Hi there, !
Today Wed 03/16/2011 Tue 03/15/2011 Mon 03/14/2011 Sun 03/13/2011 Sat 03/12/2011 Fri 03/11/2011 Thu 03/10/2011 Archives
Rantburg
533660 articles and 1861897 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 78 articles and 165 comments as of 16:25.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Operations    WoT Background    Opinion        Politix   
Libyan troops 'force rebels out of Brega'
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 3: Non-WoT
0 [1] 
8 00:00 Fi [4] 
0 [1] 
11 00:00 linker [1] 
9 00:00 Water Modem [3] 
6 00:00 USN,Ret [2] 
3 00:00 Dale [3] 
0 [2] 
0 [1] 
6 00:00 Anguper Hupomosing9418 [1] 
0 [] 
3 00:00 Anonymoose [1] 
0 [2] 
3 00:00 Secret Asian Man [5] 
9 00:00 Fi [1] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
2 00:00 JosephMendiola [7]
2 00:00 Lord Garth [2]
4 00:00 Anguper Hupomosing9418 [3]
6 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [2]
0 [7]
0 [7]
2 00:00 Fester Javith5393 [2]
0 [2]
0 [5]
0 [8]
0 [4]
0 [6]
0 [8]
0 [1]
2 00:00 Frank G []
0 [1]
0 []
0 [1]
0 [10]
0 []
0 [1]
0 [1]
2 00:00 Procopius2k []
0 [6]
0 [1]
0 []
0 []
0 [4]
Page 2: WoT Background
3 00:00 Free Radical [7]
1 00:00 Anonymoose [1]
1 00:00 Frank G [10]
5 00:00 g(r)omgoru []
0 []
0 [6]
1 00:00 Grunter []
2 00:00 American Delight []
0 [1]
3 00:00 Dale [3]
0 [3]
1 00:00 Bobby [7]
0 []
3 00:00 trailing wife []
2 00:00 Frank G [5]
0 [5]
5 00:00 SteveS [1]
Page 4: Opinion
5 00:00 Zhang Fei [8]
0 [1]
2 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [1]
3 00:00 Anonymoose []
3 00:00 George Clavins9400 []
0 []
4 00:00 Lover of 1776 [1]
1 00:00 Jack Salami [2]
5 00:00 Dale [8]
13 00:00 Zhang Fei [2]
6 00:00 Besoeker [9]
0 [1]
1 00:00 Dale [6]
0 [4]
Page 6: Politix
10 00:00 RandomJD [5]
2 00:00 AlanC [1]
2 00:00 Nimble Spemble []
3 00:00 Bobby [2]
-Lurid Crime Tales-
Bank robbery thwarted after teller says no
[Arab News] A would-be thief's attempt to rob a suburban New York bank was thwarted when the teller refused his demand for money.

Police said the man remained on the lam after the attempted robbery on Wednesday in New Rochelle, about 40 km north of New York City. "He slipped a note through the teller's slot that said 'money in bag,'" said police Capt. Joseph Schaller said.

"She refused and with that, she activated the alarm, turned away from the window and he ran out the door." The bank closed briefly but soon reopened for business, police said.
Posted by: Fred || 03/13/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Why would this be Arab News? Is there something known about the idiot that would be relevant to the Arabs?
Posted by: AlanC || 03/13/2011 9:31 Comments || Top||

#2  ..an analogy to people asking for support from the US?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/13/2011 10:11 Comments || Top||

#3  There is one Wells Fargo bank branch in Scottsdale that was being robbed at least once a month, even though not a single robber ever got more than a mile away before being caught.

But the bank branch had enough, so erected bullet resistant laminate in front of the tellers. Even then, for a while, a Sheriff's Deputy sat on a chair in the lobby.

Some rocket surgeon armed robber entered the bank, stood patiently in line in full view of the Deputy, then pointed a gun at a teller behind the laminate and demanded money. The teller started waving at the Deputy, who didn't notice her at first.

"Hey! Don't do that!", yelled the dumbass robber, which attracted the attention of the Deputy, who drew his gun, walked up behind the robber and told him to drop it.

"What?", asked the incredibly stupid robber.

"Drop your gun! Now!", yelled the Deputy.

"Huh?", said the robber. The Deputy then just snatched the gun out of the robber's hand.

The epilogue was that the robber demanded the right to defend himself in court, then plead guilty.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/13/2011 11:23 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Speculation over Japanese Nuclear Plant Woes
Preliminary assessments of the Fukushima Daiichi accidents suggested that too little attention was paid to the threat of tsunami. It appeared that the reactors at first withstood the powerful earthquake, but the tsunami damaged generators and backup systems, harming the ability to cool the reactors.
Reminiscent of the New Orleans Charity Hospital disaster after Hurricane Katrina. The best & brightest hospital architects put the emergency generators at a very low point in the structure, which guaranteed power failure in the event of a levee failure with flooding. Hospital administration decided no helicopter pad at the site was needed, since there was another facility a few blocks away which did have a helipad. No plans were ever made for a total evacuation of the building in the event of a levee failure.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/13/2011 07:49 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ...usually because there was something more 'sexy' for the administration to spend their dollars on than fundamentals. Sort of like PBS and NPR.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/13/2011 10:17 Comments || Top||

#2  I was going to read more at the link until I saw the headline was -

Crisis Underscores Fears About Safety of Nuclear Energy.

