From MEMRI:
THE CALL BY THE COUNCIL ON AMERICAN ISLAMIC RELATIONS FOR RAIN PRAYERS TO HELP BRING THE FIRES IN CALIFORNIA UNDER CONTROL HAS GENERATED CONTROVERSIES AMONG THE AMERICAN MUSLIM COMMUNITY. SOME ARGUE THAT SUCH PRAYERS âWOULD REMOVE HARM FROM A COUNTRY WHICH IS THE ENEMY OF ISLAM AND MUSLIMS.â (AL-SHARQ AL-AWSAT, LONDON, 10/31/03) Save your prayers for yourselves, pigfuckers.
#1
frankly the low pressure trough originated below Alaska - I would attribute the life-saving moisture to Al-Aska Paul before Allah. CAIR can kiss my ass in any event
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/31/2003 18:06 Comments ||
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#2
Here in the US we help ourselves, conditional prayers suck. Keep them for yourselves RoP⢠hypocrites. Hope you have a high humidity Halloween, Frank.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/31/2003 20:48 Comments ||
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#3
By all means, pray for rain. When it doesn't come, it'll just highlight what an impotent little fantasy your "religion" is. Face it, piggies: even if Allah exists, it's clear he hates you all.
A man accused of deliberately ramming a stolen pickup truck into six Outlaws motorcycle gang members, killing two, apologized from jail and said he wants to be executed. "I dunnit did it," Timothy Pilgreen told The News Herald of Panama City for Fridayâs editions. "I wish I hadnât, but I did. My lawyer told me to keep my mouth shut, but I gotta say it, I just got to: Iâm sorry." Pilgreen, 26, said he would ask for the death penalty because he fears retribution from the gang after admitting he ran over the bikers Wednesday as they rode on a coastal highway in nearby Panama City Beach. Dude, you already got the death penalty. Itâs just a matter of when.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/31/2003 2:28:15 PM ||
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#1
Darwin Award Nominee, Delayed Recognition Division.
I say 48 hours afer he posts bail. If not, it will be two weeks before an inside job's done (you mean the Outlaws know people in prison?)
#2
I don't know if there's still bad blood after that 2002 Nevada casino shooting between the Hell's Angels and the alliance that included the Outlaws, but I don't think even the Angels would help out some )@#*$ moron who runs over bikers with a pickup truck.
Posted by: Dar ||
10/31/2003 15:03 Comments ||
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#3
"Darwin Award Nominee, Delayed Recognition Division."
LOL, Raj. Maybe they won't ice him, but decide to keep him around for their prison girlfriend.
#4
but I don't think even the Angels would help out some )@#*$ moron who runs over bikers
Since this guy is not affiliated with any group, he's fair game. They all stick together in cases like this.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/31/2003 15:56 Comments ||
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#5
Super Hose advises - convert to Islam immediately. Press one to select Wahabi as Sufi mysticism will be of no use unless you plan to supre glue your ass-cheeks together.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/31/2003 16:21 Comments ||
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#6
Gawd I love LA. Something redneck weird always happening.
A man described by authorities as a known sexual predator was chased through the streets of South Philadelphia by an angry crowd of Catholic high school girls, who kicked and punched him after he was tackled by neighbors, police said on Friday. Could have told him, you donât pull this shit in Philly!
Rudy Susanto, 25, who had exposed himself to teen-age girls on as many as seven occasions outside St. Maria Goretti School, struck again on Thursday just as students were being dismissed, police said. But this time, a group of girls in school uniforms angrily confronted Susanto with help from some neighbors, police said. When Susanto tried to run, more than 20 girls chased him down the block. Two men from the neighborhood caught him and the girls took their revenge. "The girls came and started kicking him and punching him, so I wasnât going to stop them," neighbor Robert Lemons told The Philadelphia Inquirer. "This was better than the last Eagles game!"
Susanto was later treated for injuries at a local hospital. Police said he would be charged with 14 criminal counts including harassment, disorderly conduct, open lewdness and corrupting the morals of a minor. They raise them mean in Philly.
#10
"I understand those black patent leather shoes really hurt when the wearer gets a good kick at you with one."
Funny you should mention that, Mike.
"I'm happy he's off the street," said Caitlin Dalin, 14, a Goretti ninth-grader. The flasher exposed himself to Dalin twice, she said. Dalin also told the Inquirer she kicked the suspect with her Eastland black school shoes.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/31/2003 14:19 Comments ||
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#11
Dalin also told the Inquirer she kicked the suspect with her Eastland black school shoes.
Hmmm, notice the reporter didn't mention where Dalin kicked him? I hope she made it as painful as possible.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/31/2003 14:28 Comments ||
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#12
I thought Catholicism was a religion of peace? Except when you piss off the Catholic girls!
#15
So, how soon will some lawyer institute the lawsuit against the helpful guys who stopped him, the girls and their parents, the school...? Are the civil courts open Saturday, or will it have to wait until Monday?
Posted by: John Anderson ||
10/31/2003 23:37 Comments ||
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#16
I would call this peotic justice, except that the perp probably enjoyed it.
An Army Ranger was on vacation in the depths of Louisiana and he wanted a pair of genuine alligator shoes in the worst way, but was very reluctant to pay the high prices the local vendors were asking.
After becoming very frustrated with the âno haggleâ attitude of one of the shopkeepers, the Ranger shouted, âMaybe Iâll just go out and get my own alligator, so I can get a pair of shoes made at a reasonable price!â
The vendor said, âBy all means, be my guest. Maybe you will run into a couple of Marines who were in here earlier saying the same thing.â
So the Ranger headed into the bayou that same day and a few hours later came upon two men standing waist deep in the water. He thought, âThose must be the two Marines the guy in town was talking about.â Just then, the Ranger saw a tremendously long gator, swimming rapidly underwater towards one of the Marines.
Just as the gator was about to attack, the Marine grabbed its neck with both hands and strangled it to death with very little effort. Then both Marines dragged it on shore and flipped it on its back. Lying nearby were several more of the creatures. One of the Marines then exclaimed, âDarn, this one doesnât have any shoes either!
Sure they are making fun of Marines, plus they are our enemies and all, but this is funny! (Besides, we want the image of tough Marines in their mind.)
Posted by: Sorge ||
10/31/2003 9:37:24 AM ||
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#1
That's a good one...LOL.....we don't take any offense to that stuff. Heck, I'm gonna pass that one on to the lads here at work. Thanx Sorge.
#3
I like that one. Jarhead, I saw your question about Roosevelt Roads closing. My take on that base is that while I don't care for the attitude of some people in PR, I am unwilling to back any farther out of Latin America. Castro is in the process of actively and sucessfully subverting Brazil, Bolivia, Venezuala and other governements I'm sure.
I am pretty sure that Roosevelt Roads is crtical for DEA ops.
This may have all been factored in. I know there is a school of thought that we should quietly watch as the South Americans shake this out among themselves. If this is an active decision, the policy should be monitored for effect. Personally, I don't like the trend.
Regardless, I would hope that State and the DOD would pay careful attension to the messsge we send throughout Latin America as we seek to bust a weenie off in the PR backside.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/31/2003 10:51 Comments ||
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#4
Yeah, it's mildly amusing, but it's an oldie. An Italian fellow told me this joke, but the butts are the carabinieri. In that one, they first see the shoes in a shop in rome. On being told that they're crocodile shoes, they go to Egypt to get some.
When they fail to find shoes on the crocs, they just sit in their little boat. After a bit, one says, "Why are we doing this again?"
"You see those crocodiles sunning themselves on the bank?" "Yes."
"Well, sooner or later, one of them is bound to go swimming, and he'll take off his shoes. That's when we grab them!"
Posted by: Charles ||
10/31/2003 11:52 Comments ||
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#6
Just saw the interview and Brian Lamb was great. Schultz cut most people off that were antagonistic to him and veered into populist themes like teachers are not paid enough, farmers feed the country, and fiscal conservitism like our national debt will cripple our childrens future. Mona Charon followed and really hit the nail on the head when she thought he may need to get a little sense of humor. His most straight forward answer to any question was that the Bush tax cut must be repealed. Sounds like marching orders.
#7
SH, appreciate the response. Interesting position on Castro. I had not condsidered that aspect for DEA ops. I was focusing on losing a good training area for combined arms exercises (i.e. naval gunfire, air, and amphib ops). Vieques was good for that. We worked w/U.S. Marshals & FBI in 2000 and threw the protestors off the range. The local Viequans like us but the mainland P.R. want us out so they can put up resorts. Its all politics. The environmental & cancer nonsense from our training there is not true.
I know that Rosey still has a squadron or two on there plus some ships. Maybe they can reduce the force and redeploy those assets back mainland U.S.
#8
Jarhead, we used to shoot a lot of NGFS (Naval Gunfire Support) at Vieques. I know that was an important naval capability for the Marines at one time. I don't recall a situation where naval guns were used in combat since we wasted the Iranian Navy and their oil platforms.
I don't know of any other place where we can practice NGFS. Is that even important capability for you guys anymore?
When we used to transit through the Caribean, we used to participate in Law Enforcement Operations(LEO ops.) Mostly involved using the radar to track and identify fast-moving, white cigarette boats with all their windows tinted or boarded up.
The ship I was on at the time was the USS Dahlgren (DDG-43.) It had no helo so I don't know whether other ships use air assets for LEO ops. I did see a contractor using a blimp out of Roosevelt Roads. It made an excellent place to perform DEA operations at the time.
Roosevelt Roads was also the base where we hosted UNITAS cruises - I did one. This in combined naval ops with every South American country that has an appreciable navy. Unitas was about friendship and teamwork with our neighbors; it has probably been discontinued. It would probably be inappropriate to host a friendship summit in Gitmo. Roosevelt Roads has much better naval facilities anyway.
As for Castro, any place that we write off in Central America, South America, or the Caribean becomes home court for Fidel - except Haiti evidently. A place is really a shithole when even the Socialists keep the hell away from it.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/31/2003 13:54 Comments ||
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#9
Off subject,but has anyone heard of any desertions from troops enjoying well-deserved home leave?I remember small flurry of stories of how hordes of troops were not going to report back,and don't recall any stories since.Surely the press wouldn't be wrong concerning the professionalism,dedication and patriotism of members of American military would it?
Posted by: Stephen ||
10/31/2003 14:04 Comments ||
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#10
I don't know of any other place where we can practice NGFS. Is that even important capability for you guys anymore?
Reportedly the new NGFS sites are or will be in Florida and S. Carolina. Weather and maritime traffic will more of a problem, but it's better than nothing.
#11
SH, NGFS is still important for us. Especially for our ANGLICO Units (Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company). UNITAS is still going on. My old unit did one (I didn't go personally). We call it the carribean cruise. Pappy is correct about Fla being a possible sight. N.C. is the other site outside Lejeune.
#12
Jarhead, what is your impression of the US Latin American policy? I know Myers visited Columbia recently, but we seem to be distracted to even what is going on in Mexico yet alone Bolivia.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/31/2003 16:32 Comments ||
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#13
SH, regretfully I'm not much of a go-to-guy on Latin America. I'm not trying to be sarcastic but I never thought we had much of a policy worth talking about. The war on drugs has taken a huge backseat to the WOT as is expected. I can only really talk about Mexico and P.R. because I know more about them. I think we've dropped the ball woefully in curbing illegal immigration across our southern border. I think the administration has done a horrible job w/Mexico. I don't know anyone whose up on the Myers visit except the well-educated Rantburg crew here.
Six people were killed and another was injured in a shootout that took place on Saturday between Aal Saidah and al-Marazeek, one of the minor tribes affiliated to Bani Nawf in the al-Jawf governorate.
"Who youse callin' a minor tribe?"
Tribal sources said that the main cause behind fire exchange was attributed to the longstanding tribal disputes. âTribal conflict between the two was erupted one year ago over a simple financial amount of money when they assembled in Marib, they quarreled and then pointed their guns at each other,â a tribal source said.
"That sucker stole my wallet!"
"Did not!"
"Yew callin' me a liar?"
"Go fer yer guns, Mahmoud!"
It is worthwhile mentioning that the eastern governorates such as, Marib, Shabowa, and al-Jawf have been involved in severe tribal clashes from time immemorial to time.
"Yeah. We do it fer fun! That's 'cuz we're tough!... Ow!"
Those tribal clashes constitute a big headache for the government.
"Will you goobers knock it off, fergawdsake?"
They have been given carte blanche and this has negatively affected their normal life.
"I can't deal with them. Just let them shoot each other. It's easier that way."
"Of course, effendi!"
Despite of rendering developmental and social projects in order to overcome the hard life there, which overwhelmed those tribes, the tribal clashes have been still predominant.
"Why get a job at the camel wash when I can just steal all their stuff?"
"But they ain't got any more than you do!"
"They'll have even less when we're done with 'em!"
Several US-funded projects have been recently implemented during a short visit Marib by the US Ambassador to Yemen and those major projects are equipping the President Hospital in Marib at the cost of USD 5.3 million as well as other developmental projects.
"Good idea. We need a hospital!"
[BANG!]
"Ow!... See?"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/31/2003 00:39 ||
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#1
I read from a pundit - or maybe it was one of you guys - an observation that it's laughable that we were worried about offending Moslems by continuing to attack Afghanistan during Ramadan. Maybe Ramadan is the Moslem season of killing. It would make sense to eliminate some extra mouths to feed prior to winter in an agrarian tribal society.
One of my kids asked whether the Ramada Inn holds any celebration particular to Ramadan. I think I have passed on a gene that will lead them into trouble in life.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/31/2003 11:20 Comments ||
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#2
Yeah, how come everybody else gotta tiptoe around during Ramadan so to not offend our Muslim cousins, while they just walk out the front door in the morning and start blasting away at anybody and anything?
Another illustration of Religion of Peace hypocracy, maybe?
#3
Maybe its just hard to get into the Ramadan spirit. They should sing some Ramadan carols to lighten things up. After a couple of years the carols could be changed into muzak for general consumption. The Santa Claus concept wouldn't work for them. He'd be climbing down the chimney and leaving new det cord and timers and all hell would break loose.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/31/2003 16:44 Comments ||
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#4
"The government demands that these individuals regain their self-control and abandon this project."
Borrowed from darkest Africa. Maybe it will work in Afghanistan. Super Hose: if I wasn't so busy right now I would cook up a Ramadan carol. Michael Morley: you are a good impromptu lyricist, er lyric writer. How bout fillin' in on this one? Thanks.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/31/2003 17:03 Comments ||
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#5
I tried Walking in a Shia Moslem Wonderland, but never made it past bandolier. A math major son of an English teacher trying to write a poem is a pitiful thing.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/31/2003 19:49 Comments ||
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One person was killed and two others were seriously injured Monday evening in a confrontation between two religious sects over controlling a mosque in the governorate of Dhamar, 120 km south of Sanaa. A local source has told the Yemen Times that there was a disagreement between the Shiite and Salafia groups over controlling al-Saeed mosque, a new mosque in Dhamar. Some people from the Salafia group went recently to practice al-Taraweeh prayers but were denied. When they went again on Monday, a confrontation erupted. Some eyewitnesses say that the governorâs guards fired at the people.
"Go fer yer guns, Shiite scum!"
"Draw, Salafi varmints!"
Dead is Dr. Sultan Sary, 32. Two others are injured.
"Ow!"
"Sorry. Is this your elbow?"
However, government officials deny any possible doctrinal disagreement as the reason behind the accident. One official pointed out that the clash took place between the people responsible for the mosque and some people who wanted to use amplifiers by force, which the Ministry of Endowment and Religious Guidance has prohibited, except for during prayers practice.
"I'm usin' the bullhorn, Mahmoud, and you can't stop me!"
"Oh, yeah? Take THAT!"
"Ow! Hey! That was my good turban!"
Authorities in Dhamar arrested some of the people believed to have started the dispute, and they are now under interrogation and investigation. On its part, Islah party denounced the clash and demanded the authorities to carry out a comprehensive investigation into it, presenting its perpetrators to justice.
"Get them boys off the streets. They're givin' religious fanaticism a bad name!"
The government has been trying its best to control mosques, and to stop preachers from inciting fanatic and extremist sentiments. It has even contracted about 36 moderate preachers from Arab mosques in an attempt to stop the use of mosques for preaching extremism and terrorism. Islah feels it is the target of this campaign as most of those preachers are members of the Islah party.
The ones contracted? Or the ones replaced? My guess is the latter...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/31/2003 00:30 ||
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#1
Keep my friend Jarhead here in the US--we don't have a dog in this hunt--let the ragheads kill each other--not one American life for these bastards
#5
Salafi is what Wahabbis call themselves. Good old SA money may have built the mosque and/or supplied the 'clergy': money has always been welcome, even though Wahabbism is considered heretical.
Posted by: John Anderson ||
11/01/2003 0:11 Comments ||
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A school pupil who sent a letter claiming to contain the poison ricin to Prince William has been sentenced to three years detention. Paul Smith, 17, from Dumbarton, also sent a bottle of aromatherapy oil laced with caustic soda to Cherie Blair. The High Court in Edinburgh heard that he sent the packages after being "groomed" over the internet by the head of an anti-English Scottish terrorist organisation. A what?
Aye, laddie! 'Tis Osama McLaden!
Lord Kingarth told Smith: "You became involved in a sinister and sustained campaign which was calculated to cause and did cause considerable distress and alarm to a number of people and a very considerable disruption." The sixth-year pupil at Dumbarton Academy admitted sending letters containing a powder, which he claimed was either anthrax or ricin, to various people and organisations. He was aged 15 when he sent 44 letters between August 2001 and February last year as a hoax. Edgar Prais QC, defending, said his client had been ordered to send the packages by the head of an anti-English Scottish terrorist organisation, which cannot be named for legal reasons. I did a Google search and couldnât find one, either.
Hah! Shoulda searched Rantburg. The group's the Scottish National Liberation Army (SNLA)...
Smith was sentenced to spend three years in a young offendersâ institution, with a 12-month supervision order on his release.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/31/2003 8:54:37 AM ||
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#1
"...he sent the packages after being "groomed" over the internet by the head of an anti-English Scottish terrorist organisation." A what?
Being English nowadays means living in constant fear.
#2
Hey, since they won't name them, we can make up our own!
Maybe it was the Haggis Liberation Organization, or the Army of Cod.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
10/31/2003 11:19 Comments ||
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#3
Try "Scottish National Liberation Army" or "tartan terrorists"...
Posted by: Kat ||
10/31/2003 11:34 Comments ||
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#4
I've heard of terrorist organizations paying operatives. I assume in some cases that barter takes place. I never would have expected a terrorist organization to provide grooming services as payment. Do thay have a tanning bed?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/31/2003 12:03 Comments ||
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#5
I was hoping to blame "Scottish al-Qaeda" which was established by some crabby, leftie Scot during the 2k2 Edinburgh festival as way to get attention for how much he hated the U.S.
