While U.S. athletes have stayed silent about politics during these Olympic Games, their actions have spoken volumes. Kobe says it's cool to be proud of his country, Volleyball teams thanks the Pres... they haven't been silent, they just have had little coverage that shows them being proud to be an American.
First came the decision by U.S. team captains to pick runner Lopez Lomong, who was a Sudanese war refugee, to lead the U.S. delegation into the Aug. 8 opening ceremony as the team's flag bearer. Many interpreted Lomong's selection as a dig at the Chinese government's support of Sudan, which has armed militias that have killed hundreds of thousands of people in the country's Darfur region.
On Friday night, the U.S. team entered the political fray again by choosing archer Khatuna Lorig, who was born in what is now the country of Georgia, to be the U.S. flag bearer in Sunday's closing ceremony. With Georgia recently fighting a mismatched war against Russian troops in the separatist Georgian province of South Ossetia, many saw Lorig's selection as a show of support by U.S. athletes for the besieged Georgians.
Lorig, however, played down the politics during a Saturday interview with McClatchy, saying her fellow U.S. athletes didn't pick her to score geopolitical points. "It's more that they feel that I'm American, it doesn't matter where I was born," the 34-year-old West Hollywood, Calif., resident said. "I'm truly very proud to be an American and most definitely very proud to be on the U.S. team." The love of country exposed here. Where is Michelle?
The conflict in her home country, however, did weigh on her mind as she competed Aug. 12 and 14, advancing to the archery quarterfinals before losing to world record holder Yun Ok-Hee of South Korea.
Loris said her parents fled their home in the Georgian city of Gori when Russian troops invaded earlier this month and are still staying with her brother in the capital of Tbilisi. While competing, Lorig had called to make sure her parents were all right and was reassured after talking to her mother. Lorig later learned that her mother had spared her the worst details about the destruction in Gori so that she wouldn't be too upset to compete. The family's farm house was spared the destruction, but neighboring buildings weren't, Lorig said. And more comes out about what Russia is doing to this country
The archer expressed strong support for beleaguered Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, who she said had done much to improve the lives of ordinary Georgians. That's not exactly what we have been hearing
"I feel sad and I feel very upset," Lorig said. "But I know Georgia has very good relations with other countries and the world is not blind and will not just stand by."
Archery team captain Victor Wunderle said he nominated Lorig to be U.S. flag bearer in recognition of the respect her fellow athletes held her in. Lorig had won the Olympic bronze medal in 1992 as part of a team representing countries of the former Soviet Union and has helped coach many of her fellow U.S. archers. "This isn't about the governments in the world," Lorig said. "This isn't about international politics. Khatuna was elected by her peers, elected by other athletes. Khatuna has a great story."
Lorig has competed on three Olympic national teams - the Unified Team of the former Soviet Union in 1992, the Georgian delegations of 1996 and 2000 and this year's U.S. team. Lorig moved to New Jersey from her native country in 1996 but could only join the U.S. team after winning American citizenship in May 2005. Lorig said one of the first things she did after becoming a citizen was join the U.S. Olympic squad. Glad her story is being told
"I love this country," Lorig said. "It's the number one country in the world, and I'm holding its flag." Again, where is Michelle? Oh yea, arriving in Denver for her big speech about her love of the country that has been mean to her, but now she can be proud of it. Yea, right. Michelle needs a lesson from our athletics.
#1
Michelle is a spoiled bitch that has bought into the whole black suppression scam while benefiting from the programs for blacks. Bill Cosby has more class in one finger than she does her whole body. Kobe too.
Fresh from prodding Libya into ending a quarter-century of hostility toward the United States, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi's most influential son, announced this week that he planned to "disappear" from public life for a time.
Saif Gaddafi, the man seen as his father's most likely successor, has been a leading force behind the scenes in Libya's reopening to the West.
The effort peaked Aug. 14, when Libyan and U.S. officials signed an accord expected to lead to the restoration of full diplomatic relations and to a trip in the coming weeks by Condoleezza Rice, who would be the first U.S. secretary of state to visit Libya since 1953.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2008 00:00 ||
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...Wonder what cookie jar he got his hand caught in.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/24/2008 9:43 Comments ||
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#5
Pragmatically, 2008-2012 [2018] Post-Dubya Period = most decisive, most dangerous phase of the GWOT for both the US-Allies, + Radical Islam including World Islam in general, and ole' SAIF wants to take a timeout!?
MoD struggling to maintain aircraft and supplies to troops
The Ministry of Defence faces such a critical shortage of civilian staff, engineers and technical expertise that it is struggling to maintain its aircraft, and the supply of equipment to troops in Afghanistan and Iraq is under threat, leaked memos reveal.
Senior commanders are also warning that the nuclear submarine deterrent could be confined to docks within 18 months unless a shortage of submariners and nuclear technicians can be resolved. The revelations came to lightin the week that the civil service union Prospect began a High Court action claiming plans to cut 5,000 MoD jobs are illegal.
A memo sent last month from the head of the MoD's supply department reveals that the organisation is struggling to process urgent orders for land and surveillance equipment to be sent to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The memo calls for staff to be co-opted from other departments for 12 months to plug the gap, a move it admits is a "sticking plaster" solution.
A second memo, from the MoD's Aircraft Maintenance Policy Board, circulated widely in the MoD in May, warns that years of privatisation and staff cuts have left the ministry without the expertise to maintain its own aircraft.
"This paper argues that recent and future changes in the employment of crown servant engineers will soon leave the MoD unable to fulfil its intelligent customer remit and hence jeopardize airworthiness," it says. "[Engineering teams] are punch drunk with additional requirements... and there is evidence that they do not have the capacity to comply with existing regulations...."
Several crashes have been attributed by insiders to either a lack of know-how or loss of experience, most significantly the Nimrod aircraft which blew up in Kandahar, Afghanistan, after a fuel leak in September 2006, killing all 14 men aboard.
In a meeting with the victims' families earlier this year, the Defence Minister Bob Ainsworth admitted that a lack of trained engineers was responsible for the delay in bringing the remaining Nimrod fleet up to minimum standards.
There is also widespread concern at the shortage of nuclear engineers, with warnings that the Clyde nuclear base in Scotland will be unable to apply for a licence to operate unless the shortage can be addressed.
Earlier this month Commodore Chris Hockley, commander of the base, launched an 18-month review to address staffing concerns which will look at the possibility of privatisation.
Conservative MP Patrick Mercer, a former Army commander in Bosnia, said that naval officers had told him that Britain's nuclear submarine fleet would not be able to go to sea unless the shortfall in mariners was addressed. Steve Jary, National Secretary of the civil service union Prospect, said the MoD is "stretched to breaking point".
The MoD maintains that its aircraft, including the Nimrod, are safe to fly. "The Ministry of Defence does not comment on leaked documents," a spokesman said. "However, we recognise that there are a number of pinchpoint trades within the armed forces and are taking steps to mitigate any future impact through targeted recruitment campaigns and retention measures."
#1
The British won't fight for Britain any more because it's not Britain any more. Decades of the multiculti bullshit and anti-white racism has destroyed the love of country that used to inspire people to join the armed forces.
The military aren't stupid. They see how they're treated, what little they have to work with and the scant consideration they're given. Then they compare their situation against the American units they're often working with. The contrast doesn't inspire much loyalty to Queen and Country.
Loyalty is a two-way street, something British governments since Thatcher and the MOD have forgotten. They're paying now for their earlier neglect, but this is just the beginning. It's going to get exponentially worse.
#4
This is the ultimate express of the 'consent of the governed'. It wasn't about votes. It's about a people's willingness to do the dirty work and take the risks to make a country viable. When there is a no show at the muster, we're only waiting for the fat lady to sing.
#5
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool -- you bet that Tommy sees!
#9
Something similar was addressed here on the 'Burg a few months back - IIRC, it was about budget cuts and personnel shortages in the British Army. I'll repeat the same proposal I made then - the US should take advantage of the UK's lunatic defense policy by offering RIF'ed British military "head of the line privilege" for US citizenship in return for, say, four years of service in our forces. And come up with something similar for the skilled MoD civilians as well.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
08/24/2008 17:04 Comments ||
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#10
That could be considered a hostile act. I would prefer to ask the Brits what they need for their forces in the war zone and just give it to them.
Posted by: ed ||
08/24/2008 17:44 Comments ||
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#11
How can they uphold their NATO obligations with that kind of Army and Navy?
By all contemporary accounts, allowing for medieval exaggeration, on this one Sunday between 20,000 and 30,000 men died. Just so that you grasp the magnitude, thats a more grievous massacre of British men than on the first day of the Somme. Without machineguns or shells, young blokes hacked, bludgeoned and trampled, suffocated and drowned. An astonishing 1% of the English population died in this field.
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the arrow storm: An English archer could fire 15 to 20 arrows in a minute thats what made the opening moments of battle so horrific.
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The armies face each other, an arrows length apart, perhaps 300 yards. The archers step forward, communion wafers still stuck to the roofs of their mouths, muttering prayers to St Sebastian, patron saint of archers. The order Knock, draw, loose! sends a hissing curtain of iron-tipped splinters high into the white air.
