Margaret Thatcher made a rare public address Thursday, appearing frail and slightly confused as she reopened a local branch of the political party she once led. The 79-year-old former prime minister, who has had a series of small strokes, had to be prompted several times during a brief speech at the Conservative Party offices in the London suburb of Romford. "I'm delighted to be here, the sun is shining above us, I hope it will continue that way until we have a splendid victory in the election, for the future," Lady Thatcher told supporters of the Conservative Party, which has been in opposition since 1997. A national election is widely expected in May. "Thank you very much for turning out. It's lovely to see such a good crowd supporting your candidate," she said, standing at the front of the refurbished Romford Conservative Association headquarters with former Cabinet colleague Lord Tebbit at her side. She paused for several seconds until local lawmaker Andrew Rosindell gave her a prompt with her next words. She continued, but seemed uncertain the building was a Conservative headquarters. Rosindell then prompted her again. Onlookers cheered as she unveiled a plaque commemorating the event.
Lady T's husband is a passenger on a train bound for London. A group of folk "on leave" from a mental institution board the train. A woman in charge is doing a head count of her wards. One...two...three...four...five..."Excuse me sir, but who are you? she says to Lady T's husband. Without skipping a beat he replies: Why madam I'm married to the PM of England!!! The lady smiles and says SIX...seven...etc..
I'm told Lady T had as great a sense of humor as her husband.
Posted by: Mark Z. ||
03/17/2005 21:11 Comments ||
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#7
An AP story on Lady Thatcher. I don't like their style.
#8
Amen... No doubt, MICHAEL McDONOUGH, Associated Press Writer will be FAR more lucid when he is 79, and will (no doubt) have a LOT more friends in the free world. Jerk.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/17/2005 22:30 Comments ||
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#9
nice point, Bobby... Mike will be begging for drinks spouting old "tell all" stories of people he never covered to barflys who couldn't care less...
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/17/2005 22:38 Comments ||
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#10
dickweed (MM, not FG)
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/17/2005 22:51 Comments ||
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#11
.com: whom do you mean?
Thatcher's appearance at Reagan's funeral was intensely moving.
Employees Bring Own Toilet Paper to Work
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - The Buffalo area's county budget crisis is taking a toll on the bathrooms in at least one public building. Erie County has had to slash 2,000 jobs and cut back on services in order to close a more than $100 million budget shortfall. In the Rath Building in downtown Buffalo, workers report that the bathrooms aren't being cleaned or maintained. One longtime worker in the building tells Buffalo's WGRZ-TV that there's no soap, paper towels or toilet paper in the restrooms. Remember bureaucrats who supposedly would order the stocking of the bathrooms are probably exempt from local sanitation laws...
The Rath Building is home to many county offices, including those of County Executive Joel Giambra, the Department of Social Services and the Health Department. Everybody collectively fall of their chairs!
It's so bad, some county employees are bringing in their own toilet paper and other supplies...
A headline too good to pass up. "...And the dish ran away with the spoon."An Oregon State football had a stolen sheep in the bed of his pickup when he was pulled over for speeding last week, Benton County authorities said.Defensive tackle Ben Siegert, 20, was charged with driving under the influence of intoxicants after failing field sobriety tests. Ninety minutes after being pulled over, the 280-pound Siegert registered a .14 percent blood-alcohol content on a breath analyzer at the Benton County Jail, according to the sheriff's office. Oregon considers drivers with a .08 percent blood alcohol content to be drunk.
Siegert told the (Corvallis) Gazette-Times that he had nothing to do with the stolen ram. "I don't know anything about that," he said. "I'm from a city. I don't know anything about sheep." Benton County Undersheriff Diana Simpson disagreed, saying Siegert might have been "too intoxicated to remember." Also in the pickup were former Oregon State football player Brent Charles Bridges, 22, and Whitney Susan Rodgers, 19, of Glendale, Ariz. The 200-pound ram lives at the university's Sheep Center, and is part of a study on homosexuality in sheep, said Sheep Center manager Tom Nichols. "We have at least one prank a year where we have to go to a dormitory or a sorority house and pick up a ram or a lamb or a ewe," Nichols said. "It's one of those springtime pranks." The deputy chose not to arrest anybody for taking the sheep.
Posted by: Anonymoose ||
03/17/2005 10:34:46 AM ||
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Women get more work out of hundreds of genes on the X chromosome than men do, and that could help explain biological differences between the sexes, a study says. The results imply that women make higher doses of certain proteins than men do, which could play out in sex differences in both normal life and disease, researchers said. So far, however, none of the genes identified in the study has been linked to any such observable differences, said senior study author Huntington Willard of Duke University. He and Laura Carrel of Pennsylvania State University describe their analysis of the X chromosome genes in today's issue of the journal Nature. A second paper in the same issue presents a comprehensive analysis of the chromosome's DNA, in which an international team of scientists found 1,098 genes.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/17/2005 1:26:03 AM ||
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#1
Dr. Jeannie T. Lee, who studies X chromosome inactivation at Harvard Medical School,
Harvard? Isn't she asking for trouble?
I once read a study that suggested that, as a rule, male doctors were better as researchers, and female doctors were better at dealing with patients. Both could perform the actual doctoring, diagnosis, surgery, etc., equally well, but the women had the better skills in dealing in one area, and the men had better in the other. It was a personality issue.
So here is a woman doctor at Harvard, where there has been a recent controversy, who is doing research on sex differences. Go figure...
"I gots millions o' enemies, an' you is eight or nine of 'em!"
Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has warned foreigners not to poke their noses into her country's domestic affairs as she believes that there is a well orchestrated conspiracy to unseat her four-party allied government. 'Stop interfering in the internal affairs of our country,' Khaleda said in her valedictory remark on a thanksgiving motion on the president's speech in Bangladesh parliament on Tuesday night.
She categorically said no one would be allowed to do anything subversive of social discipline and law in the guise of religion, politics, movement or any particular ideology.
Bangladesh main opposition party Awami League, which stayed out of the parliamentary proceedings, castigated the prime minister's remarks saying that the speeches against the foreigners in parliament are not decent.
"'If she fells that someone threaten or dictate her in running state affairs, she could solve it through diplomatic channels," Abdul Hamid, the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, told a press conference claiming that the prime minister's remark that the opposition parties were hatching conspiracy against her government was untrue.
Khaleda also dismissed the opposition claims that Islamist militants have been rising rapidly under the auspicious of the four-party alliance, which include two Islamic parties, despite the government banned two other Islamists outfits only in the late last month.
"The question is not of extremism or fundamentalism, the government will take necessary measures against whosoever responsible for unleashing violence and disturbing social peace and stability," Khaleda said, explaining the government's position regarding recent bomb explosions and anarchic activities.
On the allegations of the presence of fundamentalists, militants and al-Qaeda in Bangladesh, she said, "These are nothing but conspiracies against the four-party alliance."
"No one can govern a nation, which gained independence through war, by dictation and frowning,' she said. 'As a sovereign nation, we have a sovereign parliament, laws, and judicial system," she added.
Khaleda was critical on the role of media and opposition, which she says portray a negative image of the country in the international arena.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/17/2005 12:18:34 AM ||
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Someone ought to tell this Khaleda women that her country lives on the largesse of donors, and ideally she is not in a position to as them to buzz off. While she and her son gets richer by plundering whatever is sent to the poor in Bangladesh, this big talk is nothing more than a wake up call exposing the frail health of the BNP in running the affairs of Bangladesh.
Posted by: Cyrus ||
03/17/2005 4:58 Comments ||
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#1
I know this is not quite proper, but it is interesting to see how many different, usually unlearned opinions there are on this subject. To say the ignorance is overwhelming is an understatement.
#2
Keep in mind that the US military hasn't ever beaten the Chinese military and we've lost twice to them (Korea and Vietnam).
No kidding.... we did not 'lose' Korea (ever hear of South Korea) and China did not beat us in Vietnam (the MSM and traitors like Kerry and Hanoi Jane did...).
MOSCOW, March 17. (RIA Novosti)-Yesterday, Chief of the Russian General Staff Yury Baluyevsky left for China to settle a scandal over the first Russian-Chinese military exercise, Commonwealth-2005, which is due to be held this fall off the Yellow Sea coast, writes Kommersant. The initial plans were to practice operational teamwork in combating terrorism during the exercise. However, Beijing, skillfully changing the format of the exercise, has tried to re-orient the two countries' armies to practicing an invasion of Taiwan.