Oh. The New York Times. Never mind.

Thanks for the summary, AH 9418!
Posted by: Bobby || 03/13/2011 10:50 Comments || Top||

#3  Just hoping people are taking precautions on the West Coast and Canada.
Posted by: tipper || 03/13/2011 18:29 Comments || Top||

#4  The coast of Washington and Oregon get the same sort of quakes as the one that just happened in Japan (subduction zone megathrust quakes) and about the same magnitude. Those pictures of what some of those coastal towns look like in Japan could be what is in store for Seattle and other towns near the water when it happens again there (last time was in January, 1700).
Posted by: crosspatch || 03/13/2011 19:00 Comments || Top||

#5  Lucky for San Franscisco and other towns south along the San Andreas fault, they are in a strike slip zone, so they will probably only get a 12 ft north trip trip north on the west side of the fault. and some devastating shaking. That is about all.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 03/13/2011 19:15 Comments || Top||

#6  SF is on the North American (I think) Plate, not the Pacific Plate. So it will remain attached, alas. Bolinas and Pt Reyes will head north to submersion in the Pacific where the fault runs under the (I think) San Juan plate, giving the Cascades magma for the explosion of Mt Hood.

Anyone remotely interested in earthquakes should take the earthquake trail at Pt Reyes Nat. Seashore. The visitors' is in a barn that was moved 18' in the 1906 earthquake.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 03/13/2011 19:59 Comments || Top||

#7  If you want to see where the San Andreas is, draw a line through the reservoir lakes for the Hetch Hetchy water district and Bolinas Bay. That's it. SF, or more likely Burlingame, may get a flash flood depending on how the dams break.

More interesting is the Hayward fault on the East Bay. To find it, draw a line connecting the hospitals and schools along Rt 13, The Earl Warren Freeway to Hollister, where the Hayward and San Andreas meet. Many more people will die here.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 03/13/2011 20:06 Comments || Top||

#8  I like to drive to get to water. Leave it at that.
Posted by: Fi || 03/13/2011 20:12 Comments || Top||

#9  Most of the CNN, FOX NEWS + RUSSIAN PERTS believe Japan will avoid any CHERNOBYL-STYLE NUC INCIDENT.

IIRC JAPAN'S DISASTER MANAGEMENT PLANS > were based mostly on the infamous Pre-WW2 TOKYO-YOKOHAMA QUAKES, + the 1945 ATOMIC BOMBINGS OF HIROSHIMA + NAGASAKI. I could be wrong, but I believe I read time back that Japan's NucPlants are designed to withstand up to a MAG 9.0 Quake???

Tokyo is well-known for ensuring that Japan's various disaster management schemas exceeds world standards, as due to Japan being prone histor to such [natural]disasters.

* PRAVDA > CHERNOBYL-STYLE DISASTER IN JAPAN IMPOSSIBLE, RUSSIAN SCIENTISTS SAY, due to Japanese Nucplants' BWRS not using any Graphite like Russia does.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/13/2011 20:35 Comments || Top||

#10  Why I am not worried about Japan’s nuclear reactors

Posted by: abu do you love || 03/13/2011 20:52 Comments || Top||

#11  'There were two explosions at Reactor 3, the operator Tepco says'
-kyodo news
Posted by: linker || 03/13/2011 23:15 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Japan earthquake toll likely to top 10,000
Posted by: anon1 || 03/13/2011 05:03 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Meanwhile members of Paul Watson's Sea Shepherds save a fish



That's right. Ten thousand dead. Massive earthquake, tsunami and radiation breach.
Posted by: john frum || 03/13/2011 9:38 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm afraid 10,000 will a number blown by in the next few days.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 03/13/2011 9:40 Comments || Top||

#3  Somehow seeing all those life action videos of the tsunami waves gave me a better understanding of the damage done than I ever got from verbal descriptions.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/13/2011 10:26 Comments || Top||

#4  http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/japan-quake-2011/beforeafter.htm
Posted by: twobyfour || 03/13/2011 14:37 Comments || Top||

#5  Good grief, 2x4 - those pics are incredible. Thanks for the link.

