MEXICO CITY, June 20 - Mexico wants to build relations with Russia, Mexican President Vicente Fox said on the eve of his visit to Russia. "We are seeking to build new, more dynamic relations with Russia and this policy corresponds with our strategy of diversifying our markets and increasing foreign trade sales with European countries," Fox said. I wish Fox would start exporting people to Russia instead ofthe US
"Our countries have a lot in common. We've boths got lots of oil we can't get out of the ground by ourselves and lots of people kept who don't do much work. We've both lost wars to the Americans, but at least we were willing to shoot at them. We're both jealous of the Americans but not jealous enough to educate our people or let them be free. Both Mexico and Russia are creating new economic models and conducting similar economic and social reforms, while the development of their economies is driven by the energy sector," he said.
"In foreign policy, our countries are advocating a multi-polar world and working jointly in this direction. That's working pretty well for Jack Chiraq too. Mexico considers it important to develop its relations with Russia, which is a permanent UN Security Council member."
Fox will be his country's first top official to visit Russia. In June 2004, the President Vladimir Putin visited Mexico for the first time in the two countries' history of bilateral relations to sign agreements.
"We are working actively to implement the agreement on establishing a large joint helicopter repair and maintenance center in Mexico and the use of Russian Ural trucks in our country," Fox said.
According to Fox, a large group of major Mexican business people would accompany him during the visit to discuss mutual investment.
"The potential of economic cooperation between Mexico and Russia is far from being used up and it is necessary to fill in the gap with concrete issues, like investment, joint projects and trade," Fox said.
President Fox said the obstacles on the way of a bilateral agreement on Russia's accession to the WTO and Mexico's recognition of Russia's market status were important to further boost bilateral relations.
"The WTO has the strongest levers of influence on the international trade processes. Hundreds of treaties and agreements defining trade relations between countries are operational within the organization. That's why all the WTO member states should have equal rights, be guided by uniform rules and have equal foreign trade opportunities," Fox said.
He said that he and Putin have discussed the issue and reached a mutual understanding and that Mexico has prepared proposals for the visit to conclude negotiations on the matter.
Start building the wall now.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
06/21/2005
20:53 ||
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Fox is trying to play the old Russia/USA game but it just won't work Vincinte. You'll find those Zapatist rebels armed with Venezuelan financed AK-47s bought from your new Russian friends no matter what you do and the Ruskies are unlikely to help.
Just as the US is unlikely to help after all the help Vincente's offered since 9/11 with the whining and illegal imigration assistance during our time of war.
Start building the wall now, indeed. It's long past time.
The Iraqis are writing their new constitution. It seems by some indications to be the *most* democratic constitution ever written. Right now, all over Iraq, people of good intent are holding public seminars, meetings, conferences, and hosting international constitutional experts, all with this one objective in mind. To *understand*, *appreciate*, and to make their voices known to the constitutional convention, what their needs, desires and ideas are for this one document. This piece of paper.
When this document is created, I will read it.
I suspect that it will be brief. That it will define a limited government that serves all of the people. That it emphasizes the precious rights and liberties that government may not infringe.
And that the Iraqi people will be so proud of it, that they will carry a copy of it with them wherever they go, and translate it to other languages, so that other nations may see what they, the Iraqi people, have done.
European leaders will read this constitution with shock and fear. Shock that it is a document of The People and not of the elite. Fear that The People of Europe may embrace it as their own, and demand a constitutional Europe based on a similar, democratic construction. Fear that it will be a Manifesto for democratic change in Europe, heralding the fall of the old, corrupt regimes and the rise of government by, of, and for The People.
I think the Indian PM needs a slap upside the head.
Is he really so naive?
ISI, LeT behind Phulwama blast
21 June 2005: The government is very upset learning of the involvement of Pakistani agencies in the Phulwama school bombing, and the Union home ministry in a paper to the cabinet committee on security is also likely to reveal the use of the Srinagar-Muzzafarabad bus service to send funds across to buy explosives for the blast.
Officials said that the Phulwama bombing was a joint operation of Pakistan's ISI and the Lashkar-e-Toiba, and that unable to infiltrate explosives into Jammu and Kashmir through the border, funds were sent on the bus from Muzzafarabad, to buy it locally, with the involvement of some front persons.
While the agencies were able to determine the local purchases, the Phulwama explosion took place before the terror network could be busted, and the government is perturbed that explosives were available locally easily.
But it is also likely that prime minister Manmohan Singh may make a statement on the Phulwama bombing, especially pointing to the terrorists' abuse of a bus service meant to bring Kashmiris on both sides of the LoC together in peace.
Posted by: john ||
06/21/2005
17:06 ||
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Continuing with todays Animal theme Full text at link
A 12-year-old girl who was abducted and beaten by men trying to force her into a marriage was found being guarded by three lions who apparently had chased off her captors, a policeman said Tuesday. Mohammed, why do lions hate us?
Mega-snip to something less amusing
The United Nations estimates that more than 70 percent of marriages in Ethiopia are by abduction, practiced in rural areas where most of the country's 71 million people live.
I'd rather take My chances with lions. They are vicious killers, but not mass-murderers
I dunno. I heard it was impossible to insult Finnish cuisine...
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi repeated one of his most famous diplomatic gaffes on Tuesday by insulting the cuisine of Finland which Italy beat to host the new European Food Safety Authority. "I've been to Finland and I had to endure the Finnish diet so I am in a position to make a comparison," Berlusconi told local dignitaries ahead of the inauguration of the EFSA in the northern Italian town of Parma.
The 68-year-old media tycoon also said he had used his masculine charm to persuade Finland's president, Tarja Halonen, to give up her country's claim to host the European Union agency. "I had to use all my playboy tactics, even if they have not been used for some time," said Berlusconi.
At the opening ceremony later in the day, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso would have the chance to sample Parma's famous smoked ham, Berlusconi said, and see for himself that it was better than traditional Finnish food. "Barroso today will be able to taste our 'culatello' as opposed to smoked herrings from Finland," he said to laughter from the audience.
Italy fought hard to host the EU agency and Berlusconi reportedly told a summit of European leaders in December 2001: "Parma is synonymous with good cuisine. The Finns don't even know what prosciutto is." The line has become one of the most memorable of Berlusconi's long list of indiscretions.
It's indiscrete to tell the truth, y'know. As far as I know, people go to Finland to go skiing, to mingle with Lapplanders, to ogle the women, and have a sauna. They may even go there to drink excellent vodka. Nobody goes there to eat...
In October 2002 he told a joint press conference with Denmark's Anders Fogh Rasmussen the Dane was "the best-looking prime minister in Europe".
Cue drumroll...
"He's so good looking, I'm even thinking of introducing him to my wife," he added, chuckling to himself.
"Now, take my wife... Please!"
During a photograph with other EU leaders in Spain in February 2002, Berlusconi raised two fingers behind the head of the then Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Pique, in the traditional Latin gesture for a cuckold. What makes it all the worse, is that it is very, very true.
#9
This is a man, although , after Tony Blair , one of our staunchest Iraq allies, sill hjad publicized that he had his liposuction leaving made into soap...
Well, what more can you say?
Except that he is right if he is saying that Finninh food is bland... Not bad... BLAND... They have decent cheese, and decent booze, if the imports are indication, but after that meat and potatoes, etc is all that they have...
#12
I'm thinking that the underlying aspects (the motivations to wank in public, the obviously enthusiastic encouragement of such pointlessness, etc) of mucky's video is where the Euro population problem originates.
6/16/2005 - NEW AL MUTHANA AIR BASE, Iraq -- Airmen representing the new Iraqi Air Force have successfully executed the first airlift operation mission since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. The mission not only marks a great accomplishment for the emerging Iraqi Air Force, but it also directly supports the protection of Iraq's power grid.
"The mission, dubbed 'Operation Iraqi Power,' while simple in nature and tactical in design, directly supports a complicated strategic plan to stabilize Iraq," said Lt. Col. James McClellan, the New Al Muthana Air Base U.S. commander, who is deployed from the 49th Logistics Readiness Squadron, Holloman Air Force Base, N.M. "At first glance, moving some cargo isn't a big deal since it occurs every day. However, this operation is filled with firsts — it's the first time the Iraqi Air Force aerial transporters have prepared cargo without significant U.S. assistance, and it's the first time New Al Muthana Air Base has been used to stage an operational mission."
The mission began when the Ministry of Electricity put in an airlift request to move equipment from Baghdad to Basrah to be used by the Ministry's Energy, Pipeline Security Services to protect Iraq's energy distribution system from insurgent attacks. That request was the catalyst for Operation Iraqi Power. Working from a base that still shows battle scars from Operation Desert Storm and the 2003 invasion that finally toppled Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi Airmen began processing and palletizing the cargo for airlift. In a little under five days, everything was ready and the first Iraqi Air Force C-130 to fly this operation sat ready for loading. It would take five chalks to complete the operation. Although the Iraqi aerial port Airmen have been trained in airlift operations, their success was directly tied to the support of the men and women of the 447th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron at Baghdad International Airport.
"They have been involved since the start with planning assistance and the use of critical material handling equipment, and their efforts helped ensure the success of this operation," said Col. Daniel Kornacki, 447th Air Expeditionary Group commander, who is deployed from his position as the vice commander of the 94th Airlift Wing at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga.
To help prepare the Iraqi Airmen to take over airlift missions, and ultimately function as an Iraqi equivalent of Air Mobility Command, the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq is helping to rebuild New Al Muthana Air Base, in training Airmen and in establishing a chain of command in keeping with Iraqi military tradition. That tradition is reflected in the stories of men who suffered under Saddam Hussein, but are now dedicated to building a free Iraq.
One such story tells of one of a new Iraqi Airman who was a fighter pilot during the Iran-Iraq war. While flying a mission into Iran, he refused orders to fire on a school house. Immediately upon landing back in Iraq, he was arrested, and spent nearly 15 years in prison—finally to be liberated when coalition forces invaded at the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
"This is a fresh start for the Iraqi Air Force, and these men have trained hard," Tech. Sgt. John Spry said with pride. Deployed from the 49th Material Maintenance Support Squadron, Holloman AFB, N.M., Sergeant Spry is serving as a member of the coalition military assistance training team for MNSTC-I. "Operation Iraqi Power is offering them an opportunity to take another step towards freedom and security for their families," he said. Most of the men accomplishing this historic mission are thankful for the chance to help develop an Air Force to be proud of, despite constant threats from insurgents—threats against their lives and even their families.
For these Airmen, and their comrades serving in other areas of the new Iraqi military, the price of freedom is high—but it's a price they are willing to pay for the sake of their children.
One such dedicated Airman, Warrant Officer Hasen, paused while preparing cargo for shipment, and struggled to find the words in English to express his thoughts. "I thank my American teachers, and all Americans who (are) helping us," he said. "They leave everything behind—their home, their family, their children—to come bring freedom. We will tell our children, and they (will) tell (the) next generation—(that) you helped build (a) new (Iraqi) Air Force. I tell your family—they can be proud of you. Thank you. Thank you."
Posted by: Steve ||
06/21/2005
16:16 ||
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Chicago Mayor Richard Daley says Senator Dick Durbin should apologize for comments comparing American interrogators at Guantanamo Bay to Nazis.
Daley says Durbin -- a fellow Democrat -- is a good friend. But he says it's wrong to evoke comparisons to the horrors of the Holocaust or the millions of people killed in Russia under Stalin or in Cambodia under Pol Pot.
And Daley says it's a disgrace to accuse military men and women of such conduct.
Last Friday, Durbin said he regretted any misunderstandings caused by his comments earlier in the week.
He made the comparison after reading an F-B-I agent's report describing detainees at the Naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as being chained to the floor without food or water in extreme temperatures.
HT to Drudge - Rats deserting a sinking shit ship
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/21/2005
16:09 ||
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Smart move. Perhaps Mr. Daley would like to be the next senator from Ilinois.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
06/21/2005 16:19
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very well might, I'd let Dr. Steve, et al, who reside there comment on that - Durbin is (3PM PST) just know doing another half-assed apology on the Senate Floor. Looks like the chickens came home to roost
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/21/2005 17:58
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Daley's son enlisted in December. I've heard he is now serving in one of the Airborne Infantry units. I know several folks that have sons, brothers, etc. serving now and, to a person, they would like to tear Durbin's head off. And the women moreso then the men.
People don't like their sons, daughters, brothers, sisters etc. who are serving their country compared to the Nazis, and despite what Durbin says he meant to say, that's what the douchebag did.
Senior government and defence sources have directly contradicted weekend reports by journalist Paul McGeough, who claimed that Australian raids on the home of Sheik Hassan Zadaan had delayed the effort to free Mr Wood from his captors. The sources also confirmed that raids by Australian and US forces on Sheik Zadaan and a number of other targets in Iraq during the Australian engineer's 47-day ordeal made "no difference" to Mr Wood's fate. The inflated claims of the high-profile Fairfax journalist about supposed intermediaries are coming under sharper focus in the wake of Mr Wood's dramatic rescue last week.
It now appears that claims the raid that freed Mr Wood had damaged the rescue hopes for two other Iraqis are also unfounded, as the men were killed several weeks ago. It is the second time the reporter has been accused of inaccuracy after senior Bush administration officials discredited a story in July last year in which he claimed the new Iraqi Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi, had pulled a pistol and executed up to six suspected insurgents at a Baghdad police station just days before Washington handed over control to his interim government.
Sheik Zadaan and some of his associates were the target of a raid in early May by coalition forces including Australian special forces troops. At the time, Sheik Zadaan had told the reporter in Baghdad he had begun negotiating with Mr Wood's captors and would rescue him. However, according to senior government and defence sources, Sheik Zadaan and his associates were detained, interrogated and released after it was established he knew nothing about the Wood case. "We know a lot about Sheik Zadaan but he had no idea where Wood was," one source said.
Government sources have also rejected claims by a senior Australian Muslim cleric, Sheik Taj al-Din al-Hilaly, that last week's raid, which freed Wood, "had almost certainly cost the lives" of two Iraqis taken hostage with him. In fact, the two men, Faris Sahkir and Adel Farhawy Najm, were found dead in Baghdad a month ago. The pair, who were associated with Mr Wood's business activities in Iraq, were identified by their families and buried last week. Both men had been tortured and later killed by the group that kidnapped Mr Wood.
While senior ministers have praised Sheik Hilali's efforts to secure Mr Wood's freedom, there is no evidence he played any role in the Iraqi army raid that rescued him. "It's not true that there was any direct connection between his activities and Wood's release," observed one government source. According to the head of Australia's emergency response team, Nick Warner, Mr Wood was most likely held by a Sunni criminal gang who had had previous involvement in kidnappings.
Mr Wood was held in two locations in Baghdad, spending 37 days in the house where he was finally found. Throughout his captivity coalition military forces, including Australians, mounted numerous surveillance missions around the Iraqi capital in an effort to locate Mr Wood. The raid on Sheik Zadaan would have resulted from intelligence provided by the US-led coalition forces in Baghdad. Shiek Zadaan is believed to have had links to some Sunni insurgents wanted by the coalition. "There were reasons to believe these guys were up to no good," one source told The Australian. "The actual raid (on Zadaan) made no difference whatsoever to Wood's fate."
On Monday, the Prime Minister firmly rejected claims the emergency response team had bundled an attempt to rescue Mr Wood days after he was kidnapped. Mr Howard was referring to reports in Fairfax newspapers that the raid on Shiek Zadaan had botched an earlier attempt to secure Mr Wood's freedom.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/21/2005
15:54 ||
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You must admit however, that in theory, it could have been true. Thus since it could have been true it should be true somewhere. Here for instance.
#2
While senior ministers have praised Sheik Hilali's efforts to secure Mr Wood's freedom, Not true. They have said that Hilali played an undefined role. Its pretty clear that role was inadvertent by him and he carried or passed on somekind of transmitter, perhaps a locatable mobile phone. (I realize all mobile phones are locatable to a degree, but in this case the person carrying it was known.)
The state's judges will be asked this week to decide whether witnesses in North Carolina courtrooms can be sworn in on a Quran rather than a Bible. The move comes after Guilford County judges rejected an offer last week by the Greensboro Islamic center to donate copies of the Quran, the Muslim idol holy book.
The Administrative Office of the Courts will ask the opinion of the state's judges when they meet this week at judicial conferences in Asheville and Wrightsville Beach, said Dick Ellis, a spokesman for the office.
"We'll take the input of the judges and bring it together and try to come up with an answer that pleases most people and follows the law," he said. That move came after the office got queries on the issue last week. In a preliminary opinion issued last week, a lawyer for the Administrative Office of the Courts said that state law allows people to be sworn in using a Quran rather than a Bible, Ellis said. But Guilford County judges told officials with the Islamic center Friday that they would not allow that in their courtrooms.
"An oath on the Quran is not a lawful oath under our law," W. Douglas Albright, Guilford's Senior Resident Superior Court judge, said earlier in the week. That decision disappointed Syidah Mateen, who tried to donate the copies of the Quran.
"This is a diverse world, and everybody does not worship or believe the same," she said. Ellis said he is not aware of anyone ever being allowed to swear on anything other than the Bible in a North Carolina courtroom. Anyone who objects to that may take an oath, which means that they raise their hand and affirm to tell the truth.
#4
Wouldn't it be a insult for non-muslims to touch the holy handgrenade Korant? I mean there was such a fuss over at the Gitmo Country Club last month over non-mulims touching the korant without proper overgarments/gloves/eye protection.
#5
You can swear on a paper sack if that gets your rocks off!
Posted by: Mountain Man ||
06/21/2005 16:55
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You want to swear on the KQ'ur'an'? Really? That thing that sez it's okay to lie to non-muslims? What a great idea! Should we make the filthy infidel kaffir bailiff wear gloves so he doesn't get his monkey flopsweat on it?
#9
I may be mistaken on the subject, but it seems to me a strict Muslim would not be permitted by his religion to swear on the Koran, so this is a non-issue.
#10
FrankG--I live in NC--HOW dare you compare us to Texas--NC makes Texas, Missisippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Louisiana look like Manhattan! Texas?--That backward bunch?
Today I am traveling to Brussels to join representatives of more than 80 governments and institutions in sending a loud and clear message of support for the political transition in Iraq.
A year ago, in Resolution 1546, the U.N. Security Council set out the timetable that Iraq, with the assistance of the United Nations and the international community, was expected to fulfill. The Brussels conference is a chance to reassure the Iraqi people that the international community stands with them in their brave efforts to rebuild their country, and that we recognize how much progress has been made in the face of daunting challenges.
Elections were held in January, on schedule. Three months later the Transitional National Assembly endorsed the transitional government. The dominant parties have begun inclusive negotiations, in which outreach to Sunni Arabs is a major theme. A large number of Sunni groups and parties are now working to make sure that their voices are fully heard in the process of drafting a new constitution, and that they participate fully in the referendum to approve it and the elections slated for December.
Indeed, just last week an agreement was achieved to expand the committee drafting the constitution to ensure full participation by the Sunni Arab community. This agreement, which the United Nations helped to facilitate, should encourage all Iraqis to press ahead with the drafting of the constitution by the Aug. 15 deadline.
As the process moves forward, there will no doubt be frustrating delays and difficult setbacks. But let us not lose sight of the fact that all over Iraq today, Iraqis are debating nearly every aspect of their political future.
The United Nations has been strongly urged by a wide spectrum of Iraqis to help them maintain momentum, as we did with January's elections. They have sought our support in constitution-making, in preparing for the October referendum and the December elections, and in coordinating donor assistance for the political transition as well as reconstruction and development.
Our response has been prompt and resolute. We have set up a donor coordination mechanism in Baghdad, deployed a Constitutional Support Unit, and established an active and collaborative relationship with the assembly's constitutional committee. Today more than 800 U.N. personnel -- both local and international, including security staff -- are serving in Iraq in the U.N. assistance mission.
In a media-hungry age, visibility is often regarded as proof of success. But this does not necessarily hold true in Iraq. Even when, as with last week's agreement, the results of our efforts are easily seen by all, the efforts themselves must be undertaken quietly and away from the cameras.
Whether U.N. assistance proves effective will depend largely on the Iraqis. Only they can write a constitution that is inclusive and fair. The United Nations cannot and will not draft it for them. Nor do we need to, because Iraqis are more than capable of doing it themselves. They would welcome advice, but they will decide which advice is worth taking.
As important as particular constitutional provisions is the underlying accommodation between Iraq's diverse communities. My special representative, Ashraf Qazi, is encouraging and facilitating the delicate task of political outreach to all Iraqi communities to promote a truly inclusive transition. His work, too, is necessarily carried out away from the media glare, as he seeks to build the trust and confidence among the various constituencies that will be the key to the successful transition envisaged by Security Council Resolution 1546.
There are, of course, those who wish to exacerbate communal tensions and prevent the emergence of a democratic, pluralist, stable Iraq. They seek to capitalize on the serious difficulties faced by ordinary people, and to exploit popular anger and resentment to promote hatred and violence. Their work is seen on the streets of Iraq every day.
I do not believe that security measures alone can provide a sufficient response to this situation. For such measures to be successful, they must be part of a broad-based and inclusive strategy that embraces the political transition, development, human rights and institution-building, so that all of Iraq's communities see that they stand to be winners in the new Iraq. These efforts must be underpinned by steps to deal with Iraq's tortured past -- a past that still exacts revenge and will, if not addressed, blight future generations. This is difficult for any society in transition, let alone one as dangerous as some areas of Iraq are today.
In aid of the transition, the United Nations is at work, both inside and outside the country, to support donor coordination, capacity-building of Iraqi ministries and civil society organizations, and delivery of basic services. Reconstruction of schools, water-treatment and waste-treatment plants, power plants and transmission lines, food assistance to children, mine clearing and aid to hundreds of thousands of returning refugees and internally displaced persons -- all of these activities occur every day in Iraq under U.N. leadership.
The Iraqi people continue to endure a painful and difficult transition, and they still have a long and tough road ahead. The United Nations is privileged and determined to walk it with them. In doing so, we serve not only the people of Iraq, but the peoples of all nations.
The writer is secretary general of the United Nations.
I think we all owe Kofi thanks for removing Saddam from power and.......oh, right..
Posted by: Steve ||
06/21/2005
15:42 ||
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#1
We have set up a donor coordination mechanism...
We haven't set up any way to disburse the funds yet, though my son is working on it.
#6
"As the process moves forward, there will no doubt be frustrating delays and difficult setbacks. But let us not lose sight of the fact that all over Iraq today, Iraqis are debating nearly every aspect of their political future."
Kofi, my man! Who put THOSE words in your mouth? Somebody gonna tell the Dims?
#7
"There are, of course, those who wish to exacerbate communal tensions and prevent the emergence of a democratic, pluralist, stable Iraq. They seek to capitalize on the serious difficulties faced by ordinary people, and to exploit popular anger and resentment to promote hatred and violence." That'd be Durbin, Biden, NYT, LAT and thier ilk.
#9
This makes sense from Kofi. Congress just slashed UN funding. Better get on board with the US if you want mo money. Funny how $$$ can make these guys change their tune.
Bark!
Howl at the moon!
Whimper!
Sorry. No boom for you!
A badly burned Palestinian woman was alternately defiant and tearful Monday after Israeli soldiers caught her trying to enter Israel with 22 pounds of explosives hidden on her body. The woman, who suffered serious burns on her hands, feet and neck in a kitchen explosion five months ago, had been granted permission to cross into Israel from the Gaza Strip for medical treatment when she raised the suspicion of soldiers at the Erez checkpoint. so she took advantage of Israeli kindness
Video released by the military showed 21-year-old Wafa al-Biss taking off articles of clothing on the orders of soldiers searching for explosives, and rubbing her disfigured neck with her burned hands and screaming. The military said she tried to blow up the explosives Monday but failed and was not injured.
That's too bad, except that she might have taken somebody with her to the great beyond...
At the Shikma Prison in Israel's Negev Desert, where the Shin Bet security service allowed Israeli TV reporters to interview her, al-Biss said she was determined to carry out a suicide attack against Israel because of its occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. ''My dream was to be a martyr,'' she said, adding that she was recruited by the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a violent offshoot of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement. ''I believe in death.'' they all seem to have a strong belief system that way
Then why not hook a hose up to your car's exhaust and suck deep? It isn't death she believes in, but vile hatred that's much uglier than her disfigured neck and hands...
Sitting calmly across from an Israeli TV interviewer, the young woman with large brown eyes and curly dark hair pulled back in a ponytail said her decision had nothing to do with her disfigurement, which might make her less desirable as a bride. yeah, right
''Don't think that because of how I look I wanted to carry out an attack,'' said al-Biss. ''Since I was a little girl I wanted to carry out an attack.'' I wanted to cure diseases and help people. I like me better.
However, her story grew more contradictory as the interview progressed. After more than an hour, she began to lose her composure and changed her story. when she realized she was in deep doo doo
In a separate interview with foreign reporters, she asserted that she had undergone treatment at a Gaza hospital for her burns, where someone apparently planted the explosives on her body without her knowledge. 20 pounds of explosives planted on her without her knowldege. too funny!
"Here y'go, baby! Try this on!"
"Ooooh! Kinky! It ain't gonna go off, is it?"
"No, no! Certainly not!"
''I did not intend to carry out an attack,'' she said, at which point Israeli security officials told reporters she was lying. this, after she kept trying to actuate the trigger when she was caught. ya can't make this stuff up, folks!!! ''I didn't kill anyone. Do you think they will forgive me? Do you think they will give me any mercy?'' she asked. ''I hope they show me mercy. I didn't kill anyone.'' you forgot that little part about how you tried to blow yerself up, though. slip yer mind?
Then al-Biss terminated the interview, saying she was exhausted. I wonder if it was cuz the reporters were laughing so hard?
Israeli military spokeswoman Maj. Sharon Feingold expressed outrage that Palestinian militants used a humanitarian case as a suicide bomber. ''These terror organizations are not only the enemies of the Israelis, but also of the Palestinian people themselves, who suffer as a result of this abuse of the young, the sick, the wounded,'' she said. and where is the paleo outrage? If it ain't Jews, it ain't worth seething over, I guess!
At one point al-Biss agreed with a reporter that she might have been a victim of the militants, breaking down and sobbing, ''Forgive me, mother.''
#1
"Israeli military spokeswoman Maj. Sharon Feingold expressed outrage that Palestinian militants used a humanitarian case as a suicide bomber." Outrage yes, surpise no. It also tells you that they are having dificulties recruiting from the general population. I wondedr if she got her 72 males before they sent her off to become a murderer?
#2
Jeeze Louise! What a piece of work. These folks are hopeless. Finish the wall. Shut off the humanitarian gestures. Install counterbattery weapons. Separate from the Paleos. Oh, yes, and make plans to phase out water supply from Israel to Gaza. They can desalinate their own saline wells, for all the thanks they give to Israel.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/21/2005 16:49
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I think aprayer of thanks is order here. And praise for the peole who often in situations like this risk their own lives looking for those that are lost
#2
LOL does this surprise anyone? Was anyone surprised when the ACLU wonks showed up at teh border last time and smoked pot. I bet they all had some sort of 'medical' condition that needed to be medicated. Friggin idiots.
Corwyn (Cory) William Zimbleman Tucson, AZ (formerly of Champaign, IL)
Age 53. Born April 18, 1952 to the late Willard and Gilda (Ebert) Zimbleman, died June 10, 2005. Throughout his life Cory was an extraordinary artist. His artistic talent and imagination would bring awe to all who viewed his work. His works grace an LP cover and numerous books; using Computer Aided Design (CAD) he designed home and business exteriors, interiors, and furniture for several architectural firms. His talent went beyond the fine arts as he added sculpturing, woodworking, metals, and other mediums to his repertoire. Having never gained the recognition he deserved in his own lifetime his family hopes to publish a book of his works.
If only he'd done sofa art ...
Another of his passions was herpetology. As a child he was always bringing home reptiles. His friends nicknamed him "Snake." He even built a turtle pond in his backyard.
An avid atheist, he studied the bible and religion with more fervor than most Christians. He had strong political opinions and followed Amy Goodman's radio broadcast "Democracy Now." Alas the stolen election of 2000 and living with right-winged Americans finally brought him to his early demise. Stress from living in this unjust country brought about several heart attacks rendering him disabled. Cory, a great man, so very talented, compassionate and intelligent, dedicated to the arts and humanities and the environment, will be greatly missed by his wife, family, and friends.
He is survived by his wife, Patricia Montiel; his step-daughter, Esperanza Hernandez both of Tucson; his brother, Mike (Dana) of St. Louis, MO; his sisters, Susan St. Claire of San Jose, CA and Laura Zimbleman of Ypsilanti, MI, and his turtles Heidie, Skinhead and Studley and many other pets. A memorial service will be held Tuesday, June 21, 2005 from 6:00 p.m.- 9:00 p.m., please call 883-xxxx for information. Cremation has taken place.
I guess it's wrong to mock the dead. Me bad.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/21/2005
13:35 ||
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What the hell is an "avid atheist"? I mean, I suppose I'm an atheist too but it's not something I get excited about. It's like saying "I'm an avid non-user of coupons" or something.
#2
Any more weak-(bleeding-?)hearted libs dropping like flies because of living with right-wingers like me? This is really encouraging! I didn't realize I had such powers.
Posted by: Dar ||
06/21/2005 14:22
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Stress from living in this unjust country brought about several heart attacks rendering him disabled.
Not the fact that he weighed 590 lbs, smoked like a chimney, and who's favorite beverage was brown gravy had anything to do with it. Oh and apparently he was "a little" on the obsessive side.
Alas the stolen election of 2000 and living with right-winged Americans finally brought him to his early demise. Stress from living in this unjust country brought about several heart attacks rendering him disabled
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAH! Good one! :-D
Oh, wait.... They're serious?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/21/2005 14:37
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#6
An avid atheist, he studied the bible and religion with more fervor than most Christians.
#11
right-winged Americans What is the world coming to? Obituaries are the last bastion of good writing style. Using a non-existent verb in the past tense as an adjective - shudder!
#12
98Z--Sorry! I don't know my own strength. I was trying to crush Michael Moore's thorax Darth-style. I need to work on channeling and focusing my powers. I think I'll run out to Circuit City and look at their amps!
Posted by: Dar ||
06/21/2005 16:57
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#13
...living with right-winged Americans finally brought him to his early demise.
#14
I've got a lot of sympathy for Cory. I used to live in the SF Bay Area. If only we'd known sooner, we could have swapped houses...if they have any that expensive in Tucson.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
06/21/2005 19:01
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What can I say. We have a university here.
I gotta get out of this place, if it's the last thing I ever do.
MEXICO CITY - Mexico's leftist Zapatista rebels issued an order Monday closing their offices and sending their leaders into hiding, but did not explain why. The order appeared to come in response to some perceived threat, but the statement, signed by rebel leader Subcomandante Marcos, said only that the decision was made to move local rebel officials to "ensure their safety." "We are evacuating the members of governing councils and autonomous authorities to ensure their safety. For an undetermined amount of time, they will carry out their work clandestinely," the statement said.
Hummmmm
The Zapatistas, who champion the cause of Indian rights, have complained of government attempts to co-opt their movement through aid programs, but there was little to suggest that officials were planning to launch a military attack. The rebels, however, also fear potential attacks by conservative Indian communities and organizations which the rebels have described as paramilitary groups. Attacks are often motivated by disputes over land and other natural resources in the poverty-stricken mountains of Chiapas. Marcos, the military commander of the movement based in Chiapas, Mexico's southernmost state, called for all rebel combatants to return to their bases, and suspended broadcasts by tiny rebel radio stations. They also asked foreign supporters to leave rebel communities, or "to stay, at their own risk."
Sounds to me like they are planning to launch an offensive
In a statement issued Sunday, Marcos broke off fragile relations with the Chiapas government and criticized leftist Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the front-runner ahead of presidential elections in 2006. Also mentioned as a possible affront to the Zapatistas was a Monday announcement that about Mexican troops had destroyed a total of 9 acres of marijuana plants in rebel-controlled territory. The rebels oppose any military presence, and also deny there are any drugs or contraband in their communities. The Zapatista movement operated in secrecy for about a decade between its founding in November 1983 and its brief armed uprising in January, 1994. The rebels and the government entered a cease-fire that month that has largely held since.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/21/2005
13:32 ||
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#1
Repressive dictatorships vs communists. A cold war slugmatch made in heaven.
A federal judge threw out evidence against four men charged with laundering more than $60 million through their chain of U.S. Virgin Islands grocery stores, ruling that FBI agents acted in "reckless disregard for the truth." The ruling, released Monday, found that the FBI's search warrant was obtained improperly. It said agents, who had claimed to have seen suspicious tax records from the men, admitted they had only seen a computer printout of the records and did not thoroughly verify the evidence with the U.S. Caribbean territory's Internal Revenue Bureau. U.S. Attorney spokesman Azekah Jennings said he could not immediately comment on the ruling.
In September 2003, prosecutors indicted the four men on charges they evaded $60 million in taxes from their Plaza Extra grocery stores from 1996 to 2001, laundered the money and smuggled it to bank accounts in Amman, Jordan, and the nearby French Caribbean island of St. Martin. The agents initially said the men claimed to have made just $270,000 in 1998. A review of the original tax records showed the men reported making more than $39 million, according to the June 16 order.
