This is the credit line I wished I'd had yesterday.
He's a plastic millionaire. Walter Cavanagh - also known as "Mr. Plastic Fantastic" - has a wallet nearly as long as a football field to carry his credit cards. Cavanagh owns 1,497 valid credit cards (he assumes a card is valid until he hears otherwise) with a potential credit line of about $1.7 million. The retired real estate broker, who lives in the small San Luis Obispo County [CA] community of Shell Beach, said his collecting began with a bet more than three decades ago. He and a friend were sitting in his apartment in 1969 and bet who could collect the most credit cards. The loser would buy dinner. Cavanagh managed to obtain 143 cards in a year and got a rib-eye steak dinner. He also caught the plastic bug. He has become so good at collecting the cards that he has a place in the Guinness Book of World Records, which gave him his nickname. He also holds the title for the world's longest wallet - a 38-pound monster that is 250 feet long and can hold 800 cards. Most of his collection is kept in bank safe deposit boxes. His cards include antiques in paper and aluminum. A number are from long-defunct department stores, gas stations and bars. They come from as far away as Germany and Spain. "Most cards are from such obscure places, you've never heard of them," Cavanagh said.
Posted by: Dar ||
12/03/2004 2:35:56 PM ||
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#1
I seem to remember seeing this guy on variety shows.
#4
If we met the Aztecs in 2004, the Left would demand that we ask ourselves why Aztecs are so angry at us. And we'd have Aztec sensitivity training for the FBI. And kids in school would learn about the wonderful Aztec religion as well as celebrate its sacrificial parties.
Carthage was destroyed. Aztecs were eliminated. Nazis were crushed. Bushido Japan got to test our nuclear bombs. And the Moslems...
#5
mojo: Yeah, nice folks, the Aztecs. That's why when Cortez showed up, all their neighbors were happy to help wipe them out.
The people profiled in the article are the predecessors of the Aztecs. When the Aztecs showed up, they discovered the abandoned (and burned) city. Turns out the Aztecs weren't much worse than their predecessors. Leave it to CNN to whitewash the history of the Aztecs - no mention is made of their equivalent atrocities, which included the practice of dining on the hearts of enemy captives by cutting them out while the victims were still alive.
#7
Ritual human sacrifice was a BIG part of all Meso-American religion: they all did it to some degree. The Aztecs carried it to its "logical" extreme - grotesque, nightmarish rituals (google "xipe totec" for a taste), many including children, on a scale never before seen.
The classic Maya were more "refined" - i.e. they didn't rip beating hearts out of living people.
Instead, they took noble captives of battle and tortured them publicly for extended periods before cutting off their heads ... sounds eerily familiar. *SIGH* Some things never change.
The final is 4 December in Sanya, China. In the interest of better world fellowship, there is a list of all the contestants at the link. Clink on each name for tasteful photos. Miss USA is the current betting favorite, followed by China, India, Antigua, and Mexico. Thanks to Power Line, which also has a group photo. Happy Friday!
Posted by: Steve ||
12/03/2004 10:49:45 AM ||
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GOD I love Rantburg.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
12/03/2004 12:06 Comments ||
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What no Miss Iran?
It's Miss Gibraltar.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
12/03/2004 13:07 Comments ||
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#3
er...maybe it's the pic quality, but those legs look a little hairy....very nice, otherwise!
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/03/2004 13:32 Comments ||
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#4
Nice swimsuit, too-- hey wait a second, that's MY swimsuit! Whaddaya whaddaya?!
#8
What's the expression: never wank a pig - you both look dirty and the pig enjoys it? Heh, something along those lines.
"Many viewers complained to the government's Office of Communications (Affectum) that this was 'akin to bestiality', while a leading animal charity condemned the scenes as 'morbid and sordid'"
These are the sort of contemptible, clueless urban c**** who have managed to get foxhunting banned in the UK. Of all the everyday rural activities you could watch on TV concerning interactions between humans and animals, I'd wager manual stimulation of pigs is one of the very least traumatic for the animal concerned. The only dumb animal I feel slightly sorry for here is Rebecca. She really shouldn't be humiliating herself - she's utterly, utterly crap in front of a camera. Even when she's tossing off a boar, I'm sure.
#9
Opening bids to cut into al-Jazeera TV and run it: ? Just think of all the simultaneous coronaries, self-whippings, forehead slashings this could bring on.
Why can't embedded reporters be in the right place at the right time!