It's not as important as the loss of human life in the short term, but long term all that farmland ruined by the salt water is going to place a huge burden on Japan. I suspect it will be years, if not decades, before the land is arable again. Not only lives but livelihoods were lost. A truly unfathomable tragedy all around. :-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 03/13/2011 15:42 Comments || Top||

#6  Just got worse, Shinmoedake volcano erupted sending ash two miles high.
Posted by: Charles || 03/13/2011 15:48 Comments || Top||

#7  Volcano? Damn.
Posted by: john frum || 03/13/2011 18:13 Comments || Top||

#8  As per QUAKE VIDEOS > I'm not absolutely certain, but I believe 3-4 Persons may had allowed themselves to get overwhelmed by the tidal waves. They were initially observed in [mainly]open fields seemingly trying to escape = physically outrun the wave, but stopped running after realizing they weren't going to make it. I IMAGINE THEY MADE SOME FINAL PRAYERS, OTHER TO GOD IN THEIR FINAL MICRO/MILLI-SECONDS OF LIFE BEFORE THE WAVES RUSHED OER THEM.

Also saw a poor dog atop what IMO looked like some kind of household appliance? being taken away by the tsunami current - I hope he was able to survive.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/13/2011 20:17 Comments || Top||

#9  Looking straight at the initial tidal wave from ground level:
Posted by: Water Modem || 03/13/2011 22:17 Comments || Top||


Meltdown likely on now at second plant: Japanese official
Posted by: anon1 || 03/13/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Victims top 2,000 in Japan quake-tsunami crisis
Japan continued to grapple Sunday with widespread damage from its biggest recorded earthquake and massive tsunami that hit northeastern and eastern regions two days ago, with the number of reported victims topping 2,000 and a crisis escalating at two nuclear plants.

The magnitude for the devastating quake was revised upward the same day from 8.8 to 9.0, one of the largest recorded in the world, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

The number of people who had died or remained unaccounted for exceeded 2,000, police said, while the official death toll neared 800. In Fukushima Prefecture alone, 1,167 were unaccounted for and well over 600 corpses had been found in both Fukushima and Miyazaki prefectures on the Pacific coast.

Local governments have been unable to contact tens of thousands of people, and at least 20,820 buildings have been fully or partially damaged in quake-hit areas, according to local officials and a tally by the national governments.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan issued an instruction to double the number of Self-Defense Forces personnel sent to quake-hit areas to 100,000, one of the largest ever for an SDF operation, Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa said.

''I ask for utmost efforts to save the lives of as many people as possible,'' Kan said at a morning meeting of the government's emergency disaster headquarters. ''We will put all-out efforts into rescuing people who have been isolated.''

In Miyagi, about 200 dead bodies were newly found in the city of Higashimatsushima, the National Police Agency said.

About 4,400 people remained isolated as of Saturday night in schools, hospitals and inns in the tsunami-swamped town of Onagawa and neighboring Ishinomaki city, as well as at the Onagawa nuclear plant where they had been evacuated to, Miyagi officials said.

In Minamisanriku, about 10,000 people, over half the town's population, remain unaccounted for.

In Iwate Prefecture, north of Miyagi, many corpses were found Sunday morning under the rubble in Rikuzentakata. About 5,000 houses in the city had been submerged by the quake-triggered tsunami, and the city office has confirmed that only 5,900 of its population of about 23,000 had taken shelter.

The prefectural government said it was still unable to contact 1,167 residents, including 918 in the town of Namiem, boosting the tally of those unaccounted for in its latest data.

It also has been unable to communicate with the mayor and officials in Otsuchi after the town office was swept away by a tsunami while the mayor and town officials were apparently inside the building. A nursing home accommodating 30 elderly people was also washed away in Ofunato city.

Helicopters from the Maritime Self-Defense Force sent to check the extent of damage spotted wood fires at seven places in Miyako city early Sunday, the Defense Agency said.

Communication failures also were found to have extended further. Nippon Telegraph and Telephone East Corp. said 475,400 fiber-optic services were disconnected as of 6 a.m., up 76,500 from 8 p.m. Saturday, in addition to 879,500 subscribed phone lines that remain out of service in areas centering on Iwate and Miyagi.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/13/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Another reactor at Fukushima nuke plant loses cooling functions
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Sunday another reactor of its quake-hit Fukushima nuclear power plants had lost its cooling functions, while at least 15 people at a nearby hospital were found to have been exposed to radioactivity.

The utility supplier notified the government early Sunday morning that the No. 3 reactor at the No. 1 Fukushima plant had lost the ability to cool the reactor core. The reactor is now in the process of releasing radioactive steam, according to top government spokesman Yukio Edano.

It was the sixth reactor overall at the Fukushima No. 1 and No. 2 plants to undergo cooling failure since the massive earthquake and ensuing tsunami struck Japan on Friday.

The disaster raised fears over radioactive leaks from the plants after cooling systems there were hampered, most seriously at the No. 1 reactor.

An explosion Saturday at the No. 1 plant blew away the roof and the walls of the building housing the No. 1 reactor's container. The government and nuclear authorities said there was no damage to the steel container housing the troubled No. 1 reactor, noting that the blast occurred as vapor from the container turned into hydrogen and mixed with outside oxygen.

