Sorry, someone will have to translate. My latin is weak.
On a more serious front, I sincerely hope that when the president goes in for his annual check-up, the doctors at Bethesda will do a brain scan. Surely something must be terribly wrong with a man who seems to be far more concerned with a Jew building a house in Israel than with Muslims building a nuclear bomb in Iran.
#3
The brain is almost certainly fine- it is what is IN IT that is the problem... that doesn't show up on an MRI- what instrument do they use again to check for a problem with one's psyche?
NEW YORK -- Denying that it had anything to do with a dustup over a reported inter-network feud with Donnie Deutsch, an MSNBC News spokesman today said that 'Countdown' host Keith Olbermann will miss two episodes of the nightly program due to a "routine colonoscopy."
"We apologized to the dozens of Keith's fans and viewers who are disappointed," said the spokesman.
The timing of the announcement prompted speculation among media and medical analysts.
"In Keith Olbermann's case, I'm just not sure how routine a colonoscopy could be," said Dr. Steven Silverberg, a health analyst for Iowahawk News. "The real challenge for the proctologist will be to determine where the asshole stops and the Olbermann begins."
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/27/2010 19:17 Comments ||
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Shoot him?
Microsoft founder Bill Gates expressed opposition to helping North Korea from the new G20 Global Agriculture and Food Security Program, to which his foundation is a major donor, saying Thursday he is unsure if the North is capable of coming up with a trustworthy farm development program and adequately manage an outside aid fund.
Oooooh, that was a delicious statement. In one sentence: unsure, capable, trustworthy, and adequately manage. The man wields scalpels with his tongue.
The program was established to help solve food problems of developing countries with US$880 million contributed by the G20 countries including South Korea, the U.S. and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il was reported to have said earlier this year, "What I must do now is to feed the people with rice and let them eat their fill of bread and noodles." As this "confession" implies, North Korea's food shortage this year seems very serious. Seoul estimates the shortage at over 1.2 million tons, equivalent to the food needed by entire population for three months.
But the North is ill prepared to cope with the food problem by itself. Food aid from the South and the international community has all but stopped, and the North's domestic grain market is dead as a result of the botched currency reform. Human rights activists say that in Sinuiju alone, more than 300 people have starved to death so far this year, and that even in high-rise apartments in Pyongyang, scores of the old and the weak starve to death every day. A report that the regime distributed rice reserved for the military, something it did not even do during the famine of the 1990s which claimed more than a million lives, indicates how dire the food shortage is.
Even while thousands of people are unable to bear the hardship any longer and escape the North risking their lives each year, Kim Jong-il spent US$54 million on fireworks to celebrate the birthday of his late father. The sum is enough to buy some 9,000 tons of rice. Kim spent some $700 million last year firing missiles and a nuclear device, enough to purchase over 2 million tons of corns. This is the reality of the so-called Democratic People's Republic of Korea: a system of repression in which the people are alienated from the regime.
On Friday, the North confiscated South Korean government and public enterprises' real estate in the Mt. Kumgang resort, including a multi-billion won meeting center for families divided by the Korean War. But the harder the North Korean line against the South, the weaker South Korean compassion will become. The opposition Democratic Party submitted to the National Assembly in September last year a draft resolution calling on the government to provide rice aid to the North but has now been obliged to consent to the Foreign Affair Committee withdrawing the draft on Thursday, on the eve of the confiscation.
It is a high time the government and the international community seriously considered a new combination of pressure and reward to prevent Kim Jong-il from starving his own people to death.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/27/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
A report that the regime distributed rice reserved for the military, something it did not even do during the famine of the 1990s which claimed more than a million lives, indicates how dire the food shortage is.
That's a...strange interpretation. "Army first" is why the people starved so badly in the 90s. Taking from military food stores and giving to the people indicates the opposite. Well, the "narrative" is already written so the facts must be molded to fit.
#3
Until they rise up and depose that little troll I have limited sympathy for them.
We should help those who help themselves. If you're going to sit in your house and starve to death with your whole family, I can't do a thing for you.
Having said that, it is a human rights travesty to starve an entire nation while kimmie drinks Hennessey VSOP from his favorite Waterford crystal.
#7
Re make the "Liberator" pistol we dropped behind enemy lines in WW2 Parachute it and a case of MREs strapped together and watch Kimmie swing from a nearby tree, balcony, or flee for his life, I'm convinced this latest China trip was seeking asylum WHEN (Not IF) he flees
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/27/2010 15:03 Comments ||
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President Lee Myung-bak will meet with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao in Shanghai on Friday. Last Saturday, a day before the summit was announced, the military pulled the bow of the sunken Navy corvette Cheonan out of the West Sea and brought it to the Second Navy Fleet Command in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. The stern of the vessel had been recovered on April 15. The investigation team said on Sunday that based on a visual scan of the wreckage, a "non-contact external explosion," rather than a direct hit, was the most likely cause behind the mysterious sinking. The team added that the explosion could have resulted from either a torpedo or a mine.
