Dolly a little stronger...NOAA plane in the area...
[from the 7 am CDT advisory]
a Hurricane Warning is in effect for the coast of Texas from Brownsville to Port O'Connor. A Hurricane Warning is also in effect for the northeast coast of Mexico from Rio San Fernando northward to the border between Mexico and the United States. the link is to the enhanced infrared satellite which can be animated; fortunately, Brownville, TX and vicinity has vastly improved its emergency response protocols and has hardened its physical infrastructure over the past few decades.
#1
at 1000 am CDT July 22, it is still not quite at Hurricane strength; probably will reach it within 3 hours or so. Also, the long range radar from Brownville will show whether a true eyewall has formed.
#4
McALLEN, Texas (AP) - Coastal officials worried Tuesday that Tropical Storm Dolly may bring so much rain that flooding could break through the levees holding back the Rio Grande. Officials urged residents to move away from the levees because if Dolly continues to follow the same path as 1967's Hurricane Beulah, "the levees are not going to hold that much water," said Cameron County Emergency Management Coordinator Johnny Cavazos.
Forecasters say Dolly was expected to dump 15 to 20 inches of rain and bring coastal storm surge flooding of 4 to 6 feet above normal high tide levels.
Hurricane warnings were in effect from Brownsville north to Corpus Christi, and in Mexico, from Rio San Fernando north to the U.S. border. Tropical storm warnings were issued for surrounding areas and the governor has declared 14 counties disaster areas, allowing state resources to be used to send equipment and emergency workers needed to the areas in the storm's path.
Forecasters said Dolly was expected to make land late Tuesday or early Wednesday as a hurricane with sustained winds of 74 to 95 mph. The storm combined with levees that have deteriorated in the 41 years since Beulah swept up the Rio Grande pose a major flooding threat to low-lying counties along the border. Beulah spawned more than 100 tornadoes across Texas and dumped 36 inches of rain in some parts of South Texas, killing 58 people and causing more than $1 billion damage.
#5
Dry Ice! Dry Ice, get your Dry Ice right here. 4.49 the lb. cheep at Half the price. Get ready for the end times kids. Get your Dry Ice Now! If you don't want Dry Ice how about a little liquid fertilizer! Come mere kid, look thru that window thar, ever see anything like it? Hell yes! If we act now we can get rich. Catch you on the flip flop, I'll leave the details to Muckee. Hima can habla purdy good.
Posted by: Billie Sol Estes Rockets ||
07/22/2008 21:08 Comments ||
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(SomaliNet) Horn Relief which is one of the aid organizations that operate in Somalia has also suspended all its operations in Kismayo because of security concerns, officials of the group said according to a press statement issued by the organization. The permanent secretary of the organization has confirmed the suspension of its activities. The organization issued the press statement in Kenyan capital Nairobi.
A Horn Relief official, Ahmad Bariyow, was killed in Kismayo on 17 May. Horn Relief is the second organization to suspend humanitarian activities in Kismayo. MSF had suspended its operations in the area way back in January of this year.
The agency also revealed it was to stop some development projects in the region.
This suspension comes after wave of killing spree against aid workers in Somalia. Medicines sans frontiers took the same measures for security reasons.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/22/2008 00:00 ||
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Police in the Swedish city of Stockholm on Wednesday arrested former Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority, Sylvere Ahorugeze, who is accused of having masterminded the 1994 Genocide. The development was confirmed yesterday by the Rwandan Ambassador to Sweden Jacqueline Mukangira by telephone. "He had accompanied his wife to the embassy. She wanted to have a Rwandan passport and to be registered for the new identity card," said Mukangira.
According to John Bosco Mutangana who is in charge of the Genocide Fugitives Tracking Unit, Ahorugeze is accused of having participated in the killing of hundreds of Tutsis especially in Gikondo, a Kigali City suburb. "He personally exterminated families of Tutsis with an automatic rifle with which he freely moved throughout the Genocide we know about these families but we cannot reveal their names for security purposes of the surviving members," Mutangana said.
According to prosecution, Ahorugeze had first been arrested in Denmark but was subsequently released provisionally under unclear grounds. "We had provided compelling evidence to the Danish prosecutors including forensic results of the atrocities by this man but it remains a surprise that he was later released," Mutangana said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/22/2008 00:00 ||
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CANBERRA, Australia - A newspaper report Tuesday that claims Zimbabwe is using Australian airspace to trade with China has prompted Australia's opposition leader to call for a ban on such flights. The Age newspaper reported that for the past year, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's regime has regularly commandeered Air Zimbabwe flights and has flown them through Australian air space over the Indian Ocean to China via Singapore.
The report, citing unnamed Zimbabwe aviation sources, said the flights are free junkets for Mugabe supporters. They fly to Beijing and southern China to trade contraband such as ivory for weapons and luxury goods, the newspaper said.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith's office could not be immediately contacted for comment Tuesday. But opposition leader Brendan Nelson said the government must investigate the report and ban Zimbabwe flights from Australian airspace if it were true.
‘We are all deeply concerned about the appalling treatment of Zimbabweans from torture through to murder; the complete corruption of the political system in Zimbabwe,’ Nelson told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio. ‘Every single thing that we can possibly do to bring good governance and order and political freedom to the people of Zimbabwe should be done,’ he added.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/22/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Are those Heineken bottle caps on his necklace? Cool.
President Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai, the founding president of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change have signed an agreement on the framework for formal talks. Mr. Mbeki said that the agreement commits the parties to an intense program to finalize negotiations as soon as possible.
Mr. Mbeki said all the parties recognize the urgency of the issues they will negotiate and are committed to completing the process as soon as possible. An African diplomat close to the process earlier told VOA the MDC was anxious to set deadlines for conclusion of negotiations within two weeks; and also time frames for implementation of any agreements reached in the talks.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/22/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Which only means that Mugabe's thugs are now free to kill Tsvangirai's supporters after sundown and not after sun-up.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/22/2008 13:01 Comments ||
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SANA'A, July 20 -- President Ali Abdullah Saleh announced on Thursday that fighting with Houthi supporters in Sa'ada, Amran and Sana'a governorates has ended. The announcement came during a brief speech he gave while inaugurating summer camps for youths affiliated with the ruling General People's Congress on the occasion of his 30th anniversary in power.
