainers were unhurt, officials said. The show, titled "Temptation 2004," featured Indian stars Shahrukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Saif Ali Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Javed Khan and Celina Jaitly. Earlier, police used tear gas to break up a protest by about 200 Buddhists who tried to prevent the concert, held a day before the anniversary of the death of a leading Buddhist cleric. Sunday is the first anniversary of the death of Gangodawila Soma — a popular preacher who campaigned against conversions of Buddhists by Christians. Monks are a powerful political force in Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka. Earlier Saturday, concert organizers met a group of monks and offered an apology for the event's timing, which the clergy accepted. But the monks' lay supporters protested the decision, accusing the monks of betrayal. It was unclear whether the grenade explosion was related to the monks' protest.
My guess is that it was. What's yours?
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2004
7:00:57 PM ||
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Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko was poisoned with dioxin, doctors said Saturday, adding that the highly toxic chemical could have been put in the opposition leader's soup, producing the severe disfigurement and partial paralysis of his face.
If Yushchenko does manage to take charge in Ukraine, I'll be somebody's gonna be way out of a job...
Yushchenko was in satisfactory condition and was expected to be released from Vienna's private Rudolfinerhaus clinic Sunday or Monday to return to the campaign trail in Ukraine, said hospital director Dr. Michael Zimpfer. Yushchenko, who faces Viktor Yanukovych in a rerun of a disputed presidential runoff on Dec. 26, has claimed that he was poisoned by Ukrainian authorities, who deny the charges. His supporters at home expressed little surprise over the doctors' conclusion.
If Yanokovych loses, he might consider moving to Khabarovsk or Perm.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2004
6:57:23 PM ||
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Some 18,000 American troops have started a winter offensive against Taliban rebels in Afghanistan, vowing to eliminate insurgents who could threaten parliamentary elections slated for the spring. The U.S. military said Saturday that it hoped the new push, dubbed Lightning Freedom, would persuade insurgents to accept an amnesty offered by President Hamid Karzai that could stabilize the country and allow foreign troops to pull back. "It's designed basically to search out and destroy the remaining remnants of Taliban forces who traditionally we believe go to ground during the winter months," spokesman Maj. Mark McCann said. "It's going on throughout the country of Afghanistan." The operation was initiated after Karzai's inauguration Tuesday as the country's first democratically elected president, McCann said. He didn't know exactly when it began and gave no details of any specific moves against militant targets.
18,000 troops sounds like it's a bigger operation than the usual "we're gonna getcha"...
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2004
6:54:42 PM ||
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But...But...what about the Dread Afganistan Winter(TM)?
Posted by: N Guard ||
12/11/2004 19:03
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Those warm targets show up on infrared even better in the winter.
Posted by: Tom ||
12/11/2004 19:22
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We need some operation, dubbed Waziristan Turkey Shoot to take care of these bad elements.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/11/2004 19:53
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Operation No Prisoners would be nice. Can I ask for that for Christmas?
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/11/2004 20:13
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18,000 troops sounds like itâs a bigger operation
18,000 is almost the entire force in Afghanistan, isn't it? So this is a way of saying that everyone will be involved. The final push before the final withdrawal??? Or is this the mother-of-all-searches for OBL's remains?
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/11/2004 20:20
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Good. The worse the weather, the better for us. Neither rain nor sleet nor snow shall deter our bullets from their intended targets.
THE Pentagon said today it is investigating allegations of abuse reported by Australian terror suspect David Hicks at the US detention camp in Guantanamo Bay. The Pentagon, which maintains detainees are treated in accordance with the Geneva Conventions that prohibit the use of torture or abuse, acknowledged it is investigating claims of beatings and other mistreatment at Guantanamo and in Afghanistan raised by Hicks.
And the hooker. Don't forget the hooker...
"There's currently an ongoing investigation into allegations of abuse in the case of David Hicks based on abuse allegations," said Major Michael Shavers, a Pentagon spokesman. He said the investigation began before the allegations became public. Additional investigations into abuse and mistreatment at Guantanamo Bay, as well as other aspects of the detention mission, were also pending, Major Shavers said. Hicks' allegations became public yesterday in an affidavit released by his lawyer. Hicks said he and others suffered abuse by US troops in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, where he has been held since January 2002. He is one of only four men among the about 550 detainees who have been charged. He is scheduled to be tried by a military commission in March.
"At one point, a group of detainees, including myself, were subjected to being randomly hit over an eight-hour session while handcuffed and blindfolded," Hicks, 29, said in the affidavit sealed in August. "I have been struck with hands, fists, and other objects, including rifle butts. I have also been kicked." Hicks also said he was forcibly injected with sedatives, and that troops denied food to prisoners to coerce cooperation with interrogators. The US military has acknowledged 10 cases of abuse since the detention mission began at Guantanamo, including a female interrogator climbing onto a detainee's lap and a detainee whose knees were bruised from being repeatedly forced to kneel. Those cases are not among three incidents detailed in the July FBI letter to Major General Donald Ryder, the US Army's chief law enforcement officer investigating abuses at the US-run prisons. The memo obtained by AP documents abuses that included a female interrogator grabbing a detainee's genitals and bending back his thumbs, a prisoner being gagged with duct tape and an attack dog being used to intimidate a detainee, who later showed "extreme" psychological trauma.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
12/11/2004
6:43:27 AM ||
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Got any bruises to show, slick? No? Well, talk is cheap, and so are hoods...
I've rebuilt the Dead Pool, to help track the Learned Elders of Islam and some of our favorite Tin Hats. Now taking nominations. I'll probably add a "Date Jugged or Deposed" field as well...
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2004
5:29:24 PM ||
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I'd like to see them all on one page. Rantburg's front page is huuuuge, and seeing the back-up just trying to get through the letter A...it'd be nice to survey the whole shebang at once.
An Islamic Sharia court in northern Nigeria has overturned a death sentence imposed on a 29-year-old woman, who gave birth after a divorce and was convicted of adultery. Daso Adamu was acquitted by the upper Sharia court after the judge, Yusuf Suleiman, ruled that her being pregnant was not enough evidence to warrant a sentence that she be stoned to death. "The court faulted the lower court's judgement, saying that since Daso became pregnant within two years of her divorce it was wrong to assume the pregnancy was illegal because there is the possibility that the pregnancy was from her former husband," defence counsel Abdulkadir Suleiman said.
Under the interpretation of Sharia, which is in force in much of northern Nigeria, it is regarded as possible that a "dormant pregnancy" might last up to five years from the end of a marriage. Once a woman is married any sexual relations she conducts with a man other than her husband is considered adultery, even if she has divorced. "The court further argued that her trial in court was improper because she didn't present herself to court but was dragged and tried against her wish," Mr Suleiman said.
Ms Adamu, who has been married five times and is a mother of three, was sentenced to death by stoning last July by a lower Sharia court after she gave birth to her daughter, Dije. She challenged the sentence with the help of a women's rights group, Baobab, which paid for the legal services of the defence counsel. Ms Adamu's acquittal comes one month after 18-year-old Hajara Ibrahim also escaped a death sentence when the Dass upper Sharia court acquitted her of having had sex outside marriage. Ms Adamu was the sixth woman to be sentenced to death for adultery since the state reintroduced the Sharia legal system two years ago, although none of the sentences has yet been carried out. Allahu Fuckbar !
Posted by: God Save The World ||
12/11/2004
5:16:56 PM ||
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Ukraine's Opposition leader and presidential candidate, Viktor Yushchenko, has reiterated his assertion that the disfiguration of his face is the result of an attempt to kill him by poisoning. "I believe now more and more that what happened to me was an act of a settling of political scores," Mr Yushchenko said. "The aim was to kill me." He says forensic tests may be made public in the next few days that will set the record straight on what has happened to him.
Mr Yushchenko, 50, fell ill on September 6. Four days later he was admitted to the Vienna clinic, where he remained until September 19. When he finally re-emerged weeks later, voters in Ukraine were shocked to see a man who appeared to have aged by at least a decade. Mr Yushchenko, who will now face his pro-Russian opponent and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich on December 26 in a repeat of the disputed November 21 presidential election, vows that the episode is behind him. "I'm in good physical condition and on my way to full recovery," he said. "I give you my word - all data, all analysis concerning my health will be made public."
Vienna treatment
Mr Yushchenko has been treated for the ailment at a clinic in Vienna. The head of that facility, Michael Zimpfer, says that the results of further tests on blood samples taken recently in Kiev will be published today (local time). On Wednesday, Nikolai Korpan, a surgeon who treated Mr Yushchenko in the well-known private clinic, said he and his colleagues were working on three theories, all of which were related to poisoning. "But to this date we have no proof that it really was a case of poisoning," Dr Korpan said. He said that the first of the three theories involved dioxin, or endotoxin poisoning, but he would not elaborate on the two others, citing medical confidentiality. Endotoxin is a toxin synthesised by a bacteria, which is not detectable in the blood or urine as little as just hours after it has found its way into the body. If Mr Yushchenko had indeed been the victim of poisoning "it will probably be very difficult to demonstrate it," Dr Zimpfer said.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
12/11/2004
5:14:48 PM ||
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Just heard a report(tv)that the poison is dioxen.If so this has to be the luckiest man alive,dioxen is just about the deadliest substance on the planet,if 1 ounce of dioxen is divided evenly among 1 million people,92% of those people will die.
Kidnappers have released two truck drivers, one from Bangladesh and the other from Sri Lanka, after holding them hostage in Iraq for more than a month. The two have appeared briefly before reporters at the Sri Lankan embassy in Baghdad and looked relatively well, smiling and waving to television cameras. Bangladeshi Abul Kashem, 44, and Sri Lankan Dinesh Rajaratnam, 37, had been seized on October 28 while transporting supplies to Iraq from Kuwait. Both are employed by a Kuwaiti trucking company.
