(SomaliNet) Zimbabwe does not need the services of United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, as mediator after Zimbabwe’s president told him that Tanzania’s president, Benjamin Mkapa would do the mediator job. Zimbabwe is currently undergoing crisis in all sectors. Though Annan wants to help, he will have to watch what is happening in Zimbabwe on the sidelines as Tanzania’s president plays the mediatory role. "We both agreed that he should be given the time and space to do his work,” Annan said on his agreement with Zimbabwe’s president on what is happening in Zimbabwe.
Annan had earlier planned to visit Zimbabwe to see how he could come to the rescue of the Zimbabweans. But, this is what he had to say about the Zimbabwe visit: "You don't have two mediators."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/04/2006 00:00 ||
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We sure as hell don't need the sleazy bastard either. Where can we send him ?
The Shoura Council rejected a proposal yesterday that would have required the Commission for Promoting Virtue and Preventing Vice, also known as the religious police, to wear some kind of uniform. The members of the consultative body turned the proposal down 63-52 following debate. The head of the Shoura said the decision on the matter was nonreversible. Supporters of the proposal said that a uniform would help prevent impersonators to act as morality officers while other members argued that the current system, where officials of the commission are supposed to wear badges, is sufficient.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/04/2006 00:00 ||
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I think they ought to wear a dunce cap, at the least. How about a 50 lb. jock strap to go with it, just to make sure they mind their manners.
#5
It's much more fun to watch them hike up their skirts thobes and run after prayer dodgers.
Posted by: ed ||
07/04/2006 14:41 Comments ||
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#6
I think they should wear Big Red Noses... to match the henna in their beards. These clowns are real fireballs when it comes to preventing young girls from escaping burning buildings without a veil or dragging old ladies off to jail who happen to find themselves alone in a shop with only the male proprietor present. Inspiring.
Otherwise, I think that Islam is organized and designed rather well if all that matters is replication and spreading the infection. Now The Hotel California bit - that's a real killer. But it's brutish and crude, not at all clever.
Now for real marketing, I consider sour cream to be pure genius.
#7
Now for real marketing, I consider sour cream to be pure genius
LOL - I'd just as soon these assholes wore a uniform, so the fed-up Saudis would know who to grab abd beat the sh*t out of. The fact they're afraid to shows they know how unpopular they are...
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/04/2006 14:52 Comments ||
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#1
Venezuela's oil fields are mostly quite old, and take a lot of effort and investment to wring out the incremental barrels. The easy stuff has already been produced. If Chavez won't or can't make that re-investment himself, and discourages the international oil companies from doing so, then production is guarenteed to decline pretty quickly. A lot of government oil companies have slowly learned that over the years.
#2
I'm sure there are some old Iraqi Baathis with 'experience' in watching old oil infrastructures decline available for Venezuela government jobs. They at least understand HugoÂ’s priorities. TheyÂ’ve already worked for one tyrant.
#5
Suck em' dry and skate. Leave Hugo with a ruined oil industry. Even known reserves take years, and tens of millions to get producing.
Bigjim, believe it or not, that appears to be Hugo's plans for Venezuela: wreck its production capacity and skate, leaving Venezuela (and its primary customer, the United States) to suffer the consequences.
And due to the peculiarities of Venezuela's oilfield reservoirs, I think he's already there. Part of the reason oil is so high right now is because Venezuelan oil production is so much lower than it used to be. Especially since OPEC and Chavez are dissembling about what the actual production figures are (which is a lot lower than they say). The Venezuelan shortfall is letting OPEC pretend they're making quota when they're not.
You understand if I don't want to go into any more details, right? It's hard to type on a human keyboard when the keys are so much smaller than your fingers, and the speech recognition software keeps telling you to stop grunting.
#6
What ever happened to all the oil in the Rocky Mountain states that was all the news a few months, maybe a year ago? Has anyone heard the good word on that? Wasn't it supposed to be possibly the largest ever found? Trapped in shale or something?
#7
Shereting:
There's LOTS of oil in the Rockies, in oil shale. It's been known about for a long, long time. But it is hard to get out - environmentally very messy, consumes lots of scarce water, and is capital-intensive. Canadian oil sands are generally preferred at this time, and the Alberta oil patch is booming.
