The Black Death, which killed 23m people in the middle ages, could be lying dormant and could strike again, say researchers. Their claim is based on the theory that the pandemic was triggered not by bubonic plague but by another virus. The theory is outlined in a new book by Professor Christopher Duncan and Dr Susan Scott of Liverpool University. "We believe this virus is merely lying in wait, ready to strike again," said Professor Duncan. The Black Death is thought to have caused the deaths of up to 200m people worldwide over the past 1,500 years. In the 14th century alone, around 23m people are thought to have died after the disease ravaged much of Asia and Europe.
Globally the disease still affects between 1,000 to 3,000 people a year. However, if caught early it can be cured with antibiotics. As part of their research, Professor Duncan and Dr Scott studied original parish records, wills and diaries to create a profile of the killer disease. They examined eyewitness accounts as well as accounts by several famous figures who escaped infection, including Henry VIII and William Shakespeare. This research led them to conclude that the deaths were not caused by bubonic plague but by some other viral disease. Professor Duncan said the virus may still exist somewhere in the world. "Although the last known outbreak of plague occurred over three centuries ago, we believe the virus is merely lying in wait, ready to strike again." He also suggested that the disease if it does emerge again could turn into a major killer. "Globalisation and our increasingly mobile population make rapid transmission of infectious disease unavoidable - as demonstrated in the recent outbreaks of Sars. These factors, combined with the increased threat of bio-terrorism, may allow for the re-emergence of the virus as an even more ruthless killer."
However, Dr Michael Smith, a leading expert on plague, played down the claims. "For many years, there have been queries about whether the bubonic plague was responsible for the Black Death," he told BBC News Online. "However, much of the clinical descriptions certainly fit bubonic plague. A paper, published by French researchers recently, based on DNA tests on the remains of two people who died during this time also found evidence that it was bubonic plague. "The body of evidence suggests that it was bubonic plague."
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
05/22/2004 7:38:36 PM ||
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BP is still endemic to parts of this country. One location IIRC is Detroit. In this age of rapid international air travel and increasing mobility I am literally scared that eventually Ebola or something similiar will get out of Africa. And that is not the only place that a new killer could come from
#2
A little mentioned fact is the incredible adaptive abilities of the AIDS virus. Even after extensive study, there remain large gaps in our understanding of this potent viral threat.
Consider for one moment what would happen if the AIDS virus mutated to an airborne version. Now imagine if a concerted effort was made to intentionally mutate one of the various killer viruses into a more easily transmissable form.
All of this is merely one more reason for smashing those states that continue to exhibit the least support for international terrorism. Technology has drastically outpaced our ability to both control and monitor its adverse uses.
The biggest viruses are 400,000 base pairs long with HIV containing 10,000 base pairs whereas hepatitis B contains 3000, human cytomegalovirus contains about 230 kilo base pairs (kbps where kilo means thousand) and influenza at 12 kbp. By contrast the E Coli bacteria is 4 million base pairs, the the bacteria that causes tuberculosis is 4,411,532 base pairs (bp) and the bacteria that causes leprosy is 3,268,203 bp. So building artificial bacteria from scratch is a much bigger job. But keep in mind that 12 kbp number for influenza. Individual influenza strains have killed tens of millions of people. Imagine a bioengineered influenza attack that unleashed many deadly strains at once. The results for the human race would be catastrophic.
#3
Bubonic plague was (and is) not caused by a virus, but by a Bacillus bacteria, Yersinia pestis. What sort of medical researcher doesn't know the difference between a virus and a bacteria?
#4
Zenster as usual is wrong. Were a disease like SARS or BP go pandemic, then organized states could control it the same way SARS was controlled by quarenteen, isolation and barrier medicine. We were lucky that SARS didn't get into sub-saharan Africa or the moslem world where states don't have the capability to do this and the disease would spread unchecked. The result would be entire areas would be devastated, but the West would be relatively unaffected. An interesting consequence would be every tranzi liberal would get mugged big time by reality.
Posted by: Phil B ||
05/22/2004 22:09 Comments ||
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#5
Grunter, I think the fault lies with the BBC reporting, which is particularly abysmal when covering science and technology.
Posted by: Phil B ||
05/22/2004 22:11 Comments ||
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#6
This, or one of its gene-jumping siblings, is the one to worry about...
I recommend The Coming Plague by Laurie Garrett is (was for me in '96) an eye-opener giving excellent background and avoiding "the sky is falling!" hysteria. It was published in 1995, so it is somewhat dated. Perhaps someone knows of a more recent and better text for substantive information.
#7
Plague is commonly detected among squirrels and other rodents in the West - it'll be pandemic ONLY among the ignorant masses who believe their holy men that fleas and vermin are OK, Joooos and their "needles" are not. Sad to say, good riddance if your birth rate exceeds your IQ
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/22/2004 22:28 Comments ||
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#8
Bubonic plague is caused by yersinia pestis. The point of the article is that that the authors thought it wasn't Y pestis but a virus of some kind. I think they're wrong.
BP is indeed found in rodents in the west, and there are a couple of sporadic cases in the U.S. each year because of this.
Ebola won't cause a new plague, for a simple reason -- its victims die too quickly to spread the disease very far. It's easy enough to quarentine as well, and usually the 2nd wave dies out without infecting anyone else.
Mutating influenza wouldn't be hard -- the Chinese manage to do it every year :-) However, mutating it to be more lethal and infectious would be more difficult. As is pointed out re SARS, if it became clear that a new virus (influenza or anything else) was on the rampage, 1st and 2nd world countries would institute public health measures, and the disease would be contained.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/22/2004 23:24 Comments ||
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#10
Zenster as usual is wrong. Were a disease like SARS or BP go pandemic, then organized states could control it the same way SARS was controlled by quarenteen, isolation and barrier medicine.