"Dialogue is the civilized means to resolve conflict because dialogue is better than bloodshed," Saleh remarked, further accusing unnamed political forces of politicizing the issues in a sectarian and racial manner.
Saleh didn't reveal how the fifth war with Houthis ended; therefore, neither did any official source dare to clarify the details. Media reports, once released by Houthi field leader Abdulmalik Al-Houthi on a daily basis, have ceased since Thursday.
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Yemen's conservative leaders, Islamist opposition and tribal leaders have formed an "unnatural" alliance to fight growing depravity, local newspapers said on Wednesday. Known as the "Committee for the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice" -- reminiscent of that backed by the religious police in neighboring Saudi Arabia -- the group was formed late on Tuesday at a meeting in the Yemeni capital. Delegates, united under the slogan "May the ship (Yemen) not sink," expressed alarm at what they said was growing depravity in society, including drinking of alcohol, mixing of sexes in schools, "depraved" television shows and uncontrolled access to the Internet.
They also denounced the "sex trade" and use of drugs, without however mentioning the widespread, traditional chewing of qat, a mildly intoxicating leaf. Some Yemenis see this as a major social problem, undermining the economies of many households and affecting the efficiency of the country's work force. The committee is chaired by Sheikh Abdul Majid Al-Zindani who is wanted by the U.S. authorities on charges of supporting terrorism.
This article starring:
Sheikh Abdul Majid Al-Zindani
Posted by: Fred ||
07/22/2008 00:00 ||
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A Yemeni women's rights group in has branded a recent fatwa issued by Muslim clerics as being anti-Islamic for banning women from running for election and warning them not to leave their homes, recent press reports said.
The fatwa was circulated during a conference of religious scholars held earlier this week, the Yemen Observer reported on Saturday.
In a booklet entitled, "The Letter of Yemen's Clerics on Women's Quota," the clerics said it is haram (forbidden) for women to be members of parliament, or hold any other position of leadership, and warned women against leaving their homes.
"We warn against opening the door for women, who will get out of their houses and mix with men," the clerics stated in a booklet distributed during a meeting, according to UAE daily Gulf News. "Women getting out of their houses and mixing with men in places of work will lead to non-marital relations...loss of decency, adultery and illegal children," the booklet said.
The Yemeni Women's Union (YWU) issued a strongly worded statement against the religious decree, saying the fatwa aimed to reduce the value and importance of the role of women in building the society, the paper added.
Gulf News reported on Sunday that the Union had also demanded that parliament condemn the fatwa and was due to meet the speaker and other MPs later in the week. "This fatwa is against Islam, against equality between men and women stipulated by the Quran," Ramziah Al Eryani, chairperson of the Yemen Women Union, told Gulf News. "We want to tell them that this is completely against democracy, against human rights, against civil society and against the multiparty system," Al Eryani added.
The fatwa was seen as an attack on a controversial proposal by President Ali Abdullah Saleh to allocate 15 percent of parliamentary seats to women in the upcoming elections in April 2009.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/22/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Looks like the new "Committee for the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice" will be busy right from the get go...
Leaders of Islami Samaj yesterday said establishing the rule of 'Islam' in the state affairs could only guarantee the fundamental rights of the human being. "People of the country have been deprived from their fundamental rights even after 36 years of independence," said Syed Humayun Kabir, Ameer of the organisation. He said the man-made theory has failed to ensure welfare of the mankind.
By Allan, more Islam, that's what it takes! How come no one ever thought of this before?
He was speaking at a press conference at the Jatiya Press Club on Sunday. He called upon all to wage a movement for establishing an 'Islamic' state.
Because the one thing Bangladesh has had a shortage of has been Islam ...
This article starring:
SYED HUMAIUN KABIR
Islami Samaj
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/22/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
An Islamic state but not as in Islam but as in Islami Samaj.
Protesters in Rajshahi and Brahmanbaria yesterday demanded immediate arrest of Jamaat-Shibir cadres who assaulted a freedom fighter in the capital on July 11 and trial of war criminals.
Our RU Correspondent reports: several hundred teachers, cultural activists and students of Rajshahi University under the banner of Sammilito Sangskritik Jote (SSJ) yesterday staged demonstrations on the campus demanding punishment of Jamaat-Shibir cadres who assaulted freedom fighter Sheikh Muhammad Aman Ali.
They brought out a protest procession covering their faces with black ribbon and paraded the campus, formed a human chain and held a rally in front of the Central Library. Activists of different student organisatios also joined the programmes.
At the rally, speakers strongly protested the assault on freedom fighter Sheikh Mohammad Ali Aman and demanded punishment of 'Jatiya Muktijoddha Parishad' leaders for their derogatory comments about the principals of the Liberation War.
Demanding immediate ban on Jamaat-backed so-called freedom fighters' body, they said war criminals formed the organisation with fake freedom fighters only to divert the nation's attention from the demand for trial of war criminals.
Cultural activists demanded immediate trial of war criminals by constituting a special tribunal and ban on Jamaat-Shibir politics in the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/22/2008 00:00 ||
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Acting Mayor BNP leader Moniruzzaman Moni, who is seeking election to his post, is 'concerned' as he can not rely on his Jamaat vote bank in the coming Khulna City Corporation (KCC) election.
Local leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami have informed him of their 'inability to work for him' in campaign as the party has decided to boycott local body elections.
Thre are over 16,000 voters belonging to Jamaat in the city, who largely contributed to victory of Sheikh Tayebur Rahman in last KCC election in 2002.
Jamaat worked actively in favour of Tayebur, which made him winner in the polls race against Awami League (AL) candidate advocate Enayet Ali, a top leader of the party told this correspondent.