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Organised ranks of men standing under an arrow storm can do one of three things. They can take it, the steepling hysteria, the terror, the incessant keening of the goose feathers, the thud and grunt, the screaming and pleading, the smell of shit and vomit and split gut; they can stand with their skin prickling in mortal expectation. Or they can retreat get out of the rain, give ground, lose form and purpose, and run. Or they can attack move forward, confront the ... peasant bowmen.
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We get to the river, now little more than a stream, dodging rocks and fallen logs. Here, hidden in a swaying copse of ash trees, was the Bridge of Bodies, built of Lancastrian dead to form a dam, the spume running with crimson gore. This was the final horror of Towton. We stare onto the dark water in silence.
You know, this is the bit I cant imagine, says the printer, what it must have felt like to be hunted down, hundreds of miles from home, to have been through that day, to be wounded, terrified, desperate what was that like? And we fall into silence again.
And then, because weve been talking of many things, he says hes got a son all set to join the army, keen as a greyhound for some soldiering. Standing in this awful, overgrown secret morgue, he says hes proud but terribly worried it frightens him, the thought of his boy. And there, in those words and in that silence, is the thing that history does when you meet it halfway. It bends in on itself and folds the run of years to touch the present, not with a cold hand but with the warm breath of a moment ago.
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The dead of Towton are buried all over here, in mounds and trenches, in pits, in Saxon churchyards and the deserted hamlet of Lead. They are both history and landscape. They make up the most perfectly preserved great battlefield in the country. ...[Towton is] kept by the quiet, respectful community and by this small band, this happy breed of marvellously eccentric enthusiasts, who, as we walk through the corn, I see are the yeomen of England walking back through our history, through Cobbett and Dickens, through Shakespeare to Chaucer and down the years to Domesday. They honour this blessed land, this earth of majesty, this seat of Mars."
It's not over yet.
Thousands marched on Saturday to back Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa who polls show is inching closer to winning a September 28 vote to pass a new constitution that would expand the leftist's authority.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2008 00:00 ||
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ABOARD THE U.S.S. MCFAUL (AP) -- A U.S. Navy warship carrying humanitarian aid anchored at the Georgian port of Batumi on Sunday, sending a strong signal of support to an embattled ally as Russian forces built up around two separatist regions.
Ahead of the USS McFaul's arrival, a top Russian general suggested that the presence of U.S. and other NATO ships in the Black Sea would worsen tensions already at a post-Cold War low.
The guided missile destroyer USS McFaul, loaded with some 80 pallets containing about 55 tons of humanitarian aid, is the first of five American ships scheduled to arrive this week, according to the U.S. Embassy. The aid includes baby food, diapers, bottled water, and milk. The arrival was a stark reminder that it will take substantial aid and months of rebuilding before Georgia can recover from the war with Russia. Five days of fighting damaged cities and towns across the country and displaced tens of thousands of Georgians.
The commander of the U.S. task force, Navy Capt. John Moore, downplayed the significance of a destroyer bringing aid. "We really are here on a humanitarian mission," he said.
The McFaul, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, is also outfitted with an array of weaponry, including Tomahawk cruise missiles, which can carry either conventional or nuclear warheads, and a sophisticated radar system. For security reasons the Navy does not say if ships are carrying nuclear weapons, but they usually do not.
At dockside in Batumi, with the McFaul anchored offshore, U.S. Navy officials in crisp white uniforms were met Sunday by Georgian officials, including Defense Minister David Kezerashvili.
Speaking to The Associated Press on the aft missile deck of the McFaul, anchored a mile offshore, Kezerashvili said Georgians would feel safer now. "They will feel safe not because the destroyer is here but because they will feel they are not alone facing the Russian aggression," he said.
The deputy chief of Russia's general staff suggested that the arrival of the ship and those of other NATO members would increase tensions in the Black Sea. Russia shares the sea with NATO members Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria as well as Georgia and Ukraine, whose pro-Western president also is leading a drive for NATO membership. "I don't think such a buildup will foster the stabilization of the atmosphere in the region," Russia's ITAR-Tass news agency quoted Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn as saying Saturday.
Hundreds of Georgians flocked back to Gori on Saturday, one day after the Russians withdrew, to begin rebuilding their lives. Their homecoming was laced with despair, disbelief and anger. "Barbarians, that's what they are. They kill innocent people here ... how many kilometers outside the battlefield? They bombed all over Georgia," Zurab Gvarientashvili, a 31-year-old engineer, said as he viewed his apartment, destroyed by a Russian bomb.
Gori is 20 miles south of the capital of the separatist region South Ossetia, where Georgian forces launched an assault on Aug. 7, sparking the war and an international crisis.
South Ossetian officials accused Georgia on Sunday of building up military forces along the edge of South Ossetia and claimed a Georgian unit fired sporadically at villages overnight. There were no reports of casualties, but South Ossetian spokeswoman Irina Gagloyeva said residents were asking to be evacuated.
Georgian Security Council chief Alexander Lomaia denied that Georgian forces had fired any shots but said Russian forces were obligated to leave positions in the area, which is in Georgia. Lomaia also said Russian forces were still holding 12 of 22 Georgian servicemen taken prisoner in Poti last week.
Next to one bomb crater in Gori, Merdiko Peredze's goats grazed on burnt grass. Peredze said he was refugee twice over -- once after fleeing his home amid fighting in the early 1990s in Abkhazia and now again, with his house in Gori in tatters. "I'm an old man but I will return to Abkhazia," he vowed. "Russian, Georgians, Ossetians -- we should all be living in peace together, like we did under Stalin."
#6
Russia shares the sea with NATO members Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria as well as Georgia and Ukraine, whose pro-Western president also is leading a drive for NATO membership.
Looks like russia is shit out of friends. Maybe they should be worried.
This has a certain... assymetrical feel to it.
Two officers were killed and two others wounded in an attack on a Russian armored vehicle in Chechnya Saturday, a source in Russia's law enforcement services said Sunday. "Two explosive devices were blown up as an armored personnel carrier was driving along a road not far from the village of Agishty in Shali district. The bombing was accompanied by fire from small arms," the source was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying. So it was an IED attack.
Two deputy commanders of an armed forces unit, a lieutenant colonel and a major, were killed, and two other officers were seriously wounded and hospitalized, the source said.
Posted by: Matt ||
08/24/2008 12:32 ||
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The bombing was accompanied by fire from small arms.
TBILISI: A fuel train hit a mine and exploded near the stricken Georgian city of Gori on Sunday as Russia faced renewed European Union pressure to make a complete withdrawal from Georgia. The Georgian Interior Ministry said the rail track used by the train had been mined and a huge pall of black smoke could be seen across the Gori region after the huge explosion.
"The railway was mined and that was the reason for the explosion," Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said.
The blast was the latest fallout from from the five day conflict between Russia, where its troops held a strategic port, and the Georgian army.
Russia pulled troops and armored vehicles out of vast swaths of seized territory and ended its 10-day occupation of Gori on Friday, but Georgian and foreign officials disputed Russia's claim that it had complied with the terms of a recent cease-fire agreement.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Russia Stages a Substantial Withdrawal
"...A frustrated Georgia could not be reached for comment. Good night and have a pleasant tomorrow."
*Sits back and waits to see how many folks remember that joke
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/24/2008 9:46 Comments ||
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#2
Cheddar Chase
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/24/2008 10:16 Comments ||
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#3
;-)
/Emily L
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/24/2008 10:17 Comments ||
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Russia has completed its pullback of troops in Georgia, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said Friday in a statement immediately challenged by the Georgian government.
"The pullback of Russian troops and units passed without incident and was completed on time" at 7:50 p.m. (1550 GMT), Serdyukov said in a statement given to journalists by the Kremlin press service. "Thus, the Russian side has fulfilled its obligations" under a French-brokered ceasefire plan, Serdyukov said.
However, a senior Georgian official responded saying that Russia continued to occupy areas of the country. "It is not true that the withdrawal is complete," interior ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili told AFP.
While the Pentagon said it still saw no clear sign of a substantial Russian withdrawal. What I said this morning is still the same," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said when asked about Russia's statement. Earlier, Whitman said Russian military movements remained minor and there was no clear evidence of a major pullout.
Serdyukov appeared to be referring to the pullout throughout Friday of combat troops from deep inside Georgia.
Hundreds of soldiers and columns of tanks and trucks could be seen moving north from forward positions into the Russian-controlled separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Russia says 500 "peacekeepers" are to remain in a buffer zone around South Ossetia. An unknown number of combat troops also remain inside South Ossetia as well as Abkhazia, which both broke away from Tbilisi in the 1990s.
Despite Friday's partial withdrawal, the "zone of responsibility" that Russia says it will patrol beyond South Ossetia and Abkhazia includes long stretches of Georgia's main highway and access to the Black Sea.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Somehow this 'pull out' brings to mind the crude method of birth control used when condoms and pills were not availible. Just before the moment of intense pleasure, the guy withdraws and spits up all over everything. Wonderful!