Thousands of truck drivers, many of them from poor regions of Asia, have come to the Middle East over the past 18 months to find work transporting goods into Iraq. Scores have been killed by insurgents determined to disrupt attempts by US and Iraqi authorities to rebuild the country, or by bandits seeking to steal their produce. Dozens of others have been kidnapped and threatened with death if the companies employing them do not cease operating in Iraq. Despite the dangers, there appears to be no shortage of drivers willing to take the risk to earn up to $US300 a month.
Posted by: God Save The World ||
12/11/2004
5:13:35 PM ||
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JAPAN took another step away from its post-World War II pacifism yesterday by ending its decades-old ban on military exports and telling defence planners to regard China and North Korea as threats. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's Cabinet agreed to allow military sales — only to the US and for missile defence — a day after it extended Japan's ground-breaking deployment to Iraq for another year. The policy change yesterday came in the form of a set of guidelines for defence policymakers, updated for the first time in nine years, along with a five-year outline for military procurements set to begin from April next year. The guidelines approved by the Cabinet said Japan needed to change its mindset to have "multi-function, flexible defence capabilities" to deal with "new threats and various situations". A statement by the Government spokesman said Japan needed to change its stance on missile parts exports "to contribute to the effective management of the Japan-US security alliance and secure the safety of our country", but subject to "strict controls".
North Korea shocked the world in 1998 by firing a missile over Japan, leading Tokyo and Washington to begin to study a missile interception shield. But Japan was forbidden from exporting missile components to its close ally as it has had a defence-only security policy since its bitter defeat in World War II. The US-imposed constitution of 1947 said Japan would forever renounce war, leading Japan to produce top-of-the-line equipment which its military — known as the Self-Defence Forces — is forbidden to use. In 1967, Japan said it would voluntarily stop all weapons sales to communist countries and other states perceived to threaten world peace. The self-imposed ban was tightened in 1976 to rule out all weapons exports.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: God Save The World ||
12/11/2004
5:04:31 PM ||
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I suspect this has everything to do with leverage on the ChiComs over NoKo. The heat is getting turned up on Big Red to do more over NoKo or get squeezed in their Asian-Pac region.
Posted by: Capt America ||
12/11/2004 20:10
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A welcome attitude awakening in Japan. They recognize who their partners and friends are.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/11/2004 20:29
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JAPANESE troops could soon be training with Diggers on Australian soil for the first time as part of a move to forge closer military ties. Australian and Japanese defence officials have discussed the proposed war games as Tokyo yesterday took a historic step away from its post-war pacifist stance, ending a decades-old ban on military exports, and adopting a more aggressive defence and counter-terrorism posture. Although only in the early stages, the contentious military training talks, which have not reached ministerial level, are certain to divide war veterans and others in the community. It could also pose problems for Canberra's burgeoning relationship with China - including the pursuit of a free trade deal - given ongoing tensions between Beijing and Tokyo. As part of Japan's new military expansion, Tokyo has instructed its defence planners to regard China and North Korea as potential threats. Allowing Japanese troops to train in Australia would be viewed dimly by China, which is likely to become Australia's biggest trading partner over the next decade.
Defence Minister Robert Hill's office said yesterday it was unaware of any approach by Tokyo. But Senator Hill believes "participation in exercises" is one of the ways of deepening the Australia-Japan relationship. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer also said last night that the Japanese Government had not made any formal approach. "But I suppose (if it were raised) there would be some community sensitivity," Mr Downer said. Veteran Perce Curvey, 87, a World War II survivor who spent three years and eight months as a war prisoner, told The Weekend Australian yesterday that the training exercises would be an insult to the memory of the the thousands of POWs who died. "There is a move afoot amongst some ex-POWs to forget and forgive," he said. "Well, I can't forget and I can't forgive, because what the Japanese did to us was brutal and totally unnecessary."
A memorandum of understanding signed by the Australian and Japanese defence ministers in Canberra in September last year, which has been made public only in the past fortnight, commits both countries to exploring "new areas of co-operation for promoting and deepening Australia-Japan defence exchange". The two countries already have strong intelligence and counter-terrorism ties - particularly in dealing with the nuclear threat posed by North Korea - and are also involved in naval and air exercises and unit to unit exchanges. Military expert Alan Dupont, a senior research fellow at the Sydney based Lowy Institute who has just completed a pivotal study on Japan's expected re-emergence as a defence power in the Pacific, predicted yesterday that joint land training exercises were "the next logical step in defence co-operation between the two countries".
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: God Save The World ||
12/11/2004
5:03:07 PM ||
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TGA---Operation Kokoda, funny but cruel, heh heh. An Aussie friend of mine hiked the Kokoda Track. His dad said, "What the f**k [those were his words] did ya want to do that for? That place was the most miserable time in my life, fighting the Japs in the jungle."
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/11/2004 13:49
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#8
Umm, those are sidearms they're holding, right?
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/11/2004 18:05
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Look like submachine guns or PDW to me. Prolly tankers or something they got goggles.
For background, see here
The Democratic Republic of Congo yesterday accused Rwanda of invading its eastern jungles and pledged to deploy 10,000 troops in response, as the scale of human suffering in the Africa's third largest country was laid bare. A new report found that 1,000 people are dying in Congo every day in the wake of its last war, which ended - on paper at least - with a treaty two years ago and is considered the world's worst conflict since 1945. The turmoil threatened to deepen still further yesterday. If there has been a large-scale incursion by Rwanda, the danger of a new regional war engulfing central African would be acute. An estimated 3.8 million people from a population of 60 million have been killed in six years of fighting, meaning that the conflict dwarfs every other humanitarian emergency, including that in Sudan's Darfur region.
The fighting in this anarchic swathe of Africa has, according to the International Rescue Committee, a New York-based aid agency, created hunger and disease on an unprecedented scale. The mortality survey by the IRC also shows that 500,000 died between January 2003 and April this year. Richard Brennan, one of the report's authors, said: "How many innocent Congolese have to perish before the world pays attention?"
The overwhelming majority of deaths were caused by starvation or disease. The war has wrecked schools and hospitals, leaving millions without the most basic health care. Children have borne the brunt of the suffering. The IRC survey found that Congo's mortality rate for children under the age of five was 70 per cent higher than the African average. The report said that Congo was suffering "by far the deadliest war in the world since World War Two", adding: "International engagement is typically lacking in Congo and hundreds of thousands of innocent people are dying as a result."
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Posted by: tipper ||
12/11/2004
4:01:33 AM ||
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unfortunately, except for the "bloody frontier of Islam clashes", I'm suffering a real 'African vs, African' clash attention fatigue. The African countries seem almost beyond help, when I see them allow ZimBobWe to operate as a welcome AU member, I wanna puke
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/11/2004 8:58
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#3
The U.N. is on the case, I'm sure...ZZZZZ...
What do you think the UN should do?
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
12/11/2004 9:06
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#4
no bots/autocommenters, please
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/11/2004 9:18
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Maybe Mike, confess that it can't do a thing and drop all pretense that it has any influence upon the situation.
Posted by: Don ||
12/11/2004 10:02
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Mike what would be the best way to create a more effective and vital UN? Would more money help? Or would a deep seated conviction be better? Do you think losing the powder puff blue would help? Or is the tradition to strong. Let's talk silver patterns now, I am fond of Stratevari, should the UN cafeteria settle on one or spread out the patterns in hope of spreading good cheer? Do you think UN licesne plates are a good thing Mike? Should I be allowed to buy one?
1. Ignore the problem until the NGOs start really screaming. (Already done)
2. Guilt-trip the Europeans into coughing up more money and troops. Settle for extra money in lieu of European troops and hire Angolan Boy Scout troop instead. Pocket difference.
3. Appropriate 40% of funds earmarked for Congo as 'administrative costs'.
4. Hold "Malaise in Congo" conferences in Paris and Brussels (be sure to get generous shopping-discount for conference-goers and spouses).
5. Blame the US for inaction.
6. Repeat until ennui sets in, or NGOs need new fund-raising campaign.
#10
Even if the EU came up with troops (of dubious quality) they would still need Air America to take them to the war zone. The EU does not have a credible air lift or even sea lift capability.
Posted by: Douglas De Bono ||
12/11/2004 15:47
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#11
Hey Mike! Time's money and Life is short! Look! They're easy questions and I'm not the critical sort.
#12
I think all RBers left right and Aris should get together and form a committe to examine a way to start to get ready to make changes in the baseline propostion that the UN is essentialy a pretty damn good way to make a living. With this committee we might, no will, get permanent funding. I nominate MS to chair the self-sustaining committee on getting lotsa money from elsewhere.
#13
Great idea! MS can live off the administrative fees, his son can take kickbacks, and the rest of us can park anywhere we want with diplomatic immunity. Count me in!
Posted by: Tom ||
12/11/2004 17:05
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Even if the EU came up with troops (of dubious quality) they would still need Air America to take them to the war zone. The EU does not have a credible air lift or even sea lift capability.
While there is truth to the latter assertion, the former is not. European troops are good; when compared to nearly all African forces, superior (even the Greeks :p).
The 'quality issue' lies in the chronic UN forces' problems regarding mandate, command and control, and ROE.
#15
"Even if the EU came up with troops (of dubious quality) they would still need Air America to take them to the war zone."
Al Franken owns an airline? Sheesh...
Posted by: Dave D. ||
12/11/2004 17:38
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Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia and Chad had all deployed troops in the country by the close of 1998. The main objective of all the warring parties was to loot Congoâs immense mineral wealth. Gold and diamonds flowed into the coffers of all the governments involved.
So long as there is financial incentive involved, don't count on any of these bloodthirsty parasites giving a hot damn about the cost in terms of human life.
While early colonial influences and their arbitrary national boundaries have done Africa no great favors, the tribal mindset that persists to this day is what continues to cripple the dark continent. Leaders consider their nation's assets to be personal property and act accordingly.
Until the African people cease to cooperate with such corrupt leadership and begin killing these tribal chieftains, nothing is going to change. However brutal it might sound, AIDS is going to end up curing a lot of Africa's problems. The common philandering male (along with a lot of very unfortunate innocent women) will finally be exterminated and a new behavioral profile will emerge for anyone who wants to survive.