Tayebur Rahman of BNP defeated Enayet Ali in 2002 KCC elections with support of Jamaat and Chatra Shibir.
"But this time, the situation is quite different as we have stayed out of KCC polls because of the decision of four-party alliance", said Khulna city Jamaat Ameer Mian Golam Parwar.
Moni is facing a tough situation and feeling embarrassed due to silence of Jamaat, which is an important factor in election this time, he said.
Contacted, Moni said, "I hope that a surprise is waiting for me when four-party alliance will reconsider its decision and officially declare me its mayoral candidate. If it so happens, then I will defeat all my rivals in KCC polls".
On the other hand, city Jamaat Ameer Parwar said his party did never believe in political hypocrisy. "We adhere to the decision of the central body of four-party alliance to stay out of local body polls. So, our leaders, workers and also supporters have been asked not to go to polling centers", he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/22/2008 00:00 ||
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Moscow, July 21 (RIA Novosti) Russian combat aircraft could be stationed in Cuba in a bid to counter US plans to deploy a missile shield in central Europe, a Russian daily reported Monday. Moscow has strongly opposed the planned deployment by the US of 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and radar in the Czech Republic as a threat to its security. 'While they are deploying the missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, our strategic bombers will be landing in Cuba,' a high-placed military aviation source told the Izvestia newspaper. That'll make the U.S. Air Force very, very happy. They haven't had live targets to practice on in a while. And just before budget submission time as well.
Meanwhile, Leonid Ivashov, the former head of the Russia's defence ministry's department for international cooperation, told the newspaper that Cuba could be used as a refueling stopover for Russian aircraft rather than a permanent base. On the way south to visit your friend Hugo, perhaps?
The October of 1962 saw a tense standoff between the US and the erstwhile Soviet Union after the latter stationed its missile in Cuba. The Cuban missile crisis was resolved after the then Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev ordered the removal of the missiles.
#4
The big o would probably let them refuel (have a snack, take some pictures, get free health care, etc.) at Whiting, Pensacola or even Gitmo if 'there aren't enough resources' at San Antonio de los Baños.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
07/22/2008 9:50 Comments ||
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#8
What's that expression about history repeating itself - and farce?
We've got Obama the farce waiting, now for the history repeat.....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/22/2008 13:54 Comments ||
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#9
THis is another chance for GWB to show some balls; but if history is any forecaster, i suspect he will roll over, in preparation for the Obamaeister.
#10
As Green Steve writes, the U.S. Air Force will enjoy the live targets. President Bush appears to be setting up for action against Iran, which is much more important. If Russia started something at this end of the world, they'd lose at their end pretty quickly, no matter how involved we are with other things, and they know it.
#12
Russia would cross "a red line for the United States of America" if it were to base nuclear capable bombers in Cuba, a top US air force officer warned on Tuesday. "If they did I think we should stand strong and indicate that is something that crosses a threshold, crosses a red line for the United States of America," said General Norton Schwartz, nominated to be the air force's chief of staff.
He was referring to a Russian news report that said the military is thinking of flying long-range bombers to Cuba on a regular basis.
It was unclear from the report whether that would involve permanent basing of nuclear bombers in Cuba, or just use of the island as a refueling stop.
In his confirmation hearing to become the air force's chief of staff, Schwartz was asked what he would recommend if Russia were to base nuclear capable bombers in Cuba. "I would certainly offer the best military advice that we engage the Russians not to pursue that approach," he said.
#13
I've been known to be wrong, USN, Ret. Fortunately, time keeps flowing (or perhaps we do -- that's physics beyond my capabilities), so we'll find out soon enough. ;-)
#14
Russia will put combat aircraft in Cuba when the Cuban (or Venezuela) pay for them. Russia does nothing for free anymore. This is bluster to make a point.
#15
Son, Russians don't take a dump without a plan. And senior captains don't start something this dangerous without having thought the matter through.
#16
An empty bluster. The US and our F-15s, F-16s and F-22s with the AIM-120s can clear out anything coming our way with ease. However, it is a very clear message that Russia is not our friend and is willing to act like it.
The question is whether Washington takes notice and/or cares.
#21
No surpise here - Iff VALDVEDEV is truly intent on countering US GMD, and given Russia's ongoing econ probs, tech- and national weaknesses despite reforms, then it would be practical for Russia to consider emplacing milfors back in Cuba as well as other host nations [read - HUGO]. FOR ME THE REAL CONCERN IS NOTSOMUCH CUBA, etc, BUT WHAT RUSSIA WILL DEPLOY IN THE EASTERN PACIIFC OFF THE US WEST COAST, HAWAII, AND ALCAN, vv "HUGGING THE WAIST/COASTLINES" OF CONUS-NORAM. Besides improved Russ NavBoomer and SLCM/LACM Subs and Surface Warfare vessels, Russia MAY ALSO CHOOSE TO DEPLOY "ARSENAL SHIPS" TASK GROUPS OR UNITS IN PRE-DETERMIN PATROL AREAS AND EQUIPPED WID A VARIETY OF LR NUKE MISSLES.
"COMPARATIVE/ASYMMETRIC ADVANTAGES" > No nation on Earth has nor can afford US-STYLE AIRCRAFT CARRIERS AND IN NUMBERS. WHAT RUSSIA HAS IS SURFACE SHIPS, SUBS, AND MERCHANT VESSELS. A PROPERLY CONVERTED 800-1000 FOOT MERCHANT MISSLE CARRIER CAN CARRY A WHOLE LOTTA LACMS, IRBMS + ICBMS, INCLUDING RELOADS, AS WELL AS BMD AND SPAWAR.
Its called SHORT-DISTANCE, "OVER WATER", "SATURATION" MISSLE ATTACK INCLUD "POINT" ATTACK. This is exclusive of SHKVAL-style underwater maneuver missle attack concepts + USV/"Mothership" Techs, etc.
ALSO GOOD FOR KEEPING THE CHINESE AWAKE AS PER RUSSO-CHINESE MILPOL COMPETITION FOR SCO-CSTO + EURASIAN "POLE POSITION" = DOMINANCE.
