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Around 60 Taliban, four police dead in Afghan attacks
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Pr0n Causes a 72% decline in rape
Posted by: Anonymoose || 11/05/2007 20:54 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  but what about the cost in calluses??
Posted by: Frank G || 11/05/2007 21:21 Comments || Top||


Girls Sexual Assaulted But Oprah is the one Devastated By School Scandal,
Winfrey Speaks Out; Dorm Matron Charged With Indecent Assault Against Girls At S. African School: Video at link
Do not know where to start with this one. The children are the ones hurt but somehow Oprah is the victim. I have to admit bias here. Remembering how after 9-11 she canceled an overseas troop visit because she to busy with her book club.
(CBS/AP) Calling the allegations of abuse at a school she founded in South Africa "one of the most devastating, if not the most devastating experience of my life," Oprah Winfrey appeared as part of a press conference detailing the investigation of child abuse which led to the arrest of a school employee.

Last month, a 27-year-old dormitory matron at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy south of Johannesburg, South Africa, was suspended in connection with allegations involving indecent assault and soliciting under-age girls to commit indecent acts.
Oprah it is OK, it's just their culture
Tiny Virginia Makopo faces 13 charges of indecent assault, assault and criminal injury committed against at least six students aged 13-15 and a 23-year-old at the school.

"When I first heard about it I spent about a half-hour going around my house crying," Winfrey said at a news conference.

Winfrey, who joined the press conference via satellite from Chicago, said she was grateful to finally being able to speak about the events, as police investigators has asked her to remain silent while the investigation was being conducted so as not to jeopardize the case.
Bet that was a struggle for her ...
Winfrey said she was informed on October 6 by Samuel that fifteen girls had come to his office to see him with a list of grievances, including suspected sexual abuse of one of their classmates. The suspect was immediately removed from campus.
Assuming this really happened
"I was, needless to say, devastated and really shaken to my core when I first heard this news," Winfrey said.
Imagine how the girls are feeling Oprah
She spoke with the founder of the Child Trauma Center in Houston, Dr. Bruce Perry, who informed her that, under U.S. law, suspected child abuse must be reported to child protective services, which is also the case under South African law, so she alerted Superintendent Andre Needling and told him that there was suspicion of some kind of sexual abuse.
Sounds like the first thing she did was call for legal council. Lawsuits to be filed in 10, 9, 8...
"I told Andre that I wanted to conduct an independent investigation to determine what exactly had happened and that I would appreciate his advice and his guidance in this matter." Needling said his department would work in cooperation with the school's investigation.
No mention of worries for the children
Posted by: Icerigger || 11/05/2007 11:12 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It is ALL about ME.
Posted by: Steven || 11/05/2007 13:07 Comments || Top||

#2  Too bad, Oprah. Maybe next time you might take the time to check your people out instead of assuming they'll just be dazzled into good deeds by your etheral glow...
Posted by: tu3031 || 11/05/2007 13:24 Comments || Top||

#3  Good point
Posted by: Icerigger || 11/05/2007 13:32 Comments || Top||

#4  Tiny Virginia Makopo faces 13 charges of indecent assault, assault and criminal injury committed against at least six students aged 13-15 and a 23-year-old at the school.

Well, with a name like Tiny Virginia, she "couldn't help it."

And, yes, I agree that Oprah is about the most self-absorbed "look at what good I did" person on TV. BUT, she did do this in Africa, after "going off" about inner-city Chicago schools. Kind of like Bill Cosby, she spoke "truth to power" on the issue of inner-City U.S. schools and put her $ where it's REALLY needed.
Posted by: BA || 11/05/2007 14:55 Comments || Top||

#5  Let's see if Oprah can bring herself to divert some of her massive fortune to the psychological therapy and rehabilitation of the victims. My bet is she will spend more money on her own therapist fighting any lawsuits arising from this than helping the afflicted.
Posted by: Zenster || 11/05/2007 15:14 Comments || Top||

#6  The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

She had good intentions when opening a school and staffing it with locals, but without good backgrounds checks and constant oversight, this shit happens. Even in the US. While I applaud Oprah for the intent behind it, I will scold her for her "we are all ok" bullshit line of thought. It is what helped cause the issue. In that part of the world especially where woman are seen as little more than mobile maids and sex toys. The world is an evil place, Opie-rah. If you try to build a oasis of safety against it, ya gotta put up the thorn wall to keep the wolves out.

