Fred Hale Sr, an American documented as the world's oldest man, has died in New York State. He was 113 years old and had lived up to name. At age 95 Hale even gave boogie-boarding a try, while flying home from Japan where he had visited a grandson who was in the Navy. At 103, Hale was still living on his own and shovelling the snow off his rooftop. Hale died in his sleep at The Nottingham in suburban Syracuse, while trying to recover from a bout of pneumonia, said his grandson, Fred Hale III. He was 12 days shy of his 114th birthday.
Born on December 1, 1890, Hale last month watched his lifelong favourite baseball team, the Boston Red Sox, win the World Series again after 86 years. Hale retired 50 years ago as a railroad postal worker and beekeeper, his grandson said. He enjoyed gardening, canning fruits and vegetables and making homemade applesauce. He had a routine and he rarely broke it because anyone else was around," Hale III told The Post-Standard of Syracuse. "He didn't need a lot to be happy." Born in New Sharon, Maine, when there were only 43 stars on the American flag, Hale married Flora Mooers in 1910. Hale lived in his native Maine until he was 109,when he moved to the Syracuse area to be near his son, Fred Jr, now 82.
On March 5, 2004, the Guinness World Records acknowledged him as the oldest living man when Joan Riudavets Moll, of Spain, died at age 114. Hale was also a Guinness record-holder for the oldest driver. At 108, he had still found slow drivers annoying, Fred Hale III said. Hale outlived his wife, who died in 1979, and three of his five children. He had nine grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and 11 great-great-grandchildren.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/20/2004 5:07:09 AM ||
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#1
At 103, Hale was still living on his own and shovelling the snow off his rooftop.
My granddad died falling off the roof while helping re-shingle with 20 year material. He was ever (seriously) an optimist. Showed me how to do a hook slide when he was about 85. A man with the proper priorities.
#2
My Great Granddad lived to 115,out lived 4 wives and had a 5th when he died.At 102 he built an addition to his house.At 93 his wife gave birth to a son.
Peru will not abide by an international human rights court ruling supporting the release of Lori Berenson, a New York woman imprisoned for collaborating with Marxist guerrillas, the country's foreign minister said, according to news reports Saturday. The Inter-American Human Rights Court, the Costa Rica-based legal arm of the Organization of American States, is scheduled to deliberate Berenson's case Nov. 24-25 to decide whether she received a fair civilian retrial in 2001. Peru is an OAS member. "If this error were made, the Peruvian state, with legal justification, would take the position of not liberating any person accused of terrorism," several newspapers quoted Foreign Minister Manuel Rodriguez saying Friday from Santiago, Chile, where he attended the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. "In no case would any disposition be observed that recommends freedom of people accused of terrorism in Peru."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2004 8:58:57 PM ||
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President Bush, trying to build international pressure on North Korea to return to high-stakes nuclear talks, won support from China on Friday for a tough U.S. approach. ``I believe you can never push too hard for a good purpose,'' said Kong Quan, chief spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry. He said the biggest barrier was ``the extreme, mutual distrust'' between Washington and Pyongyang. No time frame has been set for the resumption of negotiations, Quan said. The United States is pushing for early next year. Bush, who arrived here Friday night, will talk on Saturday with the leaders of China, Japan, South Korea and Russia, his partners in negotiations to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program. After three rounds of inconclusive talks, North Korea refused to attend a scheduled fourth session in September, reportedly because it wanted to see who would win the U.S. presidential election.
Worked well, didn't it?
The North Korea discussions will take place on the sidelines of the annual 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Bush has maintained a no-concessions strategy for the resumption of talks. Bush is looking to his four partners in the talks to reinforce their demand for a nuclear-free peninsula and a resumption of disarmament talks. ``I think our focus again is going to be on convening a new round of six-party talks,'' said McCormack. ``All the five parties are on board with that idea - actively support moving forward.'' He said there was no word from North Korea about returning.
Too busy at the One-Hour Photo trying to get some pics made up of the new leader.
China and South Korea have expressed reservations about the talks or the direction of U.S. foreign policy. While supporting the U.S.-led war on terror, China worries about Washington's heightened presence in Central and South Asia, concerned that it threatens Chinese ambitions to be the region's undisputed military power. South Korea, meanwhile, is intent on continued engagement with the North and is nervous about U.S. pressure on the Pyongyang government. Secretary of State Colin Powell met with his South Korean counterpart, Ban Ki-moon, on the sidelines of the conference, and the two agreed on the importance of persuading North Korea to return to multinational talks on curtailing its nuclear ambitions, a senior U.S. State Department official said. The U.S. goal is to minimize talk of those issues and project a united front on efforts to draw North Korea back to the negotiating table, said a senior White House official, on condition of anonymity. The White House sees the gathering of all four of its partners in one place - especially coming so soon after Bush won re-election - as a key opportunity, the official said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/20/2004 12:13:15 AM ||
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#1
You gotta hand it to the Chinese - they get rewarded for conciliatory language unaccompanied by concrete action, while Uncle Sam gets the shaft.
#6
Well, that would be China's Western regions. The recent altercation between the Han and He people in Henan Province wasn't related to any terror aspect, only social pressure between "different" people.
#7
D'oh! Directionally impaired - too early - thx Gromky
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/20/2004 15:29 Comments ||
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I would think if the Muslims in the west get too frisky, China would have no compunction to squash em like bugs. Iran becoming a nuclear power is no big deal to China. It is the West's and Israel's problem. The Norks getting to frisky, on the other hand, IS China's problem. I think that Kimmie is too much lunatic for even the Chicoms.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/20/2004 15:37 Comments ||
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Introduction With the defeat of the Saddam Hussein regime on April 9, 2003, the Ba'th ruling party was outlawed and a committee for the de-Ba'thification of Iraq was established. However, the Ba'th's propaganda machine appears to have found a new abode in Paris, France, whence threats to the U.S. are issued regularly in three languages - English, French, and Spanish. Not surprisingly, the Ba'thist propagandists use the word "resistance" (in French, "la resistance") to underscore the association with the struggle against the Nazi occupation of France during WWII.
The resurrection of the Ba'th Party on French soil was further strengthened by France's proposal that representatives of "la resistance" should participate in any future conference that will be convened to discuss the future of Iraq. This position was clearly stated by Michel Barnier, the French Foreign Minister, in an interview with the French TV station " France Inter." In the interview, Mr. Barnier called for a political process in Iraq that would include "a number of groups and people who have today opted for the path of resistance through the use of weapons."
The National Council for the Iraqi Resistance
The National Council for the Iraqi Resistance, also referred to as the United Council for the Iraqi Resistance, was born in June 2003, comprising Ba'th activists (referred to as militants), remnants of the Iraqi army and Republican Guard, and what are described as "heroes of the national security apparatus." The membership of the leadership of the Council remains secret, although in an interview with the former Iraqi Vice President, Izzat Ibrahim Al-Duri, he was identified as the leader of the resistance. A press release identifies the forces operating under the umbrella of the Ba'thist Resistance. They include:
- The Ba'thist Socialist Arab Party of Iraq (as a clandestine organization)
- The [Iraqi] "Resistance and Liberation" movement
- The Unified Council of Iraqi Resistance
- Many military forces like the "Fedayyoun of Saddam" and the "Second Army of Mohammad"
Joining them "on the sidelines," according to the news release, are the various "patriotic formations" which include communists and Nasserites.
#1
Thanks for tidying up the link.
At some stage the enmity between France and the US has to come out in the open. French tolerance of "official" Baath presence might just do it.
#3
There are still heirs to the French monarchy alive. Maybe we should start funding 'la resistance' to the illegitimate government in Paris? See how Chirac & Co. likes that.
#6
No. All sorts of creepy crawly nasty spiders, snakes, scorpins etc... should start mysteriously appearing near Chirac's residence. Often enough that the need to station a exterminator on site.
Leading German politicians have said Muslims will have to integrate themselves better if they wish to remain in the country. This coincides with conservatives' calls to emphasize patriotism and Christian values. Speaking at his party's convention in Munich, Bavarian Premier and Christian Social Union (CSU) leader Edmund Stoiber demanded a clear commitment from immigrants to the basic values of German society. "Yes to openness and tolerance, no to Islamist head scarves," Stoiber told delegates, who unanimously voted against a Turkish EU membership and for cutting social welfare benefits for foreigners who are unwilling to integrate. Stoiber, who called on young Germans to reclaim "traditional German values" such as a willingness to perform, discipline, punctuality, a sense of duty and politeness, received backing from several other conservative leaders.
In an interview with German newsmagazine Der Spiegel, Jörg Schönbohm, the interior minister of the eastern German state of Brandenburg, rehashed demands for a so-called German Leitkultur, or leading culture, which had been at the center of a heated debate several years ago. "Anyone who comes here has to accept the German leading culture," said Schönbohm, a member of the CSU's sister party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He added that Germans share a common language, values and laws. "We cannot allow foreigners to destroy this common basis," he said. Conservatives should also pay more attention to patriotism and Christian values to prevent voters from shifting to right-wing extremist parties as happened in recent state elections, he added.
