Hi there, !
Today Wed 04/14/2010 Tue 04/13/2010 Mon 04/12/2010 Sun 04/11/2010 Sat 04/10/2010 Fri 04/09/2010 Thu 04/08/2010 Archives
Rantburg
533704 articles and 1861986 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 63 articles and 221 comments as of 9:37.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Operations    WoT Background    Opinion        Politix   
Strikes in Orakzai, Khyber kill 96 militants
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 3: Non-WoT
1 00:00 JosephMendiola [2] 
7 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [7] 
4 00:00 rjschwarz [4] 
4 00:00 tipper [2] 
5 00:00 chris [5] 
5 00:00 49 Pan [1] 
8 00:00 JosephMendiola [7] 
8 00:00 lotp [2] 
8 00:00 Cromert [2] 
0 [3] 
4 00:00 CrazyFool [7] 
1 00:00 Grunter [3] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
1 00:00 Alaska Paul [9]
2 00:00 Alaska Paul [4]
5 00:00 Frank G [5]
10 00:00 Secret Asian Man [4]
30 00:00 JosephMendiola [8]
0 [4]
0 [4]
1 00:00 lord garth [2]
1 00:00 tipover [1]
2 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [6]
2 00:00 ralphbeard [9]
0 [11]
0 [8]
0 [6]
0 [4]
0 [5]
0 [5]
Page 2: WoT Background
7 00:00 OldSpook [8]
5 00:00 trailing wife [4]
1 00:00 JosephMendiola [1]
1 00:00 JosephMendiola [4]
4 00:00 JosephMendiola [5]
1 00:00 JosephMendiola [5]
1 00:00 g(r)omgoru [3]
3 00:00 john frum [3]
1 00:00 lord garth [1]
8 00:00 JosephMendiola [6]
0 [2]
4 00:00 yo adrian [4]
1 00:00 crosspatch [5]
8 00:00 trailing wife [6]
0 [7]
1 00:00 JosephMendiola [9]
0 [5]
0 [1]
0 [8]
Page 4: Opinion
5 00:00 JosephMendiola [4]
1 00:00 tex [3]
1 00:00 Gomez Threter7450 [1]
0 [2]
0 [4]
3 00:00 tex [1]
9 00:00 trailing wife [3]
0 [4]
18 00:00 Nimble Spemble [4]
3 00:00 g(r)omgoru [4]
6 00:00 JosephMendiola [7]
Page 6: Politix
0 [4]
10 00:00 JosephMendiola [12]
3 00:00 746 [4]
7 00:00 crosspatch [4]
-Short Attention Span Theater-
Inside the Warsaw Pact WWIII Bunkers
Posted by: Anonymoose || 04/11/2010 19:02 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Decisive attack" = PREEMPTIVE NUCLEAR ATTACK AKA SURPRISE NUCLEAR ATTACK aka UNILATERAL NUCLEAR ATTACK, BOLT-FROM-THE-BLUE, etc. which many US, Euro Lefties wanted the mainstream to believe the Soviets would never do...

UNTIL THE SOVIETS THEMSELVES SAID OTHERWISE.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/11/2010 20:40 Comments || Top||


Britain
Al-Muhajirounis call Galloway a “filthy kaffir'
Posted by: ryuge || 04/11/2010 11:16 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  First they taunted Galloway as a “filthy Kaffir” [a British racist epithet for dark-skinned natives.]

Pity, all that sucking up to no avail.

I was under the impression that 'kaffir' was Arabic for either a black or a non-muslim. I suspect the words harks back to the days when Muslims ran the African slave trade and it referred to their product who were both those things.
Posted by: SteveS || 04/11/2010 12:13 Comments || Top||

#2  They got the "filthy" part right, anyway.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 04/11/2010 12:33 Comments || Top||

#3  'kaffir' (or kafir) may come from the aramaic

the Hebrew word Kfr means 'apostate' in 2nd century rabbinic hebrew (although it has other meanings in biblical hebrew). Normalistic scholarship contends that both Hebrew and Arabic are offshots of aramaic but some people say that all three languages are from a proto-semetic language
Posted by: lord garth || 04/11/2010 13:00 Comments || Top||