Also, between her and the media making this into Oprah's personal tragedy is just disgusting. This isn't about her. This is about those girls and making the place safe for them. Not for more star time for an over-privileged bitch. If she was completely for the girls, she would state that "This isn't about me." Not bemoaning the fact she spent half an hour wandering around her house crying.
Posted by: DarthVader || 11/05/2007 15:14 Comments || Top||

#7  Oprah will probably buy all the victims a car. Oprah sure does command a lot of media attention. Some woman who gets raped in L.A. might rate a back page blurb if any at all.
Posted by: JohnQC || 11/05/2007 15:59 Comments || Top||

#8  I'm worried about Oprah's diet. This could be a major set-back. A major set back and a major bestseller!
Posted by: Thomas Woof || 11/05/2007 16:58 Comments || Top||

#9  Nah, JohnQC, more like a copy of "A Million Little Pieces". ;)
Posted by: Swamp Blondie || 11/05/2007 19:05 Comments || Top||

#10  She had good intentions when opening a school and staffing it with locals

Some smart person once said "Trust, but verify".
Posted by: DMFD || 11/05/2007 19:19 Comments || Top||

#11  This is going to leave a mark. If you spent the time and energy trying to stick Bush/Rummy and others for the actions by a few at Abu Ghrab, you're deep in the dodo along with Oprah. While the usual liberal - one set of rules for me, another set of rules for thee, can sell to the members of the inner party, the rest of us in the outer party can see the duplicity in standards.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/05/2007 20:39 Comments || Top||


Italy police arrest mafia "boss of bosses"
By Wladimir Pantaleone

PALERMO, Sicily (Rooters) - Tony Soprano Salvatore Lo Piccolo, who magistrates believe is the Sicilian Mafia's new "boss of bosses", was arrested on Monday after nearly a quarter of a century on the run, police said.

Lo Piccolo, 65, was arrested with his 32-year-old son, Sandro, and two other Mafia bosses.

The four are among the top 30 most wanted Mafia suspects in Italy and were seized in a raid on a country house outside the Sicilian capital Palermo where they were holding a summit.

Police fired a few shots during the operation but no one was injured. As he was being arrested, the younger Lo Piccolo told his father: "I love you, Dad," according to local media reports.

Magistrates believe the elder Lo Piccolo, whose Mafia nickname is "the Baron", took over the reins of the crime organization after the arrest last year of former "boss of bosses" Bernardo Provenzano.

"We are really pleased with this operation because these people are not just fugitives but Mafia chiefs who were wielding their power," anti-Mafia magistrate Francesco Messineo told the Italian news agency Ansa.

Sicily's regional governor, Salvatore Cuffaro, said he hoped the arrest of Lo Piccolo would be "a mortal, definitive blow to Cosa Nostra", using the name of the Sicilian Mafia.

The arrests took place on the day Sicilians pay tribute each year to the victims of the Mafia, mostly magistrates such as Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, who were killed by bombs in 1992.

Prime Minister Romano Prodi hailed the arrests as "a success for the state ... and all honest citizens."

Lo Piccolo began his crime career as a bodyguard for Phil Leotardo a Sicilian mobster and worked his way up the organization until he took over after Johnny Sack rovenzano's arrest in 2006. He has been on the run since 1983.

After Provenzano's arrest Lo Piccolo fought for the Mafia's leadership against another contender, Carmine Lupertazzi Matteo Messina Denaro, magistrates believe.

Provenzano, who was known as "the tractor" because he mowed down his enemies as a young hit man, took on legendary status because he was on the run for 43 years.

In the 18 months since Provenzano's arrest there have been four Mafia killings that investigators say may have been part of a battle between Lo Piccolo and Denaro for leadership of the crime group.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 11/05/2007 10:34 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Olive oil futures crash with supplies in doubt.
Posted by: wxjames || 11/05/2007 11:10 Comments || Top||

#2  In the 18 months since Provenzano's arrest there have been four Mafia killings that investigators say may have been part of a battle between Lo Piccolo and Denaro for leadership of the crime group.

And now you'll have a few more greasers going titzup so you'll know who the next target big cheese is.

Wash, rinse, repeat...
Posted by: Raj || 11/05/2007 11:12 Comments || Top||

#3  Il Capo de tutti Capi is named... Lo Piccolo?

Sheesh.
Posted by: mojo || 11/05/2007 12:55 Comments || Top||

#4  Well Mojo, YOU can be the first to tease him in the prison shower.
Posted by: ed || 11/05/2007 13:16 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Afghan child mortality rate drops by 25 percent
Child mortality has dropped by 25 percent in Afghanistan since the Taliban government was overthrown in 2001, meaning that 89,000 more children survive each year, the Afghan Health Ministry said on Sunday.
Posted by: Fred || 11/05/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  Yet another result of the US-led imperialist incursion into the private affairs of the local, indigenous peoples.