Bavarian Interior Minister GÃŒnther Beckstein agreed with Schönbohm's calls for a leading culture. "Multi-culturalism, as propagated by the red-green (German government) for years, has proven to be illusionary," he said.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder meanwhile also called on Muslims to better integrate themselves in German society. Schröder warned of a "conflict of cultures" and said Muslims "must clearly and without misunderstanding demonstrate that they accept our legal order and democratic rules." He said that the state had to insist on the fact that "our willingness to integrate corresponds to a willingness to be integrated on the part of those who come here." In his speech, to be delivered later on Saturday when Berlin's Jewish museum offers a tolerance prize to former President Johannes Rau, Schröder emphasized the importance for foreigners living in Germany to learn the language. "Without linguistic abilities, no integration and no dialogue can take place," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2004 6:41:56 PM ||
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#1
Yeah, good luck. Let us know if you get anywhere with this.
Posted by: Rafael ||
11/20/2004 19:25 Comments ||
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#2
it's a start...someone woke up...
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/20/2004 19:27 Comments ||
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#3
and are expected to work under a UN mandate At first I thought this meant the troops would be under UN control and then I realized it means exactly opposite and they most definitely will not be under UN control.
BTW, the above quote get my nomination for the most misleadingly vacuous thing said by a Journalist today.
The groups are set to be operational by 2007 and are expected to work under a UN mandate. The EU council of ministers would have to agree unanimously before any deployment takes place.
The only thing missing is "during a blue moon on the second Tuesday, in a month without an 'R' in it, in a year divisible by five".
#10
apparently African civilians - see the other post
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/20/2004 19:25 Comments ||
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11 combat groups of 1500 men=@22 battalions. In 3 yrs. Europe hopes to have 22 batts ready for deployment. United States Marine Corps alone has 24 inf. battalions ready for deployment w/integrated armor,artillery,recon and aviation assets. I'd say Europe has a way to go.
Posted by: Stephen ||
11/20/2004 19:57 Comments ||
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Shake in your sandals, African civilians! Quake in your Tony Lama snakeskin boots, simplisme fascist maniac cowboy imperialist Americans! Fear the limitless power of the mighty European unified armycorpsdivisionbrigadebattalioncompany platoon!
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
11/20/2004 20:30 Comments ||
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#13
But why is this necessary? I thought resolutions and inspectors would take care of everything.
Let me guess, will the common language for command of this Power of Babel be French?
Posted by: Tom ||
11/20/2004 20:47 Comments ||
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#14
Aris, if you hurry, you can get out of the army before Greece deploys to Ivory Coast.
Posted by: Tom ||
11/20/2004 20:48 Comments ||
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#15
For some reason, Schwarzenegger's "girlie men" remark comes to mind.
Posted by: Rafael ||
11/20/2004 21:22 Comments ||
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The EU council of ministers would have to agree unanimously before any deployment takes place.
Between the UN needing to request these troops and all of the ministers having to agree to send them, these soldiers will have a great job. They'll never be deployed.
JACQUES Chirac, the French president, yesterday undermined a show of Anglo-French unity by criticising the US-led drive to spread democracy.
"The natives aren't advanced enough to be able to understand democracy!"
Mr Chirac's warning about the dangers of advancing western values came days after Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, went to Washington and declared himself a whole-hearted devotee of democratising the world.
That kinda lays out two opposing sides, then. The Frenchies never have done really well with the concept of democracy and individual rights, though. "Liberty, equality, fraternity" somehow led to the guillotine and then to His Imperial Highness...
At a press conference yesterday, Mr Blair and Mr Chirac attempted to gloss over their differences over Iraq at the start of the French leader's two-day visit to Britain. But in a lecture afterwards, Mr Chirac openly questioned Mr Blair's belief that the spread of western values will reinforce western security. "We must avoid any confusion between democratisation and westernisation," Mr Chirac said. "The peoples submitted to the West's domination in the past have not forgotten and are quick to see a resurgence of imperialism and colonialism in our actions." I wonder if the people of the Ivory Coast are aware of this? Phoney two-faced frog of the year award!
Recent actions suggest the Ivorians are fully aware ...
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/20/2004 5:56:18 AM ||
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#1
If democracy's good enough for the French, why isn't it good enough for anyone else? Methinks France should lead its anti-Democratic crusade by example. Just trying to hold the reins of the EU is a good start, but I'd prefer to see Emperor Chirac declaring himself ruler for life.
In Chirac's own favourite turn of phrase (used to berate barely-tolerated inferiors): he's just missed another good opportunity to keep quiet.
And is an impotent man really capable of an "onslaught"?
#2
Chirac should be glad to openly lead the way for Eurabia if he and Froglang gain enough from it. Well, I'm not a westerner and that nut thinks that only westerner are capable of imperialism and colonialism? He is indeed the enemy of the US, for example.
Posted by: Wo ||
11/20/2004 7:06 Comments ||
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#3
heh, heh, if you ask me, the heat from the UN scandal has cooked his brain.
This sudden dire warning of western values makes me thinks he's fully aware that he will be exposed for bribery, graft and sell out to the Islamists. In the past he's kept his grip on power with the money and support of bloody handed, murderous, thugs. Take note of this speech - it's his announcement that he has no intention of going quietly into the western night. Wow! These are interesting times.
#4
Agree with you 2b, chirac is on the one hand becoming more strident to deflect attention from his personal roles in subterfuge, and on the other, he's politicing his way to the titular head of the regressive movement. Saddam was funding the pro/regressives for the last 15 years, chirac is trying to take the lead, he's now got access to arafats money.....making him feel invincible. chirac is truly one of the worlds most dangerous men.
#6
The French must be experiencing those brief, cold, momements of realization that their leader is a dangerous, dangerous, threat. Survival is, afterall the greatest instinct - even greater than herding. Must be kinda like the Germans in the 1930's...that slow muddled picture that suddenly bursts into focus.
#9
remember that once out of poltical office he faces criminal corruption and bribery charges - sez all it needs to, non?
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/20/2004 9:45 Comments ||
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#10
Mrs D, if the grandchild is a mossie it looks like the grand father will officially follow but he wants maximum gain first.
2b, that nut is pompous and egoistic besides being dangerous. He typifies much of what's wrong with European leadership. Vain, envious and depleted by the socialist torpor from within their leftist rut. The Frogs weren't as good colonialist as the Brits. They were far too mean by comparision.
Posted by: Wo ||
11/20/2004 9:50 Comments ||
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#11
So, is he basically saying that the stooopid little brown people of the world can't understand democracy?
Guess that explains why he's backing rebels in the Ivory Coast against the democratically elected government.
#12
 If democracy's good enough for the French, ...
Sorry, Bulldog, but you went wrong starting from the first part of your paragraph. :-)
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/20/2004 12:42 Comments ||
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#13
When does Chirac's plane leave Britain? Can we stage a little "accident"? I think a nice "terrorist training mission" gone wrong, and shoot down his aircraft. After France recovers from the shock, and hears all about their "vaunted" premier, they may even try to thank someone. Of course, no WESTERN nation had anything to do with it... Right? I think the Chinese, or even some of the new republics in Central Asia, could "arrange" this, with a little bit of quiet financial aid...
Chirac is a menace to Europe, and to world peace. The sooner he goes into the ground, the better for everyone. He thinks he's the new DeGaulle, with the bitterness and envy, but without the political experience or intelligence.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/20/2004 13:25 Comments ||
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" #9 remember that once out of poltical office he faces criminal corruption and bribery charges - sez all it needs to, non? "
#15
Any one from any opposition party in France. Much of Chirac's bluster is for home consumption. His party is not popular and he isn't that much either. The only reason he was elected was le Pen.
#18
It's not too good, but since he is in a state with multiple parties you have to take that into account. Rooters has a October poll giving him a 41% approval rating. That has declined as fuel and heating prices have trended upwards. He is hardly loved by the left in France. Remember Chriac is in center right in France. France is mostly left of center.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/20/2004 15:04 Comments ||
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#23
Desperation. ChIrak's freaking because he knows we and Bush are resurgent, the Iraqi elections will go forward as planned, and most of our troops will be out of Iraq in two years when Sarkozy gears up to challenge him from the right.
And then there are two financial disasters in the making: the strong dollar that is strangling France's export sector, and the OFF investigation that will expose Jacky's most lucrative scam ever.
aux barricades, mes amis
#24
#16, Mrs. Davis, I know it's an understandable slip, but I like it! "Skorzeny" for Sarkozy. Well, I think Hitler's favorite commando might appeal to Le Grande Jacques, but he'll have to make do without him.
Lex and others, I've been thinking/hoping the same thing myself: the notable absence of groveling and contrition by France after the humiliation of the global press and clueless elites, er, I mean Dubya's re-election, may well be due to desperation. Chiraq knows the US won't fail spectacularly or pull back on Iraq (he is one who has never misunderestimated Dubya), also that the US won't cede the initiative anywhere in the global war, and that the OFF scandal may contain bombshells so huge even a complicit "press" won't be able to muffle them.
Come to think of it, the MSM hasn't shown the slightest acknowledgement of their obliteration in the elections either. Perhaps it's the MSM, Chiraq, and the former Iraqi info minister, all going down without blinking an eye or ceasing their confident delusional flapdoodle .... inshallah.
#25
i meant the weak dollar that's strangling France's exports. EU Central Bank Chairman Trichet, hand-picked by France, describes the weak dollar as "brutal." ...also as in et tu, brute
More than 25,000 goofsrubesfoolssimple-minded rusticsidiotsanarchists protesters marched through downtown Santiago on Friday, demonstrating against common senseDaddy's money an economic summit of Pacific Rim leaders, the attendance of President Bush and the U.S.-led war in Iraq. Protests elsewhere turned violent and dozens were arrested. The march opposing the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit was peaceful, but riot police used water cannons and tear gas earlier to break up an unauthorized demonstration by hundreds of rock-throwing dipshits protesters. The summit, which opens Saturday, has been greeted by four straight days of protests.