#4  Poor old George has lost his £100,000 a year gig as well. Not a good week for him.
After Lutfur Ali and Muslim Aid, the Curse of Gilligan has landed on another IFE ally. Respect’s George Galloway is £100,000 a year poorer this week after parting company with TalkSport, the radio station where he presented The Mother Of All Talk Shows on Friday and Saturday nights.
Posted by: tipper || 04/11/2010 14:26 Comments || Top||


KFC face halal Muslim boycott threat in UK
Fings are not lickin' good for KFC in their bid to sell fried chicken to Islamic customers. They're now being threatened with a boycott by both Muslims AND non-Muslims.

Britain's second biggest fast food chain hoped to woo the Islamic market by opening 86 trial outlets selling halal-only meat - that's from animals slaughtered under strict religious guidelines. But KFC's target diners insist the chickens are not being killed in the right way and say they will stay away.

And furious non-Muslim customers have set up Facebook groups protesting that the trial branches, which also ban pork, have dropped their favourite bacon-topped Big Daddy burger from menus. Groups with names such as "Against the KFC Halal Trial" and "No Halal at Colne KFC" - referring to a branch in the Lancs town - are rapidly attracting members. For meat to be halal, the animal must be alive when its throat is cut as a verse from the Koran is recited.

KFC insists their methods meet the approval of the Halal Food Society. But Islamic leaders disagree, saying the pre-stunning of animals in the chain's mechanical process means a third are already dead at the point of slaughter. And the fact the prayer is played over a speaker means each bird it not blessed individually as it is killed.

They have now threatened to warn the UK's 2.4 million Muslims not to eat KFC meat, and will meet with the fast food giant on Wednesday to question how it is killing chickens sold as halal.

Imam Yusuf Shabbir of the Lancashire Council of Mosques said: "If KFC confirms to us that it has no intention of changing the mechanical method of slaughter we will advise members of the Muslim community this."

But a KFC spokesman said: "We've worked with animal welfare organisations and the Halal Food Authority to ensure our processes fully comply. And wherever possible we've made sure our trial stores are near non- halal restaurants, to provide customers with a choice."
Posted by: ryuge || 04/11/2010 10:54 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Barbarians.
Posted by: Parabellum || 04/11/2010 11:15 Comments || Top||

#2  KFC's target diners insist the chickens are not being killed in the right way

They seem much less discriminating when it comes to killing people.
Posted by: SteveS || 04/11/2010 12:03 Comments || Top||

#3  And the Trotskyites are p*ssed that KFC appropriated their hero's image (and stuck him in an ice cream suit) without fair compensation. A trifecta.
Posted by: lex || 04/11/2010 12:21 Comments || Top||

#4  I would rather my meat be sanitized rather than sanctified.
Posted by: Swanimote || 04/11/2010 12:28 Comments || Top||

#5  I wouldn't want their stinking asses in my restaurant
Posted by: chris || 04/11/2010 21:35 Comments || Top||


Former Royal Navy seaman who swears at politicians on TV gets Anti-Social Behavior Order (ASBO)
A former Royal Navy seaman has been given an Asbo – to stop him swearing at politicians when they appear on his TV or on the radio.

Martin Solomon, 64, has already spent the past two weeks in prison waiting to be sentenced after admitting he had breached a previous Asbo by shouting and swearing loudly in his home in Stroud, Gloucestershire, and disturbing his neighbours last month.

Appearing at Gloucester Crown Court, Solomon said he was sorry for his outbursts, which he said were prompted by politicians speaking on TV programmes. He also promised to avoid General Election coverage.

‘I am sorry, I have nothing against my neighbours at all,' he told the court. ‘When I see Question Time sometimes I get angry but it's not directed at anyone else, it's at the TV.

‘I'm a hard-working member of society. I don't want to go to prison – my solicitor told me not to watch the TV.'

Judge Martin Picton set him free with a new community order for 12 months, 200 hours' unpaid work, 60 days' attendance on an education and training course, and monthly court reviews.