#22
Might be a fun exercise to see if the fighters can run the Bears out of fuel.
Posted by: ed ||
07/22/2008 20:05 Comments ||
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#23
Theres also the FUTURE OWG-NORTH AMER UNION SOCAL-BAJA + CARIBBEAN/PAN-AMER FREE TRADE ZONES, as GEOPOL = GEO STRATEGIC HEDGE AGZ THE USA = FUTURE USSA/USR.
Our sacred ARROGANT NATIONAL FASCISM = ALMOST-MOTHERLY LIMITED COMMUNISM.
The United States has proposed a mechanism for verifying North Korea's claims about its nuclear past, Washington's top envoy to the nuclear talks said Monday. The proposal was made in Beijing last week, and the U.S. is waiting for a response from Pyongyang, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill told reporters.
After giving North Korea the proposal "we ... asked them to come back with specific comments," said Hill, who will assist U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in talks between the foreign ministers of the six nations involved in the nuclear negotiations -- China, Japan, the two Koreas, Russia and the U.S.
On Tuesday, South Korea's main nuclear envoy confirmed the proposal was made to the North. "The ball is actually in the North Korean court because they already received the draft of verification protocol," Kim Sook told reporters after talks with Hill. Details of the proposal were not known.
Hill said the six-party talks, to be held Wednesday on the sidelines of a regional security conference in Singapore, are likely to discuss the verification issue.
North Korea submitted a long-delayed list of its nuclear programs last month, though it omitted details about nuclear weapons, alleged uranium enrichment program and possible nuclear proliferation.
In return, Washington announced it would remove the North from its terrorism blacklist and relaxed some economic sanctions on the communist nation. That led Pyongyang to blow up the cooling tower at its main nuclear reactor, to demonstrate its commitment to abandoning nuclear weapons.
Six-nation nuclear negotiations were then held in Beijing less than two weeks ago -- for the first time in nine months -- and produced an agreement on principles for proceeding with verification of North Korea's claims. One of the principles says the procedure should involve interviews with North Korean nuclear experts.
Hill has said earlier that the U.S. wants to reach agreement with the North on a specific verification protocol by early September. Last week's proposal offered to the North is believed to be the first draft of the envisioned protocol. "We've always maintained that verification is essential," Hill said Monday. "We hope to make some progress on that very soon."
Wednesday's session would mark the highest-level meeting in the six-country negotiations, which began in 2003 with the aim of convincing North Korea to dismantle its nuclear program. It would also be the first time Rice has met North Korea's top diplomat.
China, host of the nuclear talks, praised the planned meeting as a good chance to progress on denuclearization. "This is the first time that the high-level delegations to the six-party talks have held an informal meeting," said Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi after talks with his Japanese counterpart. "I think it will be very good for advancing the agenda of the talks."
Still, Hill played down the meeting's significance. "I would not exaggerate its importance," he said. "I think it's an opportunity for people to get together and exchange some thoughts informally."
President Nicolas Sarkozy's risky bid to rewrite France's political rules with sweeping constitutional changes worked -- but just barely -- with both houses of parliament meeting in special session Monday to pass the measures by a single vote.
Fear of failure was brewing even before nearly 900 lawmakers took their seats at the Chateau of Versailles. The slim passage reflected the controversy over the reform, vehemently rejected by opposition leftists. Even within the conservative presidential camp there was disagreement, and six of those lawmakers voted against the revision. Expectations of a close vote were so great that officials decided to hold a separate manual count in addition to the standard electronic one.
Sarkozy, who faced substantial humiliation had the vote failed, hailed the results of the vote from Dublin, where he was on a rescue mission to try to save the European Union Treaty after a resounding "no" vote from the Irish. "Once again, the camp of movement, change, modernity has won over the camp of immobilism, of rigidity, of sectarianism," Sarkozy said.
Sarkozy was saved by a few last-minute defections, including one notable Socialist, former Education Minister Jack Lang, who risked being shunned by his party for helping the reform to pass. In the end, lawmakers voted in favor of the constitutional reform 539 to 357 -- one vote more than the 538 needed to pass. Any constitutional revision needs approval by a three-fifths majority.
This revision of the French Constitution is the 24th since the start of the Fifth Republic a half-century ago but the most sweeping. All previous changes passed comfortably.
The reform gives parliament greater power but also adds a new privileges to France's already strong presidency, notably allowing the chief of state to address together the two houses of congress. However, it limits the president to two five-year terms.
Parliament is now able to veto major presidential appointments and can reduce the government's ability to push through legislation without a vote. The presidency will also be required to inform parliament of any troop deployment overseas, and must win parliamentary authorization for any deployment lasting more than four months.
Citizens, too, gain a larger voice. Any citizen who feels wronged by the French administration can appeal to a new, independent citizens' rights defender.
A key measure of the constitutional revision could also require French voters to approve membership of future EU entrants, such as Turkey. Voters in France generally oppose Turkish membership.
BELGRADE, Serbia - Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, accused architect of massacres making him one of the world's top war crimes fugitives, was arrested Monday evening in a raid that ended a near 13-year manhunt, the country's president and the UN tribunal said. Karadzic is the suspected mastermind of mass killings that the UN war crimes tribunal described as ‘scenes from hell, written on the darkest pages of human history.’ They include the 1995 massacre of 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica, Europe's worst slaughter since World War II.
Good. Now let's hope the tribunal can deal with him before 2020.
‘This is a very important day for the victims who have waited for this arrest for over a decade. It is also an important day for international justice because it clearly demonstrates that nobody is beyond the reach of the law,’ said Serge Brammertz, the tribunal's head prosecutor.
President Boris Tadic's office said Karadzic has been taken before the investigative judge of Serbia's war crimes court - a legal procedure that indicates he could soon be extradited to the UN court at The Hague, Netherlands. If Karadzic is transferred to there, he would be the 44th Serb suspect extradited to the tribunal. The others include former President Slobodan Milosevic, who was ousted in 2000 and died in 2006 while on trial on war crimes charges.