Saudi businesswoman Lubna Olayan, who angered religious conservatives when she appeared alongside men at an economic forum this year, has become the first female board member of a Saudi listed firm, bankers said on Thursday.
"So piss off, holy men! Thhhhp!"
Saudi Hollandi Bank said Olayan was elected to a three-year term on the bank's board by shareholders at a meeting late on Tuesday. "She is the first woman on the board of a Saudi joint stock company," a bank spokesman said.
How long before she's beaten to death by a couple policemen from the Committee to Protect Virtue and Eliminate Vice?
Olayan delivered a passionate plea for equality for Saudi women when she opened a high-profile economic forum in Jeddah attended by former US President Bill Clinton in January. "My vision is of a country ... in which any Saudi citizen, irrespective of gender, who is serious about finding employment, can find a job in the field for which he or she is best qualified," Olayan told the conference. Her speech was well received by delegates but the country's highest religious authority, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikh, denounced it and condemned the "shameful" mixing of men and women at the conference.
"The brazen hussy! She was talking banking while the rest of us where looking at those heaving bazooms!"
This week Saudi women voted directly for the first time — without having to go through guardians — in elections for the board of Riyadh's Chamber of Commerce and Industry. They were not able to stand as candidates. Women have also been barred from voting or standing in Saudi Arabia's municipal elections early next year. All males over 21, excluding the armed forces but including prisoners, can vote.Â
Ah, so that's the model the "American Coming Together" and "ACORN" used in Florida!
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/03/2004 12:26:12 AM ||
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..but the countryâs highest religious authority, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikh, denounced it and condemned the âshamefulâ mixing of men and women at the conference.
Sorry "Sheikh", but you don't own those women. Don't like what they're doing? Tough titties, dude.
#2
Steve:How long before she's beaten to death by a couple policemen from the Committee to Protect Virtue and Eliminate Vice?
She probably has nothing to fear from the Muttawa.
They're a bunch of cowards who wouldn't attack anyone who is apt to fight back.
#5
Can you imagine one of these guys taking her chair over after she's 'warmed' it? Gives a whole new meaning to the word 'detox'. Wonder if she gets 1/2 the talk time or half the vote, cause you know, she's half a person.
#6
How long before she's beaten to death by a couple policemen from the Committee to Protect Virtue and Eliminate Vice? I wonder how many policemen from CPVEV will have seven bells knocked out of them by burly bodyguards? Such cowards really, really hate to be punching bags themselves.
BBC World said on Friday that an interview it ran with a man it identified as a spokesman for Dow Chemical Co, in which he said the U.S. company accepted responsibility for India's Bhopal disaster, was wrong and part of an "elaborate deception."
Or as CBS would say, "Fake, but accurate".
A spokeswoman for Dow Chemical in Switzerland also confirmed that the report was wrong. The BBC had earlier twice run an interview with a man it identified as Dow Chemical spokesman Jude Finisterra, who said the company accepted full responsibility for the disaster 20 years ago in the central Indian city of Bhopal.
Finisterra (Finis Terra) - Latin for "end of the earth."
This would have represented a major policy reversal for Dow Chemical which has said it has no responsibility for the Bhopal disaster. "This morning at 9 GMT, (and at) 10 GMT, BBC World ran an interview with someone purporting to be from the Dow Chemical Company about Bhopal," the BBC said on its latest news bulletin. "This information was inaccurate, part of an elaborate deception. The person did not represent the company. We want to make it clear the information he gave was entirely inaccurate." BBC World had earlier said the interview took place in Paris. It was aired on the 20th anniversary of the Bhopal disaster, when more than 3,500 died after lethal gas escaped from a chemical plant in Bhopal. The factory was owned by Union Carbide, now a subsidiary of Dow Chemical. A Dow spokeswoman, speaking from Switzerland, told BBC World that Finisterra was not a Dow employee. "Dow confirms there was no basis whatsoever for this report," Marina Ashanin said. "We also confirm Jude Finisterra is neither an employee nor a spokesperson for Dow."
"Jude who? Never heard of him."
"The bottom-line is this is not true," a spokesman for Dow Chemical in Zurich told Reuters. A spokesman for Union Carbide also told Reuters the report was false. The BBC gave no further details.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/03/2004 10:37:47 AM ||
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#1
The real clue was when Finisterra concluded the interview with "Bababooey"...
#4
Back in 1990, NBC ran an interview with a supposed Marine reservist who had turned consciencious objector and refused service in Desert Shield. The alleged deserter made a standard peacenik speech for the accommodating talking heads, with grave nods of approval from Bryant "flying saucer" Gumbel in particular.