Tokyo Electric Power has begun new cooling operations to fill the reactor with sea water and pour in boric acid to prevent an occurrence of criticality. Chief Cabinet Secretary Edano said in a press conference Sunday morning that there had been no major changes in the results of monitoring radioactivity near the No. 1 reactor.

Following the explosion, the authorities expanded from 10 kilometers to 20 km the radius of the evacuation area for residents living in the vicinity of the Fukushima plants.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/13/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Did the Japanese neglect to include a SCRAM function in their reactors? That is simply inserting control rods that strongly limit the nuclear reaction. Typically, the way reactors are designed, unless they are functioning in the nominal range, it is hard to prevent an automatic SCRAM.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/13/2011 10:57 Comments || Top||

#2  They did shutdown when the quake occurred. They went on their emergency diesels when the local power went away. The diesels were lost when the tsunami wrecked their fuel storage tanks. The building damaged in the explosion (a hydrogen explosion) was not the containment itself but the building that houses the containment. Evidently they've had a partial meltdown in at least one of the units. Dose rates are reportedly relatively low and only one person has been reported to have exceeded the required limit.

The evacuations are being played up as an indication of total disaster but the media fails to state that evacuation is required by law when events of significant nature occur. Every US nuclear site has the same rules regarding evacuation.

I expect that we'll see hysterical responses in the northwest along the lines of "We're all going to die" enabled by an incompetent media and a dishonest anti-nuclear movement.
Posted by: Omiting the Younger || 03/13/2011 11:38 Comments || Top||

#3  moose,

They scrammed but the residual heat in the scrammed reactors needs to be removed or the water will boil off and the reactor could melt. The circ pumps run off grid or local generators, the grid is down and the gens are down. They might have located the gens in a better location it seems.
Posted by: Hellfish || 03/13/2011 11:50 Comments || Top||

#4  The fission products in the reactor are still decaying and generating heat.

The chain reaction was stopped when the quake started, but there is no mechanism to influence radioactive decay.
Posted by: Shoth Snolump4059 || 03/13/2011 19:38 Comments || Top||

#5  excellent discussion here
Posted by: abu do you love || 03/13/2011 21:26 Comments || Top||

#6  Obvious lesson from Katrina & now from Japan: Never, ever locate your emergency generators where they can be flooded.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/13/2011 22:31 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Pirates countinue to experience allergic reaction to Maersk Alabama warning shots.
Suspected Somali pirates tried to seize the Maersk Alabama again on Tuesday in the third attempt to hijack it in three years.
Four skinny pirate looking people suspected of yes, being pirates, approached the ship in a small craft hereafter referred to as a suspected pirate skiff, in which a hook ladder, more commonly referred to as a pirate's boarding ladder, could be seen.When the skiff came within half a nautical mile, the ship's smiling captain authorized the firing of warning shots. The suspected pirates aboard the suspected pirate skiff skedaddled forthwith.

A steak BBQ was enjoyed by all on the fantail later than evening where plenteous portions of steak and lobster were enjoyed, numerous pints were lifted in honour of the Captain, and many sea stories were exchanged.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/13/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Previous reports had a round of aimed shots following the (disregarded) warning rounds- in other words, some pirates may be enjoying better ventilation than previously.
Posted by: Grunter || 03/13/2011 8:39 Comments || Top||

#2  "Piratin' ain't easy."
(Apologies to Big Daddy Kane).
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 03/13/2011 16:01 Comments || Top||

#3  Mr Bee HI!; I tip my hat to you.
"A steak BBQ was enjoyed by all on the fantail later than evening where plenteous portions of steak and lobster were enjoyed, numerous pints were lifted in honour of the Captain, and many sea stories were exchanged". You have a way with words. Would you happen to have some Irish in you?.
Posted by: Dale || 03/13/2011 16:59 Comments || Top||


Niger votes in presidential run-off
[Al Jazeera] The people of Niger have voted for a new civilian president in landmark polls that the outgoing head of the military government said should serve as an example of democracy to the whole of Africa.

Thirteen months after Mamadou Tandja was jettisoned from office over his attempts to amend the constitution, voters headed to the polls on Saturday to choose between a veteran opposition leader and a former ally of the toppled president in the run-off election.

Mahamadou Issoufou, a long-time opponent of Tandja's 10-year rule, is considered the favourite after taking the lead in the first round vote on January 31.

Issoufou took 36 per cent of the vote in that poll, compared to 23 per cent for Seini Oumarou, the 60-year-old leader of Tandja's party and a former prime minister.

Niger's ruling leaders vowed to usher in a civilian government after they took power last year to end a crisis triggered by Tandja's attempts to extend his rule beyond the constitutional limits.

No member of the ruling government was an election candidate.

'Example to Africa'
General Salou Djibo, installed as leader of the country after the February 2010 coup, was among the first to cast his ballot.