Lack of substantial change in African politics has generated a global attention-span fatigue rivaled only by the Palestinian cause. At some point, the outside world must commit to full scale military intervention (the UN does not count) or simply back away slowly and let the meltdown proceed on its own. Only when enough of those who perpetuate stone-age tribal thinking are dead will there be any chance for progress. While I detest the notion of so much innocent life being lost, it represents expectable collateral damage caused by the continuing existence of such malign leadership.
The African people need to begin killing their corrupt leaders or settle for being killed by them. No realistic alternatives exist, short of global powers routinely decapitatng corrupt African governments until the local elitist class is depopulated. When African populations stop cheering on their war-criminal leaders, only then will some sort of progress begin. Until that time, bloodshed on a massive scale is the only thing to expect.
Specialist Robert Loria of Middletown lost his arm in Iraq, but instead of a farewell paycheck from the U.S. Army he got a bill for nearly $1,800. On Friday a platoon of New York lawmakers came to his rescue. Loria found himself stuck in Fort Hood Texas this week when Army officials claimed he owed them money for travel expenses to a hospital and lost equipment. Several lawmakers — Rep. Maurice Hinchey and Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton — interceded on behalf of the 27-year-old veteran after his irate wife, Christine Loria, told the Times-Herald Record of Middletown about the problem.
Loria was wounded in February. But as he was about to leave the Army this month, officials told him he had been overpaid for his time as a patient at a military hospital in the Washington area, and claimed he still owed money for travel between the hospital and Fort Hood, and $310 for items not found in his returned equipment. Instead of a check for nearly $4,500, Loria was told he had to pay nearly $1,800. "Christmas is coming up, and we are severely overdrawn because of this," Christine said angrily. "It turned out his getting wounded wasn't the worst thing this year to happen — this was," she said.
Clinton, Schumer, and Hinchey said Friday the Army has dropped the billing demands and will allow Loria to return home today or tomorrow on leave before he is discharged. Clinton's office said late Friday that Army officials were now looking at cases of 19 other injured veterans who may have had payroll snafus similar to Loria. "This man has already made such a sacrifice, and then they just put him through the wringer," said Schumer. Clinton blamed the problem on someone in the bureaucracy being unwilling to help him with the paperwork that the Army insisted upon.
Snafus aren't exactly unheard of in the military.
Posted by: ranters should joint the army ||
12/11/2004
3:25:48 PM ||
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I did join the Army, jackass.
It was the summer of 1969 and I was still a British subject at the time. I flew to New York, enlisted, and had a year in Vietnam and a Purple Heart before I took the oath of citizenship. I went in at E-1, and stayed on in the Army Reserve until I finally retired at O-6 in 1999. I also saw minor combat in Desert Storm in 1991 and some similar but much uglier action in Somalia in 1993. I have never regreted any of it and I would go back in a heartbeat if they would have me.
I seldom mention my military record here because, frankly, I do not accept the totalitarian left's claim that the right to speak in favor of certain viewpoints is reserved solely for those who served. The entire "chickenhawk" controversy is a red herring, a leftist authoritarian effort to limit the opposition's right to speak by requiring a kind of authority that many do not have.
ZF is right, either join the jihadis, shut up, or quit setting self-serving limits on the right to speak and think.
Posted by: Rafael ||
12/11/2004 17:39
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O-6 is a big bird.
I was enlisted until I moved into the "G" ranks
And the troll-name that posted this article doesnt realize that a large chunk of us here served, and a fair amount of us saw combat.
Doesnt surprise me some REMF screwed the guy on paperwork. There always have been and likely always will be rules-bound pencil-pushing jerks like that that in the military, especially outside of combat zones.
#5
Its not just a possible uniform REMF anymore. There's been a lot of transfer of admin to GS civilian positions, especially in finance and personnel. And Rummy is big on that type of tranfer. With the Congressional ceiling on the number of active on service, I can't blame him trying to maximize combat arms troops, but it also takes out the old 'WTF' from the Warrent Officer when he sees something like this going across his desk. An old WO or NCO usually would have thrown a fit in the command. A call to the organizational CSM would have meant a lot of personal attention to anyone who did something stupid like this to a troop.
and ranters should joint the army : Already did my twenty, how about you?
Posted by: Don ||
12/11/2004 19:03
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Got my 20 in. Betcha ranters should joint the army doesn't.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2004 19:13
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#7
how do I "joint the Army"?
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/11/2004 19:45
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#8
With a really big roach clip.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/11/2004 19:57
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#9
Mrs D! You shouldn't know about that! LOL
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/11/2004 20:14
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#10
I didn't "joint" the Army or any of the other services and it is one of the dissapointments of my life. I am lucky enough to now get to work with military personnel in my job, supplying them with equipment that keeps them out of harm's way yet gives them the ability to kill the enemy with great precision. I am regulary impressed and always thankful for the service that they and all veterans have given this country.
Posted by: Remote Man ||
12/11/2004 20:25
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#11
ranters should join the army
A lot (I'd wager most) of us on this board already did, fuckwit.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
12/11/2004 21:39
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From all that my son has told me it's clear that one thing the new, modern All-Volunteer Army has retained from back when I was in (1970-1973) is bureaucratic screw-ups. It's probably a sacred tradition.
I have a stack of letters written during the Civil War by some great-great-great-great uncle of mine; and his gripes were essentially the same as mine, and my son's.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
12/11/2004 22:24
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If I'd been smarter I might of joined the Army, but since I'm not I joined the Corps - so says my dad who was in the 101st.
Twenty years in the USAF, including six in the Strategic Air Command that kept you free, asshole. When did you do your time?
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/11/2004 23:36
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O-6 is a big bird.
I was enlisted until I moved into the "G" ranks
And the troll-name that posted this article doesnt realize that a large chunk of us here served, and a fair amount of us saw combat.
Doesnt surprise me some REMF screwed the guy on paperwork. There always have been and likely always will be rules-bound pencil-pushing jerks like that that in the military, especially outside of combat zones.
And the troll-name that posted this article doesnt realize that a large chunk of us here served, and a fair amount of us saw combat.
Doesnt surprise me some REMF screwed the guy on paperwork. There always have been and likely always will be rules-bound pencil-pushing jerks like that that in the military, especially outside of combat zones.
The top American diplomat in Cuba says the end is near for Fidel Castro and his government and that even Castro's supporters are preparing for a transition to democracy. U.S. Interests Section Chief James Cason spoke at his official residence where dissidents gathered Friday for a time capsule ceremony marking International Human Rights Day. Castro's government "is on its last legs," Cason said as dissidents filled the capsule with messages spelling out their dreams for a different kind of Cuba. "Even regime supporters are discreetly preparing for the inevitable democratic transition" on the communist-run island, the American official said.
Come New Year's Day, Castro, 78, will have been in power 46 years. Cuba's communist leaders say the island will retain its current political system for many years to come. Castro's designated successor is his younger brother, 73-year-old Defense Minister Raul Castro, who is also No. 2 in Cuba's ruling Communist Party. There was no immediate reaction from Castro's government, which traditionally takes several days to respond to statements by American officials. In the past Castro has accused Cason of being a "bully with diplomatic immunity" charged by Washington with trying to provoke the island.
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Posted by: tipper ||
12/11/2004
2:39:19 AM ||
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#1
riight--come to neverland wendy
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
12/11/2004 3:51
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#2
Nope, not until Castro dies. Which could be a decade or more off.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/11/2004 8:54
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#5
Betcha there is no coordinated plan in the US government to handle economic and humanitarian support to Cuba once the Cuban government implodes. If you think the bill for Afghanistan and Iraq reconstruction is expensive, just wait. If we're willing to rebuild Falluja, we're going to be sucked into reconstituting Cuba too. Unlike allied assistance in the Middle East, I don't think we're going to have too many allies on this one. The refrain will be that since we're the runs who ran the embargo, we can be the ones to pay the cleanup.
Posted by: Don ||
12/11/2004 10:23
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#9
My #2 yut should brought back the allowed two box of Cubans.... unfortunately neither he nor I have a clue about which ones he should have bought. I think he got floor sweepings, nice boxes tho.
#13
Don:
If the countries like Sweden that send millions in foreign aid to Cuba continue to do so for a few years after the commies are evicted, there won't be any problems.
You know, I wonder what all the anti-NAFTA and anti-WTO types think of the embargo? We simply doing to Cuba what they want us to do to the rest of the world.
#14
Unlike allied assistance in the Middle East, I don't think we're going to have too many allies on this one.
Always remember, FL is full of Cuban expats. If anyone is going to lead the way, it'll be the ones that decide to return home after the Castro regime is gone.
via Instapundit.com
Los Altos Hills, CA (PRWEB) December 10, 2004 -- On Tuesday, December 7th, in an ongoing controversy at Foothill College, Political-Science Professor Joseph Woolcock filed a grievance against student Ahmad Al-Qloushi for mentioning Woolcock's name in the media. Don Dorsey, Dean of Student Affairs, summarized the grievance as, "Professor Woolcock feels harrased by your (Al-Qloushi) having mentioned his name to the media."
On Wednesday December 1st, Foothill College Political-Science Professor Joseph Woolcock tried to intimidate student Ahmad Al-Qloushi into seeing a therapist because of a Pro-American essay he wrote in Woolcock's class. The thesis of Al-Qloushi's essay is that the US constitution was a very progressive document, which has contributed to freedom beyond America's borders. Al-Qloushi and the Foothill College Republicans defended that intellectual diversity must be respected on campus, and are lobbying to have the "Academic Bill of Rights" adopted as official policy by the college"s elected Board of Trustees. Professor Woolcock's name was mentioned on numerous websites including www.townhall.com/clog and www.davidlimbaugh.com. "This (Woolcock"s) grievance will not detour us from our goal," said Cori Jenab, Vice-President of Foothill College Republicans. "This grievance ignited a First Amendment rights outrage from the kindling of existing controversy at Foothill College."
