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| Terror Networks |
| Terror threat to Games: China closes 41 mosques. |
| 2008-07-12 |
| BEIJING: Chinese authorities have replaced top police and security officials in the Muslim dominated Xinjiang province, which is the hotbed of separatism and political violence. They have also closed down 41 "illegal" places of worship. These places of worship were used as training ground for conducting a "holy war", Chen Zhuangwei Chen, the police chief of Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang province, said. Xinjiang, which borders central Asia and Pakistan, has been the scene of a pro-independence movement by a section of the eight million Uighurs living there for a long time. The authorities also announced they have detained 82 "suspected terrorists" in the past six months in view of fears that they might disrupt the Olympic Games. They belong to five groups that "allegedly plotted sabotage against the Beijing Olympics", the official Xinhua news agency quoted the police chief in Urumqi, Xinjiang's capital, as saying. The government has annouced the replacement of army and security officials in the ranks of three deputy core commanders, political commissars and the head of the Communist Party organisation department in the army. The replacement suggests that the central government has been unhappy about the inability of local officials to put down the surging separatist movement in the province. The new head of the organisation department is Liu Xiang Song, the government announced. One of the three new core commanders is Hanabati Sabukhaya, an officer from the Kazak race. Xinjiang borders Kazakisthan and several other countries including Pakistan and Russia. "From now, all police officers must act urgently, get involved once more in Olympic security, to make sure large and small incidents alike do not happen," Chen was quoted by official media as saying. |
| Posted by:3dc |
| #8 I spend a fair bit of time in the Nevada and Utah desert. My trick is: I have a hydration pack (Camel Back, etc.) to which I add only a single scoop of Gatorade powder. It makes it really dilute, not enough to really taste it much, just a hint of a flavor but enough that the water isn't completely flushing me of electrolytes. I use Morton "Light Salt" while I am out there. That is a 50/50 mix of Sodium Chloride (regular table salt) and Potassium Chloride (AKA "salt substitute"). I use that on food out there and that helps provide both sodium and potassium. And last year I took some huge Vitamin C tablets I can suck on ... they are like horse pills but they taste good. They also contain calcium. Add to that some salty snacks like jerky and those individually wrapped large dill pickles and so far we have managed to avoid hydration issues or electrolyte problems. I did have some problems back in 2004 and that was due to drinking too much straight water which simply acted to flush the electrolytes out without putting any back in. I completely avoid soft drinks, beer, etc. until the late afternoon/evening. I feel best sipping my water and chewing on a hunk of jerky in the hottest part of the day. |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2008-07-12 23:05 |
| #7 Thanks. Now I'll have another beer. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-07-12 19:19 |
| #6 Here, Nimble Spemble, in the comment thread. Rantburger U rules!! :-) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-07-12 19:14 |
| #5 'moose, if they do, I hope they leave my Uighur friend Shakir alone. Actually, even in East Turkestan (Uighur-land) relatively few of the people are actively opposing the Central Chinese government and most of those who are in opposition have fairly legitimate greivances (similar to Tibet situation). The mosques may be the organizing centers of the opposition but in 'most' cases militant Islam is more of a parasitic addition to the opposition rather than its cause. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2008-07-12 17:52 |
| #4 Can you point to those, TW. I missed them. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-07-12 15:14 |
| #3 Anonymoose, trailing daughter #2 made use of your non-Gatorade suggestions on the 600-mile bike trip her youth group recently finished, and she was the only one who didn't suffer from electrolyte depletion. Thank you!!!! |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-07-12 15:04 |
| #2 In essence, all mosques are instruments of war. A "moderate" muslim is only one who has yet to show his true face. |
| Posted by: McZoid 2008-07-12 14:46 |
| #1 I wonder if the Chinese would be up to mass executions of Uighars. I'm sure some of them would. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2008-07-12 14:43 |