I also heard about a big conventional oil strike - maybe in Nevada - but the stories seemed a bit speculative, and 'too good to be true.'
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's left, still smarting from a 1988 presidential vote it says was stolen from it, seethed simmered with anger on Monday as its dreams of power were frustrated by another contested election.
Conservative candidate Felipe Calderon claimed victory in Sunday's hard-fought presidential election and official returns appeared to show anti-poverty campaigner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador would be unable to catch him. Harvard-educated Calderon held a one-point lead over former Indian welfare officer Lopez Obrador on Monday with returns in from almost 98 percent of polling stations. A top electoral official said a recount this week was unlikely to change that.
Leaders of the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD, were to meet Lopez Obrador to try to rescue his attempt to become president and join the ranks of leftist leaders in Latin America.
A tiny group of defiant Lopez Obrador supporters gathered outside his campaign headquarters. Many said their candidate, the former mayor of Mexico City, had been cheated of victory by fraud. "He won more points that Calderon," said retired factory worker Arturo Jimenez, 74. "He lost, but unfairly. There was sleight of hand involved," said office cleaner Carmen Sanchez.
No candidate has claimed to have evidence of vote-rigging in the election, which the Federal Electoral Institute said was too close to call yet.
Mexico City was quiet on Monday, except for a small student protest outside the electoral authority's office.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/04/2006 00:00 ||
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Ever notice that you never see Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Albert Arnold Gore, Jr. in the same place at the same time?
Posted by: Mike ||
07/04/2006 0:35 Comments ||
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Conservatives just make a thin majority in North America it seems.
#4
As long as candidates are willing to say what skilled pollsters tell them the people want to hear, elections will be 'close'. As long as they are close, there will be claims of fraud. And those claims will probably be true (of both sides). But because the elections are so close that small bits of fraud 'matter', the fraud doesn't really matter, because the campaigns have found the 'middle', where the candidates positions are about the same anyway - in a two party race. Once you have a major third party though, the leaders may not be campaigning for the middle voters, but for the extremes, and you get a much more volatile system (maybe even revolution or civil war.)
#5
Since the Mexican government has no interest in sealing the border, how about all those millions of AK-47 and ammo taken in Iraq. Wouldn't be nice to run guns the other direction? 8 million illegal workers and family here, so how about 8 million AK-47s to Mexico? It's a feature, not a bug.
#8
JBU
Yes, I know. Comment started as one on fraud but evolved into one on potential effects of third parties.
The statement that both Calderon & Obrador can claim they wuz robbed stands; the question is where does that lead.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/04/2006 00:00 ||
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The wealthier eastern half overwhelmingly endorsed autonomy while those in the poorer and heavily indigenous western highlands, Morales power base, vigorously rejected it.
Guess 'from each according to his ability, to each according to his greed' didn't sell. When people want to 'keep the old ways' then they'd better be satisfied with the poverty that 'old ways' brought.
MOSCOW - A Russian spy satellite launched this week has failed to open one of two solar panels on board and cannot fulfil its mission, the Kommersant daily on Monday quoted a Russian defence official saying. The Kosmos-2421, a Russian navy satellite for intelligence-gathering and identifying targets, was launched on Sunday from Baikonur, RussiaÂ’s cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Kommersant said.
The daily cited a naval command official as saying that the satellite could not generate enough power and therefore could not deploy its equipment. But an official from Russia’s space forces, a defence ministry unit, told AFP that the Kosmos satellite “was successfully put in orbit and has passed under the navy’s command.”
Russian navy and space agency officials contacted by AFP declined to comment. The satellite was designed 15 years ago but could only be launched this year, Kommersant said.
Perhaps sitting around in the storage rental locker didn't do it any good.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/04/2006 00:00 ||
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Russian navy satellite for intelligence-gathering and identifying targets,
Now there's a blast from the past.
In storage for 15 yrs ? Hmm, someone forgot to check the "use by" dates on the pyro.
if it's navy, is it a RORSat? Wern't those nuclear powerered? Old Spook, or anyone else who might know and be able to comment?
Posted by: N guard ||
07/04/2006 1:01 Comments ||
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#2
Maybe Soyuz could bring along some Doan's Pills for those stiff joints and aching back?