The West Sea is traversed by South Korean, North Korean and Chinese ships and the waters where the disaster occurred are frequented only by ships based either in the North or South. That means if the Cheonan was sunk by a torpedo or a mine, the identity of the culprit is clear as day. All the investigation team has to do in that case is to find evidence to prove the suspicion based on scientific analysis that the world can accept without question.
The government's work starts from there. It must first make sure that the state funeral for the fallen sailors is observed by the entire public so that their sacrifices will not be forgotten. The second task is to use all available resources to punish those responsible for the blast that took the lives of dozens of South Korean sailors.
This is where the South Korea-China summit on Friday has a part to play. Hwang Jang-yop, the highest-ranking defector from the North who knows a lot about North Korea-China relations, said recently that Beijing "should be made to participate in the investigation of the Cheonan's sinking to show Beijing the extent of North Korea's actions and give the Chinese government a reason to support or oppose the North." China's participation is necessary to ensure the objectivity of the investigation and to pave the way for punitive measures against the culprit.
North Korea relies on China for more than 80 percent of its energy, food and other strategic goods, as well as its trade with other countries. As a result, lack of cooperation from Beijing would make any sanctions against North Korea ineffective. A veto by China, which is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, would disable any sanctions the international body can throw at North Korea.
China had been oddly silent about the sinking of the Cheonan until last Thursday, when a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson responded to a reporter's question about the sinking merely that it was an "unfortunate incident." But a torpedo or mine attack against the Cheonan would inevitably have an impact on China. A large portion of China's exports and imports pass through the West Sea, and the safety of that maritime route had a direct influence in China's emergence as a global superpower. If a new type of terrorism, like the one that sunk the Cheonan, threatens global trade routes, the Chinese and U.S. economies would be the ones suffering the most.
Lee must explain these factors to Hu during their meeting and convince China to take an objective stance befitting its international status over the sinking of the Cheonan, so that the safety on the world's maritime routes can be guaranteed. All South Koreans will keep an eye on the summit, and the way they judge China's response will affect relations between the two nations for 100 years.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/27/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Did the Norks use kamikaze torpedoes?
Where did the equipment to do this come from? Seems to me they don't even have the equipment to grow food, let alone subs or torpedoes.
#2
Why would they not be able to build torpedoes just because they're starving some of their people to death? They've been starving their people for the last twenty years, and it hasn't stopped their party and government from building what it wants.
(I remember having arguments with people _years_ ago, about how they weren't gonna be able to build a bomb for the same reason).
#3
The Chinese don't need anything explained to them. They need to feel the impact of action. Until we are prepared to act, we should not expect China to change.
#6
Some day (perhaps) historians will look back at how the relatively prosperous West and democratically free asians let communism make life miserable for people in NKOR, Cuba and other little museums of the defunct horror, and they'll ask "Why?"
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/27/2010 9:40 Comments ||
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#7
FREEREPUBLIC > CHINA ASSERTS ITS NAVAL AMBITIONS - CHINA WILL TAKE HAWAII WEST AND THE INDIAN OCEAN.
#8
WMF > SOUTH KOREA SUSPECTS NORTH KOREA USED A POWERFUL CHINESE-MADE "YU-3G" PASSIVE SOUND-DIRECTED/HOMING TORPEDO TO SINK THE CHEONAN.
* SAME > ZHAOSHI ZHANG: ACTION OF CHINA'S OKINAWA/MIYAKO NAVAL FLEET WAS INTENDED AS A SUBTLE BUT DIRECT WARNING TO US, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND TAIWAN. CHINA'S WILLINGNESS TO USE OVERT MILITARY FORCE REGARDLESS OF CASUALTIES TO FORCIBLY RECOVER THE DAOYU ISLANDS, TAIWAN, AND OKINAWA TO BREAK THE FIRST ISLAND CHAIN BARRIER. VULNERABILITY OF TAIWAN'S EASTERN DEFENSES AGZ CHINA.
#9
BHARAT RAKSHAK/TOPIX > NORTH KOREA READIES THIRD NUCLEAR TEST.
SOUTH KOREA, etc. per se may not want war, BUT DOES NORTH KOREA? The DPRK's new agreement wid BEIJING = CHINA to set up various SEZ = FREEPORTS throughout NOKOR is likely to further entrench Chin influence-domin of the DPRK, NOT reduce it.
Again, this above latter is contrary to the promise of NOKOR Commies [Kim Il-Sung] to bring out absolute NOKOR + PAN-KOREAN FREEDOMS, SOVEREIGNTY + INDEPENDENCE FROM ANYONE INCLUD BOTH CHINA + SO-CALLED "WHITE DEVILS".
"RISING CHINA" > may result in a RE-ARMED/MIL JAPAN, espec a NUCLEAR JAPAN, NOT A "WEAK JAPAN".