Posted by: Besoeker || 04/11/2010 07:59 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Soon to be called the Anti-Socialist Behavior Order.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 04/11/2010 10:27 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm so utterly glad I don't live in a place like that. Yet...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 04/11/2010 10:28 Comments || Top||

#3  I am sure that the Obama/Holder Justice Department is working on something like this for us (with a Blue Ribbon panel of lawyers trying to find a way to extend the prohibition to voting Republican).
Posted by: rwv || 04/11/2010 10:28 Comments || Top||

#4  WOW, England really has gone into the Shit Can.
Posted by: 746 || 04/11/2010 11:52 Comments || Top||

#5  Soon to be in your home.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 04/11/2010 12:12 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
US Consulate in Nuevo Laredo Bombed - No Casualties
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 04/11/2010 00:42 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Khobar Towers, East African Embassies, USS Cole another model of the run up in violence till it bites everyone in the a$$ on 9/11. The same fools are looking the other way in the Beltway wedded to their narrative rather than face the cold reality of something that needs attention yesterday to prevent another surprise attack on US soil. Columbus New Mexico Part II in the offing. And the usual suspects in the Beltway will be given medals and honors rather than the noose for failure on job.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 04/11/2010 8:11 Comments || Top||

#2  No Pershing or Patton.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 04/11/2010 8:26 Comments || Top||

#3  The African terrorism focus is a much higher priority. Barry and his cadre have plenty of time and money to help ANC's Jacob Zuma and his rad pal Julius Malema with the World Cup however. US State Department security assistance teams, military advisors, FBI counterterrorism experts, etc.
Posted by: Besoeker || 04/11/2010 8:27 Comments || Top||

#4  The failure of the Mexican state will bring us smack up against Posse Comitatus and other issues regarding military protection of the homeland. Noone inside the Beltway wants to deal with that, which is why they aren't rubbing Obama's nose in it.
Posted by: lotp || 04/11/2010 9:44 Comments || Top||

#5  Other than small arms, and a few RPGs, there seems to be an odd surfeit of hand grenades among the bad guys in Mexico. This raises some questions as to where they are obtaining them.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 04/11/2010 10:00 Comments || Top||

#6  there seems to be an odd surfeit of hand grenades among the bad guys in Mexico. This raises some questions as to where they are obtaining them.

gun shows, of course

/New York Mayor Nanny Bloomberg
Posted by: Frank G || 04/11/2010 10:20 Comments || Top||

#7  Given the general shabby condition of Mexican military discipline, I'd assume that they're going out the back door of the armories.

It *could* be Venezualan, but somehow I doubt it. The cartels aren't superficially political enough for Chavez to waste resources on them.
Posted by: Mitch H. || 04/11/2010 11:56 Comments || Top||

#8  WAFF > THE HINDU > CID: TERRORISTS MAY ATTACK FOREIGN MISSIONS, NATIONALS {new Terror Group "FIDAIN JIHAD" now in town].

SAME > ANOTHER "BANGLADESH" COMING RIGHT UP? |
PAKTUNKHWA OR "BENGALI MODEL", SAYS BILOUR. PAK Govt considering creation of VARIOUS NEW STATE-NATIONAL PROVINCES INCLUD RENAMING OF NWFP FOR PASHTUNS, a move which is being heavily criticized as FOSTERING PASHTUN NATIONALISM + ULTIM NEW CIVIL WAR, BREAKUP IN PAKISTAN [IIRC sovereign Bangladesh = former EAST PAKISTAN]???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 04/11/2010 23:15 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
Kimmie sets world fashion trend: Pyongyang
Kimmie looks too healthy in this photo. Rats. Hat tip Josh Stanton.
SEOUL (AFP) - The trademark suit sported by North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il is now in fashion worldwide thanks to his greatness, Pyongyang's official website said Wednesday.

Uriminzokkiri, quoting an article in communist party newspaper Rodong Sinmun, said the modest-looking suits have gripped people's imagination and become a global vogue.

"The reason is that the august image of the Great General, who is always wearing the modest suit while working, leaves a deep impression on people's mind in the world," it said. "To sum it up, that is because his image as a great man is so outstanding."

The article quoted an unidentified French fashion expert as saying world fashion follows Kim Jong-Il's style.