For someone who cannot be bothered to spell "quarantine" properly, you sure talk a blue streak, Phil B.
A US insurance executive is suing a New York strip club after being charged $28,000 for a night of erotic entertainment and expensive champagne.
Mitchell Blaser claims he spent $2,000 at the Scores Club, but that he was overcharged by more than 10 times. "See, Iâm not a prodigal buffoon, I only spent two grand."
Mr Blaserâs lawyer said the club had assumed his client would be too embarrassed to pursue the matter. Another clairvoyant lawyer. Sheesh.
A spokesman for the club said Mr Blaser had "partied like a rock star" and run up the huge bill. "If you want to live like [actor] Colin Farrell, you have to pay for it," Lonnie Hanover told the New York Post newspaper. What are the chances that he picked Farrellâs name at random?
Mr Blaser, chief financial officer at Swiss Re, America, until this story broke
was billed $16,000 for five bottles of Clos de Mesnil champagne, $7,000 for table dances and strippers, $1,000 for food and drinks and a $4,000 tip to staff. A strip club stocks 3K per bottle champagne? Our local booby-bar considers Guinness exotic. No, I will not tell you how I know.
The prematurely senile 53-year-old, who was accompanied on the night by two really good friends, claims staff at the club intimidated him into signing a bill for $8,615, and that his credit card was charged three times.
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy ||
05/22/2004 12:55:41 AM ||
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Oh, man, where's my insurance policy? I want to cancel it and switch to General Re - they know how to run a tight ship.
A man was fined nearly 300 dollars (250 euros) for drunk driving a donkey cart in a small South African town and then telling police he was unconcerned "because the animals knew the way home." Hans du Toit was stopped recently in the town of Philipolis, about 650 kilometres (400 miles) south of Johannesburg, when traffic officials noticed his donkey cart swerving all over its one main road. He was told not to continue driving, the Afrikaans daily Beeld newspaper said on Wednesday. "But when the policeman left, I decided: âI know this road and so does my donkeys. If I donât find it, my donkeys will," Du Toit said in a statement before court. "The drive was a bit haphazard and I was stopped again by the police," he added. Du Toitâs wife was called and she unleashed the animals. Traffic officials and the court took a stern view and sentenced Du Toit to the fine or two years in jail, of which 21 months were suspended for four years.
Posted by: TS(vice girl) ||
05/22/2004 12:10:12 AM ||
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There's a bar about 2 miles down the road from where I live called "The Big Orange". It has a hitchin' post for horses or whatever else you ride. My horse knows the way home from there.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
05/22/2004 10:34 Comments ||
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What rong officer?
Your dawg seems to be driving this vehicle.
He's on a leash bluebelly.
Posted by: Hank ||
05/22/2004 12:00:00 AM ||
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I heard my first Cosby about 19...1965. I was an exceptional child, people would often remark, "hey thats a remarkably exceptional child." My mom would blush, she knew.
But enough about me. Back to work. Bill, I always called him Bill, did a complete routine that was black and American. Way to go Bill.
#2
If a certain segment of society suffers from institutional prejugdice (sp) ala Jim Crow then you can expect a certain amount of ignorance on that part of society. But for a segment of society to willfully choose ignorance and then complain about lack of opprotunities (sp) is the hieght of arrogance
#3
My wife once (early 90's) interviewed a distinguished "community activist" in Cincinnati for an article on the NAACP Image Awards. This gentleman said something that reinforces what Cosby said. He said that without fathers, black mothers were raising a "generation of cobras", young boys who, without the discipline and guidance provided by a father, had absolutely no chance of becoming men because they have no idea of what a man is and how he is supposed to act. He said the dissolution of the black family had robbed blacks of any hope of every achieving true equality. He said that he never truly appreciated what his father taught him until he had a son. Single moms can be everything except a father. It takes a man to show his son what's expected of a man. It's a national disgrace that so many men choose to be fathers only in the biological sense.
#4
Having been born and grown in Alabama I always thought the greatest injustice this country (and I mean the WHOLE country) did was deny black people an education. While Mr. Cosby's remarks do carry a lot of truth now, I think the way we got to this place was the denial of black children an education. This was not just a Southern failing, but a national one. Who remembers a few years ago when the teaching of Ebonics was touted as legitimate? Just another example of the politically correct crowd making excuses for the failure of education.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
05/22/2004 10:45 Comments ||
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Cosby has touched a nerve ... and he has the credentials to speak on the topic, too.
It's true that blacks, especially in the South, were denied quality education for a long time. But it's also true that there are now at least 3 generations of urban blacks who have very little education by choice / by example, which means they have very little job future.
The whole cycle needs disrupting. Public image is only one part of it, but I think it's a part that could use some stressing by black leaders. To refuse to do so because that might let the rest of society off the hook for THEIR part is irresponsible at best. At worst, it reduces the urban black underclass to mere pawns in the political ambitions of those leaders.
it reduces the urban black underclass to mere pawns in the political ambitions of those leaders
Precisely, rkb. Their political ambitions are far more important to them than the future of their fellow black people. Without an underclass (which they encourage), they'd be out of their demagogue jobs.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/22/2004 12:00 Comments ||
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#7
While I applaud Cosby's straight talk, it is still impossible to escape the feeling that such a successful black entertainer like him could have done more with his influence over television media than just spew out pap like "The Cosby Show."
Much like Michael Jackson, who has devoted his millions to selling us overproduced pap pop music drivel and Pepsi sugar-water, Cosby might have done more to stem the erosion of American black culture. While he is not responsible for the glorification of thug life and misogyny that currently prevails, I'm not certain he has done all he can to combat such moral rot.