#4
More than one of our satellites has suffered a similar fate. Assuming the story is true, and not disinformation designed to keep us from avoiding its watchful eye during maneuvers, etc.
They branded her Tokyo Rose, but Iva Toguri was no traitor.
However, when she turns 90 today - the Fourth of July - that fact will give her little comfort.
Because to many Americans, Toguri was Tokyo Rose - the sultry siren whose radio broadcasts from Japan demoralized G.I.s fighting in the Pacific during World War II.
Never mind that President Gerald Ford pardoned Toguri after her treason trial was revealed to be a sham. Never mind that U.S. veterans groups have since embraced her.
The shame and stigma still dog Toguri's steps. So she will mark her birthday the way she has been living since she was released from prison - quietly and far from prying eyes.
"She's not crazy about publicity," said Ron Yates, a former Chicago Tribune reporter whose stories about Toguri's rigged treason trial helped win her the presidential pardon. "Her entire life was destroyed by a miscarriage of justice, and you couldn't be more American than she was."
Toguri, who declined to be interviewed, lives on the north side of Chicago. She still pops into J. Toguri Mercantile, the imported Japanese goods store her dad opened after the war. But she spends most of her time with her nephews and nieces.
"She's spry, funny, a tough lady," said Yates. "What happened to her is a tragedy."
Born Ikuko Toguri in Los Angeles to Japanese immigrant parents, Toguri was an all-American girl. A Girl Scout, a Methodist, a Republican, she loved big band music and hated sushi. She insisted on being called Iva.
A few months before Pearl Harbor, Toguri traveled to Japan to visit a sick aunt. When the war broke out, she was stranded in Tokyo. Toguri resisted Japanese pressure to renounce her U.S. citizenship. But desperate for money, she agreed to work on a Japanese propaganda radio show manned by Allied prisoners called "Zero Hour."
Playing on the name of her favorite cartoon character, "Orphan Ann" Toguri did comedy skits and introduced newscasts. And she used some of her earnings to feed starving POWs and help support her husband, a Portuguese national of Japanese descent named Felipe D'Aquino.
After Japan surrendered, two ethically challenged reporters offered a then princely reward of $250 to anyone who could identify Tokyo Rose - the name given by U.S. forces to several different English-speaking female broadcasters of Japanese propaganda. Somebody fingered Toguri, and she was arrested by military police.
Jailed for a year, Toguri was released after the FBI found no evidence she aided the Japanese. But when columnist Walter Winchell learned Toguri was trying to return home, he led a crusade to have her rearrested and tried.
Toguri was eventually convicted of treason and sentenced to 10 years in prison when two former colleagues at the radio station testified that she had made propaganda broadcasts. She served six years before she was released.
The feds tried to deport her, but she resisted. She moved to Chicago and tried to start over, without her husband. The couple had been forcibly separated since Toguri was brought to the U.S. for trial. Their baby had died shortly after birth. Realizing they would never be reunited, the couple finally divorced. D'Aquino died in 1996.
Toguri's fortunes improved when Yates tracked down her accusers, who admitted they lied under pressure from prosecutors. That led to a "60 Minutes" report by Morley Safer that persuaded Ford to restore Toguri's citizenship.
Yates said he fears Toguri will never escape Tokyo Rose, because the myth has been more enduring than the truth.
"I, like everybody else, assumed she was a traitor," he said.
#3
Oh, yes, another sterling bit of work by Main-Stream-Media.
Thank god for the internet--- a means to counter the railroading of a fairly innocent person.
I guess it's too late to sic a blog-swarm on Walter Winchell, though. Pity about that. He was a slug, and richly deserved it!
As expected it's all about her. Faithful "Compatriots" in the ideaological battle will be tossed aside in her ascent to ultimate power. B her previous position(s) she's closer to Joe than the loons..now she shifts left
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a longtime supporter of Sen. Joseph Lieberman, said Tuesday she will not back the Connecticut Democrat's bid for re-election if he loses their party's primary. "I've known Joe Lieberman for more than thirty years. I have been pleased to support him in his campaign for re-election, and hope that he is our party's nominee," the former first lady said in a statement issued by aides.
"But I want to be clear that I will support the nominee chosen by Connecticut Democrats in their primary," the New York Democrat added. "I believe in the Democratic Party, and I believe we must honor the decisions made by Democratic primary voters."