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
08/24/2008 10:21 Comments ||
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Thousands of Georgians demanded that Russian troops leave the outskirts of this strategic Black Sea port on Saturday and took to the streets in protest, while a top Russian general said his country's forces would keep patrolling the area.
The comments by deputy head of the general staff Col.-Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, reported by Russian news agencies, showed that despite protests from the United States, France and Britain, Russia was confident enough to occupy whatever part of Georgia it deemed necessary.
"Russian military: You are not a liberating military, you are an occupying force!" one man shouted at the Poti protest. Banners read "Say No to War" and "Russia go home."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2008 00:00 ||
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What rational do our Russian friends offer for controlling the port city a hundred miles (?) fro South Osettia? Or do they bother with an explation?
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/24/2008 8:23 Comments ||
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#4
The fork of the BTC pipeline terminates at Supsa, not in Poti. Oil is then railroaded to Poti--a major railroad terminal beside beint a port, but can be redirected, for time being, to Batumi.
#7
INTERFAX > RUSSIA > "KEEPING FRIENDS CLOSE AND ENEMIES CLOSER". Russ is desiring to hold MILEXS wid other CSTO Member-States [includ Muslim] every TWO YEARS.
IMO 'tis more evidence RUSS COVERTLY WANTS THE US-NATO/EU COVERING IT SIX in ASI AGZ RISING NUCLEAR ISLAMISM + CHINA.
ION ARMENIAN NEWS NETWORK/TOPIX > ANKARA: TURKEY, RUSSIA TO DISCUSS [Turk-proposed]CAUCASUS BLOC/UNION, + BAKU: IFF THREAT EXTENDS TO NAGORNO-KARABAKH, ARMENIA WILL SIGN ALLIANCE IMMEDIATELY [Armenia plans to surrender and give formal recognition iff NagornKarab decides to secede], + US GLOBAL STRATEGY [anti-Russia]IN GEORGIA.
* MIDDLE EAST TIMES > SOMETHING IMPORTANT [+ Global Dangerous] IS STIRRING IN THE DEEP DARK WATERS OF GEOPOLITICS. US-NATO is projecting power and extending into the Caucasus + CENTASIA; THE REAL WORLD: GEORGIA WAR LESSONS FOR THE MIDDLE EAST. The post-Cold war/USSR era's got nuthin' on the Arts of War.
A Russian court denied a parole appeal by jailed oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky on Friday, in a case that his lawyers have presented as a test of new Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's commitment to judicial reforms and the rule of law.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2008 00:00 ||
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test of new Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's commitment to judicial reforms and the rule of law.
According to Mr Shigemura's unnamed sources, Jong Il was a diabetic and in 2000 the illness confined him to a wheelchair for approximately three years before his alleged death in 2003.
The practice of leaders having multiple doubles is a familiar one since it was revealed Iraq's Saddam Hussein used them when he was alive. I wouldn't be surprised. I don't know if this is true, but I bet many things don't seem like reality either in NK. FUBAR
#3
Compare wid IRAN-DAILY [paraph] > NORTH KOREA: SEOUL/SOUTH KOREA MOVING PENINSULA TOWARDS ITS WORST CRISIS???
* COMIC BOOK GUY - "Worst Crisis EVAR/EVAH'!
Also, WAFF.com > ASIA TIMES - NORTH KOREA WARY OF RUSSIA [Russ intentions]. NOKOR admits to executing a few 000 RUSS-TRAINED MOKOR OFFICERS-SPECS "UP TO THE THIRD GENERATION", AS DUE TO MISTRUST OF RUSS INTENT/AGENDUMS???
Well, AFAIK the Perts are still predicting NOKOR's agriculture will completely collapse next year 2009???
North Korean scientists have developed a new kind of noodle that delays feelings of hunger, a Japan-based pro-Pyongyang newspaper has reported. The noodles were made from corn and soybeans, the Choson Shinbo said.
They left people feeling fuller longer and represented a technological breakthrough, the newspaper said.
North Korea is dependent on foreign food aid. Last month the UN warned that residents were experiencing their worst food shortages in a decade. But the communist country remains reluctant to allow experts to fully assess the scale of the problem or give them adequate access to deliver aid.
According to the newspaper, which is seen as closely linked to the Pyongyang leadership, the new noodles have twice as much protein and fives times as much fat as ordinary noodles. "When you consume ordinary noodles (made from wheat or corn), you may soon feel your stomach empty. But this soybean noodle delays such a feeling of hunger," it said on its website.
The noodles would be available soon across North Korea, the newspaper said.
An estimated one million people starved to death in North Korea in the late 1990s after natural disasters and government mismanagement devastated the country's economy.
In July, the World Food Programme warned that six million people were in urgent need of food aid, following severe flooding last year. Most households had cut their food intake and more people are scavenging for wild foods, WFP assessors found.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#6
Hey Kimmi, how many of your people could you feed with your annual brandy and cognac budget?
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
08/24/2008 11:30 Comments ||
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#7
At the rate their Enligtened Leader has their sociery progressing, I recommend they figure out how to "delay feelings of hunger" for about 10 years.
#12
I've had those noodles for years and years. Just boil up 2-4 ounces in salted water until they're al dente, drain & serve. If I need to feel fuller longer, I just cook up more of 'em. Does Rantburg have a "Re-inventing the Wheel" department?
Turkish Muslims plan to resort to appetite suppressing diet patches to help them get through the daily fast during the Ramadan holy month, Anatolia news agency reported on Friday.
One of the most popular questions asked on a helpline run by Turkey's religious affairs directorate is "whether diet patches are suitable for fasting" and "whether the use of diet patches will amount to foul play," the report said. Other questions include "how many djinns can dance on the head of a pin" and whether efrits have wings.
Theologists have reassured them they have nothing to worry about. "Fasting is a way of disciplining the body. Those who use diet patches try to achieve the same. That's why diet patches are not objectionable," said Mehmet Baris, the muftu, or highest Muslim authority, in the southern province of Adana.
The patches, which release appetite-suppressing ingredients to the body through the skin, cannot be considered as corrupting the fast because their effect amounts to "showering or applying a pomade on the skin" rather than eating, theology professor Kerim Yavuz said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2008 00:00 ||
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2008,
The Highest Muslim authority in the Southern Province of Adana, Muftu Mehmet Baris says, "Showering the skin with a appetite suppressing pomade is perfectally OK during the holy month of Ramadan!
Mufti Dawg says,
"yea right... sure thing.... Pomade on the Holy Skin this year" and then I suppose Slamming Crystal Meth During Next Year's Ramadamadingdong!
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
08/24/2008 8:38 Comments ||
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Secret Service spokesman Malcolm Wiley said 29-year-old Joseph Calanchini of Pinedale, Wyo., faces a charge of unlawful carrying of a weapon after police officers at the Grand Hyatt hotel noticed him carrying a rifle-type case while checking in. Calanchini did not have a concealed weapons permit, said Lance Clem, spokesman for the Colorado Department of Public Safety.
Authorities were investigating a report that Calanchini was in town on business and had had the weapons worked upon, including mounting of site scopes, to prepare for an upcoming hunting trip.
Calanchini remained at Denver City Jail today on $10,000 bond, said Denver Sheriff's Deputy Danny Steckman.
Elk season is coming, these SS morons need to get a damned clue - this isnt Philly, we own and carry rifles here routinely in the west.
Further more it was a cased long gun, as per law for transporting a rilfe. So they popped him for a CONCEALED weapon? What's he suppsoed to do, walk around with it over his shoulder?
Gimme a break. Denver and the SS have lost its damned mind! This is a clear violation of state constitution and law on transport of weapons, and the second amendment. I hope he sues and gets a couple of SS and D-PD officers relieved of their jobs.
I understand it he had all of the guns in cases and were unloaded. He had picked them up from a gunsmith, where the work was done. He was only trying to check into the hotel ( I don't know if he had reservations or not ). This isn't an uncommon thing for hunters to do, it happens all the time before hunting season.Denver is the place you go to get high value guns worked on, they were cased, he wasn't trying to sneak them in. I hope everything goes well for him from now on, and his hunt is sucessful. Guess what will be the topic of conversation at deer camp?
When such person is a collector or licensed dealer displaying or transporting such weapon for display or sale, or a citizen transporting such weapon for purpose of sale or repair to or from a place of sale or repair; all firearms so displayed or transported shall be unloaded at all times
Wyoming hunter who accidentally caused a security concern at the Grand Hyatt hotel Saturday said hes sorry for the problems he caused and didnt know the Democratic National Convention was in town.
When Joseph Calanchini walked into the Grand Hyatt hotel with 2 rifles and 2 pistols Saturday around 4:00 pm, Denver Police evacuated House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) from the hotel until they arrested Calanchini and made sure it was safe for Pelosi to return.
I didnt even know the DNC was in town. I dont watch the news, said Joseph Calanchini from the Denver City Jail where hes being held on bond. If I had known, I would have done things differently. It was a simple mistake.
Calanchini, who talked to 9Wants to Know from the Denver City Jail, says he had the weapons because hes getting ready to go on a hunting safari trip in Limpopo Basin, South Africa on August 28. He planned to hunt warthog, impala, baboon and jackals with a friend there.