Since I am not a big fan of anything beyond "I Spy" and his comedic albums, there may well be other efforts he has made that I am unaware of. It's just that none spring to mind very readily.
#9
Deacon - where's the accountability? Teachers Unions have kept blacks under the thumb forever while crying needs for more dollars. Wash. DC schools are 3rd in per pupil spending yet consistently rank among the worst performing. It's not the education opportunity, it's the social atmosphere that resents anyone breaking the losing mold. Cosby is on the mark and can say things others believe but don't have the cred to say. My esteem for him went up a 100% - a brave man, who's going to be attacked now...can you say Uncle Tom?
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/22/2004 20:18 Comments ||
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#10
Frank- I agree. The accountability is not there. The DC school system is an example of "Let's throw money at the problem. Maybe it will help". The opportunities are there but there is no will to take advantage of them. This was not the case not too long ago.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
05/22/2004 21:33 Comments ||
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#11
Deacon,
I DID NOT go to a quality private education I went to a ROUGH public school. I DID NOT go to an Ivy League College I went to several small ones and cobbled together an education. I DID NOT know anyone in business or in civil service. But it DID NOT stop me from achieving what I like to think is a pretty comfortable life. People who are waiting for something to be handed to them will rarely see it. People who go out and make something of themselves can achieve anything.
Nobody forces Black kids to drop out of school. Nobody forces Black children to use drugs or commit crimes. Nobody forces Black children to bear children out of wedlock and become dependent on the welfare system. These are all choices made by individuals. They are NOT unique to the black community.
Cos (I like to call him Cos) is on the money when he said that the poor are not living up to their side of the bargain. You (Black, White, Yellow, etc.) have the OPPORTUNITY in this country to become or accomplish anything you want. Ok so you donât go to Harvard or Yale, millions of people donât and most of the millionaires in the U.S. didnât go there either!
He made a similar statement about three months ago and I have been waiting see if there will be a plan that produces some tangible effect.
With the start of the summer driving season approaching and gasoline prices soaring, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said the United States should strive for energy independence. "There are two reasons why we cannot be asleep at the wheel during this current energy crisis," Kerry said in the weekly Democratic radio address. "First, soaring energy prices are putting our economy at risk and second, our dependence on Middle East oil is putting our national security at risk. But it doesnât have to be this way." He is right on all three counts.
In the short term, the Massachusetts senator said, the United States should divert oil being used to fill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (search) and bring it to market. The White House says, though, that would have only a negligible impact on pump prices. Kerry also said the countryâs leaders should demand that Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing nations increase supply. Thats his plan?
He said his long-term strategy as president would include investments in alternative fuels and new technologies that are more fuel-efficient. He said he would establish tax credits to help make fuel-efficient cars more affordable. At best these things will slow the rate at which things get worse. They will not solve it.
"Our dependence on foreign oil is a problem we must solve together the only way we can â by inventing our way out of it," Kerry said. Sounds like his plan is to wait for someone to invent perpetual motion, or the greenie equivalent know as the Hydrogen economy.
Posted by: Phil B ||
05/22/2004 7:22:24 PM ||
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hmmm what about the wind farms off the Hyannisport coast? No can do? What about drilling in ANWAR and increasing refining capacity? No can do? What about heavily taxing gas and increasing foreign imports while shutting off the strategic reserve and cutting highway funding (except the Big Dig, of course)...oh, that's the plan? Riiiggghhhtt
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/22/2004 19:31 Comments ||
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And I'm still calling for a pony.
Same effect, but my odds are better - I can actually formulate a plan.
To whip out a statement calling for diddley-do that, if seriously planned would probably span 20 years and cost a few trillion when all is said and done, is sooooo Donkish. This is election-year (un)sound-byte-me drivel. Bark on, Skeery.
#4
"With the start of the summer driving season approaching and gasoline prices soaring, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said the United States should strive for energy independence."
It will be a frigid day in Hell, with pigs flying backwards lazily across fuschia skies, before I'll count on any Democrat to lead us to independence from foreign oil.
And to think-- barely a year ago, I WAS a Democrat!
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/22/2004 20:13 Comments ||
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In truth we do need to become energy independent. Its just that no body in office right now Left or Right, Democrat or Republican has the political will to back the one thecnology that could get us there the fastest. And that's nuclear. The new Pebble Bed reactors are much more attractive than the older Light Water Reactors. And if we were really serious about complete energy independence we'd be pushing fusion research more actively. Or even looking seriously at Space Based Solar Systems
"Senator Kerry fully and deftly grasps the many nuances and complexities of the issues that meet at the intricate confluence of oil prices, our economy and relationships with oil-producing nations, including our friends the Saudis. Senator Kerry's bold, original and revolutionary energy policies will fling off the yokes of foreign oil dependence while strengthening the economy for the benefits of working families, and provide a safer environment for The ChildrenTM."
/Do I get the NYT op-ed columnist slot yet? Judges?
#7
This ranks with his pledge of "10 million new jobs."
Wishin' and hopin' won't make it so.
Nuclear's one option, but have we built a new plant since the '70s. Cheaderhead's on target with this one.
I read recently about all the dollars we've thrown into fusion research, which would be the best solution, but are still decades away, at best estimates.
Until someone comes up with a Star Trek-like magnetic containment bottle, it's a dead end.
#8
I'd love for us to be independent. But where are these "soaring energy prices"? The last time I looked (a few hours ago), a gallon of gasoline cost substantially less than a gallon of milk. My electric bills are about the same as last year, and natural gas is not at an all-time high. I believe that we will adjust appropriately when energy prices really soar, but so far Kerry is just chasing windmills.
Posted by: Tom ||
05/22/2004 21:24 Comments ||
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Tom,
Heck a gallon of gas is far cheaper then a gallon of 'pure' water nowdays.