"This is a great day for me and for all the people of Niger," he told journalists at a polling station in Niamey, the capital.

"If we can hold a successful election then together we will have accomplished bringing about a democracy that can serve as an example to Africa."

Issoufou, the leader of the Social Democratic Party, has strengthened his candidacy by forging alliances, especially with Hama Amadou, another former premier under Tandja who garnered 19 per cent in the first round vote.

"We are going to win this election. I have received significant support, including from Hama Amadou," Issoufou told journalists as he voted.

Oumarou, of the National Movement for the Development of Society, was equally bullish, discounting his rival's lead in the first round.

"I am very confident. Politics is not a game of maths. Everyone goes back to zero after the first round," he said at a Niamey polling station.

'Everything is calm'
During the campaign, both candidates promised to dissolve parliament and organise legislative elections for a more representative assembly in the vast, landlocked country on the edge of the Sahara desert.

They also expressed similar goals for Niger, an impoverished nation that has become a base for al-Qaeda-linked fighters.

Both candidates vowed to tackle the poverty that afflicts about 60 per cent of the population, protect against the cyclical food crises, and assure an equitable distribution of the country's wealth from uranium.

Voting appeared to have passed off peacefully, with the independent electoral commission saying it had received no reports of any incident.

There was no immediate word on turnout although a journalist from the AFP news agency said that it appeared to be relatively light in the capital where there was no sign of long queues.

'Republican pact'
Speaking at the Niamey polling station, acting head of state Djibo urged supporters of the two candidates to respect the rule of law and voters to turn out in force.

"I have come here to perform my civic duty and I call on all the sons and daughters of Niger to do the same," he said.

"I also appeal to the two candidates that they respect the outcome once the results have been declared by electoral commission, and that the loser accepts his defeat."

Earlier this week, a "republican pact" was signed by which civilian and military authorities have agreed to respect the country's new constitution, adopted at the end of last year.

Since independence from La Belle France in 1960, Niger has been wracked by coups and faced a Tuareg rebellion in the north of the country.

In recent years the Sahel country has become one of the bases for Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, which has been responsible for kidnappings and killings of Westerners in the region.
Posted by: Fred || 03/13/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


China-Japan-Koreas
US Army isn't alone - China also having problems with girly-man recruits
Unease over a lack of masculinity and growing femininity amongst young Chinese men in their late teens and early 20s has some in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) concerned about its possible impact on the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), according to an article published in the Study Times (學習時報), a magazine affiliated with the China’s Central Party School Publishing House.

Written by Xu Sen (許森), the article claims that the worst thing an army has to fear is not a lack of opponents, but a lack of “strong” adversaries.

Most of the PLA’s recruits have never been to battle, and the children from one child families born in the 1980s and 1990s account for a majority of recruits, the article said.

The growing femininity of men is directly impacting the quality of the PLA, making it a “socially disturbing” phenomenon, the article said.

“It has been 31 years since the PLA fought an actual battle, and peace undermines an army’s fighting ability,” the article said, adding that the suggestion soldiers do not need to physically exert themselves in the age of technological warfare is wrong. It listed US GIs fighting in Iraq as an example.

“They walk hundreds of miles with gear weighing 10kg, stand duty in tents exceeding 50oC and face guerilla attacks from out of nowhere. You have to be strong of body and mind for that,” the article said, concluding with a call to remain vigilant, maintain the PLA’s martial spirit and always be battle-ready.
It's always interesting to see the US Armed Forces from the outside. We don't realize how strong we appear to the world.
Commenting on the article, officials from Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said that the military does not ask its soldiers about their sexual preference.

“The younger generations are less pressure-resistant. The more feminine recruits entering service have to be watched carefully, in case bullying happens,” they said.

As for training, it’s well known in the military that the younger generation is not used to strenuous exercises, a retired Taiwanese officer said on condition of anonymity.

As such, the practice of holding exercises outdoors when the temperature exceeded 32oC was scrapped, the official said.

The practice was only later restored in 2006 by then-minister of national defense Hu Chen-pu (胡鎮埔), saying that the PLA could invade Taiwan anytime and that “it would not choose weather suitable for our soldiers to fight.”
Damn straight.
Posted by: gromky || 03/13/2011 00:01 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1 

Well duh. We don't just appear strong, we are strong. Some of our servicewomen would wallop a Chinese girly man.
Posted by: Fi || 03/13/2011 0:13 Comments || Top||

#2  Fi, whatabout girly men to girly men, how that would compare?

Next question... skipping, leaving it at that.
Posted by: twobyfour || 03/13/2011 1:35 Comments || Top||

#3  They walk hundreds of miles with gear weighing 10kg

Hah! When was the last time a US soldier carried only 10kgs?