"Kim Jong-Il mode which is now spreading expeditiously worldwide is something unprecedented in the world's history," the stylist was quoted as saying.

The suits consist of an overall-style zipped-up bunny suit tunic and matching trousers, usually in pink khaki or blueish-grey.

The 68-year-old leader wears them even when receiving foreign dignitaries.

During his outside "field guidance" trips in winter, he also dons a shapeless anorak and fur hat.
Posted by: Steve White || 04/11/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Howloween is only 6 months away, but with luck and a fine turbo-Singer I'll be ready. The elastic band on the modest-looking jacket will be the tricky part. Still thisn be easier than my global warming costume.
Posted by: Shipman || 04/11/2010 4:26 Comments || Top||

#2  I guess dork's now a style...
Posted by: Raj || 04/11/2010 8:03 Comments || Top||

#3  Still thisn be easier than my global warming costume.

A red planetoid with a flaming headpiece? Or a globe with Florida and the rest of the coastal lands underwater... and a flaming headpiece? ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/11/2010 9:12 Comments || Top||

#4  Flaming codpiece.
Posted by: Pappy || 04/11/2010 9:24 Comments || Top||

#5  some Goldbond powder™ will clear that up
Posted by: Frank G || 04/11/2010 9:56 Comments || Top||

#6  The elastic band on the modest-looking jacket will be the tricky part.

Ask Michelle about borrowing one of her boob belts.
Posted by: ed || 04/11/2010 10:13 Comments || Top||

#7  Flaming codpiece.

LOL, you're still got the angry at NR, amIrite?
Posted by: Shipman || 04/11/2010 14:11 Comments || Top||

#8  Available in the clothing dept at all fine janitorial supply stores.
Posted by: Cromert || 04/11/2010 18:20 Comments || Top||


Europe
Hungary elections: first step to power for far-Right since Nazi era
Fidesz, Hungary's centre-right party, is expected to sweep out the unpopular Socialist government and Jobbik, a far-right party is predicted to take second place after Sunday's elections.

Hungary's largest Jewish organisation warned that the vote was "the first occasion that a movement pursuing openly anti-Semitic policies" has taken a step to power since the Nazi era.

Hungary's election gains for Jobbik follow a upsurge in support for the far-Right across Europe.

Last month, French regional elections, dominated by debates over immigration, saw electoral revival for the National Front. In June, Dutch elections could propel Geert Wilders, whose anti-Islamic, hard-right Freedom Party leads the polls, into power.

Amid rising unemployment, Hungary was the first European Union country to turn to the International Monetary Fund for an £18 billion bailout last year.

Jobbik has risen by using Hungary's deep economic crisis to revive traditional Hungarian scape-goating of Jewish and gypsy, or Roma, communities for joblessness and poverty.

It has close links with the Magyar Garda or Hungarian Guard, a banned paramilitary group with insignia modelled on the Arrow Cross of Hungary's wartime Nazis.

Gabor Vona, Jobbik's 31-year old leader, has vowed to be sworn in as an MP wearing the banned uniform. "I will keep my promise to go into parliament on the first day in a Garda vest," he said.
Posted by: tipper || 04/11/2010 16:36 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If I were the Jewish community Id be a bit more worried about the Left - they have become seriously anti-Jew while sucking up to Muslims in Europe.
Posted by: OldSpook || 04/11/2010 16:42 Comments || Top||

#2  So Geert Wilders pro Gay, Pro Jewish, pro capitalist party is lumped in with Hungarian National socialists?

I wonder why the MSM is dying?
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 04/11/2010 17:21 Comments || Top||

#3  "Fidesz, Hungary's centre-right party, is expected to sweep out the unpopular Socialist government and Jobbik, a far-right party is predicted to take second place after Sunday's elections."

Poor punctuation and generally bad writing isn't helping either. My brain hurts.
Posted by: Bulldog || 04/11/2010 17:26 Comments || Top||

#4  I expalin politics in a democracy as follows.