One of Labourâs incongruously outspokenly non-PC ministerâs suggests the government are getting a clue as regards Britainâs not-so-subtle Islamist fifth column. David Blunkett provoked renewed indignation from the Muslim community last night when he warned that extremist imams were increasing the terrorism threat by preying upon impressionable youngsters. "We have to understand what is happening in a world where young men and women can be enjoined by their religious leaders to take their own lives and others as suicide bombers," he said. Despite being blind, Blunkettâs got clearer vision than almost anyone else in the Labour Party.
The Home Secretary said the involvement of two British Muslims in a suicide attack in Israel this year demonstrated that "we are not completely untouched". Apart from the two in Israel, in recent years Britain has supplied Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who masterminded the kidnap and murder of Daniel Pearl, an American journalist, in Pakistan. Originally from east London, he attended a British public school before dropping out of the LSE. Richard Reid, born in London, tried to carry out a suicide attack on a Paris to Miami flight in December 2001 but was overpowered by passengers. There are seven British Muslims held by the Americans in Guantanamo Bay after being captured in Afghanistan. Earlier this year, Anjem Choudary, the British leader of Al-Muhajiroun, an Islamist group with a base in London, said Muslims had an obligation to support their fellow believers in jihad. Mr Blunkett said tension between religion and nationality was a worrying trend. Second-generation British Muslims were more likely than their parents to feel a need to choose between feeling British and their faith. However Inayat Bunglawala, spokesman for the Muslim Council, said: "We are quite dismayed to see him, yet again, singling out the British Muslim community for denigration. Hey, why doncha ease the dismay by stopping being the only community that contains an actual threat to the rest of us?
"His remarks about Muslim youth, while they are sure to gain him plaudits amongst the far Right, are off the mark and show him to be poorly briefed. In comparison with their parentsâ generation, Muslim youths today are far more confident in their identity and better integrated into our countryâs life." True, in general, but the fact remains - the vast majority of would-be terrorists come from the Muslim community. That canât be ignored either.
"They are also more willing to speak out against policies they disagree with. We should be encouraging them with strategies geared towards inclusiveness and not engaging in a crude post-September 11 version of âPaki-bashingâ." In his speech at York University, Mr Blunkett also emphasised the importance of ensuring that Muslim imams preaching in British mosques should speak English. "It is crucial that those who have this key role in shaping the world view of our young people should be in a position to help them to relate to the world in which they live rather than turning them away from it. There is a real risk that, instead of religion helping to build civic society and a sense of belonging among those who might otherwise become alienated, religion could actually increase that alienation." Ministers of religion, including Muslim imams, are allowed permit-free employment in Britain. Earlier this year, a think-tank said religious leaders who preached hatred of Western values should be barred from British mosques. The Civitas organisation called for an immediate reform of immigration rules "to prevent a further influx of Islamist ideologues". An imam quota would be a good start.
They might also consider refusing to admit any holy man who's got a death sentence someplace.
Posted by: Bulldog ||
10/31/2003 5:44:09 AM ||
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#1
My understanding of how Muslim operate in Western countries is that they are told by their religious leaders not to assimilate into society: do nothing, not even eat the same food as the indigents. And when you add to that the viciousness of Brit radical Muslims, you have a well founded concern for security against terrorism.
Fortunatly for Labour, the Tories are too deep in disarray to gain by focussing in on this critical area; but I guess it is no matter since some elements of the government understand what is going on with the ingrained hostility towards western values Mulsims hold.
Anyway, I am the face of pure evil. I say if Muslims don't want to participate in the life of a nation, they should be deported. After all: They have every human right a citizen has, except the right to be here.
#2
nice thing about the radical muslim community is that, unlike say animal liberation front or ELF, they are more easily identifiable and should the populace ever rise up against them, their ass is grass. They'll try and breed their way to majority status, but welfare should be revoked for that and ship their ass home. My patience is running really low
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/31/2003 9:08 Comments ||
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#3
...the Tories are too deep in disarray to gain by focussing in on this critical area...
Not for long! The Tories have just ditched the disappointinly ineffectual Iain Duncan-Smith, and look set to install Michael Howard as their new leader, virtually unanimously.
I'm quite excited about this - a united Tory party will really give Labour a run for their money, and Howard's got the killer instinct, experience and the "somthing of the night about him" (to quote Ann Widdecombe) needed to take British politics somewhere it hasn't been for far too long.
#4
I'm originally from Detroit. The Chaldeans ran most of the party stores/groceries and the Muslim Arabs had the gas station monopoly going. Not sure how they got the whole gig started (little before my time). I had many dealings w/both. I got along w/the Chaldeans real well, one of my good friends is Chaldean. However, the Muslims take a different look at business w/a Christian, they're not held to any sort of ethics due to their teachings. I will say that the inner-city Blacks I knew couldn't stand the Arabs either. It wouldn't surprise me if they find more dirty money going to terror charities from the Detroit Muslim community.
Twenty-three people, mostly Palestinians, running 10 "convenience" stores selling stolen goods. They shipped $37 million to the Middle East.
Now, the judge presiding over the case appears to have blocked the charges related to terrorism, but, seriously, we've seen crime rings like this before that funneled the money directly to terrorist groups.
It's not just the Detroit area.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
10/31/2003 11:23 Comments ||
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#6
Robert, no sh#t?, I didn't know Cinci had that many arabs. My older bro lives in Dayton area -he never mentioned that. We had some Paleos living across the street from me back home, actually nice folks but you guessed it - they ran a liquor store.
#7
I'm not sure how big the Arab community around here is. There's a sizable "cultural center" -- mosque -- and undoubtedly a few smaller "storefront" mosques. The local Muslims -- along with a few supporters from out of town, Columbus I believe -- managed to shut down a locally written play that wasn't kind enough to the memory of a Palestinian suicide bomber.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
10/31/2003 13:15 Comments ||
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#8
Is that the play where the writer had both the jews and muslims get a pre-screening and both came away pissed?
A Sydney man who allegedly used the aliases 'Alan Jones' and 'Tim Webster' while carying out a global Internet fraud has been refused bail in a regional New South Wales court. Nick Marninellis, 39, is alleged to have made more than $5 million from junk emails in a 'Nigerian-style' fraud where emails invited recipients to enter a business opportunity. He is facing 17 charges and appeared today at Dubbo Local Court. Marninellis was arrested at his Nyngan holiday house in western New South Wales yesterday. Police have been watching him since February. Police allege Marninellis phoned his African counterparts and made plans to fleece victims, referring to them as "mugus". They also alleged he said he had 220 African brothers worldwide and that Australia was the headquarters for the scam.
Nigerian scam artists headquartered in Australia? I'd never have guessed. I thought they were in Lagos...
Police say Marninellis obtained more than $500,000 from a Saudi Arabian Sheik and they estimate he has earned more than $1.5 million in the past year. The victims of the fraud are located all around the world, with a Japanese businessman allegedly being defrauded by Marninellis, who was allegedly using the alias 'Alan Jones'.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/31/2003 00:05 ||
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Damn, uh like Dude, we soddy;s thought the money was goin' for jihad in Londistan
An Italian judge has suspended a court order to remove crosses from schools after an education ministry appeal. The original order to take down the Christian symbol came in response to a complaint by a radical Muslim leader. It caused widespread outrage in mainly Roman Catholic Italy, where a Fascist-era law still requires state schools to display the cross. The local mayor has ordered the school to remain shut until next Tuesday to protect children from media interest. Last week's ruling in the central Italian town of L'Aquila upheld a complaint by Muslim leader Adel Smith, who petitioned for a cross to be removed from his son's primary school in Ofena. Even though moderate Italian Muslims distanced themselves from Mr Smith - who leads the small Muslim Union of Italy - Italian politicians and Church leaders condemned the original ruling. On Friday, Pope John Paul weighed in, saying that taking down religious symbols could cause instability and conflict. "The recognition of the specific religious patrimony of a society requires the recognition of the symbols that qualify it," he told a meeting of political leaders of European Union police forces. Taking them down "in the name of an incorrect interpretation of the principle of equality" could lead to "instability and even conflict", the pontiff said in Rome.
Now the presiding judge has used his discretionary powers to temporarily suspend the original ruling. He has invited the parties to a new hearing on 19 November. Mr Smith is under police protection after neo-Nazis threatened him.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/31/2003 20:50 ||
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"...neo-Nazis threatened him." Just what type of cross are we reading about here?
Posted by: John Anderson ||
11/01/2003 0:30 Comments ||
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A U.S. pullout from Iraq would be "catastrophic," French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said Thursday, urging countries to take a strong united stance to stabilize Iraq. De Villepin, whose impassioned speeches at the UN Security Council against U.S. plans to attack Iraq won him international praise, spoke at the close of two days of informal talks among foreign ministers from Europe and North Africa. When asked whether he could envision the United States pulling out of Iraq, de Villepin responded: "Obviously, a pullout from Iraq today would be catastrophic and would absolutely not correspond to the demands of the situation." Humm, have the French surrendered?
He also said he and fellow foreign ministers favour a rapid transfer of power to the Iraqis. "We must . . . define an approach that will truly allow the Iraqis to take their destiny in hand." What do you mean "We", Dominique? You had your chance to be a "We", now youâll have to settle for being one of "Them".
Posted by: Steve ||
10/31/2003 1:33:17 PM ||
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#1
I see the shipment of White Slag TM from Kimmee Land just arrived...
#2
In other words,let the US spend its money and risk US troops,just put us UNistas in charge,so we can grab cheap oil and make sure Iraq pays us for Saddam's debts.
Posted by: Stephen ||
10/31/2003 13:50 Comments ||
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#3
Funny, he seems to have an entirely different speech writer for his UN material. Why doesn't he say stuff like that to French audiences.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/31/2003 14:00 Comments ||
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#4
A U.S. pullout from Iraq would be "catastrophic," French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin [who it is rumored is a man] said....
In other news, ice cubes pilled up in Hades...Developing.....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/31/2003 14:21 Comments ||
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#9
Seems pretty obvious what this about-face is all about. The Gauls have decided that their best interests co-incide with the US staying in IRAQ. No doubt they read the mainstream US press and believe we have another Vietnam tar-baby on our hands. In their view, if our attention and resources are focused there, we won't notice that they have their hands up our skirts someplace else.
They're right in one respect... we don't have the current military resources, especially boots on the ground and transport services to fully deal with Afghanistan and Iraq AND still be able to do what needs to be done in SyriaLebanon, Iran and The Happy Peoples Republic of Uncle Kimmie. I think Rummie needs to get off this "do more with less" kick and expand the military. To paraphrase Billie Jeff, "It's the War, Dummy".
#10
Just saw a post on MEMRI that says the Gauls are telling Syria that they're next, especially if the "the US doesn't succeed in IRAQ". No wonder they want to keep us there for a while, they don't want their new best buddy to go the way of the last one.
#11
The probable reason for this change of heart is the realization that if the Iraq mission fails, all those unassimilated Muslims in France will likely be emboldened, and that has the potential to become an even BIGGER problem than what it is now.
Hat tip: LGF The published poll results can be viewed here: IRAQ and PEACE IN THE WORLD(TM)
Over half of Europeans think that Israel now presents the biggest threat to world peace according to a controversial poll requested by the European Commission. According to the same survey, Europeans believe the United States contributes the most to world instability along with Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and North Korea. The specially commissioned poll which asked citizens 15 questions on "the reconstruction of Iraq, the conflict in the Middle East and World peace", has caused controversy in Brussels. The European Commission is coming under fire for publishing the results of a number of questions - relating to Iraqi reconstruction - while failing to publish the results which revealed the extent of mistrust of Israel and the United States in Europe, according to Spanish daily El Pais.
A Commission spokesperson today (30 October) denied that the decision to withhold some of the results until next Monday was politically motivated, adding that some of the results not yet published are still "unstable". He did, however, add that a decision was made to publish a preview of the questions pertaining to the reconstruction of Iraq, to coincide with the Iraqi donors conference in Madrid, which took place at the end of last week. This admission has raised questions about whether the Commission sought to suppress the results which would have came at a particularly sensitive moment. One pollster involved in the survey told the EUobserver that some questions being raised about the poll were unfounded. "The questions were decided upon by both the polling organisations and the European Commission", the source said. According to El Pais, a massive 59 percent of Europeans said they believed that Israel is the biggest obstacle to world peace. Israeli officials dismissed the results of the poll as propaganda. Itâs official: Europe is fast losing touch with reality.
Posted by: Bulldog ||
10/31/2003 7:14:37 AM ||
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#1
"some of the results not yet published are still "unstable""
LOL! Okay, now I know they rigged this puppy - start to unstable finish. Prolly stationed each of the polsters within a block of a Moskkk and had a LOT of fun with the wording of the questions - and then, in a Watergatish fit of insecurity, even massage the numbers. Pfeh.
I wrote software used to "normalize" NIST (was NBS) test results for an API standards re-calc for orifice metering - and that means measuring flow of petroleum products... you know that little stamp you see on the gas pump that proves it meets the standard? Folks, that's billions of dollars per year for a difference of 1%-2% and trillions over the "life" of the standard... So I know a little about mathematical outliers (I wouldn't refer to it as "unstable" data, however. Tainted, yes, but unstable? Snicker!) across terabytes of data.
What, pray tell, does the EUseless spokesdink mean by "unstable" data in an itty-bitty rinky-dink poll?
#2
I wouldn't be so sure the poll was rigged, .com. Guiding questions helped generate a 'favourable' outcome, but we all know that European anti-semitism and anti-Americanism is common, and real enough.
According to the results' pdf file (linked to above), the polling was done by telephone poll. How the respondents' telephone numbers were selected, however, isn't given.
#3
There is still the little question of the absurdity of "unstable" data. You're right, of course, about the anti-whatever-the-US-is-doing-and-whomever-they're-doing-it-with attitudes. I have little doubt that this reflects general attitudes. It was just too pfunny to me to pass up!
Y'know, something keeps nagging me: What are the doom & gloom crowd going to do when it doesn't turn out to be doom & gloom? I guess we're seeing Thomas Friedman in transition right now, but what will the total phreaking loonies do? Maureen Dowd and her ilk? Will there be enough crow to go around? It's gonna be damned hard on the crows. ;-)
#4
Hell, maybe things are doom and gloom, and it's not like I love everything done by Dubya & Sharon.
BUT that still doesn't mean that the current cup of gall is ours to pass on, and the sooner the EUnicks figure that out the better.
The real question is how do you deal with the meltdown of the Islamic world for the next generation or so? What policies are really sustainable? We can't invade everyone.
#7
When Israel stops sending suicide bombers into other countries to kill and maim innocent men, women, and children, they'll be off the list.
Oh, wait... Never mind...
I especially enjoy reading these poll results the day after I watch a video of Saddam's goons torturing Iraqis and throwing men bound hand and foot off multi-story buildings and after I read about a US Army lieutenant colonel being prosecuted for shooting near a prisoner to frighten him during interrogation.
Yeah, we're definitely the bad guys and the true threat to peace. We need to be stopped.
Posted by: Dar ||
10/31/2003 9:22 Comments ||
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And in other news......a recent poll in the Sunni triangle says 40% hate the U.S., 30% are seething, 25% want Saddam back in power, and 5% think that brown is the new black for this fashion season.
#9
A lot of Europe is suffering from a version of the Stockholm syndrome in which the victim comes to identify with the kidnapper. Sadly, a lot of Americans (e.g., virtually all the faculty lounge at Berkeley is descending into the same madness.
#13
Over half of Europeans think that Israel now presents the biggest threat to world peace... controversial poll requested by the European Commission... Europeans believe the United States contributes the most to world instability along with Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and North Korea.
What ARE these dudes smoking? I think we need to re-establish Radio Free Europe, and aim it at the Continental nations of "old Europe". Obviously, these people have been fed so much BS by their governments they haven't a clue about the real world. Both this article and the one about Chinese 'investment' in European space operations are clearly warning bells for most sane people.
When the Muslims in France start demanding the nation be ruled by Sharia law, when the Muslims in Italy attack the Vatican to kill the Pope and Cardinals start getting whacked by car bombs, it'll be a little late to wake up and smell the cordite.
We've had to rescue Europe three times in the last hundred years - WWI, WWII, and the Cold War. Usually, people learn from their mistakes. Obviously, Europe is immune to that innoculating effect.
Bulldog, are you sure Britain wants to join this insanity?
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/31/2003 12:55 Comments ||
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OP -- Apparently the lesson Europe learned from our three rescues is that Americans are violent, pushy people. I believe that stems from the fact that they really enjoyed killing each other in droves and disliked our butting in and stopping it.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
10/31/2003 13:17 Comments ||
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#15
LOL. Good one Robert.
Posted by: Rafael ||
10/31/2003 13:29 Comments ||
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The poll results on Israel and the US being main threats to peace are simply results of superior European education in logic-the Islamic world is angry that Israel exists and must act on that anger.Therefore if Israel didn't exist,the Islamic world wouldn't be angry and would spend its days in peaceful contemplation of the Koran.Since the US is main support of Israel it is also obvious that the US is guilty of disturbing peace.
Sigh.Same kind of logic lead to both Munich and Auschwitz.
Posted by: Stephen ||
10/31/2003 13:40 Comments ||
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#17
OP and Robert's comments remind me of an old William F. Buckley line: France only approves of American military intervention when it occurs in France to rescue France from an invading power.
And right at this moment in history I want everyone between Morocco and Pakistan to think that we're the most violent sumbitches they'll ever lay eyes on.
Posted by: Matt ||
10/31/2003 14:21 Comments ||
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#18
... right at this moment in history I want everyone between Morocco and Pakistan to think that we're the most violent sumbitches they'll ever lay eyes on.
Matt - some of us are. In fact, quite a few of us are - something Binnie and Sadsack forgot.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/31/2003 14:32 Comments ||
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... right at this moment in history I want everyone between Morocco and Pakistan to think that we're the most violent sumbitches they'll ever lay eyes on. Matt - some of us are. In fact, quite a few of us are - something Binnie and Sadsack forgot.
-I asked one of my buddies whose recently back from Afghanistan how the locals were to them. He said "they're scared shitless of us." They think we got into the Marines by killing a parent or are former violent criminals earning our freedom in the Corps. They don't really understand our whole tattoo fetish either. LOL. We couldn't ask for a better image!
#20
Matt--Spot on! I agree with those sentiments 100%
I laugh my ass off everytime I hear the weenies spout off about Bush and the US being "cowboys" or "sheriffs"--as if it's a negative connotation. We have a unique and proud history vested in those two icons, and those wimps clearly don't understand our history, values, and traditions.