The International League of Beauzeaux stages the same show every time they have a similar conference. It's ceasing to be news, unless there's a corpse count...
Bush and leaders from 21 other nations were expected to discuss issues ranging from trade and security to growing corruption. Bush is also expected to seek support to pressure on North Korea to return to nuclear talks. In the face of growing idiocy opposition, security has been heavy with about 4,500 extra police posted on the streets of Santiago and another 1,500 on call should the need arise in the city of 5.5 million. Violence also broke out at a rock concert in a park following the march when a group of about 50 masked anarchists demonstrators hurled rocks at police, overturned benches and tore down traffic signs. One news photographer was hit in the head with rock, but unfortunately was not badly injured. The demonstrators then hurled Molotov cocktails at a car dealership a block away, burning two vehicles, before fleeing. About 130 black-flagged morons protesters were detained, and Deputy Interior Minister Jorge Correa blamed the violence ``on a group of vandals who are the real threat to Chileans' rights to gather peacefully and freely.'' ``The whole weight of law will follow them,'' Correa said. Shortly before Bush arrived in the capital Friday night, a fresh round of protests broke out in Valparaiso, a port city 75 miles north of Santiago. Police used water cannons and tear gas to break up the demonstration, chasing the pinheads protesters and detaining more than 50. Two especially slow-witted demonstrators were injured, none seriously.
They're not "protesters." They're "rioters." They can be controlled by isolating and jugging the ring leaders. The occurences can be cut down by going after the money boyz and the organizers in the same way we should be going after the terror network money boyz and organizers.
Organizers of the Santiago march said 40,000 simpletons protesters took part in the government-authorized event far from the conference center where leaders of 21 Pacific region economies will meet. Police put the number at 25,000. While some automatons protesters said they oppose the APEC summit, which they likened to a rich man's club that does nothing for the poor, much of the unintelligent rage was aimed at Bush and the U.S.-led liberation of war in Iraq. Marchers made faces chanted and rolled their eyes held up posters criticizing the U.S. leader. Some also revealed their true agenda expressed sympathy with the Iraqi terrorists insurgents in Fallujah.
"Kids! Don't fergit to smash the state!"
Bush was to hold one-on-one meetings Saturday with counterparts from China, Japan, South Korea, Russia - all involved in the six-nation talks with North Korea. On Friday, Bush won support from China for a strong U.S. approach toward North Korea. Numerous other bilateral meetings were planned between world leaders, including a key session Sunday between the leaders of Japan and China over a Chinese nuclear submarine's recent intrusion into Japanese waters. At the APEC conference center Friday, business executives, economists and other experts gathered for seminars and informal talks about trade and growing business ties between Asia and Latin America. Trade and foreign ministers from 21 Pacific Rim economies issued a strong show of support for ongoing World Trade Organization talks. They also agreed on new counterterrorism measures aimed at protecting everything from air travel to shipping and food stocks. APEC members also pledged to implement new security measures to tighten access to shoulder-fired missiles, preventing the possibility of terrorists acquiring them and downing civilian jetliners. They also scheduled for development a counterterrorism passenger alert system to make flights safer.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/20/2004 12:03:10 AM ||
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I heard a radio interview from Santiago with a group of kidz from San Francisco. "We just want the world to know that the US is still a divided nation. We still hate George Bush!"
#2
So who finances the SF protestors little junket to Chile, eh, Seafarious. We need to start tracking the money trail. Or at least the FBI should. They are recycling the same people for these protest junkets, it seems to me.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/20/2004 15:33 Comments ||
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#3
warn em ahead of time - no tear gas, no water cannon - live ammo - head shots pay extra
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/20/2004 15:39 Comments ||
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Bring back Pinochet and point him at these folk.
Appalled by squalid living conditions of Palestinians in the occupied territories, several American churches have decided to take a stand against the Israeli occupation by proposing a "divestment of holdings by multinational corporations doing business with Israel" who, they say, are profiting from the occupation. The possible divestment process could result in the sale of stock in June 2006. The Presbyterian Church has spearheaded the call for possible divestments, saying four of its six divestment criteria target the Israeli occupation — including the construction of Jewish settlements. It also intends to identify multinational corporations "that enable violence by either Palestinians or Israelis."
They're so even-handed...
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2004 10:04:01 AM ||
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#1
If they were truly appalled by the Palestinians' living conditions, wouldn't a more constructive approach be to bypass the PA and do their own charity work?
Yeah, I know, it's so much easier to just call your broker while sitting on your fat butt making concerned noises about those poor people who had nothing to do with their current living situation.....sniff, sniff.....
#2
I was talking to a number of (solidly pro-Israel and pro-Bush) Arab-American evangelicals the other day. They were laughing at how churches run by the mainline denominations (Episcopal, Presbyterian, et al) were basically empty on Sunday, whereas the buildings themselves were ornate and, in some cases, over a hundred years old. Meanwhile, evangelicals were meeting in non-descript office buildings for cost reasons.
#3
Although a Christian, I haven't been inside one of the "mainline denomination" churches in the last 40 years for other than a wedding or a funeral. I couldn't stand the smug, holier-than-thou hypocricy of the professional clergy. Where I grew up, the true test of a Christian was to walk the walk, to be the same man on Saturday night that you were on Sunday morning. I think that the clergy of the old denominations has been infiltrated and taken over by those whose agendas run the gamut from lavender to pink to red. The political activism of the clergy is one of the primary reasons that their congregations have been voting with their feet. The Presbyterian church, like Episcopalian church, used to be respectable. Anymore, they're both bad jokes and irrelevant to most Americans.
Posted by: Random thoughts ||
11/20/2004 10:55 Comments ||
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#4
Where I grew up, the true test of a Christian was to walk the walk, to be the same man on Saturday night that you were on Sunday morning
#5
The sideline churches (used to be Mainline--since if you lived on Philadelphia's Mainline you went Presbyterian or Episcopalian, or Methodist but not Catholic or ((Shudder)) Baptist) are shrinking at a surprising rate.
One reason is that their hierarchies are no longer interested in religion for its own sake, but to make the church an instrument of social change--always to the left.
In addition, these folks get all hot and bothered by the revolutionary virility of terrorists and murderers. They have no backbone and no spine and wish they did, and those who don't give a damn make them crinkle in all those private places. And who gives a damn less than terrorists?
"Ooooh!"
They are anti-capitalist--see the recent meeting of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches--and anti-democratic--see their lack of interest in elections which might vote out, say, Castro.
The folks in the pews generally have no idea what their "leaders" are doing, although the shrinkage in membership is possibly due, in large part, to those who have figured it out and left.
The headquarters people lie. They cheat. They lie some more.
They maintain "advocacy" (lobbying) offices in Washington and members who pay attention write their congresscritters and tell them to pay no attention to the putative "advocates" who claim to speak on behalf of the church.
They get really good pay.
Many of the denominations in question are arranged so that a congregation which, over many years, builds a church, procures the grounds, keeps up the maintenance, doesn't own a thing. The denomination owns it.
Perhaps the leaders are planning on running off the members so that the remaining capital assets can be sold off and the headquarters folks split it up.
Hard to say it isn't a possibility.
Having said all that, it is true that the Presbyterian Church (USA) fired a couple of top staffers who promoted a meeting with Hizbullah during a Middle East fact-finding trip, wherein one moron, a retired seminary ethics professor (of course) praised the terrorists and said they were easier to talk to than those Jews.
Most of the members of the group were elected and may be diselected at the next General Assembly.
That's presuming the HQ doesn't grease some skids and figure out a way to get the topic buried.
Churches like this claim to oppose violence on both sides--for these folks moral equivalence is an improvement--but they don't mean it. No actions they take are aimed at inconveniencing terrorists.
The fun thing, though, is to watch them pretending anybody believes them. It's possible they think somebody does. Fools.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
11/20/2004 11:27 Comments ||
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#6
The sideline churches ... are shrinking at a surprising rate.
I know of one that's going to shrink by one more head in short order.
#7
It also intends to identify multinational corporations âthat enable violence by either Palestinians or Israelis.â
And are they going to identify multinational/European corporations that enable Syria and Egypt to enable the violence by helping the arms smuggling and movement of militants/operatives/activists into Gaza?
#8
One must wonder if these smarmy sanctimonious nitwits have ever paused to consider exactly how long any of them would last if they tried to set up one of their churches in the occupied terrortories.
#9
Cynic. No, they're not. It's already been suggested that UN, EU, and US money is funding terrorism, but the churches are not interested.
Churches in the occupied zone? You'll remember when the terrs occupied and desecrated the Church of The Nativity. Response from the sideline christian churches...? Zip.
Mosques, on the other hand, are a different story.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
11/20/2004 13:15 Comments ||
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#10
Damnit RA!
You can't say any of this!
You're a bigot or a homophobe, or both.
#11
Well, now, Ship. I'm an elder in the PCUSA. I'm about to end my second three-year term on our congregation's board.
I did spend a number of years on our presbytery's (next up governing body) Social Justice and Peacemaking Committee, who all had a hard time not calling me names.
And I guess some folks know of me at HQ.
Speaking of illegal occupations, can anybody find any reference to a sideline church suggesting Syria get out of Lebanon?
Dum de dum de dum dum......
Rented a tent
Rented a tent
Gettin' down with my funky bad self.
.........
Nope, black would be fine, thanks, with extra caffeine.
Dum de dum.
Gettin' down.....