There are 2 constituencies, those the government bribes to get their vote and those the government taxes to pay for the bribes. As goverments run out of money, as they are currently, they have to both decrease the bribes and increase the taxes to pay for the bribes. The result is a polarization of politics and the rise of so called far right parties and far left parties. Although, far left parties are never described as such by the MSM.
Posted by: phil_B || 04/11/2010 17:43 Comments || Top||

#5  You forgot that the government can borrow to bribe.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 04/11/2010 18:07 Comments || Top||

#6  If I were the Jewish community Id be a bit more worried about the Left - they have become seriously anti-Jew while sucking up to Muslims in Europe.

OldSpook, in Europe both the far right and the center to far left have traditions of Jew bashing, if not worse... and the Hungarians have revived this tradition with enthusiasm, as far as I can tell. This compares to Geert Wilder's party, which is strongly pro-Israel, while on other issues it ranges from center left to center right. It's just that the journalism profession regards anyone against any of their favourite causes to be by definition hard-right or far right or fascist, and they are completely uninterested in the nuances of reality.
Posted by: trailing wife || 04/11/2010 20:06 Comments || Top||

#7  "journalism [is] completely uninterested in the nuances of reality"

FTFY,tw.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 04/11/2010 22:17 Comments || Top||


Poland mourns President Lech Kaczynski
Poland has been plunged into mourning by the deaths of President Lech Kaczynski and dozens of political and military leaders in a plane crash.

The jet crashed as it attempted to land at Smolensk air base in Russia in thick fog, killing all 97 people on board. Russian officials have said the pilots ignored warnings from air traffic control to divert to another airport.

A week of mourning has been called in Poland where a two-minute silence will be held at noon (1000 GMT) on Sunday.

Russia has also declared Monday a day of mourning for the victims, whose remains have been flown to morgues in Moscow. Relatives of the dead have begun arriving in the Russian capital, officials there said.

Thousands of people gathered at the presidential palace in Warsaw on Saturday to lay flowers and light candles.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the crash was the most tragic event of the country's post-World War II history. Prime Minister Tusk said the business of government would continue.

"We are completely devastated and shocked," Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski told the BBC. "People have just been to church, to a mass, people are crying."

He added: "We could not have conceived a more horrible, poignant, tragic occurrence than our president going to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the murder of 20,000 Polish officers at Katyn, himself dying with his wife, with the army commander, with parliamentarians, with the head of the national bank. It's just beyond belief."

The parliamentary speaker, Bronislaw Komorowski, has now become the acting president.

"Today in the face of such a drama our nation stays united," he said in a televised address. "There is no division into left and right, differences of views don't matter. We are together in the face of this tragedy."
Posted by: Steve White || 04/11/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  First Manas air base, now US BMD in Poland - its good to be Russian!
Posted by: Clyde Thatch7826 || 04/11/2010 0:03 Comments || Top||

#2  I have two Polish students. One of them called me in the morning yesterday and told me the news. She was bawling her head off, and just wanted to vent.
It wasn't just that the president died, but so many of their historic leaders (including their last president in exile), and up and comers that would have been president or prime minister one day.
It was a complete catastrophe for Poland.
But there's one thing you can count on, just like the sun rising, is they'll bounce back. The Poles are nails, and it's one of my favorite countries in Europe to visit.
Posted by: Mizzou Mafia || 04/11/2010 6:56 Comments || Top||

#3  It'a a great tragedy, both for Poland and Western freedom.

Not that it will do any good now, but I can't help but wonder why they had so many of their important leaders on the same plane (never mind Russian plane; the Tupelovs have a miserable safety record). What were they thinking?

My deepest sympathy to the Polish people.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 04/11/2010 10:41 Comments || Top||

#4  THE VICTIMS
Lech Kaczysnki - Polish president.
Maria Kaczynska - The president's wife
Ryszard Kaczorowski - Poland's last president-in-exile
Aleksander Szczyglo - head of the National Security Office
Pawel Wypych - presidential aide
Mariusz Handzlik - presidential aide
Jerzego Szmajdzinski - deputy parliament speaker
Andrzej Kremer - Deputy Foreign Minister
Gen. Franciszek Gagor - head of the army chief of staff
Andrzej Przewoznik - minister in charge of WWII memorials
Slawomir Skrzypek - head of the National Bank of Poland
Janusz Kurtyka - head of the National Remembrance Institute
Przemyslaw Gosiewski - lawmaker
Zbigniew Wassermann - lawmaker
Grzegorz Dolniak - lawmaker
Janusz Kochanowski - civil rights commissioner
Bishop Tadeusz Ploski - army chaplain
Posted by: ed || 04/11/2010 12:42 Comments || Top||

#5  when I worked for small firms or large multinats we had policies about too many from a firm, or executive, or functional group on the same plane.

