Since he had to go sometime, Jesse Helms would have liked the idea of dying on July 4. The main cause of his life was defending liberty, especially against Soviet Communism, and so we wouldn't be surprised if he held out to make it to the early hours of our national holiday before dying yesterday at age 86.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2008 15:49 ||
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He was a constant thorn in the side of the UN-firstists, Dem Commie-symps for Central America, Ted Kennedy and most people I deplore. RIP, Jesse
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/05/2008 16:11 Comments ||
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Robert Mugabe has warned neighbouring countries to 'think twice' before launching an attack against his regime. Analysts say this could be viewed as a direct threat to Botswana, who this week deployed an army brigade with artillery to patrol it's border with Zimbabwe. Botswana described the troop movement as 'a precaution' against trouble spilling over into their country.
Might be true, or might be a cover story.
Relations between Botswana and Zimbabwe came to an all time low at the Au Summit in Egypt on Tuesday, when they refused to recognise Mugabe's stolen election win. On Friday they reiterated calls for Mugabe's regime to be suspended from the AU and the 14-nation SADC community.
Botswana's new president, Ian Khama, a former commander of the country's defence forces, has become increasingly critical of Mugabe's rule and the problems it has caused in neighbouring countries. Foreign Minister Phandu Sekelemani told reporters in Gaborone that as a country that practices democracy and the rule of law, they do not recognize the outcome of Zimbabwe's presidential run-off election, and would expect other SADC member states to do the same.
Speaking to his bussed in 'supporters' on his arrival home on Friday Mugabe warned his neighbours to be careful about provoking his government: "If there are some who may want to fight us, they should think twice. We don't intend to fight any neighbours. We are a peaceful country, but if there is a country, a neighbouring country that is itching for a fight, ah, then let them try it."
A military analyst told Newsreel in the unlikely event of a war situation Mugabe's army would struggle to sustain a battle, due to a number of factors.
"The country's airpower is almost ground to a halt due to lack of spare parts, soldiers' morale is low because of poor serving conditions and the state of the economy limits the extent of how long the country can sustain a war. Currently the army is sending it's soldiers on forced leave due to food shortages in army barracks. These are all factors that constrain its operations,"' the analyst said.
How many soldiers will die for Bob? Zimbob army has to be a near-wreck right now, useful only to keep Bob and the generals in power. I imagine the Botswanan army isn't a world-beater, either, and they might also have problems sustaining any major field operation. But to the extent that this increases the stress levels on Bob and the generals it's a useful thing.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/05/2008 00:00 ||
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It depends who will be providing support and intelligence to Botswana. As with the Ethiopian invasion of Somalia, the invisible hand will greatly multiply the Botswana military.
The big question is what planes are landing in the capital city Gaborone?
And oddly enough, Islam will have no part to play in any unpleasantness, as they are both Christian nations.
#2
Good points. Some quiet American intel, some Brit advisors, some old surplus Soviet equipment, all could make a difference.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/05/2008 0:17 Comments ||
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Botswana is the wealthiest, most productive, more progressive country south of the Sahara in Africa and I include that basket case South Africa. Their officer corps are trained by US Army in America - some at Ft. Stewart, Ft. McNair and Ft. Bragg. They are highly disciplined (the American way, not the French way). If I was Bob I wouldn't make idle threats or start harassing the border.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/05/2008 7:54 Comments ||
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Botswana is a big player in that part of Africa. They are well trained and can afford decent weapons. You might want to think twice about pissing them off, Bob. I guarantee the US would at least supply them with intel against your dumb ass and their military does more than beat up little old ladies.
Note the emphasis on light armor in this equipment set. This is well suited to the terrain and distances involved in the nominal task of rounding up Bob's demoralized rabble.
#8
#7 Wondering if any of the Vulcans still works. The noise alone....
