North Korea wants a change in the political atmosphere before it will attend talks on its nuclear plans and has asked the United States to send a signal to that effect, a senior UN official said on Thursday. Jean Ping, president of the UN General Assembly, told reporters after talks with South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun that North Korea had given him a message for the United States during a visit to Pyongyang. "It was a message that the US should give us signs that will improve the climate for negotiations," said Ping, who is Gabon's foreign minister. North and South Korea, the United States, Japan, Russia and China have met for three inconclusive rounds of talks on its nuclear ambitions. US officials say Pyongyang has one or two nuclear bombs and enough material for another six.
Still to early to see what the hell's playing out in the Hermit Kingdom. As usual, one day they're hot, the next day they're cold. One day it's Kim Jong Il buttons, the next day Kim Il Sung buttons, the day after it's Dewey buttons. I'd say let them stew until we decide how we want to take the initiative, if at all.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2004 5:08:01 PM ||
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Yeah, let 'em implode - under OWG or not, and even presum Clintonian Amerika suborned under same, the Norkies have no manifest destiny under Socialism or Communism or Commie world order/OWG! The Commies right now may claim to be "saving the world" from Fascism=Communism Amerika, but they can't save the world from themselves.
#6
Frank, I think you're being a little too logical, bro. Try to come at it from an angle. Screaming in caps. Mebbe that'll buy you a definition. I dunno WTF it stands for, either, heh.
Fundamentalist Immigrant woman makes Muslim Hijab part of a Police uniform for the first time in the world!
DEVOUT MUSLIM CONSTABLE Mrs. Maha Sukkar yesÂterday became not just the first Victoria Police officer to wear a traditional Muslim hijab as part of her uniform, but in fact, also the first Hijab-police in the world!
Her time of training have broken all the Academy's records due to her severe shortcomings in the English language. She will not be able to work alone and unassisted for the foreseeable future and unfortunately she is a vertically compromised person that suffers a obvious and worsening weight problem .
The 30-year-old Muslim immigrant was supported by her parents, who flew in from her native Beirut for her graduation at the Victorian Police Academy where she has done weapons and close combat training . Numerous friends from the fundamentalist Muslim community in Melbourne attended the ceremony.
"At first we (from my Mosque..) were worried by how people would respond but we really admired her courage and she has been an inspiration to us," said her best friend, AieÂsha Hussain, speaking on her behalf at the graduation ceremony.
The heavy-blue Hijab must be specifically designed and blessed for ConÂstable Sukkar because nowhere in the world (including Muslim countries) is any similar garment in use. The Victorian design incorporates quick-release American made Velcro-strips to enable its deployment should she get caught in a physical scuffle that may otherwise choke her wind-pipe. This Muslim garment is not usually intended for a work-environment and never used in any active situation for a number of reasons, for example it normally requires constant attention from one free hand just to keep it in place.
Constable Sukkar, of the DandeÂnong suburb of Melbourne, claim that it had been her dream to join the (Christian) Victoria Police since she arrived in Christian Australia from Muslim Lebanon only four years ago.
She said she will not tolerate that her (almost) traditional Muslim headpiece attracts any unwanted attention, but if it did she would handle it "just like any other police officer". To make her point absolutely clear she put her hand on her hip just above her .38 calibre revolver.
Chief Police Commissioner ChrisÂtine Nixon (and supporter of the Gay/Lesbian community) said Victoria Police wanted to attract more women and more recruits from culturally diverse backgrounds that reflected the community. "I think this is Victoria Police showing that we are very welcoming of people from a whole range of backgrounds and nationalities who want to join us," she said.
She was obviously not referring to the Australian community at large and did not explain why anyone would feel good about being accosted by the worlds first police-person dressed in fundamentalist Islamic uniform.
At yesterday's marching out ceremony at Victoria Police Academy in Glen Waverley, 46 graduates were sworn in, but some details remain unclear. For example, the swearing in of Constable Sukkar apparently did not require her to denounce the Sharia Law that according to her Imam it is "designed by Allah" and immensely more significant then any "man-made law".
Rumours have it that Constable Sukkar was given leave from taking the usual Victoria Police oath in addition to her special dress requirements.
Police Minister Andre HaerÂmeyer of the Australian state of Victoria warned they were enterÂing the Victorian Police force at a time when it faced intense criticism. The police is criticised for wholesale corruption, whistle-blower murders, lock-up beatings, million-dollar drug-running and widespread cooperation on all levels with Australian organised crime.
The minister seemed pleased that the police had scored a historic "world first" on his watch and he went out of his way to gratulate and shake Constable Sukkars hand.
Unfortunately blatantly unaware he's customary action flew right against traditional Muslim law and tradition (any male touching of exposed female skin is haram) that he otherwise seems so keen to support on this day of fundamentalist Islamic triumph.
The head of a TV station linked to the Lebanese Shiite Muslim Hezbollah group said it would respect French law against discrimination after being allowed by France's broadcasting regulator to transmit programmes within the European Union. "We are ready to respect French law and will submit to it," Mohammed Haidar told Thursday's edition of Le Figaro. "We have agreed to be bound by the agreement required of us" by the French Audiovisual Council (CSA). The council gave the go-ahead on Friday despite appeals by Jewish groups not to grant a licence to the channel to transmit programmes in France after it had put out material criticised for undeniable perceived anti-Semitic content. Following renewed protests, including from the opposition Socialist Party, the CSA said the agreement imposed on Al-Manar was of unprecedented toughness, obliging the channel "not to incite hatred, violence or discrimination based on race, sex, religion or nationality."
Doesn't say anything about discrimination towards dhimmis, I'll wager.
Haidar said the aim of the channel was to support the Palestinian cause, and it had always distinguished between Israel's policies as a state and the Jewish religion. Any changes to its programming to comply with the agreement would be minor. He said that its broadcasting last year of a series which included particularly vicious anti-Semitic themes, such as the Middle Ages blood libel myth of alleged Jewish ritual killing of children, had been a "mistake".
"Our bad. Never happen again, kufrs."
Haidar denied that Al-Manar was owned by Hezbollah, which the United States and Israel have branded a terrorist organisation, while admitting that it largely defended the group's activities and views, notably with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"Non. Non. Certainement not!"
Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot called this month for Hezbollah to be likewise placed on the European Union's list of terrorist organizations in a bid to dry up its financing from Europe. However Bot acknowledged that there was lack of unanimity on this subject in the European Union. Some governments make a distinction between Hezbollah as a political party with a dozen patsies members in the Syrian Lebanese parliament and a broad programme of social works, and its military wing responsible for deadly attacks against Israel.
Oh, and by the way:
Hezbollah, "the Party of God" formed by Iranian Revolutionary Guards after the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, seeks the "liberation" of all occupied Arab lands, including Jerusalem.
A top United States General has called for bolder international action to stop the spread of Islamic extremism, suggesting curbs are needed to stop groups like Al Qaeda from using the Internet and other forms of media.
"Why is it that people have the right to get on the Internet and spread this hatred and insanity without there being some curb, some law," said General John Abizaid, the chief of the US Central Command.
"To me if we think this is some kind of freedom of speech to put on a picture of someone getting their head chopped off on the Internet and people have the right to purvey that, that's not the world I want to live in and it just encourages this kind of behaviour," he said.
"They use the media in a way that's very, very clever to develop the perception of great strength, when in fact they don't have great strength."
As the commander of the 220,000 US troops in Afghanistan, General Abizaid is the US military leader closest to the struggle against Al Qaeda and what he says is a broader but no less virulent Salafist movement seeking to impose by force an Islamic caliphate.
Driven from Afghanistan after the 2001 US-led war against the country's Taliban rulers and under pressure in Pakistan, Al Qaeda has not mounted a major attack on the US since the September 11 attacks three years ago.
But General Abizaid says it has managed to project "a virtual caliphate" through Internet websites and video and audio tapes aired by Arab media, encouraging like-minded followers to strike in Iraq, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.
Speed of information
"What makes this element so dangerous today I think is really two things that are new to the modern world," General Abizaid said.
"Number one is the speed in which information can be transmitted and the way it can be transmitted without regard to borders. Number two is the potential ability of a movement like this to obtain weapons of mass destruction," he said.
General Abizaid says Al Qaeda and other groups have moved no closer to obtaining weapons of mass destruction but they would surely use them if they did.
"It's a very, very dangerous problem for the entire international community and that's why it is so important that people cooperate against it," he said.
Although Iraq has been the scene of widespread violence attributed to Islamic extremists, General Abizaid says their ultimate objective is Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest places.
"That's why you see them fighting in Saudi Arabia now," he said. "There is no doubt that Saudi Arabia is their target, but every Muslim country is their target."
General Abizaid says most Muslims reject the Salafist movement and Arab governments are fighting it because they recognise the threat it poses to them.
Financial contributors
"The question is to what extent can they afford to be seen as the ally of the United States," he said.
"It's a tough problem for them domestically but it's because we haven't really forced the dialogue at an international level. And that's an important component of it, really organising ourselves for the fight."
Among the international measures General Abizaid singled out as key is treating people who contribute money to the Salafist movement no differently from people who carry out beheadings.
"The truth of the matter is we have to be bold in our discussion and we need to make liable the people who are financially contributing to this organisation as the criminals they are," he said.
Militarily, Al Qaeda is under pressure but it is still dangerous, he said, likening it to the Bolshevism of the 1890s or fascism in the 1920s.
"They don't seek to win any military battles. As a matter of fact, in three years of battle they haven't won a single military engagement anywhere," he said.
"Yet they have created the impression that they have strength well beyond their numbers, that they are capable of striking and sowing panic in western economic markets, and Western population at will."