The latest batch of PLA recruits are in.
Posted by: Fester Javith5393 || 03/13/2011 1:59 Comments || Top||

#4  Back when the 10th was reestablished at Fort Drum, the standard was over a hundred pounds of gear and 12 miles in 3 hours for the line doggies and 4 hours for the support wienies. That was a 70 pound ruck, body armor, couple canteens and weapon. Didn't have the combat plus load of ammo [which would include an extra round or two for the support mortars guys and the plasma packet for the medic]. Basically reduces one to a mule. S.L.A. Marshal's work on the soldier's load said somewhere from 35-38 pounds were the maximum that should be carried but then again that was a time when division staffs were a fraction of what they are today for planning.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/13/2011 10:08 Comments || Top||

#5  Then again, there is the hilarious Japanese Navy recruiting ad.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/13/2011 11:36 Comments || Top||

#6  Did someone ask for a comparison, which there is none :-)? A hilarious-er version of Anonymoose's video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNdPPEwguDQ&feature=related.

Posted by: Fi || 03/13/2011 14:17 Comments || Top||

#7  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNdPPEwguDQ&feature=related

:-) Linky wouldn't linky.
Posted by: Fi || 03/13/2011 14:19 Comments || Top||

#8  NE ASIA may had well surrender like France to China + PLA right now iff the JMSDF is going to do OKLAHOMA? MOULIN ROUGE? to attract recruits???

[GODZILLA "IT SHOULDN'T HAPPEN TO KING GHIDERA" FACEPALM here].
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/13/2011 20:01 Comments || Top||

#9  May I suggest showing Rent the "Rock opera with music and lyrics...based on Puccini's opera La bohème. It tells the story of a group of impoverished young artists and musicians struggling to survive... under the shadow of HIV/AIDS"
Posted by: Fi || 03/13/2011 20:18 Comments || Top||


Economy
Gold, Silver Surge At Open Of Electronic Trading
As the dollar plunges (supposedly on news of that Frankenstein of a Euro treaty announced on Saturday morning and on capital repatriation in Japan) the real reason for the plunge can be found in the action of the precious metals, where both gold and silver are about to take out period highs on more imminent global fiat dilution.
Posted by: tipper || 03/13/2011 20:17 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Fifth Column
NPR Condemns Another Executive's Secretly Taped Mistake
HT: Big Journalism
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 03/13/2011 17:46 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


The Grand Turk
Turkish forces arrest 'Euro MPs, priests in Cyprus'
[Al Arabiya] Four Euro MPs and two Cypriot priests were among some 11 people nabbed in Turkish-controlled northern Cyprus on Saturday as they sought to visit allegedly destroyed Orthodox churches, officials said.

"We've received reports that EU parliamentarians have been jugged by Turkish forces having entered the fenced-off area of Varosha (in Famagusta)... We are trying to get more information," U.N. front man Rolando Gomez told AFP.

Cypriot MEP Ioannis Kasoulides said some 11 people, who are also believed to include European parliament employees, are being held in Famagusta and are expected to appear before a Turkish Cypriot court there later on Saturday.
"Brussels has been alerted and will try to mediate with Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu for their immediate release," said Kasoulides.

The politicians nabbed are said to be Cypriot MEP Eleni Theocharous; Jaroslav Walesa, son of former Polish president Lech Walesa; fellow Polish MEP Artur Zasada and Bulgarian MEP Mariya Nedelcheva.

State radio reported it had spoken with Theocharous after the arrest and that she had said the team had gone north to witness first-hand the "destruction of Greek orthodox churches in the north."

She said no explanation was given as to why the delegation was nabbed and had their passports and identity cards confiscated.

Varosha is located in an off-limits military area.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops seized and occupied its northern third in response to a Greek inspired coup in Nicosia to join the island with Greece.

The Orthodox Church of Cyprus claims that, since the invasion, more than 500 churches in the north have been pillaged and many archaeological and other cultural heritage sites abandoned to the elements.

Also, hundreds of icons, frescoes and other valuable artifacts have been stolen from the north and found their way onto the black market, and the church has been active in retrying to reclaim them.
Posted by: Fred || 03/13/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Politix
Hacker group Anonymous says it will release Bank of America emails
The loose-knit hacker collective known as "Anonymous" plans to release emails obtained from Bank of America Corp. early today, an Anonymous-related Twitter feed said.

"[S]ee you guy's Monday Morning 5am...London Time," a post from the Twitter username OperationLeakS said.

"Meet my demands Release Pfc. Bradley Manning and I will remove every #BoA Employee from the Emails," the feed said Saturday, referring to the US Army private accused of leaking sensitive US cables to WikiLeaks.
Posted by: tipper || 03/13/2011 19:48 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ANON 1, comments? What puzzling form will Anon1's defense of wikileaks take this time around?
Posted by: Fi || 03/13/2011 20:09 Comments || Top||

#2  Who cares about anon1?

If BoA employees, or the corporation, committed crimes, they should be denounced, prosecuted, and punished.