"Intellectual diversity must be respected at Foothill College," said Ahmad Al-Qloushi. "This grievance will not detour us from our goal of having Foothill's Board of Trustees pass the "Academic Bill of Rights" as official school policy." Woolcock filed the grievance through an institutional process normally used by students who experience inappropriate behavior on behalf of Foothill teachers such as an "act or threat of intimidation or general harassment." Dorsey was not able to release the case number or text of the grievance at this time.
Posted by: ed ||
12/11/2004
2:36:18 AM ||
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Typical lib prof - can dish it out but cannot take it. After all, the most dangerous thing to a liar is someone who tells the truth.
#2
I find it hee-hee-larious that all the college Publicans have Arab names.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2004 19:11
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So Woodcock is going to file a grievance, BFD. Then the grievance committee will look into it and they might say, "Al-Qloushi, old boy, you mentioned Woodcock's name in the media, so say you're sorry."
Al-Qloushi will say, "Hokay, sorry Woodcock. Now can I go?"
And the committee will say, "Yes, we feel that justice was done and we can all go. Hey, fellow academics, hey, Woodcock and Al-Qloushi, let's all go down to the local boozer and have a beer, or at least an O'Douls. Wacha say, for brotherly love and all that?"
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/11/2004 19:59
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Woolcock, AP. A "Woodcock" would not be considered a defamation
:-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/11/2004 20:16
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Alaska
I think for that type of guy, woolcock is a better name woodcock
#7
Yeah yeah yeah I thought about that, but I was thinking of this little bird hanging around in the woods, flitting about from the slightest noise.
If we are in that subject area, **ahem** then woolcock would be the right choice. You see, I was just trying to elevate the discussion out of the gutter.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/11/2004 20:35
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#8
You see, I was just trying to elevate the discussion out of the gutter
fine - take it out of my element, huh?
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/11/2004 20:37
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#9
****sigh**** I give up, OK, alright already! Leave the name of this damned LLL academic as Woolcock. Are yeh happy now? Uh, what about Woodchuck?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/11/2004 20:48
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Typical lib prof - can dish it out but cannot take it. After all, the most dangerous thing to a liar is someone who tells the truth.
This is just too good to pass up...
LEXINGTON, Okla., -- An inmate at an Oklahoma prison has been charged with assaulting another prisoner with a dangerous weapon, a sharpened pork chop bone. The Smoking Gun Web site reports that Ernesto Hernandez-Rosales is serving an eight-year sentence at the Lexington Correctional Center for distributing marijuana. He allegedly stabbed Jermaine Portillo in the eye with the bone last month. The Web site says that Portillo, only 21, has had an adventurous life in prison. He was charged during an earlier stretch behind bars with "placing bodily fluid on a government employee."
Copyright 2004 by United Press International. Just imagine how this would be reported and play out in other locales, heh.
Posted by: .com ||
12/11/2004
2:13:04 AM ||
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MOOSE JAW, Saskatchewan -- A Canadian pilot was killed Friday when two military jets collided during a routine practice by the renowned Snowbirds aerobatics team. The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reports that both pilots were able to eject from their planes. The collision occurred over Mossbank, about 70 miles from Regina in Saskatchewan and about 40 miles south of Moose Jaw, where the Snowbirds are based. The Snowbirds use Canadair Tutor aircraft, which were used as training jets by the Air Force until 2000. Training flights have been suspended while the crash is investigated.
Copyright 2004 by United Press International. This sucks - they're damned good. Condolences to family and friends.
Posted by: .com ||
12/11/2004
2:03:47 AM ||
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*nods* They were in Vidalia this year at the Onion Festival Air show. Very good.
Argonne National Laboratory scientists are revamping an old X-ray technique to study proteins in an attempt to see enough detail to tell if a medicine is working. The technique is called wide-angle X-ray scattering and was previously used to determine the crystalline structures of polymers. When used on proteins, WAXS results are comparable to those provided by X-ray chrystallography and are easier and quicker to obtain. The technique is sensitive enough to tell the difference between a drug that is only sticking to the surface of a protein and may have no effect and a drug that is actually changing the protein's structure and therefore is more likely to be effective. In the past, detecting this difference required the use of several techniques combined. No other previous method has been able to distinguish the difference on its own, or as quickly, the scientists said. The only drawback is the power level required. If they can get past the glow-in-the-dark side effects... Just kidding - this is cool tech.
Posted by: .com ||
12/11/2004
1:57:49 AM ||
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Set the power on high and you have the Zionist Death Ray.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/11/2004 14:05
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Some detail on that high quality of life award they get every year...
OSLO, Norway, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Tons of radioactive waste produced in the last half century in Norway is stored in two garages, the newspaper Aftenposten reports. "Plutonium? Yeah, we got that - over by the Chevy."
The total includes 16 tons of uranium fuel and other dangerous radioactive waste and 10.1 kilograms of plutonium. A committee in a report three years ago strongly recommended that the country build a new secure central storage site for the waste. "We're thinking - don't rush us! 'Sides, those places cost real money! We'd have to cut back on ski trail maintenance - and you know how that would go over, heh!"
The newspaper suggests that the stored waste is both a potential environmental and health hazard for thousands of people and an attraction for terrorists seeking material for a dirty bomb. "You wanna buy this shit? No kidding? Wow, we've been trying to figure out how to get rid of it! Talk about serendipity!"
The waste is stored near Norway's four research reactors in the cities of Kjeller and Halden. "Just fire up your Geiger counter and cruise around - you can't miss it."
Eric Martiniussen called the present storage conditions "indefensible." "Uh, Eric, would that be 'indefensible' because it's stupid or 'indefensible' because the local hiking club could prolly walk right in and take it?"
"In the center of the city of Halden there are over 10 tons of highly radioactive waste," Martiniussen told the newspaper. "To get to one of these storage points all you need to do is pass a thin garage door made of aluminum." "It's secured and everything, but if you're serious about buying, hell, the passphrase to give at the door is 'Mullah Krekar sez hey'."
Copyright 2004 by United Press International. Rumors of an upcoming garage sale are prolly unfounded.
Posted by: .com ||
12/11/2004
1:43:12 AM ||
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#1
Some detail on that high quality of life award they get every year...
#7
Haven't heard that Norwegians are dropping like flies from radiation poisioning. Maybe 'highly radioactive waste' aint that dangerous (assuming you don't eat it, have a mud bath, etc.)
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/11/2004 9:00
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#9
Frank, it keeps the garages nice and toasty in the winter!
Posted by: Darth VAda ||
12/11/2004 9:31
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#10
Wonder over the years, how many Norgies have dropped dead from skin cancer due to sun exposure? The Sun is the nearest continuous nuclear reactor, without containment walls, in the neighborhood.
Posted by: Don ||
12/11/2004 9:57
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#11
Now that my sockets glow in the dark, it's much easier to tell the 1/2" from the 7/16" when I'm under the car.
Posted by: Dar ||
12/11/2004 12:06
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#19
A few years ago, during my arch-Skeptic phase, I investigated a claim that a local resident was keeping a black helicopter in his garage.
It turned out to be just an old AMC Pacer with a tarp over it.
#20
Damn AC you missed the real stooooory! There's nothing scarier than someone who'd keep a Pacer in a garage. Bet it had a sealed atmosphere for the big Grays.
#21
I used to work for AMC. They made retro vehicles, before retro was, well, retro. Always wondered who did their vehicle styling. Thanks for the heads-up, Shipman.
Israeli police released a Palestinian candidate in the campaign to elect a successor to Yasser Arafat after detaining him for involvement in a scuffle at a West Bank checkpoint on Friday. Witnesses said Israeli border police earlier stopped Bassam al-Salhi, handcuffed him and took him away as he tried to cross A-Ram checkpoint into East Jerusalem. Police scuffled with Salhi's aides when they tried to pull him free. A police statement said Salhi, a member of the communist People's Party faction inside the PLO, had attacked a border policeman when he was denied entry into Jerusalem for not having a permit. Salhi denied assaulting the policeman. "They were arresting me and I only tried to resist being arrested," he said. Police released him on bail hours later but planned to charge him with assault and illegal entry, the police statement said.
Salhi said he had hoped police would ignore his lack of a permit in a goodwill gesture to allow greater freedom of movement for presidential candidates to promote their campaign.Palestinians want Israel to ease its clampdown in the West Bank and Gaza Strip so candidates can move freely ahead of January 9 presidential elections. Israel said it would try to cooperate, though it remains wary of Palestinian militants waging a four-year-old revolt.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2004
12:14:21 AM ||
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Immigration staff at Islamabad on Friday offloaded eight passengers from three flights as they had bogus documents. Immigration staff intercepted four passengers, Tariq Mahmood, Muhammad Afzal, Muhammad Hanif and Farooq Ahmed, as they were boarding the London-bound flight PK-835. Immigration staff checked the travelling documents thoroughly and found them to be fake.
"Whaddya mean, 'fake'? My Grandaddy gimme that passport!"
During the preliminary investigation, the accused told the immigration staff that they had paid Rs 500,000 each to a travel agent, Kashif Mahmood, for arranging visas and other travelling documents.
"And you didn't find it unusual that the visa stamp was drawn with crayon?"
"Hey, what do I know about how they do things in England? I'm from Peshawar!"
"We can tell that from the cut of your turban."
Three people were offloaded from a Johannesburg-bound flight. The accused, Muhammad Sajjad, Qamer Abbas and Sohail Ahmed, were found guilty of carrying bogus travel documents. Muhammad Mujtaba was prevented from boarding a Jeddah-bound flight SE 725 on the charges that he was carrying someone else's papers. The accused confessed that he had purchased the passport from Gul Khan for Rs 40,000.
"But Gul Khan's a friend of my cousin Mahmoud, so it's okay, right?"
The accused were shifted to FIA Passport Cell, Rawalpindi for further legal proceedings.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2004
12:09:54 AM ||
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#1
Aye, they be raisin' the bar on passport quality, me Pakistani chums. Better luck next time.