Damm tricky, those Chinese
The choice of where the exercise will take place became a stumbling block. The Russian military selected the Xinjiang-Uigur autonomous region, basing their choice on the area's problematic nature due to Uigur separatists and its proximity to Central Asia, which has become an arena in the fight against international terrorism. However, Beijing flatly rejected the proposal. Instead, it suggested the Zhejiang province near Taiwan. A joint exercise in this area would look too provocative and trigger a strong reaction not only from Taiwan but also America and Japan, which recently included the island in the zone of their common strategic interests. Beijing is trying to use Russia as an additional lever of pressure on the disobedient island to show it that its policy is also causing dissatisfaction in Russia, from which the Taiwanese are expecting assistance in their dialogue with Beijing and bid to join the WTO and the UN.
On the Russian military's insistence, the exercise was shifted north to the Shangdong peninsula. However, the Chinese are trying to change the format of the exercise with proposals to enlarge the contingents with Marines and Pacific Fleet warships. Marine landings to seize the area will be practiced during the "antiterrorist" exercise. Russia's agreement to hold the exercise will inevitably cause a furor in America, Japan and Taiwan. But a refusal will spoil relations with China, which three months ago courteously agreed to Russia's proposal to hold an exercise.
Developing...
Posted by: Steve ||
03/17/2005 11:52:53 AM ||
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Fine. Go ahead and make a realistic rehearsal: sink all your ships in the straits (the Charles de Gaul might be useful for training here).
#2
The Russian Navy has very few options as far as transporting troops into combat. No doubt, Russian ships can haul them but to participate in an actual invasion by sea would be a disaster.
I s'pect the Russian Marines on the Pacific fleet will most likely use airborne (helo or fixed wing ) means of landing, to gain an airfield, then to move the rest of their advanced party by air, after which more troops can be transported by sea once the island is secure.
#6
Very clever diplomacy, getting others to do what you wish. Dumb all around three ways.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/17/2005 19:09 Comments ||
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Badanov - has the plan changed since "Red Storm Rising"? And.... your first name wouldn't be ... um, Boris, would it?
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/17/2005 21:22 Comments ||
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#8
I don't think Russia has any imperial plans. They really didn't during the USSR days, and they don't now.
I believe the the Russian MoD Chief of Staff jumped at the chance of demonstrating what his Marines can do with the Chinese ( which they most likely to go to war with this decade ), rather than there being some diabolical plan to jointly wipe out Taiwan.
Oh and I am about as Russian as Al Bundy, as an example. badanov is a nom du wargame, if you will.
#9
The Commies don't have the capabilities of either the USN, the USMC, the Brit RN or Royal Marines, or NATO - their "Marines" will suffer extens casualties. Any "first strike" by ground forces will focii on the Airborne, Submarine Commandoes, and pre-invasion SpecOps, by definition - basically they have to keep feeding in bodies until the enemy runs out of bullets and beans.
#10
I didn ask if you wuz Russian, Badanov, just ifn the first part of your nom de guerre was named after the well-known (to MY generation) spy from Rocky and Bullwinkle. Never heard of them? Think of them as the Simpsons of the Sixties.....
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/17/2005 22:18 Comments ||
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Any other place, no big thing... (Where do they get these people?)
Health experts are hoping that reports of a bird flu outbreak in North Korea prove unfounded, saying the disease would prove a nightmare to combat inside the isolated Stalinist state. Information reaching the outside world from North Korea is notoriously hard to verify and South Korean officials said they were unable to confirm a report that the North is suffering its first outbreak of avian influenza. "It would be a nightmare if it's true because we need governments to work with us and that might not be so easy with North Korea," said an official of the World Health Organization (WHO) who declined to be named.
According to the report by South Korea's Yonhap news agency on Tuesday, an outbreak of suspected bird flu has killed thousands of chickens at one of Pyongyang's largest poultry farms. The source of the report was a South Korean who had encountered North Korean officials on a business trip to Beijing, according to the news agency. The WHO said it was treating the report as a "rumor" so far and regional representatives were seeking more details. "As soon as we heard the report, we put in a request with Pyongyang for more information. We have got nothing back yet," said Harsaran Pandey, WHO regional information officer based in New Delhi. She said the world body had an acting representative in the North Korean capital. "Even so, it is a difficult country to get information out of."
If confirmed, it would be the first time that bird flu, which has caused serious health risks in Southeast Asia and China, has hit the isolated communist state. North Korea has said the country was free of the disease and recently tightened quarantine checks at airports, seaports and border areas. Experts said, however, that the disease was no respecter of borders and could have been carried into North Korea through infected migratory birds heading north from Southeast Asia at the approach of spring. Since late 2003 the WHO has registered a total of 69 human cases of the H5N1 strain of bird flu, of which 46 were fatal. If Pyongyang comes up with confirmation, international health officials will offer to help it combat the outbreak that could be costly and damaging for a country unable to feed its people. North Korea has for more than a decade relied on food aid from donor countries to meet the needs of its 23 million people.
A confirmed outbreak of bird flu would necessarily trigger a vast cull of poultry, a main source of animal protein for North Koreans. According to one Yonhap report, starving North Koreans had dug up and consumed the infected chickens that had been buried at the Pyongyang farm. The WHO's Pandey said the international body was hoping for cooperation from North Korea. However, she recalled the recent case of its communist neighbor China, which hushed up the scale of a major outbreak of SARS two years ago. North Korea, which escaped the SARS epidemic, has shown a similar pattern of behavior in the past. Foreign aid workers were only reluctantly allowed into the country in the mid-1990s well after the scale of a devastating famine had already become apparent. Pandey said the WHO had no power "to go marching in" to North Korea. "We only go in at the invitation of a particular country," she said. "But if there was a problem we would very politely demand to come in." No indication it has infected people, but still a concern.
Posted by: phil_b ||
03/17/2005 2:49:29 AM ||
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As opposed to all the other nightmares in North Korea?
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/17/2005 20:36 Comments ||
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But if there WAS an epidemic, how would we know? How would it spread, except for the two or three folks who escape each year? And finally, why would we care?
{sigh} I suppose Dear Leader would survive, and only a few million innocent peasants would die, and SOMEHOW, it'd ALL get blamed on .... ooooohhhhh, maybe the running dog capitalists?
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/17/2005 21:57 Comments ||
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At least 30 people were killed when a double-decker bus exploded in eastern Jiangxi province, state press reported. The long-distance bus was travelling from southern Shenzhen city near Hong Kong to eastern Zhejiang province when the blast occurred at about 4:00 am Thursday, Xinhua news agency said. "Police said that the exact death toll is hard to tell now, as victims were exploded into pieces," the report said. The blast occurred near Shangrao city, with several buildings around the site also damaged and locals injured, the report said. It was not immediately clear what caused the blast. Sure sounds like a bomb.
Moved to page 3 because of subsequent reports ...
Posted by: phil_b ||
03/17/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Whoa...I'm in eastern Zhejiang province. The East China Sea Fleet is based here...you know, the one whose responsibility includes the Taiwan Strait.
#4
"At least 29 people were killed when a double-decker bus collided with a truck loaded with firecrackers and explosives and exploded in eastern China's Jiangxi Province early Thurday morning."
"A truck loaded with firecrackers and powder exploded early Thursday morning in east China's Jiangxi Province, blowing up a nearby bus and leaving more than 20 people dead, local police said.
Police initially thought the double-decker bus caused the explosion.
Initial investigation, however, showed that the bus from Shenzhen, southern Guangdong Province, to eastern Zhejiang Province was blown up by the explosion of a truck from Liuyang City of central Hunan Province, a major firecracker producer."
For what it's worth, this is the official government line now.
And while this is a tragedy, is it really "War on Terrorism Operations"? How'd it get approved for Page 1?
#5
gromky, I posted it on page 1 because based on the report it looked like a bomb and I guess the editors agreed. Based on your additional info, it doesn't look like terrorism, although I treat Chinese government statements with scepticism.
#6
And from early reports it is sometimes difficult to tell what is terrorism and what is not. I recall on September 11, I listened to some CNN dingbat witter on for at least an hour about a 'navigational problem' causing planes to crash into buildings.