That's one hell of a profitable store
"It is our hope that the government will come to its senses, that they will stop harassing these people just because they are Arabs and Muslims," said Pamela Colon, a lawyer for the men, who face from 20 to 93 years in prison if convicted.
Ah, yes. Members of the Religion Of Peace and Tax Evasion.
Colon said the evidence thrown out included more than 100,000 documents and was the backbone of the government's case against Fathi Yusuf, 62; brothers Waleed Hamed, 38, and Waheed Hamed, 41; and Yusuf's 36-year-old son, Maher. Jennings denied that the men were prosecuted because of their ethnic or religious backgrounds.
This article starring:
Fathi Yusuf
Waheed Hamed
Waleed Hamed
Posted by: Steve ||
06/21/2005
13:25 ||
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How much evidence does this judge want to issue a warrent? A computer printout from tax records is not good enough to arrest terrorists? Was it not obtained through legal channels? They did not verify it? They are supposed to immediately assume that $39 Million from a lemonade stand is reasonable? This judge seems to represent current US jurisprudence in all of its PC idiocy.
CAIRO, Egypt - Iraq's most feared terror group said Tuesday that it has formed a unit of potential suicide attackers who are exclusively Iraqis, an apparent bid to deflect criticism that most suicide bombers in Iraq are foreigners. Al-Qaida in Iraq announced the unit in an Internet posting signed by Abu Maysara al-Iraqi, the group's purported spokesman. The statement could not be authenticated, but it appeared on an Islamic Web site known for carrying messages from militant groups.
"In response to God's decree, and the heavy insistence of the (Iraqi) brothers and their longing for paradise, the Ansar platoon from the land of Iraq has been formed," the posting said. "Dozens hurried to register their names to meet their God," the posting said. It told of one Iraqi youth who had rebuked his leader for failing to give him a suicide assignment, telling him he would complain to God on the Day of Judgment because "you prevented me from meeting my God."
The U.S. military has said foreign fighters are a small percentage â perhaps one in 10 â of the insurgents fighting the U.S. presence in Iraq. They do a disproportionate amount of killing, however, in part because they are more likely to carry out suicide bombings. U.S. and other analysts say the foreign fighters are primarily Islamic militants waging what they regard as jihad or holy war, while the much larger homegrown, mostly Sunni Arab, insurgency has tended to be motivated more by political grievance and factional rivalry. Al-Qaida in Iraq is led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian. It has claimed responsibility for many of the bloodiest attacks on coalition and Iraqi targets since the 2003 overthrow of the dictator Saddam Hussein.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/21/2005
13:22 ||
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#1
It told of one Iraqi youth who had rebuked his leader for failing to give him a suicide assignment, telling him he would complain to God on the Day of Judgment because "you prevented me from meeting my God
either somethings been lost in translation, or this guy is EXTREMELY logic-challenged.
#4
I'd put close guard on the short bus routes and what passes for half-way houses, and mount a PR campaign for folks to keep an eye on they little slower buddies.
#5
Too bad suicide fighters only work once boys, or else we might be scared.
In Israel, they are arming army checkpoints with sensor arrays that send out a microwave signal in an attempt to ignite electronic timers when they come within 50 feet of a checkpoint, premature explosions, but still dangerous.
VBIED's can often be very, very big bombs though, so the situation might not be the same for the technology implementation. 50 feet may not be near enough.
MM
Posted by: Mountain Man ||
06/21/2005 15:55
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#6
That neuron-challenged fool will undoubtedly soon have something else to thank American soldiers for. Let him try attacking some Marines and they'll make damn sure he gets a chance to see his God pronto.
Posted by: mac ||
06/21/2005 17:50
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Howz about giving them all some of Jimmy Jones' Kool-Aid.
Hundreds of Afghan police backed by U.S. air strikes retook control on Tuesday of a district capital in southwestern Afghanistan that was overrun by the Taliban, killing 32 guerrillas, police said. The guerrillas seized Mian Nishin, capital of the district of the same name in Kandahar province last week, capturing 30 police officers and a district chief. They executed eight policemen before announcing the release of the other 23 people. About 400 police took part in the operation to force the guerrillas out of Mian Nishin, said deputy provincial police chief Salim Khan.
"We chased the Taliban to an area 10 km (6 miles) north," Khan told Reuters. "We found them in a village called Murghai and as a result of the clashes there, 11 Taliban were killed and 15 suspects were arrested." Khan said another 21 guerrillas were killed by U.S. air strikes in support of the operation. He gave no details on whether there were any government casualties. Lieutenant Cindy Moore, a spokeswoman for the U.S. military, confirmed an operation involving U.S. forces was under way but said she could not give details while it was in progress.
Hundreds of people have been killed in a surge in guerrilla violence in Afghanistan in the past few months, raising security concerns for parliamentary elections to be held on Sept. 18.
TOP U.S. GENERAL VISITS
General John Abizaid, head of the U.S. military's Central Command, met Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday as part of a visit to the country. State television said security forces had captured Mullah Naqibullah Akhundzada, a Taliban commander active in Ghazni province south of Kabul. It said he was caught with six other Taliban members but did not say when. U.S. air strikes killed 15 to 20 guerrillas on Sunday in neighboring Helmand province and Afghan officials reported 21 more militant deaths in clashes later in the day.
Mian Nishin is in the north of Kandahar province, about 400 km (250 miles) southwest of the Afghan capital Kabul, and was the scene of operations by Afghan and U.S.-led forces last week in which government officials said nine guerrillas were killed.
In another incident in Kandahar province on Tuesday, a driver employed by the Afghan-U.N. election body was wounded and another man was killed when their vehicle came under attack, U.N. officials said. Taliban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi telephoned Reuters to claim responsibility for the attack. But Terrence White, the Joint Electoral Management Body's regional spokesman, said it was unclear whether the Taliban were involved.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/21/2005
13:17 ||
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(GOLIAD, TEXAS) -- There was no shortage of volunteers last night as the controversial Minuteman civilian border patrol organization gathered in this historic south Texas town to organize anti illegal immigrant activities in Texas. Many volunteers said illegal immigration needs to be stopped, and since the federal government is unable or unwilling to do it, then its up to civilians to step in and get it done. "Our children can't get out into our yards," rancher and Texas Minuteman leader Bill Parmley told the group. "We're afraid. Something has to be done." The location of the meeting in Goliad was significant. The city was the home of many of the volunteers who died fighting the Mexican army at the Alamo in 1836. The unit which delivered a cannon the Alamo along with a flag that carried the defiant message 'come and take it.'
Many volunteers complained that their lives have been 'turned upside down' by the surge in illegal immigration. They told of having illegals kicking down doors, damaging their property, and stealing livestock.
And there was a lot of frustration with what the volunteers perceived to be the federal government's inaction on the problem. "We have met with our senators, we have sent letters to President Bush, we have gone all the way to Washington, and still no response," Parmley told 1200 WOAI's Charity McCurdy. "All we're doing is what President bush asked us to do after 9-11, to be observant citizens and look for suspicious activity and call it in. That's all we're doing."
But several civil rights leaders at the rally said the Minutemen go a lot further than that. Che Lopez compared the volunteers at last night's rally to the Ku Klux Klan. "Just basically racially profiling people. Pulling them out of their cars. Intimidating them."
Minutemen organizer Chris Simcox said he plans to have four chapters of the group patrolling the Texas-Mexico border in October. A Minuteman action in Arizona in April had mixed results. "We are here at the invitation of Texans," Simcox said. "Over 7,000 requests from citizens of Texans who are fed up with President Bush, and are growing weary of the situation we have on our borders."
But not all Texans are excited about the presence of the Minutemen in Texas, and one of them is Senator John Cornyn, who this weekend introduced a measure calling for comprehensive changes in border security, and the hiring of 10,000 additional sworn officers of the U.S. Border Patrol. "I don't think that it is in the best interests of the country to have untrained people, who not withstanding their best of intentions, might find themselves involved in violent and unexpected situations along our border," Cornyn said, adding that he understands the 'frustrations' of the Minutemen and their supporters. "I recognize that citizens think it has fallen to them in the absence of the federal government living up to its responsibilities to provide that security along our border."
But last night in Golaid, volunteers weren't interested in Senate resolutions or debates on international migration. They are increasingly frustrated with that they see as a growing threat to their lives and the security of the United States, and they want action. "I don't think that the federal government has the ability to take care of it," one volunteer said. "I think they need help, and I'm ready to help."
Posted by: Steve ||
06/21/2005
13:01 ||
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#1
I really think this will be a big talking point of the next elections. I voted for Bush both times but I wouldn't vote for him again if it were possible. He has really failed the country on this issue.
Why do I have to take off my shoes and get padded down to board a plane but illegals can walk across the border with impunity? It only a matter of time - maybe long maybe short - but one day we will get hit again from someone who walked right on in.
I support the Minutemen and hope the continue to gain notoriaty as long as they play it safe and legally. It will take only 1 incident for everything they've done to be wiped away. I'd venture as far as to say the MSM probably already have prewritten headlines waiting to be published.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
06/21/2005 13:15
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The situation is a lot easier then is being let on. 99% of the illegals come through narrow corridors that have very strict limitations. First, there must be a departure city and an arrival city, or at least transport near roads at your destination. Second, it must have passable terrain obstacles, no mountains, no huge stretches of desert, reasonable weather. So all that really must be done is to block these corridors.
#3
I think if they want or need to let more Mexicans in they should simply raise the annual limit of legal immigrations. The race card the "activist" pulled was just plain BS.
We have immigration laws in place and Bush (and numerous other previous presidents have failed to enforce them or take more precautions. (Especially after 9-11.)
You can't let in 10 million Mexicans and then just turn away a boat load of Chinese in NY. We have laws with limits. They should be enforced.
I side with the minutemen simply because we all know if Bush's ranch had people breaking fences and stealing shit they would be shot on sight. These people work hard to get their houses and property. It's ridiculous their requests for government help falls on deaf ears.
Bush and the republicans will suffer for decades if the next terrorist attack comes through this area.
#5
98zulu: Bush and the republicans will suffer for decades if the next terrorist attack comes through this area.
GWB doesn't care. He's in there to do what he said he would do. Nothing in there about illegal immigratiion. The fact that he doesn't care is a feature when you share his views - it's a liability when he doesn't. But look on the bright side - we only don't agree with him on a small list of issues. If McCain or Kerry had been elected, that roster would be miles long. Fact is - no presidential candidate is going to give you everything you want. Reagan raised payroll taxes, cut and ran from Lebanon and approved an illegal alien amnesty. GWB has at least not raised taxes or backed down from the War on Terror. Even his immigration proposal isn't a full-fledged amnesty, which is why liberals are howling about it.
#8
Did anyone see those cubans who converted the vintage taxi into a boat to escape Fidel and come to America last week? I say let those folks in, and block all the freakin Mexicales until they get creative and build a blimp or something like the Cubans. Extra points for ingenuity.
Posted by: Mountain Man ||
06/21/2005 18:39
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#9
LOL! Right on, Mountain Man!
Posted by: Sheik Abu Bin Ali Al-Yahood ||
06/21/2005 21:50
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#10
Illegal immigration could be cut off at the knees by removing the economic incentives for it. First, give notice that starting 1 August 2005, anyone who employees illegal aliens WILL be fined $1,000 per head up to $10,000. If more than 10 illegal aliens are employed, the manager of the operation will be imprisoned for 1 year, the sentence increased by one year for each additional 10 illegals employed. For large corporations, everyone in the chain of command up to and including the chairman of the board will be imprisoned for at least 1 year. Second, make it illegal for individuals to wire money from the US to Mexico. Third, arrest and deport every illegal found. Fourth, NO MORE ANCHOR BABIES. Children born to illegals SHOULD NOT BE CITIZENS.
#12
Now this is amusing.. The GOP is in charge of all branches, yet still the illegal immigrations continues! Guess the "small" business owners who are the backbone of the GOP still like that cheap labor as they play fast and loose with the immigrations laws!
#15
NMM, WTF?
How about it's the Dhimmicrats who won't do bupkus about immigration because they love all those dumb and blind illegal immigrant voters!
Notice the Dims have *NO* policy or plans to deal with this problem.
President Bush needs to do more on this and I believe he will, but until that time, the Minutemen are doing a terrific job.
And I love it that this was in Goliad where one of my Texas ancestors died at the infamous Goliad Massacre!
#18
Nice to see you again Jennie! But the business model embraced by our GOP rulers depends on cheap labor--we don't want any of the Communist Unions guaranteeing workers a living wage! Know when the LAST time the Fed minimum wage was raised? Wanna raise a family on that? So much for compassion in your Conservatism
#19
And by the Grace of God--I've been spared with any contact with TX--except changing planes in DFW on my way to LA from NYC--how's that for a stereotype?
#20
RWV - you are absolutely correct. We should enforce the existing laws and strip away the corprate veil which protects executives from the decisions in this matter. If Wallmart wants to enploy 5000 illegals then the CEO should be liable for 500 years. I bet they will drop the illegals so fast your head would spin. Oh and extend the same to those officals who create 'sainctuary' cities and counties -- sorry but Federal Law trumps.
And I don't buy that 'but we need the workforce' BS either. If they paid decent [non-slave] wages then they will have the workforce. And if you really need to import workers then CHANGE THE FRIGGING LAWS and allow more LEGAL immigration or guest workers (as long as they apply from OUTSIDE the united states and undergo the full background checks just like everyone else who LEGALLY immigrates.)
#21
NMM wrote: Know when the LAST time the Fed minimum wage was raised? Wanna raise a family on that?
Raised a while back. Inflation has been 1 - 2% in the meantime. Very few adults actually get minimum, most folks (especially in urban areas) get $8.00/hr at the bottom of the scale. In my village the kids at the Mickey D's are getting $8.00/hr.
And the minimum wage is not the last wage you'll ever have in life if you have any motivation at all. I realize Democrats get all locked in on this, but a little education, some hard work, a willingness to work to get ahead, and you can do pretty decently. Lots of folks do. Ask some of the folks around Rantburg.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/21/2005 23:56
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Pyongyang, June 20 (KCNA) -- Researchers of the forestry sector of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has developed an acacia seed treatment machine. The sprouting rate of acacia seeds, not treated, is only 20-30 percent because of their solid hulls. The seed treatment methods by hot water and reagent, which have been applied in nurseries, ensure only 70 percent of sprouting. After finding out the properties of acacia seed, the researchers have succeeded in making a seed treatment machine. It properly hurts seed hulls by the method of friction and bombardment. The budding rate of the acacia seeds treated by the machine is more than 90 percent. The machine saves several dozen kilograms of acacia seeds per hectare. It, which is simple in structure, is easy to operate anywhere. Its production cost is low. The machine has already been introduced in many units.
I've been using something similar on tough seed hulls for years. It's called sandpaper.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/21/2005
12:36 ||
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Well if my acacia seeds ever need treatment, I know where to send them.
What the hell are acacia seeds?
#2
TU3031:
I have some in My back yard (still attached to the Shoestring Acacia tree). Want some? They're not treated, though, so that may be a deal-breaker.
Acacias make decent shade trees, but I didn't know there was any economic justification for growing them. I suppose you could eat the leaves and bark -- oh, this is NK? -- that explains it.
#3
Some species of acacia make good cattle fodder and grow without much tending once the seed germinates.
Posted by: too true ||
06/21/2005 14:43
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Several Acacia species provide commercial returns both in Australia and overseas. The bark of A.mearnsii (one of the "Black Wattle" group) is valuable in the tanning industries and commercial plantations exist in a number of countries (eg.South Africa, Brazil). Unusually, Australia actually imports much of its need for A.mearnsii bark tannin from South Africa where the tree has unfortunately escaped from plantations to become a pest species. The quick-growing characteristics of many of the larger species makes them useful for soil erosion control and for providing fuel for cooking and heating. Australian aborigines traditionally used the seeds and roots of a number of Acacia species as a food source but it is only fairly recently that research has started to be undertaken by a number of organisations to determine the nutritional potential of several species as well as any potential toxic effects. Some limited use of Acacia as a food is occurring in the "bush food" industry with, for example, ground Acacia seeds being used as a component of a bread known as "Wattle Damper" and as a flavouring for ice cream.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/21/2005 14:46
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Japan's prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, is busy trying to strengthen the American alliance. In recent months, members of his government have announced new joint military arrangements with the U.S. and announced to the South Koreans that, unlike Japan, they are not to be trusted with sensitive American intelligence...........
#1
In recent months, members of his government have announced new joint military arrangements with the U.S. and announced to the South Koreans that, unlike Japan, they are not to be trusted with sensitive American intelligence...........
PORT KLANG: A puppy with two extra legs and a second penis is drawing curious stares at a temple in Pandamaran town near here. The puppy, found by a temple caretaker at the entrance on Thursday morning, is being cared for by the temple committee. Kwang Sung Temple committee member Tee Kim Huat said the caretaker saw the white puppy with dark brown patches sleeping at the temple entrance at 7am. âHe lifted the canine to place it elsewhere and was shocked to see that the puppy had six legs! Not only that, the male puppy also had an extra penis,â said Tee.
The other dogs will be envious, he can do two hydrants at once
âWe believe someone dumped it at the temple,â he added. However, since it was an unusual dog, devotees felt that it was a bearer of good fortune and named the puppy Ong Fatt (Lucky One), said Tee. The temple committee obtained a dog-rearing permit from the Klang Municipal Council on Friday to allow the caretaker to take care of the puppy at the temple.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/21/2005 12:34
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#3
I put it back. Couldn't pass that one up...
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2005 13:29
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#4
Interesting. Probably two ova fused at or soon after conception .... in dogs, each embryo ends up with its own sac inside the uterus so the fusion had to have happened prior to the sac forming and attaching to the uterine wall. The embryos are free-floating until then.
#6
When I wuz just a simple fat, dumb, akward country kid (not that I've evolved much since), one of our many cats had trouble giving birth to her kitten, with one head sticking out, and labor being very painful.
A veterinary intervention later, the cause was revealed to be a eight-legged kitten, with two rear ends (and thus two genitalias, one fact that really made laugh one of my youngest sisters, I remember that) and another pair of front paws protubering from its back.
Too bad it was dead, we would have been delighted to keep it around.
My mother never let me bring the body at school, which is a shame.
Great article. Read it all.
Browning, 56, of Paradise, Calif., and Weatherhead, 57, of Elk Grove, Calif., are grandfathers. They first flew combat missions in Vietnam, before most of the soldiers in the current Army were born. They and others their age are here with the National Guard's 42nd Infantry Division, which includes some of the oldest soldiers to serve in combat for the modern U.S. Army. Few soldiers or officers in the military, other than the service's top generals, are as old.
#2
This article will get buried by the press, since there is no goom and doom.
In my unit here, I've spoken to 3(!) Viet vets serving with me. They concur that this war is way different (better run, better equipped, etc), and that the VC/NVA were a lot tougher than the current pansies that we are fighting. The VC/NVA were more civilized, too. Which is an interesting thing to say.
Posted by: N guard ||
06/21/2005 12:42
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Actually, N guard, the article is front-page, top-fold, centerpiece, complete with a photo of CWO Browning at FOB Speicher with his younger self's photo. The subtitle specifically notes: "Vietnam VETS IN IRAQ see 'entirely different war': Graying soldiers cite support among locals and Americans."
HOOAH/OORAH! :-)
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
06/21/2005 13:21
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#4
No, it can't be a different war. They are exactly the same. All wars are VietNam.
LBJ = Nixon = Bush = Hitler.
That's why we here on DU ... Oh, wait. Wrong board.
#6
I see and talk to Iraqi vets all the time here. They are all very confident about the war. Locals trust the US and their own troops more and more, local support is rising against the terrorists, infrastructure being built, terrorists dieing in massive quantities, our casualties low, etc. Things are going fairly well, with all things considered. Just the goddamn left and spineless politicians screwing shit up. Kinda like Vietnam in that respect.
#9
Memorial weekend I talked to a young e6 sniper just back from "the stan". He told me the greybeards were the best, they would get you in and get you out." They were always glad to see them in the helios. So, I tried to re-enlist, what with my critical mos and the problems with recruiting I thought I could get back in the game. It was a good experience, the people were aware, helpful, and smart enough to tell me I had done my time and to let our generation take care of this one and thanks for serving.
It could happen, and here are some ways to play it:
Making my recommendation to buy the General Motors debt in the April issue of the Forbes/Lehmann Income Securities Investor and subsequently in my Forbes column was one of the easiest calls I've ever made. Here you had a company being threatened with a downgrade to BB yielding more than 10% when the average bond rated BB was yielding 6.79% and the average preferred 7.29%. As I indicated then, General Motors (nyse: GM - news - people ) was suffering from a lack of buyers in what is a trillion-dollar high-yield market faced with having to absorb up to $300 billion of new supply. The absorption of so much debt was not being helped by the negative media attention, which portrayed GM as being on the road to bankruptcy.
All this changed dramatically when billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, as savvy an investor as ever lived, stepped up with a bid for GM common stock to increase his holdings to over a billion dollars. Only Warren Buffet could have created a greater stir or quicker turnaround. At 87 years of age, however, one can assume that Kerkorian is not looking for a long-term investment.
As I mentioned in my Forbes column, at a market price of half its book value, GM is an attractive takeover candidate for entities like China's biggest automobile manufacturer, the Shanghai Automotive Industry (nyse: SAIC - news - people ), which would like to become a leading exporter of cars. SAIC and GM already have a strategic joint venture which currently has a capacity of 500,000 vehicles in China per year, including autos like the Buick Regal and Chevy Sail.
Continued on Page 49
#1
Bottom line is that a Chinese acquirer could ship all of GM's plants over to China and ditch the unionized workers currently digging GM into a hole, while retaining a core of lavishly-paid line workers to train their Chinese counterparts.
#2
Talk about the Union not looking out for the employee's best intrests, Zhang. I always thought it was in the employee's best intrest to have a company and a job to go to the next day.
#3
Well... what a fantastic idea! Toss in all the DoD contracts that GM has too! That way we could do the thumper on those nasty ChiComs a lot cheaper! We'll fool them!
#4
FF6690: Well... what a fantastic idea! Toss in all the DoD contracts that GM has too! That way we could do the thumper on those nasty ChiComs a lot cheaper! We'll fool them!
Past foreign purchases of American companies have involved the divestment of sensitive American operations. A GM buyout would be no different. The fact is that GM has no monopoly on metal-bending skills or on industrial design. Its below-par quality and design are testament to its perennial also-ran status in the past several decades. The divestment of GM's defense-related operations would be a boon for the division and for DOD, neither of which would have to continue to deal with GM's hide-bound corporate and union culture.
#5
Divestment would certainly follow, but as far as avoiding the bureaucratic mish-mash that GM has created for everyone to deal with and its sub-standard products, that would rise again as a phoenix. Selling out to the ChiComs isn't the answer for long-term benefit to the country. Short-term benefits to stockholders and those with hidden agendas would happen. Collectively, we are paying for our sins through shoddy managership rather than leadership, self-serving union leadership rather than employees managing it's affairs better, and returning to self-instilled pride and integrity inspite of dishonest business managers and owners. What a mess... but to sell out to the ChiComs is just another cop-out. I hope the traitors choke on their lo mein.
#7
FDP: Short-term benefits to stockholders and those with hidden agendas would happen.
The only benefits to stockholders are short term ones, unless you enjoy framing the stock certificates of defunct companies. In the long run, companies go bust, or are acquired - just check out the Dow roster from the turn of the 20th century.
FDP: Collectively, we are paying for our sins through shoddy managership rather than leadership, self-serving union leadership rather than employees managing it's affairs better, and returning to self-instilled pride and integrity inspite of dishonest business managers and owners.
Back in Coolidge's day, what was good for GM was good for the nation. We are now in a different era. GM acts as a drag on the nation's finances. Odds are that the government will have to step in to pay off GM's pension obligations. Since the government doesn't actually generate any income, that means we, the taxpayers, will be helping to pay off GM's pensioners. We don't need to enlarge the roster of GM's pensioners we need to pay off.
FDP: What a mess... but to sell out to the ChiComs is just another cop-out. I hope the traitors choke on their lo mein.
GM can be sold to the Chinese (or whatever acquirer comes calling) or it can be shut down. That's the choice that has faced other moribund companies, American or otherwise, in the past. As to the sellers being traitors, that's silly - how are stockholders obligated to use their money to subsidize the incompetence and greed of GM's management and unions? As of 2003, 326,000 people worked for GM. If each of these employees did a home equity loan for $60,000, they could raise $20B and buy out GM's current shareholders. Why don't they? Because leeching works only when it's done with other people's (stockholders') money - when you do it to yourself, it's called spending yourself into the poorhouse.
#8
"Its below-par quality and design are testament to its perennial also-ran status in the past several decades."
Id say Toyota or Honda could deal with that. Both have made quality vehicles, and marketed them successfully, and Honda at least has done so with UAW employees. And both have a commitment to selling in the North American market, and might want the capacity.
But that wouldnt fit your agenda as well a Chi Com buy out, would it.
Chi "coms" fitting an anti-union agenda - it doth make the head explode, no?
#9
LH: But that wouldnt fit your agenda as well a Chi Com buy out, would it. Chi "coms" fitting an anti-union agenda - it doth make the head explode, no?
The curious thing is that Communists are the ultimate union-busters. But the reality is that China will not tolerate independent unions for the same reason that they won't tolerate other non-governmental religious or social organizations - because they threaten the absolute power of the Chinese state.
#11
Japanese companies committed early to quality (largely due to Demming) and gained mind and market share. Detroit was late to the party (produced crap in the '70's and early '80's) but have improved dramatically since. China is competing (thus far successfully) on price. If a Chinese company were to buy GM and shut down the US factories, both price and quality would drop. They lose considerable market share on the high end and gain on the low end. Margins would drop and ultimately they'd lose a lot of money.
#12
Didn't a japanese auto exec recently suggest that the death of GM would causing rising anti-japanese feeling in the US. If the Japanese bought GM to prevent the chicoms only an idiot couldn't spin that one as help from a dutyful ally that would save American jobs (even if many were lost at least American plants wouldn't be shut down).
I'm not sure the Japanese are in the position but it's intreging.
Marines patrolling this desert region near the Syrian border have for months been seeing a strange trend in the complex Iraqi insurgency. Insurgents, they say, have been fighting each other in this constellation of towns along the Euphrates, from Husayba to Qaim. The observations offer a new clue in the hidden world of the insurgency and suggest that there may have been, as American commanders suggest, a split between Islamic militants and local rebels.
A United Nations official who served in Iraq last year and who consulted widely with militant groups said by telephone that there had been a split for some time. "There is a rift," said the official, who requested anonymity. "I'm certain that the nationalist Iraqi part of the insurgency is very much fed up with the jihadists' grabbing the headlines and carrying out the sort of violence that they don't want against innocent civilians."
#4
In China the Nationalists and Communists spent almost as much effort fighting each other as they did the Japanese.
If you asked Stilwell, the Nationalists didn't spend much time fighting anyone.
I'm certain that the nationalist Iraqi part of the insurgency is very much fed up with the jihadists' grabbing the headlines
I suspect this is the real issue, much more than the murder of innocent civilians. Baathists never seemed to worried about that before.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
06/21/2005 12:52
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#5
Good question, trailing wife. Though we all know the answer -- especially when he spills the one about "nationalist" part of the "insurgency". Ya know, the "nationalists" who are the leaders or lackeys of a tiny minority of unelected, corrupt, genocidal, criminals who looted the country and murdered millions. Ya know, "nationalist."
This red-on-red fighting has been going on for some time out west. It's often as not tied up with tribal feuds, personalities, $$$$, and the usual idiocy as with the purported noble delicacy of the proud "nationalist" parasite thugs so dear to the anonymous "UN official."
#6
Dreadnought: Not unusual. In China the Nationalists and Communists spent almost as much effort fighting each other as they did the Japanese.
Different situation here. The Japanese were in no position to destroy either the Communists or the Nationalists. And the Communists and the Nationalists were certainly in no position to destroy the Japanese. An all-out effort by either the Nationalists or the Communists to go after the Japanese would have been a waste of Chinese lives, because only Uncle Sam had the kind of military power required to beat them.
Saddam's people have the potential to topple the present government. They know how to run the government, and remain able to identify and kill government officials at will, meaning that the repressive organs of Saddam's government remain largely intact. By contrast, the Shiites and the Kurds were never able to do anything like this when Saddam was in power. If Iraq's Baathists want to regain power, they can't rely on some outside power to do for them (unlike China during WWII). And the closer they get to victory, the more they'll want to slaughter potential opponents. Baathists don't want to share power with al Qaeda, and al Qaeda doesn't want to share power with Baathists.
In context, both Chinese and Iraqi guerrilla infighting makes sense - the Chinese were fighting each other to remain top dog after Uncle Sam beat the Japanese, and the Iraqi guerrillas are fighting each other for the keys to the kingdom after Uncle Sam leaves. Anyone who reads the American media could be forgiven for thinking that Uncle Sam is about to bail out of Iraq. The infighting could be a sign that Iraqi guerrillas are about to lose - or it could be a sign that Iraqi guerrillas think that they're about to win, that the endgame for the US presence in Iraq is in sight.
#7
My point was basically that any time you have two different factions fighting a common enemy the parties involved must do two things simultaneously:
1. Defeat the current enemy
2. Position oneself advantageously for the next conflict
This poses a problem, though. If you do too much of the fighting, you could be spent as a fighting force, giving your erstwhile ally an easy road to usurp power. On the other hand, if you do too little fighting, all the accolades (and political prestige) go to the more combative group.
The Japanese were in no position to destroy either the Communists or the Nationalists. And the Communists and the Nationalists were certainly in no position to destroy the Japanese.
I would assert that unless we have a shift in political will in our country, this statement is going to hold true for us as well. Unless we stem the flow of jihadis from Syria, Saudi and possibly Iran, we'll face a never-ending stream of cannon fodder who are content to kill one of us for every hundred of them.
#8
Dread, I don't think it's that bad. I'm more in line (like yesterday's article) that maybe this is a good sign. Personally, I wish for faster please (I'd rather 'em kill each other than our guys), but the escalation in violence could be the beginning of the end (much like the many Pacific battles cited at the end of WWII). Like someone said yesterday, wars don't fizzle out, they go out with a bang! I think the public in Iraq is starting to get very tired of the jihadis and hopefully, will squash 'em like a bug soon.
Posted by: BA ||
06/21/2005 13:49
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#9
why is the UN consulting the insurgents? obviously to help beat the insurgency.
Abu ben boomie: Ive brought you all to this meeeting to meet our new Consultant, Thomas Howell of Howell Management Systems, Inc. Hes going to help us right-size our organization, establish a strategic vision, write a mission statement, and break down organizational stovepipes. Id like you to stop whatever else it is you are doing when he asks to interview you. First he will interviewing everyone in our organization Jihadi Killers of Iraq, in order to fully document our genocide processes, look for duplication of effort, and evaluate our metrics.
#10
seriously, I think this must be one of the guys sent to ask if they wanna surrender. Didnt work of course, cause only Iraqis can do the rug dealing necessary to accomplish that.
#11
"He's going to help us right-size our organization, establish a strategic vision, write a mission statement, and break down organizational stovepipes"
Uh oh, I've been in one of those sessions. It made me want to go on a killing rampage, could be trouble.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/21/2005 14:14
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#12
My takeaways from this are: (1) guerrilla infighting doesn't really show whether they're losing or winning - it could mean either and (2) guerrilla infighting could be good for Uncle Sam's efforts in Iraq in the sense that they could kill each other off, or bad, if it leads to the unification of the factions, meaning that they can coordinate large-scale operations instead of each faction jealously guarding its resources and carrying out penny packet deployments.
#13
I remember watching the NCAA basketball tournament a few years ago with some friends, and seeing LSU playing Clemson. I'm not a fan of college basketball, and I wasn't in a pool that year, so I didn't care who won. I just sat there nursing my beer, happily shouting "Go Tigers!" every time somebody scored.
I imagine those Marines feel something similar.
Posted by: Mike ||
06/21/2005 14:48
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#14
You know I was tabbed for OverLord by Marshall before Ike don't 'ya. But no! You speak a little slant and off you go. Shit, I should'a killed the peanut myself and saved the world a lot of trouble.
Posted by: V. Joe ||
06/21/2005 15:41
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#15
Cheer up! The UN consulting widely with militant groups means the demise is near. Wonder how many insurgents were raped by the UN consultant(s)?
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/21/2005 15:42
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#16
That's cold, Captain A.
True, but cold. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/21/2005 16:15
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#17
Sometimes it is a shame they have such poor aim.
#18
Quite funny LiberalHawk--but if Abu ben Boomie were a GOP plant he'd also mention that he was there to gut their retirement plan, give a free ride to the relatives of the Baath Party who have more wealth--then mention that he's a compassionate Islamist (Conservative) You'd have to wonder where he got that agenda?
A RB favorite! A COBBLER suspected of sorcery was attacked and nearly lynched by outraged villagers in central Kenya today after being caught having sex with a female sheep, witnesses and officials said.