There was no immediate comment from Lieberman.
Facing a stronger-than-expected Democratic primary challenge from millionaire businessman Ned Lamont and sagging poll numbers because of his support of the Iraq war, Lieberman said Monday he'll collect signatures to assure an independent ballot spot for the November election if he loses the Aug. 8 primary. The move has complicated life for Lieberman's fellow Senate Democrats, including Clinton, who has been under attack from some Democrats for her own vote to authorize the Iraq war and her continuing refusal to back a specific timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops despite her criticism of President Bush's handling of the conflict.
"The challenges before us in 2006 call for a strong, united party, in which we all support and work for the candidates who are selected in the Democratic process," Clinton said in her statement of Tuesday.
Democrats hoping to win back the Senate have been looking to win seats in states such as Pennsylvania, Montana, Missouri, Virginia and Tennessee, and Lieberman's decision to begin collecting the 7,500 signatures needed to assure a separate spot on the November ballot could complicate things.
Both Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said they are backing Lieberman in the primary. "We aren't going to speculate about what happens next because that would undermine our candidate," said DSCC spokesman Phil Singer.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/04/2006 18:09 ||
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Parties above politics, the Hillderbeast never dissapoints.
Bangalore, July. 4 (PTI): A satellite-based system to be built in the next five to six years at a cost of Rs 1,600 crores will enable New Delhi to provide positioning, navigation and timing services across the country and neighbouring areas, officials said here today.
Addressing an industry meet on satellite navigation and talking to reporters later, G Madhavan Nair, Secretary in the Department of Space, said the Indian Regional Navigation System will consist of a constellation of satellites and a large ground network.
"The system is a totally independent navigational system based on a constellation of eight satellites," said Nair, who is also chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
ISRO officials said the system would be under Indian control, and the space and ground segments as well as receivers will be built in the country.
Through the meet, the Department of Space sought to expose opportunities available in the programme to the industry and find business opportunities. Representatives from 50 companies attended the event, where the Indian satellite navigation programme was presented in detail by senior ISRO engineers.
Officials said the department has identified satellite navigation as an key area and a massive investment in this programme is slated for the 11th Five-year Plan.
They noted that ISRO and the Airports Authority of India are implementing a satellite-based navigation system for civil aviation called Gagan.
Posted by: john ||
07/04/2006 16:35 ||
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Low-cost space odyssey - unmanned shuttles
Space scientists are metamorphosing the vintage satellite launch vehicle (SLV) rocket into a shuttle that may pave the way for a future Indian manned space mission. But at the moment, the scientists are more focused on bringing down the cost of a satellite launch to $2,500 per kg from the existing $25,000 per kg.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) expects the first technology demonstrator of the modified SLV rocket to fly by 2009, but a bigger reusable launch vehicle, which can place heavier satellites regularly, is nearly a decade away.
The Indian shuttle will perch on top of the SLV rocket. Once it crosses the earthÂ’s atmosphere, it will cruise in space, hurl satellites and return back to earth.
President APJ Abdul Kalam, as then project director of SLV, had led India’s first successful rocket mission that put in orbit a mini-satellite weighing 35 kg in 1980. “We are making modifications to the SLV to use it for a reusable launch vehicle (RLV),” said M Annamalai, director, ISRO’S Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC).
ISRO will also embark upon building larger space shuttles that can be put in space by its other rockets such as ASLV and PSLV. The technology for re-entry into earthÂ’s atmosphere, guidance and landing would be tested when the 600-kg cone-shaped capsule of the space capsule recovery experiment (SRE) will be launched and brought back later this year.
While the space shuttle journey has just begun, ISRO is perfecting its own cryogenic engine, which uses liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, for the third stage of the indigenous geo-synchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV), to be fired next year.
Three GSLV rockets that have placed communication satellites 36,000 km in space and the one that is due to carry a two-tonne satellite by July 15 have the imported Russian cryogenic engine.
ISRO is investing Rs2,500 crore to build a 629-tonne rocket, GSLV-Mk-III, by 2008, with the ability to launch heavy four-tonne satellites and a 10-tonne manned space capsule in lower earth orbit. “These new technologies will make space transportation much cheaper,” Annamalai said.