BY CLAUDIA ROSETT - Special to the Sun
November 26, 2004
One of the next big chapters in the United Nations oil-for-food scandal will involve the family of the secretary-general, Kofi Annan, whose son turns out to have been receiving payments as recently as early this year from a key contractor in the oil-for-food program.
The secretary-general's son, Kojo Annan, was previously reported to have worked for a Swiss-based company called Cotecna Inspection Services SA, which from 1998-2003 held a lucrative contract with the U.N. to monitor goods arriving in Saddam Hussein's Iraq under the oil-for-food program. But investigators are now looking into new information suggesting that the younger Annan received far more money over a much longer period, even after his compensation from Cotecna had reportedly ended.
The importance of this story involves not only undisclosed conflicts of interest, but the question of the role of the secretary-general himself, at a time when talk is starting to be heard around the U.N. that it is time for him to resign, and the staff labor union is in open rebellion against "senior management."
"What other bombshells are out there being hidden from the public and U.N. member governments?" asked an investigator on Rep. Henry Hyde's International Relations Committee, which has held hearings on oil-for-food.
The younger Annan stopped working for Cotecna in late 1998, but it now turns out that he continued to receive money from Cotecna not only through 1999, as recently reported, but right up until February of this year. The timing coincides with the entire duration of Cotecna's work for the U.N. oil-for-food program. It now appears the payments to the younger Annan ended three months after the U.N., in November, 2003, closed out its role in oil-for-food and handed over the remains of the program to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad.
This latest bombshell involving the secretary-general's son was confirmed Wednesday by Kofi Annan's spokesman, Fred Eckhard, in response to this reporter's query, based on information obtained elsewhere. In an email, Mr. Eckhard wrote: "I was able to reach Kojo's lawyer this morning. He confirms that Kojo Annan received payments from Cotecna as recently as February 2004. The lawyer said that these payments were part of a standard non-competition agreement, under which the decision as to whether to continue the payments or not was up to Cotecna."
Is his lawyer a good enough link, Mikey? Links at 9:00
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/26/2004 08:28 ||
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Op-Ed - I posted it only to show that the movement is starting
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/26/2004 8:29 Comments ||
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In Kofi's case a BM
Posted by: Capt America ||
11/26/2004 9:15 Comments ||
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#3
Every pebble counts. The silence is broken and step by step the unthinkable becomes conventional wisdom. Ah, those strange humans and their habituation games, heh.
Putrid, actually, but we're beyond sarcasm now. Time to make the UN completely irrelevant. Set up a parallel organization of serious democracies that can and will project power to deal with real threats and resolve crises.
#2
Hi phil-- a great 2005 awaits us, indeed. These diplomats are precisely the kinds of sources that bloggers need to tap in order to start scooping and publishing their own stories.
A refreshing honest voice with insight and knowledge of the FSO game at State - the timing couldn't be better, heh, as we wait and watch to see if Dr Rice can and will attempt to reform it - even if it's through the recommended surrogate: "The new Secretary will want to think the deep thoughts, and will probably be inclined to let the Department muddle along. We hope that this inclination will be resisted (we can dream, eh?) and that at a minimum a fierce, Neanderthal-like brute will be appointed Undersecretary for Management. It is to this person that we direct ourselves with hope in our hearts and pleading in our eyes."
#5
This scoop is the best thing I've ever seen on the UN. Far better than anything we can ever expect to see from the NY Times or any other MSM outlet. It is f*cking outrageous that the public is deprived of this kind of expert, ruthlessly candid and apparently accurate dissection of how the UN works. The MSM are doing us, and really, the world, an enormous disservice by failing to disclose the rot within the UN.
Why can't bloggers cultivate sources like these diplomats, TGA, Old Spook, John Ellis and hundreds of other insiders to write our own news reports?
#6
Can you imagine the scandals that will be scooped when the blogosphere digs its teeth into sources inside the UN? Will make Rathergate look like child's play, I'm sure.
#7
Can you imagine the scandals that will be scooped when the blogosphere digs its teeth into sources inside the UN? Will make Rathergate look like child's play, I'm sure.
#13
A month ago The New York Post ran a similar editorial. It's most memorable phrase was, "Frankly, if there were any justice in the world, Annanâs son would be under indictment right now."
Strangely, Kojo Annan still has not been indicted, a month later. It will be interesting to see whether Kofi Annan will have resigned a month from now.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
11/26/2004 9:12 Comments ||
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Hmmm... maybe it's the refusal lack of cooperation from Kofi to provide documents that contributes to the absence of charges against his son?
#17
Mike S, do you (and your pals at the UN) really believe that because a thief hasn't yet been arrested and indicted, it's proof he is innocent? hehe.
Claudia Rosett's latest article: ... The younger Annan stopped working for Cotecna in late 1998, but it now turns out that he continued to receive money from Cotecna not only through 1999, as recently reported, but right up until February of this year. The timing coincides with the entire duration of Cotecna's work for the U.N. oil-for-food program. ...
This latest bombshell involving the secretary-general's son was confirmed Wednesday by Kofi Annan's spokesman, Fred Eckhard. ... The lawyer said that these payments were part of a standard non-competition agreement...
Looks like as long as Annan senior made sure Cotecna could continue to run UNscam (non-competition), Annan junior got a "standard" monthly reward.
#18
"invoking the right against self-incrimination"
That may only work in U.S. courts -- the U.N. will be in Paris by then, I hope.
Posted by: Tom ||
11/26/2004 12:05 Comments ||
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In Paris, he'd get Chirac and the French National Assembly to vote an amnesty for all UN-employed criminals. They keep doing it for French politicians -- and then put a gag order on the media to criminalize any public discussion of what they've done.
#21
Calm yourself. I thought you'd be more tolerant since quarks come in six flavors.
Posted by: Tom ||
11/26/2004 12:28 Comments ||
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Lex,
Cultivating sources that have any real knowledge/power inside the world of politics will be very difficult for those in the incredibly under-funded, under resourced, under-connected world of bloggers.
I know that most bloggers simply do not have the income or job that would allow them to fly out to New York or D.C. to have a lunch with someone.
The other problem would be getting these people to talk to you. There really isn't the pay-off for them that the MSM can provide through good press on a different issue.
A website that potential contacts can go to, and drop a little info would be great for those selfless individuals.
Getting info from others will require large sums of time, and money. And, considering the limited exposure they would get from good press in the blogoshere, might not pay off for the blogger.
Now, if one could get funding from an MSM in some sort of agreement that they do not get the story, but a head start on the story, (a day or two before the blogger releases it) allowing them
to one up the competition, it might work well for both. You could be sort of a low-key Drudge. Without the silly outfits.
I would think Rupert would be the best chance for that.
Posted by: Mike ||
11/26/2004 13:36 Comments ||
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Mike your premise that the way to operate is to fly around is wrong. There are bloggers everywhere. They need to build a network of trust and cooperative inquiry. Someone who lives in NYC can lunch there. Someone who lives in Boston can dine there. Etc. It's a lot more effective, and objective, than having the MSMs paying people to fly around (and make up stories).
#24
What Kalle said. Bloggers as stringers. Thousands of 'em, all over the world.
Interesting idea re the money angle, Mike. I imagine Rupert's already sniffing around this.
#25
..Guys, as much as I want to see Kofi head out the door, we need to be careful what we wish for. I am convinced that the next UNSG will be a devout Moslem, quite possibly a Pakistani or an Iranian.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
11/26/2004 22:15 Comments ||
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#26
Mike, I can't imagine a quicker way to discredit the body in the general (US) public's eyes.
#27
Sh be a champion of democracy who overcame tyranny in his or her country. Preferably from Asia or E Europe. Maybe Havel; preferably someone with not just moral authority but also very strong administrative/managerial/ass-kicking ability.
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Inspections of Iran's nuclear program will take longer than usual owing to the country's former policy of concealment, said IAEA chief Mohamed El Baradei yesterday. In his opening speech to an IAEA Council of Governors meeting, he said: "The IAEA is presently not in a position to say that in Iran there are no undeclared nuclear materials and relevant activities." However, also according to the present stand of information, no declared nuclear materials had been rerouted for banned activities, said the general director, according to the text of his speech. El Baradei said progress had been made in two key areas, but they still had to be clarified. They were the origin of traces of enriched uranium which had been found in some installations, and the extent of Iranian efforts to import and use centrifuges of the P1 and P2 types.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2004 5:36:33 PM ||
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What, is he paid by the hour? Lol!
Sometimes it seems Elbaradai forgets he is a mere appointed functionary charged with reporting the findings of a technical unit of the UN - not the voice of the UN itself. In reality, he speaks for no one and has zero credibility. His actions / inactions / obfuscations / inconsistencies / political maneuvers have assisted in the Mad Mullah rope-a-dope routine and wasted what could turn out to be extremely valuable time. His turn is coming.
The head of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards on Thursday accused the United States of financing rebel groups fighting the Islamic regime and seeking to spark ethnic unrest along its borders. "With its presence in Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States is seeking to plot and create insecurity inside Iran and wants to encourage ethnic problems in our country," General Yahya Rahim Safavi was quoted as telling a gathering of the Revolutionary Guard's volunteer wing, the Basij militia. "In Iraq, the Americans have taken the hypocrites under their wings," he said, referring to the exiled armed opposition group the People's Mujahedeen. He alleged the United States was also supporting "counter-revolutionary groups" including the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran and the Komala, a Kurdish-Maoist group. The United States, he said, "is giving them money to create insecurity in Iran."
Where do I contribute?