The name he gave? Eric Blair (George Orwell's real name).
I am fond of saying that Joseph Goebbels invented the activist media. This is not hyperbole, exaggeration, or useless invective, it is the sober and obvious truth. Thanks to the internet, millions are becoming aware of it. The MSM criminal culture is living on borrowed time.
#5
It is a bitter irony that, in former times, the BBC itself was the instigator, rather than the credulous victim, of what many consider the greatest journalistic hoax of all time, the Swiss Spaghetti Harvest documentary of 1957.
(Swiss worker harvesting spaghetti, from BBC Panorama, April 1, 1957)
#6
Oh boy, AC. That link explains a lot. DAMN THE BBC!!! DAMN THEM TO HELL!!!!
"Did spaghetti really grow on trees, they wanted to know. Others were eager to learn how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. To this the BBC reportedly replied that they should 'place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.'"
So all those hours in all those years spent blending purees and mixing in different ratios of sand and perlite were wasted?! Mamma mia! Wait till I tell the neighbours. Hey, maybe my Italian friends will finally stop sniggering at me.
Long article, EFL:
China's military has launched the first of a new class of ballistic missile submarines in what defense officials view as a major step forward in Beijing's strategic weapons program. The new 094-class submarine was launched in late July and when fully operational in the next year or two will be the first submarine to carry the underwater-launched version of China's new DF-31 missile, according to defense officials. "When fully operational, it will represent a more modern, more capable missile platform," said one official familiar with reports of the new submarine. A second intelligence official said building submarines is a top priority of the Chinese, and the Type 094 will be "China's first truly intercontinental strategic nuclear delivery system." The new Type 094 was spotted by U.S. intelligence agencies at the Huludao shipyard, located on the coast of Bohai Bay, some 250 miles northwest of Beijing. The submarine is in the early stages of being outfitted and is not yet equipped with new JL-2 submarine-launched nuclear missiles. The submarine is believed to be based largely on Russian nuclear submarine technology, the officials said.
A 1999 report by the House Select Committee on U.S. National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with the People's Republic of China stated that the new missile submarine will likely benefit from stolen U.S. nuclear warhead designs. The report stated that the JL-2 is expected to have a longer range than the DF-31 and that 16 JL-2s will be deployed on the new submarine. The range of the JL-2 is estimated to be about 7,500 miles, enough "to strike targets throughout the United States," the report said. "Instead of venturing into the open ocean to attack the United States, the Type 094-class submarines could remain near [Chinese] waters, protected by the [People's Liberation Army,] Navy and Air Force," the report said. The new submarine will be a major improvement over China's current ballistic missile submarine known as the Xia, which is equipped with medium-range missiles. The current Xia submarine is considered so noisy to underwater detection gear that its chances of surviving attack submarine strikes in ocean waters are limited.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/03/2004 9:04:28 AM ||
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Posted by: Frank G ||
12/03/2004 9:33 Comments ||
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7,500 mi range is nothing. But who needs range when it makes all that racket, keeping sonar operators awake from their beauty sleep.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/03/2004 13:38 Comments ||
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Western alarmists and China-lobbyists won't say so, but the PLA/N's submarine program has been a major disappointment. It has been over 30 years since the first Chinese nuclear sub was launched, and they still don't have a workable design in large-scale service.
The situation in conventional submarines is little better. Besides purchases of the Russian Kilo class, China is still building the "Ming" class.
The latter, believe it or not, is an updated version of the 1950s Soviet "Romeo" class, of which 84 were built in China. "Romeo", in turn, was an enlarged "Whiskey" class boat, itself based on the German Type XXI U-boat of WW2.
A lot depends on the exact nature of the upgrades, but the Ming would clearly be a suicide machine against western nuke boats or modern Japanese diesel-electrics.
China has warned the EU that it risks damaging bilateral ties unless it lifts a 15-year embargo on selling arms to Beijing. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui said the ban, imposed after the 1989 crackdown on protesters in Tiananmen Square, was "outdated".
Are the protesters still dead?
Mr Zhang also denied that lifting it would fuel an arms race with Taiwan.
"No, no! Certainly not! Why, we need weapons to oppress all sorts of people!"
The ban is expected to be discussed at a China-EU summit in the Netherlands on 7-9 December. "If the ban is maintained, bilateral relations will definitely be affected," Mr Zhang told reporters. "We think this is a kind of political discrimination." He denied that lifting the ban would affect relations across the Taiwan strait. China claims Taiwan is part of its territory and regularly threatens to use force against the island if it ever seeks formal independence.