Great comments, Fred, got quite a chuckle! Visa stamp drawn with crayon, indeed! LOL!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/11/2004 2:25
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Still funniest Fred line.....
Loose the cheap watch Mahmoud!
But my Imman give it to me!
#3
It's interesting that many young woman in South
Africa who apply to the Deptartment of home Affairs for documents find that they have been mysteriously classified as 'married'. The name 'Muhammed' sometimes appears on the fake marriage certificate. The corrupt Department has been raking in bribes to wangle citizenship for these Muhammeds and others, many apparently from Asia. The will to tackle the corruption is noticeably absent and the Department cheerfully continues to rake in the cash and to deny the young victims their identities as genuine South Africans. Their lives have to put on hold because when they try to get identity documents they are told that nothing can be done about it until they are 'divorced'.
I'm convinced that the first destination of Muhammed and friends on arrival at Johannesburg International Airport would have been the Department of Home Affairs.
Top Israeli strategists have drawn up a proposal to return parts of the occupied Golan Heights to Syria under a peace deal and will put it to a key policy conference next week, organisers said on Thursday. Since Syria has always made it a point of principle to insist on the return of the entire Golan, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war, the proposal appeared to have little obvious appeal for Damascus.
Other than that they're bankrupt and surrounded on all sides by superior military forces.
Israeli officials said the initiative did not reflect government thinking, but the Herzliya Conference has often served to float ideas that later became policy — including Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to quit occupied Gaza. The proposal, which would also involve Jordan and Lebanon, comes against a backdrop of renewed overtures from Damascus. "Prime Minister (Ariel) Sharon is fully aware of what is on the agenda," a conference organiser said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/11/2004
12:05:56 AM ||
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So Israel steals Syrian land and then offers to give back half of it for peace. Gee, what a generious offer. What next - 5% of the West Bank for peace? I guess in this day and age you can steal peoples homes by force and then demand that they allow you to keep part of it just so you don't get hit.
#3
To expand on Raj's statement: You start a war, then lose it, you've no business complaining about the result.
In this case, the various Arab-Israeli wars are technically battles in what we at the moment might call The 50+ Years War. Except for Egypt and Jordan(?), the rest of the Arab world has never accepted Israel's right to exist, and have never signed a peace treaty ending the hostilities they formally declared on the date of Israel's establishment in May, 1948.
In the periods when they haven't been actively attempting to overrun Israeli territory, all the countries in the region have supported terrorist organizations, via funds, training, materiel and information: first the Fedayeen, then groups such as the PLO, Hamas, Hezbollah, and all their even more radical offshoots. The only reason Israel's borders don't extend from the Nile to the Euphrates is because every time the Arab belligerents start to lose, the world intervenes to force a ceasefire on Israel.
You embarrass yourself, Thraing Hupolurong1664, by conclusively demonstrating your ignorance and bigotry. The Little Green Footballs website has a thorough history of the region, with links to source materials. Go educate yourself, and come back when you have something worthwhile to say.
#4
I don't think Thraing Hupolurong1664 understands what winning a war means. He's probably Arab. When was the last one they won?
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/11/2004 14:45
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Conquest of Constantinople, I think. TH1664's English reads comfortable with American vernacular (if not spelling), though, Frank, so if he is Arab, he came over pretty young. I had him pegged as a semi-educated blowhard, myself. Probably still at school, where the teachers push the party line pretty hard, and hasn't yet started ot think for himself.
#6
My apologies, Frank. Constantinople/Byzantium was conquered by the Ottoman Turks, not the Arabs. Persia, perhaps? Somewhere along the north coast of Africa?
#8
Ah yes! Syria a made up country where a small ethnic minority run a nasty police state that has 'stolen the land' of 90% of the population. But the UN says they are the legitimate government, so everything is fine and right with the world and of course no suggestion that people are asked what they want.
#9
I've been reading about remote viewing (a sceptic needs to be sceptical about his own scepticism) and how people claim to be able to see future events. I swear whenever I see a picture of Assad, it morphs into him with a bullethole to the head lying in some grotty courtyard. Make of it what you will.
#12
So Israel steals Syrian land and then offers to give back half of it for peace.
Apparently, the fact that constant Syrian shellings of Israeli territory originated from the Golan Heights before the Israelis captured it isn't all that important...
#13
This baffles me. Why would a victorious state that was surprise-attacked (on a religous holiday no less) ever give back anything? That little twit in Damascus ought to just be thankful they haven't rammed an H-bomb up his rear end yet. His day is coming.
Posted by: Tom ||
12/11/2004 17:16
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I don't think that Israel will give the Golan heights back. From there you can see for miles around
#15
Israel is just floating the idea to see how Syria and everyone reacts. You do not give up the stragegic high ground without some other REAL guarantee of security.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/11/2004 21:06
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#16
er, STRATEGIC, sorry.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/11/2004 21:06
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When are France, Belgium, Poland, Denmark, and the Czech Republic going to return the land they stole from Germany after it attacked them?
Heck, when are the Moslems going to return North Africa, Persia, Syria, Anatolia, Bosnia, Sudan, ... they stole from Christian or Zoroastrian peoples?
#18
AP #15 - What concerns me is that the current leadership is almost crazy enough to do something like that. After all, Sharon is planning to pull out of Gaza without a single reciprocal concession by the Paleos.
#19
Bryan---Pulling out of Gaza and walling the place in makes strategic sense, as long as an army does not replace the Paleos that will start a missile attack against Israel and hide amongst the Paleos.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/11/2004 21:43
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A 40-member defence delegation, led by His Royal Highness Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, assistant minister of defence for military affairs of Saudi Arabia, arrived in Islamabad on Friday. Defence Minister Rao Sikandar Iqbal, State Defence Minister Zahid Hamid and senior officials received the Saudi delegation. Prince Aziz told reporters at the Chaklala Air Base that his visit would strengthen relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. The prince will visit Pakistan Aeronautical Complex in Kamra, the Heavy Industries Complex in Taxila and will meet President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz during his four-day tour.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2004
12:00:11 AM ||
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I guess, the definition of a "nuclear family" is no longer: mom, dad, & 2.5 kids.
The Dubai-based Gulf Research Centre (GRC) will hold a two-day closed-door workshop on "The Gulf Region as a Weapons of Mass Destruction-Free Zone" today and tomorrow.
Be sure to remind your neighbors to the east ...
Participants at the workshop will explore ways of building adequate political and legal structures to implement the project. A second objective will be to pave the way to achieve consensus among all the nine countries of the Gulf — the six Arab Gulf Cooperation Council (AGCC) countries and Iran, Iraq and Yemen. GRC Chairman Abdulaziz Sager said "the underlying goal of the project lies in ensuring that the Gulf region becomes a WMD-free zone just as five other regions across the world, with more than 110 countries, have managed to do".
"There is no bigger threat now than the arms race in the Gulf for developing weapons of mass destruction", Sager said, adding that "regional and world reaction to the project has been positive, confirming the appropriate timing of the project". Most of the Gulf countries will be represented by official delegates at the workshop. The GCC states, in their capacity as co-initiators of the project, will send top-level delegations drawn from their diplomatic and military establishments. Attendees will include delegates from the UN affiliate organisations concerned with WMD — which were closely involved in formulating regional disarmament treaties in Latin America, Africa, Southeast Asia, South Pacific, etc., the European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/11/2004
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Does this mean Saudi Arabia will cancel delivery of the nuclear weapons being built by Pakistan?
#2
Nah, this is just a front, cause everyone knows the one power in the area with WMD is the US. Just another street theater being set up do denounce the US. "Gee, they have to have them, because you are here". Hey, after we field tested two in Japan nearly sixty years ago, I think we've shown major restraint, particularly by Rantburg standards.
Posted by: Don ||
12/11/2004 10:07
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Don, you forgot Israel....Sorry. I just realized Israel is on the Mediterranean, not the Gulf. Never mind. (One of many family jokes is that I'm geographically illiterate.)
While such a move has all the appearances of progressive thinking, it is really just pure self-preservation. Given the inescapable level of internecine conflict inherent to the entire region, it would be nothing less than pure insanity for Islamic states in the Middle East to acquire nuclear capability. The region would be reduced a sheet of smoking glass in the time it takes to say, "Arab disunity."
Representative elected government should be a mandatory feature of any nation seeking to obtain nuclear technology. Without meeting the primary requirement of having a democratic process in place, no country should be allowed to develop WMDs.
Any who doubt this merely need to examine Pakistan. Not satisfied with proliferating nuclear technology to anyone with a fat bank account, this festering cesspool of terrorist indoctrination is in direct danger of having its nuclear arsenal fall into the hands of Islamic radicals who are actively undermining the state. Now magnify this several fold and the scope of risk involved with nuclear proliferation in the Middle East becomes apparent.
Iran's constant stream of threatening rhetoric should serve as an adequate example of what to expect from any other tinpot dictator or theocrat's pursuit of nuclear capability. That so few of the other major powers (i.e., Europe in general) do not seem to comprehend what sort of threat to regional and global security the possibility of Islamic nations obtaining nuclear weapons and WMDs in general, only increases the danger to all involved.
#5
"That so few of the other major powers (i.e., Europe in general) do not seem to comprehend what sort of threat to regional and global security the possibility of Islamic nations obtaining nuclear weapons and WMDs in general, only increases the danger to all involved."
I've become convinced that sooner or later, by one means or another we are going to have to adopt a policy that **NO** Islamic nation, democratic or not, shall be allowed to possess nuclear weapons-- and be prepared to back that policy with force, unilaterally if necessary.
I have no idea how we would come to adopt such a policy; I fear that it will come after-- not before-- one of our own cities is incinerated.
Islam simply is not compatible with nuclear weaponry, PERIOD.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
12/11/2004 17:46
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The International Committee of the Red Thingy Cross (ICRTC) yesterday expressed concern about civilians in Fallujah, where sewage is flowing in the streets and hundreds of bodies apparently lie in a warehouse since a US assault. The Swiss-based humanitarian group will provide tools and equipment to carry out basic repairs on damaged water treatment facilities and the sewage system, ICRTC spokesman Florian Westphal said. No date was set for delivery, but it was vital to restore the city's clean water supply to prevent disease, he said.