"In Afghanistan, the Americans have brought together Iranian rebels to create insecurity in Sistan-Baluchestan," Iran's far southeastern province, the general told the gathering. "But the Americans should know that they will carry all hope of dominating Iran and causing insecurity in Iran to their graves," Safavi added.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2004 5:03:48 PM ||
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But the Americans should know that they will carry all hope of dominating Iran and causing insecurity in Iran to their graves
Yo, General..Ask the Z-man how it feels to have the Devil Dogs biting your butt.
#3
If we aren't, that explains a lot about the firings resignings ass-kickings from the CIA Covert Ops section. WTF have they been up to if not this type of operation??
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/26/2004 19:36 Comments ||
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Yeah, what Frank G. said.
If we in fact haven't been helping the Iranian democratic resistance groups, that omission is perhaps the single greatest failure of the Administration's post-9/11 national security policy. Rantburgers will probably remember hearing (via alternate channels such as the Blogosphere - the MSM virtually embargoed this) about huge pro-American demonstrations and candlelight vigils in Iranian cities after 9/11.
Even Nick Kristof (NYT) traveled to Iran recently and reported to his readers that young Iranians are still favorably disposed to us, hate the mullahcracy (mullah-ocracy?), and hope our forces do well against the Islamofascist insurgents in Iraq (BTW, I'd have LOVED to see how much hatemail he got from his LLL readers on that one).
If we've been doing stuff behind the scenes, great. But I'm afraid that Powell and his deputy, Mr. "Iran Is A Democracy" Armitage represent the true thrust of American policy to date. This is almost treasonably stupid, and if the Dems had been savvy enough to nominate someone from the party's Rational Adult wing *cough* Lieberman* cough*, they could have used this issue, along with numerous others, to club GWB on national security from the right flank.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
11/26/2004 22:06 Comments ||
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"I asked John Loftus (a Fox News intelligence correspondent and director of IntelCon). His answer has been confirmed by other experts on Iran. He claims that uranium enrichment centrifuges, which run at supersonic speeds, emit a unique "sound" that our intelligence satellites can detect. He believes that Iran is aware of this capability of US intelligence." I found this at Regime Change Iran. Do we have this capability? Here is the address if the link doesn't work.
Complete text is on the Opinion page as well.
Posted by: raptor ||
11/26/2004 9:59:21 AM ||
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even if we don't, why would we let them know?
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/26/2004 10:30 Comments ||
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As stated, no. Sound is not going to reach satellites. And in any case muffling or sound cancelling technology is readily available. If he meant E/M radiation, there's no problem shielding against that too. Elementary physics; Iranian engineers know this already. American reporters though . . .
Posted by: James ||
11/26/2004 10:35 Comments ||
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Maybe it's not satellites that collect the sound?
#4
Assuming there is some sort of signature detection available, the absense of signature would indicate no activity or masking enabled. Just more unknown unknowns.
Posted by: john ||
11/26/2004 11:32 Comments ||
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By bouncing a laser beam off a window, vibrations can be measured and sounds can be âheardâ. If a vibration is sufficiently distinct from the background noise, it could be detected. (Autocorrellation with a reference signal can extract very weak signals.)
Could this be done from a satellite and used to detect centrifuges? Who knows?
#6
I think it more likely that we just don't want any excuses for finding traces of enriched uranium here and there, throwing the dogs off the scent.
Posted by: Tom ||
11/26/2004 11:54 Comments ||
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One thing I do know for certain is that if they are operating centrifuges, there are no windows in the building to bounce a laser off of.
Posted by: Mike ||
11/26/2004 12:56 Comments ||
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#8
If a centrifuge is bombed in Iran, does it make a sound?
Posted by: Rafael ||
11/26/2004 12:58 Comments ||
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....Clarke's Law: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Don't forget that intelligent, educated Iraqi's are convinced that the wraparound sunglasses our guys wear are capable of seeing through walls, and that they believe each guy carries a portable air conditioner in his backpack.
Let 'em think we can 'hear' a centrifuge.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
11/26/2004 13:02 Comments ||
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I think many of you are misunderstanding idea that the centrifuges âemit a sound."
I believe John was speaking metaphorically. In other words the centrifuges product some kind of signature that our intelligence satellites can detect.
Also, I heard the same thing from several other respected sources.
#11
For verification purposes, it doesn't matter. Anything short of 'mothballing' the complex, would be in violation of the suspension. Just activate or arrange heat sensors in the area, and any rise above ambiant 'room [background]' temperatures would trigger a violation. We can 'see' heat from space or by laser detection!
#12
This centrifuge subterfuge is meaningless. The vast majority of Iranian bomb cores will come from plutonium extracted from their heavy water reactors. Either invade or get used to a nuclear armed Iran where each of the Russian supplied reactors will produce enough plutonium for 50 bombs each year.
Posted by: ed ||
11/26/2004 14:25 Comments ||
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Most likely they are space based neutrino detectors. What few people know is that the technology has progressed that these detectors can actually be made extremely small (handheld sizes).
#14
I'm going to guess high frequency back EMF detectable on the power grid.
Posted by: ed ||
11/26/2004 15:00 Comments ||
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#15
If they can be detected and located, then I hope the coordinates are being turned over to the Israelis. Maybe we'll get to see the bunker busters we sold them put to use.
#17
Valentine, I'm curious what sorts of neutrino fluxes these "hand-held" models are supposed to detect. I've done a bit of work on backgrounds for low energy gamma detection in orbiting telescopes (using liquid argon), and since the signature for neutrino interactions is similar (an electron suddenly appears in the middle of the detector), I assume that neutrino detectors would suffer from the same backgrounds.
If I were asked to guess, I'd say we get more information about Iranian refinement from people on the ground than machines in the sky. Maybe the story was put about because we're monitoring their imports of sound-cancelling devices, and hoping to trace where and how much . ..
BTW, I ran a back of the envelope calculation and I estimate a neutrino flux at 200 km up of about 200 per square meter for a kg of Plutonium-239. Given their minute interaction cross section, I suspect this sort of detector would only useful for verifying nuclear explosions, not detecting piles of radioactive material.
Posted by: James ||
11/26/2004 17:42 Comments ||
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BTW, I ran a back of the envelope calculation and I estimate a neutrino flux at 200 km up of about 200 per square meter for a kg of Plutonium-239.
Yep, that agrees with my calculations. *cough*.
#19
I am just curious has anyone read my entire article ? The focus on US intelligence is interesting, but no one seems to be commenting the substance on the article, which is what should we do?
#20
DrZ - The full range of reactions, short of a full-scale boots invasion, have been proposed here on RB. I've certainly posted in favor of two options:
a) stop-gap nuke pgm attack - certainly there must be a finite number of targets to shut the pgm down at least temporarily if the strategic chokepoint steps have been identified
b) a collaborative effort that involves full regime change:
1) decapitation strike against facilities, Black Hats, Rev Guard, Guardian Council, and Basij
2) SF to complete the taking and holding of air-attacked military hardpoints (that the armed populace would be unable to take) and important infrastructure, such as oil facilities
3) Popular armed uprising to take everything else from the Islamists - with whatever assistance they required
Of course this has a major weakness: the CIA. Has the CIA cultivated assets, contacts, etc. and prepared for a decap / uprising / regime change? From what we're reading now, I doubt it - even if it was ordered to do so. One thing I do believe is that we should have good solid intel on where the Mad Mullahs stand in their nuke pgm, missile, guidance pkg efforts - there is more than enough popular discontent for a pool of potential agents. Whether this has been handled correctly and developed is in doubt. This may just be the biggest CIA failure in history, 9/11 included, if the political shenanigans and seditious insurrection within the org has caused them to drop the ball regards Iran.
Given the discontent of the populace and the isolation of the ruling Black Hat Gov't, the Iran situation should be clearer than most we've faced.
I know we don't have the boots for an invasion, but we shouldn't need them - the population seems poised to do the job and, if handled well, we could topple the regime and neutralize the nuke pgm -- and leave the rest to them. We shall see if it has been fumbled.
#21
DR Z - as .com sez - there's been no shortage of ideas, proposals and "sinister" plans here - all resulting in immolated imams or an ayatollah hanging decoration from every street lt. It's a christmas spirit thing.....
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/26/2004 19:40 Comments ||
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#22
Thermo nuclear activities have been mentioned here as a method of stopping the mad turbans in the past. That would force the US to give up what small amount of good will left for us in the rest of the world. It may however be the only option we have left.
AFP The Israeli ambassador has criticised the French government for issuing a death certificate for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat stating his place of birth as Jerusalem. "I cannot understand how the French government agreed to issue a death certificate based on false information," ambassador Nissim Zvili told a press conference in Montpellier. Municipal officials at Clamart, the suburb of Paris where Arafat died on November 11, said they issued the document on the basis of a family record book itself issued by the French foreign ministry in 1996. The issue is symbolically important because Israel considers Jerusalem as its eternal capital, while Palestinians want to make east Jerusalem, occupied by the Jewish state since 1967, the capital of their promised state. Arafat was born Mohammed Abdel-Rawf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Hussaini, on August 4, 1929. The official version of his life history records he was born in Jerusalem. However numerous biographers agree that he was, in fact, born in Cairo, where his father, from Gaza, owned a business. And it was Egypt that hosted Arafat's funeral with full military honours.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2004 7:56:23 PM ||
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Edward Said said it was close enough...
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/26/2004 20:18 Comments ||
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Former UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix says he would be surprised if a chemical laboratory found in the Iraqi city of Falluja was capable of creating weapons.
"Pooh."
"Eh?"
"I said 'pooh.'"