Will Kerry-boy allow drilling in Alaska? Thought not.
Once again he is just making statements with no plan.
#10
Kerry's such a prick.
He'd call for everyone to eat shit 3 times a day (which is about what we'd get with him in the White House -shudder- ) if he thought it would get him elected.
He knows that whatever he "proposes" as Prez would only apply to "all the little people out there in the dark" and not he and his rich friends.
"Mr. Bandar, I'm ready for my close-up."
Posted by: Jen ||
05/23/2004 4:13 Comments ||
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#11
Kerry is a true limousine liberal elitist who hunts elitist dames loaded with dough, but could never win a beauty contest.
Let's hope the normal general public sees through John-Forbes-Kerry and he suffers an even bigger election loss then the governor he served, 'tax happy' Michael 'Stanley' Dukakis.
During presidential campaign of 1988, 'Duktaxis' had a 17-point lead, then he lost in nearly every state, carrying only 53% of Massachusetts' vote, his home state!
America needs a repeat of the 1988 election for the sake of national and international security!
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
05/23/2004 4:33 Comments ||
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Kerry can start by grounding the "Flying Squirrel" Gulfstream V. I think it uses 4-500 gallons/hour. Think of how many hundreds (nay, thousands) of kids can be ferried to day care and midnight basketball for the cost of one trip. Do it for the children.
Also, what do you think is the miles/gallon of his yacht. What is it's name, "Monkey Business II"?
Posted by: ed ||
05/23/2004 5:25 Comments ||
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Most voters (42 percent) blamed OPEC for the gasoline price hikes; 30 percent blamed the oil companies; 14 percent blamed President Bush; 4 percent blamed environmental groups; and only 2 percent blamed Congress. According to the Zogby poll, those most likely to blame OPEC for rising prices are Republicans (53 %); Easterners (51%); suburban voters (48%); and those making more than $75,000 (53%). Those most likely to blame the oil companies include Westerners (41%); and people making less than $25,000 a year (37%). Those most likely to blame President Bush include African-Americans (33%); Hispanics (24%); younger voters (22%)(liberals); Democrats (22%); and those making less than $15,000 a year (21%). So in short, those making more than $75K place the blame where it should be. Those not making enough to pay taxes blame the oil companies. And those too stupid to have a job blame President Bush
Posted by: Lou ||
05/22/2004 12:00:00 AM ||
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I used to have respect for Zogby because his polls looked to be a little more professional than some of the others. But this year he appears to have slipped into the muck of polling to advance an agenda. I don't know if his ethnicity (arab) is the cause, but he has become very anti-Bush and seems intent on doing everything he can to get Bush out of the White House and us out of the Middle East in general and Iraq in particular.
#2
RWV - The slip with Zogby started in 2000 during Gore v. Bush. He was nothing more than a shrill voice for the leftist agenda.
One part of the solution is to drill in ANWR. The bully-boys in the Senate have steadfastly refused because they don't wish to upset the carribo.
Posted by: Douglas De Bono ||
05/22/2004 9:58 Comments ||
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The day the bill passes opening up ANWR the price of oil will plunge. Even Kerry went as far as to lie to the unions about opening up ANWR. 700,000 new jobs.
I wonder how many Americans realize how big Alaska is. How many people will ever visit that vast perma-frost wasteland? Unless they're involved in the oil industry, my guess is a few dozen, probably all from national geographic.
#4
Sorry guys, but even if you find the biggest oilfield ever found in North America - 500K+ BPD it will just dent the problem. Less than 10% of US imports and by the time it comes online far less than the increase before that time. Having said that, drill away! But a much more serious response is required to solve the problem (of needing to import 6mbpd of oil)
Posted by: Phil B ||
05/22/2004 11:40 Comments ||
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Phil you are missing the point. Oil prices are bases somewhat on fear more than reality. One reason prices are up now is traders feel uncertain about the oil supply in the middle east, not because the oil has stopped flowing. Opening up Anwr would create a huge boost, at least short term, and might help things on its own long term.
I still thing Answr is a just a stopgap though. Bush should be bushing biodesiel and decentralized solar power if he's serious about winning the war on terror.
#6
Biodiesel and decentralized solar power aren't industrial-scale sources of energy, and won't be for a while.
And the fact that it's taken so long to get drilling in ANWR approved is somewhat disturbing to me.
I'd be more forgiving about alternate energy proposals, except when one actually has a shot at working, the NIMBY folks jump all over it too. Like the windfarm off Nantucket.
Also, what's the point of blaming individual oil companies for the fact that the usual suspects have decided to discourage drilling here and encourage imports from a cartel of hostile foreign governments?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
05/22/2004 23:15 Comments ||
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Posted by: Aris Katsaris ||
05/22/2004 12:00:00 AM ||
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No wonder that was a headline as that it's pretty normal in the opposite. Those who lead the VN era robot line are "at the head of the class", morbid facial expressions and all.
#2
There might be more to this story than what is reported here.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
05/22/2004 8:35 Comments ||
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#3
Zeig Heil!
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
05/22/2004 8:35 Comments ||
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#4
Seig Heil!
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
05/22/2004 8:35 Comments ||
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#5
hmm this is a hit piece,the teacher is friends with writer of the story and he was fired for letting students go to a function without permission slips,tho I think this is harsh IMHO
school had the right to fire him.The school did not tell the mother to destroy the poem they wanted to see it to make sure there was no incitement to riot passages and no swearing in the poem.
YIKES! For the benefit of foreign readers, Dershowitz is a leading civil liberties activist and attorney, especially noted for his participation in church/state cases brought by the American Civil Liberties Union. He is the classic "liberal mugged by 9-11."
Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz, who urged that terrorists be tortured in a Nov. 2001 column he wrote for the Los Angeles Times, isnât backing away from his position one bit in the wake of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. In fact, the noted civil libertarian said Thursday that the only thing U.S. did wrong was to use tactics that were amateurish and ineffective. "We should never do what we did at Abu Ghraib, which is turn a bunch amateurs with no experience on to a bunch of low-level detainees and tell them essentially, do what you have to do to soften them up," Dershowitz told MSNBCâs "Scarborough Country."
Instead, torture of high value terror suspects should be authorized by either the President, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, or the Secretary of Defense, he urged. Asked if he thought Americans were ready to "do what it takes" to get information from terrorists who threaten American lives, Dershowitz told host Joe Scarborough, "I think so. But I think Americans want us to do it smarter, want us to do it better. We could have done it a lot smarter."
"If we were to limit our rough interrogation methods to the most important, high-value detainees," he said, the critics would be few. "Nobody is complaining about what we have done to [9/11 mastermind] Shaikh Khalid Mohammed," he noted. The acceptance of torture in the Khalid Mohammed case, said Dershowitz, shows that "Americans are prepared to go to extraordinary lengths to save American lives and the lives of many others, as long as we do it smart, and we do it with accountability." And he challenged the claims by some pundits who say torture almost never works because the subject will inevitably say anything to alleviate the pain. "We had a case in the Philippines where [local police] tortured somebody and revealed a plot to knock down 11 or 12 commercial airliners flying over the Pacific and a plot to kill the pope," he noted.
And Dershowitz even defended sexual humiliation as a good way to press Muslim detainees for critical information. "Itâs a good thing to use women interrogators on radical Muslim extremists," he told MSNBC. "I think itâs a good thing to make them be stripped naked. I think these are legitimate forms of interrogation in cases where we have high-level prisoners who can provide high-level information." The top legal thinker recommended that the U.S. should unabashedly tell the world that torturing high value terrorist suspects is justified "because of the war that has been thrust upon us." "As long as we do it in a way that we can be proud and hold our heads up and say, yes, we did this," he told MSNBC. "But we have to be smart and we have to have accountability." The worldâs terrorists, he said, have "put us in a position where have to defend our civilians. And thatâs the highest calling of democracy, to defend its civilians against guilty murderers that are out there trying to kill our grandchildren and kill our children."
#1
Asked if he thought Americans were ready to "do what it takes" to get information from terrorists who threaten American lives, Dershowitz told host Joe Scarborough, "I think so. But I think Americans want us to do it smarter, want us to do it better. We could have done it a lot smarter."
He's right: we used a bunch of amateurs and weren't selective with who we pressured. Part of the problem was that the circumstances of that day added to the breakdown by putting pressure on MI to produce results.
#2
Another pro-war liberal is CBS correspondant Bob Simon, whose distinguished media career included a stint as a prisoner of war during GW1.
Simon advocates the issuance of secret "assassination warrants" for a Gideon/Phoenix style campaign against terrorist agents and enablers in all parts of the world. Under his plan, as I remember it, a terrorist banker might fall down the stairs in Milan, a propaganda agent would die in a mysterious road accident near London, a Saudi prince's private jet would vanish over the Indian Ocean; all very quiet and supremely illegal under international law.
#4
Dersh and his fellow war liberals are fewer in number than their conservative counterparts, but they make it up in ferocity and ruthlessness. Charles Johnson of LGF is another good example. Today, he cherishes his role as ogre and antichrist to the idiotarian fifth column.
Until 9-11, however, his blog was largely devoted to Bush-bashing. It sometimes still is, especially when "our friends, the Saudis," come up.
#5
Yeah, torture every piece of info. out of this scum, and then bury them in pig crap.
In his forthcoming Monday speech, GWB will almost certainly support one-time "democratic" (read: cleric prescribed balloting) elections in Iraq, which will, in the current context, put the US in the position of legitimating Islamofascist terror-statism. Non-spin consumers with a distate for packaged-fiction, should check out some translations of Iraq terrorist leaders, before endorsing the Saudi puppet who wants to give their supporters a jihad-ballot:
Thanks to God, we are attacking them like they are attacking us and we are hitting them like they are hitting us. We are not equals to them. They fight to go to hell; we fight to go to heaven. We do not have much support or capabilities but God is on our side, they have no one on their side. God has blessed us; we have cut off their head and ripped their bodies in many areas; the United Nations in Baghdad, coalition forces in Karbala, the Italians in Nasiriyyah, the American forces on the Khalidiyyah Bridge, American intelligence in Al-Shaheen Hotel, the CIA in Al-Rashid Hotel and the Polish forces in Al-Hillah...
They know that if the Muslim Giant is awakened, it will not stay away from Rome, Washington, Paris and London. They tried before to cover the truth about the battle, they tried to damage the pure banner of Jihad. They made people believe that the resistance is the work of reminiscence of the fallen regime and element of the atheist Baâth Party to prevent the nation from becoming engaged in the battle and not join the war. This is a lie, forgery...
The enemies of God know that this war is the turning point in this world. It is the cross- roads between complete control of the infidel west and its culture and way of living and the Islamic way. Bush said in a speech that if democracy fails in Iraq it will encourage terrorism in the world. Tony Blair has emphasized that what is happening today in Iraq is going to determine the relationship between the Muslim World and the west. He named it the basic battle of the 21st century. He added âWe are in a situation where failure in Iraq will be catastrophic for the West.â
...Muslim Nation, reach for jihad before the infidels gather against Mujahidin. If jihad fails in Iraq, the nation will never rise again. And the nation will be strangled, we will be hit with humiliation and sanctions will be imposed on us forever. Our situation will be as Ibn Kathir said: âIn the beginning and the end, when people walked away from jihad and did not see the enemy until they were in their houses; they go and tell them do not move and they go and get a knife and kill them one by one.â Muslims have to repent and go back to their religion and to jihad.