Waitaminute. The children benefit?
Posted by: Bobby || 11/05/2007 6:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Tell 'em, W - it's for the children!
Posted by: Spot || 11/05/2007 8:14 Comments || Top||

#3  Quagmire!
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 11/05/2007 10:56 Comments || Top||

#4  ...and they did it without SCHIP! Another reason for W to veto the latest version.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 11/05/2007 12:12 Comments || Top||

#5  Bush lied! People didn't die!

Al
Posted by: Frozen Al || 11/05/2007 19:03 Comments || Top||

#6  Of course 'global warming' could be permitting the humanitarian supplies and medical personnel to get in and around in the Dreaded Afghanistan Winter[tm] making this all possible. That would tie the nickers of the moonbats into knots.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/05/2007 20:34 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Egypt Eases Mubarak Son's Ascent
Egypt's ruling party appointed President Hosni Mubarak's son to an important new committee Saturday in a move seen as further paving the way for the younger Mubarak to succeed his father. Gamal Mubarak has risen dramatically in the ranks of the party since the National Democratic Party's last convention in 2002 and is now number two in the party and head of the powerful policy making committee.

Three years ago, there were angry protests against his succession. Recently, demonstrations have waned, but talk of succession picked up over the summer following rumors that Mubarak was ill. Traditionally, the presidential candidate had to be head of the party's political bureau. But in the spring, the constitution was changed to require only that the candidate be chosen from the members of a new structure called the Supreme Committee. Saturday's measure, passed during the opening day of the party's general convention, elected Gamal to that committee, which has 50 members. The move is seen as a more discreet way of setting him up as a presidential candidate than appointing him to the party's political bureau.
This article starring:
Gamal Mubarak
Hosni Mubarak
Posted by: Fred || 11/05/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Nepotism's all right so long as you keep it in the family.
Posted by: Zenster || 11/05/2007 10:56 Comments || Top||

#2  Have they started on Hosni's pyramid? (Heck, it worked the first time for thousands of years.)
Posted by: Gabby Cussworth || 11/05/2007 15:55 Comments || Top||

#3  Ergo why NOT Raul Castro???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/05/2007 18:20 Comments || Top||

#4  Dubya = USA reportedly warned CUBA recently that the USA will not accept the reins of Cuban Govt simply being turned over to Raul post-Fidel, espec without a legitimate popular/national vote.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/05/2007 18:24 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Dubai and rape: French youth tells his story
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 11/05/2007 10:27 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  United Arab Emirates law does not recognize rape of males, only a crime called "forced homosexuality."

Ah yes another wonderful Muslim country
Posted by: Icerigger || 11/05/2007 11:33 Comments || Top||

#2  The authorities not only discouraged Alex from pressing charges, he says; they have left open the possibility of charging Alex with criminal homosexual activity, and neglected to inform him or his parents that one of his attackers had tested HIV positive while in prison four years earlier.

So, this wasn't just rape but attempted murder.

Ko said violent rape was common

Yet, homosexuality is not rampant in the Arab world.
Posted by: Zenster || 11/05/2007 11:51 Comments || Top||

#3  That last part is not a contradiction, Zen. As women have said for some time, rape is primarily about asserting power and only secondarily sexual.
Posted by: lotp || 11/05/2007 12:05 Comments || Top||

#4  As far as the Arabs are concerned, Mr. Wife has said, only the one on the receiving end is considered to be acting as a homosexual. (Yes, I understand that one, Nimble Spemble -- I'm only mostly hopeless!) The other guy is just doing what men do with an orifice. And boys don't count either -- but I can't parse that one.

Mr. Wife did not enjoy Saudi Arabia. And he didn't even get paid extra for it.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/05/2007 12:52 Comments || Top||

#5  As women have said for some time, rape is primarily about asserting power and only secondarily sexual.

Nowhere do I dispute that. Rape has nothing to do with sex, save for the rapist and even that is debatable. My point is that if violent rape is common in a region where access to women is almost prohibitively restricted then—other than spousal rape or assaults on foreign women—homosexual rape must be the predominant form of it. Muslim denials notwithstanding, this means that homosexual activity is conceivably rather widespread.
Posted by: Zenster || 11/05/2007 14:01 Comments || Top||

#6  And boys don't count either -- but I can't parse that one.