Posted by: Dar ||
10/31/2003 14:59 Comments ||
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#21
If we gave a shit what Europeans thought... this would really concern me.
#22
Jar - You mean, you don't have to kill a parent?
There's a story in The March Up about the Iraqis firing three shells at some Marines and getting counterbattery fire by the 11th Marines totaling 7500 bomblets.
Posted by: Matt ||
10/31/2003 15:34 Comments ||
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#23
My understanding was that while Sky News and Fox News covered elements of the Iraq War like the Sadaam statue coming down, there was no broadcast in France.
I doubt that many Europeans are paying much attention to the WOT other than that we are shooting up the joint and generally pissing off all teh countries in the ME. I'm glad the Jews are in charge of all these nations or our complete lack of PR or proactivity by State could really have some bad consequences throughout the world.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/31/2003 16:56 Comments ||
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... right at this moment in history I want everyone between Morocco and Pakistan to think that we're the most violent sumbitches they'll ever lay eyes on.
And give'em a hint that they ain't seen nothin yet..... Perhaps it's time to play the HAARP.
#25
Jar - couldja tell more about this recounting? ;)
Posted by: Lu Baihu ||
10/31/2003 20:19 Comments ||
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#26
Matt, I only killed my stepdad, so not sure if that counts :)
7500 bomblets huh? Those arty guys love that sh*t. Was that the first incoming 11th Marines took from the 'rabs or was this later on during the drive north?
Lu - this was also the case in Iraq (Gulf I). Not sure how the propaganda got started but not gonna bitch about it. Iraqi pow's told us they knew all Marines were criminals and parent killers, baby killers, brain washed killers, and overall not nice people to invite to friday night prayer blah, blah, blah. They said our 'tats' were proof of past time in prison. I know, LOL! If it scares them, good, then it may save lives. In ref to your question: My bud basically said the local populace was scared shitless of us. Sometimes we would patrol and do the p.r. thing (wave, give candy to the kiddies, etc.) the next day we'd act all pissed like we wanted to corn hole their whole extended family. We kept that type of crazy shit up during patrols to throw them off. Not get to used to our method. (hat tip to our Brit brethren who perfected this patrolling style in N.Ireland, Bulldog's gonna whack to that one) I'm a mick-American as well so that's a hard one to swallow but there it is. Anyways, the main thing was they knew we were around but didn't know what to expect. He said one time they took fire from some shacks out by Camp Rhino (could a been Ripper but I forget) so they leveled them. Leveling the shacks from a distance wasn't the big deal (the enemy probably high-tailed it right after initiating contact anyhow), the big deal was letting the adjacent hamlets see how much fire power, hate & discontent a Marine squad will throw at the Talibano knuckleheads. We figured the locals knew how nuts the talibanos were, needed to ensure that they feared retribution from us more. He said most of them were easy to deal with.
Two rising Asian powers yesterday backed Europeâs bid to challenge American supremacy in space. Despite intense objections from Washington, China will invest £140 million in the European Unionâs Galileo global satellite system, a network of 30 orbiting satellites designed to open up a lucrative field of high technology and support industries that require pinpoint accuracy. India is to invest £210 million in the scheme, Loyola de Palacio, the EUâs transport commissioner, said yesterday. The details will be agreed at an EU-India summit next month. "Third countries are more enthusiastic than certain European countries about Galileo," she said. Britain and Holland have been wary of the venture, fearing it may be an exorbitant exercise to promote French anti-Americanism and EU superpower ambitions. China and the EU signed the deal yesterday at a summit in Beijing marking a new intimacy between Brussels and China. Wen Jiabao, Chinaâs premier, described ties as "ever more mature and strategic". But remember what they say: thereâs not threat to NATO.
A Beijing policy paper this month said the EU would soon overtake America and Japan as Chinaâs main trade and investment partner. Beijing and New Delhi have reassessed the EU since the euro was launched and Brussels became a global regulatory force. Both are upgrading their offices in the EU to try to learn how the political machinery works. "Brussels will be more important that London, Paris, and Berlin once the EU gets its own foreign minister next year," said Nirj Deva, a Tory MEP and India expert.
The Galileo technology, described as the "internet" of global navigation, is used for air traffic control, mobile telephones and even police surveillance, but inevitably has a military aspect. Washington fears that it could interfere with Nato military frequencies. Experts say its real worry is EU efforts to set up a rival technology bloc. The Chinese foreign ministry said Galileo would be more secure and offer more choice. The EU disputes claims that the deal breaks the spirit of the arms embargo imposed on China after the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.
Chinese travellers will gain easier access to Europe under a visa deal agreed with the EU yesterday. The aim is to encourage Chinaâs rising middle class to spend some of the countryâs trade surplus in Europe, helping the tourism industry as the EU struggles to regain economic growth. The deal covers the Schengen open-border zone, with Britain excluded. Critics say it is open to abuse by Chinese people smugglers.
Posted by: Bulldog ||
10/31/2003 6:33:20 AM ||
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But remember what they say: thereâs no threat to NATO.
Dammit! One lousy comment and I still manage a typo...
#3
Be interesting to see if China asks that the satellites be "hardened" against EMP, huh?
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/31/2003 9:16 Comments ||
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#4
The way I understand it the US can cut off or distort the GPS signal in the event of a major war, making all GPS weapons unprepared for the shift, useless. By creating an alternate GPS the Europeans are guaranteeing that such weapons will be usable against the US. I cannot figure out any other reason for a very expensive alternate GPS satellite system.
Of course the very cost of the whole thing, the limited number of serious users (China), really weights against it ever reaching completion.
#5
Both are upgrading their offices in the EU to try to learn how the political machinery works.
Hell, they can come to Chicago and see how the EU political machinery works, particularly EuroStat:
1 -- if it isn't nailed down, take it.
2 -- if it is nailed down, use a wrecking bar to pry out the nails, then take it.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/31/2003 11:26 Comments ||
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#6
I suspect that we already have something prepared for a situation like this one. Possibly a laser up in space?
Besides, we can knock out those satellites by going up there with the shuttles. The only three nations able to send Astronauts up are the US, Russia, and just recently China.
Posted by: Charles ||
10/31/2003 12:06 Comments ||
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#7
LOL they send ONE guy into space and suddenly they are in command of space? I think we need to listen to Dennis Millers lastes rant on FoxNews. we saw what is out in space ok, lets fix whats inside and then go explore the galaxy. By then the PRC and INdia will have leaped to EVA operations and maybe we can do some joint space stuff.
#8
If this is like many of China's other deals, it'll be a trojan horse for technology transfers from France to China. Chirac is reputed to be a sinophile - what better way to stick it to the US - by selling advanced weapons technology to China? The French can hide behind the EU when the US decides to impose sanctions on them.
#10
Initially there is a worry about JDAM technology going to NK and Syria. Then you realize that JDAMs have to be dropped from planes.
Militarily, the result of this will be Scuds that can hit a pinpoint target. A missile defence becomes more necessary.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/31/2003 17:04 Comments ||
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#11
What China cannot develop they will steal. We have seen it with our military technology, esp during the Clinton years. The French will sell their souls and will provide a rope to hang themselves. China panders to their egos and the EU sense of wanting to stick it to the US. China considers them useful idiots. I would not start shouting doom and gloom, but I would be making contingency plans and countermeasures. The Chinese think long range and I would NOT underestimate them.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/31/2003 17:13 Comments ||
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Militarily, the result of this will be Scuds that can hit a pinpoint target
LOL! It's doesn't have fine enough control even with GPS targeting to have better than a 1500 cep.
Iain Murray (TCS) EFL
A nonprofit watchdog organization, Public Interest Watch, after investigating Greenpeaceâs finances, recently filed a complaint with the IRS alleging that Greenpeace has "illegally solicit[ed] millions of dollars in tax-deductible contributions." As those young activists might say, "Uncool!" Intersting idea for a watchdog group. I wonder who else they are "monitoring."
Greenpeace has changed a great deal since its founding in the early 1970s. It began as a group dedicated to ensuring conservation by confronting people with the facts while maintaining a neutral position politically. It has now become a different beast entirely. Greenpeace co-founder Patrick Moore left the movement after 15 years "to switch from confrontation to consensus⊠to stop fighting and start talking with the people in charge." However, he notes, "this would bring me into open and direct conflict with the movement I had helped bring into the world. I now find that many environmental groups have drifted into self-serving cliques with narrow vision and rigid ideology⊠The once politically centrist, science-based vision of environmentalism has been largely replaced with extremist rhetoric." Wonder what grabbed the steering wheel of this school bus and headed towards the ditch.
It is this consolidation that is at the core of Public Interest Watchâs complaint. Greenpeace USA is in fact two different organizations. Greenpeace, Inc. is the main entity conducting Greenpeace operations in the United States. As a tax exempt organization under section 501(c)(4) of the internal revenue code, it is free to lobby for legislation "germane to the organizationâs programs" and to engage in other advocacy activities, but because of these freedoms it may not accept tax-deductible contributions. Greenpeace Fund, Inc., on the other hand, is a 501(c)(3) organization, and can accept tax-deductible contributions but cannot engage in lobbying or advocacy. Any funds it spends must by law be spent on strictly-defined charitable purposes, such as education. I bet the definition of "education" is the missing guard rail that allows the bus to go offroad. By rights OBLâs Afghan camps are "education."
However, Greenpeace Fundâs definition of "education" stretches to include advocacy and activism -- and so does its money. The complaint, citing Greenpeace Fundâs tax forms, alleges that, in 2000, the organization passed all of the money that it raised on to Greenpeace Inc, based in Washington, Greenpeace International, based in Amsterdam, and a few other affiliates. In 2000, according to its IRS returns, Greenpeace Fund raised $7.5 million, while disbursing $4.5 million to Greenpeace, Inc., $3.7 million to Greenpeace International for "general support," and $0.8 million to other Greenpeace organizations and projects around the world. Sounds like they are using a Saudi charity for their business model.
According to the complaint, Greenpeace Fund acts solely as "a shell corporation established for the purpose of enabling tax-deductible contributions from big donors and from foundations to flow illegally to Greenpeace, Inc. and Greenpeace International." It could be argued that teh RICO statute would apply, but I wonât go there.
The law states that a 501(c)(3) organization will not retain its tax-exempt status, "if more than an insubstantial part of its activities is not in furtherance of an exempt purpose." Given the activities of Greenpeace, Inc., Public Interest Watch argues that "grants made by Greenpeace Fund, Inc. to Greenpeace, Inc., suggest that charitable funds are being spent for non-501(c)(3) purposes. The grants to Greenpeace International and other foreign Greenpeace organizations, which are known to frequently engage in aggressive advocacy efforts, also point to an abuse of charitable trust." This could lead to an interesting trend.
Public Interest Watch gives the following examples of exempt funds being used to support non-exempt advocacy and activism:
· Campaigning against genetically-modified crops;
· Blockading a naval base in protest of the war in Iraq; Actually this activity is treason and shoud be tried in crimnal court.
· Boarding an oil tanker for a "banner hang";
· Breaking into the central control building of a nuclear power station; and
· Padlocking the gates of a government research facility.
Greenpeace has reacted strongly to the accusations. "There really is no story there ⊠Thereâs no merit to what they are accusing us of," a Greenpeace spokesperson told National ReviewâsDeroy Murdock. "Given the severity of these accusations by Public Interest Watch, Greenpeace USA is now considering its various legal options." So should the IRS. Super Hose predicts - IRS will take no action.
Afraid you're right. The cow's too sacred...
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/31/2003 10:39:58 AM ||
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Dont get me started on 'GreenPeace' which, in my opinion, is a front organization for the democratic party if not the communist party.
What they did to the Lumber industry around here (and that based on made-up 'studies') they are now trying to do to the fishing industry (also based on made-up 'studies').
Unfortunately they are good at raising funds (not letting the truth get in the way of raising a buck) and can probaby weasle out of this.
I've seen these people around here taking 'polls'. Funny how they only approach people who look a certain way (like they might be the sort of people who would agree with their agenda) to take a 'poll'....
#4
Here is a link to NGO Watch's webpage on Greenpeace. Click on the link in the webpage and you can see the IRS Form 990 for non profits that GP had to fill out. Organizations like these constantly explore the envelope of the non profit classification, and the IRS should smack them if they start being political.
For further reading pleasure, or to test out your latest blood pressure medicine or tranquilizer, here is a link to the ACLU.
This is all part of the Know Your Enemy⢠program.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/31/2003 14:17 Comments ||
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This is all part of the Know Your Enemy⢠program.
AP - the only way I want to "know my enemy" is to have him firmly bracketed in my gunsights.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/31/2003 14:36 Comments ||
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OP---I know how you feel about these clowns. I am frustrated, too, at what they do in their attempt to destroy this govt. Consider the links above as background and recon before they go in the sights.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/31/2003 15:27 Comments ||
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#7
Hmmm
Last week we read that France has re-targeted its nukes against "rogue states", now this.
Consider: Greenpeace is substantially independent of all lawfully constituted governments, it regularly flouts international law, it opposes many French military and economic interests. Sounds like a rogue state to me.
Worse, it has already defeated France in one military confrontation. Having failed with their conventional weapons, the revenge-crazed Frogs will no doubt be tempted to bring out their "big one" for the next round. If I were Green-piss, which thankfully I am not, I would getting a little worried just now.
Posted by: dorf ||
10/31/2003 20:21 Comments ||
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#9
Wonder what grabbed the steering wheel of this school bus and headed towards the ditch.
According to something I read the other day, when the Soviet Union went belly-up, all the Communist loonies had to find another hobby, and decided they could best carry out their previous agenda disguised as "environmentalists".
Greenpeace is substantially independent of all lawfully constituted governments...
But isn't that..that...globalization? I mean, just like the evil baby-blood drinking multinational corporations?
Investigators were examining the engines and gear boxes on two Sea King helicopters Thursday after the aircraft lost power in flight, forcing the military to restrict the fleetâs flying time to only critical missions. For one of the few times in its troubled 40-year history, the aircraft were ordered to stand down and not fly any non-operational flights. The six now able to take to the air in Halifax and the remaining Sea Kings in British Columbia will not be able to conduct routine training missions, but can still respond to emergencies. Oh, thatâs real nice.
That could change as early as Friday if engineers find enough similarities between the two mishaps to warrant a complete grounding of the geriatric fleet. "If the incidents were linked it might point to a broader fleet-wide issue," Lt.-Col. Bruce Ploughman, operations officer of the Sea King fleet at Halifaxâs Shearwater base, said in a sprawling hanger containing nine of the helicopters. The unusual measure comes after the two aircraft reported similar power failures in two separate incidents more than a month apart. On Sept. 23, a Sea King was practising landings on the deck of HMCS Iroquois when there was an imbalance in the amount of power the engines were producing. The sudden loss caused the aircraft to fall more than a metre to the shipâs deck. None of the crew was injured. On Monday, another Sea King was on a training exercise outside Halifax when it temporarily lost power, causing it to dip before continuing to fly. Sounds like a trend to me.
Lt.-Col. Dave Mason, commanding officer of the fleetâs flight maintenance, said specialists were zeroing in on the fuel content, the fuel delivery to the engines, and the performance of the engines and gear boxes. They were also looking at the way the engines and gear boxes were installed and maintained, since both helicopters came from the same hangar and might have been subject to flawed service. The General Electric engine and Sikorsky gear boxes were both updated within the last five years and have about 30,000 flying hours combined, something Ploughman said rules out the common criticism levelled against Sea Kings. "They have been upgraded so this in no way reflects on the age of the Sea King," he said as a colleague stood nearby wearing a badge with a picture of the aircraft and a message - Flying Yesterdayâs Aircraft Tomorrow. That shows confidence in your aircraft.
In Ottawa, the opposition seized on the latest problems with the Sea Kings by criticizing Prime Minister Jean Chretien for acquiring jets for his use while the Forces have been beset by problems with aging equipment. "Can the prime minister explain why it took him only one day to get new Challenger jets for himself when he wanted them and after 10 years our military people donât have the military helicopters they need?" Canadian Alliance Leader Stephen Harper said in the House of Commons. Humm, because he thinks more of himself than of those crude brutes in uniform?
Posted by: Steve ||
10/31/2003 1:48:13 PM ||
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Flying Yesterdayâs Aircraft Tomorrow.
Well, there are still some two hundred B-52's flying, and IIRC, the last one off the assembly line was accepted by the Air Force in 1962. Most of those still flying have crewmembers, sometimes whole crews, that are younger than the aircraft. I don't have the figures, but there's supposedly still some 2000 DC-3's and C-47's being used around the globe, including a pair at the airport in Omaha, Nebraska, flying under the name "Stagecoach Airlines". They're all getting old, and require special care. Sea King helicopters fall into that same category. If you build it right the first time, and take care of it when it needs it, it'll last. An early nickname for the F-16 was "Air Force Lawn Dart", because so many of them plowed into the ground. That was more due to pilot familiarization than faulty design, but not entirely. It doesn't matter whether it's state-of-the-art technology or something older than I am, if it's not manufactured well, if it's not maintained well, and if the people using it aren't trained well, it's a catastrophe waiting to happen.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/31/2003 14:13 Comments ||
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#2
...Sadly, M. Chretien has absolutely no regard for the Canadian Armed Forces - and it's a shame, because I've worked with those guys time and time again, and it's awful to see them dying the death of a thousand cuts up there.
A prediction, because it's my understanding that M. Chretien is as obsessed with his 'legacy' as Someone Else was - he will attempt todisband what's left before he leaves office in order to get himself a Nobel. Imagine the screams of admiration from the left after the leader of a first-world Western nation becomes the first one to actually eliminate his nation's military.
(And yes, I know, Canada has treaty commitments. My feeling there is that nations have commitments; politicians only have constituencies.)
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
10/31/2003 14:18 Comments ||
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#3
Maybe it's better that dar-al-Canada no longer has any military capacity worth mentioning. Consider this: right after the Prime Minister of Malaysia gave that speach which would have brought a tear to Hitler's eye, M. Chretien walked up and shook his hand. I kid you not.
#4
Some equipment can last forever. There are Fram destroyers from the US WWII fleet still in service around the world. When properly lubricated a low speed reduction gear will last forever.
An airframe is an entirely different matter. The services need to get together and compromise on a replacement for the Sea King.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/31/2003 17:25 Comments ||
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#5
still some 2000 DC-3's and C-47's being used around the globe
OP I have an Uncle that used to work on C-47s in SE Asia in the late '50s (Flyin Tiger!) noted engines that had been rebuilt so many times it was difficult to find a place to stamp his mark on the block.