Think of Z's comments every time the Texas crook pukes the word: "freedom."
#6
The Spanish Inquisition (I'll bet no one was expecting that!) long ago proved the dubious quality of information extracted under physical duress or torture. Inflicting extreme bodily pain can just as often coerce subjects into false confessions.
Given the LTH (Low Threshold of Humiliation) factor exhibited by so many Iraqi prisoners, their particular susceptability to practices that other adult men pay money to enjoy does most certainly pose nearly irresistible temptations for their interrogators.
Without intimate knowledge of the individual detainees' circumstances of capture and prior intelligence gathered about them, it is difficult for any outsider to determine what sort of interrogation measures were appropriate to help ensure the continued safety and wellbeing of troops remaining in the field.
Most certainly, it was exceptionally ill advised to have placed a "wheeled vehicle specialist" and other soldiers totally untrained in Military Police duties in a position of responsibility for these high-liability prisoners. This could have been foreseen by anyone with an IQ larger than their shoe size.
There are alternatives to abuse or torture that exhibit huge potential for greater reliability than traditional polygraph or voice stress analysis methods. Advanced interrogation techniques could easily benefit from high technology developments in the field of physiological and neural scanning.
New work is being done on Facial Thermal Imaging, physiological parameter analysis and even mechanical typing responses. One very promising technology involves direct examination of brain activity during interrogation. This method is called fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging).
The group used a Function Magnetic Resonance machine (fMRI) to study deception. An fMRI is a neuroimaging devise, which employs strong magnetic fields to induce molecules within the brain tissue to emit radio signals. By mapping the signals onto digital images of the brain, the fMRI is able to monitor the movement of blood, determining which areas of the brain are activated by a particular task.
... When people gave truthful answers, the fMRI showed increased activity in parts of the brain related to vision and finger movement. When they lied, the same areas lit up, but so did additional areas including the anterior cingulated cortex, a section of the brain that has been linked to monitoring of errors and attention. Dr. Langleben concluded that the study showed âa neurophysiological difference between deception and truth at the brain activation level that can be detected with an fMRI.â Essentially, it took more mental energy to lie than to tell the truth.
... Nevertheless, in the near future, we may not only discover whether a person is being deceptive, but we could determine whether the deception was an on-the-sport fib or a premeditated lie. We will also be able to determine peoples deeply held contentions and beliefs.
While bulky and overly sensitive, these limitations will become less restrictive as technological advances in superconductors and sensor fabrication techniques improve. An entire unit could be loaded into a plane for quick transport to a prisoner location. Conventional MRI units are already truck-mounted for hospital equipment time share programs.
When the day is done, there are sufficiently immoral individuals who are willing to perpetrate atrocities on such a scale that they overcome certain limits of human patience and mercy. The "ticking (nuclear) time bomb" scenario is most definitely one of them. To paraphrase Dennis Miller:
"If it takes hooking terrorists up to car batteries to prevent a nuclear terror attack, then I have only two things to say; Red is positive and black is negative."
#7
The Spanish Inquisition was primarily concerned with extracting confessions rather than information.
This is a significant difference, since such confessions have no particular relationship to the facts; while information, once revealed, can be confirmed by other means.
#8
Is Dog Bites Trolls the latest incarnation of Man Bites Dogs or just a fellow traveller? If I wanted to read this sort of stuff I would go to the Democratic Underground.
#9
Partisanship tends to obscure it, but the fifth column left hates and fears John Kerry.
They hate Bush a lot more, naturally, so they give Kerry some lukewarm support as the lesser of two evils.
Kerry has repeatedly demonstrated that he will not throw in the towel against the terrorists, nor will he abandon Israel or Iraq. His yammering about the UN is standard rhetoric designed to appease the idiotarians in his camp. He knows it isn't possible, and would not advance his real agenda even if it were.
Other elements of the Mumia-Cong/ANSWER agenda, such as the release of Saddam Hussein and the detainees at Gitmo, the annihilation of Israel, and the nationalization of media, will receive similarly short shrift.
I am not afraid of Kerry winning. At the very least, his policies will not be encumbered by the dire influence of Satanic Arabia.
Once in office, Kerry will not need the far-left moonbats, assuming that he needs them even now. He will infuriate them by continuing the war and otherwise rejecting their depraved totalitarian agenda. His inauguration will be the trigger for the fifth column left's long-predicted uprising. Imagine Dershowitz as Attorney-General when that happens.
#10
AC - I could not disagree more strongly. Kerry is a traitor and Brahmin Donk Liberal. On every front (from WoT to Homeland Security to The Patriot Act to "the wall" between intelligence agencies to economics to multiculti internationalism to Soros socialism) I would fully expect him to do the wrong thing. His election would set us back years in the WoT and, you can skewer me if he wins and this prediction is wrong, cause us to be hit ala 9/11 at least once if not more simply due to his inability to fucking say what he means and mean what he says - sewing total policy confusion and ineffective effete elitist buffonery. He has no vision and no integrity - becoming President is simply the next thing after being a Senator - and something he seems to think he deserves to be. Personally, I think he deserves to be in Leavenworth making smaller and smaller rocks.
But, of course, I have no strong opinions on the election.
#12
'Think of Z's comments every time the Texas crook pukes the word: "freedom."'
StalinBitesTrolls, I resent your remarks completely!
Talking about an American President "puking" the word "Freedom?"
Not in my world.
Not about my President, whom I support, or his stand for Freedom.
Stay in North Korea or whatever Communist enclave you're phoning it in from.