"Of course it's a female! Whaddya think I am? Some kind of pervert?"
Joshua Kiplagat, 36, sustained a serious head wound when the sheep's owner threw a machete at him after finding him in flagrante delicto with a prize ewe in the Rift Valley district of Bomet, they said.
"Hey, get away from my girlfriend!"
He was then tied to a tree stump for five hours before being frogmarched naked with the violated ovine in tow to a police station where he confessed to several acts of bestiality that he blamed on the devil, they said. "I was sent by the devil to do that," Kiplagat told the angry crowd which included several people who accused him of being a warlock.
Classic "The Devil made me do it!" defense
"That's right! The Devil sent me to doink your sheep! All your sheep!"
One woman claimed to have seen him engaging in sex acts with a dog.
"And yer little dogs, too!"
"I saw this man mounting a dog two weeks ago at around seven in the evening and I was so surprised," said the woman, who gave her name as Leah. The bloodied shoe repairer adamantly denied allegations that he was a wizard and insisted that his affection for animals was limited to sheep.
"And sometimes goats. But usually just sheep..."
"... But not cats. No, never cats ..."
"What do you think I am, a pervert?"
"I only made love to the ewe twice using two condoms but I never do it regularly," he said in his defence.
Well, as long he's practicing safe sex...
Bomet assistant district chief Paul Kikwai, who was present at the police station, expressed shock at the incident and vowed that Kiplagat would be punished although he made no comment on the villagers' actions. "We have never seen such incidents here and we are just wondering how many people around here engage in this kind of acts," he said.
That's more information than I want to know, thanks
#5
Enough of these sheep thrills and baaad puns. Ewe should be ashamed of yourselves. It's getting too wild and wooly around here.
Posted by: Mike ||
06/21/2005 13:20
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#6
"I only made love to the ewe twice using two condoms but I never do it regularly," he said in his defence.
...because it's only gross if you make it a habit, right? Besides, he wasn't "having sex" with the the sheep -- he was "making love". Bought her a bag of oats and everything.
US Army deserter Charles Jenkins said today he regrets leaving his post for communist North Korea, where he spent nearly 40 years, and called the isolated country's dictator Kim Jong Il "an evil man." Jenkins, 65, said he was never brainwashed but lived in harsh conditions in North Korea and never expected to see his mother again. He was reunited with his 91-year-old mother, Pattie, last week. Jenkins, speaking from his sister's home in Weldon, North Carolina, said he was sorry that as a 24-year-old sergeant with the US Army's 1st Calvary Division, he left the squad he was leading on patrol in the Demilitarised Zone and walked into North Korea on July 5, 1965. "I let my soldiers down. I let the US Army down. I let the government down, and I made it very difficult for my family in the US to live," Jenkins said, according to a story posted on The News & Observer of Raleigh's website.
While he appeared in North Korean propaganda films and taught English, Jenkins said North Korean agents were never able to break him and he was never brainwashed. North Korea's Kim Jong Il "is an evil man," Jenkins said."He only believes in one thing — his own personal luxury life." Jenkins remained in North Korea after his wife, who had been kidnapped from Japan in 1978, returned to her home country in 2002. Jenkins reunited with his wife last year in Japan, where he was court-martialed and served 25 days in a US military jail. Jenkins has said he has no plans to move permanently back to the US and only wanted to see his ailing mother and make one last visit to his homeland. He was accompanied by his wife and their two daughters, and they plan to return to Japan this week.
#1
ah well, sounds to me like he served hard time. This one looks like a good one to apply the forgive and forget rule. A stupid decision of youth that literally cost him his life. Too bad, so sad. You reap what you sow. yada yada Whatever.
It's actually kind of an interesting saga - with the kidnapped Japanese wife and all. But in the end, it boils down to the fact that...he pissed away his life and I really don't care what happens to him next. Be free, be happy, be gone.
#2
Well, I agree that he has paid mightily for his choices, but I don't think we need to forgive and forget. Better that the he go his way and we go ours. Put him back on a plane and never let him on US soil again.
âI let my soldiers down. I let the US Army down. I let the government down, and I made it very difficult for my family in the US to live,â Jenkins said
Well, hell, he just lost the sympathy the leftists and the MSM (but I repeat myself) had for him.
Expect to hear nothing more about him; he doesn't fit their agenda.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/21/2005 12:25
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#4
yeah, alright.. I'm ok with that too. Send him to maroon island, cause he's a maroon.
#8
BH: Well, I agree that he has paid mightily for his choices, but I don't think we need to forgive and forget. Better that the he go his way and we go ours. Put him back on a plane and never let him on US soil again.
Article: âI let my soldiers down. I let the US Army down. I let the government down, and I made it very difficult for my family in the US to live,â Jenkins said.
He apologized without reservations, unlike Senator Turban. He was a footsoldier in a war fought in extremely harsh conditiions, a cog in a machine, unlike Senator Turban. I can forgive Jenkins. I will never forgive Senator Turban.
#9
zf is right! Unlike Jane Fonda, they communist sympathizing feminist who put on a bikini to sell exercise video's to help make women sexy for their men, and unlike Alec Fatwindbag and Madoutofline Halfbright and all of the other liberals who touted the wonders of a progressive utopia, this guy at least lived it and was willing to denouce it for the sham that it was.
Millions will starve in NOKOR this year. The Fonda's, the Amnasties and the progressive liberals will be too busy denoucing George Bush's overthrow of a raping tyrant to notice.
I'll take this guy over any one of those blind belivers. In fact, I'll take him over the lot of them. Seems like more than a fair trade to me!
#10
Hear, Hear ZF.
Just let him go. His life was over 40 years back. Just hope he maintains that shred of decency that keeps him from a book. I expect his Japaneese inlaws will be helpful in that regard.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/21/2005 16:26
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#12
Dumbass, we should use him as the poster boy for all the exciting times you can have in North Korea!
Hoorah, pack your speedos! Lets all go to Kimmy's playground. I hear he has a mobile waterpark that the commies drag around korea for his watersliding pleasure.
Posted by: Mountain Man ||
06/21/2005 16:32
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#13
BS: walked into North Korea on July 5, 1965
What war, ZF?
Korea was partitioned in the early 1950's.
Thanks for the correction - I hadn't followed this story closely. I thought that he defected during the Korean War, which really was brutal for the GI's who participated, because of the Korean winters. It appears he defected to avoid Vietnam. But whether Vietnam or Korea - the fact is that Jenkins ran to avoid service and acknowledged not simply that he had made a mistake from a PR standpoint, but that what he did was wrong. Most leftists, like Senator Turban, feel that their treasonous behavior is not only not wrong - it is an expression of *patriotism*. (Somewhere in the background is a revulsion against risking their lives in a military callup that is so great, they would sell their mothers to get out of it, let alone betray their country).
#16
I live in NC and read the News and Observer article--he has childhood friends here that are glad to see him and also there is a large number of ex-military men who don't know him that resent his return. Apparently he was from a lower class family and wasn't treated well by the ROTC elite in his hometown. NO opinion--just relaying what I read--so don't pile on for this post
Haier is one of China's premier appliance manufacturers. This will help keep the Maytag brand alive, just as Thomson's acquisition of the RCA brand kept that brand alive.
EFL: I must check KCNA this week. This could lead to some classic stuff. SEOUL, South Korea - A high-level delegation from North Korea arrived in Seoul for bilateral talks Tuesday and was immediately confronted by demonstrators who angered the visitors by displaying posters of their leader, Kim Jong Il, tied up in ropes. Kim Jong Il Poster Abuse. Wait'll the media get's wind of that.
The North Korean delegates complained after their motorcade encountered the protesters on a road near the airport as they headed to a hotel for talks with the South Korean government, South Korea's YTN television reported. The protesters said they were in vehicles plastered with posters calling for Kim to be punished. In the North, Kim is the object of an official personality cult along with his father, founding ruler Kim Il Sung, and strict rules govern how their images are treated. Well, too bad. You ain't in the North.
#1
Please remember these simple anal retentive rules when dealing with your Kim Jong Il photos:
Tips for disposing of 'Our Dear Leader's' photo
In Pyongyang, the rules are very specific about how physically to handle the Kim image.
No one is permitted to point casually at a portrait of Kim Jong Il or his father, Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea. If you find yourself holding a book with a picture of a Kim on the cover, you'd best carry it with two hands, face up, in a dignified manner. And no thumb or fingers are ever allowed to touch or cover Kim's face.
The image and name of the Kims are deeply ingrained as the sacred goods of North Korea, and a special etiquette has evolved in dealing with them. Rules exist for handling, carrying, hanging, and even disposing of Kim faces and portraits. There are also rituals for their printed names.
No portrait of Dear Leader or Great Leader is to be folded. No newspaper issued on the birthday of Kim Jong Il or his father, when the photo is likely to be a full page, should be covered or used to wrap anything. Once a newspaper with a major photo of Kim is old or worn out, it may not be tossed out, but must be brought to a special collection point where the image is properly discarded.
A few years ago, prior to a special festival attended by many foreigners, a special 100-note currency was issued, using the Kim Il Sung face. But it was quickly withdrawn from circulation after it was discovered that foreigners were casually folding the bills and putting them in wallets placed next to the derrière.
In writing about Kim, the name or character may not be casually deleted. In fact, the editing of journals and books mostly still takes place on paper. Journalists and writers must not remove Kim's name from a sentence by crossing it out. Instead, The name must be circled, and only then removed.
And in published material, direct quotes by Kim or his father should always appear in a manner similar to how many Bible publishers treat the words of New Testament figures - in bold or illuminated type.
#2
sometimes I have to wonder about human nature. Why is it, that this one man can affect millions? Millions will starve. Yet we all stand back and laugh about his platform shoes.
Millions against one, poor, pathetic, hurt and lonely little boy. Millions suffer. How can that be. *sigh*
I don't understand. I mean, how much does a bullet cost anyway? 10 cents?
#4
I love it! Kim's buddies aren't used to "free expression" when it's direct against them. They are used to everybody showing the nothing but love and compassion. Good work demonstrators, it will open some cracks in that thin skin of the Norks.
#10
And Kim Jong Il gingerbread men must not be eaten, these soldiers of our fearless leader must be well fed and quartered with only the most patriotic Korean workers until our great and fearless leader calls upon us all to embrace the fallout of heavenly nuclear radiation that will empower the gingerbread men with super hero strength and we will all follow the orders of our fearless gingerbread commanders and march against the Enemies of the DPRK.
Posted by: Mountain Man ||
06/21/2005 16:49
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#11
CF - re: Kimmie toilet paper.
Only if he uses it.
I'm not defiling my ass that way.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/21/2005 17:17
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#2
We have 19h 22m of daylight today in Anchorage. Sure hope thate we never have to sign up for solar ration cards, heh. Let 'em bring on the carbon ration cards! We have enought beetle-killed spruce trees to get around any ration scheme.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/21/2005 11:12
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#3
Damn, I gotta work late tonight - gonna miss the sacrifice. Maybe I'll catch the Beltaine or Samhain festivities.
#4
AP - heard on the radio that they're having midnite baseball without lights in Fairbanks. Y'going to the game?
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2005 14:55
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#5
They have had the midnight sun baseball game in Fairbanks for years. Pretty neat tradition. Ima down in Anchorage. Gotta work. No baseball for me. I put some good darkening blinds on the windows, otherwise one wakes up and its got plenty of light at 3 or 4 am.
Needless to say we have only hens in the chichen coop, no roosters, heh. The extra light makes the chickens lay eggs like there is no tomorrow.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/21/2005 15:38
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#6
Uh, AP, I profess to know nothing about livestock, but don't chickens need roosters to, you know, make eggs?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/21/2005 16:09
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#7
It just happens that today is my birthday, I was born into this world (which else?) on midsummers day 1949 in the old cathedral city of Salisbury. If you climb a really high tower, you can see Stonehenge from there.
Some years ago, between my two marriages, I got friendly with an attractive but some somewhat eccentric woman who was heavily involved in the New Age movement and various pseudo-Celtic beliefs. She was awestruck when I remarked on my date and place of birth, and remarked that I must have great paranormal powers for having been born within sight of Stonehenge on midsummers day. She was disappointed to learn that I was a hard-core skeptic on such matters.
#10
Barbara---laying hens lay sterile eggs. When they are on a roll they lay about one sterile egg a day.
A rooster is needed to fertilize the eggs and to raise hell with anyone who wants to take the chicken eggs out of the nesting box.
Basic goings-on in a hen that you need to know:
The Formation of an Egg:
The Yolk: The chicken egg starts as an egg yolk inside a hen. A yolk (called an oocyte at this point) is produced by the hen's ovary in a process called ovulation.
Fertilization: The yolk is released into the oviduct (a long, spiraling tube in the hen's reproductive system), where it can be fertilized internally (inside the hen) by a sperm.
The Egg White (albumin): The yolk continues down the oviduct (whether or not it is fertilized) and is covered with a membrane (called the vitelline membrane), structural fibers, and layers of albumin (the egg white). This part of the oviduct is called the magnus.
The Chalazae: As the egg goes down through the oviduct, it is continually rotating within the spiraling tube. This movement twists the structural fibers (called the chalazae), which form rope-like strands that anchor the yolk in the thick egg white. There are two chalazae anchoring each yolk, on opposite ends of the egg.
The Eggshell: The eggshell is deposited around the egg in the lower part of the oviduct of the hen, just before it is laid. The shell is made of calcite, a crystalline form of calcium carbonate.
This entire trip through the oviduct takes about one day.
The egg-production unit (hen) runs on feed (with source of calcium), water, oxygen, and light, producing CO2, eggs, and chicken poop. End of lecture. Heh heh.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/21/2005 18:41
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#11
I love the 'burg.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
06/21/2005 18:44
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#12
I'm in awe.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
06/21/2005 18:58
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#15
Chickens, along with fetal pigs, make good analogs to humans in some studies. Our friend the poultry scientist teamed up with researchers from China to study a disease that strikes children in China and chickens in other places to see if they could work on a cure. Sorry, no more details; it's been a while.
Our local abortion champion claimed that aborting a child is no different from breaking an egg. Local chicken farmers were happy to set her straight.
#16
My grandparents ran a Purina feed store. My grandmother was a champion egg-candler, lol, honest. I know poultry. Poultry (KFC-style / Southern Kitchens-style or as 6-egg crab omelettes from the Captain Cook Hotel, Anchorage, I'm easy) is a friend of mine. I have no phreaking idea what it has to do with the Solstice, lol.
#17
I have 9 hens and one extremely happy rooster. I get between 5 an 9 eggs a day. Any one need any eggs?
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
06/21/2005 19:29
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Atomic Conspiracy wrote:
Some years ago, between my two marriages, I got friendly with an attractive but some somewhat eccentric woman who was heavily involved in the New Age movement and various pseudo-Celtic beliefs. She was awestruck when I remarked on my date and place of birth, and remarked that I must have great paranormal powers for having been born within sight of Stonehenge on midsummers day. She was disappointed to learn that I was a hard-core skeptic on such matters.
First off, happy birthday. Second, have you considered that you might have mysterious paranormal powers of skepticism?
Finally, what's that old Marx Brothers joke, about the guy whose brother thinks he's a chicken?
"We'd like to get him help, but we need the eggs..."
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
06/21/2005 19:38
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The egg-thread started with the large amount of daylight we ge up in the northern latitudes at time of the summer solstice. I remarked that our chickens lay lots of eggs during time of lots of daylight hours. Connections. Heh heh. RB is like a James Burke show.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/21/2005 20:01
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Lol, AP - thx! Burkean, Joycean, lol!
Just for the helluvit, lol, Molly Bloom's soliloquy from James Joyce's Ulysses...
"...I was a Flower of the mountain yes when I put the rose in my hair like the Andalusian girls used or shall I wear a red yes and how he kissed me under the Moorish wall and I thought well as well him as another and then I asked him with my eyes to ask again yes and then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes. "
The Palestinian Authority is quietly bracing for the prospect of collapse amid the unprecedented violence by members of the ruling Fatah movement. PA leaders have acknowledged that they cannot quell the chaos in the Palestinian areas or count on the loyalty of the police and security forces, in many cases bolstered by Western aid and training. Indeed, the PA reports that many of the gun battles that rage through Palestinian cities have included security officers who have joined Fatah operatives in extortion and other criminal activities. Rather than order an offensive, PA leaders have sought to appease Fatah factions and offer them jobs and housing while promising security commanders that they would delay or revise plans to reform the security services. At the same time, senior PA officials have used the official media to blame Israel for the violence and recycle canards used before the Palestinian war in 2000.
Abbas Loses Control
Outwardly, the Palestinian leadership has been engaged in preparations for Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank and the acquisition of hundreds of millions of dollars in Western aid. But the leading topic in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which is reflected in PA-controlled newspapers, has been the loss of control by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and the defection of security commanders and their forces to militias established by the ruling Fatah movement. These days, militants from Abbas's own party threaten the chairman, his aides and virtually anybody who fails to cooperate. In muted but clear tones, the PA newspapers report daily the attacks by Fatah, often bolstered by security officers, against PA officials, their families and security installations.
PA officials have been fleeing or plan to leave the West Bank for Jordan and other Arab states. The most popular Palestinian daily, Al Quds [1], has been jammed with ads by travel agencies, a remarkable development considering the poverty of most Palestinians, their lack of passports and other restrictions. The ads are for the Palestinian elite, who are looking to escape the dangers of living in Palestinian cities. Indeed, the assessment by many is that the PA could collapse by late 2005 as the split within the ruling Fatah movement widens. PA security services have been unable to stem the increasing violence in the streets of Palestinian cities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Fatah factions have been engaged in gun battles in Ramallah, the center of Palestinian government, while police have largely stood by or even joined in.
Much of the reporting in the PA media has been oblique. Reports of attacks on PA installations or officials have been taken from international news agencies in an effort to avoid the targeting of Palestinian reporters by Fatah gunmen. Many of the attacks are reported in condemnations by prominent residents or by Fatah offices. [2] Editorials in PA dailies have expressed deep concern over the shootouts and attacks on PA officials and installations, but rarely point fingers. Indeed, most of the time they blame Israel. [3]
Internal Violence Marks Greatest Threat
Slowly, columnists and PA advisers have made it clear that Abbas's loss of control represents the greatest threat to the regime and Fatah, which have become indistinguishable. They reflect the fear within the Palestinian leadership as well as among ordinary Palestinians and stress the lack of confidence in Abbas. The assessment is that Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank would only exacerbate the violence in Palestinian cities and embolden Fatah gunmen and their allies in the PA security forces. As one leading commentator put it, " I don't see how we're going to gain control over the [Gaza] settlements, if we can't control the Fares Market [in Gaza City]." [4]
Indeed, even PA leaders have no longer sought to hide the extent of the crisis. PA Prime Minister Ahmed Quriea [5] warned that he would suspend the Cabinet unless the security forces were ordered to halt the chaos in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Qureia, however, has blamed Israel for 90 percent of the violence and established a panel to oversee efforts to restore order. At the same time, he warned that the gun battles between Palestinian gangs did not constitute resistance to Israel.
Qureia has blamed the lawlessness in the PA areas on the failure of the leadership to take any decisions. Qureia warned the security personnel to either act as police or step down and stressed that the government would no longer be able to carry out its duties amid the chaos. Rest at link. Interesting read too. Things could get real ugly for the Paleos.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/21/2005 12:07
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Whose prediction was closest to this date?
I think I'll go make two batches of popcorn. One with salt and butter substitutes for those of you with cardiovascular issues. The other with extra butter and salt, to celebrate with. Be back shortly! ;-)
Sorry, Folks. Previous story had a one comment that broke our sites formatting. Had to dump the whole lot and repost without your insightful commentary. Please, no collection of links and photos in comments
Links and photos, formatted incorrectly, can hose the site quicker than anything. Please respect that.
Russia and China have joined forces in a major U.N. forum to oppose U.S. plans to develop new space weapons. And the move could herald a far more wide-ranging strategic cooperation between the two nations.
Russia and China have joined forces to urge the U.N. Conference on Disarmament to launch a new round of international negotiations to prevent the increased militarization of space. On June 9, the two countries issued a joint working paper calling for the reactivation of the moribund Committee on Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space that was discontinued in 1994. The appeal was delivered to the Disarmament Conference in Geneva.
Hu Xiaodi, China's veteran top negotiator, and one of its most influential policymakers on space weapons systems, told the conference, "The recent developments concerning outer space are worrisome and require more urgent efforts to start work on preventing an arms race in outer space... China and Russia stand for the negotiation, at the Disarmament Conference, of an international legal instrument prohibiting the deployment of weapons in outer space and use of force against outer space objects." Analyst Sergei Blatov writing for the Eurasia Daily Monitor of the Washington-based Jamestown Foundation called the Sino-Russian initiative "an apparent strategic partnership" and added that it was "understood to be anti-Washington, due to known joint Russo-Chinese opposition to the planned U.S. National Missile Defense (NMD) program."
Posted by: Steve ||
06/21/2005
10:40 ||
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Probably better to delete this article altogether, since without the commentary posted earlier, this article is basically misleading garbage that will go unanswered.
Serial killer Chandu killed in 'crossfire'
June 20: Alleged extremist leaders Babul Karim Chandu (40) and Shooter Jamal were killed in Rapid Action Battalion's (RAB) crossfire incidents in Kushtia and Pabna districts.
A professional serial killer and commander of underground Naxalite Party of Faridpur under Pabna, Babul Karim alias Chandu, was killed in gunfight with the members of RAB-5 at village Ramarama under Bagmara upazila of Rajshahi Sunday night. Sources in the RAB said Chandu was taken to RAB office in Rajshahi for interrogation after he was arrested from his own village Badal.
"Youse coming down to the office, Chandu!"
When quizzed,
"The 9 inch visegrips, please."
he said that his associates, including top-ranking leaders and activists of the party, have been hiding at Bagmara area and continuing the party activities secretly. Based on his confessional statement, RAB members along with Chandu went to Bagmara at round about 11:45pm Saturday in a bid to arrest his cohorts and recover firearms and ammunitions.
11:45pm? That's early for them. Must have a date later.
As soon as they reached near the house of a local chairman at village Ramrama under Bagmara upazila, a gang of unidentified robbers...
Not his cadre? That's a new meme
intercepted the RAB convoy and attacked with gun shots prompting the RAB members retaliate that resulted in a 10-minute gunfight.
Humm, normally they last for an hour. Must have a new script vwriter
Chandu was caught in crossfire when he tried to flee from the spot.
"Feet don't....Ouch, rosebud "
Later, the RAB members found him lying on the C&B metalled road in a critical condition with severe bullet injuries.
Another new storyline, the new guy is much more creative
He was rushed to Bagmara Health Complex, but the attending doctors declared him dead.
"He's dead, Jim"
I'm telling ya, get him to the Chittagong University Medical Center Level 1 Trauma Unit and ... he'll still die.
One Shooter gun was recovered from the spot.
Found out "shooter gun" is a shotgun.
Sources concerned said Chandu was a serial killer as he was allegedly accused in at least 13 murder cases.
They use "serial killer" diferently than we do. Chandu sounds more like a murderous gangster than a Ted Bundy
First, he killed one Majid Molla and threatened the family members of not filing any case with the police. Later, the family men were ousted from the locality. He then killed Faruque, son of Majid Molla, and Kalam, which was later known as sensational double murder case. Chandu also killed Hamid, son of Rahmat Molla, Rokon, son of Hamid Molla, Najmul, son of Alimuddin, Monju Molla of village Baikola under Ataikula upazila, Tapa Shahid of village Shalikpara and Nannu of village Baikola. Shahidullah, son of late Minhaj Uddin Sarder, was hacked and hurt seriously and was evicted from the village by Chandu group.
Besides, Chandu was involved in killings of Obaidul of village Shibpur, Osman of village Shreepur, Rezaul Karim of village Balughata, Salam, Kala and Sabuj of village Mongalgram Bazaar. He was also involved in a number of looting, violence and extortion cases.
In Kushtia, alleged extremist cadre Shooter Jamal was killed in crossfire with police and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) early Monday near the Ujangram Bridge in Kushtia. RAB said they arrested Jamal Sunday morning from Rampura area of the capital and took him to Kushtia for interrogation where they came to know about their ammunition and cadres.
Same story, new guy
Following Jamal's statement police and RAB raided the residence of a betel-leaf trader Ziarat Monday at Panthapara of Kushtia sadar at about 3am and dug out two guns from the courtyard of his residence.
Later, police and RAB, taking Jamal and Ziarat with them, went to nab the cadres of the Gonomukti Fouj. When they reached near the Ujangram Bridge at about 4am, extremists opened fire on them.
We're back to the old writer
In retaliation police and RAB also opened fire. At one stage of the encounter, Jamal tried to escape but fell in the line of fire and died on the spot. The encounter continued for half an hour. Police said he was accused in seven cases, including SI Illias murder and eight-murder cases.
Two alleged terrors lynched in Magura
June 20: Two alleged terrors were lynched while one of their accomplices was critically injured in mass beating at a village in Sripur Upazila here this (Monday) morning. The dead were identified as Majed (30) of Shailakupa Upazila of Jhenidah and Rezaul (28) of Pangsha Upazila in Rajbari district.
Police Super Lutfar Rahman said angry villagers of Nabogram caught Majed, Rezaul and Manju, who had allegedly abducted Dev Dulal, a teacher of Amalsar High School on June 13 and demanded Tk 5 lakh for his release. On receipt of information, villagers stormed into the house of Manju and rescued the abducted teacher.
Majed and Rezaul were beaten to death on the spot by angry villagers and left Manju critically injured, witnesses said.
And a fun time was had by all.
Manju was rushed to Magura Sadar Hospital. The bodies were sent to hospital morgue for autopsy.
Ctg Juba Dal cadre arrested by RAB
June 20: The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested top terrorist and Juba Dal cadre Nasir Uddin alias Nasya from Rangunia upazila in the district this afternoon. Sources said, acting on a secret information, a team of RAB raided the Lichu Bagan area under Rangunia upazila in the district at around 4 pm today and arrested the terrorist.
Sources said, the arrested Juba Dal cadre Nasir Uddin alias Nasya is a listed top terrorist and accused in 11 cases. He possessed illegal firearms. He formed a terrorists group at the Rangunia area in the district and committed various types of crime including murder, extortion etc. The RAB sources said, they are interrogating the terrorist to recover the firearms from his possession till filling this report Monday night.
Nasya may end up face down in a alley by then
Police also arrested two listed terrorists from different spots in the city last night. The arrested criminals are identified as Md Mohiuddin (30) and Salahuddin alias Soilya (25). Panchlaish thana police arrested Mohiuddin from Mominbag area in the city last night. On the other hand Bandar thana police arrested Salahuddin alias Soilya from Miler Matha area in the city last ninght. The arrested persons are accused in four cases each, said the police.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/21/2005
09:51 ||
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Ha! A shotgun! Yes! Indeed, I was right again, 3rd time this month.
Chandu 'eh? Familiar name, wonderin ifn he has a brother in the US>
June 21, 2005: SOCOM is replacing the 25mm and 40mm guns, on its AC-130 gunships with, two 30mm Bushmaster cannon. The Mk44 30mm Bushmaster cannon weighs 344 pounds and fires at 200 or 400 rounds per minute (up to 7 per second). The cannon has 160 rounds available, before needing a reload. That means the gunner has 25-50 seconds worth of ammo, depending on rate of fire used. Each 30mm round weighs about 25 ounces (depending on type.) The anti-armor shell weighs about half a pound. The armor piercing round will go through 25mm of steel at 2,000 meters range. This will get through the top armor of most vehicles, and spray the inside with fragments. At that range, time of flight is about 1.7 seconds. Explosive anti-personnel rounds are also available. From higher altitudes (up to 6,000 meters), the AC-130 fire control system and night vision sensors, enable the 30mm gunners to accurately hit targets with high explosive shells.
The existing 25mm and 40mm guns are being phased out of military service, and the new 30mm gun is easier to operate. The first four AC-130s converted to use the 30mm guns, will be available later this year, with the rest of the 21 AC-130s converted next year.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/21/2005
09:49 ||
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Let's see the jihadis outrun these new guns (play on yesterday's story about the "insurgents" running around like they thought they could outrun a bullet).
Posted by: BA ||
06/21/2005 10:06
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From the same Strategypage column :
"May 11, 2005: The U.S. Air Force is shipping to Iraq a new bomb, HardSTOP (Hardened Surface Target Ordnance Package), designed to destroy the inside of target buildings, without damaging adjacent buildings. HardSTOP is a GPS guided half ton cluster bomb. The GPS and computer in the bomb control the dispersal of 54 smaller bomblets, that are designed to penetrate the roof of a building and explode inside. The bomb software can be programmed to distribute the bomblets in an area as small as 20 feet in diameter, or up to 110 feet. When the bomblets go through the roof, they explode. Some of the bomblets can be programmed to go through one or more floors before exploding. With HardSTOP, the risk of damage to nearby buildings is minimal. Actually, the building the bomblets hit wonât be damaged much, as the small explosive charge in each bomblet is designed to kill people, not destroy a building. In effect, HARDStop puts 54 large hand grenades inside a building, allowing nearby friendly troops to quickly move in and take possession."
Now, THAT's room-clearing!
Posted by: Edward Yee ||
06/21/2005 10:26
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The existing 25mm and 40mm guns are being phased out of military service, and the new 30mm gun is easier to operate. The first four AC-130s converted to use the 30mm guns, will be available later this year, with the rest of the 21 AC-130s converted next year
Will this eventually work its way down to the 25mm on the Bradley? One thing I am absolutely in favor of is commonality of ammunition types across the services when ever posible. I never really understood why the Navy should have a 6 inch naval rifle that used a different ammunition than the Army's 155MM SP and towed artillery. To me that is plain stupid
#5
This is a good move I think. Many lessons learned and put into action from recent experience. The air crew that have to reload these things in flight will be happy too I hope.
#6
Cheaderhead:
Not necessarily. It's possible (all My copies of Janes and such are at home) the Army guns are shorter and lighter than the Navy ones, trading off range and penetration against maneuverability. If you use a different barrel, the ammo should be different for best performance.
Now, if the they really are identical in size, then, yes, they probably should be unified, though remember that it could only be phased in over several years, since you don't want to throw out perfectly good weapons and ask Congress for new ones to save money.
Actually, what I dislike is that completely different weapons have the same caliber. Despite its many problems, the old Soviet Army did some good things. They would choose a slightly different caliber for different weapons. So you had a 73mm cannon, a 75mm rocket, a 76mm RCL and an 81(?)mm mortar. When you are trying to get more ammo from the rear, with your communications being disrupted, you just have to get "7-3" or "7-6" across.
Supposedly, this policy occurred when they were demonstrating the new 130mm rocket to Stalin. They opened the boxes and found 130mm HE artillery shells. Oops.
#7
When I was still in ('98) they were talking about a switch to the 30mm and ditch the TOW launcher for a HellFire Launcher. The 25mm Bushmaster was an awesome weapon. We had gunners that took out T-62's with the 25mm in the first Gulf War. They discovered that if you had a flank shot you could penetrate with AP. You just had to hit the thin armor between the road wheels.
#8
So are the old phased out 40mm's available for purchase at WalMart yet, we have a gopher problem and I need something serious to rectify it.
Posted by: Mountain Man ||
06/21/2005 16:39
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#9
Snif!
I never go anywhere without my Janes.
ummm..... Im desperate for a '88 copy under market, I don't mind begging. There're damn difficult to steal, especially since Strozier sealed off the 6th floor windows.
Wanted: Stolen car. Make and model: Ford Crown Victoria. Owner: D.C. police department.
Reported stolen by: Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey.
Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey's car was stolen while he was out of town at a conference. So goes the saga of car theft in the District, where even the police chief's department-issued car can get swiped a block from his home. "There is not a whole lot to add to it," Ramsey said. "The car was taken, and there was nothing of real value in it. Cars are getting stolen every day."
D.C. police officials said Ramsey's black unmarked car was stolen between Friday night and Sunday morning from a street in Southwest Washington. It had been left there Friday by a member of the force's motor pool so Ramsey would have it when he returned from a one-week trip to a counter-terrorism conference in Scotland. Ramsey arrived home early Sunday. When he awoke to go to church later that morning, he couldn't find the black Crown Victoria, and he and his wife went to church in her personal car, he said. The chief said initially he thought there was simply a misunderstanding about where the motor pool officer had left the car. But yesterday morning, after another fruitless search for the vehicle, he concluded that it had been stolen. Police officials said they do not believe the thieves knew they were taking the police chief's car. No weapons were left in the Crown Victoria, but it was equipped with a police radio. Its trunk contained a large duffle bag filled with some of the chief's riot gear, police said.
Union officials said the chief should be investigated for leaving the gear unattended because officers would be disciplined in a similar situation, a claim that the chief denied. "It's embarrassing," said Sgt. Gregory I. Greene, chairman of the D.C. police labor committee for Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 1. "The chief is responsible for his own equipment."
D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), chairman of the council's Judiciary Committee, said the theft of Ramsey's unmarked car shows how serious the area's auto theft problem has become. "People are going to say, 'If the chief's car is stolen, how do I know that my car is safe?' " Mendelson said. "This just points to the fact that lots of cars are stolen in the city."