Pak Political Parties
Poet Ahmad Nadeem Qasimi wrote in Jang that five Muslim Leagues have joined up but fears are that they will again be separated by their leaders because some of them are saying the merger is actually alliance. On the other hand, the JUI has split in the past to (F) and (S) but inside the MMA the (S) party is threatening to leave. Similarly Jamiat Ulema-a-Pakistan or JUP used to be Noorani and Niazi. Jamaat Islami was indeed united but its stand on General Musharraf was not so sincere given the fact that it had joined General Ziaâs government without asking him to take off the uniform.
Fate of Womenâs commission
Poetess Kishwar Naheed wrote in Jang that a Womenâs Commission was set up in Islamabad four years ago and made permanent. Its chairperson was a lady whose statements were not liked by Pakistanâs feudal leadership. She was threatened over the phone and warned against making any recommendations against the draconian laws against women in Pakistan. She was finally threatened with the abduction of her young daughter, after which she took her daughter and ran away to Canada. After that for some time no one was appointed chairperson, Then Karachiâs respectable judge Justice Majida Rizvi was appointed and the Commission began its work. It has now recommended the repeal of Hudood Laws, two only out of 16 members dissenting, including chairman of the Council of Islamic Ideology. There were 430 women in Karachi jail from all over Sindh because women donât have the right to being witnesses. A similar number are jailed in Multan along with their children after being raped because they couldnât bring four witnesses to prove the act.
Fazl brothers called âthiefâ in assembly
According to Jang, a member of the NWFP assembly Hafizullah Alizai used indecent language against JUI chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and his brother after which there was uproar in the house. The opposition agreed to apologise on his behalf and he himself later apologised to the ruling party, after which the speaker of the house erased the word thief from the record.
Maulana declares war against Jews and Christians
According to Nawa-e-Waqt, Maulana Samiul Haq leader of JUI(S) said in Akora Khatak that the Muslims were suffering from the atrocities of Jews and Christians. They had been targeted especially in their madrasahs therefore he stood up and declared jihad against the aggressive Jews and Christians of the world.
Actress acquitted of obscenity
According to Nawa-e-Waqt actress Khushboo was allowed to go free after the Lahore High Court discovered that charges against her of fahashi were without any proof. The organisation that alleged that she had danced in an obscene manner at Naz theatre and had spoken obscene words could not prove the charge and was not able to bring a single witness. Actress Khushboo had gone to court to get the case against her squashed, but the police had registered the case without a prima facie ground. The court did not award costs.
Is hunger strike against Islam?
Columnist Farooq Alam Ansari wrote in daily Din that after the religious alliance MMA decided that it would sit in the hunger strike camp against the LFO in Islamabad two cleric members Rehmatullah Khalil and Qari Fayyaz Rehman decided that it was against the edicts of Islam to go on hunger strike and therefore they would not go without food. They also said that since shariah was not enforced in Pakistan it was not yet incumbent on them to act in the light of Islamic faith. After seeing that all the great leaders of the MMA were in the hunger strike camp the columnist wondered whether Qari Fayyaz Rehman was not adhering to the faith of eating well prevalent in the city of Gujranwala which he represented.
Insulter of Quran dies
According to Nawa-e-Waqt one Nasima Bibi of Shadbagh who was accused of insulting the Quran died in jail in Lahore after being bailed out by the High Court in June with Rs 50,000 bond for her and her two sons who were also arrested. No one came forward to stand bail for them and the mother died. The sons then prayed to the court that they be allowed to leave and bury their mother as no one was willing to stand bail for them. They said their mother was wrongfully accused by a man to get hod of her house. She was a God-fearing person and could not think of insulting the Quran. The court let the sons below 18 years of age go on a bail of Rs 5,000.
No plucking, please!
According to Khabrain, women were greatly divided over whether women should pluck their facial hair. The religious ones said that those who plucked their eyebrows suffered the wrath of Allah. They could cut their hair on the head only in case of disease otherwise cutting hair was a great sin. Some women said that there should be ijtehad (rethinking) over make-up as most of the ingredients of modern make-up did not exist in ancient times. A beautician said that make-up was Islamic but a maulavi said it was banned.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
10/31/2003 1:34:08 AM ||
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#1
Reading the Qu'uran and haddiths etc and thus "knowing" on an intellectual level just how amazingly wacked-out Islam is pales in comparison to its effects in practice. Every item here demonstrates the point. Taken in total - and knowing it's just another day in one corner of Islam and not an aberration - it is truly breathtaking.
A daily roundup like this should be required reading for every female - who's been allowed to learn to read - and read aloud to the rest. Then the same for all pseudo-intellectuals / self-styled elitists and apologists in the West. The sum is negative - in the extreme. I feel like Linda Blaire in The Exorcist... I can't remember, did her head spin first or did she do the target-vomiting first?
#2
Barely, although reading these things for the past year has been an interesting experience. Most of the typical insanity and fanaticism kind of melds together after a while, although I can still remember a few nuggets that I never posted here.
Like the time a Mullah reported on his close encounter of the infidel kind, wherein a UFO landed in his backyard, and several men with big eyes got out and started pointing at him, luckily, being a very holy man, the Mullah closed his eyes and prayed loudly. When he opened them, the UFO had disappeared.
Or the time when the dastardly Indians has come up with an evil new plan, where RAW had recruited thousands of Hindu girls, who had dedicated themselves to some Hindu goddess of love, and apparently had mastered the Kama Sutra, and were now streaming across the border in order to seduce Pakistan's Generals and Politicians in order to extract vital information from them.
And then there is this: According to Khabrain, a Christian pir in Chak Misran has revealed that the tornado that visited the village was, in fact, a fight between two groups of Jinns. The non-Muslim jinns were opposed to Muslim jinns and were living a life of tension. The crisis broke out when a non-Muslim jinn fell in love with a Muslim female jinn. The girl jinn was very obstinate and did not listen to the buzurg Muslim
jinns and was about to marry the non-Muslim jinn when all hell broke loose and the village was destroyed. Muslim jinns which came from the neighbouring villages were rescued. Chak Misran was now completely in control of Muslim jinns and their children attended tilawat of Quran.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
10/31/2003 5:54 Comments ||
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#3
Reminds me of the first time I got talking to a particular British/Pakistani girl who was a junior security guard at a place I once worked (absolutely stunning girl, btw, but dimmer 'n a five-watt bulb). She soon started telling to me, and this was totally unsolicited, that when a child, she had a close encounter with "humans with animal heads" in a field one time, back in the old country. I swear to you, she wasn't pulling my leg.
Although 'promised' to a Muslim, she later eloped with a married middle-aged a***hole named Paul.
#4
Paul / BD - I just back from dinner to find your private stash of jewels and BD's scarily familiar story - and they're doozies! I had conversations with 2 Saudis who were, for reasons that eluded me, bent upon converting me. We covered ground similar to BD's story married to the news items: they casually talked about spirits and ghosts as if everyone knew they existed - and apparently assumed I accepted their existence. Casual - and deadly serious. What did I say, you didn't ask? Well, I would smoke furiously to cover the death's-head grin that threatened to engulf me... it was very very hard not to laugh aloud, I tell ya. More than once, when they paused for the conversational encouragement to continue, it was all I could do to nod my head. One guy is still sending me occasional emails as I somehow became part of his list of "pet" infidels. I'm sure he believes I will convert someday.
BTW - Aramco was a specially privileged "zone" per King Abdul Aziz's edicts - and women could work there in the "core area" uncovered - given they had an influential daddy, that is. There were a few who were astonishingly pretty - huge almond-shaped cow eyes, but the Western-approved body shape was not as frequent. I can easily see the mullahs fearing an invasion of seductresses - and the weakness of a bloke suffering from a Daddy Complex who's offered a knockout woman's body sporting a child's mind.
As with most (all?) belief systems, the deepest fears of the believer's mindset are evidenced by their community myths and strictest censures. Methinks Little Mike had an unfaithful wife and got cheated a few times in business affairs - and took particular exception to exorbitant interest rates... Divine revelation, indeed! If only they knew their history well enough to have known it had to be Aramaic, not Arabic, they might've bluffed it through!
I hate to say it, but the Arthurian legend that so impressed Edward III such that he instituted honor and chivalry and fair play (embodied by the Order of the Garter) as tenets of military and official behavior may have to be jettisoned before the WoT reaches its climax. It will be hard to defeat an enemy with zero strictures when are are so burdened with taboos - which they employ against us at every turn, to boot. Someday, we may be forced to reply in kind. That will be their end, of course, if it comes to that.
#5
Maybe Khushboo, Bubbli, and Billo can get together and do the Paki version of "Charlie's Angels"? They won't even have to pluck their facial hair.
And if anybody from one of the Muslim leagues wants Manny Ramirez, just pick up the phone and make that call.
#6
Maulana declares war against Jews and Christians
What again?
.com- lots of Christians of various stripes believe in spirits. I'm of the evangelical variety and I believe in angels and demons, though I don't think them responsible for everything and I look funny at people I meet at church who claim to have complicated encounters with them.
#7
I'm of the evangelical variety and I believe in angels and demons
I'm with you... course I live down the hill from the projects and am expecting many students this evening. (Angels and demons) Luckily I have Mr. Hatfield to sort them out for me.
Registration Required
While the government continues to battle extremist Islamist groups within the country as well as remnants of Al Qaeda-Taliban in areas adjacent to Afghanistan, intelligence agencies report the likely emergence in the near future of new sectarian groups. These reports say militants from banned sectarian outfits like Sipah-e-Mohammad Pakistan, Sipah-e-Sahaba, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and even splinters groups of these organisations are in the process of forming new terror groups. âWe have indications that they want to begin a new and more deadly round of sectarian violence,â says an official, adding: âThe Deobandi sectarians are spoiling to avenge Azam Tariqâs murder.â Sipah-e-Mohammad Pakistan is a Shia sectarian outfit, although it is much less active that its Deobandi counterparts.
One such report even talks about the formation of a group in Karachi and Quetta with the sole objective of avenging the killings of Hazara in Quetta in two major terrorist incidents in June and July. Thirteen police recruits, all Shia Hazara, were killed in an ambush in Quettaâs Saryab neighbourhood in June while more than fifty people of the same community were massacred in an attack on an imambargah in Quetta. âWe fear that there will be new actors in these groups, harder to identify and perhaps more indoctrinated,â says a police officer. Officials also refer to a speech by Abdul Ghafoor Hyderi, a leader of the slain sectarian firebrand Azam Tariqâs Millat-e-Islamia Pakistan. Hyderi warned at a demonstration in Karachi of the possible formation of âLashkar-e-Azamâ if the government failed to arrest the killers of Tariq. Tariq, along with three gunmen and a driver, was killed in a drive-by shooting in Islamabad on October 6. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, or Army of Jhangvi, was named after Haq Nawaz Jhangvi, the founder of Sipah-e-Sahaba, who was assassinated by Shias a decade ago.
Intelligence officials are taking these threats very seriously. âThe undercurrents are similar to those in 1996 when Lashkar-e-Jhangvi was formed and went on a killing spree,â says an official. Most observers think the situation could get worse than in the mid-nineties. âThe situation is chaotic and it is difficult to keep track of all these groups and their agendas. The sectarians can morph into jihadis and vice versa overnight. Then there is the war on terrorism and the groupsâ linkages. Itâs just a nightmare for law enforcement agencies,â says a top official.
If you don't go to sleep, you don't have nightmares, do you?
There are also indications of a stir among the jihadi groups. At least four such organisations have already formed an alliance called the Muslim United Army. The name first came to surface on October 16 last year when international media reported a string of parcel-bomb explosions in Karachi. The responsibility for the attacks was taken by then-unknown MUA. The explosions, at the home secretaryâs office and some police stations, injured eight people including six policemen. The supreme commander of his own faction of the outlawed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Asif Ramzi sent emails to newswires and national newspapers in which he claimed to speak on behalf of MUA. Ramzi is believed to have been killed along with three of his accomplices in a mysterious bomb blast at a warehouse in Karachiâs Korangi area on December 19 last year. Most police officers did not take the MUA seriously and dismissed it as a fake name being used by some banned outfit to mislead the police. But this theory did not last long. On May 15, twenty-one petrol stations owned by Anglo-Dutch Shell Company in the city were attacked with bomblets. A day after the blasts, MUA claimed responsibility for the explosions and warned that major attacks could follow if the government did not relent in its campaign against the mujahideen (holy warriors). The group described the explosions at the 21 outlets of Shell Company as a âsmall glimpseâ of its capability to generate violence.
A recent report also says five proscribed outfits have grouped under the codename of 313 (the number of companions with the Prophet (pbuh) at the battle of Badr) to target key political and religious leaders and professionals. Four of its members are Harkat-ul Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Harkat-ul Ansar and Harkat-e-Jihad-e-Islami. These self-styled jihadi groups have linked up with Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a sectarian terrorist group accused of killings hundreds of Shias. However, some specialists who have watched the working of these outfits closely doubt the report. They contend that there is no example in the past of an alliance between sectarian and jihadi outfits. âThey have different agendas and objectives,â says one such analyst. They have the same agendas and objectives, and are in most cases the same people, they simply have different focuses, but they both wish to see a greater Pakistan, including Kashmir and Afghanistan, and they want to see the Shias apostesised so that Pakistan becomes a Deobandi-Sunni state.
Police officers have a different opinion. âWe have evidence that there is no difference between jihadi and sectarian groups. Their cadres keep moving from one job to another,â he said.
When one sector slows down, might as well use those skills in another...
Meanwhile, the infighting between the two groups of banned Jaish-e-Mohammad has again picked up. One JeM dissident, Abdullah Shah Mazhar, recently escaped an armed attack. He was fired upon while he was entering a mosque in Karachiâs Sharfabad locality. Masood Azhar, the Jaish chief, expelled June 12 a group of dissenters. The group broke away and claimed to form its own group called Al-Furqan. Its two prominent leaders are Abdullah Shah Mazhar and Abdul Jabbar. Others, who were expelled, include Tahir Hayat, alias Bhai Farooq, Ghulam Murtaza, Ghulam Haider, Nasir Shirazi, Naveed Farooqi, Qari Abdul Majid alias Qari Shah Jalal, Aijaz Mehmood, Maqsood Ali Shah, Abdul Samad Soomro and Shaukat Hayat. Jabbar has nicknamed himself Maulana Umer Farooq and is now the amir of the breakaway faction. Mazhar has been nominated the nazim-e-aala (chief organiser) and secretary general of Al-Furqan. Sources said the conflict between the two groups came to the fore when the Mazhar faction did not allow Masood Azhar to give a sermon at Masjid-e-Bataha in Karachiâs Sakhi Hasan locality in North Nazimabad. In mid-June, the two groups clashed over the possession of the mosque. The faction led by Mazhar prevailed in the end. Another scuffle between the two factions was reported at a mosque in Korangi. This mosque was captured by Azharâs group. A close aide of Masood Azhar said that a conflict on the possession of mosque was due to its precious real estate value and its madrassah. He told TFT the expelled leaders had no concern for jihad and their main objective was to occupy the properties belonging to the Jaish to make easy money. Probably true enough, but Masood Azhar cares more for making money than Jihad too, as long as they recruit enough cannon fodder with incendiary speeches, the money will keep rolling in.
Masood Azhar was chief of his outlawed militant outfit Jaish-e Muhammad (JeM) before he renamed his party in December 2001 as Tehrik al-Furqan fearing its possible inclusion in the US State Departmentâs list of terrorist groups after the State Department spokesperson Richard Boucher hinted that the Bush administration was concerned over the alleged âterroristâ activities of Jaish-e-Mohammad and was considering placing it on the terrorist list. It was further renamed Khudam-ul Islam after the party leadership feared yet another ban on it. Khudum ul Islam (Servants of Islam), is the biggest Deobandi Jihadi outfit in Pakistan, and incidently it has almost no Pashtun members, it is overwhelmingly Punjabi.
Related reports suggest the police in Karachi fears as much threat from militants of sectarian as from the jihadi organisations. âWe have a report that says a number of leaders of the religious and sectarian groups and professionals, doctors in particular, are on the hit lists of terrorists. I cannot give you the exact number of such persons because we are updating our data frequently,â Sindh chief ministerâs advisor for home affairs, Aftab Shaikh told TFT. Shaikh conceded the government has received reports of possible attacks on foreign diplomatic missions, Western targets, including multinationals and food franchise outlets, churches, imambargahs and mosques. âWe are prepared for any contingency,â he told TFT.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
10/31/2003 1:30:21 AM ||
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#1
I's even worse than you thought--ER Docs in NYC have security now
By SAMEER N. YACOUB ABU GHRAIB, Iraq (AP) - U.S. troops battled Iraqi rioters when a dispute over a marketplace exploded into anti-American fury Friday. Leaflets and rumored warnings called for a "Day of Resistance" Saturday at the start of a three-day general strike to protest U.S. occupation. The bloody, on-and-off clashes in Abu Ghraib, just west of Baghdad, broke out Friday morning when U.S. troops tried to clear market stalls from a main road, Iraqi police reported... "God damn America!" shouted friend Ali Hussein, who said the men were passing by when the Americans opened fire on rock-throwers. "U.S. soldiers are the real terrorists, not us!" he said. Anyone care to guess whether these guys did well, or poorly, under Saddam?
#3
Ali- I think God likes America just fine, thank you
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/31/2003 17:19 Comments ||
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#4
Appropriate force:
"He uses his fist, you use your stick. He pulls a knife, you pull your pistol and cancel his ticket right then and there."
-- The New Centurions
Two Iraqis were killed, and 17 others and two U.S. soldiers were reported wounded at the marketplace clashes outside Baghdad, as Iraqi rioters waved portraits of Saddam Hussein and shouted "Allahu Akbar!" - "God is great!"
Waving portraits of Saddam Hussein, huh? Somehow, I have my suspicions about this "riot". For instance, how many people were involved? The article doesn't say.
#6
Anyone waving around a portrait of Sadsack should be shot automatically. I'm sure that will cut down on the recidivism rate, and maybe bring a little bit of order to all this chaos.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/31/2003 18:55 Comments ||
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#7
How many people really lug portraits of Sammy around and spontaneously whip them out when they meet Americans?
Posted by: Fred ||
10/31/2003 20:11 Comments ||
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#8
Yelling Allahu Akbar. And bring back the guy who tied our hands and pitched us off tall buildings.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/31/2003 20:26 Comments ||
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Sgt. Kurt Smith is spending his time in Iraq as a full-time medic and part-time historian. Many of the weapons that his unit, the 4th Armored Divisionâs 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment, have confiscated belong in museums rather than their arms room, he said. There are two 1917 Webley revolvers, World War I-era British Enfield rifles, World War II-era German Mauser rifles, Russian PPKs and British submachine guns. I guess those jokes about granddaddys shooting iron were true.