He says he had just picked up his rifles from the Sportsmans Warehouse and had them in a locked gun case when he checked in at the Grand Hyatt. The clerk checking him in noticed the rifle case and called security.
Im amazed. Its not like they were illegal weapons, they were all registered to me, said Calanchini. It was bad timing.
#10
That's bullshit, the guy should be a lot more pissed off than he is. The simple presence of a gun in a locked case can cause a panic among the D-pd? They don't sound very good at what they do, a couple of simple face to face questions could have cleared this up on the spot, with a receipt from the gunsmith it could have been confirmed and handled a little more discreetly. He sounds a reasonable person, he'd prolly have agreed to leave them in the hotel safe.
Bullshit, complete and total bullshit.
#13
a "Bible" was secured as evidence from the hotel room. It "appeared" similar to complimentary copies placed in "most" hotel rooms, but fingerprint tech has as yet been able to identify whether or not the suspect handled the book, or not. Denver CIS is on the investigation
OK, I made that shit up, but.... it was hard to tell, wasn't it?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/24/2008 19:19 Comments ||
Top||
#14
Denver PD is rapidly gaining a rep as a bunch of nasty incompetents -- from the left and the right.
#15
Here is the law.
29-11.7-101. Legislative declaration.
(1) The general assembly hereby finds that:
(a) Section 3 of article II of the state constitution, the article referred to as the state bill of rights, declares that all persons have certain inalienable rights, which include the right to defend their lives and liberties;
(b) Section 13 of article II of the state constitution protects the fundamental right of a person to keep and bear arms and implements section 3 of article II of the state constitution;
(c) The general assembly recognizes a duty to protect and defend the fundamental civil rights set forth in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection (1);
(d) There exists a widespread inconsistency among jurisdictions within the state with regard to firearms regulations;
(e) This inconsistency among local government laws regulating lawful firearm possession and ownership has extraterritorial impact on state citizens and the general public by subjecting them to criminal and civil penalties in some jurisdictions for conduct wholly lawful in other jurisdictions;
(f) Inconsistency among local governments of laws regulating the possession and ownership of firearms results in persons being treated differently under the law solely on the basis of where they reside, and a person's residence in a particular county or city or city and county is not a rational classification when it is the basis for denial of equal treatment under the law;
(g) This inconsistency places citizens in the position of not knowing when they may be violating the local laws and therefore being unable to avoid violating the law and becoming subject to criminal and other penalties.
(2) Based on the findings specified in subsection (1) of this section, the general assembly concludes that:
(a) The regulation of firearms is a matter of statewide concern;
(b) It is necessary to provide statewide laws concerning the possession and ownership of a firearm to ensure that law-abiding persons are not unfairly placed in the position of unknowingly committing crimes involving firearms.
Source: L. 2003: Entire article added, p. 652, § 2, effective March 18.
#16
Yep, the DPD and the DS SS guy needs to understand that concealed carry has to do with handguns on his person, concealed under clothing or in a fanny pack or purse.
Jeeze Louise!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/24/2008 21:19 Comments ||
Top||
#17
I'm a hunter myself and even the very strict gun laws in my country would not dream up nonsense like this.
Especially since the gun was unloaded.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
08/24/2008 21:21 Comments ||
Top||
#18
The Guns were Unloaded and Locked up EC.
I guess SanFranNan now creates a 2-mile area of socialist totalitarian where ever she goes nowadays. At least according to the Denver PD.
A son and a brother of Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) are accused in two lawsuits of defrauding a former business partner and an investor of millions of dollars in a hedge fund deal that went sour, court records show.
The Democratic vice presidential candidate's son Hunter, 38, and brother James, 59, assert instead that their former partner defrauded them by misrepresenting his experience in the hedge fund industry and recommending that they hire a lawyer with felony convictions. The legal actions have been playing out in New York State Supreme Court since 2007, and they focus on Hunter and James Biden's involvement in Paradigm Companies LLC, a hedge fund group. Hunter Biden, a Washington lobbyist, briefly served as president of the firm.
It's a great demonstration of the insiders' club, and happens with both parties. Hunter may be a great guy for all we know, but what we do know is that he's got a lot of, um, 'advantages' in scoring great deals. He's pulling down big bucks and I suspect is spreading the boodle around to other family and family friends. This is how it's done in Washington. And Chicago. And elsewhere.
A lawsuit filed by their former partner Anthony Lotito Jr. asserts in court papers that the deal was crafted to get Hunter Biden out of lobbying because his father was concerned about the impact it would have on his bid for the White House. Biden was running for the Democratic nomination at the time the suit was filed.
#2
you'd change that rule if you lived in my (52nd) Congressional District. Duncan D will replace Duncan as our Rep, and honorably so for both. That name is gold here
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/24/2008 18:29 Comments ||
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#3
Can you imagine if this was a republican potential VP? The TV coverage would be 24/7.
The die-hard Hillary supporters haven't given up hope yet. Larry Johnson is still peddling his "Michelle tape" story:
I asked a friend who knows someone who has seen the video to Michelle Obama making disparaging remarks about "white" folks. You know, those angry God hugging, gun toting mouth breathers. He wrote me the following:
But there is a very strange air about Republican operatives. In the last three weeks, I've talked to real insiders in VA, GA, AL and here. They all remind me of a unit waiting to cross the line of departure on an attack. Quiet, determined, last cigarette, last "can of peaches out of the ration," radio checks, confident. They all use the term "safely nominated" when referring to Obama. That is weird.
They can't wait to start taking Barack apart on the issues the media chose to ignore up to this point. And when the attacks intensify Joe Biden's foreign policy expertise won't matter one whit.
If you think that's absurd, you should see this gem in the comments:
I TRULY BELIEVE STEPHANIE TUBBS-JONES AND BILL GWARTLY WERE KILLED BY OBAMA POEPLE. OBAMA NEEDED THERE SEATS.
THE STEPHANIE STORY MAKES NO SENSE; AND BILL GWE WAS SHOT BY AND OBAMA SUPORTER BUT WE NEVER HEARD ANYTHING ABOUT HIS DEATH NOR THE SHOOTING IT WAS SQUASHED.. THESE WERE HILLRY SUPPORTERS. STEPHANIE WAS INJECTED WITH POTASSIUM; WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF SHE STOP TO EAT ANYWHERE....
No, I don't have any idea who "Bill Gwartly" is, either. But whoever he is, he's DEAD! And Obama did it!
Posted by: Mike ||
08/24/2008 13:51 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"Bill Gwatney" - Arkansas Democratic Party Chief
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
08/24/2008 14:20 Comments ||
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#2
he's DEAD! And Obama did it!
At least he wasn't whacked by the Clintons. Hope and Change, my friends.
#3
I've started to notice black blimps hanging around my neighborhood usually broadcasting TOPIX ---> MICHIGAN, FLORIDA DELEGATIONS SEATED PENN STATE THRONG RESTLESS, COUPE DE GRASSE?
He is, as a RB undercover operative tasked with bravely going behind enemy lines and finding out The Real Story. Fred appointed him Our Man In Denver but, should he be killed or captured, he knows and accepts that Fred will disavow any knowledge of his actions.
That said, Sidney Reilly and Mata Hari don't deserve to be mentioned in the same breath with Joe.
#6
If anyone has the tape, it would be Hillary - the Clintons have some of the best oppo researchers there are. Also, it would be great cover for her to go to the Convention, not winning the nomination but talk nice about Obama, and then let a 3rd party release the tape in September. With all of the talk about the Repubs having the tape, her hands are clean as she twists the shiv in Obambi's back.
#1
WHo says Oabambi chose? I think Hillary pushed it on him (via her pull in the party power structures) when she found out that he was going to completely diss here by completely ignoring her.
Think about it: who would be most willing to put this albatross around his neck?
That leadd you to ask: who in the Dem party benefits the most from an Obama loss?
ANd that leads you to ask: who would be a lock for 2012 if Obama loses, and loses badly?
Which leads to: who has the power structure, the resources, and the ability to beat down the Obama people and then reassemble the party the way they want it, and do all that in time to sweep to the nomination 4 years from now?
#2
Compare wid TOPIX [paraph]> NATIONAL CHANGES IN DEMOGRAPHICS TRANSFORMS DEMOCRATIC PARTY. Dem platform = Values/ideals of Tolerance, Diversity, Libertarianism-Pluralism, Public Inquiry + Education, equal Rights for Women, Envron, Pan-Social Insurance Net = Univers health care, etc. + Coperative Foreign policies apeal to many Amers Youths and Adults-Under-Age-30. PRES "MAJORITY MINORITY" STATES = MINORITIES-DOMIN US STATES, i.e. TEXAS, CALIFORNIA, HAWAII, + NEW MEXICO, will be joined in approxi 20 years by FLORIDA, GEORGIA, ARIZONA, NEVADA, etc. comprising 165 out of 270 possib Electoral Votes at POTUS Elex time.