Posted by: Jen ||
05/22/2004 18:16 Comments ||
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#5
Sorry about that.
I just get straight onto the site, so I wasn't aware that the article required registration.
A handy link for bypassing registrations is bugmenot
This is the sort of idiocy that keeps me from persuing a Masters in Public Health.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/22/2004 12:00:00 AM ||
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#1
God forbid WHO should come up with a plan to help starving people procure a better diet for themselves (as opposed to sending billions to their dictators who use it to keep them starving).
After all, the fat Westerners are so much more important.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/22/2004 0:30 Comments ||
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#2
Do they start with Michael Moore?
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
05/22/2004 21:24 Comments ||
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What you donât need, another teenager around the house with an attitude.
JUDGING by the promotional material, he sounds like the average ned after a night out on the tiles. Robosapien, the latest robotic toy which experts are predicting will become the must-have item for children, can "pick up, throw, kick, dance, fight, perform kung-fu, fart, belch, rap and much more". Receiving its official launch next week at the Gadget Shop, the official stockists of the product, the robotic human is billed as being the first affordable humanoid robot based on the science of applied biomorphic robotics, which sounds great, but leaves few any the wiser as to its capabilities.
Apparently, it means the machineâs movements mimic those of humans, helping to back up the claims of the marketers, who say that it is "loaded with attitude and intelligence". The toy is the result of two yearsâ work by Dr Mark Tilden, a robotics physicist who has worked with NASA and has also developed robotic technologies for other US government agencies. Dr Tilden said at the toyâs launch in the US: "Heâs fun because of his built-in quirks and uses grunts to convey his feelings. Each time he wakes up heâll yawn, stretch and say âuh-huhâ, and then heâs ready to go." Robosapien contains seven motors that let him walk, run, perform "high-fives" and 180-degree turns, and to listen and react to whatâs happening around him. Promoters claim the real appeal comes in his ability to perform moves programmed by his owner. However, at 35.5cm tall, and costing a conservative $80 (£45) in the US, his ability to help about the home will be limited.
#3
A: that is also gas prices as opposed to crude oil. The corellation between the two is not 1. it was about .8 the last time I checked.
Posted by: Mr. Davis ||
05/22/2004 22:12 Comments ||
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#4
Check the listed website 'crude oil prices 1920 to 2004'.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
05/23/2004 3:44 Comments ||
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#5
This chart displays unleaded gasoline price trending from 1984 through the end of 2003. The chart does not show the current spike in prices, since 2004 is still underway.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
05/23/2004 3:47 Comments ||
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#6
This link provides a heating oil price chart from 1978 through the end of 2003 clearly indicating very bullish trending and sudden drops directly after heating oil peaked. The coming winter of 2004-5 will most likely see heating oil bolt up even further then any previous spike contingent on 'petrol-events' in the Mid-East.
If Iran, OPEC's second largest crude oil exporter becomes 'directly' involved against Coalition forces over the Iraqi counter terrorist war, the prices of both heating oil & natural gas will indeed soar to all time record highs, coupled with the cost of all portions of the global energy complex.
If counter jihad war is broaden into terrorist supporting rouge state of radical Islamic Iran, during the middle of the upcoming winter, not only energy will become far more costly than present, but the rate of inflation could also climb to 1979-1980 levels. Then again, If Iran is not dealt with inflation may be the least of our concerns.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
05/23/2004 4:03 Comments ||
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American filmmaker Michael Mooreâs "Fahrenheit 9/11," a scathing indictment of White House actions after the Sept. 11 attacks, won the top prize Saturday at the Cannes Film Festival. "Fahrenheit 9/11" was the first documentary to win Cannesâ prestigious Palme dâOr since Jacques Cousteauâs "The Silent World" in 1956. "What have you done? Iâm completely overwhelmed by this. Merci," Moore said after getting a standing ovation from the Cannes crowd.
"Fahrenheit 9/11" won the top award from sharply divided Cannes moviegoers, who found a solid crop of good movies among the 19 entries in the festivalâs main competition but no great ones that rose to front-runner status. While "Fahrenheit 9/11" was well-received by Cannes audiences, many critics felt it was inferior to Mooreâs Academy Award-winning documentary "Bowling for Columbine," which earned him a special prize at Cannes in 2002. Some critics speculated that if "Fahrenheit 9/11" won the top prize, it would be more for the filmâs politics than its cinematic value. With Mooreâs customary blend of humor and horror, "Fahrenheit 9/11" accuses the Bush camp of stealing the 2000 election, overlooking terrorism warnings before Sept. 11 and fanning fears of more attacks to secure Americansâ support for the Iraq war. Moore appears on-screen far less in "Fahrenheit 9/11" than in "Bowling for Columbine" or his other documentaries. The film relies largely on interviews, footage of U.S. soldiers and war victims in Iraq, and archival footage of Bush.
#1
ranks with Jimmy Carter's Peace Prize as most unsurprising F*&K YOU to the U.S. Sad thing is some people care....ignorant hate-america goatfucking bastards....Er, not you Aris :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/22/2004 19:24 Comments ||
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Reporting live from France, i am sorry to announce that Mooreâs film farenheit 911 was awarded the highest prize, "la palme dâor". Well, my american friends, you know now how to vote.
#1
frenchfregoli: do you think the kind of people who awarded Moore the Palme d'Or will wake up in time to see that they've been sneering at the wrong enemy and change course-- or will the Islamic Republic of France be declared, and sharia made the law of the land, before they get a clue?