The most underrated anti-personnel weapon in any nation's armory, especially against lightly-armored and unarmored vehicles and anybody not inside the equivalent of an M-1.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/05/2008 23:11 Comments ||
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Former Congolese rebel warlord and vice-president Jean-Pierre Bemba appeared before the global war crimes court on Friday charged with leading a campaign of rape and torture. He is the highest-profile suspect to date brought before the world's first permanent war crimes court, set up in 2002. It was his first appearance before the court.
The court will hold a hearing on Nov. 4 to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to start a trial of Bemba, who was transferred to the International Criminal Court's custody on Thursday.
November? Carla del Ponte must be waiting in the wings. And aren't they supposed to figure out whether they have 'sufficient evidence' before they arrest him?
He was arrested in Belgium in May. His is accused of leading Congolese rebels in a campaign of rape and torture in the Central African Republic in 2002 and 2003.
He confirmed to the court that he had been informed of the charges against him but was not asked to enter a plea.
The arrival in The Hague of Bemba, who was defeated by Joseph Kabila in Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) 2006 presidential election, was seen as a boost to the court after judges ordered the release of its first suspect on Wednesday.
Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga remains in custody pending a prosecution appeal, but judges have put his trial on hold as his defence cannot view some evidence that the United Nations wants to keep confidential to protect its sources.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2008 00:00 ||
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(Xinhua) -- Botswana's government urged its neighbors Friday not to recognize Robert Mugabe's re-election, reiterating calls for Zimbabwe to be suspended from a regional bloc. "As a country that practices democracy and the rule of law, Botswana does not ... recognize the outcome of the presidential run-off election, and would expect other SADC member states to do the same," the South African Press Association quoted Botswana Foreign Minister Phandu Sekelemani as saying.
On Tuesday, Botswana called for Zimbabwe to be suspended from the African Union and Southern African Development Community (SADC)meetings. Sekelemani said violence ahead of the June 27 run-off election "was not conducive to the holding of a free and fair election," adding that unrest "resulted in the loss of lives, destruction of property and displacement of people from their homes," according to the report. "It is therefore Botswana's position that Zimbabwe not be allowed to participate in SADC meetings until such time that they demonstrate their commitment to strictly adhere to the organization 's principles," he said.
Sekelemani's comments came as Mugabe arrived back home to a hero's welcome by his followers after an African Union summit in Egypt.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2008 00:00 ||
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Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, seemingly unfazed by African Union and international pressure to compromise with the opposition on power-sharing, said today that he would only negotiate with the Movement for Democratic Change if it acknowledges that he is the duly elected head of state - something the opposition has already said it will not do.
Speaking at Harare International airport upon his return from the African Union summit in Egypt earlier this week, Mr. Mugabe commended South African President Thabo Mbeki for his efforts to mediate between ZANU-PF and the MDC. The opposition party however has been highly critical of Mr. Mbeki, accusing him of a pro-Mugabe bias in that mediation.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has said he will only enter talks on power-sharing on the basis of the results of the first-round elections held on March 29 - and then only if the political violence which has seared the country since the March ballot stops.
But Mr. Mugabe said the opposition must recognize as valid his re-election on June 27 if any dialogue is to take place.
Responding to Mr. Mugabe's statement, MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa vowed that his party would never recognize Mugabe's re-election.
Meanwhile, South African Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad bluntly told Zimbabwe on Friday that it must put a stop to politically motivated violence, warning that if the beating and killing continues Pretoria will have no choice but to take unspecified unilateral action.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2008 00:00 ||
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Bob Sets Terms For Power-Sharing...
Term #1. There will NOT be any "power-sharing."
Term #2. See Term #1.
Two boys were punished this week for refusing to kneel on prayer mats and worship Allah during a class demonstration on Islam, the Daily Mail reported.
Irate parents said a religious education teacher at the Alsager High School in England told student to wear Muslim headgear during a lesson on Tuesday. "But if Muslims were asked to go to church on Sunday and take Holy Communion, there would be war," the grandfather of one of the students said.