Feel free to put some gloves on and hoist away ... well okay, double-glove.
A team of seven ICRTC Iraqi staff, including engineers, entered Fallujah on Tuesday for the first time since the assault by 10,000 US troops backed by Iraqi units began on November 8. "Our team was told by the US army that there are several hundred dead bodies in a warehouse in the city," Westphal told Reuters, adding that the ICRTC team was unable to see the site, later described as a cold storage facility. "Obviously it is something we will follow up with a view to ensure that any human remains are properly identified and families are informed," he said.
ICRTC officials also saw "sewage flowing in some streets", according to the spokesman. Raw sewage and a lack of clean water can pose a public health threat, including diarrhoeal diseases. The ICRTC staff, who travelled from Baghdad for the day to Fallujah, held talks with local water and sewage board officials, as well as US army officials and the Iraqi National Guard. But they were unable to determine how many civilians remain in the city of 300,000 residents — ravaged by artillery, air and tank bombardments. "They saw very few people but apparently most people are staying indoors," Westphal said. Fallujah also lacks a functioning health facility as the hospital lies on the city outskirts and is difficult for people to access since it was used as a ammo depot by the terrorists and was thus blown to smithereens, according to the ICRTC spokesman. A small clinic set up in a mosque in the city was believed to have some limited supplies.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/11/2004
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I wonder if the ICRTC is starting to get the message. They don't dictate anything to us. If they get uppity we just cut off there access. The "leaking" of reports indetified as theirs and there sheilding of terrorists is over.
#2
How long did it take for the greatest generation to rebuild the cities of Europe after a major fight? Particularly those on unfriendly ground. Berlin wasn't rebuilt in a day.
Posted by: Don ||
12/11/2004 10:10
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Are they sure there wasn't sewage in the streets before the assault?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
12/11/2004 11:34
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Damn RC. You beat me to it.
On the other hand these were Saddam's 'favorites' so they probably had better then most.
#6
The thing that amazes me is how all these ME places with huge amounts of wealth do not spend some on water and sewer. Densely populated places are living petri dishes for disease.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/11/2004 13:52
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What are you saying, AP? We all saw the pictures of Saddam Hussein's gold toilets. Obviously they must do something with their sewage! /end foolishness ;-)
#8
Trailing wife---you have stumbled on one of the great questions I have been pondering:
In all of Saddam's many palaces with gold plated toilet fixtures, what was the other end connected to? Did they have a sewage disposal system (septic tank and drainfield, extended aeration plant) or was it the open end of a pipe draining on the ground or into a river? Curious to know how far the wealth went.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/11/2004 17:58
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SRINAGAR, India - Security forces were rushing to a remote mountain village in India's Jammu-Kashmir state on Friday, where suspected Islamic militants were attacking a police post and had killed at least four constables, police said. The battle was continuing late Friday morning in Magni, a remote village 250 kilometers (155 miles) south of Jammu, the state's winter capital, a police officer said on condition of anonymity. About a dozen policemen had been stationed at the post, he said. While details about the attack were sketchy, he said at least four constables were killed in the initial assault early Friday, and police and paramilitary soldiers had been dispatched to the scene as reinforcements.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/11/2004
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PARIS — The Paris-based Society of Reporters Without Borders has requested Syrian President Bashar Al Assad on Wednesday to put an end to daily violations against freedom of the Press in Syria, on the threshold of the 56th International Day of Human Rights.
Dang, that made the Surprise Meter twitch.
The society, in a statement, said that economic openness and political modernisation in Syria will remain hollow without the existence of a free and independent Press in the country. It said that the methods of repression and intimidation used by Syrian security agencies since thirty years have transformed the Syrian media scene into a barren desert.
They said that the Syrian media was under the power of the 'Baath Party' and the government at the same time; and that if the government truly desired to rejoin the international community, it must by all means accept the emergence of an independent Press in the country.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/11/2004
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how does one say "fat chance" in arabic
Posted by: SON OF TOLUI ||
12/11/2004 3:59
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Maulana Shoaib, the head of the Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam in Peshawar, was arrested on Friday. Maulana Shoaib who is also the administrator of the Qasmia Mosque, was expelled from the mosque a few days ago. Shuba Bazar Auto Mobile Association general secretary had filed a report against the maulana, on which the police arrested him.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2004
11:55:48 PM ||
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Nearly 2,000 newspaper reports on child sex abuse cases were published in Pakistan during 2003 — a marked increase from last year, revealed a national conference arranged by non-government organisations Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) and SAHIL. The conference titled 'Child Protection: The Citizens' Role and Responsibility' was held at a local hotel on Friday in connection with the International Human Rights Day. Dr Faiza Asgher, the children affairs advisor to the Punjab chief minister, and Ashfa Riaz, the Punjab minister for Human Rights and Women Development, were the chief guests. Asgher said that the Punjab government would urge the federal government to move the Supreme Court against the recent abolition of the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance 2002 by the Lahore High Court. Riaz said that sexual exploitation of children was a social taboo and people needed to overcome their hesitation of admitting or talking about it. She said that the time had come to debate the more horrifying aspects of society.
The speakers said that Pakistani children faced the worst forms of abuse and exploitation and were not being protected by the government. "The fates of homeless children are worse; they are abused, tortured, and often killed by both the police and the public," they said. The recorded figures show that five children are sexually abused everyday, and can only hint the severity of the problem. According to the figures released by SPARC and SAHIL, 1,788 child sex abuse cases (526 boys and 1,262 girls) were reported by the media in 2003, a marked increase from the 679 cases reported in 2002. SPARC national coordinator Anees Jillani said that Pakistan's education policy discriminated different groups and talked about corporal punishments. SAHIL executive director Manizeh Bano said that child abuse would continue to rise unless citizens were educated about it. Eight research papers were presented during the conference by NGOs Save the Children-Sweden, Save the Children-UK, International Labour Organisation, Aahung, Pakistan Pediatric Association, Vision, The Researchers and Punjab University Special Education Department.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2004
11:53:23 PM ||
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I strongly suspect that the only change is in the level of reporting, not of occurrence. This would mark a significant change in attitude about the acceptability of such behaviour, a hopeful sign in an otherwise highly corrupt society where so many are designated as worthless (women - except for the families of some progressive and powerful men; all poor people; non-Muslims; madrassa students; foreigners who are not terrorists).
I'm bitter. My email only threatens me with lower mortgage rates...
The US Embassy in Tunis said on Friday that an American company received an unsigned e-mail message earlier this month threatening terrorist attacks against US interests in Pakistan, Turkey and 10 North African and Middle Eastern countries. The unidentified company received the message on December 2, and it threatened attacks in Algeria, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan and Tunisia, the embassy said. Turkey also was mentioned, an official told The Associated Press. Authorities were working to verify the threat, the embassy said. It said the letter suggested an attack on a US target in Tunisia could take place "in the weeks to come," the official said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2004
11:51:38 PM ||
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You're lucky, Emily. I got something about an ISO standard fawta in arabic from some arabic site in Austria the other day.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/11/2004 2:27
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US interests in Pakland are going to get spammed? Bring 'em on...
#3
Gee, was this mixed in with ads to refinance your mortgage, body part enhancement and the always favorite I have $10 million bucks I want to land in your bank account?
Posted by: Douglas De Bono ||
12/11/2004 15:53
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All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Democratic Freedom Party chief Shabir Ahmad Shah were put under house arrest while Javed Ahmad Mir, Sheikh Abdul Aziz, Bashir Bhat, Tahir Mir and Ghulam Nabi Saumji were among 100 Kashmiris arrested during demonstrations on Friday against abuses by Indian troops. They were demonstrating in connection with the International Human Rights Day, police and witnesses said. Geelani was informed about the restrictions on his movement outside his Hyderpura house on Friday morning as he was planning to lead a protest march against the alleged human rights violations in Kashmir, sources said. Geelani was also prohibited from leaving his house for the day at Rawalpura on the outskirts of the city, they said Javed Mir, who heads recently floated Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Forum, was detained at Lambert lane in Srinagar as he was leading a demonstration, the sources said. He was lodged at Kothibagh Police Station, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.
For the first time since the beginning of the struggle against Indian rule in 1989, activists from Kashmir's biggest and pro-India party also demonstrated against rights violations. Over 100 members of the National Conference party, led by two Kashmir lawmakers, staged a noisy march in Srinagar. "Down with state terrorism", they chanted. "We want (an) end to human rights violations."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2004
11:49:07 PM ||
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Boy howdy, a real red-letter day on international cooperation, yesterday was ...
NEW DELHI - Seven south Asian nations pledged Friday a joint assault on terrorism and transnational crime in response to regional violence and fraud. Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal and Thailand agreed during a two-day meeting in New Delhi to set up a series of programmes and mechanisms for more effective action, an official statement said.
And who would know about crime and terror better than the generals of Myanmar?
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) will serve as a platform for cooperation to enhance "operational and strategic capabilities in preventing and suppressing terrorism and transnational crime".
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/11/2004
11:47:38 PM ||
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Pakistan said on Friday it would not allow any foreign country or agency directly or indirectly to question nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. "Pakistan has full confidence in the efficacy of its investigative system and procedures," Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan said in Islamabad.
"Plus, he's not feeling too well right now. Flowers and a card? No, no, not necessary. We'll let him know that you called."
His comments followed a report in London's Financial Times newspaper, which said Pakistan was expected to allow UN nuclear investigators to put questions in writing to Dr Khan. Quoting western diplomats, the newspaper said such indirect access would fall short of face-to-face interviews, which it has been seeking. But it could still prove an important step in the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) efforts to untangle the network of manufacturers and middleman that supplied sensitive machinery and know-how to Libya, Iran, North Korea and perhaps others, the paper said. The spokesman said Islamabad "has received no such request".