A few hours after Ramsey reported the theft, investigators passed out fliers to commanders and other supervisors that described the missing Crown Victoria, which has District tags AL-6072. Although police do not distribute fliers for most stolen cars, investigators said they routinely do so when departmental vehicles are pinched. Ramsey and other police officials said the theft of the car is not indicative of crime trends, which show auto theft dropping substantially in the city. Through mid-June, police recorded 2,759 auto thefts, down 29 percent from the 3,880 tallied during the same period last year. In all of last year, 8,136 cars were stolen in the District -- a decrease of almost 15 percent from the 9,549 car thefts recorded in 2003, according to FBI statistics. The county's auto theft rate has almost doubled in the past five years, with 18,485 cars reported stolen in 2004.
Posted by: too true ||
06/21/2005
09:46 ||
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Oh, like it's still around. Chopped, within 20 minutes of being boosted.
#3
Here's a very good question: Why is any part of Washington, D.C., private property? There seems to be no reason to have businesses or residences in the city, except those subcontracting to, and inside government buildings. If the government started a program to mosey inhabitants out of the city, giving them more than fair value for their property, most D.C. crime would end; traffic would be halved; parking could be structured to government employee, government business, and tourism; and there would be lots of space to enlarge or annex government offices *and* public spaces.
"The car was taken, and there was nothing of real value in it. Cars are getting stolen every day."
That attitude is at least part of the problem, dipshit.
And I wouldn't call a police radio and riot gear "nothing of value." But that's just me.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/21/2005 13:30
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'Moose - I've long proposed that Congress declare the area around the Mall (encompassing Congress, the White House, the gov't buildings, monuments, etc. - probably something in the area of the Potomac to H or K Street and from maybe 2nd St. NE to 23rd St. NW) as "Washington, D.C." and cede the rest of presentday DC back to Maryland. I suppose they'd have to make some provision for Embassy row, but who knows? That's just a detail.
The trick, of course, would be making Maryland take it. It would probably entail LOTS of money. (Though probably no more that we waste on DC now.)
Any owners of private residences left in the new DC would have a choice: sell to the gov't (with some sort of clause in the deed that it couldn't be sold to another private party, only rented at market rates), or continue to live there and SHUT UP about voting. Their choice.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/21/2005 13:41
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#8
Follow the money.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
06/21/2005 14:39
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Barbara - I've had the same idea, especially considering the idiots Jesse Jackson who want DC to be a state. Just as Arlington was given back to Virginia in the 1850s, the residential part of DC should be given back to Maryland. Wth regard to embassies IIRC some are in Maryland already.
#11
Spot - If the idiots would read the original documents cedeing land from VA & MD to make DC, they would know that part of the agreement is that DC can't become a state.
Of course the leftist MSM will never report that. And Jesse "Extortion" Jackson doesn't care about agreements, rules, deeds, etc. - he just wants his self-centered way and the hell with everyone else. Jackass.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/21/2005 16:32
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June 21, 2005: There are emerging and nascent nuclear powers in the world. This is how it has been since 1945, when the Soviet Union stole the secrets to the atomic bomb to gain parity with the United States. For the past sixty years, countries have schemed and scrambled to become nuclear powers. The genie is out of the bottle, to an extent, and getting it back in is extremely unlikely. Four countries (India, Israel, North Korea, and Pakistan) have small, but growing nuclear arsenals — these are the emerging nuclear powers. Several other countries, most notably Iran and Brazil, can best be described as nascent nuclear powers.
India is one of the larger emerging nuclear powers. It has a large force of missiles (75 Prithvi, each with a range of up to 250 kilometers, and 20 Agni, each with a range of 2,000 kilometers). India also has been known to have detonated several nuclear weapons in 1998. Their arsenal is generally cited in the range of 60 to 80 warheads, but it could be as high as 200. In addition to the missile arsenal, India could use aircraft like the Jaguar and MiG-27, to deliver a nuclear strike. India could also use submarines to fire cruise missiles, and has fired the Prithvi from underwater, indicating that an effort to
Israel is arguably the emerging power with the largest nuclear arsenal, although, they have not officially declared a nuclear arsenal. This arsenal is estimated to have as few as 80 to as many as 300 nuclear weapons. Some are on Jericho ballistic missiles (50 Jericho 1, with a 500-kilometer range and 50 Jericho 2, with a range of 1500 to 4000 kilometers), others are reportedly on 12 Popeye Turbo cruise missiles (with a range of 200 to 1500 kilometers) launched from Dolphin-class submarines. The balance are gravity bombs used from Israeli aircraft like the F-16, F-15I, F-4, and A-4. The Israeli nuclear arsenal is probably on par with that of France in terms of quantity, and larger than the United Kingdom, but details are kept very quiet, and Israel has not publicly declared itself to be in possession of nuclear weapons.
Pakistan developed nuclear weapons in response to India's program. This is a much more limited program, due to efforts by the United States to keep it in check. Pakistan's 1998 nuclear tests brought sanctions, but the Pakistani program, led by the now-notorious Abdul Qadeer Khan, produced about 30 weapons. Pakistan is capable of adding four to eight weapons per year. Some are used on the Shaheen missiles (The Shaheen is a copy of the Chinese M-11, the Shaheen I is a copy of the M-9, and the Shaheen II is a copy of the Chinese M-18, with a 2,000 kilometer range) and the Ghauri III (a copy of the North Korean Nodong missile, with a 2,500-kilometer range). Pakistan's F-16s could also be used to deliver gravity bombs.
North Korea is the last of the emerging nuclear powers. It has a small arsenal, anywhere from 13 to 20 weapons. It also has a large missile arsenal (100 Nodong missiles, with a 1,300 kilometer range; 10 Nodong-B missiles, with a range of 2,750 to 4,000 kilometers, and 5 Taepo Dong 2 missiles, with a range of 13,500 miles), but its nuclear weapons seem limited to gravity bombs from aircraft.
Two other countries are trying to join this club of emerging nuclear powers. Brazil has been pursuing some sort of nuclear weapons program since 1975, and suspicions have been heightened due to public statements by President Lula da Silva criticizing the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and refusals to cooperate with the IAEA on some inspections.
Iran is the other, and more notable nascent power. It is also one of concern, due to its sponsorship of Hezbollah. Iran's arrival to the nuclear weapons club is estimated to be sometime in 2005, but the ability is said to be almost definite by 2010. These efforts are centered around Bushehr.
Two other countries are worth noting as a dormant nuclear power. South Africa had six nuclear weapons in the 1980s, delivered from aircraft (the Buccaneer or Cheetah). They were dismantled in 1991, and South Africa is now declaring no nuclear ambitions. This is the only time that any nation has voluntarily given up nuclear weapons. Libya also has given up a nuclear weapons program, after spending as much as $140 million, including $100 million in payments to Pakistani scientists, although this was done while the United States was preparing to liberate Iraq. Qaddafi decided that surrendering his nuclear weapons program was the safest course of action.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/21/2005
09:44 ||
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One could add Japan to this list if the situation warranted it doing so probably in short order. Right now I think the possbilty of a nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan is a remote possibility. Personaly I think the Indians developed their arsenal more with an eye on China. For the Israelis to use nucs I think would take a nuclear attack on them or their being in a position of looking at a total defeat of the IDF in the field. Unlikely IMO. North Korea is the wild card in this bunch. If they have an arsenal of 15 to 20 weapons they could threaten the South Koreans (or the Japanese) with the destruction of their population centers or simply try a pre-emptive attack. The greatest likely hood for this IMO would be a use it or loose it scenario.
The other possible nuclear regional powers such as Brazil really don't make a whole lot of sense. Why would Brazil want or need nuclear weapons. Its not as though they couldn't defeat any potential regional threat if they had to. The only way it makes sense for them to obtain nucs is to use them as a leverage device with the US and even then it does not make much sense. And if the Brazilians obtain nucs the some other nations in SA might make the decision to go nuclear too. Just what the world woulf need, another regional arms race. One possible nuclear nation that make some sort of sense is Indonesia from their view point. A large portion of world trade passes through Indonesian waters and at soe point in the future they may feel the need to flex their muscles. It doesn't make any sense to me but it could happen. Another possible reason is to threaten Australia. A large mostly empty neighbor right next door to a heavily populated island chain is a recipe for sleepless nights in Canberra. But if Indonesia does go nuclear I think it will be more of a response to Iran and Pakistan. If those Islamic nations go nuclear then why shouldn't the world's most populous Islamic nation go nuclear also.
Two army troops were killed and 13 others injured in fighting in western Algeria, reports said Tuesday. French-language daily Le Soir D'Algerie reported that the casualties occurred in the region of Kabael when explosive charges allegedly planted by armed Islamic groups blew up cutting through army patrols combing the area. The Salafi Group for Daawa and Fighting, one of Algeria's most feared groups, is known to be quite active in Kabael. In another incident, security forces rounded up 21 people in the province of Saida, 250 miles west of Algiers, on charges of offering support to armed groups, including laundering money.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/21/2005
09:43 ||
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Luxembourg will go ahead with its referendum on the EU constitution next month, despite a decision by European leaders to pause the ratification process. Lawmakers from the tiny EU state Monday agreed that the July 10 vote should take place as planned, just weeks after the French and Dutch electorates rejected the rulebook for an enlarged Europe. Polls show the "yes" vote of 46 percent and the "no" camp at 38 percent -- a rise of 6 percentage points in a month.
The "no" camp is gaining, I think they want a quick vote before "no" gets any bigger
Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who is chairman of the EU, has pledged to resign if the traditionally pro-European country rejects the constitution. In a separate poll for the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper, half of Finns said they would vote against the treaty if given the chance, with one-third in favor of the controversial text.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/21/2005
09:36 ||
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#1
Section 937A(2): We will find a way to screw the Finns.
#6
Well, the vote could influence Liechtenstein, Andorra, and Monaco. I'm not sure if Vatican City gets to vote.
Posted by: Matt ||
06/21/2005 12:44
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#7
Liechtenstein ist not an EU member at all (using Swiss Francs), technically Andorra, Monaco and Vaticanm ain't either but they use the Euro and have a custom's union with the EU
It is important that support for Israel in the US Congress is bipartisan. Israel, the only functioning democracy in the Middle East, has no real friend in the world other than America. The stability of that friendship, demonstrated by support in the Congress (and among the American people) over many decades, has been vitally important to help Israel withstand over 50 years of attacks by terrorists or Arab nations. Israel's foes ultimately do not want compromise with it, they have the goal of destroying the nation militarily, or de-legitimizing it politically (such as at the UN and various international courts and bodies, or in academia and among the "intelligentsia").
At different times in Israel's short recent history, one or the other party has been in control of the Congress, but the support for Israel has not depended on which party was ascendant. A major reason for the support for a strong US Israel relationship in Congress, and the fact that it has remained bipartisan, has been the work of AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
Regrettably, this bipartisan support appears to be slipping away. A year ago, I wrote an article titled Why the left hates Israel, pointing out how the biggest threat to the Jewish state today comes from the political left. But I noted then, that at least in Congress, where support for Israel might be a bit stronger among the GOP than among Democratic members, the fever swamps of anti-Israel hate had not yet reached into the Democratic side of the aisle, with the exception of a very few members such as Cynthia McKinney, Jim Moran, and Fritz Hollings.
So what are we to make of Thursday's mock Judiciary Committee hearing designed to impeach President Bush, conducted by Michigan Congressman John Conyers? The meeting was attended by about 30 Democratic members of Congress. Among them were Jewish members, such as Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank, New York Congressman Jerry Nadler, New York Congresswoman Nita Lowey, and Illinois Congresswoman Jan Schakowski. As reported in the Washington Post but (surprise, surprise!) not in the New York Times,
The session took an awkward turn when witness Ray McGovern, a former intelligence analyst, declared that the United States went to war in Iraq for oil, Israel and military bases craved by administration "neocons" so "the United States and Israel could dominate that part of the world." He said that Israel should not be considered an ally and that Bush was doing the bidding of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
"Israel is not allowed to be brought up in polite conversation," McGovern said. 'The last time I did this, the previous director of Central Intelligence called me anti-Semitic."
Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.), who prompted the question by wondering whether the true war motive was Iraq's threat to Israel, thanked McGovern for his "candid answer."
At Democratic headquarters, where an overflow crowd watched the hearing on television, activists handed out documents repeating two accusations -- that an Israeli company had warning of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and that there was an "insider trading scam" on 9/11 -- that previously has been used to suggest Israel was behind the attacks.
The event organizer, Democrats.com, distributed stickers saying "Bush lied/100,000 people died." One man's T-shirt proclaimed, "Whether you like Bush or not, he's still an incompetent liar," while a large poster of Uncle Sam announced: "Got kids? I want yours for cannon fodder."
So the Democrats in Congress are now giving voice and credibility to the view that Israel was responsible for the Iraq war. And other Democrats, watching the hearing at the DNC, are hosting anti-Semites who argue that Israel had advance warning of the 9/11 attacks and is therefore responsible for allowing the attacks to occur. And even deeper into familiar anti-Semitic tropes: that Israelis withheld the information so as to benefit financially.
This sounds exactly like classic anti-Semitism. These messages were not being conveyed on anti-Semitic web sites, or on Palestinian TV and radio on Thursday, but at a Democratic function from a meeting room in Congress, with more than 10% of the Democrats in Congress in attendance, and at Democratic National Headquarters. . In all likelihood, these outrageous charges are now being communicated and rebroadcast throughout the Arab and Muslim world, with the imprimatur and legitimacy of the Democratic National Committee, and the US Congress as the reliable source.
Until late Friday, no Democratic Party official or Congressman, had expressed any discomfort with what happened. Now, we have a statement by Congressman Barney Frank, saying he was out of the conference room when the bad stuff happened in the mock impeachment trial, and that he thinks McGovern's view are noxious. So too, DNC Chairman Howard Dean released a statement saying the DNC rejects the hate literature that was being distributed in its own office.
In fact, the activist groups that watched the meeting at the DNC, and handed out the moonbat conspiracy literature blaming Israel for 9/11, were there as guests of the DNC. No one at the DNC can claim that they were surprised that the "hearing" in Congress or the advocacy in their office took on an anti-Semitic slant. McGovern's views are well known (that is why he was invited by Conyers, presumably), and the activists were handing out their anti-Semitic literature openly to everyone in sight in the DNC office. Except for the fact that Dana Milbank, the Washington Post reporter, (and no friend of the Bush administration for that matter), described what actually went on in his Washington Post article, this story never would have surfaced and in all likelihood, no apologies would have been offered. That is, I think, because for an increasing share of the activist members of the Democratic Party, no offense to any of this would have been taken.
In the past few weeks, the obsessive hatred of President Bush by the left has led to some extraordinarily stupid and vicious comments by Illinois Senator Richard Durbin and DNC Chairman Howard Dean, among others. Dean claimed that Republicans do not need to work (62 million trust fund loafers apparently voted for President Bush in November), and that Republicans are evil. Durbin's comments were worse: that the treatment of a few detainees in Guantanamo was so abhorrent, that it brought back memories of the Nazis in the concentration camps, or Pol Pot's murderous Cambodian killers. Trivializing the holocaust is a mainstay theme of the left, from PETA's ad campaign comparing the holocaust to Americans eating chicken for dinner to the constant attempt by university professors to argue that Israel is behaving like the Nazis. Now Dick Durbin has joined this slanderous troop.
Democrats, to judge by recent events, appear to be losing their collective minds in some form of shriek therapy. Being out of power may do that to a party used to having its way for many decades in Congress. But there is one other possible explanation for the apparent insanity. With so much money concentrated in the hands of some hard left advocates (think George Soros, Hollywood, trial lawyers, internet millionaires and some union bosses), the Democrats may feel the need to feed the beast - to protect and cater to their hardcore base, so as to keep the money flowing into the political coffers for future campaigns. So the strategy is for Democrats to be completely over the top in their attacks - trashing Bush, America, our military, Republicans, and Israel, all of whom are targets of the activists, to keep the moveon.org and Dailykos crowds happy.
Jews voted almost 3 to 1 for John Kerry over George Bush in the 2004 election. With Bush having achieved a notable record of support for Israel in his first term, the explanation for this voting pattern would seem to be that Israel mattered less to liberal Jewish voters than abortion rights, the environment, social justice, gay marriage, etc. That is fine, so long as the Democratic Party and its candidates were at least supportive of Israel, and critical of anti-Semitism.
But when the Democratic Party sponsors what amounts to a festival full of anti-Semitic hysteria and Israel bashing at its own headquarters, and invites anti-Semitic conspiracy theorists in to address members of their Congressional delegation, then I think that the line of basic support for Israel has been crossed. Arguably, when former President Jimmy Carter invited filmmaker and Israel hater Michael Moore to share his Presidential box at the 2004 Democratic convention, the line had already been crossed. Or maybe it was crossed when the entire Democratic establishment treated Jew-baiter Al Sharpton as a serious Presidential candidate and respected member of the Party in 2004. Now, there can be little doubt.
Democrats, who still have their heads screwed on straight, and retain some sense of decency, like Joe Lieberman, and Steny Hoyer, need to take a long look in the mirror at the unraveling of their Party, and begin to do something about it. Whoever was responsible for allowing the Jew hating conspiracy theorists in the DNC offices to distribute their garbage should be fired. John Conyers should be asked to explain why a known anti-Semite like McGovern was invited to the panel's discussions. Why did no member of Congress attending the Conyers hearing challenge McGovern when he went off on his loopy theories? Not only Barney Frank owes an explanation and an apology to the public for such passivity in the face of evil.
The Israel haters, and anti-Semites believe they have found a comfortable home in the Democratic Party. If American Jews continue to vote overwhelmingly for the Democrats, then they will be casting their votes for a Party which is becoming indifferent to Israel bashing and anti-Semitism, and in the case of Conyers inviting McGovern to speak, even promoting these toxic views.
Just a few weeks back, Howard Dean blathered that Republicans were the white Christian party. The events in Washington Thursday suggest that in reality it is Howard Dean's own Democratic Party which is no longer interested in welcoming America's Jews.
#1
With Bush having achieved a notable record of support for Israel in his first term, the explanation for this voting pattern would seem to be that Israel mattered less to liberal Jewish voters than abortion rights, the environment, social justice, gay marriage, etc. That is fine, so long as the Democratic Party and its candidates were at least supportive of Israel, and critical of anti-Semitism.
Richard Baehr's tone is offensive,IMO, to Americans who are of the Jewish faith. Votes should be won or lost by an AMERICAN political party on the very issues that Baehr seems to be sneering at because obviously he thinks loyalty to Israel should rank as #1 voting issue for Jewish-Americans. I think Baehr's type of thinking gives credence to theories about how dual citizenship in Americans might lead to conflicted loyalties. IMO, Baehr's rant about "classic anti-Semitism/fever swamps of anti-Israel hate" in evidence at Thursday's mock Judiciary Committee is excessive. Granted, there were probably some anti-war nuts in the audience handing out their conspiracy pamphlets, but so what? These type of knats are always buzzing around with one conspiracy theory or other - some still think the JFK assassination was an inside job of CIA, FBI, and Mafia. No one pays attention to them and if anything because their theories are so off the charts, they have a zero threshold of credibility. But free speech is a protected right, no matter how obnoxious it may be. We all can excercise the right to decline to listen to or read offensive examples of free speech. I don't think censorship of ideas is acceptable in a free nation. The very idea of a Baehr implying that any criticism ranging from reasoned to crazy tinfoil conspiracies of Israel is anti-semitic or that our government's support of Israel is written in stone is hogwash. Israel is a nation looking out for its own interests, which are not always our best interests. Israel is not our 51st state. If Israel does things not in the USA's best interests (like selling defense secrets to China or spying) then our gov't has every right to sanction/censure Israel - that's not being "anti-semitic." That would be Uncle Sam looking out for its own country's interests as it should.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal agency collected extensive personal information about airline passengers although Congress told it not to and it said it wouldn't, according to documents obtained Monday by The Associated Press.
Gee, that sounds like the BATF and gun sales records
A Transportation Security Administration contractor used three data brokers to collect detailed information about U.S. citizens who flew on commercial airlines in June 2004 in order to test a terrorist screening program called Secure Flight, according to documents that will be published in the Federal Register this week.
The TSA had ordered the airlines to turn over data on those passengers, called passenger name records, in November. The contractor, EagleForce Associates, then combined the passenger name records with commercial data from three contractors that included first, last and middle names, home address and phone number, birthdate, name suffix, second surname, spouse first name, gender, second address, third address, ZIP code and latitude and longitude of address. EagleForce then produced CD-ROMS containing the information "and provided those CD-ROMS to TSA for use in watch list match testing," the documents said.
According to previous official notices, TSA had said it would not store commercial data about airline passengers. The Privacy Act of 1974 prohibits the government from keeping a secret database. "I'm just floored," said Tim Sparapani, a privacy lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union. "This is like creating an FBI file, not just some simple check, and then they're storing the data."
TSA spokesman Mark Hatfield said the program was being developed with a commitment to privacy, and that it was routine to change the official definition of a system of records during a test phase.
I guess it all depends on what your definition of "store" is. Wonder where I've heard that before?
Posted by: Steve ||
06/21/2005
09:26 ||
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#1
God help us if they ever link to our credit files :)
Posted by: Mountain Man ||
06/21/2005 16:12
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#3
Federal Agency Collected Extensive Personal Data About Airline Passengers Despite Pledge
Gee, that sounds like the BATF and gun sales records
God help us if they ever link to our credit files
Sigh... now where did I put that tinfoil helmet liner?
(with a suitably naiif tone of voice) Well, I'm not worried...I dont do anything wrong.
Posted by: N guard ||
06/21/2005 16:59
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Been following the latest horrifying stories from what Amnesty International calls the "gulag of our time"? John Kass of The Chicago Tribune was outraged by the news that records by Christina Aguilera had been played at Guantanamo at full volume in order to soften up detainees. He thought they should have used "Dance, Ballerina, Dance" by Vaughn Monroe, over and over and over.
Well, readers had plenty of suggestions of their own, and so the Tribune's website put together a list of "Interro-Tunes" — the most effective songs for aural intimidation, mood music for jolting your jihadi. A lot were the usual suspects - like the Captain and Tennille's blamelessly goofy "Muskrat Love", which, as I recall, put the Queen to sleep at a White House gala, though the Duke of Edinburgh sat agog all the way to the end. Someone suggested Bob Dylan's "Everybody Must Get Stoned", which even on a single hearing sounds like it's being played over and over. I don't know what Mr Kass has against "Ballerina", which is very pleasant in the Nat "King" Cole version. But he seems to think one burst of "Dance, ballerina, dance/And do your pirouette in rhythm with your aching heart" will have the Islamists howling for the off-switch and singing like canaries to the Feds. Who knows? I sang "Ballerina" myself once on the radio long ago, and, if it will discombobulate the inmates, I'm willing to dust off my arrangement and fly down to Guantanamo, if necessary dressed liked Christina Aguilera. If they want an encore, I'll do my special culturally sensitive version of that Stevie Wonder classic, "My Sharia Amour".
By now, one or two readers may be frothing indignantly, "That's not funny! Bush's torture camp at Guantanamo is the gulag of our time, if not of all time." But that's the point. The world divides into those who feel the atrocities at Gitmo "must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime — Pol Pot or others" (in the widely quoted words of Senator Dick Durbin), and the rest of us, for whom the more we hear the specifics of the "atrocities" the funnier they are. They bear the same relation to the gulags (15-30 million dead), the Nazi camps (nine million dead) and the killing fields of Cambodia (two million dead) as Mel Brooksâ "Springtime For Hitler" does to the original. Nobody complained at Auschwitz that the guards were playing the 78s of The Merry Widow (the Fuhrer's favorite operetta) with the volume knob too high. When that old KGB hand Yuri Andropov succeeded Brezhnev as the big guy in the Kremlin, he was reported in the western press to be a big Glenn Miller fan. But to the best of my knowledge no-one suggested he was in the basement of the Lubyanka torturing the inmates with "I Got A Gal In Kalamazoo".
The first time the full-blast junk-pop treatment caught the eye of the media was a decade and a half back, when US troops bombarded the Panamanian strongman General Noriega with the Bobby Fuller Four's "I Fought The Law (And The Law Won)". In those days, nobody reckoned it was torture. But these days torture seems to be in the ear of the behearer. Because the jihadi find western culture depraved — and I'm not necessarily in disagreement on that, at least where Christina Aguilera's concerned — we're obliged to be extra-super-duper-sensitive with them.
Says who? Again, the more one hears the specifics of the "insensitivity" of the American regime at Guantanamo, the more many of us reckon we're being way too sensitive. For example, camp guards are under instructions to handle copies of the Koran only when wearing gloves. The reason for this is that the detainees regard infidels as "unclean". Fair enough, each to his own. But it's one thing for the Islamists to think infidels are unclean, quite another for the infidels to agree with them. Far from being tortured, the prisoners are being handled literally with kid gloves (or simulated kid-effect gloves). The US military hand each jihadi his complimentary copy of the Koran as delicately as white-gloved butlers bringing His Lordship The Times of London. When I bought a Koran to bone up on Islam a couple of days after 9/11, I didn't wear gloves to the bookstore. If that's "disrespectful" to Muslims, tough. You should have thought about that before you allowed your holy book to become the central motivation for global jihad.
I'm not arguing the merits here so much as the politics. There's certainly a discussion to be had about how to categorize these people. As things stand, they're not covered by the Geneva Conventions — they're unlawful combatants, captured fighting in civilian clothes rather than uniform, and, when it comes to name, rank and serial number, they lack at least two thereof, and even the first is often highly variable. As a point of "international law", their fate is a matter entirely between Washington and the state of which they're citizens (Saudi Arabia, mostly). I don't think it's a good idea to upgrade terrorists into lawful combatants. But if, like my namesake the British jurist Lord Steyn, you feel differently, fine, go ahead and make your case.
Where the anti-Gitmo crowd went wrong was in expanding its objections from the legal status of the prisoners to the treatment theyâre receiving. By any comparison — ie, not just with Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot — they're getting better than they deserve. It's the first gulag in history where the torture victims put on weight. Each prisoner released from Guantanamo receives a new copy of the Koran plus a free pair of blue jeans in his new size: the average detainee puts on 13 pounds during his stay, thanks to the "mustard-baked dill fish", "baked Tandoori chicken breast" and other delicacies. These and other recipes from the gulag's kitchen have now been collected by some Internet wags and published as The Gitmo Cookbook.
Judging from the way he's dug himself in, Dick Durbin, the Number Two Democrat in the US Senate, genuinely believes Gitmo is analogous to Belsen, the gulags and the killing fields. But he crossed a line, from anti-Bush to anti-American, and most Americans have no interest in following him down that path.You can't claim (as Democrats do, incessantly) to "support our troops" and then dump them in the same category as the Nazis and the Khmer Rouge. In the hermetically sealed echo chamber between the Dem leadership, the mainstream US media, Hollywood, Ivy League "intellectuals" and European sophisticates, the gulag cracks are utterly unexceptional. But, for a political party that keeps losing elections because it has less and less appeal outside a few coastal enclaves, Durbin's remarks are devastating. The Democrats flopped in 2002 and 2004 because they were seen as incoherent on national security issues. Explicitly branding themselves as the "terrorists' rights" party is unlikely to improve their chances for 2006.
#2
Been following the latest horrifying stories from what Amnesty International calls the âgulag of our timeâ? John Kass of The Chicago Tribune was outraged by the news that records by Christina Aguilera had been played at Guantanamo at full volume in order to soften up detainees. He thought they should have used âDance, Ballerina, Danceâ by Vaughn Monroe, over and over and over.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
06/21/2005 11:26
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"Its a Small World" from Disney World would have them broken and talking within a hour. Guarenteed. For the real hardcore Dylan's harmonica from "Along the Watchtower" at 120 decibels.
#4
The more you hear about this "Torture" the less electable the Dhimicrats seem to be. Not sure if any wants it but the cookbook can be ordered here. Rush is also doing a booming business with some gitmo gear thats just really funny. can't wait to get my shirts, going to weat them to Disneyland next month!
EFL:
British residents could face a form of energy rationing within the next decade under proposals currently being studied to reduce the U.K.'s carbon dioxide emissions to comply with the Kyoto Protocol. Under the proposals, known as Domestic Tradable Quotas (DTQs), every individual would be issued a "carbon card," from which points would be deducted every time the cardholder purchased fossil fuel, for example, by filling up a car or taking a flight. Over time, the number of points allotted to each card would decline. High-energy users would be able to purchase points from low-energy users, with the end result being a trading market in carbon similar to the one already in place in the U.K. for industrial users.
Or, you could just freeze in the dark like a good little peon
A report set to be released this week by the Sustainable Development Commission, which advises Prime Minister Tony Blair on environmental issues, will recommend that by 2007, the British government should seriously consider introducing DTQs. The report, a draft copy of which was obtained by Cybercast News Service, calls for more research into how the proposals would work in practice. British Environment Minister Elliott Morley said in a telephone interview that the DTQ plan, also called personal carbon allowances, is one of several being considered by the government. "Personal carbon allowances are a very attractive intellectual idea," he said.
And everyone knows the intellectuals know what's best for you
"The implementation would potentially be very expensive, but that shouldn't stop us from looking at the arguments," he said. Morley said the government was also considering a straightforward carbon tax, and acknowledged that the complexity of a centrally run system could be a major barrier. "There is a big job involved in explaining the idea of carbon allowances to the public (but) we shouldn't rule any idea out just on this basis," he said.
"We'll implement it and explain why it doesn't work later"
One of Britain's leading scientists looking into the proposals characterized DTQs as a form of rationing and said the project would start from a point of strict equality in the allocation of "carbon points," despite wide current disparities in individual energy usage. "Every individual, whether you're the Queen or someone living in a poor neighborhood, will get the same carbon allocation," said Kevin Anderson of the Tyndall Center at the University of Manchester.
"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others"
"We have to get far more personal in the ways we tackle carbon emissions," Challen said in a phone interview. "A voluntary approach will only get through to about 20 percent of the population." Challen said his proposals have support among senior government officials in the U.K.'s Department for the Environment, Food and Silly Walks Rural Affairs, but said that some ministers were "understandably wary" of a mandatory plan with potentially sweeping economic consequences. Researchers also have suggested that the plan could be linked to the Blair administration's proposed mandatory ID card, a controversial bill that is scheduled to be reconsidered in Parliament later this month. A proposal to issue every U.K. resident with a card containing biometric information such as fingerprints and an iris scan was opposed by the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties in the last legislative term, and the bill failed after time ran out.
Envision having to have an iris scan before turning up the thermostat in your house
Anti-card campaigners have expressed worries about the possibility that the vast majority of U.K. energy transactions would be logged in a central database.
Well, of course they will. I mean. what's the point of having all that data without using it. Then they can check and see if you are a good energy saver and drag you into court if you aren't
"There's clearly many other ways such a (carbon trading) scheme could be offered without adding the massive bureaucracy of an ID card system," said Michael Parker, spokesman for the NO2ID group. However, the plan's proponents suggest that the rationing system could be implemented within the decade. "I'm not a betting man, but I think this could realistically be up and running within four to ten years," Anderson said.
Unless the peasents tire of your ways and opt for pitchforks and rope
Posted by: Steve ||
06/21/2005
08:48 ||
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Bet this'll do wonders for the British economy, won't it?
Posted by: Dave D. ||
06/21/2005 9:18
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Two words: free market.
We already have such "points"; they're called dollars/pounds/euros/etc. A free, open market (which includes all costs) for energy goods and usage does the same thing and without all the bullsh*t. But hey, then the envirowacko "intellectuals" couldn't control how to live so I guess it won't be done.
#3
Just what I was thinking Dave D
Seems like the polis are thinking, "Well, Koyoto hasn't hamstrung our economy enough, let's do more! Energy rationing for everyone!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/21/2005 9:54
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Under the proposals, known as Domestic Tradable Quotas (DTQs), every individual would be issued a "carbon card," from which points would be deducted every time the cardholder purchased fossil fuel, for example, by filling up a car or taking a flight.
#7
A proposed massive govt game of fool yourself. The wealthy will just buy up carbon credits or say AMF to Britain and leave. Like I said before, Kyoto will be dead in 5 years when all the bad science and aritmetic comes home to roost to the signers.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
06/21/2005 11:06
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#8
Look on the bright side guys - Cherie wouldn't be able to fly over to bore poor 'merkins to tears with her interminable speeches. Oh, I forget - this rationing stuff woouldn't ever apply to our Esteemed Socialist Overlords.
#10
Bulldog, just remember that you have an open invitation to flee the tyranny of the UK and settle in the colonies with us. I live in California and we threw out the Gov when he started to "ration" (another word for brown outs) electricity. Not that they would be moved to build a NEW power plant or two, but that is a nother story.
#12
Are you sure this crap was thought up in London?
Sounds more like Brussels to me....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/21/2005 13:45
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I see a great opportunity in dried cow dung futures. That, or guillotine sales.