"Let's see what the chemicals are," Blix told a packed gathering of the Oxford Union debating club on Thursday, after Iraqi officials said they had uncovered a chemical bomb factory in Falluja. "Many of these stories evaporate when they are looked at more closely," he told the mainly student crowd. "The chances [that the laboratory could produce weapons] are, I think, relatively small. I would be surprised if it was something real."
"Tut tut, my good man. A little deference, please! You're speaking to an expert here!"
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2004 5:47:33 PM ||
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#1
I thought that Kim Jong Il tossed this piece of shit into a shark tank. Oh, just wishful thinking in a movie.
#2
The sharks spit him back out - whether because he's a piece of shit or professional courtesy I'm not sure. This will be featured in the sequel, I'd bet.
;-)
#3
The terrorists had plenty of chemicals in Fallujah---boom chemicals. Blixie has the idiots fixation on Chem or BioWeapons. Ignore the idiot behind the curtain.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/26/2004 18:52 Comments ||
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#4
Why should anyone give two cents about what Blix the Idiot says?
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/26/2004 22:05 Comments ||
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#13
anon2 - Absolutely true in the chem area. Rather scary, in fact, how easy it is if crude is good enough. - i.e. if terror is the point, not body count.
West Bank Fatah leader Marwan Barghuthi has announced that he will not run in upcoming Palestinian elections. In a speech read on his behalf, the jailed leader said on Friday that he would instead be throwing his support behind former prime minister Mahmud Abbas. Al-Barghuthi had earlier come under pressure from Fatah to drop potentially divisive plans to run for Palestinian president from his Israeli jail cell. Palestinian cabinet minister Qaddura Faris, a member of Fatah, visited al-Barghuthi in prison on Friday to try to dissuade him from challenging its presidential nominee, Abbas. Faris told a news conference that Barghuthi appreciated Abbas' gestures, including a promise to hold long-overdue elections in Fatah next year, and would support his candidacy. "After a meeting of four hours, during which we debated this issue, Marwan Barghuthi sends this message to the Palestinian people and its fighters ... He calls on the members of the movement to support the movement's candidate, Mahmud Abbas," Faris said.
Translation: "please don't kill me!"
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2004 5:45:34 PM ||
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He sez the same thing every month or 45 days. But I shouldn't bitch. The recent efforts have been a lot better than they were just a year or two ago.
Emphasizing the need to root out terrorism, extremism and sectarianism, Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf pledged yesterday to continue anti-terror operations. He also asked Congress President Sonia Gandhi to take a more "proactive role" in thrashing out a consensus in India on the Kashmir dispute. Though his comments on the Indian leader was made to an India newspaper, Musharraf was categorical in his statement at the National Security Council saying, "The campaign to root out terrorism and extremism is very important to bring about a societal change." The NSC meeting was boycotted by Maulana Fazalur Rehman, the opposition leader in Pakistan's National Assembly.
Only to be expected. Fazl's got an interest in keeping the kettle boiling and the pot stirred.
Musharraf made it clear that the ongoing anti-terror operation in tribal region of South Waziristan and elsewhere in the country was directed against foreign terrorists and their accomplices. Recalling achievements of the security agencies in tracking down some most wanted terrorists, he said serious efforts had been made to eliminate terrorist threats. Besides hunting down a number of terrorists with links to Al-Qaeda terror network in last one year, Pakistani security forces restricted terrorist movement in the tribal region of South Waziristan, where 246 people including 100 militants were killed in last eight months.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2004 5:40:11 PM ||
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Al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden cannot be hiding in Pakistan's tribal lands on the Afghan border as Pakistani forces have combed the area and found no hint of him, a Pakistani army commander said yesterday. Bin Laden and his bodyguards could not go undetected in the rugged tribal lands, although pockets of Al Qaeda-backed fighters are battling Pakistani forces there, said Lt.-Gen. Safdar Hussain. "He requires his own protection and the kind of security apparatus he is supposed to have around would give us a very big signature," Hussain said in an interview here. "There is not an inch of South Waziristan agency or the tribal area which we have not swept time and again and if he was here, I assure you he could not have escaped my ears and eyes." Hussain is military chief of northwest Pakistan and heads a campaign to clear out Al-Qaeda militants, most of whom took refuge in Pakistan's lawless border lands after US-led forces captured the Tora Bora mountains in eastern Afghanistan in late 2001.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2004 5:37:44 PM ||
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Interesting...if true, this would support the various citings and reports of his 'lodging' in Iran under the protective custody of the Mullahs!
Abdul Jalil Mustafa, Arab News
The Jordanian government yesterday welcomed the reported US Defense Department's decision to sell Amman anti-aircraft missiles to Jordan despite opposition by Israel. "We highly appreciate the US administration's approval of the deal and we believe that we have the right to possess the suitable defense system," Culture Minister and official government spokesperson Asma Khader said. The Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency said Wednesday that it had notified Congress about the proposed $39 million advanced medium range air-to-air missiles deal. "The proposed sale will enhance the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a key regional partner who has proven to be a vital force for political stability and peace in the Middle East," the agency said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2004 5:35:07 PM ||
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Jordan has the only pilots in the Mideast, other than Israel, that could make use of AMRAAMs. Fortunately the Jordanians are rational enough to not contemplate trying to use them against Israel. However, that said, there is no shortage of miscreants in the neighborhood whose air forces could provide suitable targets for Jordanian AMRAAMs.
Syria's peace overture to Israel appears designed to win favor in the international community, which has put mounting pressure on Damascus over its dominance of neighboring Lebanon and allegations it is playing a role in the Iraq insurgency. UN Middle East envoy Terje Roed-Larsen said yesterday he would visit Israel next week to discuss an overture by Syrian President Bashar Assad to renew peace talks with the Jewish state. "I will visit Israel next week...I will listen carefully to what they have to say on the basis of my talks with the president of Syria yesterday," Larsen told journalists after a meeting with Lebanese Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud in Beirut.
The UN envoy said "any peace...have to be based on the relevant Security Council resolutions and the principle of land for peace and my understanding is very clearly that beyond that there is absolutely no condition." Roed-Larsen on Wednesday said that Bashar was ready to reopen negotiations with Israel stalled since 2000 "without conditions", an offer immediately slapped down by Israel.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2004 5:30:06 PM ||
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Hisham Abu Taha, Arab News
Jailed intifada leader Marwan Barghouti yesterday threw January's Palestinian election wide open when he announced his intention to run for president. Barghouti's decision, conveyed to Fatah leaders through his lawyer, risked a major split within the movement whose leaders have already given their backing to Palestine Liberation Organization chief Mahmoud Abbas.
"Two candidates? Running against each other? Impossible! Whoever heard of such a thing?"
The news emerged hours before the umbrella Fatah Revolutionary Council rubberstamped moderate former Prime Minister Abbas as the official candidate for the election. Other members of Fatah's Higher Committee, which is still officially headed by Barghouti, confirmed that the jailed leader had decided to run. The traditionally conservative Fatah Central Committee, which is the organization's most senior body, decided Tuesday that 69-year-old Abbas should be its candidate to replace Yasser Arafat.
"He's likely to croak before Marwan does, especially once the campaigning's under way..."
The Higher Committee, however, is dominated by supporters of the 45-year-old Barghouti who is seen as the inspiration behind the intifada. As the Revolutionary Council, which brings together both wings of Fatah, stuck with Abbas as its choice, Barghouti will likely run as an independent. Abbas, who took over the PLO after Arafat's death on Nov. 11, lacks Barghouti's strong popular power base, but he is favored as a future peacemaker by Israel and the United States. Palestinian observers say Barghouti stands a good chance of winning the ballot, drawing support from mainstream voters as well as Islamists who oppose Abbas' call to end the uprising. Barghouti's bid to succeed Arafat could also bring international pressure on Israel to free the West Bank Fatah leader it jailed in June for five life terms over the killings of Israelis by militants.
I've no doubt. Any excuse will do...
Israeli President Moshe Katsav, who would have the ultimate say on whether Barghouti should be pardoned and freed, did not rule out such a possibility in an interview published yesterday. "If he applies for a pardon, I will discuss it," Katsav told the Maariv daily.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2004 5:18:35 PM ||
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Commence installing the fortified yardsigns, start handing out the Barghouti in 2005 AK-47 clips.
Al Qaeda is believed to have called its followers to action in response to the massively attended vote last month that elected President Hamid Karzai, said a top US commander. A sign that Al Qaeda followers may be slipping back into the country was a recent discovery of a bomb-making operation in eastern Nangarhar province by a small group of Arab fighters killed in an encounter with US forces, said Major General Eric Olson, second in command of US forces here. "I think there now is a call out to do something to reverse the momentum that right now is going in the direction of freely elected governments," Gen Olson said in an interview here late Wednesday. He spoke to two reporters travelling with Gen John Abizaid, chief of the US Central Command, who arrived on Wednesday to meet commanders and visit with troops on the US Thanksgiving holiday.
Gen Abizaid's visit coincided with the killing of two US soldiers, and the wounding of a third by a roadside bomb in south central Uruzgan province, the latest in a surge of attacks on coalition forces. Gen Olson said, "There is a lot of recrimination and finger pointing about the failure to get something going, some kind of spectacular event. There are some groups that splintered off from the mainstream of the Taliban. They are going to try their own way. On the other end of the spectrum we've had Taliban fighters come to us, and tell us that they are through, they want to come over and they will put down their arms and stop fighting."