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2004
11:42:35 PM ||
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Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazlur Rehman group) leaders in Balochistan have asked the central leadership of the party not to take the current protest campaign by the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) against President General Pervez Musharraf, to Balochistan. "Maulana Muhammad Khan Sherani, the president of JUI-F Balochistan, has made it clear to Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the party president and the leader of the opposition, that the JUI-F Balochistan would not welcome the protest campaign in the province," sources in the JUI-F told Daily Times.
They said Sherani also told Fazlur Rehman that the JUI-F had come into power in the province after many years, therefore it should rule the province calmly. "MMA should not hold a protest gathering in Balochistan that would destabilise the coalition government of the JUI-F and the Pakistan Muslim League (PML)," sources quoted Sherani as saying. Sources said the Balochistan JUI-F also made it clear to the central leadership of the JUI-F that the MMA should not extend its campaign to the North West Frontier Provinces (NWFP) either, restricting its campaign to Punjab and Sindh. Provincial leaders of the JUI-F have also suggested that the MMA hold gatherings in areas where the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) had National Assembly seats," sources said.
"Go pee in somebody else's sandbox, capische?
Posted by: Fred ||
12/11/2004
11:38:58 PM ||
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Hey what you expect from the JUI-Fs (jews in french) but to be in league with evil zionist Musharraf.
Deadly ambushes, suicide car bombings and roadside bomb blasts took place across the country, killing at least 10 Iraqis and wounding six U.S. soldiers.
Ramadi hospital ambush
U.S. soldiers were ambushed late Friday in Ramadi, a hotbed of anti-American violence 70 miles west of Baghdad, by insurgents firing rocket propelled grenades and small arms from the city's hospital and medical academy, the Marines claimed in a statement Saturday. Insurgents hid inside the Ramadi General Hospital and Medical College and in nearby areas waiting for the soldiers to move into their ambush zone, said Capt. Bradley Gordon, spokesman for the 1st Marine Division of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. "Some of the muzzle flashes of insurgent firing positions were observed as originating from windows within the hospital," he said. Officials from both the Ramadi General Hospital and Medical College, rejected the U.S. claims that they were used in the ambush, but said fighting occurred nearby. I categorically reject it!
"No, no! Certainly not! Those flashes were reflections off the Christmas ornaments!"
Two Iraqi civilians, including judge Omar Abdul Aziz Rashid, were killed during fighting, but no U.S. casualties were reported. "It was very hard to identify my husband's body, because it was charred inside the car," the judge's wife, Dr. Eman Abdul Qadre, said.
Missing: Sudanese men
Separately, police on Saturday found seven bodies apparently killed several days ago and dumped near a highway about 20 miles west of Ramadi. Lt. Col. Ziyad al-Jubouri said the seven were dark-skinned and didn't look Iraqi, while a hospital official said two Sudanese men asked about the bodies at the morgue. The Sudanese Embassy said it has heard of the grisly finds and sent an official to investigate.
Little far from home, aren't they? Musta gotten lost in a snowstorm.
Various ambushes and booms
Gunmen also killed two Iraqi police, including a colonel, in an ambush north of Beiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad, on Saturday, killing one of each as they traveled to work, U.S. military spokesman Maj. Neal O'Brien said.
Another two police officers were killed, including one captain, and two more wounded by militants while patrolling Baghdad's northern Azamiyah suburb late Friday, police Lt. Mohammed al-Obeidi said.
In the nearby Shula neighborhood, Shiite cleric Salim al-Yaqoubi was killed by gunmen near his house early Saturday, a police spokesman said.
A second Shiite cleric, Sheik Ammar al-Jibouri, was slain on Friday near Mahmoudiya, about 25 miles south of Baghdad, as he was driving to the capital. Al-Jiborui once headed a religious court of followers of anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in the southern holy city of Najaf. Al-Sadr aide Sheik Ali Smesim said al-Jibouri's killing was aimed at "flaring a sectarian war between Iraqis."
In the central Iraqi city of Samarra, a mortar shell slammed into a car, killing one occupant and injuring another, U.S. military spokesman Master Sgt. Robert Powell said. The attack happened late Friday near a river ferry terminal and a mile from a U.S. military base.
In northern Iraq, a suspected suicide car bomber wounded two U.S. soldiers in Beiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad, while two more were wounded in a car bomb blast near Kirkuk, about 60 miles to the north.
Two more U.S. soldiers were wounded by a roadside bomb outside of Hawija, near Kirkuk.
Elsewhere, a car bomb in Mosul exploded near a U.S. military convoy, killing a civilian but causing no American casualties, witnesses said.
Posted by: (-Cobra-) ||
12/11/2004
10:59:53 AM ||
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#1
Speaking of sweet little nuggets from Iraq. Have anyone at RB made any Kevin Sites sightings (no pun intended) lately?
#2
Good question, PR. Kevin Sites has a blog site: http://www.kevinsites.net/ However, his last posting was a November 21 letter to the "Devil Dogs of 3/1", the unit to which he was embedded.
Calling humanity a threat to the planet, Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai urged democratic reform and an end to corporate greed after becoming the first African woman to collect the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday...
Posted by: Anonymoose ||
12/11/2004
10:35:50 AM ||
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#1
If humanity is a threat to the planet as she says, why would AIDS be a thing to overcome? Clearly she should be working to spread the virus, block treatments and so forth.
#5
It would be dangerous to the environment to eradicate the humans until the original top predator populations are restored to viable levels across their original ranges. Without the population control accomplished by predator species, prey populations explode, as described by Malthus, leading to range devastation and depopulation. (See: deer in North America, goats in Sub- and Supra-Saharan Africa, rabbits in Australia)
Honestly! What do they teach environmentalists nowadays?!?
#6
We really need to restore the top predator populations since the proliferation of the common scapegoat has reached alarming levels in Washington DC.
#8
This represents the ultimate in self-loathing apologism. Morons who are so obsessed with the preservation of nature that they would suggest removing human life to restore balance epitomize the Quixotic politics of ultra-environmentalists. One can only imagine that they would prefer a school bus full of children plunge off a cliff to avoid running over a rabbit.
I find it striking that wingnuts who spout this sort of nihilistic claptrap nonetheless remain unable to self-actualize their revered doctrine by capping themselves at the earliest opportunity. They lack even the most basic rudiments of leadership.
I guess what this really is must be some misplaced notion of "lebensraum." What these brain-dead navel-gazers actually want is for the rest of humanity to off itself so they no longer have to deal with the great unwashed. Anyone who spews this sort of drivel immediately should be suspected of pushing an elitist agenda.
"Everyone but me is a threat to my happiness."
We've heard this crap before. The Nazis and communists made a career out of spreading such poison. Just because some vacuous nit swaddles this garbage in environmentalist rhetoric doesn't mean it isn't the exact same sort of horseshit.
#10
Quite true TW, most self-proclaimed environmentalists like the fuzzy and cute creatures; the hyena doesn't have too many spokesmen. Those of us who are truly conservationists would like to see a balance of all creatures to best extent possible. Nature and man are part of the same coin.
#11
Maathai said a stream where she used to see frogs and tadpoles as a child 50 years ago had dried up. I'm willing to bet thats because of wells that give people clean drinking water. Nothing in this world is without consequences.
Otherwise, Rooters is now refering to 'climate instability'. Might indicate people have started to notice that the wolf of global warming has failed to materialize and the propagandists feel the need to peg back the rhetoric.
#12
Cyclical weather patterns - why do they hate us?
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/11/2004 20:15
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And the cold water anomaly in the southern oceans, especially in the central Pacific, is still developing strongly and so far unoticed by the MSM. lex, there's blogosphere exclusive here.
An intense secret debate about a previously unknown, enormously expensive technical intelligence program has burst into light in the form of scathing criticism from members of the Senate Intelligence Committee. For two years, the senators have disclosed, Republicans and Democrats on the panel have voted to block the secret program, which is believed to be a system of new spy satellites. But it continues to be financed at a cost that former Congressional officials put at hundreds of millions of dollars a year with support from the House, the Bush administration and Congressional appropriations committees. Senator John D. Rockefeller IV of West Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the panel, denounced the program on Wednesday on the Senate floor as "totally unjustified and very, very wasteful." Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, later called it "unnecessary, ineffective, over budget and too expensive."
Neither senator would say much more about what he was referring to. Even in private on Thursday, most Congressional and intelligence officials who were asked refused to comment about the name, purpose or cost of the program. But former Congressional and intelligence officials who oppose it said it would duplicate capabilities in existence or in development, as part of the country's vast network of satellites, aircraft and drones designed for eavesdropping and reconnaissance. Among the possibilities suggested by private experts, including John Pike of Globalsecurity.org, a research organization in Alexandria, Va., were that the system might be a controversial unproven program to launch a reconnaissance satellite that adversaries could not detect. Former Congressional officials said they would discount speculation that the debate had to do with any antisatellite space warfare capability...
Posted by: Anonymoose ||
12/11/2004
10:32:18 AM ||
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#1
More likely it is either a sigint bird or some sort of enhanced Jstars-on-a-satilite.
Posted by: N Guard ||
12/11/2004 11:23
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#2
The Zionist Death Ray Version 2.0
Posted by: Matt ||
12/11/2004 11:24
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#3
we need the teleporter
we could send 6 Marines anywhere without worrying about the navy
#4
NYT: But former Congressional and intelligence officials who oppose it said it would duplicate capabilities in existence or in development, as part of the countryâs vast network of satellites, aircraft and drones designed for eavesdropping and reconnaissance.
Duplicate capabilities in existence? But that's the very point of military equipment. It needs to be redundant, so that if one system fails or is destroyed by the enemy, we continue to have coverage via the other systems.
#6
Gee, let's have a single point of failure for the war effort (oops we already have that, it's called ths disloyal opposition.) Isn't rockefeller from a red state - what the hell are they drinking?
Posted by: Douglas De Bono ||
12/11/2004 15:44
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Wonder if the bee in their bonnet is that this is a DOD program & not a CIA one ??
Posted by: too true ||
12/11/2004 17:20
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FYI: All satellite programs are DoD. Look who launches and runs the satellites, and who they work for.