Preadolescent boys who are without body hair are not classified as men and consequently any sexual activity with them supposedly does not count towards homosexual behavior between "men". These sort of mental and syntactical gymnastics epitomize the circuitous definitions by which Muslims ostensibly maintain their much-vaunted Islamic "purity".
Posted by: Zenster || 11/05/2007 14:05 Comments || Top||

#7  "Men convicted of sexually assaulting other men usually serve sentences ranging from a few months to two years, legal experts here say."
Well, apparently it IS a crime, Zenster, albeit a lightly-punished one.

"this means that homosexual activity is conceivably rather widespread"
Make up your mind, Zenster, is it "rampant" or merely "conceivably" rather widespread?
Posted by: Darrell || 11/05/2007 15:41 Comments || Top||

#8  "Ko said violent rape was common"
"Ko... who described himself as a 'queen,' said that his effeminate walk and tight clothes frequently attracted censure from police officers and labor and immigration officials, who would demand sex in exchange for not filing criminal charges or for issuing a work permit. He cut his shoulder-length hair to avoid attention, he said, but after years of living in fear of jail or deportation, he is selling his businesses and is leaving the country."
Note that this dubious witness has apparently NEVER reported a violent rape and is "living in fear of jail or deportation", NOT living in fear of violent rape.
Posted by: Darrell || 11/05/2007 15:49 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
AL demands Hasina's release before polls
The party of former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina demanded on Sunday an end to emergency rule and the release of its leader to ensure a fair national election, expected sometime next year.

Hasina is among scores of politicians arrested in a crackdown launched by the country’s army-backed interim administration as part of its campaign against corruption. “We don’t believe that a free and fair election is possible with our leader Sheikh Hasina, chief of the country’s biggest party, behind the bars,” acting party chief Zillur Rahman said after a meeting with the election commission.

The party also sought the lifting of emergency rules imposed by the interim government after it took over in January pledging to hold parliamentary elections by the end of next year. Awami League asked the commission to bar religion-based political parties from contesting the polls and those that had acted against the country’s independence struggle in 1971. The prime target of the Awami League was the Jamaat-e-Islami party which had opposed Bangladesh independence’s from Pakistan.

The election commission will also soon invite one of the two factions of the now divided Bangladesh Nationalist party, led by another jailed ex-premier Begum Khaleda Zia, to discuss its election plans.
Posted by: Fred || 11/05/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Caribbean-Latin America
Sri Lanka to probe UN sex claims in Haiti
Sri Lanka has promised to look into allegations that 108 of its UN peacekeepers in Haiti paid for sex, in some cases with underage girls. The men are being sent home after being accused of sexual misconduct and abuse.
They can go home and hunt Tamil Tigers. Seems like a just punishment.
Officials say the law will take its course once the soldiers arrive back in Sri Lanka, but warn that little tangible evidence has been produced. The 950-strong peacekeeping operation in Haiti is the first to which Sri Lanka has sent a full contingent of troops, although some officers have joined earlier missions.

In the past, UN peacekeepers have been involved in a series of sex scandals, including this year in Ivory Coast.
Not too much happened about that, either.
Sri Lanka has sent four senior officers, including a female brigadier, to Haiti to investigate. Sri Lanka's Foreign Secretary, Dr Palitha Kohona, said the allegations against the soldiers were a blight on what he described as the country's stunningly good record in United Nations peacekeeping. He added though that little tangible evidence had been provided by the United Nations, which might make it difficult to bring them before a court.

The UN mission in Haiti has requested an immediate investigation by the organisation's internal watchdog. The UN has a "zero tolerance" policy on peacekeepers visiting prostitutes, regardless of local laws.
Applied more as a "no-see, no-hear, no-say" policy.
Spokeswoman Michele Montas said: "The United Nations and the Sri Lankan government deeply regret any sexual exploitation and abuse that has occurred. "The [soldiers] are back under national jurisdiction. So far Sri Lanka has said... that they are going to be prosecuted in Sri Lanka."
Posted by: Steve White || 11/05/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  No, no! Not the PROBE!...
Posted by: mojo || 11/05/2007 22:07 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Putin sez Russia threatened by "Unipolar World"
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 11/05/2007 07:35 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Putin - you will lose Siberia by osmosis and not due to anything the US intends or does. It will soon be majority Chinese by illegal immigration and then you will blink one day and its gone!

Posted by: 3dc || 11/05/2007 10:08 Comments || Top||

#2  If it is unipolar, maybe it's because of the damn failure of all other systems. Go back to your scientific Marxists theory and see what Darwin says.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/05/2007 20:35 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
Broken glass in sunflower seeds from China
Glass particles have been found in Norwegian bread containing sunflower seeds from China, the country's food safety authority said.