The two boys belong to a class that includes 11- to 12-year-olds, and after their refusal to participate they were given detention, the story says.
Another parent, Karen Williams, told the Mail: "Not only was it forced upon them, my daughter was told off for not doing it right. They'd never done it before and they were supposed to do it in another language."
Deputy Headmaster Keith Plant said the teacher has given her version of the incident but he declined to elaborate.
According to a statement from the Cheshire County Council on behalf of the school: "Educating children in the beliefs of different faith is part of the diversity curriculum on the basis that knowledge is essential to understanding.
"We accept that such teaching is to be conducted with some sense of sensitivity."
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
07/05/2008 16:54 ||
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This doesn't seem to penetrate: Muslims believe that Christian and Jewish holy texts, were distorted by Satanic possession of post Abraham' "prophets." The "Satanic Verse" incident, as described by Tirmidhi and others, reveals that Muhammad is believed to have suffered the same possession. Muslims refuse to discuss that case; it is too embarassing for their cult.
Posted by: john frum ||
07/05/2008 22:39 Comments ||
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Take the "teacher" to the local high street, and give him/her 200 lashes with a cat-of-nine-tails for political indoctrination and anti-royalist behavior. That MIGHT penetrate a thick head or two, but it's doubtful.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/05/2008 23:19 Comments ||
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Alex Allan, 57, the chairman of the Cabinet Office Joint Intelligence Committee, has been in a coma since he was found lying unconscious at his home in West London on Monday. The news of his collapse shocked Whitehall colleagues. They said that there had been no prior warning of any serious health issue, although Mr Allan had told friends that he was feeling a little off-colour at the end of last week. "We dont know what happened, an official said.
ULAN BATOR - Troops pulled back from the streets of the Mongolian capital on Saturday and political leaders called for calm ahead of the lifting of emergency rule that was declared after rioting over alleged election fraud. There was no sign of the tension that gripped the capital, Ulan Bator, just a few days ago, when stone-throwing mobs set the ruling party's headquarters on fire in a night of violence that killed five people and prompted the president to declare emergency rule for the first time in Mongolia's history.
"The political parties do not want renewed violence," said Y. Otgonbayar, chairman of the ruling Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP). "The primary task at this moment is to keep people quiet and bring back normalcy."
Emergency rule was due to be lifted at 1530 GMT, exactly four days after it was declared.
All parties held talks on Saturday to discuss the impasse over last week's election, which has delayed the formation of a government and dampened hopes for action to tackle double-digit inflation and pass mining agreements.
The opposition Democratic Party alleged fraud and pressed for re-counting and a possible re-vote in some constituencies, after preliminary results showed the MPRP won a clear majority in the 76-seat parliament, or Great Hural. Democratic Party leader Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj said smaller parties were also challenging the result in at least 19 constituencies. According to Mongolian law, three-quarters of the seats -- 57 -- must be filled for parliament to convene.
The election commission said final results would probably be made public on Monday at the earliest.
"If irregularities were undertaken or breaches of the law confirmed, there should be recounting first, and then if there is unfairness, a re-vote," said Otgonbayar. "We were fair in these elections. We are not afraid of re-voting or re-counting whatsoever."
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/05/2008 22:15 ||
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Barack Obama's planned European tour might make a major whistlestop in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. The candidate's schedule isn't set, but a Berlin appearance before the end of July looks likely.
Plans for a visit by Barack Obama, the presumed Democratic candidate for President of the United States, have moved forward -- slowly -- in Berlin, where he may give a speech before the Brandenburg Gate this summer.
Germany's ambassador to Washington, Klaus Scharioth, has reportedly worked for weeks to convince Obama's campaign that the candidate's only large European appearance should take place in Berlin. Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier talked to Obama by phone last April and learned that he might visit Germany. In the meantime, according to SPIEGEL sources, Steinmeier's staff has set plans in motion for an Obama appearance in the capital by the end of July.