Hey. Is this thing working?
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
11/20/2004 15:56 Comments ||
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#12
crickets...Christian crickets...
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/20/2004 15:59 Comments ||
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#13
ACLU action against churches making political action in 3...2...1...0... +1...+2...+3...... +485..... +38947......+93845763627...
Revoke their tax exemption and sic the IRS on them. Have then find out what terror really means.
Amir Taheri
"The United Nations is passing through the gravest crisis of its existence!" This is how UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has been describing the situation of the controversial organization in the past two years.
And much of it is due to Kofi, personally...
... though I think it began with U Thant ...
Last year's divisions over the liberation of Iraq and the scandal over UN involvement in the oil-for-food racket in partnership with Saddam Hussein, are only part of the crisis. Annan, now in his second and final term as secretary-general, may well have been speaking only for the record. And there is no indication that he has any new ideas with regard to dealing with the crisis.
There's no indication he has any new ideas at all...
... the old ones working so well of course ...
Nevertheless, there is growing consensus that the UN, unless subjected to through reform, is unlikely to recover its former status as an instrument of international will. Reforming the UN is high on the agenda of the forthcoming G-8 summit of major industrial powers, due to beheld in Britain next May.
The G-8 would form an acceptable core for the UN's successor organization, assuming one is needed...
'cept it includes the French ...
Two reform projects are expected to be debated at the summit in the hope that a compromise would be reached. One set of proposals could be described as "minimalist". It consists of relatively modest proposals for change, especially in the composition of the Security Council. Both Japan and Germany support the "minimalist" project that envisages their becoming permanent members of the council with veto powers.
If there's an equivalent to the Security Council in a successor organization, I'd suggest doing away with the veto power entirely and making it a majority vote.
Japan is the second major contributor to the UN budget, after the United States. Germany is the third contributor. Together the three nations account for almost two-thirds of the UN budget. As constituted at present, the Security Council is lopsided. Of its five veto-holding members three, Britain, France and Russia are European powers. Asia is represented by a single power: China. The whole of the American continent has the US as its representative. As for Africa and Australia, neither has a veto-holding member. To make matters more complicated, the rotating members of the Security Council always include two other European states. This means that Europe, which accounts for just 10 percent of the world's population, always has a quarter of the Security Council seats, including three veto-holding powers.
Looking at productivity rather than population, however, gives a different picture entirely...
Adding a veto-holding Germany to this mix will be a further extension of Europe's influence in the council. One alternative is to take away the veto from both Britain and France and allow the European Union to have a permanent veto-wielding seat on the Security Council. France and Britain, however, oppose such a move, for different reasons. France sees its veto in the Security Council as its last claim to relevance the position of a major power. Losing it would apropriately reduce France to the level of a medium-size power in a corner of Europe.
"Lump us with the Hungarians and the Poles? What an insult! We'll leave if... ummm... "
Britain's reasons for opposing the idea of a single EU seat are rooted in fears of a pan-European superstate swallowing the remaining vestiges of British national sovereignty...
A fear that is completely appropriate, judging by Chirac's remarks lately ...
More at the link...
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2004 10:08:05 AM ||
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#1
The U.N. has as much relevance as the Student Council at your local High School. When the President of the Student Council has finally had ENOUGH, and takes the unanimous DEMANDS of the Student Council into the Principal's Office he (or she) is routinely greeted with: "Aren't you supposed to be in your Chemistry class now?"
#2
How about just eliminating it? What would be different? As it stands now, the organization's primary purpose is to facilitate a transfer of wealth from the developed countries to the undeveloped ones. It has become polticized to the point of self-parody. The only way to effect change anywhere in the world is through the intervention of the US and whatever nations choose to ally themselves with her. UN actions without US forces result in, at best, incompetence and, at worst, chaos and genocide. The main function of the UN now is to provide France a platform on which to preen. The US could be just effective without the fig leaf of the UN.
#3
but Mike Sylwester assures us it works exactly as designed, just fine
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/20/2004 11:17 Comments ||
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#4
I, for one, prefer an ineffective contemptible UN to an effective powerful one. Especially if we lose our veto, as Fred proposes, and have to live with the decisions made by third world dictators being paid off by French demagogues.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/20/2004 11:30 Comments ||
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#5
Justrand has no understanding of the uses of nuance. /JM mode
So why don't the French Act! Like a cheerLeaders? Go into the Principals (y0ur pals) office and fight off the Commie_Fascist block from East Head High? What's the bonus? Bacon! We will own the so called nation of Canada.
#6
Yeah, but the other part of my proposal is not to allow any nation with an information minister or a minister of religious affairs, or a head of state who wears epaulets to join.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2004 11:34 Comments ||
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#7
And if the predominant language is French?
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/20/2004 11:39 Comments ||
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#8
Start with hats. Funny hats. Turbans, brimless hats, Sikh stacks, Yassir maps, beware the Red Fez of Qazi. Weird people, crazy people, people with secrets, people with something to hide, wear hats. Funny hats = trouble. EG has a nice peaked cap, but the grandiosified epaulets give him away. Bad man. Hey, Bonnie Prince Charles got in trouble just the other day. Wore a funny hat. Q.E.D.
Other people can be bad, too, but those hat people - wooooooo. Watch out. No perm vetos for hat people.
;-)
#9
You're right, again, .com. EG should be added to any post regarding the U. N.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/20/2004 11:51 Comments ||
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#10
And Mrs D is onto another powerful indicator, too. Talk funny? Hit the road, Jack. Speak American or Ninja or dos Cokas con mucho hielo, por favor. If you haven't heard it in a Quentin Tarentino movie, forget it. Buzz off. No veto for you buddy.
We've been over this ground a coupla hunnert thousand times, at least. Let's meme it.
#11
All this representation and veto stuff in the UN gives me a big case of the Yawns. I do not care how the furniture is arranged, the fundamental issue is sovereignty, and a Security Council's stamp does not make their actions any more legitimate. I am much more in favor of bilateral agreements. Look at the best environmental action the UN has come up with: Kyoto, basically a shell game. In the big picture, the UN is irrelavant.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/20/2004 11:52 Comments ||
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#12
I don't care what they look like, what kinda hats they got, what kinda soil they live on, what manner of gods they may be beholding too, as long has they are born American (and they'll know it) we need to take 'em, or make room for them. Yes even unto Aris.
#14
I can't figure out what language .com and Shipman are speaking to each other on this thread. Could someone clue me in?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
11/20/2004 12:23 Comments ||
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#15
Whoa, hold on there Phil - I don't know WTF Ship is talking about either, lol! This is the norm as he seems to go into a sort of cryptic-mucky mode frequently. I surrender, heh.
#20
Logically, the members of the UNSC should be composed of USA, Russia, China, India, Japan, EU, Africa (bloc) and SA (bloc). The VOTING members should only be those powers that are both economically and militarily powerful *and* who are willing to regularly use those forces for UNSC mandated missions. The UNSC should have a parallel and separate council composed solely of nuclear powers. This UNNSC should have voting members who admit they have nukes, are in full compliance with the IAEA, and are full members of the non-proliferation treaties and regime.
#21
Perhaps a rule stating that the UN representative must be elected or appointed by an elected (honest multi-party elections) body would be helpful. Something to keep out the kleptocracies and the communists and fascists.
Perhaps just eliminating the UN and replacing it with nothing would be the answer.
#22
The UN can't be reformed, only replaced. The essential absurdity here is that the vast majority of the "world community's" member states are kleptocratic, incompetent non-governments. The UN fetishizes national sovereignty, thus giving free reign to these basket states to terrorize their own citizens.
The solution is to recognize that there is no "world community" and set about creating regionally-focused security entities, each with the US and the region's democratic powers at its core.
NYT EFL
President Bush increased the administration's pressure on Iran on Saturday, accusing the country of speeding forward in the production of a key ingredient for nuclear weapons fuel, a move he said was "a very serious matter'' that undercut Iran's denials that it is seeking to build weapons. In back to back meetings with the leaders of China, Japan and South Korea here Saturday morning, Mr. Bush urged each to draw North Korea back into six-nation negotiations, while his aides played down informal intelligence estimates that the country has already produced enough plutonium in the past two years to manufacture six additional nuclear weapons.
Taken together, Mr. Bush's efforts here underscored his determination to reverse two nuclear projects that appear to have made significant progress while American attention has been focused on Iraq. In Iran's case, Mr. Bush is clearly suspicious of a European-led effort to suspend the country's manufacture of nuclear material, and in North Korea he is facing a country that has defied every previous effort he has made to force it to dismantle what it has already built.
Mr. Bush also had an unusual encounter on Saturday with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, questioning him over lunch about Mr. Putin's efforts to concentrate more power in the Kremlin. It was the first time Mr. Bush had expressed his concerns directly to the Russian leader - they had previously had a telephone conversation - and an American official said later that Mr. Putin was ready with a response.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/20/2004 3:36:23 PM ||
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This continuing runaround has lost its novelty for me. The Euros pretend to trust Iran while Iran pretends to occasionally cooperate and we pretend we're not going to level their country next year.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2004 9:19:06 AM ||
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#1
No particular surprise. Chemical weapons are WWI-era technology with few barriers to implementation, unlike nukes. But as an American general said earlier, pound for pound, anything you can hit with chemical rounds, you can hit harder with high explosive rounds.
#2
nope, it's Uranium Hexafluoride-6 for nuke- fissionable mat'l production
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/20/2004 9:47 Comments ||
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#3
Chemical weapons create the same problem for the attacker than for the attacked in conflicts between forces, so they lose their advantage.