The regulator said eight consumers in different regions of Norway found bits of finely ground glass in their bread before eating it and contacted their bakers. No one was hurt.

He said 110 bakers in Norway bought some of a suspect shipment of sunflower seeds, which had been recalled along with baked goods containing the seeds. The Chinese exporter has sent a representative to Norway to discuss safety procedures.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/05/2007 17:41 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I've been joking with my wife that China is trying to poison the world as part of it's long-term plan.

Funny joke...
Posted by: Gabby Cussworth || 11/05/2007 17:54 Comments || Top||

#2  They were just trying to dilute the lead content.
Posted by: DMFD || 11/05/2007 19:17 Comments || Top||

#3  Probably leaded crystal.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 11/05/2007 20:04 Comments || Top||

#4  I buy 50 pound sacks of Sunflower seeds to feed the squirrels, they're smart enough to eat the seeds and not the glass.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 11/05/2007 20:05 Comments || Top||

#5  They were just trying to dilute the lead content.

Unfortunately, the shards were from a supervisor's crystal wine goblet.

Memo to China: No cooperation over Iran, no USA teams at your Olympics.
Posted by: Zenster || 11/05/2007 20:08 Comments || Top||

#6  Damn your eyes, NS! You beat me to it!
Posted by: Zenster || 11/05/2007 20:12 Comments || Top||

#7  Gee, it's almost as if slave laborers were sabotaging things deliberately...
Posted by: Butch Hupemble1650 || 11/05/2007 22:00 Comments || Top||


Great White North
For Fellow Sailing Burgers: Tom Perkins and his Mega Sailing Yacht
For sailors-tech guys who enjoy 4 star hotel comforts. An American capitalist on the water. Be sure to see the video and enjoy.

If there were a hall of fame for business tycoons, Tom Perkins would be a first ballot shoo-in. His hands-on engineering skills, combined with his nose for profit, made him the captain of venture capitalism and helped transform Silicon Valley into the money machine of the West. As correspondent Lesley Stahl reports, the firm he co-founded, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, provided start-up capital for companies like AOL, Amazon.com, Netscape, and Google; the list goes on and on.

More recently, he has been at the center of some corporate boardroom battles at Hewlett-Packard that led to the ouster of one of the most powerful women in business: then-CEO Carly Fiorina. And last year he triggered a confrontation that then brought to light how HP was spying on its own board members and journalists.

Tom Perkins has his own personal mega-yacht, "The Maltese Falcon." She's the world’s largest privately-owned sailboat, what one magazine called a "big boatload of ego."

The Maltese Falcon embodies all the grandeur of a 19th century clipper ship. It's also the biggest, fastest, most high-tech sailboat on the high seas, a triumph of science, vision and money.

"Somebody has to have it, right?" Perkins says, laughing. "Why not me?"
Why not indeed.

"Isn't she beautiful?" Perkins remarks.

The Falcon is also a technological breakthrough. The masts stand 192-feet tall, weigh 25 tons each, and are made of carbon fiber.

"The B-1 bomber's made out of carbon fiber," Perkins explains. "Except for the American Air Force, I purchased the most carbon fiber of anybody ever."
On board, the boat is no less spectacular. On a scale of 1 to 10, the boat is a 12. "You know I never had the sense of how long the boat is until now," Stahl remarks, walking along the bow. "Well it's your typical football field size sailing yacht, you know," Perkins says, laughing.
Can I have it when you are done?

Inside, there are two 1,800-horsepower engines, 11,000 square feet of living space, and his crew of 20 includes a gourmet chef and a team of stewards and stewardesses.

Perkins also showed Stahl how to unfurl the boat's 15 sails, a job that would take about 80 deckhands an hour on a traditional sailboat. All it takes on the Falcon is five minutes, and the touch of a screen. And just like that the sails housed inside hollow, carbon fiber masts began to unfurl -- all 26,000 square feet of them. That's over half an acre's worth of sail.
All covered on the video
Posted by: Icerigger || 11/05/2007 12:21 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ouch. He should have a bumper sticker on that dingy: "I brake for Nobody"
Posted by: mojo || 11/05/2007 22:05 Comments || Top||


International-UN-NGOs
Polls show: Most people are morons
Posted by: phil_b || 11/05/2007 04:02 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  And morons they are.