And if this is a "high survivability" satellite program, its about time. The firs thing any adversary would want to do is blind us.
Given the atrophy in ground assets as part and parcel of the atrophy of the military in the 90's (ex: the retirement of the SR-71, etc), people are unaware of how little we have except overhead assets available for our troops to gether intelligence. Its a danger we risk only at the risk of another Pearl Harbor, or a 9/11 on a continental scale.
#9
America's dependency upon satellite based intelligence gathering is fundamentally unhealthy. Feet-on-the-ground tend to intercept more critical secret information. Our blindness that contributed to 9-11 is a solid example of this. During the Cold War our over-reliance upon satellites actually increased the danger of nuclear war. Had our relatively unsophisticated network of orbital stare-down mosaic arrays and other monitoring birds suddenly gone out-of-service, we might have been forced to "launch 'em or lose 'em." A single high-explosive projectile fired into "The Blue Cube" in Sunnyvale might have been able to precipitate such a crisis.
That said, the value of orbital reconnaissance cannot be overstated. While it needs to be balanced with more conventional intelligence gathering methods, the KH series of satellites has provided us with critical and otherwise unobtainable data. Space based photography allowed Kennedy to correctly call Kruschev's bluff during the Cuban missile crisis.
As to the current ado over this secret project; The technologically illiterate politicians who run this nation's government cannot be trusted to make wise decisions regarding our space based assets. However little I enjoy the military's tradition of budgetary mismanagement, I'd rather that America maintain its technological supremacy despite the cost overruns. Any new network of orbital monitoring systems will perforce be integrated with whatever missile defense shield that is built. Since this is part of a critical strategic initiative, it gets my vote.
#10
T**** Sh*t for the dummycrats, we got the votes. I suspect this bird has something to do with SDI.
Posted by: Capt America ||
12/11/2004 20:21
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#11
FYI: All satellite programs are DoD. Look who launches and runs the satellites, and who they work for.
And if this is a "high survivability" satellite program, its about time. The firs thing any adversary would want to do is blind us.
Given the atrophy in ground assets as part and parcel of the atrophy of the military in the 90's (ex: the retirement of the SR-71, etc), people are unaware of how little we have except overhead assets available for our troops to gether intelligence. Its a danger we risk only at the risk of another Pearl Harbor, or a 9/11 on a continental scale.
#12
FYI: All satellite programs are DoD. Look who launches and runs the satellites, and who they work for.
And if this is a "high survivability" satellite program, its about time. The firs thing any adversary would want to do is blind us.
Given the atrophy in ground assets as part and parcel of the atrophy of the military in the 90's (ex: the retirement of the SR-71, etc), people are unaware of how little we have except overhead assets available for our troops to gether intelligence. Its a danger we risk only at the risk of another Pearl Harbor, or a 9/11 on a continental scale.
Reminds me of a story I read of a soldier(WW2 shortly after D-day landings)This soldier was out of amo for his primary weapon.He ran around a corner and came face to face with a Panzer,he drew his .45 and charged.The tanks main gun fired knocking the soldier out.Later in an ambulance he met the tank crew.the crew were heard to say"The war is lost,these Americans are insane". Photos at the site.
"Christmas Eve morning a soldier came into our clinic at the Ibn Sina Hospital in downtown Baghdad covered in his own blood. He recounted an incredible story. Early Christmas Eve morning, two squads were assigned to sweep and clear two adjacent homes where Iraq terrorists were holed-up. The patient, SGT C, was leading one of those assault squads. The other squad hit their target first.
SGT C said that he heard a lot of small arms fire and yelling, so he thought he would round the corner and size up the situation before advancing his team. Unfortunately, as he turned the corner, he found himself staring directly into the barrel of a 9mm automatic pistol. SGT C said he never had time to be scared, he just knew he was dead. The terrorist pulled the trigger and, miraculously, SGT C found himself still standing. He figured the bullet had missed. He advanced on the Iraqi, who immediately surrendered. After the enemy was rounded up, SGT C said he started to feel light headed and one of his soldiers insisted that he proceed to the hospital. He realized at this time that he had lost his front tooth in the gun fight. He figured the ballistic shock from the weapon's blast had knocked it loose. He was wrong.
When he presented early that morning Major Kimberly Perkins, our oral surgeon, took a panograph and discovered the incredible truth. The 9mm bullet did NOT miss SGT C. He was hit directly in the face. The bullet entered just below his nose where it impacted the apex of #8. The energy from the bullet was transferred to the tooth, literally ejecting the tooth from its socket, and stopping the bullet in its track. Other than the missing tooth, the majority of SGT C's injuries were confined to soft tissue.
Here is the pan with the bullet clearly visible, embedded in the upper lip.
SGT C is a citizen soldier - a reservist. When he returns to the states, the Army will see he has an implant replacement for the missing #8. Meanwhile, the prosthodontist in Baghdad, LTC Richard Druckman, made him an acrylic interim treatment partial. When SGT C came in for the prosthesis, I said "Can you imagine what the enemy thought when he shot you point blank in the face, and you just kept coming at him! Americans are invincible. No wonder he surrendered so fast!"
SGT C smiled and said, "This is why you should always brush your teeth!"
AnnaLee Kruyer DDS"
Las Vegas, NV
Here is the web address if the link doesn't work:http://braden.weblogger.com/2004/12/08
Posted by: raptor ||
12/11/2004
10:16:19 AM ||
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#1
Duplicate on page 1. Fred or Steve please combine or delete.
#9
Now that's a Merry Christmas story. Just wasn't his time.
Caught a bullet in his teeth. dang! Isn't it amazing our MSM refuses to tell these stories. I know i go on and on and on about it, but it never ceases to amaze me.
#3
how about a uranium keyfob...might keep him from reproducing?
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/11/2004 9:16
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#4
I think he's kinda muleish Frank, I wouldn't worry. Save your money for the Tie Chelseas Tubes Bribe Fund. She's from a rich family now so I figure it's gonna take 100 million or so. I started the TCTB 8 years ago when a mere million would have done the trick.... But noooooo, everyone thought I was kidding.
#1
Regarding the second page, Mr Shahin. What the hell is it with linguistics professors and their need to defend the indefensible?
I guess the fact that the guys speaking out, few as they are, aren't getting fatwas on them or killed immediately after saying their "heresy" is a good sign.
#2
aren't getting fatwas on them or killed immediately after saying their "heresy" is a good sign
Just wait. Fatwa in 5..4..3..
Seriously, though it is a good sign that these things are getting some airtime (in their home countries) at last. If you talk to a MEasterner after getting his trust, like I have been for the last decade or so, they have been saying this among themselves very quietly since at least the early 90's.
The problem was that anyone who brought this sort of topic up (in their home country. In public) tended to end up having an extended discussion of their views with "Large Mustachioed Men With Trunchions" who worked for the local thugocrat.
Keep in mind that in the Islamic world to question Islam is to question the legitamacy of the last 1600 odd years of evrything. Its easer to get an old marxist to admit that he/she was wrong about how she/she spent most of their life.
Interesting times indeed.
Posted by: N Guard ||
12/11/2004 8:11
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Somalia's parliament passed a motion of no-confidence against the new prime minister and his Cabinet on Saturday, an official said, effectively sacking a government that had been expected to restore order to the country after 13 years of anarchy and war. The deputy speaker of the 275-member transitional parliament 
Pakistan has arrested the head of a militant Islamic group wanted in connection with the kidnapping of three UN workers in Afghanistan. 
THE Pentagon said today it is investigating allegations of abuse reported by Australian terror suspect 
poisoning. "I believe now more and more that what happened to me was an act of a settling of political scores," Mr Yushchenko said. "The aim was to kill me." He says forensic tests may be made public in the next few days that will set the record straight on what has happened to him. 
JAPANESE troops could soon be training with Diggers on Australian soil for the first time as part of a move to forge closer military ties. Australian and Japanese defence officials have discussed the proposed war games as Tokyo yesterday took a historic step away from its post-war pacifist stance, ending a decades-old ban on military exports, and adopting a more aggressive defence and counter-terrorism posture. Although only in the early stages, the contentious military training talks, which have not reached ministerial level, are certain to divide war veterans and others in the community. It could also pose problems for Canberra's burgeoning relationship with China - including the pursuit of a free trade deal - given ongoing tensions between Beijing and Tokyo. As part of Japan's new military expansion, Tokyo has instructed its defence planners to regard China and North Korea as potential threats. Allowing Japanese troops to train in Australia would be viewed dimly by China, which is likely to become Australia's biggest trading partner over the next decade. 
Israeli police released a Palestinian candidate in the campaign to elect a successor to Yasser Arafat after detaining him for involvement in a scuffle at a West Bank checkpoint on Friday. Witnesses said Israeli border police earlier stopped Bassam al-Salhi, handcuffed him and took him away as he tried to cross A-Ram checkpoint into East Jerusalem. Police scuffled with Salhi's aides when they tried to pull him free. A police statement said Salhi, a member of the communist People's Party faction inside the PLO, had attacked a border policeman when he was denied entry into Jerusalem for not having a permit. Salhi denied assaulting the policeman. "They were arresting me and I only tried to resist being arrested," he said. Police released him on bail hours later but planned to charge him with assault and illegal entry, the police statement said.
Top Israeli strategists have drawn up a proposal to return parts of the occupied Golan Heights to Syria under a peace deal and will put it to a key policy conference next week, organisers said on Thursday. Since Syria has always made it a point of principle to insist on the return of the entire Golan, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war, the proposal appeared to have little obvious appeal for Damascus. 
PARIS — The Paris-based Society of Reporters Without Borders has requested Syrian President Bashar Al Assad on Wednesday to put an end to daily violations against freedom of the Press in Syria, on the threshold of the 56th International Day of Human Rights.
Pakistan said on Friday it would not allow any foreign country or agency directly or indirectly to question nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. "Pakistan has full confidence in the efficacy of its investigative system and procedures," Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan said in Islamabad. 