EFL The European Commission launched a blitz against costly red tape yesterday, admitting that 900 draft laws in the pipeline have never been subjected to a cost-benefit analysis despite their far-reaching effects on business. Gunter Verheugen, the enterprise and industry commissioner, said the EU was now seen as a "bureaucratic monster" responsible for an avalanche of costly rules that were smothering enterprise. He cited a draft EU law regulating the size of coffee and chicory packs as the ultimate idiocy and questioned whether the EU really needed "58 directives on tractors...". "I'm a steamroller Baby
I'm 'bout to roll all over you..."
Turning the tables, he said Brussels will now police the red tape burden in member states, taking legal action against governments that failed to join the new slash-and-burn campaign. Turning the tables! Yesterday we heard EU lawsuit threats against the slow energy deregulators. Today it's EU lawsuit threats against the verbose, which is irony at its very best. European governments will soon have even more empathy for "St. Pancake".
Posted by: Tom ||
03/17/2005 9:15:35 AM ||
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The EU is gonna lawsuit its client members out of the Union if they keep this crap up.
#2
He cited a draft EU law regulating the size of coffee and chicory packs as the ultimate idiocy and questioned whether the EU really needed "58 directives on tractors..."
Sounds like the way the U.S. military used to do their procurement. Pages of specs were devoted to gum and t-shirts. Don't know what the deal is now whether it's changed or not.
#3
One of the few good things the Clinton's ever did for the military was the Perry Iniative, which in 1994 "eliminated" military specifications. Like most things, it is taking a while to be implemented, but if you want to find mil specs for chewing gum, etc. you'll have to look on the internet because the government doesn't have them any more.
#5
"Regulating the size of coffee and chicory packs" isn't the ultimate idiocy; at least they're man-made, so it's possible to meet the regulations consistently. Difficult and costly, perhaps, but possible.
Regulating the curvature of a banana is the ultimate idiocy.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/17/2005 19:46 Comments ||
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Posted by: ed ||
03/17/2005 02:37 ||
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Aside from one of the intended alleged recpients being in Israel, why is this WOT related? Seems like extraordinary common crime to me.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/17/2005 8:31 Comments ||
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#2
Could be. But funnel that money into the wrong hands and it could do some serious damage to anti-terror efforts.
Posted by: too true ||
03/17/2005 8:38 Comments ||
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The question is, who is this "recipient" in Israel? Is the person just a member of some criminal syndicate, or terrorist org sympathizer? The article doesn't give names or other specifics.
#1
Unions striking over unemployment, inflation, pensions, and social security. Government under pressure from the EU to cut spending or face cuts of billions of euros by 2007. Is this the EU the Greeks want?
"...fears that EU funding for Greece..."
Why is the EU funding Greece? Is Greece a welfare state in the EU?
Posted by: Tom ||
03/17/2005 9:29 Comments ||
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Yes - it is a net recipient of EU funding. Which is either a good thing (if you are pro-unification, on the theory that leveling differences is Good) or a bad thing (if you either think that market forces are more efficient as a way to make progress or if you are one of the taxpayers being screwed donors
Posted by: too true ||
03/17/2005 9:31 Comments ||
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Irked by harsh news coverage of legislative perquisites, the European Parliament's leadership has quietly proposed tough restrictions to bar the photographing or filming of members when they are not involved in official duties at the institution's sprawling headquarters.
Journalists who violate the regulations could be banned from the Parliament's public buildings for six months to two years, according to internal documents from the legislature's administrative bureau, which includes the Parliament's president, Josep Borrell Fontelles, and 14 other legislators who are vice presidents.
The movement to rein in the press dates back to mid-February, after an unidentified German television station started filming members of the Parliament, according to an internal memo.
However, earlier in February, the German weekly television magazine Stern filmed members after they had signed for daily allowances, which have drawn intense scrutiny as some legislators have left work immediately after jotting their signatures. and THIS is the EU that has the nerve to lecture the US on ethics? The corruption stinks all the way across the Atlantic.
Hans Peter Martin, an Austrian member of the Parliament who has been a vociferous critic of its benefits and privileges, accompanied the Stern television crew, which insists that it followed existing rules by filming from a public corridor.
The new internal rules would grant power to an obscure five-member committee within the Parliament, the Quaestors, more of that wonderful EU accountability and high moral stance to decide which areas of the complex are subject to a ban on photography and filming that can be established on a temporary basis.
Europe deserves what it is choosing for itself. Pity.
Posted by: anon ||
03/17/2005 8:01:22 AM ||
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Has that "inquisition" ring to it, doesn't it? The EU is taking on shades of Monty Python:
"NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition!
Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise....
Our two weapons are fear and surprise... and ruthless efficiency....
Our three weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency..."
Posted by: Tom ||
03/17/2005 13:21 Comments ||
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Journalists who violate the regulations could be banned from the Parliamentâs public buildings for six months to two years, according to internal documents from the legislatureâs administrative bureau, which includes the Parliamentâs president, Josep Borrell Fontelles, and 14 other legislators who are vice presidents.
SO? There will be two sets of journalists.
The "Mr. Insides", who will follow the rules precisely, and have access to all official and desirable places (desirable according to the EU parliament)
The "Mr. Outsides" Tabloid and Pajamadeen types who whill not have so much reservation about posting some slimy parliamentarian in the hot tub with a 16-year old...
All they did was set themselves up for more trouble. And then they have this oddly named extra-legal group, "Quaestors", to come down from the mountain-top occasionally an pronounce which photos are OK and not OK...
This is treading on a precipice. Be careful, boys.
We now know why Eurobureaucrats ban private citizens from having most guns. They are afraid of revolution.
#8
Tut, tut. They will just institute a EU wide law EU to license a all âjournalistsâ, Web loggers and anyone making commentary. No problem. EU censorship will be double plus good just ask them.
Macedonia has officially protested to Greece after a plane carrying Prime Minister Vlado Buckovski was prevented from flying over Greek territory, a government spokesman said Tuesday. Buckovski was on his way to Turkey on Monday in a special government flight when aviation authorities in Athens notified their Macedonian counterparts that the flight did not have permission to use Greek air space, Dusko Uzunov said. He said the problem stemmed from a long-running bilateral dispute about Macedonia's name, which Greece refuses to recognise as it is the same as the northern Greek province of Macedonia. Greece has threatened to block Skopje's bid to join the European Union and NATO until it changes its name. Next we'll have Virginia denying fly-overs to West Virginia and Mexico refusing tourists from New Mexico.
Posted by: Tom ||
03/17/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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10 years ago, Republic of Macedonia was willing to make a compromise on the name (e.g. using something New Macedonia or Slavic Macedonia, etc) but Greece wasn't willing to hear of any compromise at all.
Now, Greece is urging for a compromise, but Rep. of Macedonia recognizes it's in a superior position and doesn't want to hear of it.
After another 10-15 years Greece will probably accept Republic of Macedonia with that name. Hopefully.
Until such time however, we can expect pettiness upsurges from time to time.
#2
Macedonian plane: Athens Center, request transit over Greek airspace.
Athens Center: Request denied, what are your intentions?
Macedonian plane: Uh, would a temporary name change be sufficient to gain permission?
Athens Center: Necessary, but not sufficient. State your intentions.
Macedonian plane: Uh, maybe we should go around. Our tanks are of insufficient capacity for the diplomatic doings.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/17/2005 0:58 Comments ||
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#3
Aris, giassou. You said:
Now, Greece is urging for a compromise, but Rep. of Macedonia recognizes it's in a superior position and doesn't want to hear of it.
How is Macedonia in a superior position? The country is a land-locked basket case and Greece is superior in every way. Almost everything the FYROM needs has to be shipped in through Thessaloniki.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/17/2005 8:15 Comments ||
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How is Macedonia in a superior position? The country is a land-locked basket case and Greece is superior in every way
Greece can't hold an embargo or otherwise use trade against Republic of Macedonia, because of EU rules. Besides, the time of highest chauvinist hysteria where we'd hurt the economy of our own nation, just to satisfy our rage against the neighbouring one, is one decade past.
Still "superior position" was clumsily said of me: By "superior position" I just meant concerning the specific issue. With, Russia, China, United States all having recognized it as "Republic of Macedonia", and dozens of other countries likewise, and even EU nations starting to make sounds in that directions, Republic of Macedonia only needs to hold the course for a few years more before even Greece gets it into her thick skull that a time where compromise was possible has definitely passed and Republic of Macedonia won't be changing her name anytime soon.