The fun thing about an Obama-Biden ticket is that the McCain campaign can point to a new awkward comment by Joe Biden either on the importance of experience, in praise of McCain, or in support of invading Iraq that contradicts the stands and qualities of the Democratic nominee for every day from now until Election Day.
On McCain:
Biden, on a post-debate appearance on MSNBC, October 30, 2007: The only guy on the other side whos qualified is John McCain.
Biden appearing on The Daily Show, August 2, 2005: John McCain is a personal friend, a great friend, and I would be honored to run with or against John McCain, because I think the country would be better off, be well off no matter who...
On Meet the Press, November 27, 2005: Ive been calling for more troops for over two years, along with John McCain and others subsequent to my saying that.
On Obama:
Reacting to an Obama speech on counterterrorism, August 1, 2007: Look, the truth is the four major things he called for, well, hell thats what I called for, Biden said today on MSNBCs Hardball, echoing comments he made earlier in the day at an event promoting his book at the National Press Club. Biden added, Im glad hes talking about these things.
Also that day, the Biden campaign issued a release that began, The Biden for President Campaign today congratulated Sen. Barack Obama for arriving at a number of Sen. Bidens long-held views on combating al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan. That release mocked Obama for asking about the stunning level of mercury in fish and asked about a proposal for the U.S. adopt a ban on mercury sales abroad at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.
Assessing Obamas Iraq plan on September 13, 2007: My impression is [Obama] thinks that if we leave, somehow the Iraqis are going to have an epiphany of peaceful coexistence among warring sects. Ive seen zero evidence of that.
Speaking to the New York Observer: Biden was equally skeptical albeit in a slightly more backhanded way about Mr. Obama. I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy, he said. I mean, thats a storybook, man.
Also from that Observer interview: But and the but was clearly inevitable he doubts whether American voters are going to elect a one-term, a guy who has served for four years in the Senate, and added: I dont recall hearing a word from Barack about a plan or a tactic.
Around that time, Biden in an interview with the Huffington Post, he assessed Obama and Hillary Clinton: The more people learn about them (Obama and Hillary) and how they handle the pressure, the more their support will evaporate.
December 11, 2007: If Iowans believe campaign funds and celebrity will fix the debacle in Iraq, put the economy on track, and provide health care and education for Americas children, they should support another candidate, said Biden for President Campaign Manager Luis Navarro. But Im confident that Iowans know what I know: our problems will require experience and leadership from Day One. Empty slogans will be no match for proven action on caucus night.
Also that night, Biden said in a campaign ad, When this campaign is over, political slogans like experience and change will mean absolutely nothing. The next president has to act.
September 26, 2007: Biden for President Campaign Manager Luis Navarro said, Sen. Obama said he would do everything possible to end the war in Iraq and emphasized the need for a political solution yet he failed to show up to vote for Sen. Bidens critical amendment to provide a political solution in Iraq.
December 26, 2006: Frankly, I think Im more qualified than other candidates, and the issues facing the American public are all in my wheelbarrow.
On Iraq:
Biden on Meet the Press in 2002, discussing Saddam Hussein: Hes a long term threat and a short term threat to our national security We have no choice but to eliminate the threat. This is a guy who is an extreme danger to the world.
Biden on Meet the Press in 2002: Saddam must be dislodged from his weapons or dislodged from power.
Biden on Meet the Press in 2007, on Husseins WMDs: Well, the point is, it turned out they didnt, but everyone in the world thought he had them. The weapons inspectors said he had them. He catalogued they catalogued them. This was not some, some Cheney, you know, pipe dream. This was, in fact, catalogued.
Biden, on Obamas Iraq plan in August 2007: I dont want [my son] going [to Iraq], Delaware Sen. Joe Biden said from the campaign trail Wednesday, according to a report on Radio Iowa. But I tell you what, I dont want my grandson or my granddaughters going back in 15 years and so how we leave makes a big difference. Biden criticized Democratic rivals such as Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama who have voted against Iraq funding bills to try to pressure President Bush to end the war. Theres no political point worth my sons life, Biden said, according to Radio Iowa. Theres no political point worth anybodys life out there. None.
Biden on Meet the Press, April 29, 2007: The threat [Saddam Hussein] presented was that, if Saddam was left unfettered, which I said during that period, for the next five years with sanctions lifted and billions of dollars into his coffers, then I believed he had the ability to acquire a tactical nuclear weapon not by building it, by purchasing it. I also believed he was a threat in that he was every single solitary U.N. resolution which he agreed to abide by, which was the equivalent of a peace agreement at the United Nations, after he got out of after we kicked him out of Kuwait, he was violating. Now, the rules of the road either mean something or they dont. The international community says Were going to enforce the sanctions we placed or not. And what was the international community doing? The international community was weakening. They were pulling away.
Biden to the Brookings Institution in 2005: We can call it quits and withdraw from Iraq. I think that would be a gigantic mistake. Or we can set a deadline for pulling out, which I fear will only encourage our enemies to wait us out equally a mistake.
Analyzing the surge on Meet the Press, September 9, 2007: I mean, the truth of the matter is that, that the Americas this administrations policy and the surge are a failure, and that the surge, which was supposed to stop sectarian violence and long enough to give political reconciliation, theres been no political reconciliation... The reality is that, although there has been some mild progress on the security front, there is, in fact, no, no real security in Baghdad and/or in Anbar province, where I was, dealing with the most serious problem, sectarian violence. Sectarian violence is as strong and as solid and as serious a problem as it was before the surge started.
Biden in October of 2002: We must be clear with the American people that we are committing to Iraq for the long haul; not just the day after, but the decade after.
On Meet the Press, January 7, 2007, assessing the proposal of a surge of troops to Iraq: If he surges another 20, 30, or whatever number hes going to, into Baghdad, itll be a tragic mistake, in my view, but, as a practical matter, theres no way to say, Mr. President, stop.
On Meet the Press, November 27, 2005: Unless we fundamentally change the rotation dates and fundamentally change how many members of the National Guard were calling up, itll be virtually impossible to maintain 150,000 folks this year. (The number of troops in Iraq peaked at 162,000 in August 2007, during the surge.)
#1
John McCain is a personal friend, a great friend, and I would be honored to run with or against John McCain, because I think the country would be better off, be well off no matter who... - meaning better of than with G.W?
McCain still beats Biden on gaffes by a mile, but nobody tops Bush. lol
There actually are several, including multiple ones restricted to DOD and the intel community.
Or perhaps you didn't know that the TCP/IP protocol standards were developed for DOD and only replaced the OSI stack and the commercial X.25 packet switched data services offered by General Electric for general use after DOD funded a TCP/IP reference implementation at UC Berkeley (BSD Unix 2.4 IIRC).
What's that? You didn't know? You should if you repeat mindless snark about them.
And yes - I implemented one of the first TCP/IP stacks in Silicon Valley around that time, along with X.25 compliant protocol handlers for some major corporations migrating off of IBM's proprietary SNA comms architecture.
If you're gonna snark the snark, be sure you can back it up.
Do you mean you were one of first to send data over TCP. BIG WOW! I hope you aspire to more in life!
I'd have more respect for you if you worked on UDP which would be just little bit more work or invented something instead of claiming some authority on the subject!
And who cares if someone knows the OSI layer, even my mom who's not even a network engineer knows about OSI/TCP/UDP and about PRIVATE net works.
LOL I don't think G.W. meant ARPA, INTERNET, INTERNET IP6!
You're just appologizing for Dubya! It is what it is!
#5
Plz PLEASE PLZ
Both of youse go to your rooms for talking High Falutin Computerise.
AND No Desserts for a week either...
Of Course I respectfully recognize that Fred our Wise founder plus and over half of our esteemed membership are Bit & Byte Geniuses, but....
I swear by my Analogue Arse that I shall ever remain an 'puter Ignoramus if for no other reason than all of Santa Clara Co, San Mateo Co, San Jose Cos used to be the most wonderful fertile Farm country in the USA. Fruit Trees and truck Farms Galore [Grand-Parents Mom's side]
/Ima Luddite
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
08/24/2008 14:18 Comments ||
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#6
..and wait till Shipman drops a few hints about yrlo.jp.y.ooyguufrgirycyf.l!
~:)
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
08/24/2008 14:24 Comments ||
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#7
I worked in Silicon Valley when 237 had stop lights and was lined with orchards. Broke my heart when they tore down those trees and substituted 1 and 2-story buildings with huge parking lots to avoid the more expensive earthquake measures required in buildings of 3+ stories.
Mr. Lotp, a Bay area native, used to say they should just pave over the whole lower end of the Bay and let people drive without lanes etc.
#9
Thank You lotp, for the validation part, It breaks my heart too..
The High quality top soil, sun and water resources there make for Ideal farming/growing country 365 days a year.. Even without any work the land and country is lush there..
I could wax on and on... but Im glad you were able to see part of the beginning before some of the developement.
>:)
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
08/24/2008 15:27 Comments ||
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#10
We still own the modest house Mr. Lotp's parents build right after WWII further north in the east Bay area. We plan to move back there when we retire in a decade or so.