âIâm a weapons enthusiast,â said Smith. âMy dad was a weapons collector and he passed on some weapons to me and my brother.â For the past few months, Smith has become a expert of sorts on the unitâs collection. Those he doesnât know about he checks in two reference books: one issued to units explaining what weapons to expect in Iraq and another on World War II weapons. Some of the weapons are too old for either book. âThereâs stuff that Iâve only seen in museums, in books or on the Internet,â said Sgt. 1st Class Nelson Castro, the 3-16thâs master gunner. âMost of this stuff is in fairly good shape.â Never fired, only dropped a couple of times.
âI was surprised to see the [British] Sterling submachine gun,â Smith said, âplus, similar to the Sterling, the Sten. They were World War II weapons and ... are different than the AKs and other automatic weapons.â There have been, of course, hundreds of AK-47s collected, a handful of Dragonov sniper rifles, a half-dozen or so rocket-propelled-grenade launchers and even a box of Beretta pistols, which were recently cleaned and oiled. Many of the modern confiscated weapons, such as the AK-47s, have been issued to Iraqi security or police units. The older ones, however, will remain in the unitâs arms room for the foreseeable future. âI hope that theyâre not going to be discarded,â Smith said. Many of the older weapons, though seemingly in good shape, wonât be test fired because of safety concerns. âMaybe theyâll go into a museum,â he said. Those that donât get, er, liberated. Of course, thatâs against regulations.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/31/2003 2:59:52 PM ||
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by Charles "The Hammer" Krauthammer, Washington Post. EFL
The guerrilla war in Iraq is wearing and painful for Americans. The enemy plants the roadside bomb and succeeds with the occasional ambush. The losses are mounting. What makes success for the saboteurs still dubious, however, is that they do not represent a true guerrilla force. They are nothing like the successful Vietnamese, Chinese or Cuban guerrillas, who were, in Maoâs famous phrase, "fish swimming in the sea of the people."
The Saddam loyalists swim in a small lake. They represent the deeply loathed Baathist regime, with just a small constituency at home — bolstered by foreign terrorists who may speak for a general kind of Islamism but are no more loved by Iraqis than they were by the Afghans, who despised them. There is no general uprising among the Iraqi people. On the contrary: 80 percent of the country is either Shiite or Kurd, for almost a century ruled and repressed by the Sunni Arab minority. Which is why most polls show a very substantial majority of Iraqis want the Americans and British to stay and are pleased with the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.
The Iraqi resistance, such as it is, is rooted in Sunni Baathists who have everything to lose if the Americans succeed. But it is precisely because they represent so small a minority that they are likely to fail, barring a collapse of American will at home. Which is why the enemy has turned to the car bomb. The car bomb does not require a constituency. It does not require popular support. It requires only one person who knows explosives and another who is willing to drive and perhaps to die. The car bomb is the nuclear weapon of guerrilla warfare. The 1983 car bomb attack on the Marine barracks in Beirut, killing 241 Americans, drove the United States out of Lebanon. . . .
But there was another car bomb in Beirut in the early 1980s that was just as significant. It is now largely forgotten in the West, but well-remembered by the Arabs. It, too, had quasi-nuclear effect. In 1982 a car bomb blew up Phalange Party headquarters, killing Bashir Gemayel, the newly elected pro-Western, pro-American, pro-Israeli president. Syria was deeply unhappy with him. The car bomb soon took care of business, wiping out an entire office building housing not just Gemayel but many top aides and government officials. It was the perfect political decapitation. With Gemayel gone, and a year later the Americans too, Lebanon inexorably fell into Syriaâs lap. It remains a Syrian colony. Our enemies in Iraq have learned these lessons well. Considering that itâs many of the same people who were our enemies in Lebanon, thatâs no surprise.
The car bomb of Oct. 12 was aimed at the Baghdad Hotel, housing not just large numbers of Americans but much of the provisional Iraqi government. It would have been the equivalent of the two Beirut bombings in one: a psychologically crushing massacre of Americans — which would have sparked immediate debate at home about withdrawal — and the instantaneous destruction of much of the pro-American government, a political decapitation that would have left very few Iraqis courageous enough to fill the vacuum. The bomber failed. Most significantly, it was Iraqi police who assisted in shooting up the car at a relatively safe distance and thus preventing a catastrophe. They understand whatâs at stake here, in a way that some members of the opposition at home (e.g., a certain haughty, French-looking Massachusetts Democrat) either do not, or refuse to acknowledge.
The car bomb campaign has, however, continued with singular ferocity since. The war in Iraq now consists of a race: The United States is racing to build up Iraqi police and armed forces capable of taking over the countryâs security — before the Saddam loyalists and their jihadist allies can produce that single, Beirut-like car bomb that so discourages Americans (and Iraqis) that we withdraw in disarray. Who wins the race? If this president remains in power, the likelihood is that we do.
Posted by: Mike ||
10/31/2003 9:23:52 AM ||
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#1
The United States is racing to build up Iraqi police and armed forces capable of taking over the countryâs security -- before the Saddam loyalists and their jihadist allies can produce that single, Beirut-like car bomb that so discourages Americans (and Iraqis) that we withdraw in disarray.
If the lesson from Lebanon was learned by the U.S. military, there won't be another incident involving a "single, Beirut-like car bomb".
EFL:
American soldiers on Friday sealed off the village where Saddam Hussein was born and ordered adults to register for identity cards that will allow them to move in and out of the community. "This is an effort to protect the majority of the population, the people who want to get on with their lives," said Lt. Col. Steve Russell, a battalion commander in the 4th Infantry Division. Russell said he did not know whether Saddam was directing parts of the insurgency, but the village is the family home of many former Baathist regime members. Itâs the root of the infection.
"There are ties leading to this village, to the funding and planning of attacks against U.S. soldiers," Russell said. The operation would provide "controlled access" to Uja, Russell said. Starting around midnight Thursday, U.S. soldiers, Iraqi police and civil defense forces moved into this small dusty village about six miles southeast of Tikrit. Soldiers erected a fence of barbed wire, stretched over wooden poles, and laid spirals of concertina wire around the perimeter of the village. Local Iraqi workmen were hired to help erect the fence. Meanwhile, groups of soldiers were positioned in dugout holes at strategic points surrounding the village and Bradley armored vehicles provided security. "Welcome to Uja Prison, git your hands up!"
The soldiers also established checkpoints on the road leading in and out of this village of about 3,500 residents. All cars were stopped and searched and people on the road were questioned about their identity. The area around Tikrit, 120 miles north of Baghdad, is considered a hotbed of resistance to coalition troops. Everybody more than 18 years old would have to register with the coalition forces and receive identity cards that will allow them to move in and out of the village, U.S. officers said. Expect howls of outrage to break out before the end of the day.
By morning, dozens of men from Uja had lined up outside the local police station, waiting to give personal information and have their picture taken for a computer-made ID card. The rest of Uja appeared calm. From the minaret of the villageâs modern mosque came calls for the midday prayer. Most of the villagers were from the al-Naseri clan and related to Saddam. "We are not really afraid, but what choice do I have," said Ali Sherif al-Naseri, who said he was a cousin of Saddamâs. "It may not be totally fair but itâs a good idea." Works for me
The Uja chief of police, Ahmed Hamza al-Naseri, said the military operation took him by surprise. Good
"I didnât know what was going on until I received a call in the middle of the night," he said. "This is all new to the people of Uja, they may be afraid at first, but they will accept it." As an example to others, the police chief said he was first to get an ID card.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/31/2003 9:12:43 AM ||
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#1
A bit over due, but it's a start. Wonder how much concertina wire it would take to encircle Falluja and Tikrit?
BTW Steve, what's the source of this. The link didn't work. Thanks for all your posts.
#7
Time for a house to house search. Maybe Sadaam is hiding inside Uja? Hell, his sons were that stupid and they got their genes from him.
Posted by: Charles ||
10/31/2003 12:13 Comments ||
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#8
I have bee calling for this from the get go! Anyone wanna bet that the attacks go way down after this? BTW Steve you wouldn't happened to be an Air Force 208 MSgt?
Since 9/11, weâve seen so much depraved violence we donât notice anymore when we hit a new low. This past Mondayâs attacks in Baghdad were a new low.
Just stop for one second and contemplate what happened: a suicide bomber, driving an ambulance loaded with explosives, crashed into the Red Cross office and blew himself up on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
This suicide bomber was not restrained by either the sanctity of the Muslim holy day or the sanctity of the Red Cross. All civilisational norms were tossed aside.
This is very unnerving. Because the message from these terrorists is: ââThere are no limits. We have created our own moral universe, where anything we do against Americans or Iraqis who cooperate with them is okay.ââ
What to do? The first thing is to understand who these people are. There is this notion being peddled by Europeans, the Arab press and the anti-war left that ââIraqââ is just Arabic for Vietnam, and we should expect these kinds of attacks from Iraqis wanting to ââliberateââ their country from ââUS occupationââ. These attackers are the Iraqi Vietcong.
Hogwash. The people who mounted the attacks on the Red Cross are not the Iraqi Vietcong. They are the Iraqi Khmer Rouge â a murderous band of Saddam loyalists and Al Qaeda nihilists, who are not killing us so Iraqis can rule themselves. They are killing us so they can rule Iraqis.
Have you noticed that these bombers never say what their political agenda is or whom they represent? They donât want Iraqis to know who they really are. A vast majority of Iraqis would reject them, because these bombers either want to restore Baathism or install bin Ladenism.
Letâs get real. What the people who blew up the Red Cross and the Iraqi police fear is not that weâre going to permanently occupy Iraq. They fear that weâre going to permanently change Iraq.
The great irony is that the Baathists and Arab dictators are opposing the United States in Iraq because â unlike many leftists â they understand exactly what this war is about.
They understand that US power is not being used in Iraq for oil or imperialism or to shore up a corrupt status quo, as it was in Vietnam and elsewhere in the Arab world during the Cold War. They understand that this is the most radical-liberal revolutionary war the United States has ever launched â a war of choice to install some democracy in the heart of the Arab-Muslim world.
Most of the troubles we have encountered in Iraq (and will in the future) are not because of ââoccupationââ but because of ââempowermentââ. The US invasion has overturned a whole set of vested interests, particularly those of Iraqâs Sunni Baathist establishment, and begun to empower instead a whole new set of actors: Shiites, Kurds, non-Baathist Sunnis, women and locally elected officials and police.
The Qaeda nihilists, the Saddamists, and all the Europeans and Arab autocrats who had a vested interest in the old status quo are threatened by this.
Many liberals oppose this war because they canât believe that someone as radically conservative as George W. Bush could be mounting such a radically liberal war. Some, though, just donât believe the Bush team will do it right.
The latter has been my concern. Can this administration, whose national security team is so divided, effectively stay the course in Iraq? Has the presidentâs audacity in waging such a revolutionary war outrun his ability to articulate what itâs about and to summon Americans for the sacrifices victory will require?
Can the president really be a successful radical liberal on Iraq, while being such a radical conservative everywhere else â refusing to dismiss one of his own generals who insults Islam, turning a deaf ear to hints of corruption infecting the new Baghdad government as itâs showered with aid dollars, calling on reservists and their families to bear all the burdens of war while slashing taxes for the rich, and undertaking the worldâs biggest nation-building project with few real allies?
I donât know. But hereâs what I do know: if Bush doesnât treat the next year as his second term, when he must do all the right things in Iraq without regard to politics, it is the only second term heâs going to see.
Posted by: rg117 ||
10/31/2003 3:49:39 AM ||
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#1
I'm dizzy. Right up to the very end, it was magic. Then he had a brain fart and imploded in a veritable black hole of egregiously specious mercenary asinine political agenda-driven inanity. I gotta put on a fresh Friedman/NYT patch.
#2
.com; I disagree, he had another brain fart here:
"They understand that US power is not being used in Iraq for oil or imperialism or to shore up a corrupt status quo, as it was in Vietnam and elsewhere in the Arab world during the Cold War. They understand that this is the most radical-liberal revolutionary war the United States has ever launched â a war of choice to install some democracy in the heart of the Arab-Muslim world."
For Friedman, we were the aggressors and the North Vietnamese were the liberators in Vietnam.
This month, Singaporeâs Home Affairs Ministry published a report on the activities of JI in the country. Much of the report outlines how militant Islamic groups across southeast Asia have co-operated and shared personnel, funds, and training facilities in furtherance of their Jihad. It also provides evidence of the presence of Al-Qaeda in the region and its efforts to use organisations such as the JI as sock puppets proxy groups to strike at Western interests. The report alleges that of the groups active in the region it is JI which enjoys the closest relations with Al-Qaeda.
We guessed that. The others are small potatoes, tools to be used by the Übermullahs...
Through a network of âsleeperâ agents and handlers operating under false identities, Al-Qaeda is able to provide material support to these groups and, at least in the case of the JI, to exert some influence over their choice of targeting. Such links are mutually advantageous — local groups receive funds and training, while Al-Qaeda effectively acquires a ready-made network of terrorist cells, thus negating the requirement to build such a network from scratch. The JIâs ultimate strategic objective is to use terrorism to bring about the creation of an Islamic Caliphate across southeast Asia.
I'm surprised at the number of people I meet who don't believe in the jewelled turban objective. They're convinced I'm making it up...
According to the report, JI believed it could first engineer the overthrow of the Singapore and Malaysian governments by mounting a series of terrorist strikes against targets in Singapore. The attacks would be represented as acts of aggression by the Malaysian government. The JI hoped that the result would be an erosion of trust between the two governments, a âMuslim Malaysiaâ and a âChinese Singaporeâ, and eventual ethnic strife. At this point, it was reasoned that Muslims in both countries would respond to calls for a Jihad, which would ultimately bring down both administrations.
Uhhh... That makes sense. Not a lot of sense, but sense. Who thought that up? Rube Goldberg?
Of particular note are findings on the JI methods of recruitment and indoctrination. Potential candidates were first identified through religious study groups, where they would be introduced to discussion of Jihad and the world-wide plight of Muslim populations. Students demonstrating a particular interest in Jihadi theology were then engaged specifically over a period of around 18 months, and made to feel a sense of exclusivity by their recruiters.
Those would be the funnel organizations, hoovering up the little lost souls, the simple, the rustic, the easily led...
Certain students were selected as JI members and gradually subjected to well-documented techniques of escalating commitment. They were first taught that anyone who left the group was an infidel, and that all Muslims who did not subscribe to Jihad were also infidels - a dogmatism designed to convince group members that even the killing of innocent Muslims was justified.
Members were then required to take an oath called the Baiah, pledging allegiance to the groupâs emir, or leader. This was often followed by a form of âpsychological contractingâ in which, following their attendance at a particularly fiery sermon, group members would be asked to fill in forms indicating their choice of responsibilities, up to and including martyrdom. Having signed these contracts, members were not permitted to reverse their decision. According to the report, this proved a most effective technique - while some members admitted to having had âcold feetâ about certain operations, they felt they could not withdraw because they were already âin too deepâ.
#1
The internal threat in Singapore is probably minimal, given that Muslims are only about 1/6 of the population, but the external threat is real. I suspect what the terrorists are trying to do is set off a series of major terror attacks in Singapore that will provoke a harsh government which turn could lead to either Malaysian or Indonesian intervention to protect their Muslim brethren from persecution. I wonder if indefinite detention (a la Guantanamo) of Muslim terrorists would trigger intervention by Singapore's neighbors.
#2
I think something like what you postulate is something the Muslims in SE Asia might try to do, but I also think the repercussions would be swift, mighty, and devastating. Neither Japan nor Australia could tolerate Muslim control of the Singapore Straits. It could get very ugly, very fast. If I were a jihadi squaddy, I'd be ready to duck and run the first time someone tried to do this. Better a live coward than a dead duck.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/31/2003 21:19 Comments ||
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[Some snipped - mostly stuff covered in Fredâs post below]
At one of two press conferences yesterday [the Malaysian prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad] delivered a parting message to the Jews, whom he described recently as "ruling the world by proxy", a comment that sparked outrage in the West. Yesterday he said: "They must never feel they are the despised scapegoats for most of humanity, one time or another the chosen people who cannot be criticised. They suffered a great deal in the past, they were killed and massacred and then came the Holocaust. We are sad to see how they were mistreated by the Europeans. The Muslims never ill-treated the Jews, but now they are behaving exactly how the Europeans behaved towards them against the Muslims."
By his standards this was diplomacy. More typically, when Washington this week linked £600,000 promised for military training to future commitments by Malaysia to religious harmony, he responded: "Keep the money." His deputy and hand-picked successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who will be sworn in today promising a quieter approach, will be left to repair relations with America. Tellinâ it like it is: you gotta love the Telegraph!
Dr Mahathir has viewed the world through a prism of racial and political stereotypes. His bogeymen have included homosexuals, the decadent West, condescending Australian leaders, avaricious financial speculators and obstructive Singaporeans. But for all the bigotry, he is complex and contradictory. An Israeli ambassador in the region condemned the recent anti-Jewish rhetoric but admitted to being "confused" by a simultaneous call for an end to Palestinian violence. Dr Mahathir won respect for his religious moderation and emphasis on education and employment of Muslim women. A sharp critic of the excesses of capitalism, he enriched the nation by opening up to foreign investment. He was driven in large part by a desire to turn the indigenous Malays into businessmen and professionals in the face of energetic Chinese and Indian minorities. He considers himself Malay, though his father was a Muslim Indian immigrant.
His greatest failure, he said, "is that I still cannot get the Malays to understand the workings of a free market economy and what they must do about it". Some Malaysians see him as a great leader, others as a virtual tyrant. His greatest achievements were instilling national pride and holding together a multi-racial society. Incomes have trebled in 20 years and a middle class has been born, though his detractors point out that all of South-East Asia has prospered in the same period. He built the worldâs tallest buildings, the Petronas Towers, a new administrative capital, Putrajaya, and a Formula One circuit but stifled dissent and free speech. Anwar Ibrahim, his former deputy who dared challenge his power, is in jail on trumped-up charges of corruption and sodomy. My guess is, heâs going to retire to the hills and live as a devout Muslim pig farmer.
Posted by: Bulldog ||
10/31/2003 4:58:36 AM ||
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#1
Yep. He's really a swell guy - just deeply misundertood. Kinda like Islam, the RoP. Same, same.
Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad famous for taunting Australian leaders will step down today after a record 22 years in office.
G'bye. Have a moderately nice time in retirement...