Posted by: john ||
07/04/2006 16:51 Comments ||
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#2
Paki puckering in 5...4...3...
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/04/2006 17:00 Comments ||
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#3
Paks have no significant space program. Their North Korean imports are barely capable of carring a warhead. Putting something into orbit or even long range delivery is beyond them.
India actually has large civilian satellite launch vehicles, a separate program from its missile development.
Posted by: john ||
07/04/2006 17:36 Comments ||
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#4
The footprint of this system will include all of Pakistan and parts of China, radiaclly increasing the accuracy of India's cruise and Ballistic missiles.
India is also helping reactivate the Russian GLONASS network, launching a few satellites on its own boosters.
This will give them military access to the GLONASS system for prcesion guided munition delivery.
India has also signed up as a paying partner for the European Galileo system, using this, their own network and the US GPS for civilian use.
Posted by: john ||
07/04/2006 17:41 Comments ||
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#5
GSLV ready for lift-off on July 10: It will place INSAT-4C in orbit
Geo-Synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) will lift off from the newly built second launch pad at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, on July 10 to place INSAT-4C in orbit. The launch time is set between 4.30 p.m. and 6 p.m. on that day. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has codenamed the vehicle GSLV-F-02. The "F" stands for flight.
With the three-stage GSLV-F-02 fully integrated and the satellite mated with the vehicle, the launch campaign is peaking for the ignition on July 10. The vehicle is already on the launch pad.
Filling of the vehicle with fuel will begin T minus 24 hours, that is, 24 hours before the lift-off. The Launch Authorisation Board is scheduled to meet on July 6 to clear the launch.
INSAT-4C is a satellite for boosting communication in the country. It will give a fillip to direct-to-home (DTH) telecasting, telephone communication, and business communication using very small aperture terminals. The ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore, has built INSAT-4C, which weighs 2,170 kg.
The GSLV-F-02 is made of three stages. It weighs 414 tonnes and is 49 metres tall. The core first stage is powered by solid propellants. Strapped around the first stage are four motors, fuelled by liquid propellants. These strap-on motors boost the vehicle's thrust during lift-off. The second stage works on liquid fuel.
The topmost third stage is powered by cryogenic propellants, that is, liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. Russia has supplied the cryogenic engine that powers the third stage.
The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram, has built the GSLV-F-02. This is the fourth flight of the GSLV. The three previous GSLV flights took place in 2001, 2003 and 2004, and they placed in orbit GSAT-1, GSAT-2 and EDUSAT respectively.
The Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, has two launch pads.
Posted by: john ||
07/04/2006 21:07 Comments ||
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#7
At 400 tons, the GSLV is overkill (and impractical) for an ICBM.
The core solid rocket stage of the PSLV however is one of the largest solid rocket motors in the world and would provide a basis for any Indian ICBM if they decided to develop one.
Posted by: john ||
07/04/2006 21:54 Comments ||
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#8
Looks like the Indian cryogenic stage (LOX + LH2) is almost ready...
Preparations are on for the testing of an indigenous cryogenic stage by mid-August at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) at Mahendragiri, in Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu, said R.V. Perumal, Director, LPSC.
The GSLV-Mk III will be a more powerful version of the present GSLV. The first test on an indigenous cryogenic engine was conducted on February 16, 2000 on the foothills of Mahendragiri at the LPSC. Since then, several tests have been done, including a full-duration one for 1,000 seconds.
Indigenous cryogenic engines have a thrust of 7.5 tonnes. They use 12.6 tonnes of propellants. Launch vehicles need cryogenic engines to put heavier satellites, weighing more than two tonnes, into geo-synchronous transfer orbit at a height of 36,000 km above the earth.
Posted by: john ||
07/04/2006 22:04 Comments ||
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ISLAMABAD: More than 200 women rallied in the federal capital on Monday, demanding the government make it mandatory for female students to wear Islamic headscarves, or hijab, in schools and colleges. The supporters of the Imamia Students Organisation, a Shiite students group, marched from a Shiite mosque to the press club in central Islamabad carrying placards reading "Protest against Western culture" and "We will take the veil to every home to protect women's dignity." The crowd also chanted "Death to America" and "Death to Israel."
But natch. What else would they chant?