Sometimes even the same city.

I don't understand Poland putting all these folks on the same plane.
Posted by: 3dc || 04/11/2010 18:01 Comments || Top||

#6  I don't understand Poland putting all these folks on the same plane.

Me either. Then I remembered this.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 04/11/2010 18:19 Comments || Top||

#7  That inappropriate right now, NS. :-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 04/11/2010 19:01 Comments || Top||

#8  Yes, it is.
Posted by: lotp || 04/11/2010 20:38 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Man shot dead in Gaza clan brawl
A young man was shot to death during a clan fight in Khan Younis, Gaza on Saturday afternoon. Suhaib Barbakh, 20, died of gun shot wounds, Ma'an's correspondent said.
Posted by: Fred || 04/11/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Round up the usual Dogmushes!
Posted by: Grunter || 04/11/2010 19:30 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
NASA plans revamped space program
[Iran Press TV Latest] The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has announced new plans for developing the technology needed to send people to Mars. The new program aims to develop commercial space taxi services and launch satellites to monitor climate change from the Red Planet.

All NASA field centers will collaborate in the project with the Johnson Space Center in Houston, which is in charge of a $6 billion, five-year program to oversee technology demonstrations.

The Kennedy Space Center in Florida will manage a $5.8 billion five-year project to help private companies develop orbital transportation services. The Maryland, California and Ohio centers will be in charge of an Earth-observation campaign to keep a close watch on the impacts of climate change.

"This is step one, to identify programs that are going to be funded by this budget," NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden told reporters.

This is while NASA prepares to end its space shuttle program in the fall, causing thousands of contract employees to lose their jobs.

US President Barack Obama has suggested adding an extra $2 billion to NASA's annual $18 billion budget, which in Bolden's opinion should result in more jobs.

"We're expanding the amount of programs that we have so that we can try to put people to work who are interested in being part of the space program," he said.

"A very serious and real concern for everyone is the jobs, but this is what we call progress," Bolden added. "Unfortunately, if you look at every area of technology in this country, as you advance, there are fewer and fewer manual-type jobs."
Posted by: Fred || 04/11/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Let me explain climate change to youz:

This is step one, to identify programs that are going to be funded
Posted by: Shipman || 04/11/2010 4:28 Comments || Top||

#2  The single most significant mission NASA could make in the near future would be to raid near Earth asteroids for their wealth.

Just one of these, called 433 Eros, which is 12 miles by 8 miles in size, is believed to have more gold, silver, and several other metals than the entire crust of the Earth.

Other, smaller asteroids have as high as 10% concentrations of platinum group metals, and to harvest just one would pay for every mission NASA had ever made ten times over.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 04/11/2010 19:24 Comments || Top||

#3  Anonymoose, the most significant thing they could do would be to create a gas station in orbit so private industry could get up there and mine the asteroids.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 04/11/2010 20:39 Comments || Top||

#4  A gas station as well as a smelter, fabrication, etc... to use the materials mined there there. Don't bring it here for refining, fabrication,etc... and then have to just push it back out the gravity well again. Build the industry out there - in orbit.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 04/11/2010 23:47 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
15 killed in Thailand protests
[Iran Press TV Latest] Clashes between demonstrators and security forces in Thailand have left 15 people dead and protesters have called on the king to stop the bloodshed.

The clashes broke out near several government and army buildings in Bangkok on Saturday when government troops tried to disperse protesters, using rubber bullets, tear gas, and water cannons.

Eleven civilians and four soldiers wee killed and about 680 people were injured, some by rubber bullets, AFP quoted emergency services as saying.

The protests calling for the return of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra turned violent despite tight security measures, including the deployment of tens of thousands of troops and armored vehicles throughout the capital.