Posted by: ed ||
06/21/2005 14:06
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#14
The wealthy will just buy up carbon credits
Well, isn't that what Kofi and Third World tyrants hope will take place on a worldwide scale in order for Kyoto to be deemed "successful?" Kyota was the brainchild of Kofi's sidekick, Morris Strong, communist China lover par excellence- no accident that China, bigtime polluter, is exempt from Kyoto. That Blair is still twisting GWB's wrist about this hoax of a treaty is very irritating.
#16
Spot is right and technically what they are doing is creating a new form of money which is restricted to the purchase of energy. I am reasonably sure I know why this idea has been floated, which is that restricting demand by increasing the price isn't working (enough). One has only to look at the current price of oil to see this is a general phenomena. Increasing the price of energy to the point it restricts demand sufficiently to meet Kyoto would cause riots and a severe recession/depression.
ISRAELI forces have rounded up dozens of suspected West Bank militants in a sign of impatience with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, just hours before a summit with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
The operation, in which the army said 52 members of Islamic Jihad were taken into custody, was the biggest sweep against wanted militants since Messrs Abbas and Sharon declared a truce on February 8. It followed an Islamic Jihad drive-by shooting that killed a Jewish settler in the West Bank yesterday and mortar bomb and rocket attacks by the group against Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and a town in southern Israel.
Islamic Jihad said the attacks were in response to recent Israeli raids in the West Bank against several of its men.
Israel's planned pullout from the Gaza Strip in mid-August will be high on the agenda of the first meeting between an Israeli prime minister and a Palestinian president in Jerusalem, a holy city at the centre of the Middle East dispute. From Mr Sharon's side, the talks will focus on steps to prevent Palestinian militants from disrupting the withdrawal and filling a potential power vacuum in Gaza afterwards.
Israel says Mr Abbas has not done enough. "As things stand now, (Mr Abbas's) powers have not been brought to bear in fighting terror," Israeli Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Israel Radio before the summit at Mr Sharon's residence.
Mr Abbas, whose election in January to succeed the late Yasser Arafat brought new hopes of peace, wants to be able to show militants he has won clear concessions from Israel in return for efforts to ensure the pullout is not carried out under fire. He coaxed Palestinian factions in March into agreeing to a "period of calm" until the end of the year, conditional on Israel ending its operations against them.
But an Islamic Jihad spokesman in the West Bank urged Mr Abbas to cancel the summit after the latest Israeli arrests, while the militant Hamas group said in the Gaza Strip that "a declaration of an end to calm could be made at any moment".
Washington is counting on Israel's pullout from all 21 settlements in Gaza and four of 120 in the West Bank to kick-start a US-backed international peace "road map" plan, which envisages the establishment of a Palestinian state.
However, Mr Sharon reaffirmed at talks with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Jerusalem on Sunday that he would not enter into talks on permanent peace deal with the Palestinians until Mr Abbas had disarmed and dismantled militant groups. Mr Abbas wants to co-opt gunmen into the Palestinian security forces and their organisations into mainstream politics rather than risk confrontation that may lead to civil war.
The chief Palestinian negotiator said Mr Abbas would press Mr Sharon for further Israeli troop pullbacks from West Bank cities, two of which have been turned over to Palestinian security control. The Palestinian leader also wants Israel to free more of the 8000 Palestinians in its jails, including long-serving inmates. Abbas aides said he would seek Mr Sharon's agreement for a free passage corridor between Gaza and the West Bank, and demand an end to Israeli settlement expansion.
No joint news conference was scheduled, an apparent sign of low expectations.
#1
Why is the Palastinians allowed to make demands but give nothing in return? I dont understand why the Isrealis even recognize the PLA at all. A government that cannot control thier own people is not in control so negotiations with that gov is pointless it would be like making peace negotiations in 43' with the italian leadership for germany. Dont matter what aggreement is reached Italy has no control over Germany to enforce thier end of the bargain so what is the point? waste of time.
#2
by forcing Abbas to confront the killers, Israel is forcing the Paleos to decide whether they want a nation, or eternal attacks on the Joooos. I see civil war ahead and another missed opportunity by the Losers of the Middle Eastâ¢, the Paleis
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/21/2005 9:53
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The story I posted yesterday about this said the PIJ was retaliating for abuse of Koran.
Can't even keep their lame a** excuses for blood lust straight. Pfeh.
#5
This to me has strong connections to our own home grown loonies. Israel goes out and rounds up militants (where, I assume they're given 3 square meals a day and de-loused) and what does IJ do? The go out and kill Joooooos. Much like us going out and rounding up jihadis and putting them in Gitmo (heard yesterday that we've spent like $110 million on upgrading the facilities there and they get to eat better than our own troops) only to have the jihadis kidnap citizens, behead them, etc. and have apologists back here in the States (Sen. Durbin ring a bell?). I'm to the point that we need to get down and dirty with these a$$wipes, but then, I think, we're soooooo much better than that!
Posted by: BA ||
06/21/2005 10:19
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#6
israel, when agreeing not to target IJ, or Hamas, retained the right to target "ticking bombs" guys in the process of committing terr acts, and that is the justification for this arrest.
I note with interest that only IJ members were arrested and not Hamas. Meanwhile Abbas specifically warned (empty words - maybe) IJ and Fatah members not to disrupt the disengagement. Note he mentioned IJ, but NOT Hamas.
It seems the strategy is to isolate IJ, and to leave Hamas alone for now. We shall see.
#7
Israel recognizes the PA/PLO because the World insists that they do so, because someone had to sign the Roadmap that was imposed on Israel. Just like the World inserted itself in all of Israel's wars just as the Arabs were losing decisively, forcing Israel to negotiate truces that protected the Arab nations from the Joooos.
#8
Thats only one reason, TW. Israel also recognizes the PA cause they dont want to have send the IDF back in to keep order in the West Bank cities, which not only makes Israel look bad, but tends to get young Israeli soldiers killed - at times its necessary to go in, but not now.
Two alleged militants suspected of killing a police chief in Saudi Arabia have been shot dead by security forces, the Saudi interior ministry says. They are accused of killing the head of a police investigations department in the holy city of Mecca three days ago, a spokesman for the ministry said. The two men were stopped as they were driving near the Red Sea city of Jeddah, the spokesman added. Saudi Arabia has been fighting al-Qaeda militants for more than two years. "Security forces killed at dawn on the Mecca-Jeddah road two wanted people who are believed to have taken part in the assassination of security officer Major Mubarak Falah al-Sawwat," Interior Ministry spokesman General Mansur al-Turki told the AFP news agency. The interior ministry was quoted as saying a chase ensued after the two suspected militants were stopped in the early hours of Tuesday. They were both killed in the clash that followed, the ministry said, while three security officers were wounded, one seriously.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/21/2005
08:35 ||
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#1
Saudi Arabia has been fighting al-Qaeda militants for more than two years.
And funding them for twelve.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
06/21/2005 9:34
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#2
The news of his death was posted earlier today. Quick justice. No interrogations, no complaints, case closed! BTW, when killed, he was a Lt. Colonel; now he's just a Major.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/21/2005 10:19
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#3
"Security forces killed ... two wanted people who are believed to have taken part in the assassination ".
Hmmm.... an old tactic, make it appear the crime is solved and hope public confidence is restored and the authorities still in control. Hell, we use that tactic here too... hope nobody thinks I am drawing a parallel. They eat and we eat doesn't mean I mean we are the same. Its just that people get bamboozeled so easily and not just by scummy crimminally inclined sociopathic genetic misfits.
Twelve French peacekeepers are due to be charged with stealing money from a bank in Ivory Coast, which they were supposed to be guarding last year. Some allegedly bought digital cameras and mobile phones with the money and sent them to their families in France. They are alleged to have stolen the equivalent of about $100,000 from the bank in the western town of Man. They were part of a 4,000-strong French force sent to restore order in Ivory Coast after a rebellion began in 2002. Six other French soldiers have been accused of stealing nearly $20,000 worth of local CFA francs from another branch of the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) in the rebel headquarters of Bouake last year.
So, I guess we can add "Thieving" to the "Cheese Eating Surrender Monkey' meme
The robbery in rebel-held Man came as banks throughout the eight countries of the Economic and Monetary Union of West Africa (UEMOA) were in the process of replacing a 1992 series of banknotes with more secure bills. The branch where the theft was recorded had been put under extra surveillance following a series of thefts from Ivorian banks in 2003. "These soldiers profited from their assignment, protecting this bank branch, to rob it of these monies," said French military spokesman Colonel Henry Aussavy last year. "We are dealing with these accusations very severely so that they do not tarnish the rest of our forces in the country," he added. Officials said no force was used during the theft. In addition to the French troops, there are also some 6,000 United Nations peacekeepers in Ivory Coast.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/21/2005
08:28 ||
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#2
"All the burning bridges that have fallen after me
All the lonely feelings and the burning memories
Everyone I left behind each time I closed the door
Burning bridges lost forevermore"
Posted by: Steve ||
06/21/2005 9:09
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#3
These guys were just following Jacques "the Worm" Chirac's MO. The only surprise to me is that there was that much money in the Ivory Coast to steal.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
06/21/2005 15:26
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#8
They stole $100,000 dollars and bought mobile phones and digital cameras with the money? How poorly paid are the French peacekeepers? The poorest Americans have mobile phones and digital cameras.
#9
I expect few cars were available for sale and they had to get the loot home someway. With more time they could have disassemble the fighting Citroens and sent 'em back....... Ya! Ya! Ya! One piece at a time..
Admittedly stretched very thin, the U.S. military has the courage, the stamina and the weapons to see the Iraq insurgency through, however long it takes. The body politic is another story.
Already, Congressional support for the war is flagging. Some Republican internationalists are letting it be known, albeit off the record, if the Iraq war vote came up today, knowing what they now know, they would be nays. Cartoonists are juxtaposing Vice President Cheney's assertion that the insurgency is in its "last throes" with President Bush's "Mission Accomplished" from the deck of an aircraft carrier May 1, 2003.
Public impatience with the war of liberation that turned out to be a guerrilla war of attrition is growing. Diminished public support is palpable. The pernicious Vietnam syndrome is worming its way through the halls of congress - and the court of public opinion. Over half the country no longer supports the war. Half those polled take the Vietnam analogy seriously and want to get out now. Fifty-six percent say it wasn't worth it. Over half also say U.S. security was not enhanced by the war.
Army recruitment and reenlistment goals are falling short by 40 percent. The capabilities for fighting two and a half wars simultaneously have long since fallen to the post-Cold War cost-cutters in two Clinton administrations. The two wars at the same time strategy is also a distant memory.
The now famous Downing Street memo, written by Sir Richard Dearlove, then head of MI6, the British secret intelligence service, and now Dean of Pembroke College at Cambridge, has convinced many former war hawks the Bush Administration's strategy for a quick war on the cheap was snare and delusion.
The Rumsfeld Doctrine did not foresee the need for prolonged occupation, as Iraq required.
If Kim Jong Il - the unpredictable absolute dictator of North Korea -- were to order his million-man army to cross the DMZ and dig in a few miles to the south, on the outskirts of Seoul, the U.S. would have to resort to tactical nuclear weapons to force him back whence he came.
It is now glaringly obvious the war had nothing to do with Iraq's phantom weapons of mass destruction, and everything to do with a strategy that may have been misguided.
Iraq, the war's strategic thinkers posited, was to become the Arab world's first democracy. Democratic Iraq would then become a catalyst for change in the surrounding authoritarian states. And Israel, surrounded by Arab democracies, could at last relax and look forward to at least a quarter of a century of peace and tranquility.
The illusion that 24 million Iraqis would go back to work after a few joyous days of celebration a la France circa 1944, and that oil would pay Uncle Sam's war bills was conventional wisdom at the highest echelons of government. Everything was slam-dunk, from WMD to the rallying of the Iraqi army to the coalition. Talk of a possible Sunni-inspired-insurgency was ridiculed.
Recently retired generals, speaking off the record with journalists they have known since they were junior officers in Vietnam 35 years ago, go so far as to say Iraq has broken the back of the U.S. military. Richard A. Clarke, former top counter-terrorist honcho at the White House, writing in the Sunday New York Times magazine, has picked up similar asides from his military contacts.
"One victim of this slow bleeding in Iraq," says Clarke, "is the American military as an institution. Across America, the National Guard, designed to assist civil authorities in domestic crises is in tatters... Now the rot is beginning to spread into the regular Army. Recruiters are coming up dry, and some, under pressure to produce new troops, have reportedly been complicit in suspect applications."
By the end of president Bush's term, Clarke writes, "the war in Iraq could end up costing $600 billion, more than six times what some key Pentagon officials had projected" Many other costs are also beginning to become clearer.
Mr. Bush is unlikely to change course because opinion polls show the majority of Americans don't like the heading. He has staked his presidency on seeing it through to a viable Iraqi democracy taking root and then being able to defend itself without the U.S. cavalry standing by to ride to the rescue.
Cutting out in the middle of an insurgency would have incalculable consequences. Islamist extremists would see this as the defeat of the world's only superpower - and a clear track for jihadi mayhem in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Pakistan, not to mention a civil war in Iraq.
But the American people know more about the cloudy future of Social Security than they do about the stakes in Iraq. It is now incumbent on Mr. Bush to use the bully pulpit to spell out the tragic geopolitical consequences of failure in Iraq. Failure is not an option. But at the current rate, it is an all too tragic possibility.
Karl Rove can't wait for the dog days of August - or another Michael Jackson-style circus to keep the president's poll numbers from getting any worse. But only Mr. Bush can do that.
From Abu Ghraib to Sen. Richard Durbin's addle-pated remarks about Stalin, Hitler and Pol Pot, the United States continues to lose ground all over the world. Repair work is long overdue there, too.
It isn't "striking". It is being very carefully, meticulously engineered, cultivated and encouraged by the Democratic Party and its cohorts in academia and the mainstream media for cheap political gain.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
06/21/2005 9:25
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#2
The Rumsfeld Doctrine did not foresee the need for prolonged occupation, as Iraq required.
Bullshit.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
06/21/2005 9:29
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#3
It isn't "striking". It is being very carefully, meticulously engineered, cultivated and encouraged by the Democratic Party and its cohorts in academia and the mainstream media for cheap political gain.
Yep.
I'm beginning to believe that the endless cries of "another Vietnam" are not predictions, but threats.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
06/21/2005 9:42
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You're right, RC. Fortunately, I'm too young to know the Vietnam era (i was 2 years old at the time), but this is ridiculous. The only Vietnam era link I wanna make is look at what happened with Pol Pot (Sen. Durbin's favorite dictator) after we pulled out. 2 million dead is more than enough for me to see this one to the end. And, one final rant: MSM, QUIT throwing around these poll numbers. The Cowboy doesn't govern by polls like Billy did!
Posted by: BA ||
06/21/2005 9:48
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#5
Remember that "halt in the desert" on days 3-4 of the Iraq campaign, when everyone had to hunker down and wait out that sandstorm? That's when the idiot reporters begain their "it's another Vietnam!" mantra.
It's a threat, as well as wishful thinking. They're praying America fails. They want it so bad they can taste it.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
06/21/2005 9:51
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#6
Fortunately, I'm too young to know the Vietnam era (i was 2 years old at the time), but this is ridiculous.
Same here, and I agree with you on not wanting to see the aftermath of abandoning them. But I see the Democrats pulling the same stunts they did then.
And, one final rant: MSM, QUIT throwing around these poll numbers. The Cowboy doesn't govern by polls like Billy did!
The press needs the polls as a metric to know who well they're doing. They're citing them so much recently because they're proud of how well they've hurt both the president and the war effort.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
06/21/2005 9:55
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#7
Both good points, RC! I just wish the "average American" would learn about other news sources. I've said it once and I'll say it again. I learn more about what's REALLY going on in the world here at RB before 9 am than most people do in an entire week!
Posted by: BA ||
06/21/2005 10:00
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#8
IMHO we've always depended on the use of nukes in squashing a NK surge across the DMZ. Artillery as well, of course, but nothing says "wrong move" like a fission device
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/21/2005 10:08
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#9
good comments..and Dave D nails it.
The media's at it again with its doom gloom and it's true because we repeated it often enough routine. Will the masses bite? Sadly, yes, they probably will.
#10
You can contact your Senators, or your favorites, by going to -http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
I, myself, plan a carefully-worded, one-page, clear-as-a-bell, mailed-via-US mail letter to at least ten. Naturally, my sentiments will be the same (almost a form letter) except Mr. Durbin will get a personalized version.
Just remember not to call them names in print. Have your significant other read it over so you don't go to jail.
Some of you readers are excellent wordsmiths. Why don't we post a few sample letters to copy-and-paste?
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/21/2005 11:05
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#11
I was in the car the last three days listening to the poison of hate filed talk radio (/sarcasm) across this beautiful country. Someone mentioned the polls and newspaper editorials in the same sentence. Suddenly it struck like lightning; Polls are editorials for television.
Newspapers run unsigned editorials all the time. Nobody, except a few insiders, knows who really writes them. (Even more curious is who reads them, but more on that in a moment.) Editorials give the editors a great chance to bloviate on some subject they know little about. If we knew who wrote them, we'd know who to laugh at.
TV people want to be JOURNALISTS! just like the guys at the newspapers and Newsweak. But they can't run editorials because they wouldn't be anonymous. You'd know which idiot came up with the stupid idea. So instead they hire a polling firm to ask a leading question and phone for results when real people are out working or otherwise engaged in some worthwhile activity. They get the results they want and run it as an editorial covered by the poll results.
We should pay as much attention the the poll reuslts TV editorials as we do to the ones in the local fish wrapper...none.
Ignore the media.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
06/21/2005 11:19
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#12
But if you compare Dick Durbin to Jane Fonda on the occasion of her visit to Hanoi, that's not really calling him a name, is it?
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/21/2005 11:23
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"If Kim Jong Il - the unpredictable absolute dictator of North Korea -- were to order his million-man army to cross the DMZ and dig in a few miles to the south, on the outskirts of Seoul, the U.S. would have to resort to tactical nuclear weapons to force him back whence he came."
THis alone shows that the articles author is full of shit.
First, they dont need to dig in - they are already dug in up north of the DMZ, and well within artillery rang of Seoul.
Second, and more importantly, they'd be out of food and ammunition within 96 hours. The US is already set up to destroy the logistics apparatus, and NKorea is far on the low side of being able to supply that huge peasant army it has if it moves it anywhere.
"he National Guard, designed to assist civil authorities in domestic crises"
IDIOT! THe NAtional Guard, since WW2, has been designed to be part of the war-fighting forces of the US, to add to combat power of the US when at war. And we are at WAR. The Ancillary duties are the onse that are done domestically. But since WW2, the Guard has been the main way of augmenting combat units in the US Military. And particularly, sinve the complaints of Guard as a "dodge" in Vietnam, the guard has been treated as an integral part of the active duty forces.
"Army recruitment and reenlistment goals are falling short by 40 percent. "
The other services are meeting or exceeding their goals. And the Army is actually recruiting as many people as it did 2 years ago. Look at the total numbers in 02, and the the total numbers now. Remember the mandate from Congress to increaste the standing forces by 30,000? Remember that the Army didnt want to do that? Well, there's your shortfall. Sure, its a bit worrisome that the Army cannot reach the levels it had back during the cold war (when it was half again as large as it is now). But its also not nearly as dire as this guy would have you believe.
The reason for the "Vietnam" thing coming up? Because the press has become an adversary - an active oppononet to the United State. They are pushing the "Vietnam/Bad-news" 24x7 every place it can, and is not reporting the facts on the ground - that we are winning, that militarily we have gotten the job done, that politically Iraq and the region have been changed for the better, that the Iraqis are starting to get on their feet and take care of themselves...
But other than Chernekoff, you simply dont see it. The MSM is all about painting things in the worst light, denying any successes with "Yes, but" articles, and parroting the party line from the Anti-America and Anti-Bush crowd.
How many lies and misstatements can the author of this article cram into one article?
#15
Remember the mandate from Congress to increaste the standing forces by 30,000? Remember that the Army didnt want to do that? Well, there's your shortfall.
Thank you, OldSpook. You just caused me to slap my forehead so hard I left an imprint.
Now that you've explained it, it all makes sense. Which party pushed the increased size of the Army? I suspect I know, and I suspect it's also the party that's been making those most noise about how the failure to make the (inflated) goal means we'll need a draft.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
06/21/2005 12:55
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#17
The current media grew up with Vietnam and Watergate and like Captain Queeg they've been trying to relive (or recreate if they have to) their glory days.
Fighting has broken out in north-eastern Sudan, where government forces are battling rebels for control of a town south of the main port. The fighting around Tokar, some 120km (75 miles) from Port Sudan, began on Sunday. Both sides say there have been heavy casualties. The Beja Congress, which complains of marginalisation, says it has launched its biggest offensive in years. Officials also blame attacks on rebels from the western Darfur region.
Opening a second front, are they?
There is no independent confirmation of the involvement of the Justice and Equality Movement, but a BBC reporter saw JEM rebels whilst visiting the border area last week.
So, no reliable source
Sudan blames neighbouring Eritrea, which supports the Beja rebels, of being behind the fighting. The clashes are a setback for peace efforts, which were boosted at the weekend when a deal was signed between the government and the biggest opposition grouping, the National Democratic Alliance. Eastern rebels were part of the NDA alliance, which has been exiled for more than 15 years. A peace deal was also signed early this year between the government and southern rebels, to end a 22 year civil war. Talks are under way in Nigeria to try to end the two-year rebellion in the west, where more than two million have fled their homes in Darfur and at least 180,000 have died. A spokesman for African Union mediators told the BBC that so far the clashes in north-eastern Sudan had not affected the negotiations.
It's not like they were going anywhere
Posted by: Steve ||
06/21/2005
08:14 ||
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#1
Let's see:
South...
West
Northeast
sometimes bits of Ethiopia border
sometimes Ugandan border
Hmm have I missed any areas of fighting in that Islamic Republic?
#2
Talks are under way in Nigeria to try to end the two-year rebellion in the west, where more than two million have fled their homes in Darfur and at least 180,000 have died.
Rebellion?
Since when does the BBC describe people resisting being massacred by their 'government' as a rebellion?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
06/21/2005 9:32
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RC, the Arab Sudanese are only brown, not black like the Black Sudanese. Clearly the latter is in rebellion against their natural overlords.
/end BBC worldview. Now I need a shower.
Conclusion to a long article, including all of Durbin's remarks last week. Read The Whole Thing
On Friday night, Durbin posted yet another statement on his website:
"More than 1,700 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq and our country's standing in the world community has been badly damaged by the prison abuses at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. No Senator, you and your friends have damaged our country's standing.
My statement in the Senate was critical of the policies of this administration which add to the risk our soldiers face. What about YOUR statements, Senator?
I will continue to speak out when I disagree with this administration. Why not just get a column in Al-Jazerra?
I have learned from my statement that historical parallels can be misused and misunderstood. I sincerely regret if what I said caused anyone to misunderstand my true feelings: our soldiers around the world and their families at home deserve our respect, admiration and total support." Even as you encourage those who would murder them, innocent civilians, and have sworn to kill us, as well.
Even a casual reading of the Durbin record shows a number of things. Durbin is speaking in code, communicating with the hard-left base of his party and their European friends and well-wishers. Here's what he is saying, stripped down to its essentials.
First, Durbin's reference to the Nazis, the Soviet gulag, and Pol Pot's killers was an intentional part of a detailed argument, an argument that equates the killer-prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay with combatants in war, and which asserts that America is acting wrongly and unlawfully vis-Ã -vis these prisoners. Not only does this undermine the justice of America's cause in the war on terror, it elevates unlawful combatants to the status of legitimate warriors.
Next, Durbin's detailed argument asserts that the conditions and practices at Gitmo amount to "torture," and are part of a pattern that began at Abu Ghraib and continues throughout the world, practices which class the United States among the "most repressive regimes in history." In his original speech, Durbin asserted: "Using their new detention policy, the administration has detained thousands of individuals in secret detention centers all around the world, some of them unknown to Members of Congress. While it is the most well-known, Guantanamo Bay is only one of them. Most have been captured in Afghanistan and Iraq, but some people who never raised arms against us have been taken prisoner far from the battlefield." So why doesn't somebody arrest Durbin and lock him up in one of these facilties?
Durbin's argument, coming in this context, implies that the American military has built a global network of Abu Ghraibs/Gitmos, wherein systematic torture of prisoners is taking place, all of it under the control of the United States military. On Tuesday, Durbin referred to the "torture techniques used at Abu Ghraib and Gitmo and elsewhere" and by Friday, Durbin was making the argument that Abu Ghraib equals Gitmo openly: "This FBI memo points to it. It is the kind of thing that happened at Abu Ghraib." Somebody told me it was raining, so there MUST be a flood, somewhere!
Of course Durbin will not segregate the criminal conduct by a handful of out-of-control G.I.'s not acting under orders--and already prosecuted and punished--from the authorized conduct at Gitmo and elsewhere. To do so would be to protect the military's reputation, but it would damage Durbin's agenda of demonizing the war effort. To advance that agenda, Durbin takes a single report from an FBI investigator, inflates its allegations to Abu Ghraib-level criminal conduct, and attributes it to every detention facility used in the war on terror. This is not the simple slander of one interrogator, or one facility.
Durbin's argument also systematically makes the case that the threat from Islamists is overstated, and the reaction to the overstated threat is wildly disproportionate to the real threat. In his first floor statement, Durbin never articulates the threats to Americans from terrorists, but does pause to exclaim in horror that the United States officials "have even argued in court they have the right to indefinitely detain an elderly lady from Switzerland who writes checks to what she thinks is a charity that helps orphans but actually is a front that finances terrorism." Without any explanation of the case or reference to it, Durbin passes on from this portrait of the tyrannical America imprisoning an elderly benefactor of children to the argument that "[a]busive detention and interrogation policies make it much more difficult to win the support of people around the world, particularly those in the Muslim world," thus telegraphing his opinion of American military practices around the world.
Durbin never articulates a defense of any interrogation tactics, never pauses over the threat, never recalls the brutality of the jihadists from September 11, to Bali, to Madrid. He never names a single victim of their violence, but instead worries over their conditions, telling his Chicago interviewer that "we have held 500 to 700 people for sometimes up to two and a half years with no charges."
There are "no regrets" on Durbin's part because he believes America is deeply committed to criminal conduct in an out-of-control war being waged against individuals who would better be negotiated with.
DURBIN'S REMARKS should not be allowed to be edited away with an apology. The American electorate does not believe the conditions at Guantanamo are "torture." They do not agree that the criminal conduct of Abu Ghraib is illustrative of the American military. They do not worry that we are being overly inclusive about the population at Gitmo. They do not believe that any part of what America been about since September 11 is in any way connected with the Nazis, the Stalinists, or Pol Pot.
They are disgusted over this slander of the military, and they deserve a vote on whether Senator Durbin's argument deserves anything except complete and quick condemnation by responsible members of both parties intent on supporting the war, the military, and the country's defense. Dick Durbin hasn't been misunderstood, as his Friday web statement claims. He isn't the victim of a right-wing media, as his Friday interview argues. Dick Durbin has been perfectly understood. All of his words have been read and listened to, in their original context and in his original delivery.
Durbin stands with the Michael Moore left, the Howard Dean attack-America-first caucus, and the international chorus that assigns the responsibility for the jihadists to American overreach in the world. The election of 2004 might have been the occasion when the Democratic leadership took account of where American public opinion stands on this war. That leadership rejected the results of November because those results rejected them. In response they have upped the rhetoric, intent on a replay of the anti-war movement and rhetoric of the late '60s and early '70s, hopeful of converting Bush to Nixon, and of driving American power back to its own shores. The tactic of demonizing the American military worked then, so it is being replayed now. If this rhetoric is not checked, it is only a matter of time until we have a new John Kerry discussing the "Genghis Khan" tactics of the American military operating in the Middle East.
Durbin's slander was simply a rhetorical bridge too far, but for both the man and his party there are no regrets and no apology. Not one senior Democrat has condemned Durbin's statement. Not one Democratic senator has asked for a caucus meeting. The difference between 2005 and the Vietnam era, however, lies in the public's appreciation of its soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines, founded in no small part on the public's recognition that the consequences of a collapse of American will in the new millennium will not be millions dead in Europe or Asia, but more Americans dead in America. Censure Durbin because he deserves it, and the country's defense demands it.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/21/2005
07:46 ||
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Censure would be a start. Expulsion is what we need. Does the Senate deserve our respect?
#2
I'm sorry to say that Durbin is one of my senators. He's a leftist from way back and gets even more so the higher he goes (#2 dumocrat in Senate now). I don't agree with the censure though. He should just be tossed out on his ass by the voters.
#3
Censure would be a start. Expulsion is what we need.
Screw that -- exile him. Let him live in Paris for the rest of his life.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
06/21/2005 9:28
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#4
I find it ironic that the Durbin defenders wouldnât waste the salt in their urine to extinguish the smoldering bones of Ashcroft yet are all too willing to accept a single unsubstantiated memo from an unnamed FBI agent as proof of torture.
#6
He just apologized, on the floor of the Senate. Tears in his eyes! I think he's really sorry - that the vast, right-wing conspricy descended on him like a ton of bricks, that is.
Then some dem said the Pubs played it up to divert attention from the war. So, Dicky fell into Karl Rove's trap! Maybe we oughta elect Karl president!
#7
Hugh Hewitt played a tape of the "apology." It wasn't much of an apology; I'd rate it about as lame as his first non-apology apology. Still, I wonder what the DUniks and Kosroaches had to say about it.
Posted by: Mike ||
06/21/2005 18:37
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#8
He didn't apologize acording to the story at Drudge. He meant no disrespect to our fine soldiers, he regreted his poor word selection, but no I was wrong, I made a mistake, I apologize. Keep him right where he is. I hope when he loses his next election it is the one that puts the Republicans at 60 in the Senate.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
06/21/2005 18:38
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#9
But I saw it, and he had tears in his eyes!
ST 5897 nee Bobby
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/21/2005 18:41
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#10
I thought it was unacceptable, but then I read another:
"A poor choice of words conveyed to some the impression that I embraced the discarded policies of the past," Lott said. "Nothing could be further from the truth, and I apologize to anyone who was offended by my statement."
Now Durbin should resign his post and spend a couple of weeks apologizing again and again at military posts and to veterans groups.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
06/21/2005 20:38
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#11
I will mail this to the Senator from Illinois tomorrow.
Dear Senator Durbin:
I grew up in Illinois, and can remember Everett Dirksen and Adlai Stevenson as credits to the State. On the other hand, your recent remarks comparing Guantanamo to "Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime â Pol Pot or others" is the most outrageous statement I have ever heard. I also read that you were carefully explaining how you were not apologizing, but then said, "I sincerely regret if what I said caused anyone to misunderstand my true feelings: our soldiers around the world and their families at home deserve our respect, admiration and total support." I believe the "gulag" and "support" statements are completely incompatible.
Your words, Senator, were trumpeted on the front page of the Al Jazerra website as evidence we were losing our will to fight in Iraq. Maybe thatâs not what you said, or meant to say, but thatâs how our enemies have read it, and it will encourage the Iraqi insurgents and Taliban to persevere, to hope and pray the Vietnam analogy finally comes to pass, and to kill more and more of those same people who you say "deserve our respect, admiration and total support." You do not support them, Senator; you use them as a political tool for your own political advantage.
I agree that some of the treatments described in the FBI memo are harsh, even humiliating, but I do not consider them torture, nor would I put them in the same category as the insurgents, with their batteries, wire, clubs, knives, and guns. But to compare our treatment of the detainees with real experts in murder and torture is unbelievable. I am sure the detainees are much better treated than some of our own men were in Germany and Japan during the war, and better treated than most of our men in the Vietnam War. Where does the Bataan Death March rank with the Gulag and Guantanamo, Senator? While we have lost over 1,700 service personnel in Iraq, thatâs just over 55% of the innocent civilian lives lost in the attacks of 9/11.
I understand your statements were made for political purposes, Senator, but I believe your statements will cost American lives. My son served six months in Iraq, returning in March. His biggest complaint while he was there was the hurtful words of politicians, even more troubling than land mines and IEDâs. I donât vote in Illinois, Senator, but I have family and friends that do, and I will remind them of your statements when you run for re-election. Weâll see if they believe your public statements or my sonâs (and my) point of view.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/21/2005 21:31
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#13
"My son served six months in Iraq, returning in March. His biggest complaint while he was there was the hurtful words of politicians, even more troubling than land mines and IEDâs."
Same thing from my son while he was over there. Makes me wonder: how many of these kids are going to come back here and vote Democrat in the next election? Or any other election for the rest of their lives?
Good letter. Send it.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
06/21/2005 21:45
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#14
Thanks, folks....it's already got a stamp on it!
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/21/2005 22:18
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#15
If you liked it, please feel free to borrow - like Senator Lieberman - and use parts in your OWN letter to Turban Durbin or other Senators.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/21/2005 22:25
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Haunted by the threat of global warming, the world may very well be on the verge of a renaissance in the use of nuclear power and the time has come to gear up uranium mining, the head of the world's largest uranium producer said Monday. "All of the things that we now see coming out of media reports around the world on a daily basis (show that there) is a very, very strong renewed interest in nuclear energy," said Gerald Grandey, president of the Canada-based Cameco Corporation. "That gives us a lot of confidence that the market for our primary product, which is uranium, will be growing in the future," Grandey told reporters. He was speaking as the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) opened a five-day symposium on uranium resources.