The US looked into chemical weapons for the Iwo Jima attack in WW2, based upon what I read, but feared reprecussions on our prisoners of war, so it was nixed.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/20/2004 12:24 Comments ||
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#4
...Just my two cents here on the Mullahs' Mindset.
Socially these guys are in the 12th century - but in terms of tactical and strategic politics, they're locked up somewhere around 1978, and in terms of understanding of their weapons, they're around 1914.
They think they can still play off the powers the way they did towards the end of the Cold War - but they will not acknowledge that we have already demonstrated a willingness to go it alone, without regard to others.
They also feel that we will think twice in regard to their WMDs- but forget that we still have a Cold War-era C4 infrastructure that was designed to take the worst the old USSR could throw at us and keep functioning. At the risk of sounding callous, let them somehow smuggle in and detonate a dozen weapons, which would probably be all they could make. (BTW - the Shah started the Iranian program, not the Mullahs). Our setup is designed to absorb thousands of incoming warheads in a first strike. One warhead - just ONE - on Teheran means the end of Iran as a functioning, coherent nation. Like 75% of the nations on this planet, every telephone line, every thread of the bureaucracy runs thru the capital. Glass it and the mullahs who are outside the capital, no matter how high they are in the regime, command only what is within the sounds of their voices and the range of their bodyguard's guns. And when the populace realizes that the Emperor not only has no clothes, but is incinerated beyond recognition, that's it.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
11/20/2004 12:58 Comments ||
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#5
nice point Mike; you forgot: "All your oil/ng fields are belong to us"
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/20/2004 13:29 Comments ||
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#6
Mike, how about not letting them detonating anything (and let them smuggle in just one to have casus belli) and glass Tehran?
#8
You got it Mike.
It's about winning.
If it takes 3 years of SPAM and walking... it might be worth it. At least I'll be able to explain what's going on to the kids.
Some 3,000 Lebanese students and activists defied the government yesterday and demonstrated peacefully against Syria's domination of their country. Shouting "Syrians out," students from several universities and right-wing Christian activists converged on a central Beirut intersection. Hundreds of security forces watched, but did not intervene. Soldiers and police set up roadblocks to prevent protesters from travelling into the capital for the twin demonstrations called by the right-wing and left-wing opposition, causing massive tailbacks in the morning rush-hour. The government had declared that street protests would be illegal, but the police and troops seemed to heed instructions of maximum restraint from Interior Minister Suleiman Franjieh. The protesters dispersed after several hours without any violence reported. Called to mark the anniversary of Lebanon's independence, which falls on Monday, the protests objected to the role of neighbouring Syria, which stations some 14,000 troops in Lebanon and has long controlled the government and senior appointments.
Being a colony really sucks, eh guys?
One demonstrator appealed to US President George W Bush, holding a placard that read: "Bush help us save Lebanon." A smaller group of protesters, followers of Druse leader Walid Jumblatt, chanted the national anthem near the prime minister's office and held placards reading: "No to hegemony" and "Freedom, Sovereignty, Independence." The government had earlier cordoned off the office of Prime Minister Omar Karami with tank traps and other obstacles. It deployed about 1,000 security forces outside the universities and at major intersections across the city in anticipation of the protests.
The protests were called by opposition leader Gen Michel Aoun, a former commander of the Lebanese army. Aoun has been in exile in France since losing a military campaign against the Syrian forces in Lebanon in the early 1990's. Prominent members of the opposition had warned the government against using force to stop the protests, saying the world is watching. Previous protests against Syria have ended in clashes in the streets.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/20/2004 11:57:26 PM ||
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#1
"Hey America, over here! This way to the Med and your homes! Just march west-southwest from Mosul when you're finished there. Be sure you stop and see the sights in Damascus on your way in. Please?"
I have an odd feeling that the Bush doctrine just might be contagious.
Amazing. Heard that quite a few times in different declinations. And this is the infamous 'Arab street', to boot.
Is it possible that people in different places are starting to see who is their guy? Despite of their elites and media painting Bush as an evil incarnate?
#3
Lebanon used to be the only Arab country ruled by Christians until the Syrians stepped in sometime in the 1970's. Lebanese Christians are looking to Uncle Sam to pull their chestnuts out of the fire. The problem is that they have spent so much time sticking it to us that we don't quite believe them any more. And yet restoring (Eastern Orthodox) Christian rule to Lebanon should win us a lot of brownie points with the Eastern Orthodox world (Bulgaria, Russia, Greece, Serbia, Ukraine, Belorussia).
#6
It's still about Mad Mullah Money - say that 3 times fast, heh. Decap those wacky Black Hats and Syria folds up leaving Leb an orphan. The only straight-up 3-fer I can see out there. ChiNorK is a 2-fer, but SyrLebIran is even juicier with those nukes. Wotta cornucopia of Connections. James Burke would have a field day. Did I mention SaudiPak is about a 25000-fer (all that Wahhabbi moskkk funding)? But hey, the oven timer's going off in Teheran so, first things first. Bizzy, bizzy.
#7
The closer the showdown with Iran, more breaking news with Iran's Shi'ite proxies Syria-Lebanon will intensify.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/20/2004 3:29 Comments ||
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>right-wing Christian activists<
Getting their MSM metaphors mixed up - can't be an activist and be right-wing. Here's a tip - use fundamentalist with right-wing. With activist any of the following will do - gentle, bunny loving, peaceloving, etc. etc.
#9
davemac - yeah those guys are really confused. "No to hegemony!?"
That's going to really stump our self-proclaimed intellectual elites during their US/Israeli hedgemony rants. let's see...must put into my hip pocket Lebanon, Syria 14,000 troops since the 70's. *snicker*
Dr. Ramadan Shallah, secretary general of the Islamic Jihad Movement, has held the Zionist regime fully responsible for the death of PA chief Yasser Arafat.
"Yeah. They dunnit. I know they dunnit."
Shallah, in an interview with daily Al-Shark Al-Awsat in Cairo, said that the Zionist occupation authorities had been imposing a tight siege to the headquarters of Arafat for the past three years, which greatly affected his health and strength. The Islamic Jihad leader also said that his Movement was not ready to participate in any Palestinian authority that was based on the Oslo agreements.
"Nope. Nope. Ain't gonna do it. An' you can't make us."
"However, we are prepared to discuss any other formula grouping the PA and the Palestinian factions over common grounds," he pointed out, hoping that the PA would give up the Oslo agreements altogether in order to make such a formula possible. Shallah expressed conviction that there would be no feudal fighting among the Palestinians and added that Palestinians should unite in face of the ceaseless Zionist aggression. He said that Islamic factions in the Palestinian arena have expressed readiness to join the PLO after restructuring it on new democratic and struggle basis.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2004 9:38:45 PM ||
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Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2004 8:59:50 PM ||
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#1
"I can't give you any details about the circumstances of this event (her freedom) for two reasons," Belka said. "First, because of security concerns for our people ... and also because our partners expressed a firm wish not to reveal any details of the release operation."
Just one question really: how much? (in Euros of course)
Posted by: Rafael ||
11/20/2004 21:39 Comments ||
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Germany will send troops to Sudan to support African Union peacekeeping efforts in the war-torn region of Darfur. On Friday, Sudan's government and southern rebels agreed to reach a peace deal by the end of the year. The signing of the resolution to end 21 years of civil war in Sudan took place at a special session of the United Nations Security Council in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. Sudan's government and its southern rebel foes promised to end Africa's longest running civil war by Dec. 31. Just ahead of the signing, the German government said it would pledge around 200 soldiers plus air transport capabilities to the African Union's mission in charge of monitoring peace efforts in Sudan. Government spokesman Bela Anda said African Union troops from Nigeria, Rwanda, the Gambia and Tanzania are to be given logistical support for their deployment in the crisis region of Darfur. "The aim of the mission is to contribute to a stabilization of the region by supporting relief efforts and by helping protect the population there," he said. "Germany's armed forces will support the deployment of peacekeeping troops by providing military transport capabilities."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2004 6:53:43 PM ||
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200 soldiers doesnât seem like much, but itâs a sizeable effort for Germany. The Bundeswehr is being transformed from a national guard to an army serving in peace missions around the world. There are more than 2,000 German troops currently serving in the NATO peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan. An additional 5,000 troops are stationed in the Balkans. There are currently only about 280,000 soldiers in the Bundeswehr and that number is being reduced to 240,000. The Crisis Reaction Force is being increased from 60,000 to 140,000, with a simultaneous reduction in the basic military organization to 100,000 men. Of course to put this in perspective, Germany has fit for military service males age 15-49:17,800,862 (2000 est.)
The late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat controlled a network of companies, investments and bank accounts with a value totalling at least $1.5bn, according to the Austrian business magazine Format. Quoting a Central Intelligence Agency report, it said the CIA had conducted enquiries after receiving information that a holding company of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) had invested $9m in a small pharmaceutical company in the Canadian town of Belleville, Ontario. Format said investigators had "stepped on an anthill" when they uncovered the stake held by the Palestinian Commercial Service Corporation (PCSC) in Bioniche Life Sciences, revealing a whole network of PLO funds such as Chalcedony, Onyx, Evergreen, SilverHaze and Avmax International, the last based in Aruba in the Caribbean. The weekly said it had seen a file "detailing in concrete terms for the first time how much money was involved".