"What we see in most of Afghanistan is not a direct presence of Al Qaeda themselves, but Pakistanis certainly fighters who support Al Qaeda," said Gen Olson. "For example, the Arab fighters who were recently killed in Nangarhar province were fighters who could be classified as fighters who were supporting Al Qaeda. I don't think we ought to underestimate what's left of them. I think that Al Qaeda itself is still a viable organisation. It still has several key leaders who are still out there, who are still communicating, still giving guidance and direction. Bin Laden has not been recorded as giving guidance directly himself, but we've got reason to believe he's doing it indirectly." Al Qaeda's top leaders are believed to be hiding in Pakistan's rugged tribal areas along its mountainous border with Afghanistan, according to US military officials.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2004 4:53:53 PM ||
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Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan on Thursday rejected a New York Times' report that Dr AQ Khan had provided nuclear weapons' design to Iran and said that it was the writer's own 'creative insertions'. "The writer of the report has spun a strange web, based on flimsy evidence, hearsay, and snippets of conversations. The CIA report does not mention any designs for weapons or bomb making components," said the spokesman while commenting on the report.
The spokesman said that the excerpt of the CIA report, as quoted by the New York Times stated that "The AQ Khan network provided Iran with designs for Pakistan's older centrifuges as well as designs for more advanced and efficient models and components". Unrelated statements attributed to unnamed officials or to former CIA director George Tenet did not make up for the writer's unsubstantiated claims about the weapon's design supply to Iran, he added. The spokesman recalled that in the past year, Pakistan had conducted an inquiry to unearth an illicit network of international blackmarketeers, dismantled it, and had shared the results of the inquiry transparently with the Pakistani people. He said Pakistan had been cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency and the international community to thwart international blackmarketeers from proliferating sensitive nuclear technology.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2004 4:24:31 PM ||
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#1
Who cares about the NYT part - Khan should be greased. Every time I read he's still breathing it pisses me off to the max. It is sad that he can only die once, since he will ultimately be the prime factor in thousands of deaths. Somebody put this dog down... hard...
Ten leading Iraqi parties, including Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's movement, demanded that elections scheduled for January 30 be postponed by six months. These parties, led by former presidential candidate and senior Sunni statesman Adnan Pachachi, signed a joint statement arguing that elections should be postponed by six months to allow an improvement of the security conditions. They just don't seem to get it do they... delaying elections will increase terrorism in Iraq, not decrease it. I thought Allawi, of any Iraqis, would know that. Unless of course this is a ploy for him to remain in power, but I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt and just calling him incompetant.
#1
This is a power grab, pure and simple. Chalabi turned out to be a snake in the grass. Allawi may be the next false messiah to go. Note that he worked for Saddam before having a falling-out. The common denominator is that there is no common denominator. Whether someone worked or did not work for Saddam appears to have little bearing on the kind of leader he will turn out to be. My response to this is to look at the stage entrance and yell "Next"...
#3
Sunni or Shiite, it doesn't matter, they banded together to fight against the US during the insurgent uprisings! This is a war of attrition, they will delay and stall; 'hit & run' just to keep us there to pick us off 2 at a time for the next 20 years (with total appeasement from the public)!
The US needs to get more of the world in there to share the death while democracy takes a foothold, or declare Iraq 'in anarchy', and impliment a final solution for acquiescence. The only other alternative is to pull out in vain like in Vietnam and let the country to into an Islamic Theocracy!
#4
The US needs to get more of the world in there to share the death..
I don't see how this could be brought about. If some others didn't want to stand up and be counted before, what makes the situation any different now where those same nations actually would sign on?
The advantage of having taken on the bulk of the task though, is that since we are doing most of the lifting, then we get to determine what is to be done.
#5
I read the NYT article which says that, in addition to the Pachachi and Allawi groups, both Kurdish parties have called for a postponement. WTF? What is al-Sistani going to say about this? I thought the Shia wanted quick elections to legitimize their control. Is Allawi ready to take on al-Sistani? Or is Sistani going to back down? Very interesting stuff, and not very encouraging. I'm looking for some good informed analysis of this, but haven't found any yet. Weird.
Insurgents in Fallujah claim that they have reorganised after a massive US-Iraqi onslaught against the rebel city and are resuming their attacks. "After reorganising, the Mujahedeen resumed their attacks on Wednesday with the aim of shattering the myth of the invincibility of the coalition forces, and the traitors and collaborators who are under the orders of Allawi and Naqib," a statement said. The statement, issued by the Mujahedeen Council, refers to Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and Interior Minister Falah Naqib. Both are staunch supporters of the vast operation, which was launched on November 8 to root out insurgents entrenched in Fallujah.
It is largest military operation in Iraq since last year's 2003 US-led invasion. It aimed to crush the main hub of the insurgency in the country, which has been seen as one of the main obstacles to holding viable polls in January 2005. While the bulk of the operation is over, the US military has reported there are pockets of insurgents in some parts of Fallujah. It is trying to prevent the rebels from regrouping inside and outside the city. Iraq's national security adviser, Qassem Daoud, claims that more than 2,000 people have been killed in the assault and more than 1,600 captured. The Mujahedeen statement, posted on an Islamist web site, claims that clashes took place in northern Fallujah in recent days. "The Mujahedeen will teach a memorable lesson to the collaborators who sold Iraq and prove to Arab regimes that only the language of guns and martyrs makes a difference," it said.
Posted by: tipper ||
11/26/2004 8:54:31 AM ||
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#1
I'd think if they had really regrouped they'd be showing it through action rather announcements. They can run but they can't hide. :)
#4
"We are the invincible Lions of the Desert - Warriors of the Two Rivers and Three Dollars! When I mobilize the other 5 mujahideen, the Marines will quake with fear! We will be there as soon as we receive medical attention and more Holy Ammo!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/26/2004 10:03 Comments ||
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#5
Actually, technically, regrouping is a sign of military defeat and a sign the enemy is going over to the defense. Works for the jarheads I would guess. All they need now are coordinates for the gun bunnies.
#6
"The Mujahedeen will teach a memorable lesson to the collaborators who sold Iraq and prove to Arab regimes that only the language of guns and martyrs makes a difference,"
They are only happy irritating everybody and everything , I think some corners which were with them are turning round to our side now . Sounds like they are planning more kidnappings , hostage taking and executing local and national government figures , as this is their best form of attack to destabilize Iraq . Basically , after Fallujah , thats all they are capable of , 4 man hit teams .
#11
"Okay, which one of youse guys has an extra arm?"
Posted by: Matt ||
11/26/2004 14:18 Comments ||
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#12
It's time to reassess the use of napalm and flame-throwers. We need to teach these "holy warriors" just how mean, evil, wicked, bad, nasty, cruel and heartless US warriors can be, instead of playing PC games and abiding by a convention the islamonutcases sneer at. A few crispy kritters a day would make quite an impression on them. The world has forced us to wear boxing gloves in this war, because it fears us. It's time to take the gloves off and and prove that fear is justified.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/26/2004 14:27 Comments ||
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#13
Frank G - Lol!
Here's the updated Sedan of Death⢠- complete with an alternative escape capability.
#14
OP - Amen. Getting tired, yet, lol? We've been talking about how this was what would work for, oh, about 18-24 months now... and finally the Sunni Triangle has had a teensy taste of what we could do - in one city - and the effect is significant. And it was done wearing those damned gloves, as you pointed out... It's a whole 'nuther thing if we get to take them off, and bounce the bouncing rubble of every "hotbed" of stupidity in Al Anbar.
To the Iraqi Shi'a: You're welcome. Enjoy the show?
American: "You have regrouped? Nice. Could you regroup a bit tighter"
Jihadi: "Like that, filthy kaffir?"
American: "Yes, now all of you are in the balst radius of a single JDAM. I hate to waste tax payer's money".
#16
Echoing .com....Fallujah got a righteous pounding, and the WP Arty rounds were just what the doctor ordered. All those melted bodies had the desired impact on the muj - they had no idea what hit them. They gotta be wondering what else we have in the ol' quiver.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
11/26/2004 14:45 Comments ||
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#17
Talk is cheap. They should prove that they've regrouped and stage some more attacks. The big risk though, is that they'll lose more "co-workers".
The latest issue of US news magazine Newsweek has been banned in Pakistan for publishing material that "desecrates the Koran". A district magistrate in the capital, Islamabad, ordered all copies of the 22 November issue to be destroyed.
"Burn those heathen works!"
The issue contains an article about murdered Dutch film-maker Theo Van Gogh and pictures of a woman with Koranic verses inscribed on her body. Islamic parties said the article showed Western bias against Muslims. Magistrate Tariq Mahmood Pirzada said the article, Clash of Civilisations, "contained some objectionable remarks which are tantamount to desecration of the Koran". Authorities said they were considering legal action against the publication, although they gave no further details.
"We can say no more!"
The ban may have little effect on sales - the 22 November issue has already been superseded by the 29 November edition. An Islamabad vendor told Associated Press Television News the 22 November issue had sold 50% more than other editions of the magazine.
"Lemme see! Lemme see! Oh, by Allan, that really hurts my feelings! I wish I hadn't seen that!"
The Dawn newspaper said the article was a "naked attack on Muslims' faith. It hurts the feelings of over a billion inhabitants of this Earth".
"Hurt feelings lead anger, anger leads to seething, seething leads to decapitation!"
Van Gogh, 47, had made a controversial film critical of Islamic culture. Intended to illustrate domestic violence in Muslim societies, it featured images of Koranic verses daubed on semi-naked women. He was shot and stabbed to death in Amsterdam on 2 November. Several men, all believed to be Islamic radicals, have been arrested in connection with his death. The alleged killer is Mohammed Bouyeri, a 26-year-old Dutch-Moroccan. Mosques in several Dutch cities have been the targets of vandalism and failed arson attempts since the killing.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/26/2004 8:26:44 AM ||
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A few years ago, this would have been of some interest. But we hear this so often now, it's become like background noise - except in that it further consolidates views about Islam.