It will be a low key exit for 78-year-old. The ceremonial swearing-in ceremony for his chosen successor will take place at the Royal Palace before the King of Malaysia. At 63, Abdullah Badawi will become the country's fifth Prime Minister since independence. Afterwards the two men will return to the prime minister's chambers for the symbolic handing over of the leader's office. Dr Mahathir will then be driven to his private home in a gated community on the outskirts of the capital to begin his retirement. Malaysia's longest serving leader says he will play no further role in public life and plans to spend time catching up on sleep and indulging his hobby for shooting his mouth off horse riding.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/31/2003 00:08 ||
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"Spanish-speaking Cuban doctors and their French-speaking counterparts from the Democratic Republic of Congo are also battling to attend to the few emergency cases which are being admitted" Hey, whatever happened to workers of the world unite? Arenât these Cuban guys supposed to be providing universal health care in teh slums of Venezuala?
Harare - Mbulawa Shiri grimaced on Thursday as he lay on a hospital bed at Parirenyatwa Hospital, Zimbabweâs largest referral health facility. He was involved in a car accident on Sunday and thinks he broke both his legs. He did not know for sure, because a strike by doctors meant he had not been attended to and his relatives were frantically trying to raise Z$2 million (US $2,400 at the official rate, US $400 on the black market) to send him to a private hospital. Mr. Shiri, do you understand the acronym SOL?
On Monday the doctors were joined on strike by nurses, who demanded a review of their salaries. They were left out of a recently concluded Public Service Commission job evaluation exercise which sought to match professionalsâ salaries with their qualifications, work load and experience. Nurses earn between Z$260,000 to Z$800,000 a month depending on their posts. Bob has made nurses into millionaires. He is a genius. I bet the teachers are millionaires in Zimbabwe also. Finally, somebody got it right.
Hospitals Doctors Association president Phibion Manyanga, who spent the whole of Tuesday locked in a meeting with health minister David Parirenyatwa, said the health professionals were ready to return to work, but only if they received a written government assurance that they would be awarded the salary rise. I donât think they can provide written assurance of anything as their national paper industry has other priorities - 24 seven rolling out the dough.
This is at least the third time this year doctors have gone on strike over pay. Parirenyatwa reportedly said the government could not afford the "unrealistic, black market salaries" demanded by the medical staff, and responded to the strike on Wednesday by ordering doctors and nurses from the uniformed service into the public hospitals. "We are certainly putting up emergency measures in place to take care of the situation. This is our country and these are our people who are suffering," Parirenyatwa told the Bulawayo Chronicle. I wonder if faced with this situation in NKwhether the patients would be inspired by Juche and begin to perform surgeries on each other.
However, a nurse at Parirenyatwa Hospital, who asked not to be named, told IRIN that the presence of military medical personnel had made little impact. "The armed forces, like the government, does not have a full complement of medical teams and we have seen only one or two nurses from the army," said the nurse. "The only people who have been of assistance are student nurses and senior nursing staff who are not allowed to go on strike. When you cross a Zimbabwe nursesâ picket line, it sucks. They shout embarassing tidbits from the chart of your last physical.
Public relations manager at Parirenyatwa Hospital, Jane Dadzi, confirmed that only senior nursing students and nurse aides were attending to patients. "We have one doctor at the casualty department who is attending to emergency cases. Some people visiting the outpatients department are being turned away as they all cannot be attended to by the staff present because of the strike by doctors and nurses," she told the state-controlled Herald newspaper.
Zimbabweâs health service, once among the best in the region, has been laid low by the countryâs deep economic crisis, which has robbed it of adequate funding and experienced personnel.
You know youâre in bad shape when the Congo shows up to help. If youâre worse off than the DCR, you havnât hit rock bottom, but your nudging Haiti out of the way,
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/31/2003 10:41:09 PM ||
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The consular section of the Korean Embassy in Beijing said Friday that due to the recent surge of North Korean defectors there, it would change the way it issues visas beginning Nov. 3. The embassy had suspended the activities of its consular desk Oct. 7 - stopping services such as visa and passport issuances and military service affairs - and resumed them Oct. 20. The consular section will continue to receive visa applications from Chinese through 18 designated travel agencies, but will refuse entry to the section to anyone except the travel agenciesâ employees. The move is designed to prevent North Korean defectors from entering the consular section by presenting fake identification cards on the pretext of applying for visas. South Koreans will still be permitted to enter the consular section.
One of the reasons for the dramatic influx of North Korean defectors is that they can more easily forge their identification cards now, with the help of brokers. When the section suspended its services a few weeks ago, 120 North Korean defectors were under the embassyâs protection. Now the number is more than 130. A source said that the embassy had to put restrictions on visa applications because it would have to totally close down if the number of defectors approached 200.
Posted by: Michael ||
10/31/2003 4:02:59 PM ||
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#1
excellent SK logic! We will help you defect unless there's a bunch of you reflecting the decline of the North. I think we need to let SK sink or swim on its' own, and handle NK as a Japan/US defense issue - harshly
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/31/2003 18:12 Comments ||
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#2
Get the word out to try the US Embassy. Those folks can use a break. Vet them and then bring them here.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/31/2003 20:33 Comments ||
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EFL/Fair Use
American courts need to pay more attention to international legal decisions to help create a more favorable impression abroad, said U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day OâConnor at an awards dinner in Atlanta. "The impressions we create in this world are important, and they can leave their mark," OâConnor said, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The 73-year-old justice and some of her high court colleagues have made similar appeals to foreign law, not only in speeches and interviews, but in some of their legal opinions. Her most recent public remarks came at a dinner Tuesday sponsored by the Atlanta-based Southern Center for International Studies. Excuse me, but I believe the oath that Judges take is quite similar to the ones I took as a member of the Air Force. Somewhere in that oath are the words "I solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States, and bear true faith and allegience to the same." Nowhere in that oath do I see anything about "paying attention to foreign law". In my opinion, this statement by Sanda Day OâConner is treason, and should result in her immediate removal from our justice system, and deprived of any retirement she may have otherwise been entitled to. I donât remember foreign nations having any say in our laws, and I donât believe most Americans want to be judged by some half-wit from Brussels OR Beijing. This woman needs to be smacked upside the head a couple of times with a very LARGE cluebat. Ginsburg and Kennedy have both said similar things, and should be summarily removed as well. We, the people of this nation, are a free people, and do not submit to being ruled by any foreign power. These words state that we should.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/31/2003 1:27:03 PM ||
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#1
"The impressions we create in this world are important, and they can leave their mark"
That mark should be the impression of the boot that kicks you off the court.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/31/2003 13:37 Comments ||
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#2
The only thing the USSC needs to worry about is the whole "living constitution" malarkey. C'mon, folks, it's written in plain english, just read and understand. It's really not that complicated.
#4
Agreed OP. We need to make it painfully LOUD and clear that we the people will not tolerate being made subservient to foreign laws or any ruling that draws upon them. I will be lobbying congress appropriately.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
10/31/2003 14:10 Comments ||
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#6
OP, here's the oath of office I had to memorize for re-enlisting or promoting my Marines (I also have a copy in my wallet as my memory is sometimes not worth a crap):
I, (state your name), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegience to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the uniform code of military justice. So help me God.
The oath of office for officers is slightly different. For officers they added the part that goes "I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of which I am about to enter."
She would do well to remind herself of that. Notice how no one screwed w/the word "God" in that oath.
#7
If I understand her US courts should pay more attention to "legal" decisions taken in Saudi Arabia, Sudan, North Korea or in assemblies where their ilk is majority (read the UN).
Despite not being an US citizen I would like to attract her attention to the fact that American judges are not free to choose the legislation they would like, they are required to enforce the laws voted by the representatives of the people of the United States, not foreign legislations dictated by foreign potentates.
#8
JFM, the foriegn precedent is a cannard that several of the justices used to throwout sodomy laws. Sounds like she is implying that we'll see more of the same (i.e. when there is nothing to support the position that you want to take in the actual, launch a fishing expedition through UN and EU quasi law to pind some backing.)
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/31/2003 17:29 Comments ||
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Another one? Cheeze.
Authorities uncovered a plot to assassinate the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Ivory Coast, officials in the West African nation said Friday. The plotters want to kill Cardinal Bernard Agre and other unidentified political and religious leaders to portray the administration of President Laurent Gbagbo as ineffectual and unable to protect the public, Minister of Security Martin Bleou said on state television. It is, you donât have to kill anybody to do that.
They are "trying to plunge Ivory Coast into chaos," Bleou said. "The government demands that these individuals regain their self-control and abandon this project." Thatâll work, thanks alot, Bleou.
Bleou didnât provide details of the plot or say if any arrests have been made. Police carrying assault rifles could be seen spreading out around St. Paulâs Cathedral, where Agre lives and works in Abidjan, Ivory Coastâs commercial capital. "It shocks me," said an official at the cathedral, Marie Lobouet, of the reported plot. "We are praying to God that this will not happen." Ivory Coastâs rebels and government in July declared an official end to the former French colonyâs nine-month civil war, which was triggered by a failed Sept. 2002 attempt to oust Gbagbo. But the country remains tense â and divided between a rebel-held, predominantly Muslim north and a government-held south, peopled primarily by Christians and those practicing indigenous faiths. Gee, now which side do you suppose was going to kill the Cardinal?
Posted by: Steve ||
10/31/2003 11:41:51 AM ||
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#1
I hope the next pope comes from Africa; their clergy are hard core.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/31/2003 12:09 Comments ||
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#2
Gee, now which side do you suppose was going to kill the Cardinal?
Oh! Oh! I know! Is it the same cult that has threatened to kill the Pope?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
10/31/2003 12:19 Comments ||
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#3
Robert, have you ever noticed that Christianity seems to grow better in places where it isn't watered down and wishy-washy. When Christian churches try to tone down the message to make it more PC, fewer people attend church. Maybe I've swapped the cause and effect.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/31/2003 16:38 Comments ||
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#4
I've got a gut feeling the next Bishop of Rome is either gonna come from Sub Saharan Africa or Latin America. JPII IMHO is the one that put the nail in the coffin of the USSR at least as far as Europe is concerned. He is the one that gave the Poles the courage to stand up to Moscow. Lech Welensa followed his lead and the rest of Eastern Europe followed lech and Solidarity. If we have an African or Hispanic pope it will be a major factor in the next twenty years of world politics providing he is not too old at the time of his election.
#5
Well, I'm a lapsed Catholic turned agnostic, so I'm not the best person to ask. But, in general, I think if people are going to profess to a religion, they should practice it.
One thing that's come clear over the last couple of years -- Allah is not the same god as Yahweh and God. The sooner Christians and Jews realize that, and the sooner everyone else realizes what the Muslims are trying to do, the sooner we can end this war.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
10/31/2003 17:47 Comments ||
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#6
RC - from a semi-lapsed (read lazy) Catholic - the un-PC is welcome...they aren't the same, or when was Mohammad last referred to as the "Prince of Peace"?
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/31/2003 19:08 Comments ||
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The giant Caterpillar bulldozer, used by the Israeli military to destroy Palestinian homes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, now comes with a controversial new feature: remote control. Israel says its remote-control technology will lower risks to soldiers. But Palestinians fear it will lead to more frequent raids using the machines and make the three-year conflict even bloodier.
I'd say "yes," to both...
The remote-controlled D-9 bulldozer and a remote-control version of the Humvee, equipped with machine guns, were developed by the Israeli army and the Technion Institute of Technology. Both machines are U.S.-made, with Israeli modifications. They are expected to go into service in the next few weeks. The army refused to comment or reveal further details about the new equipment.
"We can say no more!"
Describing a day of field trials, a Technion statement quoted an Israeli army officer as asserting the thousands of dollars invested in each machine would save lives. "Today the bulldozer drivers are exposed to great danger when they knock down buildings that have militants hiding in them," the statement quoted the officer as saying. But Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat warned the unmanned machines would lead to even more Palestinian deaths. "The whole idea is despicable," he said. "If an unmanned bulldozer is used, human life is in much greater danger," Erekat said. If you die fighting a machine, do you get android virgins?
The Israeli military regularly demolishes suicide bombersâ homes and other buildings militants are suspected of using for cover to attack Israelis. For Palestinians, the name D-9 has become synonymous with destruction. Bwahahahaha!
The gray, heavily armored machines, which stand as tall as a small house, already have turned hundreds of buildings into dusty rubble heaps and ancient olive groves into wastelands with their powerful shovel blades. Israeli commentator Nahum Barnea has called them "the terrifying beast of this war." Bolos live! Ramadan Nawaf, 52, watched his house and groves of olives and oranges flattened by a D-9 four months ago, during a large-scale army raid of the town of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip. "It was moving like a monster," said Nawaf. "It was very big and destroyed everything in front of it." But developers say the new machine will save lives on both sides, pointing to the case of American peace activist Rachel Corrie, 23, of Olympia, Wash., who was crushed to death by a bulldozer â not a D-9 â on March 16 while trying to block a house demolition in the Gaza Strip. Saint Pancake
The army said the driver, sitting in the heavily armored cabin, could not see Corrie. The new D-9 has a wider and better field of vision, with cameras mounted much higher than the driverâs cabin, said Technion project developer Shai Hershler.
#6
But Palestinian Cabinet Minister Saeb Erekat warned the unmanned machines would lead to even more Palestinian deaths. "The whole idea is despicable," he said. "If an unmanned bulldozer is used, human life is in much greater danger," Erekat said.
Note to Saeb:
When terrrists living under your roof stop going into Israel to kill Jewish civilians, then you won't have to worry about bulldozer drones.
#7
You are going to see more and more of this kind of thing. There is always a human in the loop, but the capabilities that human has, especially with respect to the application of force, is extraordinary. Benched accuracy by every operator! One shot one kill with no collateral damage. Tough to negotiate with a remote vehicle/weapon platform as well.
Posted by: remote man ||
10/31/2003 13:30 Comments ||
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#8
You guys are slipping. No St. Pancake wisecrack?
#9
I hope they don't retire the old human-driven bulldozers for a while. That driver just needs four more "human shields" to become an ace!
Posted by: Dar ||
10/31/2003 14:54 Comments ||
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#10
I do have a minor, sentimental objection to this. According to Deuteronomy 20:19, When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field is man's life) to employ them in the siege.
I would prefer to leave the olive trees alone. The buildingsâknock them down.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
10/31/2003 15:17 Comments ||
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#11
The protesters need to develop a remote-control robot protestor to match this!
Posted by: Chris Smith ||
10/31/2003 15:20 Comments ||
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#12
I used to work for Cat. I could be no prouder! WTG IDF, take the best of the US and make it even better.
#14
This is great! Now mount a couple of big Honking speakers and sub-woofers and play some loud rock-and-roll (such as Blue Oyster Cult's 'Godzilla') while pushing the buildings down.
Go figure. In an article published in the Syrian daily Teshreen on October 28, 2003, writer R. Zain accuses the U.S. of distorting the term "terrorism" to meet its goal of world domination. The following are excerpts from the article: The Lives of People Worldwide Are Endangered if They Don't Listen to the U.S.
According to the awkward lexicon of the U.S., which is alleged to be the master of democracy, justice and freedom and the defender of human rights world-wide, terrorism has become a puzzle - if not a nightmare.
Seems pretty simple to us. You kill non-combatant men, women and children, puppies, kittens and baby ducks in the name of your ideology and you're a terrorist.
It is at the same time converted into an ironical subject matter and a source of absurdity and surrealism in politics, culture, arts and life in general.
Nothing Fellini about it. Words are twisty, greasy little things. When you ignore them and go to the core idea things clear up a lot.
Every day, the whole world is willingly or unwillingly instructed by Washington to do what it should, according to the U.S. diktat, [do] as regards combating terrorism. The administration of President George W. Bush âŠ, unfortunately and regardless of all world nations, sees itself as the only party which knows [mankind's] needs and what peoples must do to guarantee their safety and security and to safeguard their democracy, freedom and prosperity.
He's been taking all those twisty, greasy words about "human rights" and "international commitments" and "ensuring the safety of citizens" and holding the rest of the world to them.
Hence, the Bush Administration does not allow any world party whatsoever to violate Washington instructions lest the life of peoples should be endangered. The U.S. Administration wants Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Democratic Korea, France, China, Russia, Germany or any other friendly or unfriendly, neutral or antagonist states to abide by [Washington's] instructions.
We all pretend to agree on the rules, but up until now some of us have been doing pretty much as we please.
The list of the coercive instructions changes according to the vision and strategy of the White House and Pentagon rulers. In line with the hegemonistic [sic.] vision, no one whether a state leader, a governor, a ruler, a thinker, a reporter, an analyst or any other ordinary man has, consciously or unconsciously, the right to flee or violate those instructions. Otherwise, U.S. missiles are immediately launched against 'targets of disobedience' so that such 'breach of instructions' should not be the source of terrorism and its power..."
Unhappy about being on the poop list, are we? Tusk tusk. Too bad.
American Values Under Bush are Anti-Human
After all, Washington wants all nations of the world to love America and its 'values and culture' that have proven, under Bush rule, to be flagrant, tyrant and anti-human.
Not quite, Mahmoud. We've reached the oderint dum metuant point. That happened two years ago. Didn't you get our note?
Washington wants these moribund values to be revitalized and to be imposed on many nations.
Moribund values like individual liberty, freedom of religion, and all those silly things â to be imposed on the rest of the world? Terrible. Simply terrible.
The answer to the question why peoples hate the U.S. needs no interpretation and is self-explanatory.
My response to the constant refrain of "why do they hate us"? â "I don't care."
How can the U.S. claim itself to be the defender of justice, democracy and freedom and the staunch protector of human rights when it continues to mastermind hegemony, to perpetuate the law of the jungle, to back the forces of terrorism, occupation and aggressors and to validate Sharon's genocide against the Palestinians.
Pretty easily. My shame meter didn't budge a millimeter, in fact...
Under current tragic and fatal circumstances as well as the flagrant and racist lexicon of Washington, no sane person is able to describe America's new democracy as human, passionate, good and progressive.
Only us nuts would do that. Luckily us nuts are the ones with the heavy artillery at the moment...
Launching wars, validating occupation and aggression, violating human rights, dealing strong blows to peoples' national interests and trespassing their dignity and pride are never justice, democracy, freedom and progress.
Leaving tyrannical governments in place to oppress their populaces, to build palaces while their people starve, to kill and rape at their whim â those are legitimate national interests! That's maintaining national dignity and pride!
They are altogether the elements of insecurity and instability all over the world and are the true causes of terrorism and violence that have claimed the [lives] of thousands of innocent people.
They are what gives fascist regimes like Syria nightmares, aren't they?
What is going on in occupied Palestine and Iraq is a vivid example of what America's democracy and freedom actually mean. It is a terrorist and killing democracy that should be terminated for the vital interests of all Americans and nations world-wide.