One component of the financial network alleged to have been run by Arafat, who died near Paris on November 11, indicated that Austrian interests had been involved. Format said that, from 1998 to the Palestinian uprising of 2000, the Austrian bank Bawag and a group called Casino Austria had financed a gambling casino much frequented by Israelis at Jericho on the West Bank. It said Bawag had later financed Arafat's private jet, a Challenger 604 make worth $23m registered in Austria. Format also alleged that Arafat had control over $800m in bank accounts in Austria, the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg and Switzerland.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2004 6:29:08 PM ||
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Another article on Takfir wal Hijra. Maybe adds something to what we already know. Sounds like the writer's just discovered them...
By BRIAN MURPHY AP RELIGION WRITER
An ultra-radical Islamic ideology mixing zealot-like devotion and holy war creed is drawing more scrutiny in anti-terrorist probes from the Middle East to Europe - with increasing indications that its base on the fringes of Islamic extremism could be widening.
It's maybe the fringe of Islam, but it's a part of the core of Islamic extremism...
In existence since the 1960s, al-Takfir wa al-Hijra has offered intellectual inspiration to al-Qaida and other militant groups. But authorities now worry about followers becoming more aggressive with recruitment and retaliation against perceived foes of Islam, such as Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh. Officials in the Netherlands say the Dutch-Moroccan suspect - accused of killing Van Gogh on a busy Amsterdam street earlier this month - hosted gatherings of immigrants influenced by the Egyptian-founded Takfir ideology, which strives for a purified form of Islam and condemns anything or anyone deemed an enemy of the faith.
That pretty much amounts to everyone but them. The "secret knowledge" imparted by adopting their outlook is a part of the groupthink that makes them tick...
The "spiritual leader" of the Amsterdam meetings, officials say, was Syrian-born Redouan al-Issar, who has apparently fled the Netherlands. Authorities allege he had contacts with suspects linked to May 2003 suicide bombings in Casablanca, Morocco, which killed 33 people. "They place their own actions in terms of jihad (holy war)," Dutch Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner told The Associated Press. "To that extent, there is jihad in the Netherlands."
#4
It appears Snow is to be commended (and the Germans thanked) for carving the Germans out and making a deal the others will have to swallow.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/20/2004 14:11 Comments ||
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#5
Um, I read the article. There is no deal just talk about one. The French will put a stop to this. Chriac and France want a failed Iraq. France will put a stop to any such agreement. Don't get your hopes up.
#6
Its kind of like jealous children.
France and Germany play together all the time.
Germany was playing with the US this day, now the french are crying in their cheese.
Its alright Chirac, but just remember, my daddy can beat your daddy up ...
#8
The United States, Germany and other G7 nations agreed on Saturday to write off up to 80 percent of Iraq's $120 billion foreign debt in a move that could pave the way for a wider international accord, officials said.
The breakthrough came in talks between German Finance Minister Hans Eichel and U.S Treasury Secretary John Snow on the margins of a meeting of finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the G20 group of rich and developing nations.
That's a deal between the US, Iraq, and Germany. It now defines the best deal the rest can get. The alternative is outright repudiation by the Iraqis, involving the release of information about exactly how involved the French and Russians were in supporting Saddam Hussein's regime. There will be lot's of toing and froing, but there's a deal on the table and the rest will have to line up at the end of the day.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/20/2004 14:19 Comments ||
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#9
I would like to see all the dealing that France, Germany, and Russia did with Sammy out in the open and on the table, they we will all talk. The world needs to be faced with this outright treachery. I hat backroom deals with evil. I know, I know, sometimes you have to make a deal with the devil, but this seems to need a consciousness raising session.
[/lunatic idealistic rant]
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/20/2004 15:28 Comments ||
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#10
So what would Iraq prefer, $100 billion of loan forgiveness or raised consciences...let me think...
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/20/2004 15:42 Comments ||
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#11
Not such a bitter pill, considering the currency markets in the last two years already wrote off >30 percent of this dollar-denominated debt.
#13
you ARE in rare form today - I'll alert the media ;-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/20/2004 15:53 Comments ||
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#14
Let's wait and see if anything actually happens:
Officials from the Paris Club of creditor nations, meeting in Paris, have struggled for months to agree terms for an Iraq debt-off, which has remained a thorn in trans-Atlantic relations since the end of the Iraq war.
Eichel said the tentative agreement would be put to other Paris Club members, who have been meeting in Paris since Thursday, for approval but it was unclear if a deal was close.
Germany announces international plan to slash Iraqi debt
BERLIN (AFP) - Germany unveiled a breakthrough international plan to wipe out tens of billions of dollars of Iraqi debt so that the war-torn country can begin rebuilding in earnest.
The accord, announced on the sidelines of a Group of 20 meeting of finance chiefs in Berlin, could see the Paris Club of creditor nations cut up to 80 percent of Iraq`s debt and the interests it owes them.
Technical aspects of it were being thrashed out by the Paris Club members in the French capital and representatives in Berlin thought that an official announcement was imminent.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/20/2004 16:07 Comments ||
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#16
The lesson is clear. Lend money to dictators and you will lose most of it.
#18
The German press reports it as a done deal. There might be some discussion left by the Paris Club members but that won't change things.
Please note that these debts were accumulated before the Kuwait invasion, when everyone was dealing with Saddam. Whatever debts Saddam racked up in (illegal) dealings with German businesses (but dealings were mostly cash at this time anyway) is of no concern to the German (or Iraqi) government.
Actually the debts of the 70s and 80s have already been quietly written off. Nobody expected to recover much of them. Iraq may not yet be a fun place to do business but that will change. German companies (especially the technology sector) will return to Iraq and more money will be made than the few billions written off right now.
The real concern of Germany was not to set a precedent. Actually there are many countries that are much poorer than Iraq which might want to claim the same thing.
Btw Iraq owes about as much to Germany as to the United States, but much more to France and Russia.
I see Russia back in business in Iraq rather soon, but not France (unless the Baathists can regain some power).
#19
TGA, you of course are talking about the very long term. Right now there seems to be a little problem with Jihadists running around and blowing things up. It is not at all certain at this time that anyone will be able to recoup those debts.
Posted by: Rafael ||
11/20/2004 19:43 Comments ||
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#20
Re Russia, they're hardly in a position to demand that other nations honor their obligations at one hundred cents to the dollar. I could be wrong but I think Russia's German creditors ended up with less than ten cents on the dollar for their $30 billion in Russian debt...
Palestinians formally opened the campaign for a successor to Yasser Arafat on Saturday as candidates for the presidency of the Palestinian Authority began seeking signatures to qualify for the Jan. 9 ballot. Candidates have 12 days to submit their paperwork for the landmark election, which is being held amid hopes for a revival of the peace process in the Middle East.
Secretary of State Colin Powell and other diplomats are traveling to the region next week seeking to revive the stalled "road map" peace plan. Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia discussed the upcoming meetings with U.S. envoy David Pearce on Saturday. Qureia has said he would seek assurances from Powell that the original timetable President Bush stipulated in the road map plan will be honored. The Palestinians want statehood by 2005 and claim that the four-year time plan mentioned by Bush earlier this month could lead to an Israeli land grab. "We'll tell him that the four years' time that was mentioned by President Bush to establish a Palestinian state will encourage the Israeli government to continue stealing our lands to build settlements and the wall," Qureia told a Palestinian journalist on Friday. "It is very dangerous."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2004 11:03:12 AM ||
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Fred---I like that Fist On A Stick in the lower left corner of the illustration!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/20/2004 12:11 Comments ||
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Ok, Mr.Qureia, if you think you can get the various factions of the PLO (not to even mention Hamas and Hezbollah) to stop blowing shit up and shooting random strangers in the streets, we can cut down on the 4 year throwaway line timeframe some...
Evelyn Leopold, Reuters Sudan's government and southern rebels committed themselves yesterday to ending Africa's longest civil war by Dec. 31, signing a pledge in front of 15 UN Security Council ambassadors at an extraordinary meeting.
This has worked every time they've done it, right?
After the signing ceremony, the Security Council, meeting away from its New York home for the first time in 14 years, unanimously adopted a resolution promising political and substantial economic support once Sudan ended two wars that have left millions dead in the south and in Darfur in the west. With the council's ambassadors as witnesses, the Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) signed a document declaring "their commitment" to complete a final accord by Dec. 31 and end 21 years of war in the oil-producing south of Africa's biggest country. Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha and southern rebel leader John Garang, the main peace negotiators for the two sides, have made similar, failed pledges over the past year.
But this time it's different. Why's it different?
But this time they did it on paper before the Security Council, whose members tried to dispel skepticism over the deal and criticism of the UN's handling of the Darfur crisis.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2004 10:22:19 AM ||
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...I respectfully propose that the pic in the above story hereby and henceforth be officially referred to as Epaulet Guy (EG).
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
11/20/2004 10:34 Comments ||
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Hisham Abu Taha ⢠Arab News While the new Palestinian leadership readied the ground for presidential elections in January, PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas stepped up calls yesterday to end "armed chaos" engulfing the occupied territories. Abbas has been locked in talks with faction leaders and security chiefs during a five-day visit to the Gaza Strip ahead of the poll to find a successor to Yasser Arafat, scheduled in seven weeks' time. "Armed chaos must stop. I think people and officials realize the importance of controlling arms because (chaos) serves the interests of no one," he said, echoing an identical call from Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei. He went on to cite Israel's continued occupation of Palestinian territory as the biggest obstacle to holding the leadership election, due on Jan. 9.
It's not Israel that's arming the lemmings and hollering for jihad...