True freedom is not permission to defraud, steal, or kill.
Posted by: Lover of 1776 || 03/13/2011 22:00 Comments || Top||

#3 
True freedom is not permission to defraud, steal, or kill

Ummm, okay. So making the BofA less productive by going forward with this is going to hurt who? Ultimately, BofA customers will be passed the cost of the loss in productivity. B of A customers are just citizen Americans who will really be the ones who are punished, Robin Hood. I just unpacked your stupid theory. Toodles!
Posted by: Fi || 03/13/2011 22:05 Comments || Top||

#4  What is your argument? criminals should not be punished? BoA is above the law?
Posted by: Lover of 1776 || 03/13/2011 22:07 Comments || Top||

#5  Of course not, but anonymous hacking is above the law, too, if you use lawfulness as a measure of good.

My argument is the only practical one: if Bof A goes down by way of hacking, the cost of recovery will either me ameliorated through fees to account holders, or by another "bail out" from the gov where the cost still comes out of the average American's hide. Anonymous hackers are simple fools with technological skills enough to make them terrorists, but that doesn't mean they have common sense. If you're going after B of A you're going after the common American.
Posted by: Fi || 03/13/2011 22:12 Comments || Top||

#6  If the hacked BoA e-mails are incriminating enough to collapse BoA, then the real crime is that it took THIS to bring them down. And DON'T f*ing bail them out!
Posted by: Glenmore || 03/13/2011 22:33 Comments || Top||

#7  if Bof A goes down by way of hacking, the cost of recovery will either me ameliorated through fees to account holders, or by another "bail out" from the gov where the cost still comes out of the average American's hide. Anonymous hackers are simple fools with technological skills enough to make them terrorists, but that doesn't mean they have common sense. If you're going after B of A you're going after the common American.
Oh dear, so much to comment on. BofA is one of the TBTF institutions, which coincidentally also had a great deal to do causing the worldwide economic disaster. The US gov't contributed by dumping its useful regulations (Glass-Steagall, limitations on BofA leverage, exempting CDS from long-standing legal restrictions, etc.), and by simply failing to use the regulations & power it already had (see Greenspan & the Bernank).
There is a lot of evidence of BofA's criminal activity, justifying a blizzard of DofJ subpoenas. This was before Wikileaks came on the scene. Of course we have Eric "Place" Holder as US AG and his boss who are in the pockets of the financial industry, so little or nothing has been or will be done. Can't imagine anything Wikileaks can come up with that will be worse than what is already known or suspected.
There is also a lot of evidence that BofA has been insolvent since the very start of this crisis, but the gov't has not been willing to go into this part of the problem, since it needs some banks standing to support the rest. Insolvent banks need to be put out of business, maintaining them as zombies only makes things worse. The bank bailouts were zombie life support systems. Common Americans are now and will be suffering from the consequences of these bailouts for years to come. The only obligation the US really has to BofA is the deposit insurance the FDIC might have to provide,the rest is the responsibility of private individuals, like the executives, stockholders & creditors of BofA. Let them be the big losers. That is where the interest of common Americans diverges from the BofA.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/13/2011 22:54 Comments || Top||

#8  B of A is already tainted. AKA the gym membership defense. If they can get away with that, will Anonymous hackers exposing lurid emails make one bit of difference? http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2011/03/11/bank-of-americas-gym-membership-defense/?KEYWORDS=Bank+of+America

Whatever Anonymous digs up may or may not make change the game and may look silly, which may egg the hackers towards further and more damaging mayhem. Meanwhile, moms and pops have their mortgages, checking and savings with them. Anyone really believe it could be dissolved without depositors losing money? I don't.
Posted by: Fi || 03/13/2011 23:19 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Death threats for Pakistan actress
[Emirates 24/7] A well-known Pak actress on Saturday said she had received death threats from snuffies after appearing on the Indian equivalent of hit reality television show "Big Brother".

Veena Malik, 27, incurred the wrath of hardline Islamic holy men for her performance on "Big Boss", during which she indulged in several intimate scenes with Indian actor Ashmit Patel that included massaging his head and neck.

Clerics accused her of shaming Pakistain in rival India and she also received a letter threatening to "punish" her.

"I am quite shocked after receiving this letter. First I got only verbal threats but now it is in writing," Malik told AFP by telephone from India, where she is hosting cricket World Cup show "Big Toss".

"Security is a concern and the Pak government is responsible for my and my family's security. I hope that the government will provide me that security," Malik said.

The actress said people with tight security details had been killed in Pakistain, referring to the January liquidation of Punjab governor Salman Taseer over his opposition to a draconian blasphemy law.

"What can I say except that I have firm belief in God and life and death is in his hand," she said.

Malik said she would return to Pakistain despite the threats.

"To live in my country is my right. I am a daughter of this soil. I guarantee that I will come back to Pakistain and will live in my own country," she said.

"My hands are clean. And I have done nothing wrong. I am not the person to back out after such threats."