The only weapon Greece still has in its arsenal is the denial of membership in EU and NATO. Which is a double-edged knife, that'll hurt Greece in its use almost as much as it'll hurt the Republic of Macedonia. Our brothers and sisters in the EU have ways to punish obnoxious use of vetos.
#7
Our brothers and sisters in the EU have ways to punish obnoxious use of vetos.
Gee, so does Bush. And some people think we don't have much in common with the EUros.....
Posted by: too true ||
03/17/2005 8:35 Comments ||
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*snore* rivalled only be the pettinesss of the aggregious slurs and fights in Academia
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/17/2005 8:39 Comments ||
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#9
Nah - academia is MUCH better at it. Trust me ....
Posted by: too true ||
03/17/2005 8:39 Comments ||
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#10
Aris, I find the Greek position very amusing. Are they worried that the ROM will sneak in during the night and move the border markers? But I also remember a Greek/Turk tussle over literally a pile of rocks in the Agean Sea. Tell you what, if the ROM makes a move on the province of Macedonia I will personally enlist in the Greek Armed services and help recapture the territory.
#14
Cyber> The piece of Greek you wrote means "No words were found" -- what were you trying to auto-translate? :-)
I think most Greeks see Republic of Macedonia as trying to steal NOT a piece of Greek territory, but rather a piece of Greek history by using that name. The rhetoric goes something like this: "The name is our history, our history is our soul, by taking the name Macedonia, they're trying to steal our soul away, etc, etc."
#15
No, Aris, South Korea has Seoul. What? Oh -- never mind.
Posted by: Tom ||
03/17/2005 18:06 Comments ||
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#16
Master Sergant Cyber. I used a translator at: http://www.translatum.gr/ and I guess it didn't copy over well. My Greek is thin but I am sure after some good Greek food and wine it will come back to me. You to understand how we Americans can't fathom the name thing. We call the Northwest area New England, we have a state called Georgia, and one called New Mexico. If the Canadians broke up and Vancuver changed it's name to 'Republic of America' it wouldn't bother us in the least. Hell we might just annex them! Kali Nichta Feelos.
#21
heh heh that was sarcasm, y'all. You really don't catch the American aptitude for irony, and it shows every time you type. Well, back on *Aris ignore*
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/17/2005 20:08 Comments ||
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#22
California University is in Pennsylvania, Miami University is in Ohio, Kansas City is in Missouri...
Posted by: Tom ||
03/17/2005 20:10 Comments ||
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#25
really don't catch the American aptitude for irony,
*rolls eyes* No, what happens is that you never catch mine.
I'm quite well aware what "gee, thanks" means. You should one day learn what "You are welcome" means when in response to that.
Mainly it means that I'm too weary to begin yet another flamewar over you being a jerk. So here's a polite response to your irony (or more properly your sarcasm).
But since it seems you'll be trying to explain your supposedly subtle but in reality blatant jabs in every single such thread, here's one post to spell it out for you. Whenever you say rude things to me, and I respond with "Thank you." or otherwise as if you said something polite instead, that's intentional.
Example: Frank G may say "You are an EU-loving dhimmi piece-of-shit."
I may respond with "Thank you. Love you too."
At which point Frank G accuses me of not understanding his meaning, when ofcourse it's he who doesn't understand mine.
#29
I've actually fully grasped your insignificance over the last month + and really don't give a f^k what you think or say anymore - have a nice day :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/17/2005 21:45 Comments ||
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#30
I've actually fully grasped your insignificance over the last month
Then it's time to go back to Christian school. Christians are supposed to fully grasp their *own* insignificance, not other people's. Humility and the like, you know.
and really don't give a f^k what you think or say anymore
Except that you are so obsessed with me that you can't stand the idea you may have said something rude to me I might have not grasped.
have a nice day :-)
Thank you. Make sure you have a clear conscience over the sin of pride when you meet your maker.
#31
Ohhhh..... Aris! I had such hope for you, up to about post #23. Then you found the sarcasm. Your grasp of English is MUCH better than mine, of Greek. You must be a smart guy. Lay off the personal attacks! Not that others have not drunk deeply ....
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/17/2005 22:26 Comments ||
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#32
You probably mean #25. But I'd found the sarcasm at #20; however no good deed goes unpunished in this forum, and no intention to ignore a jab can go uninsulted it seems. When patience is punished by being presented as ignorance, what motivation do I have to be patient?
I remind you after all the case where my attempts to ignore Robert and Frank calling me "cunt", had merely resulted in the pair of them following me to another thread and calling me that again until I had responded to their insults: Once again, patience (NOT a virtue I have the most ample supplies thereof in the first place) is punished in this forum, not rewarded.
#33
Not to argue, Aris, but it seems a shame to see your intellect wasted on insults. And work on your patience! Count to ten before you respond! Best wishes.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/17/2005 22:50 Comments ||
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The 2004 presidential election may be in the history books, but the left-wing protests and incendiary rhetoric that targeted President Bush in last year's campaign have not died away. As attacks on the administration's policies continue, so does scrutiny of the finances of such groups, which some say pose significant questions as to whether their activities comply with tax law.
Anti-Bush groups like the International Action Center boast of their support for the "courageous Iraqi resistance that has derailed the U.S. Empire." The IAC, which plans an anti-war demonstration in New York City Saturday, has also conducted mock trials and "convicted" President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair of "war crimes." Those activities are significantly bankrolled by a non-profit group called the People's Rights Fund, whose tax-exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service precludes it from engaging in "substantial use of inflammatory and disparaging terms."
The IRS's 501(c)(3) provisions, which govern thousands of non-profit organizations across the country, also warn groups involved not to "express conclusions on the basis of strong emotional feelings" at the expense of "objective evaluations." It's these tax laws, among others, that have caught the attention of Ken Boehm, chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center, a conservative group that monitors the activities of non-profits. "You can have debates, you can do policy papers. It doesn't consist of a bunch of people running down the street shouting obscenities and all these other things," said Boehm. "That's not [non-profit] activity and it never has been."
Boehm told the Cybercast News Service that the tax code restrictions apply, even when groups like the People's Rights Fund provide financing and otherwise stay behind the scenes. "Whenever you have a relationship between a (c)(3) and a (c)(4)," as in the case with the People's Rights Fund and the International Action Center, Boehm said, "the rule is, (c)(3)'s can give to (c)(4)'s, but they have to be for the types of activities that are (c)(3) activities."
Multiple calls seeking comment from the People's Rights Fund, the IAC, and other like-minded groups were not returned, in spite of the fact that in some cases, their offices share the same building address and telephone numbers. While (c)(3) organizations are generally prohibited from engaging in overt political activities, (c)(4) organizations have more latitude in such matters.
The Capital Research Center, another conservative watchdog of non-profit groups, reported in its March Organizational Trends newsletter that, "the International Action Center (IAC), received $62,000 in 2002 from the People's Rights Fund" according to the most recent data provided by the IRS and that "The Fund claimed 2002 revenues of $447,045 and assets of $61,458."
The International Action Center, which was founded by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, pulls few punches on its website, promoting other groups like Troops OUT NOW.org (also financed in part by the People's Rights Fund) and No Draft No Way.org. In its related links section, the IAC website includes a category called the "Iraq War Crimes Tribunal." Immediately below that headline is a hyperlink to another website called People Judge Bush.org. The IAC's website also includes several requests for "[t]ax deductible donations," which the website clarifies, should be "over $50.00" and sent to the People's Rights Fund/IAC Project.
In advertising its Saturday "March to Central Park," marking the second anniversary of the U.S. invasion to topple Saddam Hussein's regime, the IAC boasts that "[t]he whole world will be marching and watching. "We have a responsibility to respond with renewed determination and commitment in the face of the Bush Administration's launching of a new phase of the war against the Iraqi people," the IAC website states, adding that demonstrators will march to the military recruiting station in Harlem to protest "the economic draft."
There is no mention, for example, of this week's inaugural session of the Iraq National Assembly, the first session of freely elected Iraqi politicians in a half century.
Past IAC protests have been aimed at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, both of President Bush's inaugurations, the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston and that year's Republican National Convention in New York, as well as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Yet, the IAC's benefactor, the People's Rights Fund, maintains its tax-exempt status with the IRS by claiming that its work serves "educational purposes," something Boehm disputes.