"The government of Pakistan should not be influenced by Western policies," said rally organiser Naeema Shirazi. "We want that government make it mandatory for women to be in hijab in all educational institutions." Some participants also carried portraits of Grand Ayatollah Rohollah Khomeini, the late leader of the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/04/2006 00:00 ||
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"Protest against Western cultureTM"
"We will take the veil to every home to protect women's dignity.TM" BTW...it dow not provide protection from acid
"Death to America" and "Death to Israel.TM"
The Council of Islamic Ideology's decision to review the Hudood laws and recommend amendments to it was unanimous, though five of its 11 members oppose the total repeal of the ordinance. The five members - Pir Syed Daman Ali Shah, Syed Muhammad Zakir Hussain Sialvi, Haji Muhammad Hanif Tayyab, Maulana Abdullah Khilji and Mazhar Saeed Kazmi - also opposed the suspension of the Hudood Ordinance while the recommendations for amendments are prepared, sources in the council told Daily Times.
However, the council's decision to prepare amendments was unanimous and it is currently consulting ulema and lawyers regarding the changes, the sources said. The five members opposed the repeal or suspension of the Hudood Ordinance when it was discussed at the last CII meeting. The other members had called for a repeal of the Hudood Ordinance, but finally agreed to a revision. "There is now a complete consensus in the council on amendments to the Hudood Ordinance," the sources said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/04/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Now go do that Hudood that you do so well.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/04/2006 8:39 Comments ||
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#2
Horrible pun, I'll give you three ouches and a groan.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/04/2006 9:01 Comments ||
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Pirates attacked two U.N.-chartered ships carrying construction materials off the Indonesian coast in the Strait of Malacca, a maritime watchdog said Tuesday, raising fears about a resurgence of piracy in one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.
Both ships, flying Indonesian flags, were heading to Indonesia's Aceh province on the northern tip of Sumatra island when they were attacked Sunday night, said Noel Choong, chief of the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur.
He said no injuries were reported among the all-Indonesian crew aboard the two boats, which were transporting construction materials for the rebuilding of the tsunami-hit Aceh province. The ships had been chartered by the U.N. World Food Program.
"The attacks took place not far apart from each other. There is a possibility that they were carried out by the same pirates," Choong told The Associated Press. He did not know how many pirates were involved or what kind of boats they used.
The pirates stole and damaged equipment on the first ship and robbed the crew of cash and personal belongings on the other, he said.
The Strait of Malacca, a major waterway linking Asia with Europe and the Middle East, had been one of the most pirate-infested areas in the world, but attacks fell to an all-time low last year after increased naval patrolling by Indonesia and its neighbors.
"At the moment we don't know if these are isolated cases or the start of attacks again in the Malacca straits," Choong said. "We are still monitoring. But we urge ships to keep a strict piracy watch."
According to the IMB, there were no pirate attacks in the strait in the first three months of 2006, but Sunday's attack raised to five the number of incidents reported since April.
Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia officially began coordinated patrols in the 550-mile strait in July 2004 after prodding from Washington, which said terrorists could link up with pirates already established in the narrow waterway to blow up an oil tanker or use it as a floating bomb.
#1
I keep wondering why they don't just send a few Army/Marines/Navy with guns on each ship passing through, shouldn't take but five folks or so, and this shit would end abruptly.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/04/2006 8:38 Comments ||
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#2
Been goin on for thousands of years, one of THE prime spots really.
Posted by: bk ||
07/04/2006 12:11 Comments ||
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#4
I have a much cheaper solution to their problems. You don't need the Navy. All you need is a metal locker on board every commercial ship with about 20 Remington Pump shotguns,a shitload of 00 Buckshot ( I like the 3" Magnum with 15 pellets), and enough balls to defend yourself. You can get the shotguns for less than $200 apiece. The buckshot for about .50 a round and start having fun. Burn anyone off the side that tries to climb on, at the Captains discretion of course.
#5
Jeez Louise, people, read the headline! It said they was UN ships which means they was UNarmed and mean to stay that way. UNwarlike! We can't allow people to arm themselves and do anything in selfdefense.
Africa's largest Anglican church is criticizing a proposal from the archbishop of Canterbury for two-tier membership in the global Anglican fellowship, a plan aimed at keeping the group together despite differences over homosexuality and the Bible.