I fell in love with the land and the sea in northern CA when I first visited there in '73. We lived in Silicon Valley from '78 through the '83, getting out just before the huge building boom there. Lived on the west side of LA from '84-90 which wasn't nearly so lovely although being right on the bike path to the ocean was nice ....
Mr. Lotp's parents are buried in the military cemetary in the central Valley - another peaceful, fertile and lovely place.
#3
Obama must have gotten some sort of assurance that Biden won't speak publicly.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
08/24/2008 1:54 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Barry Os New Musical Message to the PUMAS
[Kim G]
Kool Thing sittin with a kitty,
now you know youre sure lookin pretty
like a lover not a dancer
superboy take a little chance here
I dont wanna, I dont think so
I dont wanna, I dont think so
Kool Thing let me play it with your radio
move me, turn me on, baby-o
Ill be your slave
give you a shave
I dont wanna, I dont think so
I dont wanna, I dont think so
[Chuck D-of Public Enemy]
yeah, tellem about it,
hitem where it hurts
[Kim G]
hey, Kool Thing, come here, sit down beside me
theres something I gotta ask you.
I just wanna know, what are you gonna do for me?
I mean, are you gonna liberate us girls
from male white corporate oppression?
[Chuck D]
tell it like it is!
[Kim G]
huh?
[Chuck D]
yeah!
[Kim G]
dont be shy
[Chuck D]
word up!
[Kim G]
fear of a female planet?
fear of a female planet?
[Chuck D]
fear, baby!
[Kim G]
I just want you to know that we can still be friends
come on, come on, come on, come on
[Chuck D]
let everybody know
[Kim G]
kool thing, kool thing
when youre a star, I know that youll fix everything
kool Thing sittin by the kid,
now you know youre sure lookin pretty
rock the beat just a little faster
now I know you are a master
I dont wanna, I dont think so
I dont wanna, I dont think so
kool thing walkin like a panther
come on and give me an answer
kool thing walkin like a panther
whatd he say?
I dont wanna, I dont think so
I dont wanna, I dont think so
#7
I was perplexed by this choice; Biden brings nothing to the table for Bama. No important state, no large segment of the party, no outstanding record to burnish the ticket's lustre. It made no sense.
Then I realized that it made perfect sense from one angle. Bama truly believes he's going to win the election. He also knows that there are lots of people who already hate him and there will be plenty more if he gets half of what he wants to do done. Some of those people might consider taking action on that hatred, a la JFK/Ronald Reagan, and that worries him--a lot.
Bama thinks that no matter how angry the opposition, they'll think not just twice, but enough to be frozen into immobility, before taking action against him if Biden is the backup choice. Biden is life insurance for Obama.
I could certainly be wrong, but I can't see what other benefit, if any, comes from the choice of Biden.
#8
He's been a union supporter for a lot of his time in Congress. I think O's going for the rustbelt, the guys who liked Hil belting down a beer or whiskey.
He figures Biden's gaffes might actually appeal to blue collar white men in places like PA. References to 'clean and articulate', belligerent challenges back at WASP men in coats and ties who ask about law school ... I think O thinks that will actually be a plus with voters he needs for electoral count. Even Biden's comment that O's not experienced enough could play well - O says "look, I got this guy beside me, all's well".
I could be way wrong but looking at the electoral map that's how it looks to me.
#9
Sure Thing Obama said Senator Biden brings international experience -- key after McCain got such a positive response in the polls. NPR said yesterday Senator Biden brings his union connections, who voted solidly for Hillary Clinton in the primaries, who presumably need to be seduced to Obama's cause.
#11
I suspect you're right - but we'll see. The rust belt now has a lot of immigrants for whom the name might not be a big deal.
Last time I saw figures, Allentown PA had the fastest growing Hispanic population in the country. Getting a union job is a big deal for many of them and they're likely to vote for someone who promises to make things better for unions.
#12
Obama must have gotten some sort of assurance that Biden won't speak publicly.
That won't work. Jobiden couldn't keep silent if his life depended on it.
I believe that he's there because of some kind of "Pelosi Payback" for her support of the Messiah.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
08/24/2008 9:16 Comments ||
Top||
#13
Not sure how those supposed union connections are going to work out for him. I was in a union for 30 years and don't remember Biden's name coming up once as someone who had helped us. Maybe he's popular with the Chemical Workers' Union (if there is such a thing) for people working at DuPont.
I think this pick just handed the election to McCain on a silver platter.
#14
Do people really want a VP who is starting to look like Peter Boyle on "Everybody Loves Raymond". Shades of Kerry-Lurch in the last election.
Posted by: Jim K ||
08/24/2008 9:49 Comments ||
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#15
Why'd Obamalamadingdong pick Biden?
Maybe all the other choices took a look at the way Obambi is tanking in the polls and said, "No thanks, wish I could help ya' but I'm washing my hair this fall."
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/24/2008 10:13 Comments ||
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#17
A bit off topic, but the History Channel last night revealed that the first use of the term 'redneck' was applied to unions folks making their way to southern West Virginia to break the non-union companies and thereby enforce union will on the workers.
Company folks met them on Blair Mountain and mowed down 60 of the mountain men, using machine guns. Times were different, in 1921.
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/24/2008 10:53 Comments ||
Top||
#18
Oh, because the union guys wore red bandanas to identify themselves in the woods. Hence the term, Rednecks.
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/24/2008 10:54 Comments ||
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#19
Getting a union job is a big deal for many of them and they're likely to vote for someone who promises to make things better for unions.
Oughta work. Union folks voted in droves for President Gephardt.
Imagine McCain picking Gov. Bobby Jindal. First line at the debate, "Senator, before we begin our debate, let me clarify for you that I don't work at a 7-11."
Posted by: Mike ||
08/24/2008 14:06 Comments ||
Top||
#25
Oughta work. Union folks voted in droves for President Gephardt.
Posted by Angie Schultz
ROLF, there it is!!
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
08/24/2008 14:32 Comments ||
Top||
#26
Since BO's campaign is driven by MSM, consider Biden's nomination in that context. Anytime BO delivers a regular-as-clockwork gaffe, joltin' Joe will up the ante with a more elaborate idiotic comment to give BO cover.
Time to rev up the Gaff-O-Meter Maryland's Senior buffoon is on the airwaves!
Posted by: regular joe ||
08/24/2008 14:53 Comments ||
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#27
Mike that so called "gaff" reveals a shitload about Joe Biden.. How could a potential candidate who has lived in a Politically Correct Fish Bowl for decades, talk about Indians in such a manner?
Joe Biden is a clueless M'F, Indians have superb Intellects and singly immigrate to America on special work visas.
Then after they work hard for some of the Best Industries in America they take the test and become Good Citizens. GOOD THAT.
THEN JOE BIDEN AND HIS A$$HOLE BUDDIES ALLOW FOR 500 FAMILY MEMBERS TO FOLLOW [anchor X 500].
Ima not a Senator so I speak Politically Incorrect with pride and almost every time I open my mouth. thankyouverymuch
No I will not vote for Obamaledge or his VP choice, Dolten Joe Biden...
No Ima gonna vote for the Olde Daft Pissed Off Dude.
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
08/24/2008 15:11 Comments ||
Top||
#28
Dear Mods plz erase one of these comments THANKYOUVERYMUCH.
I was sent to Road Side America when I submitted the first one, so i sent it again. :)
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
08/24/2008 15:16 Comments ||
Top||
#29
Done, Mr. Dawg.
And it absolutely is not true that Fred sends Luddites to RA ;-) Not usually anyways
#30
One of my favorite comments so far on the web:
To me, Biden is the reincarnation of Senator Beauregard Claghorn the pompous and dumb senator of the old Fred Allen show. Or, if you prefer, Senator Foghorn Leghorn the cartoon rooster. Biden is just a blowhard, bullsh$t artist.
#31
Muggsy Glink: "Biden is just a blowhard, bullsh$t artist."
I Bet Most of Rantburg Concurs...
~oo~
LEFT: Foghorn Leghorn was based on the character RIGHT: Senator Beauregard Claghorn, played by Kenny Delmar on the Fred Allen's radio show
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
08/24/2008 16:05 Comments ||
Top||
#32
"I say, I say, I say, boy..."
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/24/2008 16:21 Comments ||
Top||
#33
Somebody snarked that Obama was 11 years old when Biden entered the Senate.
Maybe this will be like "The Andy Griffith Show" with Biden playing the Father/Sherrif role. Each week, little Obie will make some cute screw-up and Joe will offer a long-winded, overly talkative moral lesson. Wouldn't Nancy Pelosi would make a great Barney Fife!
#35
What do you mean FogHorn LegHorn was based? Is that some sort of sick joke? FogHorn LegHorn is a big ass Rhode Island Red Rooster, I say Roooooster, you get that? Ain't no based. What you see is what you get. I suwannee folks getting denser by the day. Now where's that miserable dawg?
#36
#35 What do you mean FogHorn LegHorn was based? Is that some sort of sick joke? FogHorn LegHorn is a big ass Rhode Island Red Rooster, I say Roooooster, you get that? Ain't no based. What you see is what you get. I suwannee folks getting denser by the day. Now where's that miserable dawg?