They've threatened to use force even if the Taiwanese don't seek independence.
Germany and France have called for the arms ban to be lifted, while the US and some EU countries are in favour of it remaining in place. Washington has threatened to stop the transfer of some sensitive military technology to European countries if it were to be abolished. China pressed for the ban to be lifted at an Asia-Europe Meeting (Asem) in Hanoi in October, but was not successful. It will also be on the agenda of a visit to China by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder from Monday.
Fifteen years on from Tiananmen Square, when hundreds of unarmed protesters were killed by Chinese troops, there are continuing concerns among the international community about the country's human rights record. But analysts say the row is more about geopolitics and domestic economies than human rights. The US is concerned that arms sold to China by the EU could be used against Taiwan asnd risk sucking the US into a regional conflict. France and Germany, meanwhile, believe China could prove a fertile market for their arms and related industries.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/03/2004 8:45:48 AM ||
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er, you mean they're not already selling them weapons clandestinely? I don't think I'll ever understand the Europeans.
#2
Article: France and Germany, meanwhile, believe China could prove a fertile market for their arms and related industries.
If war breaks out over Taiwan, and the Huns and the Frogs continue supplying China, it should be cool to see whether JDAM's do the same damage on German and French arms factories as they did on Saddam's.
#3
ZF: If war breaks out over Taiwan, and the Huns and the Frogs continue supplying China, it should be cool to see whether JDAM's do the same damage on German and French arms factories as they did on Saddam's.
Come to think of it, it might be wise to withdraw our troops from Europe before contemplating this step. The question also becomes whether the French are willing to lose Paris in order to help Beijing.
#4
All Europe doesn't want to jump into bed with the Chinese, only the French and their poodles. I would love to see us make this something of a wedge issue by dissolving NATO and establishing bi-lateral agreements with our allies and letting folks choose between the Anglosphere and the Sino-Francosphere.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
12/03/2004 11:04 Comments ||
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Agreed. NATO's finished. Serves no purpose if it won't go out of area, and with France in it, it's guaranteed not to be of any real service in the middle east. Replace it with a triad of US-UK-Poland, with second-tier status for Ger-Turk-Italy-Den-Neth-Norw. Maybe add Western Ukraine (South Poland?) when it splits off from Little Russia.
#6
Round eyes be sure to kow-tow real low before emperor. In this case, we should be sure to sell Taiwan several SSBNs, enough so that 1 or 2 are always on station in the eastern Atlantic.
Posted by: ed ||
12/03/2004 21:36 Comments ||
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Article from WSJ will be available tomorrow w.o registration.
BY VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO
KIEV--For months, Ukraine's democratic forces warned officials in Kiev and other European capitals that our autumn presidential election would be neither free nor fair. Two of the main reasons for this conclusion were the incumbent government's unprecedented interference in the pre-election campaign and its censorship of the mass media.
During the first election round on Oct. 31, regional governors colluded with police and other state officials to stuff ballot boxes, falsify vote counts and intimidate election commissions. Ukraine's central and territorial election commissions turned a blind eye and overlooked our well-documented official complaints. In the end, despite massive falsifications by my opponent, the central election commission was forced to concede that I won the first round of voting.
During the Nov. 21 runoff vote, polling stations in the eastern regions remained open two hours after they were supposed to close officially. Some reported voter turnout exceeding 100%, while in other regions up to 35% of the ballots cast were from people's homes. Election observers were prevented from monitoring voting and counting procedures at thousands of polling stations, as permitted by Ukrainian law. Thousands of poll watchers from democratic parties together with average citizens witnessed traveling thugs with police escorts harassing election commissioners, destroying polling stations, stuffing ballots, abusing absentee voter certificates and switching commission protocols, to name just a few of the 11,000 violations officially filed by us in the courts. We are now patiently awaiting the Supreme Court's review of these complaints in the hope that justice will prevail.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: ed ||
12/03/2004 2:17:07 PM ||
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#3
and a sudden availability of Canadians to perform at strip clubs
The National Hockey League is on strike, a man's gotta put food on the table somehow.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/03/2004 16:07 Comments ||
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See, Canadians are superior to us. They don't waste their time warmongering and speaking in tongues and generating homeless people. They're rational, like. Y'know, humanists.