Protecting the planet is important, that is IF you know what needs to be done.
Posted by: newc || 11/05/2007 5:20 Comments || Top||

#2  Also, when they're asked about raising taxes the respondent also assumes you're talking about raising taxes on other people.
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 11/05/2007 6:07 Comments || Top||

#3  Surprise meter graphic, please?
Posted by: no mo uro || 11/05/2007 6:16 Comments || Top||

#4  you know how stupid the average person is?

Well 50% of people are more stupid than that!
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 11/05/2007 7:42 Comments || Top||

#5  Years ago, National Lampoon put it into perspective when it showed "poll results":

98% of Americans don't want another Hiroshima
96% of Americans don't want another Nagasaki
92% of Americans want their children to marry Smurfs...
Posted by: Anonymoose || 11/05/2007 7:50 Comments || Top||

#6  Intelligence is finite.
There are just more people.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/05/2007 9:16 Comments || Top||

#7  Most people are sheep. That is why propaganda is so darn effective when it is the only source of information.
Posted by: DarthVader || 11/05/2007 9:54 Comments || Top||

#8  I can only listen to the BBC for five minutes at a time. This is the approximate length it takes to hammer "climate change" into whatever the nominal topic might be. It is one grotesque lie writ large and paid for by the public. Time for a mob with pitchforks.
Posted by: Excalibur || 11/05/2007 10:20 Comments || Top||

#9  Deteriorata

Go placidly amid the noise and waste,
And remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
Avoid quiet and passive persons unless you are in need of sleep.
Rotate your tires.
Speak glowingly of those greater than yourself,
And heed well their advice, even though they be turkeys.
Know what to kiss and when.
Consider that two wrongs never make a right,
But that three lefts do.
Wherever possible put people on "HOLD".
Be comforted that in the face of all aridity and disillusionment,
And despite the changing fortunes of time,
There is always a big future in computer maintenance.
Remember the Pueblo.
Strive at all times to bend, fold, spindle and mutilate.
Know yourself. If you need help, call the FBI.
Exercise caution in your daily affairs,
Especially with those persons closest to you;
That lemon on your left for instance.
Be assured that a walk through the ocean of most souls,
Would scarcely get your feet wet.
Fall not in love therefore; it will stick to your face.
Carefully surrender the things of youth: birds, clean air, tuna, Taiwan,
And let not the sands of time get in your lunch.
For a good time, call 606-4311.
Take heart amid the deepening gloom that your dog
Is finally getting enough cheese;
And reflect that whatever fortunes may be your lot,
It could only be worse in Sioux City.
You are a fluke of the Universe.
You have no right to be here, and whether you can hear it or not,
The Universe is laughing behind your back.
Therefore make peace with your God whatever you conceive him to be,
Hairy Thunderer or Cosmic Muffin.
With all its hopes, dreams, promises, and urban renewal,
The world continues to deteriorate.
Give up.
Posted by: Zenster || 11/05/2007 10:37 Comments || Top||

#10  I always heard this a little differently.

For a good time, call 606-4311.

Ask for 'Candy.'

And reflect that whatever fortunes may be your lot,
It could only be worse in Sioux City.


See, now, on our radio, this was always "Milwaukee". (And "misfortune".)
Posted by: Angie Schultz || 11/05/2007 11:40 Comments || Top||

#11  Ask for 'Candy.'

That's how I always remembered it too. One version I saw had "Ask for Ken". Thank you for the proofread, Angie.
Posted by: Zenster || 11/05/2007 11:58 Comments || Top||

#12  I think the British are really asking for is a 0.50 Euro price for a kilowatt of electricity. I can just imagine the day when the US exports our $0.04/kW electricity by the tanker full.
Posted by: ed || 11/05/2007 12:08 Comments || Top||

#13  Back during the Vietnam War, Armed Forces Radio Network SE Asia censored the Miserata because of its reference to Taiwan.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 11/05/2007 17:18 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Iraq, With U.S. Support, Voids a Russian Oil Contract
Bwha-ha-ha.
BAGHDAD, Oct. 29 — Guided by American legal advisers, the Iraqi government has canceled a controversial development contract with the Russian company Lukoil for a vast oil field in Iraq’s southern desert, freeing it up for potential international investment in the future. In response, Russian authorities have threatened to revoke a 2004 deal under the Paris Club of creditor nations to forgive $13 billion in Iraqi debt, a senior Iraqi official said.
I think the Iraqis have the upper hand. The Russkies can't enforce their debt collection so long as Iraqi oil flows to the market.
The field, West Qurna, has estimated reserves of 11 billion barrels, the equivalent of the worldwide proven oil reserves of Exxon Mobil, America’s largest oil company. Hussain al-Shahristani, the Iraqi oil minister, said in an interview that the field would be opened to new bidders, perhaps as early as next year. The contract, which had been signed and later canceled by the Saddam Hussein government, had been in legal limbo since the American invasion. But the Kremlin remained hopeful it could be salvaged until this September, when Mr. Shahristani traveled to Moscow to inform officials there that the decision to cancel it was final, he said.
As it should be cancelled. There's a few people who can tell us exactly the bribes that went back and forth, and they're either dead or not talking. Let the new government start from scratch with all these contracts.
The Russian government, newly emboldened in international affairs by its expanding oil wealth, is still backing Lukoil’s claim and protesting what it considers selective enforcement of contracts in Iraq. “We will defend our interests,” Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said in a telephone interview. “It is the government’s obligation to defend the interests of our companies in foreign countries.”