It actually makes me proud that fascist states like Syria hate us.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/31/2003 11:25 ||
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"How can the U.S. claim itself to be the defender of justice, democracy and freedom..."
Ok. Is he telling us that Syria is really the defender of justice,democracy and freedom? Would his lips fall off if he did?
Posted by: Matt ||
10/31/2003 12:29 Comments ||
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"The Lives of People Worldwide Are Endangered if They Don't Listen to the U.S."
Depends on the people, bub...depends on the people.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
10/31/2003 12:55 Comments ||
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Missing bolts from a high-voltage electricity tower in Sacramento had been removed, a spokeswoman for the Federal Bureau of Investigation said Wednesday. The incident comes after a handful of similar events in Northern California and Oregon since Oct. 20, when witnesses chased a man from the base of a tower in Redding. The prior incidents have caught the attention of the Department of Homeland Security, which last week issued a bulletin to power industry and government officials warning of the bolt removals. FBI spokeswoman Karen Ernst said the FBI received a call Monday and after investigating, discovered that bolts had been removed from a transmission tower in Sacramento. Ernst wouldnât say if the Sacramento incident or any of the others were related, but said the FBI was aware of the incident and was investigating it. "Weâre not releasing anything saying theyâre all connected," said Ernst. "Our main concern is locating the individual we have the arrest warrant for." A federal arrest warrant was issued last Thursday for Michael Devlyn Poulin, 62. It charges him with destroying an energy facility, which carries up to a 20-year prison sentence. Poulin has only been charged with the Redding incident, but he is also "wanted for questioning" in connection with the Oregon cases, Portland FBI spokeswoman Beth Anne Steele said last week. JunkYardBlog reported on Poulin:
[A]ccording to California officials, Poulin was convicted in San Mateo in 1971-- during the height of the anti-war protests -- for "explosion of a destructive device which causes death, mayhem or great bodily injury." He served eight years in the California prison system before being released on parole in 1979. Locally, Poulin was an active and outspoken member of the Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane. PJALS leader Rusty Nelson said Thursday that Poulin wanted to take more direct action in promoting his causes. Poulin was outspoken on a variety of issues relating particularly to the recent war in Iraq as well as US relations to Israel and the formation of a Palestinian state. He wrote numerous articles along with his ex-wife for the "Palestine Papers", an online collection of articles hosted on the Sonoma County Free Press Web site.
As we say, one of the usual suspects.
Bolts were loosened or removed last week from the legs of transmission towers in at least four locations: Madras, McNary, and Klamath Falls in Oregon and Anderson in northern California. The Department of Homeland Security bulletin reported that the federal agency that manages a section of the westâs power grid has increased security. It also suggested power companies take protective measures by assigning more ground patrols and welding bolts to the legs of transmission towers. The bulletin says currently there is no indication the incidents are linked to terrorism. It sure sounds like it to me. Iâd also say Mr. Poulin most likely has help.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/31/2003 10:59:31 AM ||
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Do we have our first case of "peace" movement terrorism?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
10/31/2003 11:27 Comments ||
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"Weâre not releasing anything saying theyâre all connected,"
The bulletin says currently there is no indication the incidents are linked to terrorism.
Maybe not linked to Islamic (or maybe so), but it's terrorism nonetheless. What do these clowns think it was, as jolly college prank?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/31/2003 14:39 Comments ||
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I guess in that case they consider ELF burning down housing developments to be artistic expression protected under the First Amendment.
Not terrorism. Nope, nope, nope...
Posted by: Dar ||
10/31/2003 14:47 Comments ||
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Everyone in the Northwest US, keep your eyes open.
Ernst said the FBI is very confident that Poulin is in the Eugene, Ore., area. She said information leading the FBI to his believed whereabouts surfaced as part of the investigation, but wouldn't release any specifics. "We want to keep the heat on," Ernst said.
Poulin is described as a white man about 5 feet 11 inches tall and 250 pounds. He has blackish-gray hair, brown eyes, and a beard. He wears wire-rimmed glasses. The FBI is asking people to call authorities if they spot Poulin or his truck, a gray 1997 Toyota T-100 pickup with a white shell attached and Washington state license plate A36457P.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/31/2003 15:52 Comments ||
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He has blackish-gray hair, brown eyes, and a beard. He wears wire-rimmed glasses.
#7
"Damn. Cat Stevens finally snapped!"
Closer than you think. Cat Stevens snapped a long time ago. He now calls himself Yusuf Islam and goes around preaching against the terrible persecution suffered by hijackers and suicide bombers his fellow Muslims at the hands of the evil Bush gang and the International Zionist ConspiracyTM.
He was deported from Israel a while back for giving money to Hamas ("peace train soundin' louder") and being a general pain in the ass.
#10
It's a sad day when you can no longer depend on redneck vigilantes to keep power lines safe throughout rural America.
You go through back roads and see the stopsigns full of little holes and you think the area has been marked for the Palestinian loving peaceniks to keep out.
Somebody release a bunch of grizzlies in the area and dump refuse from a sausage plant on the base of all the towers. You know the refuse I mean - the mysterious chunky stuff that they squeegie into the drains. Yeah, it will mean hot dog prices will go up, but we need to keep our distribution system secure.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/31/2003 20:12 Comments ||
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#11
I helped send Poulan to prison in 1985 on a charge of illegal wiretap related to a stalking case. He was obsessed with a certain woman and was harassing her and threatening her and ultimately was tapping the phones of her friends to try to find where she was hiding. Prior to that, in the early 70s, he'd stalked another woman and planted a bomb in her car which blinded her father.
He IS a lone nutcase with a grudge, an obsessive streak, and a violent streak. His "politics" have as little to do with it as a child molester's membership in the Democratic or Republican party. Frankly I am glad they caught him at this stage because, like in the stalking cases, he probably would have escalated to bigger & worse over a short time.
All I can say tonight is, THREE STRIKES, YOU'RE OUT!! Lock that bastard up and throw away the key!!!!
Townhall EFL Innocuous on the surface, but sobering underneath.
According to a Department of Homeland Security intelligence report I obtained, Raymond Levesque was driving northbound along the I-95 near Houlton, Maine, when he was stopped by U.S. Border Patrol agents. Thank heavens theyâre doing their jobs. The agents arrested Levesque for working illegally in the U.S. Levesque said he has been operating as a truck driver in the U.S. for 15 years. He was freed on his own recognizance from the Fort Fairfield Border Patrol station in Maine pending an immigration hearing. (Catch and release is still the order of the day.)
The investigative agents keenly noted that, "taken as an isolated incident, the violation concerning Levesque could be of minor interest, however, a possible terrorism nexus here is clear. . . . There are at any given time several hundred military vehicles on site, and security is non-existent. The fact that undocumented foreign nationals are illegally transporting this equipment throughout the U.S. with access to the Limestone facility and other military facilities also would seem to pose a threat." Alain Normand Transport, the Quebec-based firm that contracted out to Levesque, is not even bonded for U.S. military shipments. Rachel Gagnon, a company dispatcher, explained that she learned about the military load from an American freight broker who put out a bid on the Internet. "Nobody said we couldnât do this," Gagnon told me.
The U.S. Armyâs Military Traffic Management Command (MTMC), which is responsible for contracting out surface transportation of military arms, ammunition, explosives, vehicles, and other motorized equipment, refuses to comment on what steps it takes to screen out frauds, felons, or potential terrorists. "We work very closely with commercial carriers and all defense transportation partners to ensure the safety and security of all of our shipments," MTMC public affairs officer Corenthia Libby informed me last week. "To safeguard these operational security measures I will not elaborate on the details." The transportation contract was bid on the internet without screening. Maybe Wallmart should be lower on the priority list.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/31/2003 10:07:42 AM ||
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Just checked Mapquest, couldn't find it - how close is Loring AFB to Houlton?
Kim Il-sung looked at me, slightly hunched forward and arms out, as though ready to reach out and embrace. Behind him, the sunlit panorama of lake, mountains, and forest of blossoming fruit trees added to the uplifting aura around him. This was odd, seeing that Kim has been dead for nine years, and his country is now heading into another grim winter rather than any kind of spring. Nonetheless, around me a phalanx of North Koreans lined up in rows, and at the cue of their stern-faced guide, bowed deeply from the waist in unison towards the wax effigy. As expectant faces turned, The Age managed an awkward nod. Nod or else
Deep in a mountain valley, two hours drive north of the capital Pyongyang on an empty four-lane highway, stands an elaborate pagoda-style building that is one of the chief shrines to the dictator who founded North Koreaâs communist republic. In death, Kim has become North Koreaâs "Eternal Leader". His son Kim Jong-il has assumed his power as head of the army and Communist Party, and taken over the title of "Great Leader". Kimâs embalmed corpse is on view in a mausoleum in Pyongyang only to a few selected guests. North Koreaâs cult-masters instead have opted for enhanced, virtual reality for the masses. "Welcome to Kimmyland!"
At the Mount Myohyang shrine, the 2000 daily visitors are taken to a giant windowless room where a white marble Kim sits in a huge chair. This is the first bow. The wax Kim, supplied by a Chinese firm, is the second, in its own room. It is distinctly slimmer and taller than life, and lacks the large growth that Kim sported on the back of his neck. Eeeuuuuwwww!!!!
The rest of the building is occupied by some of the 217,444 gifts given to Kim by foreign visitors and well-wishers going back to Stalin and Mao. This "International Friendship Exhibition" is cited as evidence of the enormous worldwide respect for Kim Il-sung. In a second pagoda, built at an estimated cost of $A300 million between 1995 and 1997, which was the height of a famine that killed up to 2 million North Koreans, gifts for current leader Kim Jong-il are piling up fast - they totalled 51,518 presents from 161 countries as of last week. As a collection of kitsch, it is probably incomparable. There are carved eagles, the skins of leopards, candle-holders and totems. Those from Western visitors are small and modest: a crystal ashtray from former US president Jimmy Carter, who came to appease mediate the first North Korean nuclear crisis just before Kim died, another small bribe object from CNN. Australiaâs Department of Foreign Affairs gave a modest set of bronze wine cups when it briefly opened a Pyongyang embassy in 1975; the Socialist Party of Australia an earth-toned vase in 1990. A hopeful Australian mining company, Boulder Project Management, sent a silver platter and a bowl in the mid-â80s. An entire room is devoted to gifts made by South Koreans. There are suites of gilded furniture, enormous television and hi-fi sets, and a gold-trimmed Hyundai car called the "Dynasty". There are metres of gifts from South Korean media groups. Who would be the first to be closed under Kim II.
If North Korea today presents the listless, shabby appearance of the Soviet Union briefly in the 1980s, this must be partly due to the fact it is partly still ruled by a dead man.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/31/2003 9:56:40 AM ||
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There is a fasinating article about one person's actual visit to 'Kimland' at 1stopkorea.com. This is by an American (who resides in South Korea) who visited 'Kimland' via Bejing China:
(From the website).
When was the last trip you took where:
* the guide wouldn't allow you to keep your passport?
* you weren't allowed to use the local currency?
* criticism of the place you traveled could get a guide into serious trouble?
* on your return you felt you had to be careful bringing back books, pins and T-shirts because they might be illegal?
All this and more can be yours with a trip to the DPRK, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Orwellian Country Names, better known as North Korea. In an age where you can get Starbucks on Thai islands, Baskin-Robbins in Saigon, Coke and McDonalds just about everywhere, it's nice to finally visit a place lacking even the knowledge of such things. The most end-of-the-earth Chinese villager knows of Michael Jordan. In North Korea our big city Pyongyang guides had no clue who he was - until we pointed out his name on an autographed basketball in the Gifts to Kim Jong-il Museum. Then they were sure he must be someone really important. A mere basketball player? No way!
I think we figured this out by ourselves.
North Koreaâs highest-ranking defector told U.S. lawmakers on Thursday that Pyongyangâs isolated communist government is "profoundly unstable" and cannot be trusted to adhere to a new nuclear weapons deal. Do tell.
Rep. Christopher Cox quoted Hwang Jang-yop, the 81-year-old former confidant of Kim Il Sung, the Northâs late leader, and a mentor to Kimâs son and successor, Kim Jong-il as saying: "The regime, albeit it takes great pains to show us it is stable, is in fact profoundly unstable." I do believe that this guy is the father of one of our favorites, the Juche idea. Looks like he didnât buy into his own program.
"In his view, Kim Jong-il controls directly only about 300 people at the top of the pyramid," the California Republican, who heads the U.S. House of Representatives Republican Policy Committee, told reporters. Hwang, answering questions through an interpreter, was critical of President Bushâs offer of a security guarantee to Pyongyang in the context of six-party negotiations under which the North would be required to verifiably dismantle its nuclear weapons programs. "Perhaps you can say, âKim Jong-il weâll leave you alone if you stop your nuclear program.â I donât think there is righteousness in that. On top of that, I donât think any promise that is made by Kim Jong-il would be of any significance," Hwang said. Ask Bill and Jimmah about that. But Madeline Albright thought he was "charming".
"I donât understand how we can guarantee the continued existence of a dictator that abuses human rights and how that can actually be democratic." Say, thatâs a good point.
Hwang is making his first visit to Washington since escaping North Korea six years ago. The bus service really sucks where he lives.
The former secretary of the ruling North Korean Workers Party has been kept under heavy guard by the South Korean government since he defected during a visit to China in 1997, leaving his family behind. Good luck. Iâll write if I find work...
Some played down Hwangâs value, saying the U.S. government had already interviewed him in South Korea. But one official told Reuters: "He provided good information on the situation in North Korea, most notably the pursuit of nuclear weapons." The trip is considered sensitive because it took so long to persuade Seoul to let Hwang visit the United States and because it occurs as China is trying bring the North back into talks on the nuclear issue. Hwangâs wife and daughter allegedly committed suicide after he fled the country and there are reports his son is now in a prison "hospital" after a mining accident last week — all attempts to encourage Hwangâs silence, a U.S. official said. A mining accident? Did the sacred Mt. Poopoohoo fall on him?
Hwang, in numerous meetings with U.S. officials, said he made "suggestions" for opposing the North Korean dictatorship. But he declined to specify those ideas publicly. A struggle between dictatorship and democracy is underway on the Korean peninsula and Americans in alliance with other democracies "have a historic mission to see to it that that struggle is completed" in favor of democracy, he said. Cox said Hwang told lawmakers in a closed-door meeting there is "widespread dissatisfaction" in North Korea but strict regime control has prevented organized opposition. Still, Hwang "believes there could be rapid collapse of the regime if conditions are ripe," Cox said. Maybe is the psychopathic little midget has a "work accident"?
After taking office in 2001, the Bush administration dragged its feet on negotiating with Pyongyang in part because hard-liners believed squeezing the impoverished country could force its collapse. The prevailing U.S. view seems to be that while the North will collapse at some point, that does not seem imminent. Maybe when every Nork has starved to death...
Ceaucescu went quick, too. Almost no warning. And whatever happened to Egon Krenz?
Posted by: tu3031 ||
10/31/2003 9:29:32 AM ||
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"Hwangâs wife and daughter allegedly committed suicide after he fled the country"
So broken up they shot themselves in the back of the head?
Posted by: Steve ||
10/31/2003 9:37 Comments ||
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I'll be they took turns and shot each other.
Yeah, this is the guy who figured his Juche was getting old and it was time to save his skin. Grrrr. I don't really want us to save his sorry ass, but I guess we hafta - so milk him dry and do whatever it takes so that others are not dissuaded from defecting. Defining those "ripe conditions" and the actions needed to make that shit happen is his entry fee into the program. Slimy SOB.
#3
He's 81 years old .com and has nothing left to lose. His family is virtually dead and his homeland is dying (NK). He defected during a time when around 2 million NK's died from starvation.
I think he wanted to defect, but had the safety of his family to think about. After the famine, he might have realized how many people lost their families and took action.
Or he could be trying to save his own wrinkled skin, but either way we get what we want.
Posted by: Charles ||
10/31/2003 12:24 Comments ||
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North Koreaâs highest-ranking defector told U.S. lawmakers on Thursday that Pyongyangâs isolated communist government is "profoundly unstable" and cannot be trusted to adhere to a new nuclear weapons deal.
Hmph. It wasn't necessary to interview a defector to make this assessment. Common sense would be enough to make a sane person come to the same conclusion.
The prevailing U.S. view seems to be that while the North will collapse at some point, that does not seem imminent.
The Syrian army is inclined to carry out a new redeployment operation in Lebanon following the recent talks between the commanding generals of the Lebanese and Syrian armies, An Nahar daily reported Friday. Quoting "informed sources", the report added the Syrian move is connected to "possible developments on the border with Israel." Expect to need those troops, do you?
Syria has cut down its Lebanon-based troops in the four previous redeployments from 40,000 in 1976 to 20,000 in 2003. Meanwhile, in Washington the Bush administration said Syria would have to withdraw from Lebanon in a short time, asserting that the Damascus government "has to be taken to account and will be taken to account." "Lebanon needs at an early point in the future to be free and to have an opportunity to build a Lebanese society for the Lebanese," Bushâs National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice told a news conference in New York Thursday night. Condi speaks, Syria gets nervous.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/31/2003 9:27:53 AM ||
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Could Syria be planning a assault on Isreal? Could they really be that stupid? Will the United States step in and help Isreal fight back if they are attacked?
Let's hope the answer to all of these are yes.
Posted by: Charles ||
10/31/2003 12:00 Comments ||
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More importantly -- if Syria attacks Israel, what happens in Iraq? Will the loons go apeshit? Will the US stop short of supporting Israel to keep the lesser loons from going apeshit?
Or will the Iraqis, sick of Syrians coming over and killing them, set aside their religion's requirement for Jew-hating?
And how long will it take for the "peace" movement to blame it all on us and/or Israel?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
10/31/2003 12:17 Comments ||
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And how long will it take for the "peace" movement to blame it all on us and/or Israel?
They already drafted the response RC.
Posted by: Charles ||
10/31/2003 12:37 Comments ||
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Could Syria be planning a assault on Isreal?
More likely they're planning on being the back-up in Lebanon when Hamas/Hezbollah start launching major attacks.
#5
More likely they're planning on being the back-up in Lebanon when Hamas/Hezbollah start launching major attacks.
Good. Now's the time to observe and record their locations and movements. Now that the B-2 can attack a boatload of targets all at once, the Syrians can be taken out with quick efficiency if it comes to that.