Heavily armed special forces have been deployed around the war crimes court in Belgrade where Karadzic reportedly was being held. Karadzic's brother, Luka, also arrived at the location in central Belgrade. Serbian police deployed throughout central Belgrade as well as in front of the US embassy, which was targeted in nationalist rioting over Kosovo's declaration of independence in February.
The White House called the arrest ‘an important demonstration of the Serbian Government's determination to honor its commitment to cooperate with the International Criminal Tribunal.’
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/22/2008 00:00 ||
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LOL - consider the source, but they must have the goods to be this blatant. There are two America's one with Mrs. Edwards and the other with his mistress? Where were the MSM on this? This story's been out there for some time
Vice Presidential candidate Sen. John Edwards was caught visiting his mistress and secret love child at 2:40 this morning in a Los Angeles hotel by the NATIONAL ENQUIRER.
Rielle had driven to Los Angeles from Santa Barbara with a male friend for the rendezvous with Edwards. The former senator attended a press event Monday afternoon with L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on the topic of how to combat homelessness.
But a months-long NATIONAL ENQUIRER investigation had yielded information that Rielle and Edwards, 54, had arranged to secretly meet afterward and for the ex-senator to spend some time with both his mistress and the love child who he refuses to publicly acknowledge as his own.
The NATIONAL ENQUIRER broke the story of Edwards' love child scandal last year, when Rielle was still pregnant and Edwards was still considered a strong candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Both parties denied the NATIONAL ENQUIRER report and a close friend of Edwards' came forward and said he was the father of Rielle's baby. But sources told the NATIONAL ENQUIRER a far different story - they revealed that Edwards was engineering a massive cover up of his shocking infidelity.
Sources came forward after that story appeared and told The NATIONAL ENQUIRER that Edwards and Rielle had met secretly several times, so that he could see his baby and continue his relationship with Rielle.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/22/2008 19:19 ||
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Posted by: Frank G ||
07/22/2008 19:25 Comments ||
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#2
Perfect! While his wife is here in Chicago with Lance Armstrong promoting a "stand up to cancer" event here in Chicago.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-il-illinoissportstod,0,4488986.story
Let me suggest a 10 in Lodge frying pan, Elizabeth, for starters and then move on to the really nasty stuff.
#3
look, when I said "prove it", it was a joke, k???
Posted by: Gary Hartpence ||
07/22/2008 19:43 Comments ||
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#4
this is the best part:
Senior NATIONAL ENQUIRER Reporter Alexander Hitchen asked Edwards why he was visiting Rielle and whether he was ready to confirm that he was the father of her baby.
Shocked to see a reporter, and without saying anything, Edwards ran up the stairs leading from the hotel basement to the lobby. But, spotting a photographer, he doubled back into the basement. As he emerged from the stairwell, reporter Butterfield questioned him about his hookup with Rielle.
Edwards did not answer and then ran into a nearby restroom. He stayed inside for about 15 minutes, refusing to answer questions from the NATIONAL ENQUIRER about what he was doing in the hotel. A group of hotel security men eventually escorted him from the men's room, while preventing the NATIONAL ENQUIRER reporters from following him out of the hotel.
someone else noted that the sight of a potential DONK VP (and previous DONK POTUS candidate) hiding in the restroom to avoid the press is sooooo delicious. What an asshole
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/22/2008 20:18 Comments ||
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#5
"To be with another woman, that is French.
To be caught, hmm, hmm, that is American."
NBC reporter blasts "empty suit" B. Hussein Obama for excluding press,who traveled with him on taxpayers dollars, who might ask him tough questions.
Andrea Mitchell criticizes Obama's media manipulation during his war zone trip, saying he's conducting what some would call "fake interviews," adding we dont' know what's really going on because the media has been excluded.
#1
OH yeah. How DARE he exclude the kingmakers from his imperial audience. We're not talking about the hoi polloi here. This is the media he's snubbing now! /sarcasm
I don't know if I'm going to laugh or cry if Sen. Clinton steals the nomination from him. But he sure deserves to have it stolen.
#4
From this, approved for release clip, I'd say the junket has been highly choreographed, to include the hoops session. Probably months in the making. He is simply checking the box. He's visited a Forward Operations Base (FOB) somewhere. I do not recognize the gymnasium. But I DO recognize the 'rear area' .....US Army Public Affairs approved inclusive, multi-cult, made for TV audience which lacks anyone wearing Individual Body Armor (IBA) or carrying a weapon. Also lacks the presense of veterans, US civilians, ie, contractors, of which there are tens of thousands. The absense of warfighters and men at arms is quite obvious. Sickening actually, but like Senator McCain said, "it is what it is."
Obama's campaign has created a Muslim liaison, according to two sources familiar with the move. The sources said the job was likely to be filled by Haim Nawas, a Jordanian-American who filled a similar role for the campaign of General Wesley Clark in 2004.
I sure hope the McCain folks are vetting Mr. Nawas very carefully .. and keeping their powder try til late September ...
The job is complicated by the fact that Obama has been forced repeatedly to deny that he is Muslim, a situation that grates on some Muslim-Americans.
Nawas wrote in 2005 that the Bush Administration should take a more nuanced approach to public diplomacy directed at Muslim women. "We need to recognise that the social structure in the Muslim world is very different from America's," she wrote. "American women need to understand that what is best for them is not necessarily what is best for Muslim women. Advocacy of women's rights in the Muslim world must show sensitivity to local political realities."
So don't worry about the burqas, the fourth-rate citizenship, the clitorectomies, the multiple wives and the beatings, gals, it's all for the best ...
The creation of the position comes as Obama builds out a more traditional, constituency-based campaign structure than he had in the primary. Neither Nawas or the campaign immediately responded to questions about the hire.
UPDATE: An Obama aide confirmed that the job had been created, but said the campaign had not made a final decision on who would fill it.
#1
The sources said the job was likely to be filled by Haim Nawas, a Jordanian-American who filled a similar role for the campaign of General Wesley Clark in 2004.