One Iraqi official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was discussing a confidential diplomatic exchange, described Russia’s response as, “If you do the deal, we can muster the political muscle to forgive the debt.”

West Qurna, mapped by Soviet geologists in the 1980s but mostly untapped, is one of a dozen or so supergiant oil fields in the world. They are known in the industry as “elephants,” fields so large they can tip the fortunes of companies or countries. The field will produce one million barrels of oil a day after four to five years of development, according to both Iraqi oil officials and Lukoil; that is the approximate equivalent of the current output of the North Slope in Alaska.

In Lukoil’s 1997 production-sharing agreement, Saddam Hussein’s government awarded the company development rights to the 11 billion barrels of oil for a paltry signing bonus of $10 million. The deal, concluded when Iraq was seeking Russian support in a failed effort to lift United Nations sanctions, allotted 9.6 percent of the output to Lukoil.
Didn't work out so well, did it boy? Take your lumps and re-bid.
The contract presented a quandary for the United States, which has been accused by some critics of invading Iraq for its oil. There is little evidence to date that the war effort has given American oil companies an inside track to Iraq’s reserves, and the Lukoil deal is the only one involving a major oil company to be reversed since the start of the war. But as a cornerstone of its foreign policy, the United States has argued vigorously for countries to honor petroleum contracts. In that light, condoning the cancellation of the Lukoil contract could be seen in some quarters as evidence of a double standard.
Then again, it could be seen as setting things right and returning Iraq's assets to its people. But that might be considered a quaint, democratic way of thinking.
“From the Russian government perspective, Iraq is seen as occupied and its administration directed by Washington, particularly when it comes to oil,” Vladimir I. Tikhomirov, chief economist at the Russian bank UralSib, said in a telephone interview. “The Russians see the cancellation of their contract in Iraq as part of the U.S. drive to keep control over the major oil fields there,” he said.
If the Iraqis have any sense whatsoever they'll keep it that way. They got to experience the Soviet way of doing things under Saddam. Now let's see if they can make things work in a western way. That means cancelling all the sweetheart deals.
The Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, has raised the issue with President Bush several times since the 2003 invasion. In an interview with the BBC in June 2003, Mr. Putin said Mr. Bush had gone as far as offering assurances. “At our last meeting,” Mr. Putin said, “Bush directly and clearly said, ‘We do not have any goals of pressuring Russian companies out of Iraq and we are ready to create the conditions for working together there.’ I have no reason not to believe him.”

The legality of the Lukoil contract remains murky. It is Iraq’s stated policy, as laid out in a draft oil law now before Parliament, to honor contracts signed by the Saddam Hussein government. It is doing just that with contracts with Chinese, Vietnamese, Indonesian and Indian oil companies. But the Iraqis note that it was the Saddam Hussein government that canceled the Lukoil contract. The government’s spokesman, Tariq Aziz, said at the time that the government believed the Russians were negotiating with the Americans to secure the contract in event of an invasion.

Early in the American occupation, the question arose whether the Hussein government’s decision was valid, said Michael Stinson, the former chief adviser to the Iraqi Oil Ministry. The answer was supplied by the principal American legal adviser to the ministry at the time, Robert Maguire, who Mr. Stinson said was then working for the Defense Department. Mr. Maguire drew on pre-Hussein-era law to justify the cancellation, Mr. Stinson said.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/05/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  No reason to go back to "oil for food" days where Russia, germans, france, and the worthless UN were all in on the take while saddam built palaces during starvation.
Posted by: newc || 11/05/2007 5:19 Comments || Top||

#2  Free men don't honor deals by dictators.
Posted by: ed || 11/05/2007 12:19 Comments || Top||

#3  Free MEN, don't make deals with Dictators in the first place.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 11/05/2007 13:04 Comments || Top||

#4  this is SPARTA!!!
Posted by: Tyranysaurus Unoluth6411 || 11/05/2007 15:53 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
DARPA race pushes robotics forward
Carnegie Mellon University and its robotics guru, Red Whittaker, have been vindicated.