Are youse charging me for dat Diagnosis SHIPS??
I sed based Upon, not that HE USED or Smoked base Mr. 6 Shiper!
No Offffence.. Is dat Rooooooster a personal Friend of Yourn dot5emTee?
Plz correct the record... BOTH Characters are Kool Characters my son, of course they'd have to be ifn they were "based", NOT BIASED mind youse.. but one was based on another... thanks youse!!! >>::)
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
08/24/2008 19:18 Comments ||
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Negotiations with the IMF which commenced last week for a US$10 billion bailout package for Islamabad are expected to remain inconclusive as Pakistan is set to seek direct help from Saudi Arabia and China.
The negotiations are being held by a couple of IMF officials, who met the Pakistani economic managers in a process of charting out an expression of interest for the bailout package.
"We are making efforts to prevent the drift towards an IMF-assisted bailout that would obviously cause more difficulties as it would be governed by strings that are hard to fulfill," said a senior Pakistani official involved in the talks.
The crisis deepened last month as the foreign exchange reserves dwindled and the rising import payments became the most difficult task for the public finance heads here. Pakistan now happens to be the only country in 2008 facing by international rating companies the threat of downgrading of its import-export balancing effort from the present B-1 status and inability to make on-time payments due in foreign exchange to international exporting companies.
A committee of experts, currently working out a bailout package and keeping a tight lid on the actual situation, is busy framing a strategy on war-footing. It is reportedly framing up a "suggestion" to the federal policymakers to approach Saudi Arabia and China for a $10 billion package split by 6-4, respectively.
Pleading anonymity, The News sources revealed that next Monday would be critical for meetings of the federal cabinet's committee overseeing the formation of a strategy in this respect. "That is going to be the day when this country would have to decide as to how the two countries would be submitted with an agenda for loan, and on what terms," said a senior official.
"A consensus has evolved in these meetings on averting a drift back to the IMF mechanisations. A week ago, some IMF officials did visit Islamabad to offer a package, and it was a soft mark-up deal. Its tranche-payment mechanism was attractive too, as the Fund seemed ready to release $500 million every month, which is close to what the actual requirement over the current financial year's 12-month period would be. But the strings attached would be too harsh to meet," said the official.
When asked to provide details on these strings and the bailout package to be split between Saudi Arabia and China, he said: "I am not supposed to hand out half-cooked measures. But the main idea is that Saudi Arabia should be offering a deferred-payment scheme for the current fiscal year on the provision of petroleum products imported from that country. It should be a 12-month scheme covered by assurances that the products would be used to keep the prices stable and no further loans would be acquired from other internal or external sources against the facility thus extended, which is not a harsh string." A $4 billion offer is expected from China, he said and added that negotiations in this respect would be brisk as "the crunch has begun telling too adversely to sustain any further." This money would be available in tranches of $500 million once agreed upon.
Explaining the IMF strings, he said the Fund would like Islamabad to immediately stop subsidising oil, electricity, gas and food items. "That would mean an immediate jump in the inflationary trend, which would directly be impacting the export-production lines, which is not acceptable to Pakistan," he added. Apart from this, the IMF would also like to bind the tranche release to the reappraisal of the reforms conducted in the economic-management structure of Pakistan over the past few years.
On their part, members of the committee have been suffering from acute lack of orientation as far as identifying the actual nature and handling of the crisis is concerned. At one point, the committee was about to churn out the formula for stopping imports of non-critical items, which are, otherwise, a good source of revenue, prevent smuggling and, if banned, would help save only about $48 million in payments a month. This formula is expected to be rejected as wiser heads meet next Monday, the source added.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
India's "rival"
Posted by: john frum ||
08/24/2008 9:22 Comments ||
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#2
Of what value is Pakistan now that India has left the dark side? The only value is to the idiotic effort in Afghanistan. If we were out of A-stan, we would drop P-stan like a hot potatoe and let them find comfort from their Han masters.
This should be good. It might even be hilarious.
The widower of slain former Pakistani premier Benazir Bhutto has decided to run for president in the wake of Pervez Musharraf's resignation, officials announced Saturday. Asif Ali Zardari Friday won the backing of lawmakers from the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) to contest the September 6 poll.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Mr. Ten Percent to run for Pakistan presidency
¿Mr. Ten Percent? =
¿As in the Tidy 10% Graft Dept?
Meaning 10% on evey trasaction he helps slong?
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
08/24/2008 6:45 Comments ||
Top||
A PPP message, meant for the deposed chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, to persuade him to resign in the "national interest" or to get ready for conditional reinstatement, has bounced back without even reaching the honourable judge. Sources said that on the desire of PPP Co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari some leading lawyers, who are close to the deposed CJ, were approached to soften Justice Iftikhar but the effort failed as not even a single messenger dared to take up the issue with the deposed chief justice.
Athar Minallah, senior lawyer and the spokesman for the deposed chief justice, was also one of those contacted by the PPP either to seek resignation from Justice Chaudhry or make him ready for some conditions attached to his restoration. Athar, instead of conveying the ruling party's message to the chief justice, cautioned the letter bearer.
Athar when contacted admitted that he was approached by the PPP, adding that he never communicated the PPP message to the deposed chief justice but rather snubbed the person who had approached him for the same reason.
A source, who has family relations with Justice Iftikhar, also got it confirmed from the deposed chief justice that no one had talked of the conditions. The source said that perhaps those who know Justice Iftikhar would think many times before making any such offer to him. Athar said that he was asked by the PPP representative that it would be in the best national interest if Justice Iftikhar resigned.
"I was told to convince Justice Iftikhar to quit," the lawyer leader said, adding that another option presented was the conditional restoration of the respected judge. "I told them clearly forget that the chief justice would resign or would agree to any condition for his reinstatement," he said.
Justice Iftikhar, he said, has become a symbol for the independence of judiciary and the rule of law in the country.
Athar said that he advised the PPP leader, who had approached him, to clear their minds of false impressions about the chief justice. "Justice Iftikhar cannot be tamed or serve like a slave," Athar said, adding the whole judicial movement was not meant to give this nation a tamed chief justice but a really independent one.
Athar said that acceding to any condition for the reinstatement would mean compromising the real goal of independence of judiciary, which was neither acceptable to Justice Iftikhar nor to the lawyers fraternity. Athar said those interested to get back Justice Iftikhar as a tamed chief justice were badly mistaken. "There is no question of any compromised restoration of the deposed judges," Athar said.
According to a PPP source, Asif Ali Zardari also expected from Aitzaz Ahsan to convince Justice Iftikhar to resign but Aitzaz Ahsan did not oblige his party's co-chairperson.
Since March 9, 2007 repeated efforts were made by the cronies of ousted dictator General (retd) Musharraf to get a resignation from Justice Chaudhry. On March 9, those pressurised him to resign included five Army generals but he said he would not. Later, more efforts were made to convince Justice Iftikhar both through coercion and temptation but the honourable judge never wavered and stood like a rock. Even now when the whole of Pakistan is disappointed over the repeated summersaults of the PPP top leadership on the judges issue, Justice Iftikhar is said to be in high morale and pretty optimistic that the ongoing struggle would bear fruits.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2008 00:00 ||
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PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari is the presidential candidate of the PPP only and not of the coalition, the ANP and the JUI-F said on Saturday. "It would have been better had the PPP consulted the coalition partners before announcing Zardari's candidacy," ANP Information Secretary Zahid Khan said. JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman told a private TV that he had concerns over Zardari's nomination as presidential candidate.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2008 00:00 ||
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Sindh Revenue Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said on Saturday that a dictator was forced to resign through democratic means and the country was heading towards the fulfilment of the dream of slain PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto. Talking to newsmen at the Hyderabad Press Club, the minister said it was Benazir Bhutto who had forced Pervez Musharraf to doff his uniform.
Resolutions against Musharraf were passed in the four provincial assemblies, he said. He added that the Sindh Assembly was the first to ask PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari to become the president of the country and the Central Executive Committee also nominated him for the slot of the president. The minister said the PPP co-chairman was carrying forward the reconciliation approach and the vision of Benazir Bhutto Shaheed.
Zardari entered into dialogue with forces inside and outside parliament, he said.
Murad hoped that Zardari would be elected unopposed as the president and this would be the beginning of a new democratic era.
Since nothing says 'democracy' like a lack of opposition ...
Responding to a question, he said in his department, some clues had been found of the corruption of the previous government. But no victimisation would be carried out, he said. He, however, added that action would be taken against those involved in corruption.
He said his department was working for amending the Land Revenue Act, adding that there was a conflict with the DHA, KPT and Port Qasim on some land issues.
He said the revenue record was being computerised. The minister said a survey of Goths was underway in Karachi, therefore, no new scheme would be launched and no scheme would be demolished till the completion of the survey. He said that he had cancelled all the land allotments made by violating the rules and regulations during the tenure of the previous government.