The bishops who lead the 17.5 million-member Church of Nigeria announced their stand in postings Sunday on a pair of Anglican Web sites.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams - Anglicanism's spiritual leader - suggested last month that two levels of participation for the 38 branches of the Anglican Communion could be created.
Under that system, America's Episcopal Church, which consecrated an openly gay bishop in 2003, would accept a lesser role to prevent a total break with a majority of Anglican churches, which are conservative.
The Nigerian bishops said Williams' "brilliant" concept sought to "preserve the unity of the church by accommodating every shred of opinion no matter how biblical, all because we want to make everyone feel at home."
But the Nigerians also indicated that total exclusion of the Episcopal Church may be required: "A cancerous lump in the body should be excised if it has defied every known cure. To attempt to condition the whole body to accommodate it will lead to the avoidable death of the patient."
The statement depicted the Williams plan as a "novel" design that's "elastic enough to accommodate all the extremes of preferred modes of expression of the same faith." Instead, it said, Williams should urge churches that chose to "walk apart" to return to authentic Anglicanism.
The Nigerians' statement is particularly noteworthy because their church is the biggest Anglican denomination outside the Church of England and is often seen as a leader among Anglican provinces in the developing world.
In a related move, Nigeria's church plans to consecrate Canon Martyn Minns, rector of a prominent conservative parish in Fairfax, Va., as its bishop to lead a United States mission that serves Nigerians in America and others dissatisfied with the New York-based Episcopal Church.
Meanwhile, six dioceses unhappy with the Episcopalians' rejection last month of an outright moratorium on consecrating more gay bishops have asked Williams for oversight from a bishop outside the Episcopal hierarchy.
Integrity, the caucus for gay and lesbian Episcopalians, released a weekend statement that expressed frustration with the Anglican wrangling over gay issues.
"We cannot live up to our call to be the body of Christ in the world if we're spending all our time, energy and resources arguing about how to be the Episcopal Church in the Anglican Communion" over the next few years, it said.
Integrity said the discussion provoked by Williams should include calling Anglicanism "to account for 30 years of failure to implement an authentic listening process" on the gay issue.
#1
Interesting that not one of the African churchmen involved is mentioned by name, espeically as one of them may soon be spiritual head of more Americans than any American Episcopalian devine.
#4
"African Bishops Sneer At Archbishop Of Canterbury"
Take a number and get in line, guys.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/04/2006 13:10 Comments ||
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#5
"Tithing at the Church of Nigeria's very simple. Just write your checking-account and Social Security numbers on this convenient form, sign it and drop it in the collection plate."
...umm, sorry, I just couldn't resist...
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
07/04/2006 13:36 Comments ||
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#6
With luck the Church in Africa will send missionaries to England.
#9
One of our local (American) Anglican churches broke ties with their American hierarchy and then allied with the Anglican Church of Rawanda. They have more common values with the Rawandans than with their former hierarchy. I give them a lot of credit for it. It caused them a lot of hassles over who owned church property, etc., but at least they came out with their integrity and values intact.
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court intervened Monday to save a large cross on city property in southern California. A lower court judge had ordered the city of San Diego to remove the cross or be fined $5,000 a day. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, acting for the high court, issued a stay while supporters of the cross continue their legal fight.
Lawyers for San Diegans for the Mt. Soledad National War Memorial said in an appeal that they wanted to avoid the “destruction of this national treasure.” And attorneys for the city said the cross was part of a broader memorial that was important to the community.
The 29-foot cross, on San Diego property, sits atop Mount Soledad. A judge declared it was an unconstitutional endorsement of religion. The cross, which has been in place for decades, was contested by Philip Paulson, a Vietnam veteran and atheist.
Three years ago the Supreme Court refused to consider to consider the long-running dispute between Paulson and the city.
This is part of a war memorial. It was dedicated to honor Korean War veterans. The cross has been there since 1913. It was originally public land but was sold in the mid-90's to a private, non-profit group dedicated to maintaining the memorial. That group has upgraded the memorial substantially to honor the veterans. What earthly reason would anyone have to remove it, except hatred? Isn't that what our veterans fought against?
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/04/2006 02:06 ||
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#1
If the cross is a violation, then so is the city's name. And Los Angeles, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and probably 10% of the place names in the country. If the cross falls, buy stock in Rand-McNally.