"An examination of their web pages, materials publicly available, a Nexis search, etc., shows that they are to a large degree an activist group that conducts street demonstrations, puts together political coalitions, uses enflamed rhetoric, and does not make any attempt to do any balance whatsoever," Boehm said of the People's Rights Fund. Alan Dye, a Washington, D.C., lawyer providing services to non-profit organizations, also saw problems with the People's Rights Fund claiming an "educational" tax-exemption while funding a political protest. "It would seem to me that a protest is not charitable ... or educational," Dye said. Dye said IAC's anti-Bush inaugural protests in 2000 and 2004 should also have alerted the IRS. "It's hard for me to see how the IRS would find a counter-inaugural protest to be educational or charitable. I don't see how you justify that."
Boehm said the IAC, "without question," presents its viewpoint in an emotional, rather than reasonable manner, in violation of the 501(c)(3) provisions. The IAC activity is "political, it's ideological, it's advocacy," Boehm said. Dye agreed that IAC's style could be as problematic as its substance. "If the language is inflammatory enough, if the appeals are strongly enough based on emotion rather than reason [the IRS] certainly could, if they wanted, find the content not to be educational," Dye told the Cybercast News Service. Because the People's Rights Fund is a 501(c)(3) and the IAC and other projects it sponsors are not, the People's Rights Fund is classified as a fiscal sponsor to those activities.
Fiscal sponsorship, according to IRS Ruling 68-489, 1968-2 C.B. 210, allows (c)(3)s to distribute funds to non-exempt groups, but the (c)(3) must maintain full control of the funds. However, instead of retaining control of the money supporting the IAC's activities, Boehm wonders whether the People's Rights Fund is merely acting as a "funnel" for the funds. "What else is it doing?" he asked in reference to the People's Rights Fund. "The (c)(3) seem[s] to be small, they don't have a paid staff, [and] a chunk of the money goes to (c)(4) activities," Boehm added. "It looks like this very hard-edged activist group (the IAC) is getting funding from a (c)(3) for their agenda." In contrast to the IAC website, the People's Rights Fund site consists only of its mission statement, contact information, and a store for making donations to the sponsored projects. The People's Rights Fund advertises no activities of its own.
Boehm said he believes the solicitation of funds on the IAC website and affiliated sites are an indication that the donors intend for the money to go directly to the IAC instead of, as the law mandates, to the People's Rights Fund. "The fact that they're touting that on the webpage for the activist group certainly does lend an appearance that there's a conduit arrangement," Boehm said.
In a January 28 interview with the Cybercast News Service, Bob Huberty, executive vice president of the Capital Research Center, expressed concern about the fact that the IAC, the People's Rights Fund, and a number of other groups "are all at the same address in New York, all different groups."
Boehm agreed that the concept of a 501(c)(3) sharing an address with one of its sponsored projects was a cause for concern. The address, 39 West 14th Street in New York City, is also listed by the Troops Out Now coalition, People Judge Bush.org, Vote No War.org, Vote To Impeach.org, No Draft No Way.org, and others.
The People's Rights Fund is not the only 501(c)(3) group drawing attention for the projects it sponsors. The Progress Unity Fund provides money to the anti-war International ANSWER Coalition, which until recently was listed as a project of the People's Rights Fund. Boehm noted similarities in the templates of the respective websites for the People's Rights Fund and the Progress Unity Fund. There are also several connections between International ANSWER and IAC, both of which share office space in New York City and show a cross-pollination of leadership.
The International ANSWER coalition is directed by Ramsey Clark, who is also the founder of the IAC. Members of International ANSWER will also participate in this weekend's anti-war demonstration. Similar to the relationship between the People's Rights Fund and the IAC, International ANSWER advertises events on its website and requests that tax-deductible contributions be directed to the Progress Unity Fund. "Your contribution will help support the upcoming March 19 Day of Global Mass Action," the International Answer sales pitch reads. The Progress Unity Fund shares headquarters with International ANSWER at 2489 Mission Street in San Francisco. International ANSWER may also be sponsored by a second 501(c)(3) -- the Alliance for Global Justice (AGJ). International ANSWER requested donations for its January 20 counter-inaugural protest through AGJ. AGJ appears to share office space with International ANSWER's Washington, D.C., headquarters at 1247 E Street Southeast.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/17/2005 8:43:24 AM ||
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Amateurs study tactics. Professionals study logistics.
AIM leader claims Churchill once left threatening answering machine message
A 12-year-old audio tape of an angry answering machine message left by Ward Churchill has surfaced. Much of the audio is unintelligible, but a person identifies himself as Ward Churchill on the tape. The message was left on Vernon Bellecourt's answering machine in 1993. Bellecourt is a leader of the American Indian Movement. Churchill severed ties with the organization. Bellecourt said he felt threatened by the message, but he never filed a police report. The transcript is as follows:
"You siphoned a half million ripped off from Gadhafi. How many other thousand dollars have you taken from the native people's struggles? You keep it up and I won't just stand and look at you next time. You understand what I'm saying fat boy turned skinny? You decrepit old (expletive)"
Professor Who Wrote Controversial Sept. 11 Essay Denies Plagiarism, Threatening Others An embattled professor who set off a firestorm with an essay comparing some Sept. 11 victims to a notorious Nazi denied allegations Wednesday he plagiarized another professor's work and physically threatened her. The allegations arose during negotiations between Ward Churchill and the University of Colorado over a buyout of his contract in the wake of his controversial essay resurfacing in January. Talks broke down Friday after the Rocky Mountain News reported that a professor at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia accused Churchill of plagiarizing her work and threatening her. Churchill flatly denied plagiarizing anyone's work and said he has sometimes made threats to sue, but has never threatened anyone with violence. "I have other things to do than sit up in the middle of the night calling people who irritate me," he told The Associated Press in an interview.
"That's when I sweep the old teepee and clean the buffalo."
In his essay written shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Churchill called some World Trade Center victims "little Eichmanns," a reference to Adolf Eichmann, who orchestrated the Holocaust. The essay drew little attention until earlier this year, when it resurfaced after Churchill was invited to speak at Hamilton College in upstate New York. Relatives of the dead and the governors of New York and Colorado denounced Churchill and the speech was canceled because of death threats against the professor. University administrators are investigating Churchill's works to determine whether to recommend his dismissal. The results of the investigation are scheduled to be released March 28. Churchill, 57, a tenured professor of ethnic studies, said he would consider a buyout from the university if it could be "a template" for resolving similar disputes in the future. He said his goal was not to get rich. "Not only was (the proposed settlement) under a half million (dollars), it was well under," he said. Churchill also defended his scholarship, citing his nearly two dozen books and his various teaching and writing awards. "This is not an undistinguished career as a scholar," he said.
A distinguished career of undistinguished scholarship, then?
Posted by: Anonymoose ||
03/17/2005 8:56:17 AM ||
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"I have other things to do than sit up in the middle of the night calling people who irritate me," he told The Associated Press in an interview.
#3
Churchill won't get the buyout that he wants. After the report from Dalhousie U. the CU regents decided that there would be none. I just hope they have the guts to finish him off and rid CU of at least one of the racist libs there.
Posted by: Gir ||
03/17/2005 11:46 Comments ||
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#4
"A university is a community where people make a living by taking in each other's brain washing". I don't know who said that but it does seem appropo.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/17/2005 14:53 Comments ||
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#5
Since the guy was given tenure in the first place based on his false claim to Native American identity, why can't they revoke tenure based on the simple, clear, compelling evidence of fraud and misrepresentation? Why is this being drawn out in this way?
March 17, 2005 -- CAMPAIGN-FINANCE reform has been an immense scam perpetrated on the American people by a cadre of left-wing foundations and disguised as a "mass movement." But don't take my word for it. One of the chief scammers, Sean Treglia, a former program officer of the Pew Charitable Trusts, confesses it all in an astonishing videotape I obtained earlier this week. The tape — of a conference held at USC's Annenberg School for Communication in March of 2004 — shows Treglia expounding to a gathering of academics, experts and journalists (none of whom, apparently, ever wrote about Treglia's remarks) on just how Pew and other left-wing foundations plotted to create a fake grassroots movement to hoodwink Congress.