The minister said 70,000 applications had been received by his department against 450 jobs. He added that 58,000 unemployed people would be provided jobs in various departments of the Sindh government. He said he would look into the issue of residential plots for the journalists of Hyderabad.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2008 00:00 ||
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As soon as the PML-N quits the coalition, three junior partners of the PPP, including Fata, the JUI and the ANP, will get a larger share in the federal cabinet while the fourth, the MQM, will join shortly after the presidential election. The PPP will also significantly increase its representation in the cabinet.
A source told The News that the cabinet expansion would take place after the presidential election and the pronouncement of divorce between the PML-N and the PPP, which was now written on the wall.
He said that since PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari was very pleased with the uninhibited support of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) to his candidature for the presidency and its stand on the question of the restoration of the deposed judges, it would be given a greater share in the federal cabinet.
MQM chief Altaf Hussain publicly recommended that Zardari should be the next president of Pakistan. The MQM has also announced that it would oppose the resolution on the judges' restoration in the National Assembly. All this came as music to Zardari's ears, and he openly thanked Altaf Hussain for the support to his bid to be the president.
The source said that the Awami National Party (ANP) of Asfandyar Wali, which has 13 seats in the National Assembly and a few senators, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) of Maulana Fazlur Rehman which has five MNAs and over a dozen senators, and members of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) would get a larger representation in the cabinet.
According to the source, a couple of defectors from the PML-Q may also be inducted into the cabinet for deserting their party and supporting the government. He said Zardari had made up his mind that the ruling coalition would consist of only the PPP, the MQM, the ANP, the JUI and the tribal areas MPs.
The PPP co-chairman feels that all these parties form a comfortable majority in both the houses of parliament for his election as the president as well as for future legislation. Zardari, the source said, is of the view that such a coalition would last long as every element would have a vital stake in the government. All these alliance partners absolutely share Zardari's opinion on the next president and the judges' issue, he said, adding that was why the PPP co-chairman feels that there would be a remarkable harmony in the government.
At present, the ANP has two federal ministries while the JUI and Fata have one portfolio each. The JUI's contention is that since it has a sizable numerical strength in the Senate, it should be proportionately given representation in the cabinet. Apart from these coalition partners, the source said, the PPP would induct a large number of its MPs into the cabinet. All the ministries lying vacant because of the PML-N nominees' resignations would now be filled up.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2008 00:00 ||
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The PML-N will field a very respectable and honourable person as its candidate for the president's post as its coalition with the PPP is almost over, a top notch PML-N leader said in Lahore, deeply regretting that the PPP leadership had wasted a God-given opportunity to politicians to reassert their collective right to rule the country.
The leader told me at the Club Road Secretariat of the Chief Minister the coalition could now be saved only if Asif Ali Zardari showed political maturity and grace instead of displaying insecurity and immaturity, which he had done in the recent weeks and months breaking every public and private promise he had made, whether verbal or written.
The PML-N leadership is almost in a state of mourning after what is now being considered as the death of a dream which, the party leadership claims, was kept alive by Mian Nawaz Sharif by showing extreme patience, maturity and vision, despite repeated and embarrassing betrayals by Zardari.
"We were trying to show to the world and our military and civilian establishment that the politicians have learnt their lessons and they would now practice the politics of principles, never indulge in petty power politics and lead by example, sacrificing their personal and party interests for larger national causes," the PML-N leader said.
"But Mr Zardari could not pull himself out of the groove of grabbing key positions, rewarding his cronies and friends and never overcoming the fear factor," the leader said. This PML-N assessment will be presented before a key kitchen cabinet meeting of the party bosses at Raiwind on Sunday and a full party Central Executive Committee meeting on Monday to decide the party policy after the coalition is formally declared dead and buried.
The party leadership thinks Mian Nawaz Sharif did his best to persuade Zardari that restoring the judges would be the best thing the politicians could deliver to the nation as a free and fearless judiciary would keep an eye on every other institution.
"But the PPP leader is stuck with the NRO and fears that if it is reopened, he would again have to face the dark shadows of his past," the PML-N leader said, stressing that Zardari does not realise that failure of the political process will also inevitably lead to the collapse of the system and then the shadowy past would again be revived.
"He thinks by grabbing power and dominating every decision-making institution he was pre-empting the inevitable. He is sadly mistaken because the PML-N has taken up all the national issues based on principled stands and had thus received massive support but Mr Zardari's political moves have been looked down and condemned by every section of the society, including even the serious and saner elements of the PPP itself."
The top PML-N leadership is thus awe-struck by Zardari's blatant political somersaults, sometimes even within hours. They recall that Zardari himself feels that his own word is now without any weight and his credibility has sunk, not only in the masses but also among his own coalition party leaders. The PML-N leader narrated the story of how at one recent meeting, Zardari asked for a copy of the Holy Qur'aan so that he could swear by it and Mian Nawaz Sharif could believe what he was saying. Sharif told him to keep the Holy book out of politics. There is a deep feeling of hurt and betrayal in the PML-N camp yet there is a strong determination that come what may the party would continue to practice the politics of principles because within a few months, when the system would be unable to sustain the burden of lies, deceit, betrayals, dirty tricks and corruption, these very acts would be used by the establishment against the PPP and all those who support it. "Then we will stand upright and be vindicated by the masses." The leaders believe that left on his own, Zardari will self destruct as already the limited and experimental transfer of power has started to get to his head. "We were trying to keep him on the ground so that the political class as a whole does not get the blame but there is a limit to what can be done. His case is now getting beyond repair."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/24/2008 00:00 ||
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TEHRAN - Iran's supreme leader called on the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to work on controlling rising prices, the main gripe among Iranians who fret about inflation now running at about 26 percent. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the government's economic reform plan, which includes rejigging the subsidy system to involve more targeted payments, was a good step but any inflationary impact should be contained.
"Implementing this (economic) plan in a good manner is a big step in the country's progress but the hasty implementation of that (plan) will bring about some dangers and harm," Khamenei said in comments broadcast by state television. "If the implementation of a part of this plan creates inflation one should find solutions to prevent this issue or control its negative consequences," he said.
Inflation was running at 26 percent in July. It has climbed steadily from about 11 percent when Ahmadinejad came to power in mid-2005.
Keep trying, Mahmoud, and you'll catch Zimbobwe ...
Economists lay most of the blame on what they say is Ahmadinejad's profligate spending of windfall oil earnings. Ahmadinejad came to power pledging to share out Iran's oil wealth more fairly.
The president in June outlined plans to overhaul the country's generous subsidy system, a move that will involve introducing more direct subsidy payments to those who need them rather than blanket subsidies on goods. The government has already curbed subsidies on gasoline via a rationing system.
Economists have said such moves will help cut state spending and curtail waste. But they also warn of a short-term inflationary impact, a sensitive issue ahead of next year's presidential race when Ahmadinejad is expected to run again.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/24/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I understand that the Democrats want to pass a law mandating better economy.
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.
The Ministry of Defence faces such a critical shortage of civilian staff, engineers and technical expertise that it is struggling to maintain its aircraft, and the supply of equipment to troops in Afghanistan and Iraq is under threat, leaked memos reveal.
Thousands marched on Saturday to back Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa who polls show is inching closer to winning a September 28 vote to pass a new constitution that would expand the leftist's authority.
TBILISI: A fuel train hit a mine and exploded near the stricken Georgian city of Gori on Sunday as Russia faced renewed European Union pressure to make a complete withdrawal from Georgia. The Georgian Interior Ministry said the rail track used by the train had been mined and a huge pall of black smoke could be seen across the Gori region after the huge explosion.
According to Mr Shigemura's unnamed sources, Jong Il was a diabetic and in 2000 the illness confined him to a wheelchair for approximately three years before his alleged death in 2003.
Secret Service spokesman Malcolm Wiley said 29-year-old Joseph Calanchini of Pinedale, Wyo., faces a charge of unlawful carrying of a weapon after police officers at the Grand Hyatt hotel noticed him carrying a rifle-type case while checking in. Calanchini did not have a concealed weapons permit, said Lance Clem, spokesman for the Colorado Department of Public Safety.
The fun thing about an Obama-Biden ticket is that the McCain campaign can point to a new awkward comment by Joe Biden either on the importance of experience, in praise of McCain, or in support of invading Iraq that contradicts the stands and qualities of the Democratic nominee for every day from now until Election Day.
~oo~
A PPP message, meant for the deposed chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, to persuade him to resign in the "national interest" or to get ready for conditional reinstatement, has bounced back without even reaching the honourable judge. Sources said that on the desire of PPP Co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari some leading lawyers, who are close to the deposed CJ, were approached to soften Justice Iftikhar but the effort failed as not even a single messenger dared to take up the issue with the deposed chief justice. 
The PML-N will field a very respectable and honourable person as its candidate for the president's post as its coalition with the PPP is almost over, a top notch PML-N leader said in Lahore, deeply regretting that the PPP leadership had wasted a God-given opportunity to politicians to reassert their collective right to rule the country.
TEHRAN - Iran's supreme leader called on the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to work on controlling rising prices, the main gripe among Iranians who fret about inflation now running at about 26 percent. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the government's economic reform plan, which includes rejigging the subsidy system to involve more targeted payments, was a good step but any inflationary impact should be contained.