Hey, there's a track record to be proud of.
Another usual suspect from a usual place...
#2
An Obama aide confirmed that the job had been created, but said the campaign had not made a final decision on who would fill it.....and if he or she (Muzzie LNO) takes too much flak, there's always the BUS BASEMENT!
#4
How about a Catholic voter outreach? Since Muslims are about 2-5% of the population, and Catholics are about 25%, it would seem to make sense to reach out and try to explain his position on things like abortion, homosexual marriage, etc. Maybe he can use nuance.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
07/22/2008 13:30 Comments ||
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#5
But obammy needs muzz outreach because he needs to know what he's going to make all the rest of us do to please the muzz. That's the plan...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
07/22/2008 14:22 Comments ||
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#6
Muslims are 0.7% of the US population.
Posted by: ed ||
07/22/2008 17:13 Comments ||
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It may be hard for most people to believe that our defense establishment is in a serious decline at a time when we are spending more than $400 billion a year on defense, excluding supplemental appropriations. However, the facts bear out this alarming state of affairs.9 U.S. defense forces will continue to shrink and age, and we rapidly will cease being a dominant military force in the world, unless we make major changes soon. To avoid failure, leaders need to focus on fixing basic problem causes, not treating the symptoms. The problems have been self-inflicted; the solutions can be as well.
#1
Yet, with a few small administrative changes, the problem vanishes. To start with, cost overruns:
1) Once designs are formalized in a contract agreement with a contractor, modifications to those designs can only be made in the next production contract, not the existing one. This alone will eliminate almost 1/3rd of cost overruns.
2) Contractors must be bonded and insured by major non-government underwriters for cost overruns prior to bidding. Thus low-balling bids will come out of their pocket, or their underwriters. The same rule applies for shakedown repairs.
3) Upgrades are limited to modular replacements, not structural modifications, which must be next-gen.
#2
Moose, from the perspective of someone who has been in the defense business on one side or the other for over 30 years, most program cost overruns arise from the Contracting Officer's Technical Representative ignoring what the contractor proposed (and based his costs upon) and demanding whatever change happens to strike his fancy. Procurements are competitively awarded based on technical proposals AND price. If the Government can't be bothered to accept what was proposed, it shouldn't be surprised when costs are adjusted to cover the new demands. In a few particularly horrific examples, the Government never can make up its mind what it wants and the program slowly dies as all the time and money are frittered away leaving the troops screwed again.
#3
Moose, another thought about structural modifications. Many times structural mods are necessary to keep the old stuff flying. A case in point is the current C-130 center wing box replacement. From a more personal perspective, back in the early 70s, three B-52Ds crashed into the Pacific off the end of the runway at Anderson AFB when fatigued metal gave way and a wing fell off during takeoff. Structural modifications were made under RIVET PLANK (essentially welding an I-beam across the wing root) and later PACER PLANK to keep them flying. As for other structural mods, the BIG BELLY mod allowed the B-52D to use all the space in the bomb bay increasing the internal carrying capacity to 84 500lb bombs. Both mods were certainly cheap at twice the price.
When Genarl Motors was required to build comabt planes during WWII she had to make a cultural adjustment: she was used to keep the same model in production with zeo modifications for years in order to cut cost while the military was constantly requiring modifications. Most of them were too small for introducing a new model but they required modifying the production cahin, decreaded production and increased costs. But this was what the pilots facing comabat had asked for.
#5
The cost of fuel to keep all of it running is exhorbitant, adding to expenditures. UAV fuel is about three times more than the average for regular to begin with. An energy policy and new technologies are simply a national security issue and imperative for our own defense.
#6
The military is using up gear bought when the DoD spent 6% of GDP. Now that the military gets 3% GDP, excluding war costs, contraction is inevitable.
Posted by: ed ||
07/22/2008 12:03 Comments ||
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#7
Politics also plays a huge role for inflating costs. The DoD and the appropriations committee has their own version of pork. A senator's pet project that the DoD doesn't need or want gets pushed in since it will go to his/her own state and it won't be the lowest/best bidder either.
#8
If you played real accounting games and moved retired pay and medical support out of the DoD budget lines, you'd be amazed how much gets opened up. However, like Social Security, the people cooking the nation's books [i.e. Congress] don't want that long term obligation to appear to zero out the rest of the budget. As with Social Security, if people saw it and demanded obligation on the contract, there'd be no 'slack' for all those lovely earmarks and set asides. These people ought to be selling sub-prime paper. Oh, wait...never mind.
#9
And don't forget that COngress gives the DoD their allowance; as they change their mind, the DoD is forced to make changes in programs and when total number of units to be bought gets cut, that drives the individual unit cost up, as R & D and design are independnet of quantity. and if the production is forced to be stretched out, that also drives up unit cost and the downward spiral begins. Think back to the B-2 program; originally over a 100, finally shut the line down @ 22. pretty spendy silver bullet.
and no plan for attrition either.
The Indian government and the much-vaunted nuclear deal it negotiated with George Bush in 2006 were last night on the brink of collapse after a bruising debate on a vote of confidence in parliament.
The vote, due today, is so finely balanced that several infirm MPs will be brought in from hospital. Jailed parliamentarians, some convicted of murder, have gained temporary release to attend.
Other MPs claimed they have been offered multimillion-pound bribes to vote. Smaller parties, which realise they hold the balance of power, have made extravagant demands.
A regional party with three votes asked the government to rename an airport in north India after the party chief's father, Charan Singh, a former Indian prime minister. It got its wish, then announced it would be voting against the government.
If the Congress-led government wins a majority of the 543-member house, analysts say it will limp on until next May, beholden to small parties many of which openly call for special favours for prominent businessmen who bankroll them.
If the government loses, national polls will be held this winter, just as rising prices of food and petrol begin to bite.
At the heart of the matter is a deal that would allow India to keep its nuclear weapons in return for international inspections of its civilian reactor programme. In effect, the government says, it allows the country to escape the nuclear non-proliferation regime which has denied it vital technology for decades.