IAEA deputy director for nuclear energy Yuri Sokolov said that nuclear power could "help to resolve the problem of climate change (as it is a) sustainable and secure supply of energy." Echoing the conclusions of an IAEA conference on nuclear energy that was held in Paris in March, Sokolov said: "Nuclear power has a good and lengthening track record in terms of safety and economics" and produces 100 times fewer greenhouse gases than fossil fuel. "New environmental constraints on greenhouse gas emissions favor low-emission energy sources like nuclear power," Sokolov said. He said this made it important to "know how many uranium resources we have" as even current Russian-US programs to recycle highly enriched uraniums from nuclear weapons into nuclear fuel could not supply growing demand.
#1
The Dafur region of Sudan may just well reach new heights of exploitation... lots of free labor milling about in the wasteland.... so many many empty hands with so few picks and shovels. Watch this one closely.
NASA has been officially recognized for setting the speed record for a jet-powered aircraft by Guinness World Records. NASA set the record in November during the third and final flight of the experimental X-43A scramjet (supersonic-combustion ramjet) project. The X-43A demonstrated an advanced form of air-breathing jet engine could power an aircraft nearly 10 times the speed of sound.
Data from the unpiloted, 12-foot-long research vehicle show its revolutionary engine worked successfully at Mach 9.6 (approximately 7,000 mph), as it flew over the Pacific Ocean west of California.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/21/2005 11:16
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#4
That's 2 miles per second. What's escape velocity? 7 miles/sec? Of course a jet won't work in space, but if you zoomed it, could you go ballistically to LEO?
India successfully tested an Indian-built surface-to-air missile Monday for the second time in two days, a defence ministry official said. The missile Akash - meaning sky in Hindi - was tested at a range in eastern Orissa state.
It was fired at 11:15 am (0545 GMT) from a mobile launcher at the Chandipur-on-Sea testing range, 200 kilometres (125 miles) northeast of Bhubaneswar, Orissa's state capital, the ministry official said. The 700 kilogramme (1,540 pound) missile, which hit a flying drone, was last tested on Friday.
Akash, which can track 100 targets simultaneously with onboard radar, can move at a speed of 600 metres (1,980 feet) a second and deliver a 55 kilogramme (121 pound) warhead across 27 kilometres (17 miles) in 50 seconds. Akash is being developed by the state-run Defence Research and Development Organisation which launched in 1983 a project to build an array of weapons. It hopes to cap the programme with a ballistic missile which can fly 5,000 kilometres (3,100 miles).
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
06/21/2005 8:15
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#2
Photo removed: not appropriate for Rantburg.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
06/21/2005 8:17
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#3
Photo removed: not appropriate for Rantburg.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
06/21/2005 8:18
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#4
Just lovely, Deacon Blues. (/sarcasm) Is this your usual level of discourse?
Posted by: too true ||
06/21/2005 9:33
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#5
No, too true, but somehow it just seemed appropriate. If India can develope a viable missle defense The Pakistanis, and to some extent the Chinese, will have to re-think their attitudes about confrontation with India and I think we should strengthen ties with India as a counter to Pakistan especially. It's true Pakistan did help us in Afghanistan for a time but it seems their actions now have gone back to at least clandestinely helping our enemies in Afghanistan. I'm not sure anyone knows just how much control Musharraf has. Evidence to this is Bin Laden is most likely in Pakistan (if he is still alive) and the Pakistani Army is unable or unwilling to go get him. There are people in Pakistan who know the utter folley of allowing the Islamofascists to get control of a nuclear weapon and I think Musharraf knows that would be the death of Pakistan but the Islamofascists are hell-bent on achieving martyrdom and if they go out in a blaze of niclear fire and just happen to take millions of innocent people with them they don't care. Having India with a viable missle defense seems to me to be a good thing.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
06/21/2005 10:17
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#6
*Darn* i didn't get a chance to see those pics!
Posted by: Red Dod ||
06/21/2005 11:11
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#7
Missile tested for third time
India Completes Hat-Trick of Surface-To-Air Missile Tests
By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, BHUBANESWAR, India
India successfully tested June 21 a locally-built surface-to-air missile for the third time in five days as part of final trials before its military induction, defense officials said.
The missile Akash -- meaning sky in Hindi -- was tested at a range in eastern Orissa state, defense ministry officials said in Orissaâs state capital of Bhubaneswar.
It was fired at 1:00 pm (0730 GMT) from a mobile launcher at the Chandipur-on-Sea testing range, 200 kilometers (125 miles) northeast of Bhubaneswar, they said.
The 700 kilogram (1,540 pound) missile was tested June 21 and last June 17.
âComprehensive trials are now on to test various subsystems. Todayâs launch was to monitor its propulsion and communications systems,â a scientist at the state-run Defense Research and Development organization said in New Delhi.
âThe trials are reaching a conclusion and this missile will be soon handed over for induction into the (defense) services,â he told Agence France-Presse.
Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan, who came close to war in 2002 but whose relations have warmed since, frequently test-fire missiles.
Akash, which can track 100 targets simultaneously with onboard radar, can move at a speed of 600 meters (1,980 feet) a second and deliver a 55 kilogram (121 pound) warhead across 27 kilometers (17 miles) in 50 seconds.
The missile is being developed by DRDO which launched in 1983 a project to build an array of weapons. It hopes to cap the program with a ballistic missile which can fly 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles).
In 1999, a year after India and Pakistan tested nuclear weapons, the two countries agreed to notify each other ahead of missile tests.
Posted by: john ||
06/21/2005 17:16
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#8
There are reports that the US has cleared the Patriot PAC-3 for export to India.
Russia is offering the S300.
Posted by: john ||
06/21/2005 17:18
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A SWEDISH hostage who spent weeks in captivity with Douglas Wood may have given the US information that helped to secure the release of the 63-year-old Australian.
Ulf Hjertstrom, also 63, a Swedish oil broker who has lived in Baghdad for 14 years, was released from his own 67-day kidnap drama on May 30. Sweden's Aftonbladet newspaper has reported how Mr Hjertstrom, who was taken to US authorities after his release, was interrogated about his time as a hostage. According to the newspaper, information he provided helped to secure the release of Mr Wood, who spent several weeks sharing what was described as a cell with Mr Hjertstrom.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed Mr Wood spent part of his time in captivity with a Swedish national. "We can confirm that Mr Wood was held with a Swedish national who was released about two weeks before Mr Wood's recovery," the DFAT spokeswoman said.
After 47 days held hostage, Mr Wood was discovered last Wednesday during a routine search and cordon operation by Iraqi troops, backed by US forces. An Iraqi hostage was released during the same operation.
The details of how Mr Wood came to be freed remain sketchy, with Australian officials saying his rescuers received intelligence that led them to the house in the dangerous Baghdad suburb of Ghazaliya. However, US and Iraqi forces put the rescue down to good luck more than anything else.
Mr Wood, who returned to Australia yesterday, has revealed some details about what happened to him after he was kidnapped on April 30. During a press conference yesterday, he said he was held in two different houses throughout his ordeal, and remembered being moved from one to the other about 10 days into his captivity. He declined to answer a number of questions, saying it was too traumatic.
But Mr Wood is expected to give a fuller picture during a paid interview with Channel 10, to be broadcast on Sunday.
#1
Sweden's Aftonbladet newspaper has reported how Mr Hjertstrom, who was taken to US authorities after his release, was interrogated about his time as a hostage.
'Spose he was chained to the floor and made to listen to pop music?
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/21/2005 7:58
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#2
Disinformation. They found him through electronic means.
OWNERS of big farms struggling with debt across Australia's drought-ravaged southern states should leave the land as the weather worsens, a climate expert says. Australia was fast becoming a desert with changing weather patterns making fewer areas across the southern part of the country suitable for farming, University of Newcastle lecturer and meteorologist Martin Babakhan said today. By 2070, he said, the environmental catastrophe as outlined in the Hollywood movie The Day After Tomorrow would become a reality.
Moonbat Alert!
The movie shows an apocalyptic view of what would happen if the polar ice caps melted, triggering a new ice age. The whole of the northern hemisphere freezes solid. However, unlike the movie, Australia was getting hotter and drier, Mr Babakhan said. "That movie is reality," he said.
Yeah, right. And it was going to get Kerry elected
It was based on the best science the Democrats had.
"I said 2070 but from 2030 we shall start to see some massive changes in the Australian climate."
Mr Babakhan said he would leave the land if he were a farmer on a big farm struggling with debt in the eastern and western wheatbelts. "I reckon the time is right," he said. "Just start doing it now because there isn't any hope.
"You're doomed, I tell you! Doomed! Hey, come back here!"
"You know on the television a couple of weeks ago, there was little bit of rain coming in and the farmers were praying for more because they wanted to harvest. "They are kidding themselves. It's not going to happen."
Northern states were helped by monsoonal rains — the best falls in the desert regions of north-western Australia, Mr Babakhan said. The industrial expansion of northern hemisphere countries such as China had resulted in a huge increase in carbon dioxide in the southern hemisphere, he said. This in turn had led to the warming of Antarctica, affected the hole in the ozone layer above the frozen continent, and resulted in changed weather conditions for Australia.
"The end product will be we are going to get less rain and our temperature starts rising, the number of days exceeding 35C are going to increase by 60-70 per cent, and the water evaporation will increase because of the high temperatures," Mr Babakhan said. "The continent will dry up."
"Soon you'll see roving bands of nomads terrorizing the highways of the Outback, raping and pillaging.....oh, wait. Wrong movie"
The federal Government had to sign the Kyoto Protocol on environmental change, so Australia was at the forefront of discussions, Mr Babakhan said.
He also advocated a change from coal to nuclear power, and he suggested Australia export uranium to countries such as China so they followed suit.
A further measure to ease the pain was to exploit the 31 billion cubic metres of water that fell during the wet season in northern Australia.
Mr Babakhan said the water could flow down the Murray-Darling basin to southern states. "We have got a lifeline in Australia today, we could tap into that water in the north and feed it into dams," he said."This would provide one-and-a-half to two years of water supply a season.
"This is the idea we would like to float."
At present, NSW is in the grip of one of the worst droughts in history, with June figures showing 91 per cent of the state drought declared, five per cent only marginal and only four per cent satisfactory. A spokeswoman for Primary Industries minister Ian Macdonald said showers last week had allowed farmers to plant some crops but much more rain was needed if those crops were to prosper.
The New South Wales Government has pumped $160 million into drought assistance since July 2002, when the problem first became apparent on a wide-scale basis. But some regions have been in drought for four years.
#4
Jackal, I've really had that happen to me. Amazing what urban idiots DON'T know. Like Reagan used to say, "It's not that they don't know anything, it's that they know so much that isn't true!"
Posted by: BA ||
06/21/2005 9:20
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#5
"...if the polar ice caps melted, triggering a new ice age."
I am not a Climatoligist,but that statement makes no sense at all.Correct me if I'm wrong,but wouldn't an iceage mean the icecaps are growing?
#6
another Kyoto effect - logic doesn't apply, raptor
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/21/2005 10:01
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#7
The industrial expansion of northern hemisphere countries such as China had resulted in a huge increase in carbon dioxide in the southern hemisphere, he (Babakhan) said.
So tell me again why China along with India and some other so called developing nations are exempt from the Kyoto Protocol. Even this "the sky is falling" Moonbat recognizes the fallacy of that clause.
#10
I like a good disaster movie as much as the next person, and am willing to ignore a lot of crap in order to watch one, but I could never bring myself to watch The Day After Tomorrow, just based on the previews.
It's so ridiculous I'd be screaming at the screen. What the hell happened to Roland Emmerich? He must have taken as looooong drink of leftist kool-aid. :-(
I'm with #9 tu3031.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/21/2005 14:35
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THE International Whaling Commission (IWC) has rejected a bid by Japan to push through a document aimed at eventually resuming commercial whaling, with anti-whaling nations labelling it "an insult". The measure, which would have required a three-quarters majority, was voted down by 29 votes to 23, failing even to secure a simple majority of the 66-member bloc. Senator Ian Campbell, who is also opposed to Japan's effort to extend its scientific whaling program, described the vote as a historic victory. "It's a really historic victory for whale conservation, this has been a historic day," he told ABC TV.
Scary times, rather, more so, for Israel as this insane concept of a "Palestinian" homeland takes form.
This is a looong article.
EFH
The PA has acknowledged that many police and security officers spend their time playing criminals rather than cops. The official PA media have reported the involvement of security officers in gun battles in Ramallah on June 12. The media also reported the killing of three people in the Gaza Strip on the same day. On June 11, about 40 gunmen attacked PA security headquarters in Gaza City and waged a three-hour gun battle with officers in the facility. Later, Fatah operatives opened fire near the home of a senior Palestinian commander, Brig. Gen. Rashid Abu Shback.
Moreover, several explosions in bomb-making laboratories were reported in the Gaza Strip town of Khan Yunis. In the Jabalya refugee camp, a PA police officer was abducted. The media did not report the arrest or prosecution of suspects.
Increasingly, the Palestinian media have been voicing concern by Fatah figures of a collapse of law and order that would sweep all the political gains of the PA. The media have been quoting prominent Palestinians who speak of an atmosphere of terror. Palestinian dailies focused on the killing of four members of a Palestinian family in Gaza City
#8
Oh really? Fatah actually gives a rat's ass about law and order??????
Of course, they're concerned about getting their EU and UN aid monies out of country which is very hard when the banking system collapses with everything else.
#9
Wishful thinking. No one really knows. We'll play our game and they'll play theirs. If they collapse, great. But I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it. To paraphrase the old Marine saying, the PA may die, but the PLO will live forever (as long as Muslims the world over are willing to subsidize Palestinian terrorists).
#10
Ah yes the poor "victims" Israel. Let's pretend that it's not Israel that has been acting aggressively against their neighbours since 1948, and before incidental, that it's not Israel that has been doing the bulk of the killing in their desire to extend their territory. Let's pretend it's not Israel who are the world's 4th largest nuclear weapon country and the 3rd biggest arms dealer in the world, willing to sell to anyone or country that has the money, regardless of human rights. Let's pretend that they are a democracy treating all citizens equally, Let's pretend that Nelson Mandela doesn't describe them as an apartheid State, and let's face it he should know. Let's pretend it wasn't Israel involved in the fabrication of false evidence to encourage their American friends to invade Iraq. Let's pretend that a part of their motivation was not a desire for an oil pipeline to be restored from Iraq to Israel.
Let's just pretend they are victims. :)
#12
I'm surprised Israel has had the patience to deal with the "palestinians" as long as they have. Those that don't wish to live in peace with their neighbors have no right to live. Ninety percent of the arabs living in Gaza and the West Bank should be forced to leave, and Israel take full control of the territory allotted to them by the Balfour Ruling. If the local arabs want to live in peace, then start acting like it. Otherwise face the same future reserved for other warmongering tribes - extinction.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
06/21/2005 13:06
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#13
Yeah, GE, keep believing the stuff you've been sold. When's the last time a Jew got to vote in a "Palestinian election" (like Paleos get to do in Israel proper). And I'm sure Mandela visited Israel/"Palestine" how many times? And who's the #2 and #3 nuclear powers? And you're willing to trust them with nukes? And, don't forget to parrot the line about "War for oil." That's why we're paying $2+/gallon for gas here, eh? I guess the Jooooos were acting aggressively against Hitler too, eh (that was before 1948, right)? Give me a freakin' break loser. I'm done, though, not feedin' the trolls anymore.
Posted by: BA ||
06/21/2005 13:30
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#14
Palestinian Authority Bracing for Collapse?
Faster, please. No more pretending that The Palestinians are following the Geneva Conventions as a resistance movement when they simply do not.
#15
GE, let's pretend that the nice Nazis running your favorite dry cleaner didn't put extra starch in your best white sheets, and you don't have enough time to wash them out before the Robert C Byrd memorial march.
#17
GE, let's pretend that Jordan and Eygpt didn't occupy 'Palestinian' lands since 1948. Where was all the compassion and concern for Palestine when their fellow Arabs ruled the land till 1967? How fair and equal where 'Palestinian' voices among those who stood upon the West Bank and Gaza and governed for those years? Let's consider your concern is equally 'pretend' as was the Egyptian and Jordanian concern was for those many years.
A MAN has been arrested in northern England in connection with suicide bomb attacks on US-led coalition forces in Iraq, police said. The man was detained after around 30 officers raided a house in the Moss Side area of Manchester at 5:00 am (1400 AEST). The arrest was not connected to any threat in Britain but to "an incident overseas" involving attacks in Iraq, Greater Manchester Police said. "Since the beginning of the year, there have been a series of suicide bombings against coalition forces in Iraq," a spokesman said. "It appears that one of the suicide bombers may have travelled from the UK, where he had been living." No further details were available about the identity of the arrested man.
An anti-Syrian politician has been killed in a bomb blast in the Lebanese capital Beirut, police say. George Hawi, the former leader of the Lebanese Communist Party, died when the blast destroyed his car in the Wata Musaitbi district of the city.
Mr Hawi is the second anti-Syrian figure to die in Beirut this month. The attack comes a day after the anti-Syrian bloc gained a majority in Lebanon's elections, the first since Damascus ended its 29-year occupation. Anti Syrian you say? Who'da thunk it...?
Additional: Lebanese minister of justice Khaled Qabbani said that the explosion which claimed the life of the former secretary general of the Lebanese communist party George Hawi today in Wata al-Mseitbeh area in Beirut was controlled by remote control. Security sources expected the explosive to have had been placed under Hawi's seat in the car. Witnesses said that the car completed its running after the explosion for 300 meters and they heard the driver shouting and then he jumped from the window, injured, while George Hawi's was suffering great damage in his stomach. The witnesses added that Hawi was alive the moment he was taken out of the car, but he died immediatly after because his injuries were very grave.
Worthy mentioning that Hawi was an opposition for the policies of the Lebanese government and some of Syria's policies. However, he was known for his moderate attitude in calling for a new phase of reciprocated respects between the two states.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
06/21/2005
04:03 ||
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#4
Well, that didn't take long: Lebanese communist party accuses Israel of killing Hawi Lebanon, Politics, 6/21/2005
In the first reactions to the assassination of the former secretary general of the Lebanese communist party, George Hawi, the party's secretary general Khalil Hadadeh who arrived at the site of the explosion accused "intelligence instruments and Israel of such a series of aggressions."
However, Elias Atallah, an opposition politician held elements supporting Syria the responsibility of the incident, noting that Hawi was opposing the Syrian presence in Lebanon and the return back of its intelligence to the area.
The Lebanese prime minister Najib Miqati said that the assassination is aimed at the security of the Lebanese state and "we see one who wants to undermine our security and sends message of such kind (assassination). But I am sure that all Lebanese are attached to their unity and homeland. On this ground I made certain contacts with the security departments to carry out the investigations and I am all hope this will lead to ensure security to the citizens."
Posted by: Steve ||
06/21/2005 12:26
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Lawmakers in the United States were scheduled to vote on Monday to approve $45 billion US in additional funding for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, making the recent Middle East foray more expensive than the entire Korean War. Since the Sept. 11 attacks, Congress has approved $350 billion, mostly for combat and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan. The amount, which includes $82 billion approved last month, is equal to the total amount in today's dollars spent on the Korean conflict from 1950-53. [...] Well that does it...pull out of Iraq now! Oh wait...let's redo the dollar figures as a percentage of GDP, then and now. You do the math, I'm too tired...maybe this will help. More sensationalism at the link.
Posted by: Rafael ||
06/21/2005
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#1
Expending people costs considerably less than expending things, in the short run. When the writer is ready to support the costs of a poorly equipped million-man army, then he has something to talk about. He won't be right, but at least he'll be standing on somewhat more defensible ground.
#2
Oh, wait. I didn't notice that this is an article out of Canada. When the writer's country chooses to participate in the stabilization of Iraq, then they will have earnt the right to criticize. In the meantime, please do stop prattling about things that don't concern you. (Not you, Rafael, of course. I've never known you to utter anything but sense. ;-) )
#3
What price freedom? Should we not spend whatever it takes to prevail? There is no substitute for victory. To fail would mean the end to all we value. If not us, Who? If not now, When?
Posted by: Tom Dooley ||
06/21/2005 3:14
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#4
I would much rather spend money then men. We may spend about as much as the Korean conflict, but our manpower cost are MUCH lower. Of course, the socialists want it the other way around. That way they have more money for their bloated social programs.
#5
There is also a feedback effect. Insofar as we are busy developing and fielding very expensive UAVs and other advanced recon and weapons systems, some of that cost goes back into the economy in the form of salaries for engineers etc. Without running a lot of numbers I couldn't estimate how much benefit comes back, but I'm pretty sure it's a lot higher than for the Korean war.
Posted by: too true ||
06/21/2005 7:23
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#6
JFK once said "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty".
I'm sure that the Democrats in Congress will react the same way to this news story - NOT.
Altogether 26,791 Canadians served in the Korean conflict, and another 7,000 served in the theatre between the cease-fire and the end of 1955. United Nations' (including South Korean) fatal and non-fatal battle casualties numbered about 490,000. Of these 1,558 were Canadian. The names of 516 Canadian war dead are inscribed in the Korea Book of Remembrance.
#8
Well - the Koreans never attacked American soil, but the Muslim world did, through the plausibly-deniable terror attacks that occurred on September 11. So the appropriate measure isn't the Korean War, but WWII. And we are spending far less than on the War on Terror than we did in WWII. Our debt levels are certainly far lower - in WWII, they reached 130% of GDP, whereas we are only at 65% today.
#9
Yeah, but one lil' footnote he forgot to add. What are the costs since the Korean War to man the DMZ? Also, like TW said, I'd much rather pay more for things than for men dying. And (I admit, I don't know the exact start and end dates of Korea) note that he's comparing money spent (in today's dollars) over a 3-4 year period in Korea (o.k. it could be 4 years if it started Jan. 1, 1950 and ended exactly Dec. 31, 1953), whereas we're almost already 4 years since 9/11 (his "start" date of this spending now). I'd also like to know if his $350 billion is just military operations, or is it including re-vamping CIA/DIA, the new Homeland Security Dept., etc.? And, finally, I'd venture to guess that we didn't spend near the amount of money back then on re-construction as we are now (think of all the schools, hospitals, roads, water/sewer facilities, ports, etc. we've rebuilt and even improved upon in Afghan/Iraq).
Posted by: BA ||
06/21/2005 8:43
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BA: And, finally, I'd venture to guess that we didn't spend near the amount of money back then on re-construction as we are now (think of all the schools, hospitals, roads, water/sewer facilities, ports, etc. we've rebuilt and even improved upon in Afghan/Iraq).
I'll bet he did not include the money we spent on rebuilding Korea after the war ended. We are rebuilding Iraq as we fight the guerrillas. In Korea, that wasn't really begun until the armistice, given the fluidity of the situation on the ground. There are lies, damned lies and journalistic assertions.
#13
I remember when dollars to doughnuts represented good odds. That was during the Korean War, as I recall.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
06/21/2005 11:07
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#14
Headline: U.S. spending on Iraq may soon surpass Korean War budget
Article: Since the Sept. 11 attacks, Congress has approved $350 billion, mostly for combat and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan.
I'll bet the cost of supporting 11,000 troops in Afghanistan via airlift costs 4 to 5 times what it does to ship supplies to an equivalent number of troops in Iraq via Basra. Think about what it costs you to ship Fedex Air vs Fedex Ground.
#15
Bomb-a-rama: it means "let the taxpayer take the hill".
Which I'm cool with, if they remember to record it for posterity.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
06/21/2005 15:43
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#16
I'll take the contrarian side of this discussion. While it's true that the CBC is an anti-American mouthpiece and therefore skews its stats to put the WH in a bad light. And yes, comparing expenditures ( both lives lost and military costs)in the Korean War versus wars in Afghanistan and Iraq is like comparing apples to oranges. However, I think it's naive to believe that the majority of Americans will want GWB's approach to continue, if there's no bright light at the end of the tunnel by the the time the 2008 elections roll around. For one thing the America today is comprised of a very different body politic than in WWII. We've got a lot of foreign born sporting dual citizenships being taught in our public schools that nationalism is evil, that believing in God and religious theories about God given rights is very fundie, that America has done evil things over the years to other cultures, blah, blah Many Americans can barely remember what the Korean War was about never mind how much it cost us. Vietnam is more likely to be remembered and let's be honest, that memory is not too much of a booster for getting involved in "foreign wars." You would be right that the $380 Billion is a tiny percentage of our GDP and that 1700 GI's is about 50% of the 9/11 victims, BUT nonetheless I think Americans are getting very impatient with the Iraq War especially - the Iraqi people themselves are not easy for an American on Main Street "to connect to," to put it politely, and it's getting harder and harder each day for the average American to remember why we invaded Iraq in the first place.
If we have another attack in America before the 2008 election or if Hildabeast comes up with a withdrawal with honor secret plan ( Richard Nixon) or if GWB and Frist don't give the Christian right some hardline Supreme Court judges or if the price of oil goes up to $75 per gallon, we can kiss the 2008 election good bye. And if a like minded GOP candidate to GWB does not win the WH in 2008, we will withdraw from Iraq, you can count on it, no matter what percentage of the GDP the Iraq War is costing us.
#17
The importnat thing about this argument is that no one has noted they were using 1953 dollars! Even tho the deadly deflator was applied it still doesn't wash because in 1953 Federal Promissary Notes were still shuned, folks wanted real money, Franklin halves, Mercury Dimes, Ford nickels, Lincoln pennies. It was hard currency! You could break a filling on a quality '50D Nickel. But then the Federal Reserve Board removed the palladium from the REAL MONEY SYSTEM. Causing despair and distruction, then it was Suez Crisis time, Ima assume you can follow from there.
#19
A spell checker and a dictionary full of polysyllabic words.
I once had a friend who so enjoyed arguing that she would take whichever side was unrepresented. She was shocked when the corporation fired her because of her inability to take the job seriously. That's the cost of refusing to grow up.
#20
She shoulda gone to law school. Woulda been rich by now.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
06/21/2005 18:53
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#21
Zhang Fei wrote:
I'll bet the cost of supporting 11,000 troops in Afghanistan via airlift costs 4 to 5 times what it does to ship supplies to an equivalent number of troops in Iraq via Basra. Think about what it costs you to ship Fedex Air vs Fedex Ground.
I don't have a reference handy, but I could swear I've seen recent cost figures for supporting troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it was about twice as much per soldier, or a little over, for Afghanistan than for Iraq.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
06/21/2005 19:28
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#22
Not you, Rafael, of course. I've never known you to utter anything but sense.
Well thank you :) though others here would probably disagree.
This is just another attempt to "inflate" the war in Iraq, of course. There aren't enough burning US tanks to take pictures of, so the next best thing is to compare this to past wars. Other than this, you'd have to point out the good accomplishments in Iraq, and we can't have that, can we? This is just an incredibly stupid comparison. I'm pretty sure the budget for the Iraq "war" has surpassed the dollar figures of a thousand other wars as well...your point, Mr. writer-at-the-cbc???
The other thing is, I have a problem with calling the current situation in Iraq, a war. Other than fitting in with the broader "WoT" reference, is it really a war? Of course, use of the word war conjures up images of Korea, Vietnam, burning tanks, which is precisely the purpose of this article and hence its use is encouraged by the MSM. Though, I could be off the deep end on this, so I don't know. I'd rather call this a "reconstruction effort"... but I don't work for the MSM.
Posted by: Rafael ||
06/21/2005 21:28
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MANILA - Cardinal Jaime Sin, a driving force behind two Philippine "People Power" revolts, died in hospital on Tuesday morning, church officials said. He was 76 years old and the officials said he died from an infection relating to a longstanding kidney ailment. "Jaime Cardinal Sin, archbishop emeritus, died early this morning," Sin's spokeswoman, Peachy Yamsuan, told reporters.
The main Roman Catholic radio station played hymns to mourn Sin, who retired as archbishop of Manila in 2003, and said a wake would be held at Manila cathedral. "The nation lost a spiritual leader," said Senator Aquilino Pimentel. "He was irreplaceable."
Sin was once called "the divine commander in chief" by former President Fidel Ramos for marshalling huge protests in the mostly Roman Catholic country that drove presidents Ferdinand Marcos and Joseph Estrada from office in 1986 and 2001, respectively. "My duty is to put Christ in politics. Politics without Christ is the greatest scourge of our nation," Sin said at his retirement ceremony.
In February 1986, Sin rallied a million people to form human barricades on Manila's main highway and protect a puny band of 300 army rebels against advancing Marcos tanks. His radio broadcasts in support of mutineers ignited the now legendary "People Power" revolt that drove Marcos into exile and swept political novice Corazon Aquino to the presidency.
His departure from the office he had held for 27 years marked the end of an unprecedented period of political activism by the Church, although it remains a potent force and a key backer of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. His death comes as Arroyo faces allegations of electoral fraud that the government says are part of a plot to unseat her. A Congressional inquiry into the allegations was due to start on Tuesday.
Ordained in 1954, Sin became the youngest member of the Vatican's College of Cardinals when he was made a prince of the church at the age of 47.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/21/2005
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#1
"Cardinal Sin"???
Items from Scrappleface should be clearly marked as such.....
In the land rush known as extrasolar planet hunting, the most prized real estate is advertised as "Earth-like." On Monday, June 13, scientists raced to plant their flag on a burning hunk of rock orbiting a red star. This newly discovered planet is about seven times the mass of Earth, and therefore the smallest extrasolar planet found to orbit a main sequence, or "dwarf" star (stars, like our sun, that burn hydrogen). There are even smaller planets known to exist beyond our solar system, but they have the misfortune to encircle pulsars, those rapidly spinning husks of dying stars. Such planets aren't thought to be remotely habitable, due to the intense radiation emitted by pulsars.
Planets that are ten Earth masses or less are thought to be rocky, while more massive planets are probably gaseous, since their stronger gravity means they collect and retain more gas during planetary formation. 155 extrasolar planets have been found so far, but most of them have masses that are more comparable to gaseous Jupiter than rocky Earth (Jupiter is 318 times the mass of Earth).
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#2
"Because the planet is in a two-day orbit, it is heated to oven-like temperatures, so we do not expect life," says science team member Paul Butler of the Carnegie Institution of Washington.
Obviously this guy doesn't need any more funding since he already knows everything there is to know about everything -- I say we stop all scientific spending and just let this asswipe answer all our questions. Why the hell can't life exist in 'ovenlike' tempratures? Because they don't on earth?
Sorry but people who make broad statements like this are too closed minded. Dont forget that for most of history the earth was 'flat' (otherwise we would fall off!).
#3
OK, who didn't know that, astronomically speaking, 'Earth-like' is a very, very broad term?
I mean, Christ, in our system we have Mercury, Venus, Mars, and possibly Pluto that could be classified as 'Earth-like'. It's a structural thing, not climate.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
06/21/2005 8:11
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#4
Feeling a little cranky this morning, CF? Maybe this 'asswipe'is making 'broad statements' about not expecting life because he knows something about the chemistry of complex organic molecules and how they behave at high temperatures. He didn't say finding life was flat-out impossible. He said he did not expect to find any.
#5
Why in the hell life can't exist in these conditions?
Because theare fundemental chemenicals in action For instance life needs a solvant, not a mere liquid, a solvant who will transport nutriments. In the earth it is water. But in that planet you don't have water but vapor, so water would not work. You need another solvant with the right physical (like fluidity) and chemical characteristic. Molten lava or rivers of lead don't work. And that solvant must be abundant enough to form oceand. Otherwise you don't play roulette enough for that very imporobable miracle (life) having sporting chance of happenning. Did I mention that water has some very sopecial characteritics like the fact it is nearly the only body (with uiodine) who has a point where it becomes lighter when coldening it. Without it ice would accumulate at the bottom of oceans thus stiffling life instead of flotaing to the surface and thus being melted by the sun. Your solvant should be better to have that property.
There are also some specvial properties in the basic molecular links in organic reactions. Plus the fact that the number of atoms who canbe a base for life is very exactly two: carbon and silicium because both can combine with electron-deficient chemicals (sorry but I don't know the english exact term) like oxygen or chlorine and with electron-exceeednt bodies like hydrogen or metals.
And thus because they have four electrons in the peripheral orbit. There are other elements with 4 electrons like germanium but they are very rare (so they will not do) and not only on Earth but, judging by the spectrographical analyis of stars, everywhere.
Carbon is different from Silicon in that the Si-Si bonds are much weaker than Si-O or Si-H bonds. In fact, you will never find a Si-Si bond in nature (obviously, we have made synthetics). In Carbon, the C-C bond is almost as strong as C-O or C-H, so that you can have C-C bonds in nature. So, if you want Silicon life, you need to have a planet with no free Oxygen or Hydrogen, and I think no Nitrogen. That makes it rather difficult to sustain reactions, though.
Carbon is not just one of many, or even the best, but the one and only way to form life.
Saudi authorities have vowed that they will bring the killers of Lt. Col. Mubarak Al-Sawat to justice. A senior security officer in Makkah, Al-Sawat was shot in a drive-by shooting on Saturday morning. Authorities believe that Al-Qaeda may have been involved in the murder. Security forces have launched a major manhunt to track down the unidentified gunmen who shot the officer as he stepped out of his house on way to work.