OT: Just watching something on TV about an Islamic 'holy warrior' called Timor (sp?) from Tashkent. Summary: 200,000 heads severed in Delhi, and 70,000 heads built into towers at Isfahan in Persia. Nice bloke...
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
11/26/2004 9:36 Comments ||
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Uganda's main rebel group has responded to a government call to state its commitment to peace talks, amidst confusion over a ceasefire. A senior commander of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) told the BBC that it wanted to end the 18-year conflict through peaceful means. President Yoweri Museveni urged the LRA to make such a statement when he announced a ceasefire in the north. It is not clear whether the ceasefire has been extended until next week.
Or if anyone would abide by it.
Information Minister James Nsaba Buturo said that the truce would now last until Monday night. However, on Friday morning, the army denied that the ceasefire had been extended. Mr Buturo said that rebels had started to assemble in agreed locations but that more time was needed for other fighters to respond. Any extension should be announced by President Museveni, who is out of the country. Announcing the rebel's commitment, Brigadier Sam Kolo said he was speaking with the authority of LRA leader Joseph Kony.
So Sam, how is old Joe? We ain't heard from him in a while.
He also appealed to the government to broaden the area of the ceasefire to cover northern Uganda and southern Sudan. Brigadier Kolo said talks with former minister Betty Bigombe, who is mediating between the two sides, have been cordial - and he stated that if that spirit is maintained, he believes the conflict can come to a peaceful end. Following a brief visit to Uganda by a mission from the United Nations Security Council, a coalition of local and international organisations has strongly criticised the mission for not focusing attention on northern Uganda. Some civil society groups have also accused the army of trying to undermine the peace efforts by highlighting recent rebel attacks.
That last sentance tells you where those society groups stand.
Posted by: Steve ||
11/26/2004 8:20:20 AM ||
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A 72-year-old Oklahoma grandmother is preparing to become one of the oldest US military staff to go to Iraq. Lena Haddix, from Lawton, a military wife for nearly 30 years, says she volunteered for the Iraq mission. "I wanted to do something for the country, because I was always left behind taking care of the children," Ms Haddix told the Associated Press. Her five children, eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren all discouraged her but to no avail. "I just see so many of the boys. They're like little kids. They keep telling me, 'I'm going over, ... I would just like to go over and be with them." "the oldest US military staff to go to Iraq" ROFL
Posted by: Murat ||
11/26/2004 4:46:20 AM ||
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#1
She'll likely be training the Kurds in waste Turk management.
#2
Hmmm, doubt that even Kurds liked to be trained by your granny, SM traing?
Posted by: Murat ||
11/26/2004 9:42 Comments ||
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Don't laugh, Murat. She can probably whip your butt at just about anything. I know I'd be willing to put my wife's 78-year-old mother up against you. She keeps a schedule of swimming, college courses, gardening, etc. that would wear out most of us. She has outlived two husbands so far and is dating again.
Posted by: Tom ||
11/26/2004 10:02 Comments ||
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#4
I know I'd be willing to put my wife's 78-year-old mother up against you. She keeps a schedule of swimming, college courses, gardening, etc. that would wear out most of us. She has outlived two husbands so far and is dating again.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's largest coalition partner threatened to quit Thursday, raising the possibility of early elections that could endanger his plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip next year. The secular-rights Shinui Party warned that it would leave the government if Sharon gives in to financial demands by a small religious party in return for much-needed support in upcoming budget votes.
Sharon lost a majority in the parliament earlier this year, with hawks defecting in protest over the Gaza plan. In recent months, he has tried to expand his coalition. The prime minister faces critical votes on the proposed 2005 state budget as early as next week. Failure to approve the budget could bring down his government. Sharon's Likud Party has been negotiating with the United Torah Judaism Party, offering to increase funding to their religious institutions. Sharon initially also courted Labor. However, the prime minister told Labor leader Shimon Peres earlier this week that he could not invite the party into the coalition because of strong opposition in his right-wing Likud Party. Labor had provided a parliamentary "safety net" to Sharon's government in recent months to ensure he could implement the Gaza withdrawal. However, in response to Sharon's refusal, Labor said it would withdraw the safety net.
Shinui leader Yosef Lapid said he'll urge Sharon to ignore the Likud hardliners and to invite Labor. A Likud-Shinui-Labor coalition would be best equipped to push ahead with the Gaza plan, Lapid said. If instead Sharon invites religious parties, at a price of increased funding for religious institutions, Shinui will quit, Lapid told Israel Army Radio. "We've reached the breaking point," he said. "There's no reason for me to stay in a government that is willing to capitulate (to religious parties)."
The government hopes to pass the 2005 budget in its first reading next week, but has the support of only between 55 and 57 seats in the 120-member in the parliament. Support of the five lawmakers of the United Torah Judaism Party would help Sharon pass the budget, although three Likud lawmakers have threatened to vote against it. The parliament must pass the budget in three readings by December 31 or risk causing damage to the economy. The government falls if the budget does not pass by March 31.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/26/2004 12:00:00 AM ||
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Posted by: Michael Sheehan ||
11/26/2004 23:31 ||
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#1
Boy does this writer get it. It's "A World Gone Stupid" in many ways, including wildly distorted perceptions of US military action, and it's only getting worse. And on this topic the western media are sometimes barely distinguishable from the crude propaganda operations that have helped cripple Arab and Third World ability to comprehend the planet they live on.
#2
Amen. "Janan Ganesh is a freelance writer" - if The Times had any institutional sense, they'd change the author's status, tuit suite. Spot-on and my only regret is that the article is so limited in scope and length. Thx, Michael Sheehan!
#3
The western media are dominated by a catechism that froze in the minds of adolescent leftists around 1968: Chomsky Lite.
These buffoons have next to no grasp of military tactics or exigencies in general, let alone the phenomenally advanced and exceptionally careful operating procedures of today's American military. For the MSM jokers, every conflict involving America is a battle between national liberationists and "yankee imperialists." Every American sortie or bombing raid is an example of the cowardice of the pampered American soldier, who can only fight from 10,000 feet in the air. Conversely, any bitterly contested, ground battle involving American (or Israeli) troops is another Stalingrad. American wars in the middle east are always "about oil." If America attacks Saddam but not Iran, it's because Iraq is a weak and small country and Iran is a big and powerful one willing to stand up to the US bully.
As absurd, incoherent and utterly detached from reality as this catechism may be, the fact is that the media have been flooded with 1968er know-nothings and groupthinkers for so many years that they dominate hiring, promotions and editorial functions across the major newsmedia in the US and Europe. It would take a generation of fresh talent to displace their moronic memes from the headlines of the NYT, the Guardian, the Beeb, Le Monde, Der Spiegel etc. Much better is to use new technology to sidestep them entirely and go directly to the big audiences, which are for audio on demand and streaming video.
This is too important to leave to the aging 1968er children. There's a war on, and the MSM's incompetence and foolish, reflexive memes are actively undermining this war.
Smash the MSM. Source and report our own stories using people who actually know how the military operates, how the UN flounders, how people in "red" America actually make political choices, how Iraqis really think.
#4
lex - I recommend a notion for your consideration. It's a 2-part approach to get your idea off the ground. I look at The Command Post and sigh: good idea, incredibly weak execution.
Part 1: Take their "collective" approach and organize it efficiently as a family of blogs cum outlets - each run by an individual of impeccable credentials regards an important topic and playing editor to N contributors, ala Diplomad. Make it Rantburg-like in format so the feedback becomes part of the story - so much expertise sitting idle at some many other sites, is gainfully employed here. Anyway, it's a starting point for a blog newsbureau structure.
Part 2: Something I've suggested to multiple site managers, including Fred (who brushed me off like lint, heh - but shouldn't have *finger wag*), with no obvious takers: Timelines. The key to understanding is context. They key to dismissing memes of bullshit is facts within context. The key to learning, to anticipating, to predicting is history in context. The best way to present that is via timelines. They save you from wasting time on the screecher moonbats and they convince the ignorant who take the time to immerse themselves in the facts and context of a moment to make sense and give perspective to decisions and events.
Just a thought burning within - and relevant for the confidence and reputation aspects your idea's incarnation will someday face. Gotta kick the pajamahadeen thing sooner or later.
#5
Who ascertains the facts? Who provides the history? How are the fact-verifiers and hisotrians selected or designated? Is this just another version of AP?
I was also thinking about this. My footing is rather in techie stuff.
There are two ways how the new type of media may take a hold...
A) In an organic way--somehow it will come together by natural evolution;
B) Someone would anticipate the trends, nudge a bit here and there and become self-made murdoch (not necessarily an individual, rather a group of people).
Email me, you two. I'll setup a private space where we can discuss things.
And .com, Lex's question was not dismissive. It presents some problems that need to be adressed if the concept and later the venture is to be a success.
#8
Cornîliës - Ask yourself why you believe whomever you believe. The blogosphere certainly contains some believable sources, no? Else you wouldn't be here. So why do you give credence to an Internet source? Credentials? That it has been read and, if found lacking, given a fisking - by hundreds or thousands, certainly some of whom have serious expertise? The blogoshphere offers a unique environment - one that is self-correcting, regards facts, particularly if the comments are open and allow anonymity. It is the ultimate fact ascertainer / checker, it is Occam's Razor x 100000, and in conjunction with the medium, the Internet, it is the ultimate historian. I think the only question not obviously answered was the "Is this just another version of AP?"