IOW, "KOREA FOR KOREANS" = in reality is SOUTH KOREA ONLY, as the last SOLE SOVEREIGN remnant of the ancient KORYE/CORYE/COREA KINGDOMS???
I'm a crook, and I'm glad to admit it. Back when GM was trading in the 20's I decided to sell the company short. Way short. In fact I didn't cover my short until GM's price reached a bankruptcy teetering $3 a share. The reasons were endless...of course. But the crux of my decision was based on the very same observation Goldman Sachs had with American's sub-prime mortgages...the books were essentially cooked.
I saw how crappy Aveo's, Cobalt's and Ion's were once they came to the auctions and how little they sold for. I ran my fingers through the misaligned panels of $40,000 Corvettes and Cadillacs. I even studied GM's future pension obligations and could only conclude that a low margin company with millions of sub-standard vehicles and hundreds of billions in obligations would go right down the Chapter 11 tubes. Did I warn anyone? Yes, my wife's Grandma who eventually took a six figure bath with her 'safe' GM Bonds.
Well let's face it. Am I a villain for simply betting the right away? For betting against America' even though my upbringing left me little in the ways of GM's country club cronyism? How about Goldman Sachs? Should the folks there be allowed to profit and congratulate each other for the collective stupidity of their competitors AND some holier than thou Americans? I think so.
I think we both just happened to have done our due diligence and bet right. To be frank, if the politicians du jour think that they are entitled to reform' our way of thinking they better think twice. Why? Because you can't reform any company or industry (or country) by eliminating the opportunity to criticize their decisions by selling it short. If there are systemic risks out there, a short gives opportunity to give those things the notice and attention they deserve. Whether the powers that be listen in the end is not up to any of us. But as in investor, you have the right to put your money in whatever you wish....
Posted by: Mike ||
04/27/2010 12:47 ||
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#1
I contend there is a difference between betting right based on the same information and influence as everyone else, and 'betting' right based on privelaged information and influence. When we buy a used car we assume we are being lied to by the seller; we have not previously been advised to make the same assumption about securities purchases.
#2
Funny that every time I hear about some really questionable financial transactions from sub-prime mortgage backed securities to the Greek crisis, Goldman Sachs is involved. The only organization that's dodgier is the one that was grilling Goldman Sachs execs on C-Span today.
#3
All investments without exception are bets on someone failing in some way and to some extent.
If you bought GM stock you would be betting on the Japanese manufacturers failing to capitalise on their superior technology and manufacturing techniques.
Otherwise, this is just another aspect of banks trading on their own account, which is the real problem.
#4
The author's correct. The scandal about Gov't Sachs isn't that they bet against the US mortgage market-- they were absolutely right to do so-- or even, for that matter, that they screwed Wall Street and institutional clients. Those are big boys and the financial markets have no room for tears. What's profoundly disturbing is that
a) when GS bet wrong with its own book, as it did with AIG FP, our politicos bailed out Government Sachs to the tune of $13 BILLION, and
b) our idiot pols created the housing bubble in the first place by encouraging 70% home ownership in a nation where a majority has negative net worth and credit scores below 600.
#1
"ThAnyone knows the sine should say "Save yur teechers."
In Massachusetts, teachers were telling kids that they would lose their homes if they did not get more money. "The sky is falling" education hucksters.Wouldn't you guess Massachusetts (or California)?
Teachers have no business organizing kids to promote their personal agendas (pay raises for themselves). Lot of that going on in public institutions. Congress has set the example.
I believe such actions should be grounds for dismissal.
#2
Really, I'd propose that being paid by government is de-facto union and that having a union under that union is an umbrella to justify higher wages but also to push political ideas using mandatory government services. "Ah, ya don't like to politics of the TU...shame if something happens yur kids grades." I think everyone who has been through public school has come across teachers who everyone knows (somethimes even that teacher - had a Spanish teacher whose parent donated big money for the school library, she showed up to teach like it was just some hassle until her next trip to Mexico or other Spanish speaking paradise cove..for cultural studies of course of course, business trip and all that) would be gone except for tenure.
There is just something uneasy about police or firefighters having an official position on political matters (explaining policy not setting policy), or really any organization which collects public funds. Tricky to sort out details on that, just a random thought from a few nights ago.
#3
"Fortunately, she is retiring" > wehell, in this part of the WOT known as WAR FOR "JUSTIFIED" PRO-US-VS-ANTI-US OWG-NWO includ "justified" Commie-Soc World Order [CWO-SWO], "US-GLOBAL RECESSION/DEPRESSION" = YOUR RETIREMENT PENSIONS + SOC SECUR, ETC. MAY NOT BE SAFE.
COLD WAR SOVIET, COMMIE BLOC "REGRESSIONISMS" GOES "GLOBAL/UNIVERSAL".
Iff she is lucky, she'll get a couple or few years to visit FLORIDA or other favorite retirmement places before going back to FT work AMAP ASAP until the day she dies.
* WARD BOND in "THE SEARCHERS" > "OUR, OUR, A-R-R-R, OURS"!
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.