The crisis was caused by a withdrawal of support by the government's communist allies, who say the deal made India a pawn of Washington. The main opposition group, a coalition led by the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata party which calls the United States a "natural ally", says the nuclear deal limits India's ability to test nuclear weapons.
Last night, Pranab Mukherjee, the foreign minister, predicted the government would win with a majority of five.
The only certainty is the rise of Kumari Mayawati, an "untouchable" leader, who now leads a "third front" group of the regional parties.
Posted by: john frum ||
07/22/2008 00:00 ||
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Link ||
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#1
Jailed parliamentarians, some convicted of murder
Why can't we have jailed congressmen, too?
#2
Why can't we have jailed congressmen, too?
Posted by: Spot
Because our government (may the fleas of a thousand camels, etc., etc.) is too corrupt to arrest them, prosecute them, hold them accountable, actually use the facts to determine guilt or innocense, and simply won't do it. I doubt there are three "honest" lawmakers in Congress, and there are probably 10%-15% of government employees that, if examined closely, could be found guilty of violating the laws of the United States. It is the biggest, most hushed-up problem we have with our government, and it's been going on since the days of George Washington.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/22/2008 18:17 Comments ||
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#3
Old P, I am pretty sure we do have some jailed Congressmen, or at least did. The war hero from southern Cal comes to mind, for one, though I cannot recall his name.
Now, we have many others who deserve such treatment, including (in my opinion, which should keep me from getting on THAT jury), our own William Jefferson.
#1
And thanks a lot to the irresponsible, lying, lawbreaking financiers who brought us here, and the governments that refused to enforce their own laws.
#2
Ambrose is a bit over the top with his doom and gloom. There is some good commentary in the comments. And yes, the bankers and their fellow travelers need to be hammered hard. I suggest they be treated to the high jump.
#3
We are at a global level that does mirror the 1930s after the stock market crash. Credit was plentiful and cheap, but now banks are paying for lending risky loans. Europe is in recession or close to it, the US economy is struggling under the credit crunch and the rising cost of energy is the proverbial gas on the proverbial tinder.
Things are starting to stabilize if the government just stop screwing with the markets. But if some event, either a major natural disaster in a major economic nation, or China/India/Japan falling economically will be the proverbial match on the aforementioned pile.
#4
90% of the commenters on that article are certifiable loons. I'd be rich if I could get the tinfoil distribution monopoly for those folks.
When you start seeing Koreans, Chinese and Indians leaving the US instead of desperately trying to come here, THEN it will be time to worry.
The reality is that there is no place better than the U.S. to live, and there are a hell of a lot of envious people out there who are just drooling at the thought of us being in trouble. That's as opposed to the average American, who couldn't give a flying fornication about people or conditions in most other countries because he/she has absolutely no interest in being like them.
#5
It may not be as bad as this guy makes it out to be, but it still sounds like it has the potential to go south on us in a heartbeat.
We are living in a new age of the Robber Barrons. They are plunderers, they completely use-up and discard an industry when they have sucked all the value from it. I've watched them go from the Savings and Loan industry to the Steel Industry, to Manufacturing,to IT, to the Housing industry and finally to the energy market. They will lay it to waste and run off to the next plum with a truckload of money. But it's never enough, that begs the question of which market or industry is next? IRA's, Fed securities, Forex market? These guys are ruining one facet of our economy after the other and nobody in govt. seems to care.
#6
BNP Paribas is warning Spain...that's a favorite bank of money launderers, using the off-shore Carribean locations, and used by the UN in the Oil-for-Food Scandal by those taking Saddam's bribes. Sunday, a Venezuelan plane, bearing a Red Cross logo(like the FARC hostage spoof and Palestinian ambulances), was intercepted with some 130 tons of cocaine in Sierra Leone, bound for Europe. This has also been a record year of drug interdictions and sanctioning of terrorist financing--that loss in revenue has to show up somewhere. Giants fall the hardest, however.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government survived three no-confidence motions in parliament on Monday in a vote boycotted by a key member of his ruling coalition.
Crummy leader, one hell of a politician...
One of the three motions was approved by 41 votes to 40 after Olmert's Shas coalition partner shunned the vote. It was the first time since taking office over two years ago that more parliament members had voted against Olmert's government in a no-confidence motion than for it.
Under Israeli law, 61 votes are needed to pass a no-confidence motion, leading to the dissolution of the 120 member parliament and heralding new elections.
Local media reported that legislators from the Orthodox Jewish party Shas stayed away from the vote in protest at the appointment of a legislator from the Labor Party, Olmert's main coalition partner, as head of parliament's powerful Finance Committee.
The result cast further doubt on whether Olmert would survive a police investigation into allegations that he took bribes from an American Jewish businessman.
The veteran politician denies any wrong doing but has said he would step down if indicted. His Kadima party is to hold an internal vote in September that could replace him.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/22/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
How the hell does this weasel keep dodging out? Is Israel that corrupt anyome?
#4
I'd read that PM Olmert had already agreed not to stand against challengers in the September party vote. Perhaps he changed his mind, or doesn't want to be tossed out by others. I hope liberalhawk looks in on this thread today; he generally can explain Israeli politics.
#5
Israel has no one willing to step up and lead, like a Moshe Dayan, or Golda Meir. Zippy is just not acceptable to the overall population which is getting younger and more appeasing every day.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
07/22/2008 13:07 Comments ||
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This will cause the green's heads to explode
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management today published proposed regulations to establish a commercial oil shale program that could result in the addition of up to 800 billion barrels of recoverable oil from lands in the western United States.
In keeping with the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, the BLM is proposing regulations that would provide the critical "rules of the road" on which private investors will rely in determining whether to make future financial commitments to prospective oil shale projects.
"As Americans pay more than $4 for a gallon of gasoline and watch energy prices continue to climb higher and higher, we need to be doing more to develop our own energy here at home, through resources such as oil shale," said Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne. "Instead, I find it ironic that we are asking countries halfway around the world to produce more for us."