There has to be a starting point. The Diplomad blog was so refreshing (it's easy to forget nothing is utterly uniform) and obviously useful it filled a gaping hole in one of the hottest topics hereabouts - and prompted my comment. With enough of the major pieces covered - by real experts, people who know their field and have the anonymity to speak freely - it hit me that, perhaps, enough people in enough disciplines with enough expertise are indeed available now to make a collective blognewsbureau work. Each component must generate its own credibility - and maintain it. Command Post has a collective approach, but I visit it less and less, rather than more & more, becasue I just don't like the way it works, how it's presented, the registration now req'd, etc.
I added an external component, a set of stand-alone bona-fides, in the form of timelines. Each area of expertise would need to create its own timeline of relevant events, which could be fleshed out over time to provide the minutia and linkages a true doubter might demand. It would serve in many ways, particularly as a factual check and meme-buster.
Is this all new? No. It's a place to start, that's all, and an organized approach with the greatest truth-verification process ever invented: thousands upon thousands of pairs of eyes who are free to challenge anything, anonymously, or provide additional detail and background.
Okay, enough. This is all obvious, I just don't recall seeing it all said in one place 'round these parts. I'm not trying to be anyone's buddy - or enemy, I'm doing what I would hope others would do if I had thrown down a gauntlet numerous times, as lex has done. When he gets over his indigestion or whatever, he can take this at face value, use it, shit on it, or jump off a cliff. RB was here long before either of us showed up and there's nothing being said that hasn't been said, at least in part, a hundred times before. We're just weaving the bits together - and I was just trying to help.
#9
I was going to mail lex on this subject later, but i'll happily copy others if they are interested (pxbradley@excite.com). The insight that hit me (and like all important insights its obvious when you see it) is the article covering what has happened in the 24H cycle is dead, as is the need to fit it into 20 column inches. A story becomes a thread over time with a number of components - breaking facts, background/history, context, analysis (from different perspectives), fisking and of course comments.
.com, I agree that Command Post is the closest of the sites I visit, but I have no doubt that it can be improved.
Otherwise what I intended to communicate to lex is a process to get from here to there, while being flexible about where 'there' is. You can't even begin to think about sourcing your own news without a platform to communicate it.
#10
The format's the key. Show the evolution of the article graphically, like a decision tree, with tons of hyperlinks that allow the reader to drill into background on the author, on the subject, on the context. Create "hubs" around expert "authorities" and allow those hubs and authorities to interact with, link to, benefit from other, parallel hubs and authorities.
Anyone here have a bgrd in collaboration software?
phil has my email - for ref. it's tom_p_mclaughlin at yahoo
#11
w/o picking bits and pieces of what's right and wrong above I would like to applaud the overall idea, point out that the blogs (this one especially) are already doing this to a great extent and add (caution, controversy coming) you NEED the MSM as part of this. OK, before you all stone me, not the "MSM" per se, but they are the grist for this truth mill. And frankly I believe the existence of the blogs is already having a beneficial effect on them, since they (the smarter ones) are realizing they will be fisked at every turn.
Dan Rather inadvertantly became a major impetus for this movement...of course his intentions weren't exactly honorable. But his (and CBS') ham-handed attempt to slip one (more) over on us ignited the blogs like nothing before. But since the bloggers aren't generally going to do their own news reporting, they are more valuable as a validation and expansion of the news than the actual launching of it.
Just random thoughts...up early (West Coast) and still bloated from Thanksgiving. Speaking of which...Happy (late) Thanksgiving to ya'll!!!
#12
#4 [Sniff!] I didn't brush you off -- never have, never will. So there.
I'm stuck with two constraints: bandwidth and time. Bandwidth is the reason there's no video and such pictures as we have are highly compressed and only recently introduced. Bandwidth is a problem that can be solved, as will eventually happen, by simply buying more every month.
Time is the big one. I work 8-12 hours a day, depending on project status, sleep 4-8 hours a night, piss away another hour or two on dinner, family, that sort of thing, and spend most of the rest on Rantburg. Steve, Steve and Emily have similar constraints. I've got a half dozen features on this site that're half-finished or neglected. Maintaining Thugburg and the Organizations List would be a full-time job in itself.
Up until about the time of the war, I tried to keep something like a timeline going by linking back to the last significant happening on a subject. When the number of articles to keep track of got too big to do that efficiently, I added in the search functions for organizations and people, so that you'd get everything we had on them in chronological order. And I've added in the Never-ending Story to try and maintain the timeline and weed out the background noise. I haven't had time to bring it up to date since September, so Yasser's still alive and the election hasn't happened yet and Fallujah's still unthumped. I have to add yet another button to the editors' control panel to pop an article onto the list.
On the larger subject, blogs aren't going to replace AP, Rooters, AFP, etc., in their hard news capacities. Somebody's got to go sit in the hotel bar and retype press releases. Every once in awhile a tiny percentage will actually head into the field and do some actual good (or perhaps just as often bad) reporting. Blogs are better suited to analyzing the nuggets of fact that come out of that exercise, making sense of them, and pointing out which are cBS-quality.
What I'd like to see is a collaboration among blogs. There's an awful lot of them, more than one person can read in a day, much less make sense of. That's why I'd like to see more title links to good blog articles on the WoT, and guest posts of hard news articles by other bloggers. Headland is trying to do that, though he's got to start including links to the original posts.
And don't forget to cc me, Phil. I'm always looking for ideas to make Rantburg better.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/26/2004 8:55 Comments ||
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#13
"Anyone here have a bgrd in collaboration software?"
Well, not that it is my speciality, but when I have to... Challenge never did hurt me.
I can setup an email list or message board so we don't steal RB's bandwidth. Whichever would be more preferrable.
.com, despite your 'special relationship' with lex :-), I would like you to participate, please email me your addy. I am sure that hot buttons can be cryonized.
#15
I've been working on the overall concepts you all are talking about but have a looong ways to go. You do need the main stream press, it's the only way to get the facts short of having your own reporters in place.
The key is to sift the truth from the twisted truth and other anti-war, U.S. and west propaganda and present it in a decent format and I've found it very difficult to find a format I'm happy with.
Your all right about it being very time consuming to go through the various articles and sift out the rewrite it all to publish. I was making an effort to do this during the Fallujah operation and found it taking so much time that I was ignoring other parts of the blog.
I agree with Fred that the ultimate goal of a blog should be to sift and expose the lies and twisted truths that are common in the msm, but I also think that a blog can bring out stories that are lost in massive flow of information. That second concept was the original intent of my blog and where I'm going to try and take it back to along with a general overview of the days events and a ton of links so that people can educate themselves.
I'd love to be in any private conversation you guys have on this. Email is whershey@comcast.net.
#16
That's why I'd like to see more title links to good blog articles on the WoT, and guest posts of hard news articles by other bloggers. Headland is trying to do that, though he's got to start including links to the original posts.
Fred -- I'm trying on headland to find articles that are interesting to those following the WoT, but articles that are typically on proprietary sites, and thus cannot be found on a simple Google News search. I then paraphrase a portion of the meat of the article, to keep well within the boundaries of fair use of copyright, and then usually end with a comment. Occasionally, I may miss a publicly accessible version of the same article, though, at least once in recent days, the publicly accessible version was on a site that did not obviously have a legal right to quote the entire article verbatim. I know that the readers in the blogosphere expect to have a link to the original, so that they can read it for themselves, and are justifiably suspicious of a site that doesn't give such a source. So, here's my dilemma: find information that many cannot access and share the important bits -- or stick to publicly accessible information that anyone can find for themselves. I think sites like Rantburg are an excellent clearing house for the articles in the second category. People shouldn't come to a single blogger and expect to find the breadth that can be provided at a board like this one. So, I see the role I can play on a little blog to be the first of those two tasks. When I don't know a source to be in the public domain, I now see I need to make explicit note of that. If I'm wrong, a reader can give a link to the original in a comment.
#17
Ironic that in post about linking, I'd mess up the link to my own website by leaving out the 'http:' prefix. I see the link is in the signature line, so that will do.
Rantburg "works" for me (and it works very, very well indeed) because of its formula of links to "hard news" articles + reader commentary. Change that formula significantly, and Rantburg no longer "works"-- for me, anyway.
And allowing linking to blogs at Rantburg would be just such a change, unless it were handled very carefully-- such as putting such links (like to headlands, for example) in a separate section. We already have "Page 1", "Page 2", and "Opinion"; I see nothing wrong with setting aside another section, "In The Blogosphere" if you will, for links to blogs. But please, PLEASE let's not start mixing blog links in with the hard news items, willy-nilly; do that, and Rantburg in my opinion is destroyed.
And keep in mind that if we begin linking to large number of blog articles here-- whether it's done in a separate section as above, or with blogs links mixed in with hard news-- referrer tracking is eventually going to lead to an ENORMOUS increase in the number of commenters here. Do we really want that?
One last opinion: I would propose an absolute, no-exceptions-whatsoever, TOTAL prohibition on people posting links to their own blogs here; allowing that invites abuse from people who only want to drive up their own hit counts by piggybacking on Rantburg's readership.
There. FWIW. Dave D. OUT.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
11/26/2004 13:21 Comments ||
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#20
I'm interested in talking about RB, now. It is my primary news source and my only real concern. Everyone who wants can work the other game, I'm no longer interested.
Fred - That was a good-natured *finger wag* - I commented on some threads a couple of times and got no response, so yeah, lint. The key is as you said: time. I see "content area" (for lack of a better term) as being responsible for their own timeline - no one person could do it, unless it was a full-time job, and maybe not even then. The "Never-Ending Story" is an across-the-board timeline, making it useful in the broad WoT info game - your focus - but not really as a tool for proving points, meme-busting, etc. It would take a book to describe what I had in mind regards timelines, it seems, so I'll leave it there.