Arafat's death has fueled fears that the passing of the veteran leader could worsen an already fragile security situation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A Palestinian policeman was killed and another wounded by Israeli tank fire in eastern Gaza City yesterday, medical sources said. "The Palestinian leadership has opened contacts with different countries so that the obstacles, particularly the occupation, be eliminated so that the election can go ahead normally," Abbas told Voice of Palestine radio. He is to wrap up his Gaza visit today, before tomorrow's expected arrival of outgoing US Secretary of State Colin Powell for talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials. "Armed chaos must cease, armed demonstrations must cease. Everybody must respect law and order," Qorei said after meeting MPs and leftist groups on Thursday.
Yep. That'll happen.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2004 10:17:37 AM ||
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Gun control. That's the first thing the fascists try to do. Disarm the people. Then address the unarmed chaos through government programs. This guy is a Democrat.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/20/2004 12:01 Comments ||
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Disarm the people. Then address the unarmed chaos through government programs.
In the case of the Paleos, doing so wouldn't be such a bad idea. They've proven that responsibility with weapons ownership is an alien concept to their society.
I think the Paleo henchmen are going to try and get Israel to treat them like they were a rational country, rational being defined by Arab standards, of course. I think Israel's going to try and do just that, in the hope it'll stick. And I think Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the al-Aqsa Martyrs are going to try their damnedest to make sure that doesn't happen. On the upside, since Hamas and Islamic Jihad want to muscle in to grab some of the power (and graft) from themselves, there's lotsa potential for shootouts between them.
Palestinian officials are urging Israel to curb military operations as they begin to register candidates to run in an election to replace Yasser Arafat as Palestinian Authority president. Election officials said on Saturday that the January 9 presidential ballot may be delayed unless Israel facilitates free and fair elections by redeploying troops away from Palestinian towns and villages in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and halting military operations. "We have been repeatedly demanding that Israel should withdraw its forces from Palestinian areas so that our teams can do their job without obstacles," Ammar Dweik, the head of the Palestinian central elections commission, told Reuters. "Any assassination, incursion or curfews will definitely affect the election timetable," he said.
"So it'll be all their fault if we don't do it."
Israel has promised to do "everything that is needed" for democratic Palestinian elections, including probably allowing Palestinians from East Jerusalem to participate in the ballot. The election is to take place 60 days after Arafat died of an undisclosed illness at a French hospital on November 11.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2004 9:32:58 AM ||
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France has assured the Palestinian Authority that a copy of Yasser Arafat's medical chart will be given to the late president's nephew who is also a Palestinian diplomat, Palestinian officials said.
Do you get the impression the Frenchies are telling both sides what they want to hear? Quelle dilemma! Suha knows where the biggest secret accounts are, but the Paleo henchmen know where many of the others are. I think the Paleo henchmen will win out in the end, since they've got something like a country to align with La Belle France and Suha's only got several closets full of queen-size dresses...
Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie said after meeting the French Consul General in Jerusalem, Regis Koetschet, that a copy of Arafat's medical records would be given to Nasser al-Kidwa, Arafat's nephew and the Palestinian representative at the United Nations. Qurie said Koetschet had told him during the meeting that the Palestinian Authority's request for information on Arafat's illness and cause of death was "legitimate". The 75-year-old Palestinian leader died of an undisclosed illness at a French hospital on November 11.
... and remains in stable condition.
Doctors have refused to make his medical records public due to French privacy laws, leading to a wave of rumours that he was poisoned. French and Palestinian Authority officials have denied the allegations. "The French gave us a response to the letter we sent to them regarding the hospital report on the illness and the cause of death of President Yasser Arafat. They responded positively and they understand that ... our request is legitimate," Qurie said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/20/2004 9:20:46 AM ||
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wanna clue what killed him? Check the backside
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/20/2004 9:35 Comments ||
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Some enterprising soul should get the records and put them up for auction on eBay. There's a fortune there folks, a fortune, I tell ya!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/20/2004 12:16 Comments ||
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France has assured the Palestinian Authority that a copy of Yasser Arafat's medical chart will be given to the late president's nephew who is also a Palestinian diplomat, Palestinian officials said.
To be sure, it won't be a copy of the actual medical chart.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
11/20/2004 15:08 Comments ||
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Walked like an electrician, Mrs. D? Heh heh...
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/20/2004 15:31 Comments ||
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from debka tonite:
Arafatâs widow absconds to Tunis with his medical files ahead of his nephew al-Kidwaâs arrival in Paris to collect them.
maybe they don't have photocopies in French hospitals
French defense ministry says al Kidwa is entitled to access medical information on Arafatâs never-publicly-diagnosed illness. But Suhaâs lawyers say only children and widow
She took the files and ran after Palestinian TV broadcast Friday sermon threatening her life. She used Arafatâs plane, flouting Palestinian Authorityâs demands for its return.
PA hoped to publish record and lay to rest rumors of foul play, including Israeli poison. DEBKAfileâs Paris sources convinced widow will hold onto medical files as collateral for agreed PA payments and as leverage to help radicals Kadoumi, Mussa Arafat and Force 17 commander
The dolphins deployed as underwater sentinels to the Arabian Gulf region by the U.S. Navy last year have been valuable in protecting coalition ships and piers against terrorist attacks, a Navy spokesmen said Friday. The dolphins, brought to the region in spring 2003, are trained to detect, locate and mark a threat swimmer or diver and alert their human handlers. "The mission is going well. The dolphins have provided a very valuable layer of defense here," said Lt. Josh Frey, spokesman for the 5th Fleet, which is based in Bahrain. "We judge their success by the fact that no terrorism has occurred here."
Citing security reasons, Frey would not say how many dolphins were deployed or how long they will be in the region. Lt. Kary Olson, who is in charge of these marine mammals, said this has been the longest combat theater deployment for the Mark 6 dolphins. As Olson spoke, a 400-pound dolphin named Luke made a splashing appearance inside a floating pen off the Mina Salman port, southeast of Manama. The 9-foot-long dolphin stood on its tail to receive a fish that a Navy handler on the patrol boat threw in his direction. "They need some time for fun," Olson said.
The Navy started using marine mammals in the early 1960s, when scientists studied if dolphins' sleek shape had hydrodynamic qualities that could help improve underwater missiles. It used dolphins during the Vietnam War and again in the Iraq war to detect mines at the country's only deep-water port, Umm Qasr. Dolphins were last used in Bahrain in the late 1980s during the Iran-Iraq war, when several oil tankers were attacked in the Arabian Gulf. At the time, six dolphins patrolled the Bahrain harbor to protect U.S. ships from mines and enemies.
Posted by: tipper ||
11/20/2004 8:20:07 AM ||
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Saw a Mail Call epidode in wich seals(the animal)would search out enemy divers,when detected the seal would put a clamp on the divers leg.The surface unit would then reel the diver in like a bass.
#2
They call him Flipper, Flipper, faster than lightning,
No-one you see, is smarter than he,
And we know Flipper, lives in a world full of wonder,
Flying there-under, under the sea!
Everyone loves the king of the sea,
Ever so kind and gentle is he,
Tricks he will do when children appear,
And how they laugh when he's near!
They call him Flipper, Flipper, faster than lightning,
No-one you see, is smarter than he,
And we know Flipper, lives in a world full of wonder,
Flying there-under, under the sea!
#3
There were rumors for years that the dolphins were protecting the big Fleet base at Norfolk, VA, and the local news once ran some pics that seemed to confirm it. Have to admit, we always thought that was about as cool as it got.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
11/20/2004 13:26 Comments ||
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NOSC has had/trained/used dolphins at the Pt. Loma Sub base for a LONG time. Same for North Island carrier berths (3 now) in SD bay
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/20/2004 13:40 Comments ||
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I'll bet they like it better in SD, Mike / Frank, they have such an unfair advantage over the avg UCSD beach bunny in IQ. One of the few cases where PETA approves - cuz the dolphins share, heh.
A 15-mile stretch between Baghdad airport and the city centre is said to be the world's most expensive taxi ride. Small convoys of armoured cars and Western gunmen charge about £2,750 ($5,108) for the perilous journey. The route, known as the Qadisiyah Expressway, has become the scene of regular attacks and kidnappings by insurgents. Security costs have soared in Iraq reflecting the escalating risks for foreign workers. The high-speed drive costs four times more than the £670 Royal Jordanian charges for a one-way flight from London to Baghdad via Amman. It equates to about £183 a mile compared to £4 a mile for the 2,540-mile flight on the only commercial airline flying to Baghdad. It offers two daily 90-minute flights, although times are subject to changes and cancellations, depending on whether the airport is under mortar attack. The airport is the hub of the US-led coalition's military activities, while the high-security "green zone" is the centre of civilian administration.
"You could jump in an Iraqi taxi with a gun and get there for $20," said one security contractor, quoted by the UK's Times newspaper. But with kidnappings a daily occurrence and Westerners being sold to Islamist militant groups for about £150,000, he advised against it. A few thousand pounds will afford you two cars and four Western ex-military bodyguards, usually American, South African or British, packing MP5 submachine guns, M16 rifles and/or AK47 assault rifles. The client rides in one vehicle at speeds averaging 100 mph, while the other, called the "gun car", travels close-by, looking out for potential assailants. Since the beginning of the resistance, this vital route has come under attack from car bombs, suicide attacks, snipers and rocket-propelled grenades. Security in Iraq is now big business. At least 10% of each reconstruction project budget in Iraq goes on protection.