Both Steinmeier and his boss, Chancellor Angela Merkel, have expressed willingness to meet Obama. A member of Obama's campaign has already met with Berlin's mayor, Klaus Wowereit, and the Secret Service has reportedly started to investigate security questions surrounding a visit.
No location has been announced, but the Berlin Senate has reportedly been asked whether Obama can speak in front of the Brandenburg Gate, where former US President Ronald Reagan gave a famous speech in 1987. Reagan made a show of asking then-Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down" the Berlin Wall.
The Brandenburg Gate has fresh significance for an American presidential candidate, since a large new US embassy officially opened there on July 4.
Former US President John F. Kennedy gave a famous Berlin speech of his own in 1963, but he appeared in front of the town hall in Schöneberg -- then the seat of government in West Berlin -- which lies several miles from the Brandenburg Gate.
The itinerary for Obama's summer tour includes France, Great Britain, Jordan and Israel. Berlin's Mayor Wowereit said, "It would be a good signal for German-American relations if the presidential candidate paid his respects in Berlin."
US researchers reported that they may have found a way to flush out herpes viruses from hiding offering a potential way to cure pesky and painful conditions from cold sores to shingles.
They discovered that a mysterious gene carried by the herpes simplex-1 virus the one that causes cold sores allows the virus to lay low in the nerves it infects.
It does so via microRNAs, little pieces of genetic material that regulate the activity of many viruses, the researchers report in the journal Nature.
It may be possible to "wake up" the virus and then kill it with standard antiviral drugs such as acyclovir, said Jennifer Lin Umbach of Duke University in North Carolina, who worked on the study. "We are trying to go into animal trials," Umbach said.
The Duke team is discussing a potential collaboration with Regulus Therapeutics LLC, a joint venture between Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc and Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc that specializes in microRNAs. Herpes viruses cause permanent infections. They head straight to nerve cells, where they stay latent for the life of an animal or person, often causing periodic outbreaks.
Herpes simplex 1 or HSV-1 causes cold sores, HSV-2 causes genital herpes, while varicella causes chicken pox and returns in middle or old age as herpes zoster to cause shingles.
Top secret US military plans to test deadly nerve gas by dropping it on soldiers in a remote Queensland rainforest during the Cold War have been uncovered in Australian Government archives.
Newly declassified Australian Defence Department and Prime Ministers office files show that the United States was strongly pushing the Government for tests on Australian soil of two of the most deadly chemical weapons ever developed, VX and GB better known as Sarin nerve gas.
The plan, which is disclosed for the first time on tomorrows SUNDAY program on Nine, called for 200 mainly Australian combat troops to be aerially bombed and sprayed with the chemical weapons with all but a handful of the soldiers to be kept in the dark about the "full details" of the tests.
A former senior official with then Prime Minister Harold Holt, Mr Peter Bailey, tells the program that as far as he knows the tests never went ahead but the planning was very advanced.
He admitted the whole operation was to be kept secret because use of such weapons was almost certainly illegal under international law at the time.
"The idea that we could actually that the Australians could countenance such an activity is unacceptable," University of NSW toxicologist Professor Chris Winder said.
He says even a fraction of a drop of either chemical on exposed skin could have been fatal and Cold War fears that communist Chinese or Russian attackers might have used such weapons in a third world war "doesnt justify it now and I dont think it justified it then".
The files show that in July 1962 the then-US defence secretary Robert McNamara wrote in secret to the Australian Defence Department suggesting joint testing of chemical weapons "on a classified basis without a public release by either country".
In early 1963 a survey team of Australian and US scientists reviewed sites in Australia for chemical warfare tests, suggesting the remote Iron Range rainforest near Lockhart River in far north Queensland as one such location.
The request caused consternation in Canberra, with senior Defence bureaucrats clearly opposed to the use of nerve gas, but, as former senior Prime Ministerial policy advisor Peter Bailey recalls: "I heard that many times in Cabinet meetings that if they werent pretty good and pretty faithful to the Americans we would be dumped.