Rantburg is the only interactive newspaper on the 'Net. Period. Lucianne comes closest, particularly in content level, but Fred's software blows everyone away because of presentation / accessibility to content, ease of feedback, ease of contribution of new articles, etc. Absolutely all of the other "big" sites have significant / fatal failings. InstaPuppy has little depth - it's mainly a "tip sheet" and doesn't pretend to be more. Lucianne has limited feedback and poor presentation / accessibility / collaboration features, LGF only covers 5-10 stories per day - almost all of its value comes via feedback - and registration kills certain avenues of information. Command Post went from hundreds of comments to a piddling few now - primarily due to registration, I presume, and a very poor presentation portal. Sans an XML aggregator, nothing comes close to RB's features, functionality, and level of content. IMHO, nothing else is worth warm spit, relatively speaking, for a quick "take" or instantaneous feedback... It only lacks the related links for drilling down for further detail, which are occasionally provided by the commenters. If there were some means of adding a set of "related content" links it would be light-years ahead of everyone else as an information source / investigative resource.
As for collaboration software - and other capabilities, such as Social Network Analysis to find "hidden" relationships between individuals, events, etc. (something I'm sure Dan Darling and others are interested in using...) - there exist many tools... but I suspect that for RB, it would require something at least semi-custom as tools such as the aggregators seem to be unable to deal with the sheer level of RB content, while losing the functionality. In essence, I would guess that the desirable end is more likely a family of RB's with a top-level summary RB (its own aggregator, in effect) as the primary portal. CP has, after a fashion, organized itself this way with a "timeliness" approach - only the most recent N stories are shown at the top level and only the one before and one following within an article - and fails miserably, IMHO.
The more info that is "hidden" (there, but inaccessible without drilling down), the less effective the site. Flat sites, though the content may initially seem overwhelming (a presentation issue, actually), beat the shit out of pyramid sites which obscure the available content. RB rocks in this regard - and the top-level should not lose its best feature, ala CP. There is a balance in there somewhere - or not changing the info level, just changing the presentation by simple means, such as font size, to break content sections visually.
Note that RB content presentation bears no resemblance to newspapers - it is a pseudo (when posted has no bearing on when the news "broke") chronological presentation with only one differentiating criteria, Pg1 vs. Pg2. In essence, itâs a "breaking news" approach just as the news services (AP, AFP, UPI, et al) use - only hugely interactive and "collaborative" since contributions are accepted. More content-related presentation, visually, might be the way to manage the level of posting we're seeing now. Inserting the content sections as headers, with a 2-point font-size change between sections and its subordinate articles, and articles displayed chronologically within each section, would be more traditional - and intuitive: newspapers evolved over time to their format for a reason, after all.
Visual content and the raw reportage content - both requiring on-the-scene presence - will continue to be the MSM's forte for the forseeable future. The analysis and fabrication of the new resulting big picture, with this info woven in, will be the function of the "new" media which will be Internet (or whatever the future holds) based, as it is now. No one with a brain relies upon the MSM for the analysis... you have to apply a filter as dense as the MSM editor, heh.
That's my $0.02 at this point. Oh - I wish those who pursue the alternative news effort the best of luck. You're smart people and you'll figure out the best approach, I have no doubt.
#21
.com - I was in no way trying to be dismissive or snippy in my "AP" response! I was simply pressed for time this a.m.--have many family obligations today (shoppingcookingbillspaying toddler's sleep n screaming his schedule rules!!i can't take it no mo') and I was trying to do you the courtesy of getting back a very quick response in the miniscule window I had. I value your responses greatly; please don't take offense.
To your last comment: Visual content and the raw reportage content - both requiring on-the-scene presence - will continue to be the MSM's forte for the forseeable future. The analysis and fabrication of the new resulting big picture, with this info woven in, will be the function of the "new" media which will be Internet (or whatever the future holds) based, as it is now. No one with a brain relies upon the MSM for the analysis
I think the area where the blogs and Rantburg add unique value is something that is both lighter/quicker and more profound than heavy analysis. I'm talking about establishing a counter-meme to the MSM's idiotic memes that are woven into their coverage: not just a debunking of the MSM angle but the substitution of an alternative, more accurate and more powerful meme that in turn generates its own media articles.
This is done almost always by the application of insider expertise that MSM journos and editors lack, and you see it most often in articles dealing with or relying upon the military, technology, foreign affairs. Often the MSM are careful enough to seek expert counsel and quote those experts in the course of their reportage but this safeguard falls flat when the meme is so deeply ingrained, so crucial to the 1968er MSM editors' worldview, that alternate and superior expertise is not consulted. Perfect example is the UN as Peter Ustinov and Kumbayah meme, exploded by the insider, expert testimony of the Diplomads.
In sum, holy grail is to access thousands of high quality authorities/experts like the Diplomads so that we can present counter-memes to MSM reportage in real time.
#22
lex -- I'm not sure one site can do that. Right now it seems to me the right-blogosphere as a whole is set up for what you're talking about, with Glenn Reynolds propagating the results out to a wider populace. Obviously this arrangement has a bit of latency and only works on issues at a certain level of visibility, but it's where we're starting from.
#23
Dan D writes: I would propose an absolute, no-exceptions-whatsoever, TOTAL prohibition on people posting links to their own blogs here; allowing that invites abuse from people who only want to drive up their own hit counts by piggybacking on Rantburg's readership.
Alas, this is probably the right policy. I'll abide by it, from now on, unless I'm given explicit permission to do otherwise.
#24
Just a note... The list is on and these of you that voiced an interest should have 1-2 messages in your mailbox with prefix [blogmedia]. Would be nice if you acknowledge that you, indeed, received them, and note your format preference: list or forum (message board). Majority wins.
If you did not received anything, click on my nick to email me you've got zip.
#25
lex - Thanks - so none taken. I empathize with the schedule, heh, been there myself, lol!
The only relevant thing which has occurred to me since that last comment is that I recall CNN used to have a "home video" thing going - where they solicited video from individuals. I don't know how it worked, did they pay, etc., but it is a potential source of visuals - and video is literally a world-wide phenom, now.
A major campaign, especially if it pays for exclusive rights, might mitigate some of the lack of bureau press. Same for stringers in locales you want covered - bidding for services eBay-style, as you proposed, would make this content yours and a way to build a brand. Obviously, CNN began this way. And all of the other services would hate you and outbid you, grumbling all the way to the bank, lol!
#26
.com in case you decide not to particpate in the list cornilies is setting up, I have a couple of comments for you. You nailed it on presentation - flat, simple, clean is what works. RB does rock and the formula could be applied elsewhere. It happens my major grievance with the MSM is not the WoT, its coverage of scitech issues, particularly but by no means exclusively 'climate change'.
The future is a blank canvas, waiting to be written on. I could be content to bitch about what others write, or could try and write a piece myself. Why not?
#27
Personally - I think rantburg is the future. Technology and time will continue to tweak - but I think Fred has provided the clearest window into the future of tomorrows interactive news that is available today.
On thing that would be so incredibly cool would be a weekly or monthly summary - something that sums up the news by trusted sources, for those too busy to read daily and just want to keep up. I'd be willing to pay a healthy subscription rate to get that from rantburg.
#28
Fred's RB software is the state of the art, hands down. I think that some think-tank, such as Dan's buddies, or news org will snarf it up, someday, and give Fred a consulting gig to brand it for them, maintain and enhance it. The fact is, nobody comes close and he's already there. I've studied and developed portals and interfaces since the beginning when Berniers Lee had his "Aha!" moment.
So Dan, baby, tell your guys they get first look - Fred's gotta eat and you know somebody, somewhere along the line, will "get" what we get and buy the RB software - they should grab it while it's hot, trademark / servicemark / patent it! Actually, Dan, I'm dead serious. RB is serious "presence" software - only lacking the marketing effort and branding.
2b - A digest - of hotlinks? Lordy, that would be easy for The Man, heh. Oops, mebbe I shouldn't have said that!
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.
North Korea wants a change in the political atmosphere before it will attend talks on its nuclear plans and has asked the United States to send a signal to that effect, a senior UN official said on Thursday. 
The head of a TV station linked to the Lebanese Shiite Muslim 
The Israeli ambassador has criticised the French government for issuing a death certificate for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat stating his place of birth as Jerusalem. "I cannot understand how the French government agreed to issue a death certificate based on false information," ambassador Nissim Zvili told a press conference in Montpellier. Municipal officials at Clamart, the suburb of Paris where Arafat died on November 11, said they issued the document on the basis of a family record book itself issued by the French foreign ministry in 1996. The issue is symbolically important because Israel considers Jerusalem as its eternal capital, while Palestinians want to make east Jerusalem, occupied by the Jewish state since 1967, the capital of their promised state. Arafat was born Mohammed Abdel-Rawf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Hussaini, on August 4, 1929. The official version of his life history records he was born in Jerusalem. However numerous biographers agree that he was, in fact, born in Cairo, where his father, from Gaza, owned a business. And it was Egypt that hosted Arafat's funeral with full military honours.
Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan on Thursday rejected a New York Times' report that Dr AQ Khan had provided nuclear weapons' design to Iran and said that it was the writer's own 'creative insertions'. "The writer of the report has spun a strange web, based on flimsy evidence, hearsay, and snippets of conversations. The CIA report does not mention any designs for weapons or bomb making components," said the spokesman while commenting on the report. 