#2
No the City names predate the United States, they should be Grandfathered and safe.
The whole article says that the Supremes are interveining to save, not destroy the cross, built in 1913.
This whole thing is an Athiest stirring up trouble, he needs to be jailed for "Public Nuisance" and fined double the costs of his meddling.
That should send a clear message to other meddlers loose out there, Cindy Shehan, for example.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/04/2006 8:30 Comments ||
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#3
I always feel sorry for atheists at their funerals. There they are, all dressed up and nowhere to go. If he's got that much time and money to waste why waste it. Do something constructive, not destructive.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
07/04/2006 9:15 Comments ||
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#4
There they are, all dressed up and nowhere to go lol!
#5
the City has voted twice to transfer the land the cross site on -- first to the war memorial association and last year to the Dept of Defense (Duncan Hunter's bill). Judge Patricia Yim Cowat arbitrarily ruled the week before the election that a 2/3 majority had to rule in favor to transfer the land. 76% did. She then ruled the vote unconstitutional and Gordon Thompson, the judge who's ruling was stayed yesterday, gave the new deadline., without addressing the efforts to transfer the property (he first ruled in '91, and will NOT look at new facts, evidence). Judicial railroading is what's been happening here. Cowat should be run outta town on a rail. Thompson's almost retired, just trying to do one last bit of damage. Kennedy did a good and smart thing here, but it doesn't make up for his other crap. BTW it's at least the second cross on the same site, replacing he worn-down wooden one in '53, IIRC
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/04/2006 9:48 Comments ||
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#6
These guys are going to ultimately run into the silver tongue of John Roberts and get a clue that there's a new CJ in town.
#7
#4: There they are, all dressed up and nowhere to go
Ummm, well actually they're not the ones who "Dressed them Up" it's the believers who're foolish enough to do so, they're pandering to their own beliefs and not the dead guy's.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
07/04/2006 11:40 Comments ||
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#8
The ACLU thinks that freedom of religion means freedom from Christianity.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/04/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
good article - but falling apart? More like getting back to basics if you ask me. The reason their membership is dwindling is because of the Bishops and their "go with your feelings" attitude. By breaking apart, some churches will regrow and regain their congregations and practice teaching Christian principals instead of chanting Death to Israel, promoting gay activism and focusing on politics. What's the point of going to church to learn a better way if their message is whatever.
#2
Good point, 2b. And other once not-so-great churches are growing like weeds. In fact, one of the important 'appeals' of Islam is that it provides answers, not just 'whatever.'
#4
Why does it come as a surprise that the old institutional churches have been infilitrated and subverted by the left. They employed the same methods they used to take over public education and turn it into something that the people who fund it and trust it to educate their children can't recognize.
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.
(SomaliNet) Zimbabwe does not need the services of United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, as mediator after Zimbabwe’s president told him that Tanzania’s president, Benjamin Mkapa would do the mediator job. Zimbabwe is currently undergoing crisis in all sectors. Though Annan wants to help, he will have to watch what is happening in Zimbabwe on the sidelines as Tanzania’s president plays the mediatory role. "We both agreed that he should be given the time and space to do his work,” Annan said on his agreement with Zimbabwe’s president on what is happening in Zimbabwe. 
The Shoura Council rejected a proposal yesterday that would have required the Commission for Promoting Virtue and Preventing Vice, also known as the religious police, to wear some kind of uniform. The members of the consultative body turned the proposal down 63-52 following debate. The head of the Shoura said the decision on the matter was nonreversible. Supporters of the proposal said that a uniform would help prevent impersonators to act as morality officers while other members argued that the current system, where officials of the commission are supposed to wear badges, is sufficient.
MOSCOW - A Russian spy satellite launched this week has failed to open one of two solar panels on board and cannot fulfil its mission, the Kommersant daily on Monday quoted a Russian defence official saying. The Kosmos-2421, a Russian navy satellite for intelligence-gathering and identifying targets, was launched on Sunday from Baikonur, RussiaÂ’s cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Kommersant said.
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court intervened Monday to save a large cross on city property in southern California. A lower court judge had ordered the city of San Diego to remove the cross or be fined $5,000 a day. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, acting for the high court, issued a stay while supporters of the cross continue their legal fight.