Twenty John Kerry supporters met for their first group therapy session in South Florida Thursday, screaming epithets at President Bush as they shared their emotions with licensed mental health counselors. The first of several free noontime therapy sessions at the American Health Association in Boca Raton was designed to treat what mental health counselors have dubbed Post Election Selection Trauma (PEST).
"If I had a cardboard cutout of President Bush, and these people wanted to throw darts at it, I would let them do it," Robert J. Gordon, AHA executive director, told the Boca News after the session. This guy is a mental health professional???
"It's no joke. People with PEST were traumatized by the election. If you even mention religion, their faces turn blister-red as they shout at Bush." Although the meeting was closed to the press, AHA therapists obtained permission from participants to provide an anonymous transcript to the Boca Raton News.
Gordon said the participants also granted reluctant permission to open up next Thursday's meeting to the general press. Reporters will be forbidden from taking photographs or using the real names of patients.
"The media outlets, especially Rush Limbaugh and his ilk on talk radio, scare our patients to death," said Gordon, facilitator for the meetings. Three words: GET A LIFE.
"More than anything else, people with PEST tremble physically."
Gordon said the Kerry supporters in therapy are predominantly Jewish and older than 50. Most are registered independents and all live in Palm Beach County. You know fark.com has a special 'Florida' tag for stories like this. Perhaps its something in the water?
"We mostly let them vent during the first session, and take the money" Gordon said. "By the third session, we'll be doing some meditation exercises to aid some of their symptoms. We may use visualization and some techniques designed for bipolar disease and other mental disorders. That might help them adjust to reality."
According to AHA officials, symptoms of PEST are similar to post-traumatic stress disorder. They include nightmares, sleeplessness, hostility, listlessness, and emotional outbursts including threats to leave the country. I have better treatment (probably less costly too). Give them a 1 way ticket to the workers paridise North Korea or that stanction of freedom and tolorence Iran....
They've been zapped so many times that they're on the verge of giving up on politics." Cooperman, also a practicing psychic, added, "One person today said he thinks the country is now run by fascists.
The AHA, using a holistic approach to health that has been mocked as new age voodoo by some national talk show hosts, has stressed to patients that their post-election emotions are normal and deserve to be taken seriously.
"These people talk about the 2000 election being stolen," Gordon said. "They talk about Theresa LePore and the Ohio recount. They feel it's the 'Right House,' not the White House. They feel the world is not safe with George W. Bush as president. They spewed out a lot of anger. They are angry at the Democratic Party for being aimless and leaderless. They have a right to these feelings." Bullshit. Here is the cure and I won't even charge you for it: Slap them across the face a couple of times, tell them to get a farking life and deliver a good swift hard kick to the ass to send them out the door.
The Boca Raton News first reported on Nov. 9 that depressed Florida Kerry supporters were seeking trauma therapy in the wake of the Nov. 2 presidential election. One Boca psychologist alone, Douglas Schooler, eventually treated 20 Kerry voters with intense hypnotherapy — for a sliding fee. The trauma specialist, whose bills were covered by clients' insurance companies, Thats right folks -- *you* paid for it via your insurance premiums!
was later accused by some colleagues of unethically "cashing in" on the misery of Kerry voters.
In interviews with the Boca News, Schooler said many of the Kerry supporters had visited him for severe mental problems prior to the election. I wonder how much of their Election problems were 'suggested' by their therapists....
Unlike Schooler, the AHA is a registered Florida non-profit and its therapists do not charge for sessions. Conservative talk show hosts Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh recently offered their own "free therapy," irking the AHA counselors.
Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@bocanews.com or 561-893-6427.
Kum Bay Ya, Ma Lord............Kum Bay Ya.....
Kum Bay Ya Ma Lord........Kum Bay Ya........
Kum Bay Ya Ma Lord..........Kum Bay Ya........
Oh Lord........Kum Bay Ya.........
And
We shall overcome
We shall overcome
We shall overcome some day
Oh deep in my heart
I do believe
We shall overcome some day
#3
C'mon down, my fellow mental health professionals! We're raking it in by the friggin' truckload down here! They'll do anything we tell 'em! A goddam laugh riot!
Posted by: Licensed Mental Health Professional ||
12/03/2004 16:43 Comments ||
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Maybe the time would be better spent learning how to properly fill out a butterfly ballot.
A rebel group in India's north-east says it has lost six Volkswagon microbuses mobile bases in Burma during a major offensive begun at the weekend by Burmese troops. The National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang faction) said about 8,000 Burmese soldiers were involved. The rebel group is one of more than 20 fighting for greater independence or tribal rights in India's north-east. Burma's military ruler, Than Shwe, on a recent trip to Delhi vowed to fight separatists operating from Burma.