"I'm going to tell you a story that I've never told any reporter," Treglia says on the tape. "Now that I'm several months away from Pew and we have campaign-finance reform, I can tell this story."
That story in brief:
Charged with promoting campaign-finance reform when he joined Pew in the mid-1990s, Treglia came up with a three-pronged strategy: 1) pursue an expansive agenda through incremental reforms, 2) pay for a handful of "experts" all over the country with foundation money and 3) create fake business, minority and religious groups to pound the table for reform. "The target audience for all this activity was 535 people in Washington," Treglia says — 100 in the Senate, 435 in the House. "The idea was to create an impression that a mass movement was afoot — that everywhere they looked, in academic institutions, in the business community, in religious groups, in ethnic groups, everywhere, people were talking about reform." It's a stark admission, but perhaps Treglia should be thanked for his candor.
(Treglia, contacted by The Post yesterday, was singing a different tune about Pew, saying it would be "incorrect to suggest that the organization would attempt to deceive or mislead about its funding efforts." Pew's president, Rebecca Rimel, calls the charge "false" in a written statement.) Treglia's revelations help put in context a report just out from a group called Political Money Line, "Campaign Finance Lobby: 1994-2004," which follows the money behind campaign-finance reform. That cash, it turns out, was the one thing about the "movement" that was masssive: From 1994 to 2004, almost $140 million was spent to lobby for changes to our country's campaign-finance laws. But this money didn't come from little old ladies making do with cat food so they could send a $20 check to Common Cause. The vast majority of this money — $123 million, 88 percent of the total — came from just eight liberal foundations.
These foundations were: the Pew Charitable Trusts ($40.1 million), the Schumann Center for Media and Democracy ($17.6 million), the Carnegie Corporation of New York ($14.1 million), the Joyce Foundation ($13.5 million), George Soros' Open Society Institute ($12.6 million), the Jerome Kohlberg Trust ($11.3 million), the Ford Foundation ($8.8 million) and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation ($5.2 million). Not exactly all household names, but the left-wing groups that these foundations support may be more familiar: the Earth Action Network, the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund, People for the American Way, Planned Parenthood, the Public Citizen Foundation, the Feminist Majority Foundation . . .
What did this liberal foundation crowd buy with its $123 million?
For starters, a stable of supposedly independent pro-reform groups, with Orwellian names you may have heard in the press: the Center for Public Integrity, the William J. Brennan Center for Justice, Democracy 21 and so on.
Plus, favorable press coverage. Here, the story — as laid out in the Political Money Line report — gets really ugly. Some highlights:
* In September of 2000, less than two years before the passage of McCain-Feingold, the liberal magazine The American Prospect put out a special issue devoted to campaign-finance reform. With incredible hypocrisy, the magazine failed to tell its readers that the "Checkbook Democracy" issue was paid for with a $132,000 check from the Carnegie Corporation — which, again, has spent $14 million promoting the regulation of political speech in the last decade.
* Since 1994, National Public Radio has accepted more than $1.2 million from liberal foundations promoting campaign-finance reform for items such as (to quote the official disclosure statements) "news coverage of financial influence in political decision-making." About $400,000 of that directly funded a program called, "Money, Power and Influence." NPR claims that there has never been any contact between the funders and the reporters. NPR also claims that some of the $1.2 million went to non-campaign-finance-related coverage. But at least $860,000 can be tied directly to coverage of money in politics.
* Lastly, the Radio and Television News Directors Foundation accepted $935,000 between 1995 and 2001 from liberal foundations promoting campaign-finance reform for things like a "training initiative to help television, radio and print journalists provide better news coverage of the influence of private money on electoral, legislative and regulatory processes." The president of RTNDF, Barbara Cochran, assured me that "We did not receive money to promote campaign-finance reform." Cochran also made clear that RTNDF does not provide news coverage, it only trains journalists. But she wouldn't provide The Post with any of the training materials it produced with the foundation money. The press as a whole, of course, wasn't bought off. But most journalists were either too ill-informed or too unconcerned to figure out the fraud.
Back to the videotape, where an unidentified (but apparently sympathetic) individual asks Treglia: "What would have happened had a major news organization gotten a hold of this at the wrong time?" "We had a scare," Treglia says. "As the debate was progressing and getting pretty close, George Will stumbled across a report that we had done and attacked it in his column. And a lot of his partisans were becoming aware of Pew's role and were feeding him information. And he started to reference the fact that Pew had played a large role in this — that this was a liberal attempt to hoodwink Congress."
"But you know what the good news is from my perspective?" Treglia says to the stunned crowd. "Journalists didn't care . . . So no one followed up on the story. And so there was a panic there for a couple of weeks because we thought the story was going to begin to gather steam, and no one picked it up."
Treglia's right. While he admits Pew specifically instructed groups receiving its grants "never to mention Pew," all these connections were disclosed (as legally required) in various tax forms and annual reports. "If any reporter wanted to know, they could have sat down and connected the dots," he said. "But they didn't."
So shame on Pew for undertaking a sustained campaign to mislead the public and Congress. And shame on all of the journalists who let them slide. Above all else, looking ahead: Shame on any news organization that lets the campaign-finance-reform lobby keep on portraying itself as a "movement" now that the facts have come out.
Now we'll see if sunlight is indeed the best disinfectant.
A partial transcript of the Treglia tape is available at
http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/transcript0.htm
Posted by: Steve ||
03/17/2005 9:32:11 AM ||
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I foresee a multitude of news trucks fresh from the Blake trial assembling caravan-like to cover this story.
He was wounded, outnumbered and at a strategic disadvantage but never left his men. On Wednesday morning, that brave Marine was laid to rest at the Texas State Cemetery.
President Dwight Eisenhower awarded George O'Brien with the highest United States honor following his gallantry during the Korean War.
In October of 1952, O'Brien's Marine platoon was pinned down by intense small arms and mortar fire while preparing to take a hill position. Despite being outnumbered, O'Brien led his men on a charge up the hill. He was shot, and he killed three enemy soldiers but refused to be evacuated until all the men in his platoon were accounted for.
"One of his biggest duties as a Marine Corps officer, we had a lot of Americans in captivity, and he was the liaison between the United Nations and the North Koreans and the release of American prisoners," said Robert Howard, a friend of O'Brien.
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Company H, 3d Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein.). Place and date: Korea, 27 October, 1952. Entered service at: Big Spring, Tex. Born: 10 September 1926, Fort Worth, Tex. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as a rifle platoon commander of Company H, in action against enemy aggressor forces. With his platoon subjected to an intense mortar and artillery bombardment while preparing to assault a vitally important hill position on the main line of resistance which had been overrun by a numerically superior enemy force on the preceding night, 2d Lt. O'Brien leaped from his trench when the attack signal was given and, shouting for his men to follow, raced across an exposed saddle and up the enemy-held hill through a virtual hail of deadly small-arms, artillery, and mortar fire. Although shot through the arm and thrown to the ground by hostile automatic-weapons fire as he neared the well-entrenched enemy position, he bravely regained his feet, waved his men onward, and continued to spearhead the assault, pausing only long enough to go to the aid of a wounded marine. Encountering the enemy at close range, he proceeded to hurl handgrenades into the bunkers and, utilizing his carbine to best advantage in savage hand-to-hand combat, succeeded in killing at least 3 of the enemy. Struck down by the concussion of grenades on 3 occasions during the subsequent action, he steadfastly refused to be evacuated for medical treatment and continued to lead his platoon in the assault for a period of nearly 4 hours, repeatedly encouraging his men and maintaining superb direction of the unit. With the attack halted he set up a defense with his remaining forces to prepare for a counterattack, personally checking each position, attending to the wounded and expediting their evacuation. When a relief of the position was effected by another unit, he remained to cover the withdrawal and to assure that no wounded were left behind. By his exceptionally daring and forceful leadership in the face of overwhelming odds, 2d Lt. O'Brien served as a constant source of inspiration to all who observed him and was greatly instrumental in the recapture of a strategic position on the main line of resistance. His indomitable determination and valiant fighting spirit reflect the highest credit upon himself and enhance the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.
#3
I'm going to print this for my USMC Lance Corporal junior son, who should be back in Caliphfornis from Iraq today. My son didn't win the Medal of Honor, but he served courageously, and his family is proud of him!
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/17/2005 21:44 Comments ||
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Please thank your son for me, Bobby, and add a hearty Welcome Home, Marine -- well done!