"We had already been dumped with the British east of Suez pullout so ministers were pretty aware this was our one main support and the red peril thing was still in peoples minds."
In October 1964 the Americans pushed the request again, this time insisting that the public should be fed a "cover story" to conceal the real nature of the tests: the documents show the public was to be told the tests were to test equipment or land reclamation in a jungle environment.
Low-flying military aircraft and spraying was to be explained away with the false claim that low-risk herbicides and insecticides were to be used in the testing but the cover stories were clearly untrue he real chemicals to be used were two of the most deadly man-made substances, VX and GB nerve gas.
Former Democrat Senator Lyn Allison, who became aware of the existence of references to secret chemical weapons tests in Australia during her support of sick former veterans of the Maralinga nuclear bomb tests, told SUNDAY that her own attempts to get the full story on what went on with proposed testing were rebuffed several years ago.
She said Government files on the issue were still classified even now and the revelations in the new documents obtained by SUNDAY underlined the need for the Defence Department to finally disclose all that went on during the Cold War.
"To understand that Australia was still prepared to consider this proposal because of its relationship with the US I think needs proper examination," Senator Allison told the program.
"So all those documents should be released, there shouldnt be any pussy footing around ts time for us to know what went on."
#2
Australia did conduct tests along these lines, especially the notorious Mustard Gas test, in which masked soldiers exercised in a room with blister agent, and were severely injured.
Australia provided the US with a film of the event, then requested its return once it became embarrassing, which the US did not, claiming it was lost. It wasn't.
At the same time, the US and many other nations were making a multitude of tests, including hallucinogens, radioactive materials and radiation, biological weapons, and more positive things, like anti-radiation medicines.
In the case of this nerve gas test, it was probably an "acid test" to make sure that their protective equipment worked, which all too often, it doesn't.
Already field tested in the Tokyo subways without American involvement. However, I'm sure the moonbats can entertain us with their lurid fantasies on making a connection.
An imbalance of a key brain chemical could cause crib death, researchers said on Thursday in what they called a chance discovery. They created mice whose sudden deaths resembled crib death in humans, and found that the key may be an out of balance self-regulating system controlling the nerve-signalling chemical serotonin.
Writing in the journal Science, they said they hoped their experiment can help doctors pinpoint human babies at high risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), also known as cot death.
'At first sight the mice were normal,' said Cornelius Gross of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Italy, who led the study. 'But then they suffered sporadic and unpredictable drops in heart rate and body temperature. More than half of the mice eventually died of these crises during a restricted period of early life. It was at that point that we thought it might have something to do with SIDS.'
SIDS is a leading cause of death in babies under a year old in the developed world, yet its root cause remains a mystery. Healthy-looking infants can often die in less than an hour.
Smoking around infants and during pregnancy seems to be linked with SIDS, and campaigns to put babies to sleep on their backs instead of prone dramatically reduced crib death rates in several countries. Cautioning parents about overheated rooms and minimizing bedding materials that could cause suffocation also may have reduced rates, but SIDS still kills one in every 2,000 babies globally.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/05/2008 00:00 ||
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Smoking around infants and during pregnancy seems to be linked with SIDS
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.
Robert Mugabe has warned neighbouring countries to 'think twice' before launching an attack against his regime. Analysts say this could be viewed as a direct threat to Botswana, who this week deployed an army brigade with artillery to patrol it's border with Zimbabwe. Botswana described the troop movement as 'a precaution' against trouble spilling over into their country.
Former Congolese rebel warlord and vice-president Jean-Pierre Bemba appeared before the global war crimes court on Friday charged with leading a campaign of rape and torture. He is the highest-profile suspect to date brought before the world's first permanent war crimes court, set up in 2002. It was his first appearance before the court.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, seemingly unfazed by African Union and international pressure to compromise with the opposition on power-sharing, said today that he would only negotiate with the Movement for Democratic Change if it acknowledges that he is the duly elected head of state - something the opposition has already said it will not do.