Kughalo Mulatonu, a leader of the Khaplang faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), said pitched battles had been fought in the past few days between fighters of his group and Burmese troops. Mr Mulatonu said his faction had lost six mobile bases in the fighting with three Burmese brigades in Burma's remote western region of Sagaing. Indian military officials said Burmese troops had attacked rebels from Nagaland and Assam with renewed vigour after the first attacks were beaten back at the weekend. Burma is silent on the offensive and details of casualties during the fighting are not available. The attacks coincide with a month-long drive by about 6,000 Indian troops against rebels in the north-eastern Indian state of Manipur. The Indian army says it has overrun several bases of insurgents there although the rebels say all of their important bases are intact. Indian military officials say they are trying to co-ordinate the counter-insurgency offensive with Burmese troops but deny this is a joint operation. "We are on our own but our objectives are the same," said one general in India's eastern army who did not want to be named.
"The fact that it resembles a classic hammer-anvil operation is strictly a coincidence."
Separatist violence covers seven states in north-eastern India. More than 200 ethnic and tribal communities and more than 20 rebel groups are fighting for greater degrees of independence or tribal rights.
Before the British ocupation, India was a loose collection of ethnic groups with different languages ruled by a bunch of princes and warlords. Looks like some of them still long for the past.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/03/2004 8:55:34 AM ||
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As has happened before the household survey shows a far bigger job increase than the payroll survey (last month the payroll survey was bigger however).
Employment rose in November, and the unemployment rate, at 5.4 percent, was essentially unchanged, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 112,000 over the month, with job gains in several service-providing industries.
Unemployment (Household Survey Data)
Both the number of unemployed persons, 8.0 million, and the unemployment rate, 5.4 percent, were about unchanged in November.... Total employment in November grew by 483,000 to 140.3 million...the proportion of the population age 16 and over with jobs--edged up to 62.5 percent. The civilian labor force rose by 439,000 in November to 148.3 million... It turned out that the economy matter less than I expected in the election. Partially because this was the one area in which the MSM actually pointed out Kerry's errors and misleading statements after the 2nd debate. However, an increase in the total number of jobs is vital if Bush's economic initiatives are to succeed and for the growth in the national debt to decrease.
Posted by: mhw ||
12/03/2004 10:41:51 AM ||
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Hundreds of thousands of Muslims have gathered in Bangladesh for what is considered the faith's second largest congregation after the Hajj pilgrimage.
"Big party at Mahmoud's house!"
The three-day Biswa Ijtema, or Islamic prayer meeting, is taking place in Tongi, just outside the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka.
Oboy! A tent meeting! Pass the snakes!
Organisers expect two million devotees from 65 countries by Sunday. Islamic scholars are reciting and explaining verses from the Koran and delivering sermons.
"Come one, come all! Spittle for everyone!"
The BBC's Waliur Rahman in Dhaka says discussions on politics are banned in the meeting and many sermons will call for world peace.
At least in public, anyway.
"Arrr! Kill all the infidels an' then we'll have some whirled peas!"
Scholars and theologians will show how the holy book of Islam shuns violence, organisers say.
You keep saying that long enough maybe someone will believe you. That is, if they can hear you above the sound of the explosions and gunfire.
The sermons are being delivered in several languages, including Arabic, Bengali and Urdu. Police said security had been increased in the area of makeshift tents constructed from jute sacks that cover 160 acres on the banks of the river Turag. Thousands of uniformed and plain-clothed security personnel as well as sniffer dogs have been deployed in and around the venue.
What's the over/under on the final bodycount?
Mohammad Rowshan Monir, of the event's organising committee, said: "So far the event has run smoothly but it is a massive logistical exercise." One Bangladeshi devotee, Golam Motin Talukder, 55, told the AFP news agency: "I came here to be righteous and to gain salvation. It is important because here we can be united with other Muslims in solidarity and equality." Another, Mohammed Nurujjaman, 22, said: "I came here to reform myself so I can be a proper Muslim." On Sunday, a mass prayer meeting will be held, attended by Bangladeshi Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, President Iajuddin Ahmed and the leader of the main opposition Awami League, Sheikh Hasina Wajed. Only the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia is thought to attract more Muslims.
Posted by: Steve ||
12/03/2004 10:01:04 AM ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Miss World-2003, Rosanna Davison of Ireland
Rosanna gets a kiss from her proud mother and father