Sohail Rashid, Malik's media manager, said she had received a letter from the little-known Maulana Ahmed Masood, who claims to be a leader of Tehreek-e-Taliban, or the Taliban movement.

The authenticity of the threat letter or the credentials of its writer could not be verified and the front man for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistain was not immediately available.

"The letter says that Tehreek-e-Taliban has taken a decision as a Mohammedan to punish Veena Malik soon," Rashid told AFP.

"We want our daughters and sisters in our homes only and Veena Malik, who is humiliating Pakistain's name in India, will be punished soon," Rashid quoted from the letter.

"We are soon going to punish Veena Malik so that our future generations may be afraid of going to India. It is the responsibility of all Paks and Mohammedans, but now we are going to accomplish it," Rashid quoted the letter as saying.

Posted by: Fred || 03/13/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Instead of acting afraid, which is what they want, and more or less passively waiting to be murdered, she should instead lash out at the bad boys, calling them all sorts of names, and accusing them of being women-hating Satan worshiping boy lovers, and far worse in Pakistani culture.

Then set herself up as the spokesman for Pakistani women and call them out as weaklings and cowards who should be sodomizing each other in prison, as they are repulsive to, and undeserving of women, and too dirty to be permitted into any mosque, for they smell of dung, and wipe with the hand by which they clutch the Koran. Etc.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/13/2011 11:30 Comments || Top||

#2  Shoot them and then bury them with pigs.
Posted by: Mike Ramsey || 03/13/2011 11:54 Comments || Top||

#3  I'd buy her something in a S&W .40 and teach her to use it.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man || 03/13/2011 15:43 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Dayton Dumbs Down Their Cops
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 03/13/2011 00:46 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  once again that not enough black candidates were passing

Would these failing candidates be products of the Dayton public school system, perchance?
Posted by: SteveS || 03/13/2011 1:48 Comments || Top||

#2  ..maybe. Then again the usual filter in law enforcement employment is no 'prior' record of convictions too. That has a tendency to shrink eligible personnel pools in urban areas.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/13/2011 10:15 Comments || Top||

#3  Well, we’ve lowered standards for President, why not police? Maybe the New Black Panther thugs at the Pennsylvania voting place can go to Ohio and get on with the force.

Posted by: Jack Salami || 03/13/2011 10:18 Comments || Top||

#4  So what the good Atty General Eric Holder is saying is along the line of:

"My people are too dumb and stupid to qualify for the police force so your'll have to lower your standards."

Nobody is bothered by the racism in that statement?
Posted by: George Clavins9400 || 03/13/2011 10:31 Comments || Top||

#5  Mr P you remind me of "no 'prior' record of convictions too" in DC. They couldn't get enough candidates so as I recall modifications were made.
This was done several years ago. This is how DC works. "Congress can make the laws and congress can change the laws" as stated by a congressional representative. Yes, to them the Constitution is a living document and they will have no qualms to modify it. For themselves but not for others.
Posted by: Dale || 03/13/2011 13:15 Comments || Top||

#6  There was a court case in Seattle a few years ago that went basically like this: a white male was not hired due to 'quotas' and he successfully sued for reverse discrimination. If these new Dayton rules make any sort of racial distinction, then there may be grounds for a similiar suit. But I did not get that impression, so now Dayton will be protected by an entire short bus full of racially diverse losers.
Posted by: USN,Ret || 03/13/2011 15:34 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
61[untagged]
4Govt of Pakistan
2Govt of Iran
2Govt of Sudan
2TTP
2al-Aqsa Martyrs
2Taliban
1Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan
1Lashkar-e-Islami
1Palestinian Authority

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

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

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
Click here for more information

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

Two weeks of WOT
Sun 2011-03-13
  Libyan troops 'force rebels out of Brega'
Sat 2011-03-12
  5 family members murdered by terrorist in Itamar settlement
Fri 2011-03-11
  Rebel forces retreat from Ras Lanuf
Thu 2011-03-10
  Libya no-fly zone a UN decision, "not US": Clinton
Wed 2011-03-09
  OIC rejects military action on Libya
Tue 2011-03-08
  Gaddafi sends negotiators to Benghazi
Mon 2011-03-07
  National Libyan Council to seek recognition
Sun 2011-03-06
  Gaddafi forces fight to seize Zawiyah, dozens killed
Sat 2011-03-05
  Qadaffy forces try, fail to retake Zawiyah
Fri 2011-03-04
  Libyan rebels push west
Thu 2011-03-03
  Gaddafi strikes at Brega, rebels eye foreign help
Wed 2011-03-02
  National Libyan Council outlines strategy
Tue 2011-03-01
  Yemen Opposition Rejects Plan for Govt of National Unity
Mon 2011-02-28
  Defiant Gaddafi confined to Tripoli
Sun 2011-02-27
  Ex-minister forms interim govt. in Libya


Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
3.149.26.246
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Operations (28)    WoT Background (17)    Opinion (14)    (0)    Politix (4)