Misbah Al-Otaibi, the officer's wife, said she saw her husband lying in a pool of blood.
Which meant that she was outside without a (living) male escort, so they had to beat her.
A security source denied reports that the killers had mutilated the officer's body. Abdullah Al-Faiz, undersecretary at the Makkah governorate, who visited Al-Sawat's family to convey condolences from Makkah Governor Prince Abdul Majeed, said all of Saudi society was against the "deviant group," a term used to refer to Al-Qaeda militants. "This incident will only strengthen the resolve of society to confront the deviant group," he said, adding that the gunmen who perpetrated the crime would not escape. He said the government had not taken any unusual security measures since the incident. According to press reports, police found an axe next to the murdered officer's body and a video camera and wrapping tape on the roof of his house. The killers might have had plans to abduct him but when their operation encountered obstacles, they may have killed him on the spot, the reports said.
Or they were making an al-Q snuff video.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2005
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Makkah Governor Prince Abdul Majeed, said all of Saudi society was against the âdeviant group,â a term used to refer to Al-Qaeda militants.
al-Qaeda, deviant? Ya think?
Gosh! deviant... al_Qaeda... I have to consider that one for awhile!
Like the monster in some ghastly horror movie rising from the dead for the umpteenth time, the space shuttle is back on the launch pad. This grotesque, lethal white elephant - 14 deaths in 113 flights - is the grandest, grossest technological folly of our age. If the shuttle has any reason for existing, it is as an exceptionally clear symbol of our corrupt, sentimental, and dysfunctional political system. Its flights accomplish nothing and cost half a billion per. That, at least, is what a flight costs when the vehicle survives.
If a shuttle blows up - which, depending on whether or not you think that 35 human lives (five original launchworthy Shuttles at seven astronauts each) would be too high a price to pay for ridding the nation of an embarrassing and expensive monstrosity, is either too often or not often enough** - then the cost, what with lost inventory, insurance payouts, and the endless subsequent investigations, is seven or eight times that.
There is no longer much pretense that shuttle flights in particular, or manned space flight in general, has any practical value. You will still occasionally hear people repeating the old NASA lines about the joys of microgravity manufacturing and insights into osteoporesis, but if you repeat these tales to a materials scientist or a physiologist, you will get peals of laughter in return.
To seek a cure for osteoporesis by spending $500 million to put seven persons and 2,000 tons of equipment into earth orbit is a bit like... well, it is so extravagantly preposterous that any simile you can come up with falls flat. It is like nothing else in the annals of human folly.
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#1
Yeah ok, but whatever you do, don't nix that "rods from God" or "God's rods" idea.
Posted by: Rafael ||
06/21/2005 1:27
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#2
CHALLENGER blew up when Reagan challenged the USSR, while COLUMBIA blew up post 9-11 during the WOT, where America's = Columbia's very existence and sovereignty is at risk of destruction!
#3
This person has no imagination, he doesn't mention that the very laptop he's using to type this article was made possible by a direct link to research done for the space program. Miniaturization.......the lifeblood of computer chips and spaceships, makes it possible to carry a "supercomputer" around under your arm. A mere 35 years ago the processing power in that laptop would've occupied a good size building. And it would've cost millions of dollars.
Why can't they someday grow crops in space? Nutrients, lights, oxygen, CO2, water, no pests or worms. A space farm. No droughts, no plagues of locusts, no storms or floods. If we don't go there, we'll never know these things.
All the astronauts know what could happen anytime they liftoff. Afterall, they're riding on a humongous, controlled, superexplosion, hurling them into space. Yet they willingy, no, gladly go. As would I. I'd like to see what effect a Budweiser would have in weightlessness.
Posted by: Tom Dooley ||
06/21/2005 2:37
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#4
Miniaturization.......the lifeblood of computer chips and spaceships, makes it possible to carry a "supercomputer" around under your arm. Sorry, this claim is laughable. The most recent computer equipment on the shuttle is so big and old (state of the art 25 years ago thats pre the IBM PC)that in the real world, you couldn't give it away and there is equipment that only someone who has been around the computer biz as long as me would recognize, such as the IBM AP-101S.
#5
Satellites carry obsolete electronics and for good reasons. First you never, never, ever carry an unproven design (in spatial tems that means who hasn't been around for a LOT of time) into the space: if the thing fails, or a hardware bug is revealed (remember the Pentium bug?) while in orbit you have blown up gazillion dollars.
Second: The newer the electronics, the smaller it is and the smaller it is, the more sensitive to cosmic radiation: A P4 with an its engraving of under 0.2 microns is LOT more sensitive to radiation than say, a 8088 ie the processor in the original IBM PC
#7
There is no longer much pretense that shuttle flights in particular, or manned space flight in general, has any practical value.
Beg to differ - and I know this is a touchy subject since my husband spent 20 or so years of his career in space-related stuff.
The shuttle is old and desperately needs replacing. That said, there are a lot of reasons for humans to be in space. Exploration and eventually possible exploitation of space assets is one - and yes, I do know the energy economics involved, so I'm not suggesting we have tug boats lugging iron ore to earth. "Exploitation" might include colonization.
Or - and here it gets dicier from a geopolitical point of view - it might include defense.
Finally, while we've made some useful strides in robotics after a long gestation period of research, we are nowhere near able to build robotic systems that could, for instance, repair or refuel satellites in orbit.
There certainly are things for which robotic probes would be a good start. But there are also IMO very solid reasons for a manned space program.
Finally, re: spinoff technology, don't underestimate how much got seeded by our space and defense R&D. Really tough, complex technical challenges have a way of generating whole new technologies that would not - or at least have not - been developed in more common research programs. The work on the early re-entry capsules and then on the tiles that make up the shuttle heat shield is directly related to composite materials all around us ... not only your non-stick frying pans but also the composites that help to make stealth fighters stealthy.
Ditto re: software and chip technologies, many of which have their roots in defense and space research. A portion of my own career gave me some visibility into that process.
Oh, and those robots? Until very recently, estimates were that DOD funded approximately 90-95% of all robotic-related research in the US.
I am not necessarily advocating here for the militarization of space in the form of, say, bases on the moon. I do think it would be shortsighted to believe no one else has such possibilities in mind in their new space programs.
Hard complex problems with a compelling focus - such as defending against missile attacks or putting and keeping humans alive in space - have a way of paying for themselves down stream. It helps, though, if you are willing to move on past the obsolete systems when their cost-benefit has gone negative. Unfortunately, the 90's econ bubble was purchased in part by gutting what should have been work on follow-on systems. The shuttle is all we have right now, a dangerous and wrongheaded position for us to be in IMO.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/21/2005 8:05
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#9
The shuttle is a terrible disappointment.
Currently it costs about 40 million dollars to put someone up on the shuttle. The Russians can put someone up for 20 million dollars and make money on the deal.
#10
I cannot endorse either the tone or some of the specific claims in this article (2000 tons of equipment on a Shuttle?) but the gist is correct. The Shuttle is a bill of goods, doing the same job as expendable rockets at two or three times the cost. The various missions that require a human presence are, as represented, absurd make-work projects with little or no scientific validity.
The truth, unacceptable for many, is that chemical rockets just do not have the energy density to carry humans into space in any meaningful way. The Shuttle, dangerous monstrosity though it is, is almost at the edge of what is possible with this basic technology. It is unlikely, or at least absurdly impractical, that Human beings will ever go farther with this technology than they already have.
In the early 60s, the US launched Project Apollo, which eventually put 12 people on the Moon at a cost of 40 billion dollars. At the same time, there was another parallel program aimed at the same purpose, Project Orion. This was designed to put 150 people on the Moon at a cost of 5 billion dollars. Orion was nuclear-powered, using small fission bombs to drive itself into orbit and interplanetary space. There is every indication that it would have worked. Orion was cancelled in 1963, a consequence of the Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty. Its method of applying nuclear energy would be completely unacceptable in today's world
but there are other, much safer, ways to use nuclear energy and these are once again being explored for future programs. See NuclearSpace.
#12
AC has it right. We will go no farther until a better method of propulsion is devised. It has to be light, compact and capable of allot of sustained power. You can't do that with chemical thrust.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
06/21/2005 10:37
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#13
I wonder what Derbershire thinks about the number of test pilots and expensive planes the US military has lost over the years. If that's the cost of doing business why is space travel different?
The astronauts know the risks and the costs seem big but are nothing compared to other items in the Federal Budget. Was the shuttle a mistake? Yes, in my humble opinion the Air Forces demand that it be able to carry their larger sattelites (which the Air Force no longer wanted after Challenger disaster) screwed the shuttle from the early days. And the shuttle is nothing compared to the space station.
But to paraphrase a wise man, you go to soace with the equipment you have, not the equipment you wish you had. Otherwise you'd never go.
#14
There is a general recognition that the Space Shuttle is dated, and that NASA isn't really up to the task of making a better mousetrap. That is why there is a big push to involve free enterprise in the concept. Scientists have a habit of being too focused on discovery for its own sake. When money is involved, practicality is at the forefront. For example, NASA requires a ground crew of 100 or more personnel; a private launch may only need 5-10. NASA is risk averse, having been severely punished for its accidents; but a private company would just dust itself off and try again, not having the luxury of taking a few years off to scrutinize its operations from top to bottom. Sure, it's a tragedy when an employee dies, but high risk is their choice, and why they get the big bucks. The real space race will begin when there is major money to be made. This will be mining for H3 on the moon. Dozens of major corporations will team up to make literally trillions of dollars. N.B.: Mining creates civilization. It is the most powerful economic engine around, stimulating every other economic sector. A nation's power rests in its mines.
#15
#4 .... Nevertheless, research for space travel is directly linked to the miniturization that you find so laughable.
Posted by: Tom Dooley ||
06/21/2005 13:57
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#16
Every time I see an article like this I find myself agreeing with parts of it. Yes the Shuttle is dated and grossly over priced. But most of the cost involved with each mission is in the standing army that maintains, and operates the orbiter and its systems. As a stand alone heavy launch vehicle the SRBs and the ET stack modified to carry either non man rated SSMEs or the Russian designed engines now showing up on US launch vehicles would rival the old Saturn V in launch capacity. But such a system should only be used for unmanned launches of heavy payloads. Certain missions can only be preformed by people in orbit. The Hubble servicing missions for one. The initial repair mission should not of been required if adequate testing on the mirror had been done but thats water over the dam. Over the years a number of options have been looked at for manned space flight. All of which have gone nowhere for a varity of reasons. One of the ones I like best is called Black Horse http://www.risacher.org/bh/spacast3.html
And there others. Rutan has been doing in flight testing of a subscale system for t-space of an air launched manned system http://www.transformspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=projects.view&workid=CCD3097A-96B6-175C-97F15F270F2B83AA
#18
Here's a picture of the main processors used in the space shuttle. The chip is made by Singer (yes, the sowing machine company). Serious dejavu for me. Singer had a weird hardware partitioned architecture that was terrific for real time applications. Nothing else came close in the late 70s. It also used ferrite memory (little metal discs), which had the nice feature of being non-volatile and allowed hot restarts. Everyone else had stopped using ferrite memory 10 years earlier. In reality this is 60s technology and its still flying in the shuttle. Amazing!
#19
I've always been partial to Clarke's elevator.
Derbyshire (looking at the archive of his NRO articles) knows (or, implies he does, anyway) a little about a lot. Methinks he knows a lot about very little. But 'tis 'Merika, he can write anything he wants. We are equally free to laugh, fisk, etc.
If we aren't going to look for another mudball to augment / replace this one, then I consider the book closed. We are merely rearranging deck chairs.
"He not busy being born is busy dying."
-Bobby Zimmerman (aka Dylan)
Whatever the cost, we need exploration, by humans when appropriate... Simply put, cuz we can think, we can imagine, we can see what does not yet exist. Robotics is so far from that reality that his grand statements just boggle.
NASA, and it was a mismanaged Clintoonian Rainbow Dickhead cum PC Institution boondoggle for almost a decade, once upon a time was a major seed-corn source. No society can have too many sources of fundamental research / seed-corn. Those that eat theirs during the Socialist Winter, can expect a Communist Spring - to go Joe M on ya for a moment. It can be a source of seed-corn again, if run properly and staffed with brilliance - not PCite Rainbow Dildos and MBA's - 5 or 6 of the latter and 0 of the former ought to suffice, I believe, but just as with all our other 3 & 4 letter agencies, it has been packed with New Age sycophants and prolly needs a good spring cleaning. I hope the new Administrator is like-minded.
Just my $0.02 after watching the source of most of my childhood dreams dragged through the PC looneybin and, now, the mud. Very Heavy Sigh.
#20
.com, I think NASA has been a seed-corn sink for about twenty to twenty-five years now.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
06/21/2005 19:09
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#21
And given the current administrator's obsession with replacing the shuttle with a shuttle-derived vehicle, especially one using the worst bits-and-pieces from the shuttle like the SRB.
(See this thread at Rand Simberg's site for information on one of the proposed systems, apparently a favorite of Griffin from back before he became administrator, and what I believe to be a fairly cognent criticism thereof. My favorite quote from the thread, from Erik Anderson:
Message to NASA: you can go to the moon and Mars, or you can spend the money instead subsidizing Thiokol and polishing pads 39A and B. There is not enough money to do both.
That about sums up my feelings on the matter.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
06/21/2005 19:19
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#22
In #11 rkb says: Science might not be the only, or even the main, reason for humans in space, AC.
I couldn't agree more, rkb. I was referring to the Shuttle missions that are tailored to use its manned capability, like the multiply repeated Spacelab missions. I probably should have been more clear.
In the long term, it is inevitable that we will move into space in a big way. It is new territory, becoming available through an increase in our capability, just as the increased capability provided by little boats allowed certain prehistoric people to migrate from the Continent to England.
I think authoritarians fear this because they realize, perhaps subconciously, that a self-sufficient community in space would be largely beyond the reach of centralized power.
The Trotskuite Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, aka GnawAn'Pis, is vehement in its opposition to mining or settlement in space, yet they seem to skirt around any direct statement of the reasons for their opposition.
The most telling indication is their claim that such efforts would provide a "refuge for the elite" which they consider a bad thing.
#23
I've heard about the proposal to use the SRB as a man rated launch vehicle for the CEV. As it has no emergency engine shutdown procedure short of blowing the top end of the casing after the CEV has blasted free at much higher G loads than the launch itself would generate I think its a dead horse to start with. CEV if built will most likely use the Delta 4 or the Atlas Heavy. As I said above the basic Shuttle launch stack minus the orbiter is capable of putting around 100 tons into orbit. Front mounting the payload on the ET would eliminate the problem of foam and ice impacting the playload while mounting the engines under the ET would also eliminate the problem of vehicle flex on the pad during the time the engines start. If you look at video of a shuttle launch you will see the whole vehicle pitch forward by at least a foot at the orbiters nose once the SSMEs are brought to takeoff power. All this happens befor ethe SRBs ignite and puts a lot of stress on the SRB field joint for the segments.
I've heard about the proposal to use the SRB as a man rated launch vehicle for the CEV. As it has no emergency engine shutdown procedure short of blowing the top end of the casing after the CEV has blasted free at much higher G loads than the launch itself would generate I think its a dead horse to start with.
There are lots of reasons why it's a bad idea. Unfortunately it's also the brand new boss's idea, which means it may be used no matter how bad it is. (It didn't stop them from picking Lockheed's design for the DC-X followup, for instance).
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
06/21/2005 20:33
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#25
Phil F - Okay, you're established as the Voice of Doom on this thread. Is Der Administrator a total blockhead? Is there no hope, sniff sniff? The PC-hole, she be deep - and I'm not convinced, just yet, that Bush & Co will do whatever he sez without question. So, what have you got that's constructive? I still have those pesky unfulfilled dream thingys, you see, and I'd like my grandchildren (at least) to realize them, since I can't.
Okay, you're established as the Voice of Doom on this thread. Is Der Administrator a total blockhead? Is there no hope, sniff sniff? The PC-hole, she be deep - and I'm not convinced, just yet, that Bush & Co will do whatever he sez without question. So, what have you got that's constructive? I still have those pesky unfulfilled dream thingys, you see, and I'd like my grandchildren (at least) to realize them, since I can't.
(mode voice=Yoda)
No! There is another!
(/mode)
I think a lot of the vehicles currently being built to service the suborbital market (Rutan hasn't finished designing SS2 yet, but I can point out Rocketplane, Inc. in Oklahoma, XCOR Corporation, Blue Origin, TGV's Michelle-B, Armadillo Aerospace's work, etc.) could all wind up being "rough drafts" of the bottom stage of a two-stage reusable launch vehicle system.
Heck, if you want to see something interesting, both in the success and failure department, go to Armadillo Aerospace's site and check out the videos. They're currently in the process of switching away from peroxide as a fuel, because for the past three to four years they've been held up by an inability to obtain useful grades of hydrogen peroxide in useful quantities.
But other than those above groups and likeminded people... DOOM! GLOOM! FAIRBANKS!...
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
06/21/2005 21:29
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Y'know, you have to publicly disclose if you own Armadillo Aerospace stock, lol!
#28
.com: I just have a fondness for vehicles that take off and land vertically, the way the gods and Robert A. Heinlein *meant* them to do.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
06/21/2005 23:03
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#29
Short term use the shuttle to carry payloads but send it up unmanned. Send up bulk cargo so that if it blows no loss. They could use Kerosine (potential rocket fuel for earth orbit access with easy transfer ability, can be used for braking and thus avoid heat shield issues) or water (propellant for space travel to get out of low earth orbit for whatever ship needs to).
Longer term, stack some solid rocket boosters together to create an unmanned heavy lifting vehicle. Either that or shuttle C design. This could be used to get our space only space ships up there.
Longest term, charter rockets from private companies.
Either way send the men up in one of the space planes being developed by private industry. Nasa should contract out for those flights and encourage them.
The design needs for a good heavy lifting vehicle and a troop transport vehicle are different and there is no point creating both. Also there is no point NASA needs to own and run everything. They should move into contracting services and worry about the next step. Then the one after that as industry catches up.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2005
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#1
Watson couldnât describe the difference between Shiites and Sunnis, the two major groups of Muslims. âNot technically, no,â Watson answered when asked the question.
Very simple, agent Watson.
The former believe in killing Jews, or anybody who disaggrees with them.
The later believe that Jews, or anybody who disaggrees with them, must be killed.
#2
If this guy was truly legit, I'd agree with his case. However, we know of stories in the past of moose limbs working for the FBI that refused to interrogate or investigate fellow moose limbs after 9/11. Reading the article, it sounds legit in my mind, but again it's on arabnews.com.
Posted by: BA ||
06/21/2005 9:28
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#3
Gee, expecting a counterterrorism agent to actually have knowlegde of the terrorists...what a novel idea...yes, I guess it would be nice.
Posted by: jawa ||
06/21/2005 10:47
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BA,
Normally I would be right with you, but this guy doesn't appear to be saying that he was passed over because of his ethnicity. He's telling us that the promotion process in the FBI is based on something other than competence in your field.
I think we all know that something isn't right in the FBI, hasn't been right in sometime, and it doesn't appear that anything is being done about it. I believe we are beginning to see the true impact of not firing anyone after 9/11.
#5
Very true, dread. However, I do take news from that source with a grain of salt. But, I'm sure if it was truly over his ethnicity, arabnews would've made a big deal about it. You're right though, something's amiss in the FBI and it isn't right that experience leads to promotions. I'd especially think we'd want MORE experience/ethnicities in that arena to infiltrate the jihadis among us.
Posted by: BA ||
06/21/2005 13:18
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Just do a google news search - this story is gaining traction stateside. I think this guy's case has merit based on the other articles I read. It points to the FBI culture of "the good old boys network" being alive and well. Some of the reponses of FBI leadership, under oath, as they answer questions posed by the FBI Muslim agent show how useless the FBI leadership is. It's the same old same old, well, the 9/11 attack was like any other crime scene, we gather evidence, blah, blah. One guy- Bald ( spelling ?)-actually implied that all you need is leadership expertise ( look at my spanking new MBA everybody) to penetrate the network of extremist Muslims but knowledge of the Muslim culture or Arab languages, well, it would be nice (???) but not essential to conducting a good "police investigation" ( police investigation is my summation of what this idiot thinks is the answer to tracking down terrorists in this country).
FREED hostage Douglas Wood has bowed to family pressure and agreed never to return to Iraq, where he was captured and held hostage for 47 days. A spokesman for the Wood family said today that the engineer "will not, under any circumstances, return to Iraq". He had made the decision on the advice of his family, the spokesman said.
The 63-year-old engineer, discovered and rescued in a raid by Iraqi troops last week, "lost commercial opportunities during his incarceration", the spokesman said. Mr Wood shocked family members who were sitting by his side at a press conference yesterday, when he did not immediately rule out a return because "business opportunities" remained in Baghdad. He said his family had spent his first 30 minutes in Australia attempting to talk him out of going back. During the same press conference, Mr Wood said: "One would be more prudent, more security conscious, the second time."
Psychologists have said it will likely take years for Mr Wood to get over the trauma of his captivity. Last night the Green Party called on Mr Wood to consider repaying taxpayers for his rescue mission from proceeds of the sale of his story to Channel 10.
That's one of the most remarkably tactless and shoddy suggestions I've ever heard coming from professional politicians. Fair takes your breath away, doesn't it?
#1
Rudd & Brown
Can you imagine these two f*cktards asking the ozzy mulla asshat for a refund.
I try not to use the word ilk, as moonbats use it regularly, but cretains like Rudd & Brown deserve it.
God bless the Iraqi & American soldiers, Doug Wood and family.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
06/21/2005 2:51
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#2
Gee...the Greens sound like our Democrates. Both sets of polititians should be killed. Or sent to Iran to never come back. The results would be the same at the end of the day.
#3
Great idea, MMurray. I truly wonder if Mr. Wood would go back if given free choice in the matter. I understand his family's side of the argument, but he should be free to choose, exempt from gov't interference in the whole matter.
Posted by: BA ||
06/21/2005 9:24
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PESHAWAR: The government on Monday sealed 26 buildings of the Darra Adamkhel tribe in Peshawar to press them to handover kidnappers who had abducted and killed two Adazay villagers. The Adazay village protested against the kidnapping and murder its residents, blocked the Kohat road and demanded a government operation against criminal hideouts in Darra Adamkhel. Federally Administered Tribal Areas security chief Arbab Arif told Daily Times that the government had sealed off business centres of the Darra tribesmen under the collective responsibility section-21 of the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR). He said the action was taken on the orders of Kohat's district coordination officer (DCO). However, the DCO was not available for comment.
Gul Haji Plaza, the largest computer accessories centre on University Road, was also sealed and shopkeepers condemned the government's decision. "This act has caused us huge monetary losses and the government should deal directly with Darra Adamkhel tribesmen instead of punishing us," computer dealer Mushtaq Ahmad told Daily Times, adding that 300 shops in the plaza had been sealed.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2005
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Imitating the Zionist entity Perv? Shame on you.
The leader of Lebanon's victorious opposition alliance, Saad Hariri, said yesterday it was too early to talk of becoming prime minister, insisting he first wanted to hold talks with his defeated rivals. "We are trying to get a more broad alliance in discussion with other parties," Saad told a Beirut press conference. "Once we achieve that, we will discuss about the prime ministership."
Saad ruled out any precipitate move to unseat under-fire pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, who has more than two years in office after a controversial Damascus-inspired extension was approved last September. "This is an issue that is quite sensitive in Lebanon," he said. "We will move with the sensitivity that it needs." Saad rejected suggestions his alliance had no program comparable with glossy 47-page policy document put out by one of his main election rivals — Christian firebrand Michel Aoun. "We have a program, we will issue it within a week," he said.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
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We have a program, we will issue it within a week In other words, you don't have a program.
Twenty-two Afghans were killed and three US soldiers injured in the latest attacks linked to the war-battered country's former Taliban regime, officials said on Monday. Militants from the fundamentalist Islamic group, ousted by the US-led forces in late 2001, attacked a district in Helmand province early Monday, a provincial government spokesman said. "Taliban attacked Washer district at 2:30am and killed the district governor Mulla Sakhi and one policeman," Mohammed Wali told AFP. "Eleven Taliban were killed in the exchange of fire and their bodies are still lying in the area. Three Taliban were wounded," he said.
Late on Sunday at least one policeman was killed and two were wounded when a checkpoint on the highway between Kabul and Kandahar was attacked in southern Zabul province. Zabul police director Abdul Jabar Uruzgani said seven Taliban fighters were also killed but their bodies were not left at the scene. A highway policeman was killed in an attack on the Kandahar-Herat road in Farah province early Sunday, said Herat police spokesman Abdul Raof Ahmadi. Three US troops were slightly wounded on Sunday when their vehicle hit an improvised bomb during a patrol in the troubled province of Paktika.
The Taliban said on Monday they had freed 23 people from a group of 31 they captured in a district of Kandahar province last week, having executed eight of the captives. Taliban spokesman Abdul Latif Hakimi said the 23 were freed as they had been found not guilty of supporting the US-backed government.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2005
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#1
You can see the real forms at http://www.archives.gov/research_room/obtain_copies/standard_form_180.pdf
Anyone can download them. The real question is, will we see his DD-214 discharge papers? My belief is no, since I think he got a dishonerable discharge and it was changed under Carter to honerable.
#2
I beleieve if by some odd chance had Kerry won, someone would have put themselves in legal jeopary by leaking teh DD214, and Kerry would have been forced to withdraw. Then we would havegone from ORDINARY TREASON to TREASONOULSY STUPID with Edwards....
#3
The only people he released his records to are three friendly reporters, who are now squatting on the records and refusing to release them. The same reporters who salivated over the Abu Ghraib photos; even the Boston Globe, which published photos from a pron site claiming they were photos of prisoner abuse in Iraq; now refuse to disclose the contents of Kerry's records!
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
06/21/2005 8:14
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The 180s look ok, it's who he gave them too. We need to see the complete files ourselves.
Posted by: Steve ||
06/21/2005 9:26
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There are legit but he made sure only Kerry-friendly reporter is laughable. Can anyone imagine Bush only releasing his records to say the Washington Times and perhaps National Review. The rest of the press would go nuts about a coverup. If his grades are any indication of his (Kerry's) truthfulness then I suspect the Military records would be very entertaining.
Whoopdy doo. I insist I'm tall and good looking, with a full head of wavy black hair...
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2005
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I'm sure Senator Durbin and the Democratic Party believe the same thing too. It was all a mistake. Put him back. Free him from the Nazis and the gulag!
A fugitive confidant of Saddam Hussein who is now believed to be an insurgent leader is sick and losing influence among leaders of the outlawed Baath party, the Iraqi government said Monday. The government's statement said Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri nonetheless retained his ability to "recruit terrorists and finance terrorist attacks with money he stole from Iraq and transferred to Syria during the rule of the tyrant Saddam." It did not say what the red-haired al-Douri was sick with, or explain how it knew about his health. Al-Douri is thought to be in his late 60s and little is known about his whereabouts following Saddam's ouster in 2003.
We ought to spread a rumor about how FDA Red Dye #5 causes genital warts, and see if Izzy squirms.
Under Saddam, al-Douri was vice chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council, the highest executive body in Iraq. After Saddam's capture in December 2003, al-Douri became the most wanted Iraqi still at large. With a $10 million bounty on his head, al-Douri is believed to be playing a key role in the two-year insurgency wracking much of Iraq. Former Baathists, embittered by their loss of power after Saddam's ouster, are thought to be a key component of the insurgency. Other factions include Muslim militants, some of whom are allied with Jordanian-born terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his al-Qaida in Iraq group. Former members of Saddam's army also are thought to be playing a role in the Sunni Arab-dominated insurgency.
Al-Douri is believed to lead groups called the New Regional Command and the New Baath Party. Citing reports, the government announcement said al-Douri's bad health had undermined his sway over Baathist leaders because of his inability to communicate with them. It said al-Douri was suspected of involvement in the use of chemical weapons against Kurdish villagers in 1988, the brutal suppression of a Shiite revolt in 1991 in southern Iraq and mass executions. The government did not reveal the source of its information or explain why it was releasing the statement now, but the announcement came one day after an Iraqi tribunal investigating members of Saddam's regime released a videotape. It showed testimony from the ousted dictator's cousin, nicknamed "Chemical Ali" for his alleged role in the 1988 gas attack that killed thousands of Kurds.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2005
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Izzy isn't, is he?
Posted by: Captain America ||
06/21/2005 1:13
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we can always hope his ill health is due to a sucking chest wound or sepsis.
BRUSSELS - The United States and Europe will urge Iraq's remaining creditors to match or better Western government pledges of debt relief at an international conference on Wednesday, EU and US officials said on Monday.
The conference, jointly hosted by the European Union and Washington, will tread carefully around lingering sensitivities over the US-led war, which split Europe in 2003, and is not aiming to produce initiatives to tackle the lethal insurgency in Iraq. Instead, ministers will focus on political and economic themes -- pressing Baghdad to give minority Sunni Arabs a fair say in drafting a constitution, and encouraging others to follow the Paris Club of creditor nations in slashing Iraqi debt.
"This is the opportunity for Iraq and members of the Paris Club to encourage others to be as generous, or more generous," an EU official told a briefing, referring to an accord last November to slash 80 percent of the Paris Club debt, worth $38.9 billion.
The Paris Club includes the Group of Seven industrialised countries -- the United States, Japan, Canada, Germany, Britain, France and Italy -- as well as other western European states, Russia and Australia.
But Washington estimates Iraq owes as much as $70 billion, including commercial debt, outside the Paris Club and has been urging those creditors for months to make a contribution. "Obviously these are issues that have to be settled in bilateral negotiations," Richard Jones, Iraq advisor to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said in an interview. "But if we get indications from countries that they are well-disposed, that is a step forward," he told Reuters in Brussels, citing Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, China, India and eastern European states among those substantial creditors.
Washington went further than the 80 percent relief agreed by the Paris Club by waiving all of the $4 billion Iraq owed it.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/21/2005
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DEFENCE Minister Robert Hill today gave a strong indication Australia was considering boosting its troop commitment to troubled Afghanistan. Senator Hill said Australia's armed forces had more flexibility to contribute to Afghanistan now other commitments were easing. Australia has just one soldier in Afghanistan helping clear land mines. At the peak of fighting following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, 150 Australian Special Air Service Regiment soldiers served in Afghanistan, playing a key role in operations against al-Qaeda and Taliban remnants. All were home by December 2002.
Senator Hill said today Afghanistan's gains since a multinational force ousted the Taliban regime in 2001 needed more consolidation and other Western countries were making a contribution. Senator Hill said the tempo of Australia's overseas troop rotation had been high and was still high. "But we have been able to reduce our force size substantially in the Solomon Islands," he said. "We've now completed the peace-keeping mission in East Timor. In some ways there's a little more flexibility now than there was a year or two ago."
Senator Hill said the Federal Government had been focusing on Iraq and Australia still had a key commitment there, recently increased in the Al Muthanna province. "We need to weigh up all these factors," he said. "What's been achieved in Afghanistan is tremendous but it needs to be consolidated."
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan demanded on Monday that Afghan authorities carry out an investigation to determine the identities of three Pakistani men arrested for allegedly plotting to assassinate the US ambassador. Foreign Ministry spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani said Pakistan had only heard of the arrests through the media and it has not been "officially informed" by the Afghan government. "We are confident that (a) proper investigation would be conducted to ascertain the identity and motives of the alleged plotters," he said. Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed reacted angrily to any suggestion that there had been official sanction for the plot. "This is a baseless allegation," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2005
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Yeah, yeah. We'll get back to you on that, doods.
Malaysia yesterday called for an end to widespread "Islamophobia", saying stereotyping and prejudice against Muslims risked sparking off large-scale conflicts.
"You know we can't control ourselves, so just relax and ignore us..."
Allan mainly helps those who can't help themselves.
"Worldwide, the image of Islam...has suffered primarily as a result of a perception of association with extremism, radicalism and poverty," Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar told a seminar.
With the exception of a few commies, most of the world's extremists, radicals, and cesspools of poverty are Islamic. The more Islamic they are, the more extreme and radical they are, though I'll admit some of the most extreme and radical sit on large pools of oil which provide a temporary wealth.
"Islamophobia is a problem. I think we need to handle and tackle it appropriately," he said, adding it needed to be "stopped dead in its tracks" to ensure "large-scale conflagration among and within societies does not occur."
The way to stop it dead in its tracks is to hunt down and slaughter the headchoppers, acid tossers, gunnies, snuffies, hard boyz, and assorted holy men. That'll clear things up in a flash.
Syed Hamid said Islam continues to be distorted in the international media, and that more cross-cultural dialogues should be held to "foster deeper understanding and bridge the gap between the East and West."
We read the Islamic media, too, every chance we get. I'm trying to figure where the distortions lie...
Posted by: Fred ||
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'Malaysia yesterday called for an end to widespread âIslamophobiaâ, saying stereotyping and prejudice against Muslims risked sparking off large-scale conflicts.'