#6
With all the entropy going on in Iraq, Syria feels that it has wiggle room and an opportunity to stick it to Israel. They are betting that the US will not get directly involved. They look at the US problems in Iraq as a sign of weakness. Iraq is the key. If we clean up Iraq, then the picture gets better. If it takes longer to clean up Iraq, Hamas and Hezbollah may go for it and we will be drawn in. Either way Syria will need an ass kicking. It seems to be the only way to communicate with these ME nutcases. Sad but true.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/31/2003 17:27 Comments ||
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#7
If I were Mossad, I would plant a rumor in the camps that the Syrians are in cohoots with the Americans and are planning a secret extermination of all Iranian backed miltants.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/31/2003 20:45 Comments ||
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Will the United States step in and help Isreal fight back if they are attacked?
You assume that the Israelis would need our help. I think they'd do just fine.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/31/2003 21:52 Comments ||
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I guess he doesnât want any:
If Latin American opponents of Washingtonâs free trade policies join forces, they could deal the United States a blow as serious as its loss in the Vietnam War, Bolivian opposition leader Evo Morales said Thursday. Geezz, canât we just get over Vietnam already?
"Urgent action is important," Morales told leaders of social movements from across the Americas at a gathering here attended by President Fidel Castro. Morales called on the leaders to come together in regional unity and "create people power." "Very soon we could celebrate in Latin America another Vietnam for the United States," Morales said. Morales, a former presidential candidate and now a congressman, is considered a top leader of regional opposition to free-trade policies that have expanded across Latin America in recent years. The leader of Boliviaâs Indian coca-leaf farmers was at the forefront of protests that toppled President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada in mid-October after the president promoted a plan to export Boliviaâs natural gas. Ahhhh, a light dawns. Heâs the head of the coke lobby.
Morales on Wednesday repeated his earlier calls for an "alternative summit" by Castro and presidents Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil when heads of state from Spanish- and Portuguese speaking nations gather in Bolivia in mid-November for the annual Ibero-American Summit. That should be a fun meeting.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/31/2003 9:03:26 AM ||
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How do we convince these knuckleheads that Marxism and unfree trade leads to poverty? Their poverty, not US poverty. The US won't even notice this if they were able to institute it.
#2
It's good to have some variety. Now, people only have to pass half of all crap legislation "For The Children". The other half can be passed to prevent "Another Vietnam".
#5
Ginsberg, Rumsfeld, Gingrich and many otherspoint out that we have done a poor job of selling America in the Arab World. That sentiment goes for South America as well.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/31/2003 12:17 Comments ||
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How do we convince these knuckleheads that Marxism and unfree trade leads to poverty?
I say let them do whatever they want. It's tiring to hear all these South/Central American Third World cesspools playing the Blame the Yanqui game. If they think their lefty policies are going to save their asses, hey, go ahead and try 'em out. When everything goes all to hell, they can try fixing that THEMSELVES, too.
#8
You know, natural gas and oil don't taste very good. Wonder what a total technological boycott of the "SA Four" would do? One of the problems that collectivization caused was a rapid decrease in production, especially in the food sector. If people get hungry enough, they'll start eating leftist leaders. (Wonder if Kimmie is aware of that???)
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/31/2003 13:53 Comments ||
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A United Nations-backed court in Sierra Leone has begun hearing appeals against their indictments from some of those accused of war crimes. The case of Liberiaâs former president, Charles Taylor, accused of supporting rebels in neighbouring Sierra Leone is the first to be heard. The Special Court for Sierra Leone was set up to try those bearing the greatest responsibility in the atrocities and so far 13 people have been indicted. A BBC West African analyst says unlike most of those indicted, Mr Taylor continues to live in luxury in a presidential guest house in south-eastern Nigeria. However, the moment he does try to go anywhere he could be seized and handed over to the court. Also if he keeps trying to control events in Liberia and a bunch of Nigerian troops get killed.
His lawyer is arguing that the indictment should never have been brought, because while Mr Taylor was president of Liberia he enjoyed sovereign immunity, and in any case he was operating in Liberia, not Sierra Leone, and Liberia is outside the courtâs jurisdiction. "He never set foot in Sierra Leone, he just sent arms, er... gifts."
Of the 12 other appeals to be heard, nine defendants are in custody in Sierra Leone and at least two have died. Several others are also challenging their indictments. They are expected to argue, among other things, that the court is unconstitutional and that they had been granted amnesty from prosecution as part of the peace agreement. If somebody was stupid enough to put that in writing, then they may very well get off.
One of the most high profile cases is that of former interior minister Sam Hinga Norman, who during the war ran a pro-government militia, but was arrested in March. He denies charges of unlawful killings, terrorising the civilian population and using child soldiers. His lawyer is expected to argue that while using child soldiers may be repugnant it is not a crime under international law.
Posted by: Steve ||
10/31/2003 8:42:32 AM ||
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His lawyer is expected to argue that while using child soldiers may be repugnant it is not a crime under international law - It's an African tradition!
yeah, well so is killing a captured rival chieftain and eating his heart, Sam. Wanna rethink that argument?
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/31/2003 8:49 Comments ||
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Frank G, don't let him rethink that arguement. I rather like the thought of Chucks heart getting torn out of his body. Just make sure he's alive when they do it.
Posted by: Charles ||
10/31/2003 11:57 Comments ||
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#3
They should hold all of these trials in Kenya where more revenue can be generated from this activity.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/31/2003 12:07 Comments ||
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The start of military trials of foreign terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is imminent, the Pentagonâs chief prosecutor said on Thursday, while defending a rule allowing the U.S. government to monitor conversations between the defendants and their lawyers. President Bush in 2001 authorized the first U.S. military commission trials of wartime prisoners since World War II. On July 3, Bush designated six foreign captives as eligible for such trials. The Pentagon refused to identify them. Feel the noose, boys?
"I think itâs safe to say our start is imminent, soon," Army Col. Frederic Borch, named by the Pentagon to lead the prosecution, told an American Bar Association event. He did not give a specific date, how many defendants would be tried, or the charges involved. The rules set by the Pentagon for the trials have come under sharp criticism from human rights groups and criminal defense lawyers, who doubt the defendants can get fair trials. "Ultimately, I would ask all the critics, wait until we actually start the process so you can see what actually happens," Borch said. Thatâs no fun for our pomo friends!
Defendants tried before the commissions of seven American military officers must be non-U.S. citizens. They are expected to be among the roughly 660 foreign prisoners, most captured in Afghanistan and imprisoned at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay. No criminal charges have been brought against any Guantanamo prisoners to date. Commission trials are set to be held there. Defendants could face the death penalty if convicted. I imagine there will be a few, too.
Critics argue the rules are biased in favor of the prosecution, place unacceptable conditions on the defense and allow for no independent judicial review by civilian courts. "We are now putting forth a system of justice before the world that doesnât meet either current American or international standards of due process," said Kevin Barry, a renowned expert in military justice and board member of the National Institute of Military Justice. One rule that has drawn particular ire from critics is the governmentâs right to monitor communications between the defendants and their lawyers. Borch said that even though the rules allow for such monitoring — which many experts consider a breach of attorney-client confidentiality — any information obtained from this could not be used by prosecutors in the case. "Monitoring is security and an intelligence function. Itâs not a law-enforcement function," Borch said. "None of this monitored information on a particular accused is going to be used in any trial of that accused." Sounds reasonable. No way weâre going to let lawyers be used as conduits.
Air Force Col. Will Gunn, the chief defense lawyer, said he anticipates that defense attorneys will ask that their conversations not be monitored and, if it is permitted, that the defense knows when it is taking place. They told you already — all the time.
Each defendant will be assigned a U.S. military defense attorney and also has the right to hire an American civilian lawyer as long as that attorney is deemed eligible by the Pentagon to hear classified evidence and agrees to conditions that include monitoring conversations. Asked about the admissibility in commission trials of hearsay and other evidence barred in U.S. civilian courts, Borch noted that such evidence is allowed by the international court trying war crimes from the former Yugoslavia. Iâm sorry, Mr. Barry, what was that about "not meeting international standards" again?
He said defense lawyers in commission trials have "the same evidentiary standard," adding: "In other words, all those things that the prosecution may benefit by the admissibility rule, the same thing applies to the defense." Thatâll confuse the defendants, I donât think "fair play" translates into Arabic.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/31/2003 1:11:33 AM ||
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Russia introduced a resolution Thursday asking the U.N. Security Council to endorse the ``road mapââ peace plan for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but the United States said the timing was not right. "Nope, nope, wonât work, nope, nope."
U.S. deputy ambassador James Cunningham cited the absence of a Palestinian government to implement the peace plan drafted by Russia, the United States, the United Nations and the European Union. The plan aims to end violence and establish a Palestinian state by 2005. ``We need to look at the context, the timing, and what we want the impact to be,ââ Cunningham said. ``We donât think the timing is right now since thereâs no Palestinian government in place and we just want to look carefully at how you position the step to do that to see that it has some beneficial impact.ââ Just love the way he slipped in the major dis on Yasser and WhatsHisFace the prime minister. No government, har-har.
But Russiaâs U.N. Ambassador Sergey Lavrov disagreed, saying he would like the Security Council to approve the resolution unanimously next week to coincide with the formation of a new Palestinian government. Notice how our guy conveniently didnât notice that a new Paleo "government" would be formed. Earned his pay yesterday.
That not only would show the new government it has Security Council support but also that it has an obligation to implement the peace plan, he said. "Obligation" doesnât translate into Arabic, does it?
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has asked Prime Minister Ahmed WhatsHisFace Qurei, who is serving as head of an emergency Cabinet, to form a full Cabinet by Nov. 4. Qurei has been unable to do so, partly because of death threats serious disagreements from with Arafat. ``In this particular case, I think the timing is almost perfect for someone to whack Yasser,ââ Lavrov said. Especially since Vlad now owns Yukos.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/31/2003 12:54:32 AM ||
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#1
But Russiaâs U.N. Ambassador Sergey Lavrov disagreed, saying he would like the Security Council to approve the resolution unanimously next week to coincide with the formation of a new Palestinian government.
As long as Arafart has any kind of control or say in Palestinian government, nothing that is put forth will be anything "new".
#2
On the other hand, a unanimous UNSC resolution would make it "the UN's 'road map'" instead of "the Bush 'road map.'"
I notice it's the Quartet's 'road map' when things are looking up, Bush's when the boomers are booming...
Posted by: Fred ||
10/31/2003 14:06 Comments ||
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So Fred, you don't think this is a Russian offer to take the lead on the old peace process. I agree. I see this as an effort to solidify whatever boundaries were drawn up in the Vienna farce to be followed by a demand that Israel stop fence/wall construction and pull back out of specific settlements.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/31/2003 17:14 Comments ||
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The Zionist authorities have destroyed a shipment of medicine, vitamins and other food supplements to disabled Palestinian children in the refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, some of whom suffer from down syndrome and malnutrition.
"Then they stomped their puppies and kittens and baby ducks!"
According to officials of al-Awda hospital in Gaza, the shipment is worth tens of thousands of dollars. âThe shipment was held at the airport in Tel Aviv and we were told that certain documents were needed. However when the documents were provided and every time we submitted a document, another was demanded,â said Dr. M. al Farra of the Awda hospital. âEventually, the Israeli government destroyed the shipment of the vitamins without any explanation.â The shipment in question was donated by the US-based Holy Land Trust, a Christian charity.
Well, my heartstrings are certainly tugged...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/31/2003 00:48 ||
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#1
Holy Land Trust sounds suspicious. They work on helping the Paleos on "nonviolent resistance" (obviously isn't working), serving as "travel guides" (creating new St. Pancakes) and sponsoring "children's clubs" (teaching little Achmed how to wear his bomb vest).
They have a problem in Iraq that sounds slightly better-meaning, though they do manage to discuss the plight of the Iraqi Marsh Arabs without mentioning Saddam.
All in all they don't seem to be quite ISM, but not that far away, either.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/31/2003 1:02 Comments ||
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#2
From the article: A spokesman for a Hebron-based charity accused the Israeli government of seeking âto starve Palestinian children.â
âI think they are waging a war of starvation against us. It is a kind of holocaust,â said the official who asked for anonymity.
If this was true, why would the spokesman ask for anonymity?
#3
My credibility scanner flips automatically to code red sceptical when an article's first three words are "The Zionist authorities"...
They have a problem in Iraq that sounds slightly better-meaning, though they do manage to discuss the plight of the Iraqi Marsh Arabs without mentioning Saddam.
LOL SW, Freudian slip methinks - you mean programme, right?! To be fair to them, they do say "[t]]hese people were especially targeted by the cruelty of the Hussein Regime" near the start of the restoration of the mesopotamian marshlands piece on the site - I thik you must have missed that. The Iraq Foundation does look like a rational org to me too, from my superficial examination, though there doesn't seem to have been much updating of the site in the last half year - unless they don't think there is a human rights problem in Iraq at the moment, and if so, good for them.
Maybe there's more to the story than The Palestine Information Centre are letting on re Israeli reasons for disrupting traffic in the shipment/port. I mean, just maybe...
#6
Gosh, I can't decide whether I meant "programme" or "pogrom"!
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/31/2003 11:43 Comments ||
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The Zionist authorities have destroyed a shipment of medicine, vitamins and other food supplements to disabled Palestinian children in the refugee camps in the Gaza Strip, some of whom suffer from down syndrome and malnutrition.
Sounds more like they were meant for Arafish then those children.
Posted by: Charles ||
10/31/2003 12:09 Comments ||
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This is truly a sad day. How will those children grow up to be healthy and strong suicide bombers now? Martyrs need nutrition, too!
Posted by: Dar ||
10/31/2003 14:51 Comments ||
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Bulldog's got it right. When the "Zionist Whatevers" show up, be prepared for the most comical propaganda this side of North Korea.
China and North Korea agreed ``in principleââ Thursday to convene a second round of six-nation talks on Pyongyangâs nuclear program, further evidence of an increased diplomatic role for Beijing in the yearlong dispute. "Sit! Stay!"
The reports were welcomed by the United States, which said the ``multiparty processââ offered the second best hope of getting North Korea to abandon its nuclear lunacy ambitions. While couched in tentative language, the Northâs latest statement could be more binding because it was made publicly alongside China, its last major so-called ally and one it would be reluctant to alienate. No timeframe was given for future talks, and it was not immediately clear what the next step would be. "Heel!"
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said Friday he expects the new talks to convene ``soon,ââ although he did not mention any date.``This is a very positive progress, and I have confidence that the North Korean nuclear issue will eventually be resolved through multilateral dialogue,ââ Roh said at a peace forum on South Koreaâs southern island of Jeju. "Please? Iâm trying to save my job here. Please?"
Word of the accord came after a meeting between Kim Jong Il, the Northâs reclusive leader, and Wu Bangguo, the most senior Chinese to visit North Korea since 2001. In its national evening newscast, China Central Television showed Wu, head of Chinaâs legislature and its No. 2 communist, shaking hands with a smiling Kim. Wu is on a three-day ``goodwillââ visit as China tries to ensure another round of the six-nation summit held in Beijing in August. ``Both sides agreed in principle that the six-way talks should continue,ââ CCTVâs anchorwoman said. ``China and North Korea support the idea of a peaceful resolution to the North Korean issue through dialogue.ââ Interesting that Chinese television aired this first. Perhaps the Chinese are sending a message, as in "this is the deal and donât you dare back out"?
The official news agencies of North Korea and China confirmed the report. Pyongyangâs KCNA used slightly more tentative language, however, saying the sides ``agreed in principle to pursue the course of the six-way talks.ââ "Câmon! That choker chain is tight! Loosen up will ya?"
KCNA said the North ``expressed its willingness to take part in the future talks if they provide a process of putting into practice the proposal for a package solution based on the principle of simultaneous actions.ââ North Korea has previously said that ``simultaneous actionsââ include economic and humanitarian aid from the United States, the opening of diplomatic ties and the building of a nuclear power plant. It also demands a signed nonaggression treaty - something the Bush administration has thus far refused. In exchange, North Korea has said it would declare its willingness to give up nuclear development, allow nuclear inspections, give up missiles exports and finally dismantle its nuclear weapons facilities. Give up missile exports? Is that a new concession? They canât be serious, itâs the only foreign exchange generator they have other than white slag.
White House press secretary Scott McClellan said the United States was ``encouragedââ by the reports that North Korea had agreed in principle to six-nation talks. McClellan reiterated the United States was still interested in providing some kind of security assurance to North Korea - an alternative to the nonaggression treaty the North seeks. ``But North Korea must end its nuclear weapons program in a verifiable, irreversible way or weâll do it for them. Weâve made that very clear,ââ he said. In New York, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said cooperation between the five nations was the only way to get North Korea to abandon its nuclear aims. ``All of us are working together to show North Korea that its continued pursuit of nuclear weapons will only bring extinction further isolation,ââ Rice said at the National Legal Center for the Public Interest. ``Today, when North Koreans come to multiparty talks, they look across the table at a united front of nations opposed to their own nuclear armament and the North Koreans know that a strategy of divide and conquer is no longer an option.ââ The joint statement could be considered a diplomatic salvage operation victory for Beijing, which has had to balance its duty to its neighbor with what a nuclear-armed North might mean for Chinaâs security and its fast-growing economy. The presence of Vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Chinaâs point man on North Korean affairs, reinforced notions of possible motion in the nuclear issue during the trip. Chinaâs Foreign Ministry declined comment on the developments until Wuâs visit concludes. CCTV also reported that Kim had accepted Chinese President Hu Jintaoâs invitation to visit China again. Kim said he would do so "in chains ``at his convenience,ââ CCTV said. Snippets of the two leaders sitting across from each other at a long table in a cavernous Pyongyang meeting room were broadcast. Wu and Kim laughed and gestured expansively. Wu made hand-puppets showing a rabbit swinging in a noose.
China, which has gently pressed the issue of further discussions, has stepped up the rhetoric with Wuâs trip. Earlier Thursday, Chinaâs official Xinhua News Agency quoted Wu as saying that ``adherence to dialogue should be the correct directionââ to end the standoff. "Heel! Heel I say!"
And Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue, at a regular briefing the same day, reiterated: ``We want to hold this round of six-party talks as soon as possible.ââ "Weâre getting tired of supporting these crazy guys!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/31/2003 12:45:43 AM ||
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#1
Boy, would I have liked to have been a fly on the wall during those discussions.
At least 18 people have been killed and others abducted during a night attack by the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) in northern Uganda. The guerrillas, who have been fighting the government for 17 years, are feared for their brutality and for abducting thousands of children for use as sex slaves and front-line fighters. The midnight raid happened at Apala village in Lira District, some 250 kilometres north of the capital, Kampala, on Tuesday night local time, a military official said. "The rebels attacked the village around midnight and killed several people and abducted others. We are still verifying the numbers," army spokesman Chris Magezi said. Residents in Lira town, 50 kilometres south of the scene, told Reuters at least 18 people were killed and an unknown number abducted.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
10/31/2003 00:13 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