The United Nations is out of touch with most Americans yup, who think the beleaguered organization has abandoned its mission to keep peace and protect human rights around the world uh huh, says U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's chief of staff. *Gasp!* Is that a clue?
"In a very real way very, very real, we seem to have lost touch with the great middle in America, a middle which very much believes in the aspirational ideas of the U.N. which are now being acted on by President Bush and the Republican Party and the nations that make up the Coalition of the Willing... and who feel that we've drifted away from a commitment to human rights, a commitment to help the poor of the world," Mark Malloch Brown said yesterday.
The organization will propose changes in the coming weeks to begin repairing its reputation by revamping its "human rights machinery" to keep dictator nations off the U.N. Human Rights Commission. Oh. Ok. I guess that's progress. Of a sort. Governments making up the current membership include Cuba, Sudan, Zimbabwe and Saudi Arabia. Libya is the outgoing chair of the committee. *sigh*
The plan would "try and restore the credibility of this and have people on that commission who really are people of stature and reputation and record and come from countries of the same thing, with real human rights standing in the world," Mr. Malloch Brown said. I guess that leaves out the U.S. and Israel, then. Human rights groups say rights violators on the commission stick together as a bloc to prevent criticism of one another — a conclusion that has been endorsed by a panel of experts advising Mr. Annan on U.N. reform.
Any changes proposed by Mr. Annan would have to be approved by the U.N. General Assembly, comprising all 191 U.N. member nations. A package of U.N. reforms is expected to be debated at a U.N. world summit in New York in September. Too little, too late? Stay tuned for the next episode of "As the U.N. turns"
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/17/2005 1:17:50 AM ||
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Next to nothing, too late. This year I chew out any kid who says "Trick or treat for UNICEF."
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/17/2005 8:55 Comments ||
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#2
Yeah, the UN reaches for my pocket. Luckily I've achieved adulthood, and am too old for the UN wanting to reach for my bottom.
Posted by: ed ||
03/17/2005 9:15 Comments ||
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Question:
Has the UN (Useless Nations) ever come up with a definition of what a Dictator is?
#6
Hmm, where to start? Start by disbanding, but failing that - Stop raping kids, stop stealing money, stop trying to interfear in America's God given right to defend itself and determine its own destiny, Stop trying to pass off despots, murderers and tyrants as equally legitimate voices in world affairs, Fire Kofi and lock up his kid, give up the tranzi agenda altogether, stop pretending to be the sole arbitor of right and wrong when in fact corruption and graft is the only thing you could teach anyone anything about.
Finally, move that blackhole to Brussels where it will be easier for us to ignore.
#8
You're on the right track there, gromguru. I bet Kofi and the gang are a lot like the Dems these days-they view the failure of their organization to be primarily a marketing problem rather than a core principles problem.
Sit back and enjoy the Kofistone Kops. I need a good comedy right about now.
Zimbabwe's children are paying the price of attempts to punish their government for its human rights violations, the head of UNICEF said Thursday. Zimbabwe suffers the world's fourth-highest HIV infection rate and has seen the sharpest rise in child mortality, yet receives just a fraction of the donor funding lavished on its neighbors, Carol Bellamy told reporters in Johannesburg. Donors are concerned that Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's increasingly autocratic regime would use any assistance for political purposes. "Look for other ways to make your point," Bellamy said. "Don't take it out on the world's children."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/17/2005 2:32:19 PM ||
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I thought the subject was Zimbabwe's children. Instead of accusing the world of taking it out "on the world's children," perhaps bureaucrat Carol Bellamy could direct some sharper criticism toward Zimbabwe and Mugabe.
She blames the world, but the article goes on to say:
"Earlier this week, the London-based rights group Amnesty International said the state-run Grain Marketing Board continues to manipulate the distribution of food aid, denying opposition supporters access to corn, the staple for most Zimbabweans, in the run-up to March 31 parliamentary elections."
Perhaps she missed that while busy "on her final African tour as UNICEF's executive director."
Good riddance, Carol Bellamy.
Posted by: Tom ||
03/17/2005 15:15 Comments ||
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But Tom, Its so hard to keep track of these things between all those 5-star lunch courses - not to mention the dinners and after dinner drinks! What's a girl to do?
Besides there weren't any starving people in the hotel bar..... I looked!
Posted by: Carol Bellamy ||
03/17/2005 15:40 Comments ||
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Go tell it to Kofi -- I've got three kids to feed.
Posted by: Tom ||
03/17/2005 15:44 Comments ||
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Oh, I'm sure the UN can think of some way these kids can make a buck or two.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- It isn't often that a group of college professors is soundly and thoroughly embarrassed by a collection of mere students in an intellectual arena. But that's exactly what happened at the end of February, when the University of Alabama's Student Senate passed a sharp resolution directly opposing a heavy-handed, short-sighted and illiberal "hate speech" resolution that their Faculty Senate had already passed. The Faculty Senate's original resolution called for the creation of a series of new regulations which threatened to drastically curtail First Amendment rights at their public university. With their remarkably independent and sophisticated response, UA's students have schooled their teachers with a much-needed lesson in the fundamentals of a free and open society.
The Faculty Senate's original "hate speech" resolution came down after an incident that smacks of tired familiarity to any casual observer of campus political correctness. UA hired a comedian who came and made some offensive remarks to a gay student. Like clockwork, with factory-produced fervor and indignation, the college administration put out a statement condemning this "shameful incident" of "bigotry and malicious aggression" which was a "personal attack" on a student. Everyone sat around rubbing their temples, bemoaning oppression and intolerance for a few days, until some towering, renaissance-minded enthusiasts were struck with the brilliant and novel idea to finally put an end to hate speech, once and for all. It just can't help but make your heart warm.
Unconscious or uncaring of their striking similarity to all the other would-be censors across time and space, UA's gallant Faculty Senators donned their white armor and rode to the rescue under the cliched but still impressive banners of "diversity," "respect," and "civility." Holding up their resolution like a lonely beacon of light in the ignorant darkness of America -- make that the American South -- they wrote: "It is never appropriate to demean or reduce an individual based on group affiliation or personal characteristics... The University of Alabama has a duty reflected both in law and in standards of civility to control behavior which demeans or reduces an individual based on group affiliation or personal characteristics, or which promotes hate or discrimination, in all formal programs and activities."
Now, it's not clear whether they stopped to ponder the fact that Christians and conservatives happen to be individuals with group affiliations and personal characteristics that have historically made for some pretty good satire. Nor has it been reported whether or not whatever was left of the faculty's liberal souls shriveled up and died immediately upon seeing themselves approve the words "control behavior" and "standards of civility" in the same sentence, advocating censorship of words and ideas.
But imagine the professors' shock and inner turmoil when they received an open letter from a civil liberties watchdog group, with Stanford and Harvard law credentials, accusing them of trampling on the First Amendment. The letter, from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, stated: "The United States Supreme Court has consistently held that empowering public officials to ban speech based on its content will naturally result in the silencing of dissenting viewpoints." The letter also demonstrated that the spirit of the "vague and dangerously overbroad restriction" proposed by the Faculty Senate clearly served to undermine the values of free inquiry and open discussion that are at the heart of any healthy university.
Picking up on FIRE's message, the members of UA's Student Senate laid out their obvious case. First, they argued, "The right to free speech is an inalienable human and civil right that is protected by the United States Constitution and the Constitution of Alabama." They continued, "Free speech is absolutely vital to the mission of any university, where new and often controversial ideas must be discussed openly and rationally in order to make advances in knowledge." And as they also pointed out, "Speech codes have been used by other colleges and universities to silence dissenting speech, not merely so-called 'hate speech,' and to persecute those with unpopular opinions." Finally, they used a Thomas Jefferson quote to demand that UA should explicitly protect, not reject, the individual rights of free expression that the First Amendment guarantees.
This clash of paradigms between UA's students and faculty is a sign of the times in academia, where the left has become the establishment, embracing the very tools of censorship and repression that 1960s radicals fought so bravely against. It's also deeply instructive of how the left's corrupting power on college campuses has tempted many leftists to become thoroughly illiberal, landing them on the wrong side of the divide between liberty and authority. Our community should pay close attention, as we continue to debate the proper way to combat ignorance and hate here at our own University. We're confronted with a choice between prudish censorship on the one hand, and free and open debate on the other. If our Student Council had half the maturity, backbone and insight of UA's Student Senate, we might already have made our decision clear.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/17/2005 9:54:12 AM ||
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very tools of censorship and repression that 1960s radicals fought so bravely against
Bravely like facing death if caught? The people of Iran or Lebanon can be told about fighting bravenly NOT the daddy-boys of American Universities.