Posted by: tipper ||
11/20/2004 8:09:19 AM ||
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The No. 2 American diplomat has suggested French President Jacques Chirac wants the United States to fail in Iraq, in a sign the two countries are far from healing their rift due to the war. "I think he's fearful that we'll be successful," Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said in an interview with the Arab-language television network Al Jazeera on Friday. "Since he's made the decision not to be involved in Iraq, maybe he thinks that we won't be successful." Last week, Chirac, who was the fiercest critic of the invasion among traditional U.S. allies, accused Washington of making the world a more dangerous place. What a self centered schlub!
He reignited the bitter dispute despite President George W. Bush's pledge to seek to mend ties with Europe in his second term. When he is out of office
A French Embassy official sought to downplay the spat, noting Foreign Minister Michel Barnier had spoken to Secretary of State-designate Condoleezza Rice this week and that France was attending an international conference next week on helping Iraq. "The mood is not one of conflict," said the diplomat, who asked not to be named. Oh no, of course not...
It's more like pie-throwing...
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/20/2004 5:45:23 AM ||
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It's cloudy here, so perhaps my new photo flash suprise metre is less than active.
#2
Frankly I do not think Chirac cares whether Iraq is a failure or not. His primary goal is to to ensure lack of US success at any price. Be that Iraq, Iran....
Posted by: john ||
11/20/2004 7:59 Comments ||
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I am suprised that Armitage said it. I thought we were still pretending the French really cared.
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
11/20/2004 12:45 Comments ||
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Armitage is short-timing. Let's see what else we can provoke him to say...heh heh
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/20/2004 13:25 Comments ||
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A French Embassy official sought to downplay the spat, noting Foreign Minister Michel Barnier had spoken to Secretary of State-designate Condoleezza Rice this week and that France was attending an international conference next week on helping Iraq.
This doesn't mean squat. Attending a conference doesn't require much effort. Getting something done is an entirely different story.
"The retail industry received another shake-up today as Sears Holding Corp. (NYSE: S), the parent company behind the recent merger of Sears and Kmart, announced the acquisition of embattled European cheesemaker France (NASDAQ: FROG). The buyout deal, estimated at $2.7 billion, will position Sears/Kmart/France as the world's third largest retailer and 15th ranked military power."
Posted by: Matt ||
11/20/2004 16:08 Comments ||
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That's purdy funny Matt. A sidebar on history yes, but funny.
>"
dammit I supposed to have 3 million free smillers, I'ver been frame.
i will seeker Justice from
(yeah)
Humpdiner, Humpidinr, Humpidinker, adn Schwartz.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
11/20/2004 19:29 Comments ||
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Uh...is it just me, or is anyone else here thinking "WTF is that idiot Armitage doing giving an interview to Radio MoscowDer Stürmer Al-Jizz? This is the same rumpnugget who did WONDERS for the morale of the Iranian democratic resistance by referring to the mullahs' government as a "democracy". What a maroon! They can't get him and his buddy Chamberlain Powell out the Foggy Bottom door fast enough.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
11/20/2004 19:48 Comments ||
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A Marine serving in a war zone in Iraq rushed back home to be with his pregnant wife Friday after she was wounded in an apparent random shooting in a supermarket parking lot. "You can only imagine how it would make me feel, being where I was at," Lance Cpl. Justin Cook, 23, said. The Marine was pulled from his combat unit in Fallujah on Monday, and told his wife Julia, 21, had been shot in the head. She is due to deliver the couple's son in February.
Justin Cook said his mind raced at the news - "a whole whirlwind of emotions, from anger (to) fear." After three sleepless nights of travel, the Marine was at his wife's bedside Friday in the York Hospital intensive-care unit, where a nursing supervisor said she was in serious condition. Authorities said Julia Cook, who had been living with her parents in Mannsville, N.Y., while awaiting the birth of her son, was apparently in the wrong place at the wrong time. She was visiting high school friends Sunday night when someone opened fire with a shotgun, then drove away. Noel Gomez, 19, arrested six hours later, told detectives he decided ahead of time on a location where he wanted to kill someone, according to his arrest affidavit. He is jailed without bond, charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment. The York public defender's office said Friday that Gomez's lawyer was unavailable for comment.
Gomez's relatives told the York Daily Record he had been exhibiting unusual behavior for the past five years. "I feel sorry for him, I really do," Justin Cook said. The Marine said his wife had one operation and more are expected. They have been married almost two years, and have picked out a name for their son - Calvin. "She is quite the feisty fighter, and she doesn't let anything get her down," Cook said.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
11/20/2004 5:25:16 AM ||
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Juast let the Marine take that bozo back over with him - dressed in the local style.
His buddies will know what to do with someone that jsut wanted to kill someone at random.
GAY PAREE - Suha Arafat was given the medical file of her late husband Yasser Arafat and flew off to Tunisia Friday as the late Palestinian president's nephew was expected in the French capital to pick up the same documents amid some controversy.
DAMN HIM HE HAD TO HAVE UTTERED THOSE ACCOUNT NUMBERS!!!
Defence ministry spokesman Jean-Francois Bureau said early Saturday that Arafat's nephew, Nasser al-Qidwa, who was travelling to Paris, had the right to access to the information if he requested it. But the Paris lawyers of Suha Arafat had said the dossier should only be given to "the children and the widow." Bureau told AFP that it was not up to the ministry to confirm or deny what the lawyers believed but in any case Qidwa had the right to see the file if he so wished.
But they gave it to Suha, and she skipped town. So sorry.
Earlier, the lawyers said in a statement to AFP: "Mrs. Suha Arafat received at 3:45 pm today a copy of the medical file of her husband, president Yasser Arafat, which was released by the authorities at the Percy military hospital."
That's when she decided she hadn't seen Tunis in awhile...
"She has begun to study it," said the statement by lawyers Philippe Plantade and Jean-Marie Burguburu. The lawyers' statement said Suha Arafat had thanked "France, President Jacques Chirac and all the French authorities particularly the hematology and emergency hospital staff from the heart of her bottom bottom of her heart for their exceptional support in covering everything up." French officials alongside Suha and their nine-year-old daughter have officially designated Qidwa, the Palestinian envoy to the United Nations, next-of-kin. Under French law, medical details can be released only to family. A Palestinian official said Friday that Qidwa had left Gaza for Paris "in his capacity as a relative" to pick up the dossier. On his return to the Palestinian territories, Qidwa was expected to hand over the medical file to a ministerial council set up to investigate causes of Arafat's death.
Suha, invoking French medical confidentiality laws, has kept a tight grip on information relating to her husband's treatment during his last days. Under French law, the family may decide to make the files public. After receiving the medical file Suha Arafat left Paris for Tunis, where she also maintains a lavish residence in the city's chic northern suburb of Gammarth, said Plantade. She flew on a private plane owned by her deceased husband, said the lawyer. A French defence ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said medical files usually took up to two weeks to clear before being handed over, but in this case the documents were ready immediately.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/20/2004 12:00:00 AM ||
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Suha Arafat was given the medical file of her late husband Yasser Arafat and flew off to Tunisia Friday as the late Palestinian presidentâs nephew was expected in the French capital to pick up the same documents amid some controversy.
Yep, that would be the file with the false cause of death....
#3
OK Jean-Claude, erase the line here with "HIV Test Positive" and write instead "clear symptoms of the Hero Shahid disease(TM) and Neuropathic Martyrdom".
Ve cannot allow ze real truth to get out, after all the truth is undiplomatic and ve ze Phrench are known for our diplomatic skills and especially for supporting dictators and tyrants while simultaneously betraying our best friends. Ve cannot afford to break ze good old Phrench tradition.
Posted by: Elder Of Zion ||
11/20/2004 4:02 Comments ||
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She flew on a private plane owned by her deceased husband, said the lawyer
A simple man of few possesions other than his bubbler and red notebook.
#8
who says ya have to start at the ends and work toward the middle? Also - your o-club graphic - key west train wreck from hurricane damage - I didn't work on that one :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/20/2004 9:40 Comments ||
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#9
Bridge over Troubled Waters....
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/20/2004 12:20 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
With the defeat of the Saddam Hussein regime on April 9, 2003, the Ba'th ruling party was outlawed and a committee for the de-Ba'thification of Iraq was established. However, the Ba'th's propaganda machine appears to have found a new abode in Paris, France, whence threats to the U.S. are issued regularly in three languages - English, French, and Spanish. Not surprisingly, the Ba'thist propagandists use the word "resistance" (in French, "la resistance") to underscore the association with the struggle against the Nazi occupation of France during WWII. 
Bavarian Interior Minister 
JACQUES Chirac, the French president, yesterday undermined a show of Anglo-French unity by criticising the US-led drive to spread democracy. 
Dr. 
The late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat controlled a network of companies, investments and bank accounts with a value totalling at least $1.5bn, according to the Austrian business magazine Format. Quoting a Central Intelligence Agency report, it said the CIA had conducted enquiries after receiving information that a holding company of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) had invested $9m in a small pharmaceutical company in the Canadian town of Belleville, Ontario. Format said investigators had "stepped on an anthill" when they uncovered the stake held by the 
Sudan's government and southern rebels committed themselves yesterday to ending Africa's longest civil war by Dec. 31, signing a pledge in front of 15 UN Security Council ambassadors at an extraordinary meeting.
While the new Palestinian leadership readied the ground for presidential elections in January, PLO leader 
GAY PAREE - Suha Arafat was given the medical file of her late husband Yasser Arafat and flew off to Tunisia Friday as the late Palestinian president's nephew was expected in the French capital to pick up the same documents amid some controversy.