Angered by the massive presence of soldiers and police forces across the city, the protesters attempted to force their way into a military base, but were driven back by water cannons.

Saturday was the bloodiest day since Thaksin's red-clad supporters began their campaign on March 12.

The twice-elected former premier was ousted in a military coup in 2006 and was later sentenced to two years in prison over corruption charges that many say were trumped up.

However, Thaksin remains extremely popular with the rural poor, who have staged frequent rallies calling for his return to power.

Embattled current Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva offered his condolences over the deaths but refused to give in to the protesters' pressure to stand down.

Early on Sunday, the leader of the anti-government "red shirt" protesters, Jatuporn Prompan, called on Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej to intervene, saying it was the only way to prevent more bloodshed.

The ailing king has no official political role in the country's decision-making process but is seen as a unifying figure. He was able to bring an end to violence during a 1992 uprising by chastising both the military and protest leaders.
Posted by: Fred || 04/11/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Culture Wars
Muslim sues NY hotel for clean shaven rule
A devout Muslim is suing the Gramercy Park Hotel because they wouldn't hire him as a security guard unless he shaved his beard, according to a lawsuit. Samir Suljovic, 24, claims he was the subject of religious discrimination when a hotel manager told him company policy requires all employees to be clean shaven. The hotel did not respond to requests for comment.
Posted by: ryuge || 04/11/2010 11:32 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A devout Muslim could not work at the hotel at all. Alcohol is served there. Sexes intermingle there. Women in scanty attire can be seen everywhere. pork is likely on the menu. there will be music and dancing in the banquet halls. he may be required to touch a women who is not a relative in his security work.

Shaving his beard should be the least of his concerns. One wonders why such a devout Muslim would want to work in such a place. Other than for purposeful litigious grounds, of course.
Posted by: Swanimote || 04/11/2010 12:21 Comments || Top||

#2  I wonder what would happen if a job required a Muslim to wear a full-face respirator. One has to be clean shaven for that. Osha requires it.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 04/11/2010 17:50 Comments || Top||

#3  If he loses the suit, I hope he has to pay the court costs. They'll just keep chipping away by bringing these lawsuits then wham!... Sharia by stealth.
Posted by: Gomez Threter7450 || 04/11/2010 19:13 Comments || Top||

#4  I seriously doubt he can prove that that was the only reason he didn't get the job. Perhaps they just realized he was a lawsuit happy bloke looking for easy cash and headlines and if they hired him it would be the booze, or swine, or lack of prayer time, etc.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 04/11/2010 20:36 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
49[untagged]
3al-Qaeda
2Govt of Iran
2TTP
2Commies
1Jundullah
1PFLP-GC
1Pirates
1Taliban
1Iraqi Insurgency

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2010-04-11
  Strikes in Orakzai, Khyber kill 96 militants
Sat 2010-04-10
  Qaeda Threatens World Cup
Fri 2010-04-09
  Suicide bomber attempts to shoot North Caucasus Ingush police chief, blows self up
Thu 2010-04-08
  Iraq sez ''open war'' with Qaeda after kabooms
Wed 2010-04-07
  Aide denies Karzai threatened to join Taliban
Tue 2010-04-06
  New spate of bombings strikes Baghdad, killing 49
Mon 2010-04-05
  Karzai raves at Western interference
Sun 2010-04-04
  Triple car boom in Baghdad
Sat 2010-04-03
  Qaeda Gunmen, Dressed As Iraqi Army, Slaughter 24 Sunni Iraqis
Fri 2010-04-02
  Pak-origin Chicago cab driver indicted for supporting al-Qaeda
Thu 2010-04-01
  US Navy Frigate Captures 5 Pirates and Mother Ship
Wed 2010-03-31
  Dronezap greases 6 in N.Wazoo
Tue 2010-03-30
  ETA brass hat arrested in Caracas
Mon 2010-03-29
  Two boomers, 38 dead in Moscow metro
Sun 2010-03-28
  Dronezap kills four in N. Wazoo


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.
3.144.103.10
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Operations (17)    WoT Background (19)    Opinion (11)    (0)    Politix (4)