#2
"A university is a community where people make a living by taking in each other's brain washing". I don't know who said that but it does seem appropo.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/17/2005 14:56 Comments ||
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Birds of a feather.... I should save the article and edit it down to the LLL cliches for future insertion into Rantburg (sarcastic) comments.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/17/2005 10:03 Comments ||
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The Colorado Board of Regents, or their equivalent, may soon be compelled to bring in a hatchet man President, who will slash-and-burn through several departments, and totally reform both their hiring and tenure policies. This would not be the first time it was needed. Even going back to the 1920s, when communists tried to set up cells among several university faculties. The trouble is that they cannot keep their mouths shut, and too overtly make trouble. Then they invariably snivel when they are purged for agitating instead of teaching. The new UofC President will have to have the cojones and support to both fire all of these critters by the numbers, then fight every one of them when they sue.
Militiamen grilled bodies on a spit and boiled two girls alive as their mother watched, U.N. peacekeepers charged Wednesday, adding cannibalism to a list of atrocities allegedly carried out by one of the tribal groups fighting in northeast Congo. The commander of U.N. forces in Congo, Gen. Patrick Cammaert, presented a report on abuses allegedly committed by the Patriotic Resistance Front of Ituri. "Those responsible for atrocities will be brought to justice," Cammaert said.
And you have the word of a UN official on that.
Peacekeepers have also begun working to cut off weapons supplies to the group, which apparently entered the country from neighboring Uganda, he said. Members of the group were suspected of killing nine U.N. peacekeepers in a Feb. 25 ambush. On March 1, gunmen fired on Pakistani peacekeepers and the peacekeepers fought back, killing up to 60 fighters, U.N. officials said at the time.
The fighting there [in Congo] is killing thousands every month and has made it the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, U.N. humanitarian chief Jan Egeland said in Geneva on Wednesday. The allegations of cannibalism in the U.N. report were from a summary of testimony from witnesses gathered over a year from hundreds of people who had been kidnapped by militias in the region. The report said that some victims were killed by torture and decapitation. Those not killed were held in labor camps and forced to work as fishermen, porters, domestic workers and sex slaves. "Several witnesses reported cases of mutilation followed by death or decapitation," the report said.
The U.N. report included an account from Zainabo Alfani in which she said she was forced to watch rebels kill and eat two of her children in June 2003. The report said, "In one corner, there was already cooked flesh from bodies and two bodies being grilled on a barbecue and, at the same time, they prepared her two little girls, putting them alive in two big pots filled with boiling water and oil." Her youngest child was saved, apparently because at six months old it didn't have much flesh. Alfani said she was gang-raped by the rebels and mutilated. She survived to tell her horror story, but died in the hospital on Sunday of AIDS contracted during her torture two years earlier, the U.N. report said. The mother gave her account in February, but the U.N. waited to publish them until after her death for fear she would become a target for reprisal.
The UN, of course, couldn't protect her.
The new International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, said this week that its first cases will deal with war crimes committed in eastern Congo.
"Bring in Carla del Ponte!"
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
03/17/2005 12:35:43 AM ||
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Militiamen grilled bodies on a spit and boiled two girls alive as their mother watched, U.N. peacekeepers charged Wednesday, adding cannibalism to a list of atrocities allegedly carried out by one of the tribal groups fighting in northeast Congo.
If its possible to go lower than this, I don't want to know about it.
#3
Now, now, now. We have to respect their cultural differences. It's not like they're fundamentalist Christians or Republicans or something really bad.
[sigh] I don't really see what can be done about this. Sure, we can go in and kill some of them, but unless we stay, new ones will show up and do the same thing.
I suppose we could go in there permanently, but our military is kind of busy right now (and I hope will become more so soon). Simply occupying the country wouldn't be adequate, anyway. We'd have to change their culture, perhaps convert them to Christianity, probably at gunpoint. I can imagine what the radical left would think of that. It would take at least a generation, probably 2 or 3, to civilize that place. That's a real long-term commitment, and I can't see our populace supporting that for that long.
Needless to say, the UN would be of no help. Even with their child-rapists peacekeepers, they have no support for a mission of actually forcibly changing a culture.
#5
The new International Court of inJustice in The Hague, Netherlands, said this week that its first cases will deal with war crimes committed in eastern Congo.
Lip service to procecuting cannibals...
Sexual arousal about procecuting US Soldiers who gave some Foreign Terrorists in Iraq a "Victoria's Secret Hat" in prison...
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.
Margaret Thatcher made a rare public address Thursday, appearing frail and slightly confused as she reopened a local branch of the political party she once led. The 79-year-old former prime minister, who has had a series of small strokes, had to be prompted several times during a brief speech at the Conservative Party offices in the London suburb of Romford. "I'm delighted to be here, the sun is shining above us, I hope it will continue that way until we have a splendid victory in the election, for the future," Lady Thatcher told supporters of the Conservative Party, which has been in opposition since 1997. A national election is widely expected in May. "Thank you very much for turning out. It's lovely to see such a good crowd supporting your candidate," she said, standing at the front of the refurbished Romford Conservative Association headquarters with former Cabinet colleague Lord Tebbit at her side. She paused for several seconds until local lawmaker Andrew Rosindell gave her a prompt with her next words. She continued, but seemed uncertain the building was a Conservative headquarters. Rosindell then prompted her again. Onlookers cheered as she unveiled a plaque commemorating the event. 
Bangladesh Prime Minister 
At least 30 people were killed when a double-decker bus exploded in eastern Jiangxi province, state press reported. The long-distance bus was travelling from southern Shenzhen city near Hong Kong to eastern Zhejiang province when the blast occurred at about 4:00 am Thursday, Xinhua news agency said. "Police said that the exact death toll is hard to tell now, as victims were exploded into pieces," the report said. The blast occurred near Shangrao city, with several buildings around the site also damaged and locals injured, the report said. It was not immediately clear what caused the blast. 
The European Commission launched a blitz against costly red tape yesterday, admitting that 900 draft laws in the pipeline have never been subjected to a cost-benefit analysis despite their far-reaching effects on business. Gunter Verheugen, the enterprise and industry commissioner, said the EU was now seen as a "bureaucratic monster" responsible for an avalanche of costly rules that were smothering enterprise. He cited a draft EU law regulating the size of coffee and chicory packs as the ultimate idiocy and questioned whether the EU really needed "58 directives on tractors...".
The 2004 presidential election may be in the history books, but the left-wing protests and incendiary rhetoric that targeted President Bush in last year's campaign have not died away. As attacks on the administration's policies continue, so does scrutiny of the finances of such groups, which some say pose significant questions as to whether their activities comply with tax law.
AIM leader claims Churchill once left threatening answering machine message
March 17, 2005 -- CAMPAIGN-FINANCE reform has been an immense scam perpetrated on the American people by a cadre of left-wing foundations and disguised as a "mass movement." But don't take my word for it. One of the chief scammers, 
He was wounded, outnumbered and at a strategic disadvantage but never left his men. On Wednesday morning, that brave Marine was laid to rest at the Texas State Cemetery.
Zimbabwe's children are paying the price of attempts to punish their government for its human rights violations, the head of UNICEF said Thursday. Zimbabwe suffers the world's fourth-highest HIV infection rate and has seen the sharpest rise in child mortality, yet receives just a fraction of the donor funding lavished on its neighbors, Carol Bellamy told reporters in Johannesburg. Donors are concerned that Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's increasingly autocratic regime would use any assistance for political purposes. "Look for other ways to make your point," Bellamy said. "Don't take it out on the world's children."
Militiamen grilled bodies on a spit and boiled two girls alive as their mother watched, U.N. peacekeepers charged Wednesday, adding cannibalism to a list of atrocities allegedly carried out by one of the tribal groups fighting in northeast Congo. The commander of U.N. forces in Congo, Gen. Patrick Cammaert, presented a report on abuses allegedly committed by the Patriotic Resistance Front of Ituri. "Those responsible for atrocities will be brought to justice," Cammaert said.