#5
Article: Malaysiaâs government promotes a moderate version of Islamic in this multicultural nation, which is also home to large Indian and Chinese minorities, but there is a constant battle with religious hardliners.
He left out one word: Malaysiaâs government promotes a moderate version of Islamic in this multicultural nation, which is also home to large Indian and Chinese minorities, but there is a constant battle with Islamic religious hardliners.
#6
Why about fighting islamophobia through Muslims asking themselves about "root causes of islamophobia", about "Why they hate us?" and acting about it? Like for instance by shooting moonbats, closing madrassas, exopelling wahabists from Mecca and abolishing shariah and discriminations?
#10
Malaysia yesterday called for an end to widespread âIslamophobiaâ, saying stereotyping and prejudice against Muslims risked sparking off large-scale conflicts.
President Hamid Karzai accused Pakistan of interfering in Afghanistan's internal affairs, Online reported on Monday. Radio Tehran quoted Karzai as telling a religious council that Islamabad was backing the anti-Kabul elements. Karzai alleged that Pakistan had threatened the Taliban with handing over their families to the US if they did not fight against Afghanistan. Meanwhile, an Afghan official told the Associated Press that the Afghan government was extremely angry at what he called a "lack of cooperation" from Islamabad in stopping militants from crossing the border.
The Afghan official said Pakistan's lack of resolve was a factor in both the assassination plot of US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, and an upsurge in violence across Afghanistan that has left hundreds dead. "We have always believed that if we got cooperation from Pakistan, this violence wouldn't be happening," he said. "These militants are getting support from people in Pakistan, and we are not convinced when Islamabad says it can't control them."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2005
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'Pakistan interfering in Afghanistan' They must be true to their ancient traditions.
President Karzai, you might want to start building a fence. India should have good advice on what style best keeps out Pakistani enthusiasts.
But right now, it's the ISI guys pushing past the limits while Perv tries desperately to straddle the fence. Sure it would be grand if he were a staunch ally. But he's a useful tool to some degree as is -- and certainly better than the ISI boys.
Until we have deep military and political ties with a resurgent India and have stabilized Afghanistan, Pakistan is geopolitically crucial for us. Perv is probably the best we could get there. Not saying much, I know ....
Posted by: too true ||
06/21/2005 8:19
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#10
I disagree RC. I think the Paks like chaos. They have so much that they can export it to everyone.
#11
Good point, Spot! Man, I sure hope the heat gets turned up and fast in this area. It's sad to me that the US media has basically forgotten about Afghanistan and Paki-waki. This is a vital front in the WoT.
Posted by: BA ||
06/21/2005 9:35
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#12
Damn exporting Entropy!
I've got a new Junior Sales Concept for me skool. Giver us $10.00 right now and we won't release these 11 twerp cats into yer backyard.
Pakistan yesterday denied that leaders from Afghanistan's ousted Taleban militia use its territory to make statements to the media, days after a purported commander from the militia told a Pakistani television channel that Osama Bin Laden and Taleban chief Mulla Citizen Omar were alive and well.
"Who? Us? Pshaw! No way!"
"An interview with a particular news channel is absolutely no guide to the presence of certain individuals in a particular territory," Foreign Ministry spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani said.
I'm not too sure denial of the obvious is the way to handle this, Jalil...
"You must have seen that a number of interviews have appeared on international channels, again in Western capitals, from other countries also, that does not mean that those individuals were actually present in the countries from where the interviews were telecast or were taken," Jilani told a weekly news conference. His denial came after Pakistan's Geo television on Wednesday aired an interview with a man it said was Taleban military commander Mulla Akhtar Usmani, a former Afghan aviation minister.
"Somebody shut him up!... No, no! He's raving! Really! Been sick for some time now! Just ignore him..."
The man did not specify where Bin Laden was, but said he was "absolutely fine," and that Omar was still issuing orders. A senior journalist at the independent station said the interview was done near the Afghan town of Spinboldak, which is close to the Pakistani border.
This article starring:
Foreign Ministry spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani
MULLA AKHTAR USMANI
Taliban
Posted by: Fred ||
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"You must have seen that a number of interviews have appeared on international channels, again in Western capitals, from other countries also, that does not mean that those individuals were actually present in the countries from where the interviews were telecast or were taken,"
Of course not - everybody knows they could have used their Secret Mystic Body Projection skills to do those interviews.
Posted by: too true ||
06/21/2005 6:44
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#2
OK... fine... then how about Taliban in your soil or under the soil? Did you look there? Probably not! There are Taliban everywhere, and then there are real Taliban. They are there, just look for the signs... missing eyes, dark foreboding cloth patterns and styles, arrogant swaggers, unkempt beards and facial hair clumps and unusual moles, smelly bodies, shiny SUVs, lots of boys with downcast looks with bruises in tow, a lack of female companions, and lots of jibber jabber about sharia and shaheed. Amongst these humanoid appearing throwbacks, there might even be a true Muslim... the scared looking one headed to a lynching.
#2
When I saw "vibrant" in the title along with Rice's name, I figured the press was commenting more on her wardrobe than her speech. Glad to see I was wrong.
Posted by: Dar ||
06/21/2005 14:13
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#3
Be careful what you wish for, Condi. I'm sure Hezbollah and Hamas and the Islamic Brotherhood would love to see democratic elections take place across the board in the Middle East.
#4
And should Hezbollah and Hamas and the Islamic Brotherhood win those elections, what would be the effective difference compared to the situation now?
#5
tw, you can't be serious. Mubarekk, the King of Jordan, the Saudi Princes, even old weasel neck himself in Syria - corrupt and self-serving as they are - are a heck of a lot more West friendly than the aforementioned alternatives and the masses who would support them if the tyrants and their military were "voted out." Iraq at this stage is still at an experimental level re: whether or not democracy is a good fit for Muslims. I'd say the verdict is out at this point, wouldn't you? A benign strongman or a Pro West oligarchy can be useful for keeping burgeoning uneducated sectarian populations under control so they don't do harm to themselves or to others.
#6
I got a big hole in Manhattan that says you're wrong about the Saudis, TG.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
06/21/2005 19:02
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#7
There was a movie, once upon a time about 1980, called Brubaker. The essence of the movie was the struggle between pragmatism and principle. I belabored an opinion on this in a rant here on the 'burg, just recently - so I won't repeat it all, again.
My ex-wifey and I argued about Brubaker for years. Guess which side we each took? Lol. Enough with the State Dept-style future apology BS. Let's do it right. One set of rules, just what that Constitution thingy talks about, play it straight, win or lose. That's what America should be all about, nothing more, nothing less. It's worth dying for. The other, isn't.
#8
The Saudis are playing both sides to stay in power -they're no saints obviously - but I contend they are far more pro West than if we let the Saudi masses have a democracy. Then we'd have a duely elected radical pro-OBL gov't in power. The House of Saud did not order 9/11.
For another thing, the Saudi princes could have put a screetching halt to the USA's war efforts and propelled our economy into rapid de-aceleration if they chose to do so, simply by closing off the spigot to US oil company interests. Instead the House of Saud has been fairly co-operative behind the scenes by keeping OPEC on a straight and narrow "neutral" path. I think a democracy in Saudi Arabia could be very very bad for the USA. That's why President after President have made the House of Saud an exception to the rule when there's US criticism about political events in the ME.
It's ancient history around here that the Saudis ain't our buds. They serve themselves. They have been at war with the US since 1973. A low-grade slow-burn financial and diplomatic sabotage some might call it, if you're silly enough to think of them as allies, lol - wotta load! I call it war.
The Special Relationship hit the skids with Bush - or haven't you paid attention? I don't have 20 links to offer regards our investigation of the Saudi Embassy financial records, etc, but you're out in left field here - with the State Dept's seditionists. Are you really Mikey S in disguise?
RB didn't begin when you showed up. This is a common misconception among certain visitors. In your best Garret Morris News for the Hearing Impaired:
One is worth DYING for. The OTHER, isn't.
Clear enough for you? Oh, and thank you ooooooh so much for the equivocation, accommodation, and State Dept Wank-o-Matic Retirement Fund refresher sentiments. I'm sure it's appreciated - somewhere - I'm guessing Foggy Bottom, but I could be wrong.
#10
If we had a duly elected pro-OBL government in Arabia then we could squish it like the Taliban.
The Sauds did not order the hit on the WTC, but they paid for it and they are p[aying for the madrassas in Pakland and Arlington that are raising the jihadis of tomorrow.
Notice this President doesn't make exceptions for criticizing the Sauds. Democracy would not be bad in Arabia. It would be the start of the Arabs growing up. Their choice how it goes. Right now Arabs kill Americans but nothing happens to them. Time to turn that around.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
06/21/2005 20:27
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#11
Here's a handy bit - see #3, Dave D's 8 Options. Thanks to Dubya, we're trying on #4, you see, and it won't work worth warm spit if we don't mean WTF we say. In a number of ways, ol' Dubya, that bible-totin' IdiotChimpHitler guy, is trying, some might say desperately, to save them from themselves. I've always had rather bad luck with that approach, myself - as a solo, but perhaps, as a policy of national will from the US, it can work. I'm willing to give it a try - and support him in the effort - I can live very well with that, in fact. It's a certainty that it won't work, if undermined by becoming what we hate and revile in others: duplicitous, back-stabbing, lying, double-dealing whores.
#15
If we had a duly elected pro-OBL government in Arabia then we could squish it like the Taliban
Ummm, right, the Taliban sure are squished. What we have in Afghanistan is a tenuous situation not any resounding squishing by any means and this situation could have/still can become very unstable very quickly were it not for our much maligned "soft" allies with troops there and but for the co-operation of a certain military strongman, named Musharref, who lets us make incursions into Pakland territory and air space and but for the neutrality of many nasty Afghan warlords with whom we've had to play footsie and whose "agricultural"crops we must pretend do not exist.
As for squishing a pro-OBL Saudi Arabian elected gov't - sorry I can't get on board with your rose colored easy victory - for one thing, we'd fly our airplanes and drive our tanks on what - peanut butter - to deliver big squishing of S.A.?
GWB has been fairly careful about not treading on Saudi princes toes. If GWB was so much firmer than previous Presidents,as you claim, then he would have done regime change of the House of Saud instead of powering US jets and tanks with Saudi fuel to remove Saddam. Also only close friends of GWB - like the Saudi royalty on numerous occasions - get invited to his Crawford ranch. Sorry not much spanking of the Sods that I see by this Admin. and that's perfectly fine by me.
TG - First you propose sleazy arrangements ("corrupt and self-serving as they are - are a heck of a lot more West friendly") then you decry them ("a certain military strongman, named Musharref"). As for the Taleban - geez luise - you're such a stickler - wanna put up of shut up? I offer the Afghani elections as proof you're full of shit. You got, what?, "insurgency" (known by straight-talking folks as terrorists) play footsie in the lawless border regions? That's it?
You speak like a true trooper of the State Dept - duplicitious: GWB does shit never done before (which you don't like, given your accomodation arguments) - yet he's done little or nothing to oppose Saudi duplicity? Sheesh. Wotta load.
Regards the military aspects of that 40km strip of land, you obviously have ZERO military knowledge or understanding. There are many ways to approach it - especially with Iraq, Bahrain, Qatar rather conveniently located nearby with lots 'n lots of troop and materiel movement occurring on a regular basis through the mud puddle known as the Persian Gulf.
You're info and wisdom challenged in many important ways, sonny.
Took me a while to recover from the effects of the thought of our personnel in Afghanistan being protected by our soft allies.
Here's what Condi had to say to the Arab world about the Saud's country while in Cairo
"In Saudi Arabia, brave citizens are demanding accountable government. And some good first steps toward openness have been taken with recent municipal elections. Yet many people pay an unfair price for exercising their basic rights. Three individuals in particular are currently imprisoned for peacefully petitioning their government. That should not be a crime in any country."
Not quite how .com or I would put it, but I think this counts as treading on toes.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
06/21/2005 21:30
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#18
GWB does shit never done before (which you don't like, given your accomodation arguments) - yet he's done little or nothing to oppose Saudi duplicity? Sheesh. Wotta load.
Let me draw your attention to fuzzy wuzzy not very sh*t disturbing comments made by Crown Prince Abdullah and President George W. Bush in the joint statement released from Crawford, Texas 4/25/05:
Today, we renewed our personal friendship and that between our nations. Our friendship begins with the recognition that our nations have proud and very distinct histories.The United States respects Saudi Arabia as the birthplace of Islam, one of the world's great religions, and as the symbolic center of the Islamic faith as custodian of Islam's two holy places in Makkah and Madinah.
Saudi Arabia reiterates its call on all those who teach and propagate the Islamic faith to adhere strictly to the Islamic message of peace, moderation, and tolerance; and reject that which deviates from those principles.Both countries agree that this message of peace, moderation, and tolerance must extend to those of all faiths and practices. The two nations reaffirm the principles agreed to during the international conference on counter-terrorism hosted by the Kingdom in February 2005. These principles were enshrined in the "Riyadh Declaration" which calls for "fostering values of understanding, tolerance, dialogue, co-existence, and the rapprochement between cultures â¦â¦ [and] for fighting any form of thinking that promotes hatred, incites violence, and condones terrorist crimesâ. While the United States considers that nations will create institutions that reflect the history, culture, and traditions of their societies, it does not seek to impose its own style of government on the government and people of Saudi Arabia. The United States applauds the recently held elections in the Kingdom for representatives to municipal councils and looks for even wider participation in accordance with the Kingdom's reform program.The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States are close partners in many important endeavors. We welcome the renewed determination of Saudi Arabia to pursue economic reform and its quest to join the World Trade Organization (WTO). We will work together as partners to complete our negotiations and with other WTO members in Geneva with the aim of welcoming Saudi Arabia into the WTO before the end of 2005.Both nations pledge to continue their cooperation so that the oil supply from Saudi Arabia will be available and secure. The United States appreciates Saudi Arabia's strong commitment to accelerating investment and expanding its production capacity to help provide stability and adequately supply the market.
Blah, blah, blah
As for Afghanistan, their elections mean exactly what - that Afghans took time away from tending their poppy fields or doing their honor killings to vote for that famous statesman, Karzari, whose favorite line whenever he's near a microphone is don't forget to give Afghanistan as much American tax dollars as you're giving to Iraq. I'm glad that Afghanistan is no longer an AQ training camp, but you've got to be smoking some powerful weed to think that Afghanistan is a raging democracy success story and that we have squished the bad guys to death. They're hiding in the hills in the Afghan/Pakland border where they can't do too much harm. If we did not have the help of that tyrant, Musharref, we would have accomplished squat. We'll never get in the faces of Afghan warlords, because our coalition forces would be overwhelmed and none of the "freed" Afghans would blink an eye - well maybe Karazani would because he'd be losing his gravy train. Why do you think we have US military body guards watching out for Mushareff's life around the clock - because he's allowing us to keep the lid on Afghanistan with a small number of troops.
I'm a pragmatist, not an appeasor. And holding an election does not a functioning democracy make so save your rah rah. I like to deal with reality.
You mistake diplo-speak for policy - look at the actual actions. Blah, blah, blah is right. If you weren't a disingenuous straw-man specialist, you would've posted the link, instead of quoting the thing. The size of your post does not impress anyone, being fluffed up as it is with the massive quote. Not that I have anything against good fluffers, mind you,
Everyone on Afghanistan grows poppies. Okaaaay.
You Want What You Want When You Want It. Anything else is worthy of your scorn, nobody knows what you do, you have the answers, and just coincidentally, GWB is the villian. Riiight. Gotcha. Yeah, you're a pragmatist, alright, you'll vote for what, for whom? Nobody's perfect, except you. Cool. BDS.
There's a great old Mr Tibbs movie on. Seen it before, but hey, I've heard your shopworn shit, too. Yawn & G'nite, wanker.
#21
GWB is the villian. Riiight
No as a matter of fact GWB is doing what he should do with despots, tyrants who help us. But what you and Mrs. Davis suggest is naive and dangerous.
"GWB is doing what he should with depots, tyrants who help us."
Then you say:
"But what you and Mrs. Davis suggest is naive and dangerous."
Duh, son - this is what GWB is saying, not just us - or didn't you actually read what Dr Rice said? I did. I even got to see video excerpts of it - and there was no mistaking the message to the asshats of the world. BTW, this story ran yesterday - unfortunately, I was the only one to comment on it, but at least I'm consistent.
You're not. I've pointed out some examples, I'm sure there are more. Your attitude is, indeed, that of the State Dept: We know best.
I submit that you do not. We have paid dearly, many times over for supporting tyrants and despots. It's just fucking wrong. We should be and do precisely what we claim to believe in. You're glaringly wrong about this. We can be right and do what needs to be done - both. Yeah, it's harder, but it's not something the next or the next or the next Pres in the Big Chair has to apologize for. Time to do it right, just as it's always been. Just because it hasn't been done in a long long time doesn't make me wrong. It makes US wrong for taking so long to get back on track.
#23
Mrs Davis drank the GOP Kool-Aid if she really believes Kinda Sleezy Rice smacked the Saudis. She wouldn't dare-too many flights from Texas to Jeddah would be cancelled
KABUL: Afghan intelligence officials have thwarted a plot to assassinate US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and arrested three Pakistanis armed with rocket propelled grenades and assault rifles, an Afghan presidential spokesman said on Monday. The men were arrested in Laghman province on Sunday. Two senior Afghan officials said the men had confessed to their crimes. "Their aim was to assassinate Khalilzad," said one of the officials. Afghan television later broadcast a video of the suspects. They identified themselves as Murat Khan, Noor Alam, and Zahid. Two said they came from Peshawar, and the other said he was from Mansehra. The men told agents that they had been trained in Wah Cantt.
This article starring:
MURAT KHAN
al-Qaeda
NUR ALAM
al-Qaeda
ZAHID
al-Qaeda
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2005
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#1
Note Khalilzad is now going to Baghdad as ambassador. This was likely an attempt by the jihadis in south asia to present a "gift" to their Iraq (syrian/saudi/north African) comrades.
I neednt remind everyone of Khalilzads religious persuasion?
THE Solomon Islands has awarded Prime Minister John Howard the nation's highest honour for Australia's role in restoring security in the Pacific country. The Star of the Solomon Islands was awarded to both Mr Howard and New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark as co-leaders with the Solomons Government in the peace effort, the New Zealand Government said. An Australian-led contingent of 3000 military police and civilian personnel known as the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) began operations in the troubled nation in July 2003.
The Solomons Government invited the mission after law and order broke down on the islands amid fighting between warring factions. Solomon Islands Governor-General Sir Nathaniel Waena presented the award to Ms Clark yesterday in Wellington. "I am honoured to accept this award, on behalf of those New Zealanders who made a dedicated contribution towards the restoration of peace and stability in the Solomon Islands," Ms Clark said.
A Moroccan acquitted of charges he helped the Sept. 11 hijackers was heading home Tuesday, two days ahead of the German deadline for him to leave the country. Abdelghani Mzoudi, 32, was aquitted in February 2004 of charges he helped Sept. 11 hijackers Mohamed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi and Ziad Jarrah in their plot to attack the United States. He faced charges of more than 3,000 counts of accessory to murder and membership in a terrorist organization.
Testimony at his trial showed that Mzoudi trained at the same al-Qaida camps as the hijackers and was close friends with them in Hamburg. But Hamburg state court judges ruled that the prosecution failed to prove he knew anything about their plot. After his acquittal was upheld earlier this month, Hamburg's top security official, Udo Nagel, said his office was still ordering him expelled because it "stands by its view that Mzoudi threatens the free democratic order and supports terrorist organizations." Mzoudi did not comment to reporters after his arrival at Hanover's airport. A man identifying himself as a Hamburg immigration official presented Mzoudi's passport at check-in, saying he would return it once inside the restricted area. Ahead of his departure, one of his lawyers, Guel Pinar told The Associated Press that Mzoudi was looking forward to returning to his family in Marrakesh. "He's happy he's going to see his family again," she said.
This article starring:
ABDELGHANI MZUDI
al-Qaeda
Hamburg's top security official, Udo Nagel
MARWAN AL SHEHI
al-Qaeda
MOHAMED ATTA
al-Qaeda
ZIAD JARRAH
al-Qaeda
Posted by: Fred ||
06/21/2005
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#1
Hopefully a bunch of intel people are watching everything he does
#5
Right...to make sure he has a fresh Koran waiting for him - oh and don't forget the prayer rug. Wouldn't want to be insensitive now.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
06/21/2005 1:39
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#6
TGA , lets hope a ghost ship is ready and waiting...his family can always reach him thru Senator Dicks office.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
06/21/2005 2:21
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#7
LOL, RD! I'm sick and tired of these arguments about "Well, we know he's a terrorist, hangs out with terrorists, but didn't SPECIFICALLY know their plans." I call bull$hit!
Posted by: BA ||
06/21/2005 10:09
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#8
Sometimes I really wonder about Germans. Mzoudi boarded a holiday charter flight to Morocco, with hundreds of German tourists, and no one protested.
If this guy is not red flagged on a NO NO FLY LIST, who needs to be?
Let him walk home to Morocco.
I hope the Moroccans dump him in one of those desert prisons.
#10
I mean as perfectly safe has you can feel on something that requires the constant intervention of high energy hydrocarbons running through a delicate compression chamber which ensures the clever metalwork won't drop like an aluminum brick.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
A federal judge threw out evidence against four men charged with laundering more than $60 million through their chain of U.S. Virgin Islands grocery stores, ruling that FBI agents acted in "reckless disregard for the truth." The ruling, released Monday, found that the FBI's search warrant was obtained improperly. It said agents, who had claimed to have seen suspicious tax records from the men, admitted they had only seen a computer printout of the records and did not thoroughly verify the evidence with the U.S. Caribbean territory's Internal Revenue Bureau. U.S. Attorney spokesman Azekah Jennings said he could not immediately comment on the ruling.
CAIRO, Egypt - Iraq's most feared terror group said Tuesday that it has formed a unit of potential suicide attackers who are exclusively Iraqis, an apparent bid to deflect criticism that most suicide bombers in Iraq are foreigners. Al-Qaida in Iraq announced the unit in an Internet posting signed by Abu Maysara al-Iraqi, the group's purported spokesman. The statement could not be authenticated, but it appeared on an Islamic Web site known for carrying messages from militant groups.
Hundreds of Afghan police backed by U.S. air strikes retook control on Tuesday of a district capital in southwestern Afghanistan that was overrun by the Taliban, killing 32 guerrillas, police said. The guerrillas seized Mian Nishin, capital of the district of the same name in Kandahar province last week, capturing 30 police officers and a district chief. They executed eight policemen before announcing the release of the other 23 people. About 400 police took part in the operation to force the guerrillas out of Mian Nishin, said deputy provincial police chief Salim Khan.
Pyongyang, June 20 (KCNA) -- Researchers of the forestry sector of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has developed an acacia seed treatment machine. The sprouting rate of acacia seeds, not treated, is only 20-30 percent because of their solid hulls. The seed treatment methods by hot water and reagent, which have been applied in nurseries, ensure only 70 percent of sprouting. After finding out the properties of acacia seed, the researchers have succeeded in making a seed treatment machine. It properly hurts seed hulls by the method of friction and bombardment. The budding rate of the acacia seeds treated by the machine is more than 90 percent. The machine saves several dozen kilograms of acacia seeds per hectare. It, which is simple in structure, is easy to operate anywhere. Its production cost is low. The machine has already been introduced in many units. 
PORT KLANG: A puppy with two extra legs and a second penis is drawing curious stares at a temple in Pandamaran town near here. The puppy, found by a temple caretaker at the entrance on Thursday morning, is being cared for by the temple committee. Kwang Sung Temple committee member Tee Kim Huat said the caretaker saw the white puppy with dark brown patches sleeping at the temple entrance at 7am. âHe lifted the canine to place it elsewhere and was shocked to see that the puppy had six legs! Not only that, the male puppy also had an extra penis,â said Tee. 
Marines patrolling this desert region near the Syrian border have for months been seeing a strange trend in the complex Iraqi insurgency. Insurgents, they say, have been fighting each other in this constellation of towns along the Euphrates, from Husayba to Qaim. The observations offer a new clue in the hidden world of the insurgency and suggest that there may have been, as American commanders suggest, a split between Islamic militants and local rebels.
A COBBLER suspected of sorcery was attacked and nearly lynched by outraged villagers in central Kenya today after being caught having sex with a female sheep, witnesses and officials said. 
US Army deserter Charles Jenkins said today he regrets leaving his post for communist North Korea, where he spent nearly 40 years, and called the isolated country's dictator Kim Jong Il "an evil man." Jenkins, 65, said he was never brainwashed but lived in harsh conditions in North Korea and never expected to see his mother again. He was reunited with his 91-year-old mother, Pattie, last week. Jenkins, speaking from his sister's home in Weldon, North Carolina, said he was sorry that as a 24-year-old sergeant with the US Army's 1st Calvary Division, he left the squad he was leading on patrol in the Demilitarised Zone and walked into North Korea on July 5, 1965. "I let my soldiers down. I let the US Army down. I let the government down, and I made it very difficult for my family in the US to live," Jenkins said, according to a story posted on The News & Observer of Raleigh's website.
SEOUL, South Korea - A high-level delegation from North Korea arrived in Seoul for bilateral talks Tuesday and was immediately confronted by demonstrators who angered the visitors by displaying posters of their leader, Kim Jong Il, tied up in ropes. 
Serial killer Chandu killed in 'crossfire'
Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey's car was stolen while he was out of town at a conference. So goes the saga of car theft in the District, where even the police chief's department-issued car can get swiped a block from his home. "There is not a whole lot to add to it," Ramsey said. "The car was taken, and there was nothing of real value in it. Cars are getting stolen every day."
Two army troops were killed and 13 others injured in fighting in western Algeria, reports said Tuesday. French-language daily Le Soir D'Algerie reported that the casualties occurred in the region of Kabael when explosive charges allegedly planted by armed Islamic groups blew up cutting through army patrols combing the area. The Salafi Group for Daawa and Fighting, one of Algeria's most feared groups, is known to be quite active in Kabael. In another incident, security forces rounded up 21 people in the province of Saida, 250 miles west of Algiers, on charges of offering support to armed groups, including laundering money.
Luxembourg will go ahead with its referendum on the EU constitution next month, despite a decision by European leaders to pause the ratification process. Lawmakers from the tiny EU state Monday agreed that the July 10 vote should take place as planned, just weeks after the French and Dutch electorates rejected the rulebook for an enlarged Europe. Polls show the "yes" vote of 46 percent and the "no" camp at 38 percent -- a rise of 6 percentage points in a month. 
Two alleged militants suspected of killing a police chief in Saudi Arabia have been shot dead by security forces, the Saudi interior ministry says. They are accused of killing the head of a police investigations department in the holy city of Mecca three days ago, a spokesman for the ministry said. The two men were stopped as they were driving near the Red Sea city of Jeddah, the spokesman added. Saudi Arabia has been fighting al-Qaeda militants for more than two years. "Security forces killed at dawn on the Mecca-Jeddah road two wanted people who are believed to have taken part in the assassination of security officer Major Mubarak Falah al-Sawwat," Interior Ministry spokesman General Mansur al-Turki told the AFP news agency. The interior ministry was quoted as saying a chase ensued after the two suspected militants were stopped in the early hours of Tuesday. They were both killed in the clash that followed, the ministry said, while three security officers were wounded, one seriously.
Twelve French peacekeepers are due to be charged with stealing money from a bank in Ivory Coast, which they were supposed to be guarding last year. Some allegedly bought digital cameras and mobile phones with the money and sent them to their families in France. They are alleged to have stolen the equivalent of about $100,000 from the bank in the western town of Man. They were part of a 4,000-strong French force sent to restore order in Ivory Coast after a rebellion began in 2002. Six other French soldiers have been accused of stealing nearly $20,000 worth of local CFA francs from another branch of the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) in the rebel headquarters of Bouake last year. 
> 
Fighting has broken out in north-eastern Sudan, where government forces are battling rebels for control of a town south of the main port. The fighting around Tokar, some 120km (75 miles) from Port Sudan, began on Sunday. Both sides say there have been heavy casualties. The Beja Congress, which complains of marginalisation, says it has launched its biggest offensive in years. Officials also blame attacks on rebels from the western Darfur region. 
"More than 1,700 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq and our country's standing in the world community has been badly damaged by the prison abuses at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. 
A MAN has been arrested in northern England in connection with suicide bomb attacks on US-led coalition forces in Iraq, police said. The man was detained after around 30 officers raided a house in the Moss Side area of Manchester at 5:00 am (1400 AEST). The arrest was not connected to any threat in Britain but to "an incident overseas" involving attacks in Iraq, Greater Manchester Police said. "Since the beginning of the year, there have been a series of suicide bombings against coalition forces in Iraq," a spokesman said. "It appears that one of the suicide bombers may have travelled from the UK, where he had been living." No further details were available about the identity of the arrested man.
Saudi authorities have vowed that they will bring the killers of Lt. Col. Mubarak Al-Sawat to justice. A senior security officer in Makkah, Al-Sawat was shot in a drive-by shooting on Saturday morning. Authorities believe that Al-Qaeda may have been involved in the murder. Security forces have launched a major manhunt to track down the unidentified gunmen who shot the officer as he stepped out of his house on way to work.
Like the monster in some ghastly horror movie rising from the dead for the umpteenth time, the space shuttle is back on the launch pad. This grotesque, lethal white elephant - 14 deaths in 113 flights - is the grandest, grossest technological folly of our age. If the shuttle has any reason for existing, it is as an exceptionally clear symbol of our corrupt, sentimental, and dysfunctional political system. Its flights accomplish nothing and cost half a billion per. That, at least, is what a flight costs when the vehicle survives.
FREED hostage Douglas Wood has bowed to family pressure and agreed never to return to Iraq, where he was captured and held hostage for 47 days. A spokesman for the Wood family said today that the engineer "will not, under any circumstances, return to Iraq". He had made the decision on the advice of his family, the spokesman said. 
The leader of Lebanon's victorious opposition alliance, Saad Hariri, said yesterday it was too early to talk of becoming prime minister, insisting he first wanted to hold talks with his defeated rivals. "We are trying to get a more broad alliance in discussion with other parties," Saad told a Beirut press conference. "Once we achieve that, we will discuss about the prime ministership."
Twenty-two Afghans were killed and three US soldiers injured in the latest attacks linked to the war-battered country's former Taliban regime, officials said on Monday. Militants from the fundamentalist Islamic group, ousted by the US-led forces in late 2001, attacked a district in Helmand province early Monday, a provincial government spokesman said. "Taliban attacked Washer district at 2:30am and killed the district governor Mulla Sakhi and one policeman," Mohammed Wali told AFP. "Eleven Taliban were killed in the exchange of fire and their bodies are still lying in the area. Three Taliban were wounded," he said. 
A fugitive confidant of Saddam Hussein who is now believed to be an insurgent leader is sick and losing influence among leaders of the outlawed Baath party, the Iraqi government said Monday. The government's statement said Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri nonetheless retained his ability to "recruit terrorists and finance terrorist attacks with money he stole from Iraq and transferred to Syria during the rule of the tyrant Saddam." It did not say what the red-haired al-Douri was sick with, or explain how it knew about his health. Al-Douri is thought to be in his late 60s and little is known about his whereabouts following Saddam's ouster in 2003.
DEFENCE Minister Robert Hill today gave a strong indication Australia was considering boosting its troop commitment to troubled Afghanistan. Senator Hill said Australia's armed forces had more flexibility to contribute to Afghanistan now other commitments were easing. Australia has just one soldier in Afghanistan helping clear land mines. At the peak of fighting following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, 150 Australian Special Air Service Regiment soldiers served in Afghanistan, playing a key role in operations against al-Qaeda and Taliban remnants. All were home by December 2002.
Malaysia yesterday called for an end to widespread "Islamophobia", saying stereotyping and prejudice against Muslims risked sparking off large-scale conflicts.
President Hamid Karzai accused Pakistan of interfering in Afghanistan's internal affairs, Online reported on Monday. Radio Tehran quoted Karzai as telling a religious council that Islamabad was backing the anti-Kabul elements. Karzai alleged that Pakistan had threatened the Taliban with handing over their families to the US if they did not fight against Afghanistan. Meanwhile, an Afghan official told the Associated Press that the Afghan government was extremely angry at what he called a "lack of cooperation" from Islamabad in stopping militants from crossing the border. 
Pakistan yesterday denied that leaders from Afghanistan's ousted Taleban militia use its territory to make statements to the media, days after a purported commander from the militia told a Pakistani television channel that Osama Bin Laden and Taleban chief 
KABUL: Afghan intelligence officials have thwarted a plot to assassinate US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and arrested three Pakistanis armed with rocket propelled grenades and assault rifles, an Afghan presidential spokesman said on Monday. The men were arrested in Laghman province on Sunday. Two senior Afghan officials said the men had confessed to their crimes. "Their aim was to assassinate Khalilzad," said one of the officials. Afghan television later broadcast a video of the suspects. They identified themselves as 
A Moroccan acquitted of charges he helped the Sept. 11 hijackers was heading home Tuesday, two days ahead of the German deadline for him to leave the country. 