On Sunday, CMU's Tartan Racing took home $2 million for first place in DARPA's Urban Challenge--a test of driverless cars on urban streets here at the former George Air Force Base in Southern California's Mojave Desert. By doing so, the team regained its pride after two stinging defeats in 2004 and 2005. And it stole some glory back from 2005's winner, Stanford University, in tackling what was effectively a harder challenge this year. (Stanford claimed the second prize of $1 million this year.)

Apart from a little competitive drama and at least one robot wreck, the DARPA Urban Challenge produced a more important win for robotics this year, one that everyone from Whittaker to Stanford's team leader, Sebastian Thrun, pointed out at the race Saturday. That was simply that the competition seeded the idea in people's minds that self-driving cars are possible. Moreover, proponents say the underlying technology will pave the way for a new generation of cars that will help save lives, either through assisted-driving applications for civilian cars or fully autonomous vehicles for the military.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Anonymoose || 11/05/2007 13:38 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I, for one, welcome the rule of our new robot automobiles.

(someone had to do it!)
Posted by: Mike || 11/05/2007 15:30 Comments || Top||

#2  If indeed the robots are autonomous, then why does DARPA need to push them??????
Posted by: USN,Ret. || 11/05/2007 17:12 Comments || Top||

#3  But for "BOT TO BOT" to occur, Earthica needs SKYNET, etc. = SPACE-TO-GROUND/SURFACE SATSYS, Milyuuhns and Zilyuuhns of 'em.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/05/2007 18:28 Comments || Top||

#4  Truth be told, I'd long ago dreamt/envisioned mine or my clan descendants going about in "flying cars" [back to the future = large/giant "cars"]. D *** NG YOU, GEORGE JETSON, WHAT EVIL HATH YOU WROUGHT ON THE WORLD ON FRIDAY-SATURDAY NITES [shaking fists angrily]!?
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/05/2007 18:33 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
UN special envoy meets Myanmar ministers in new capital
(Xinhua) -- Visiting United Nations Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari met with Myanmar Foreign Minister U Nyan Win and Labor Minister U Aung Kyi in the new capital of Nay Pyi Taw Sunday, according to official sources.

U Aung Kyi, who is also Liaison Minister tasked recently by the government to get link with Aung San Suu Kyi, detained leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD). The sources disclosed no details about their respective meetings.

On the same day, Gambari, who is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Special Adviser on Myanmar, also met with representatives of the government-backed biggest social organization of the Union Solidarity and Development Association, Myanmar Women's Affairs Federation, Myanmar Maternal and Child Welfare Association, the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Myanmar Red Cross Society.

Earlier next week, Gambari is expected to meet Prime Minister Lieutenant-General Thein Sein, Aung San Suu Kyi, leaders of political parties, representatives of national races and State Vulnerable Monks Committee as well as officials of resident UN organizations and foreign diplomats.
This article starring:
Aung San Suu Kyi
Ibrahim Gambari
Prime Minister Lieutenant-General Thein Sein
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Posted by: Fred || 11/05/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:



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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2007-11-05
  Around 60 Taliban, four police dead in Afghan attacks
Sun 2007-11-04
  Opp vows to resist emergency
Sat 2007-11-03
  Musharraf imposes state of emergency
Fri 2007-11-02
  Anbar leaders visit US, stress partnership
Thu 2007-11-01
  Bus bomb kills eight, injures 56 in Russia
Wed 2007-10-31
  Iraqi Special Forces Detains AQI Commander in Khadra
Tue 2007-10-30
  Crew of North Korean Pirated Vessel Regains Control
Mon 2007-10-29
  Baghdad: Gunmen kidnap 10 anti-al-Qaida tribal leaders
Sun 2007-10-28
  80 Talibs escorted from gene pool at Musa Qala
Sat 2007-10-27
  Pakistani forces launch offensive against militants in Swat valley
Fri 2007-10-26
  Mehsuds formally ask army to leave Tank compound
Thu 2007-10-25
  India jails 31 for life over 1998 blasts
Wed 2007-10-24
  Binny demands reinforcements for Iraq
Tue 2007-10-23
  PKK offers conditional ceasefire
Mon 2007-10-22
  Bobby Jindal governor of Louisiana


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