Oil shale is a fine-grained sedimentary rock containing organic matter from which oil may be produced. The regulations would provide for a thoughtful, phased approach to oil shale development on public lands in the West. Commercial development of oil shale will not begin until it is technologically viable, which is not expected for several years.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is only publishing proposed regulations at this time because the Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2008 prohibits the agency from using FY2008 funds to prepare or publish final regulations. The President has called on Congress to remove the ban on finalizing oil shale program regulations.
Before any oil shale leases are issued, site-specific National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis would be completed on the proposed development. Once a lease is issued, the lessee will also have to obtain all required permits from state and local authorities, under their respective permitting processes, before any operations can begin.
The proposed leasing regulations incorporate provisions of the Energy Policy Act and the Mineral Leasing Act relating to: maximum oil shale lease size; maximum acreage limitations; rental; and lease diligence. The rule will also propose a range of royalty rate options, and will ask for public input on the royalty provisions. The public will have 60 days to comment on the proposed rules.
The regulations address provisions of the Energy Policy Act that establish work requirements and milestones to ensure diligent development of leases. Standard components of a BLM leasing program -- including lease administration and operations -- would be included, as well as additional NEPA documentation requirements for lease applicants.
In remarks last month calling on Congress to expand domestic energy production, President Bush noted the "extraordinary potential" of oil shale resources on public lands in the West. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. holds more than half of the world's oil shale resources.
The largest known deposits of oil shale are located in a 16,000-square mile area in the Green River formation in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. Shale formations in that area hold the equivalent of up to 800 billion barrels of recoverable oil. Federal lands comprise 72 percent of the total surface of oil shale acreage in the Green River formation.
"Oil shale is a strategically important domestic energy source that should be developed to reduce the nation's growing dependence on oil from politically and economically unstable foreign sources," said BLM Director James Caswell.
Throughout the process, the BLM will collaborate and consult with affected states, tribes and local governments to ensure that their interests and concerns surrounding the oil shale program continue to be addressed. For instance, the site-specific NEPA analyses would include the same opportunities for public involvement and comment that are part of the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement process.
The regulations are just one of several steps designed to harness these vast energy resources. The BLM has also issued research, development and demonstration (RD&D) leases for five oil shale projects in Colorado's Piceance Basin and one in Utah. The BLM is also preparing a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement that would amend several resource management plans to open lands for application for potential oil shale leasing in the future.
The Oil Shale Regulation on the electronic desk of the Federal Register today is at
http://federalregister.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/2008-16275_PI.pdf
#1
LOL at the graphic, DV!!! Using FF3, I can't link Fred's graphix
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/22/2008 19:29 Comments ||
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#2
might wanna see what the Congress passes (against their will) to protect their phony baloney jobs
/Gov. Le Petomane
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/22/2008 19:53 Comments ||
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#3
up to 800 billion barrels of recoverable oil from lands in the western United States
CIA Factbook Oil reserves (Billion barrels):
World 1,331
Saudi Arabia 264
Canada 179
Iran 138
Iraq 115
Kuwait 101
United Arab Emirates 98
Venezuela 79
Russia 60
Libya 45
Nigeria 37
Angola 25
United States 22
Looks like the list will have to change. And don't forget the 86 billion barrels of sweet, sweet crude lying offshore. But according to our Primitivists, we STILL can't drill (or dig) our way out of the problem.
Posted by: ed ||
07/22/2008 20:01 Comments ||
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#4
Forgot. Some estimates have potentially recoverable US oil shales at 2,500 billion barrels. Then there is the technically challenging Bakken oil formation with 4 billion (e.g. same as ANWAR) with some estimates stating there is up to 500 billion barrels lying within Bakken, with the amount recoverable going up as technology improves.
Posted by: ed ||
07/22/2008 20:19 Comments ||
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#5
ed, the list you got there is oil what is pumpable reserves, oil shale isnt oil, can be oil with enough energy and hydrogen input, but it isn't oilrigbht now. With enough nukes it's do able tho.
Posted by: Billie Sol Estes Rockets ||
07/22/2008 21:19 Comments ||
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#6
Yep. Is not listed a classical "oil reserves", but it is readily accessable hydrocarbons that can be turned into petroleum. Much like tar sands. That the amount of American shale is twice the entire world's oil reserves is extraordinary. It's fortunate that the entire US midwest was an ancient shallow seabed. If only we could get the Luddites out of the way, though running them over flat is looking to be a more and more attractive option.
The current recoverable Bakken oil is listed at 1%. That will go up as technology advances.
Posted by: ed ||
07/22/2008 21:26 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
(SomaliNet) Horn Relief which is one of the aid organizations that operate in Somalia has also suspended all its operations in Kismayo because of security concerns, officials of the group said according to a press statement issued by the organization. The permanent secretary of the organization has confirmed the suspension of its activities. The organization issued the press statement in Kenyan capital Nairobi. 
Police in the Swedish city of Stockholm on Wednesday arrested former Director General of the Civil Aviation Authority, Sylvere Ahorugeze, who is accused of having masterminded the 1994 Genocide. The development was confirmed yesterday by the Rwandan Ambassador to Sweden Jacqueline Mukangira by telephone. "He had accompanied his wife to the embassy. She wanted to have a Rwandan passport and to be registered for the new identity card," said Mukangira.
CANBERRA, Australia - A newspaper report Tuesday that claims Zimbabwe is using Australian airspace to trade with China has prompted Australia's opposition leader to call for a ban on such flights. The Age newspaper reported that for the past year, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's regime has regularly commandeered Air Zimbabwe flights and has flown them through Australian air space over the Indian Ocean to China via Singapore.
A Yemeni women's rights group in has branded a recent fatwa issued by Muslim clerics as being anti-Islamic for banning women from running for election and warning them not to leave their homes, recent press reports said.
Leaders of 
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government survived three no-confidence motions in parliament on Monday in a vote boycotted by a key member of his ruling coalition. 