Posted by: Dave D. ||
05/22/2004 16:48 Comments ||
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#2
Fuck them all! Fuck the islamic republic of phrancistan, Fuck john kerry, Fuck cannes film festival, Fuck michael moore, Fuck china, Fuck germany, Fuck spain, Fuck barbra streisand, Fuck james brolin streisand, Fuck every one of you sons-of-bitches who do not support America's effort to make the world a safer place in which to raise your kids.
Posted by: Halfass Pete ||
05/22/2004 17:21 Comments ||
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Amen Pete. And f the left who is THE ENEMY. THE LEFT IS THE ENEMY.
The annual summit of the League of Arab States began Saturday with a protest from Moammar Ghadafi. The two-day meeting in Tunis is the leagueâs second attempt in as many months to agree on proposals for political reform. Diplomats say Ghadafi walked out during a speech by Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa because he was annoyed by perceived criticism of Libyaâs decision to renounce its weapons of mass destruction programs. "I regret that Libya is obliged to boycott the sessions of the summit. The reasons are as follows: non-agreement of the agenda," Ghadafi later told reporters....
Posted by: Rafael ||
05/22/2004 2:43:38 PM ||
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Damn, my eyes are watering! We're not in Kansas any more Toto...Ghadafi IS turning around!!
Prominent Egyptian actor Omar El Sherif raised a wave of disapproval and rage amongst religious Muslims with his new movie âHidalgoâ, which is not screened yet in the Arab world. The Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR) condemned the movie by saying its depreciating Arabs and Muslims. American media also criticized the subject of the movie.
Producers of the film stressed that they consulted Muslim specialists before starting the movie, according to the Egyptian based daily, Al-Gomhorya. The story of the movie is based on the true story of the greatest long-distance horse race ever run, "Hidalgo", which is an epic action-adventure and one manâs journey of personal redemption.
Held yearly for centuries, the Ocean of Fire - a 3,000 mile survival race across the Arabian Desert - was a challenge restricted to the finest Arabian horses ever bred, the purest and noblest lines, owned by the greatest royal families. In 1890, Omar performs the role of a wealthy Sheikh, Riyad al-Arabi, who invites the American jockey and his horse to enter the race for the first time. Frank T. Hopkins (Mortensen) was a cowboy and dispatch rider for the US cavalry who had once been billed as the greatest rider the West had ever known.
The Sheik would put his claim to the test, pitting the American cowboy and his mustang, Hidalgo, against the worldâs greatest Arabian horses and Bedouin riders - some of whom were determined to prevent the foreigner from finishing the race. For Frank, the Ocean of Fire becomes not only a matter of pride and honor, but a race for his very survival as he and his horse, Hidalgo, attempt the impossible.
The movie had many phrases that can be described as humiliating to Arabs and Muslims. In one of the scenes, the movie described Prophet Mohammed as a pirate before he became a prophet. The movie also shows Omar wondering about the reasons why women wear Hijab, and also looks down to the belief of destiny in Islamic religion. At the end of the movie the Arab jockey commits suicide, which contradicts the beliefs of Islam.
El Sherif had recently caused for the rise of a storm of anger among Arab Muslims during an interview to Times magazine. Omar made his remarks during the middle of a nomination to the Oscars for his latest film "Mr. Abraham and the Jewels of the Holy Koran" by different international film committees. His film has been suggested to enter the race for best foreign film in addition to nominating him for an award for best actor.
The remarks that caused the storm of anger were Omarâs revealing that he has two grandchildren, one Jewish and the other a Muslim. The actor had stressed that he does not interfere in religious matters and is giving his grandchildren the freedom of choosing which religion they want to follow. Omar added that he will not in any way try to influence them to both follow Islam even if his Muslim grandchild wanted to convert.
Omarâs comments came with his new movie, which is about love between an old Muslim and a young Jew. Sherif described his new film as "a comeback." The love portrayed in film is not the kind of dashing romantic role that made him originally famous.
This time, it is a story of love between a lonely old Muslim shopkeeper and a neglected Jewish teen in Paris during the 1960s, who flee loneliness together through a unique relationship and friendship. During the course of events in the film, the Jewish man eventually decides to convert to Islam due to its nature of forgiveness and teachings.
Many believed that Omarâs comments were a way of denying his true Arab and Muslim identity and roots, and aiming winning sentimentality and sympathy from American Jews, who are behind the decision making process in the cinema. The actor did not deny making such remarks with regards to his grandchildren and attempt to calm the storm of Anger.
Posted by: TS(vice girl) ||
05/22/2004 10:31:52 AM ||
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#1
I understand that back in the '60's, Omar was a member of the Varsity Drinking Team with fellow actors Richard Harris and Peter O'Toole.
They could put away the booze, attract the beautiful girls, and raise hell in a European version of the Rat Pack (Sinatra, et al.)
I think Omar is cool but I have a rather stunted adolescent admiration for those types of things.
#2
"The movie had many phrases that can be described as humiliating to Arabs and Muslims. The movie also shows Omar wondering about the reasons why women wear Hijab,"
Next to open sexuality, doubt seems to be what Muslims fear most. With our success, the West has introduced doubt into Muslim minds that the Qur'an is the literal truth. I suspect their hysterics are simple emotional cover-ups for that doubt. It strikes me that the Al Qaeda types are trying to rescue the acceptance of the Qur'an as literal truth by making the rest of us submit. If doubt is genuinely accepted as a given by the majority of Muslims, then they have lost. I think I will doubt their religion a little harder... and send more porn. Why is the Dome of the Rock holy in Islam? Could it be it has nothing to do with divine revelation and everything to do with fact that Jerusalem was a holy site in two other religions and Muslims needed to obliterate those religions in order to establish their religion as truth? Politics, such a sordid low business. I wonder, could it be that Muslims are in such a sorry condition because they have turned their backs on the Holy Trinity and chosen a false prophet? Anyone feeling doubtful?
"At the end of the movie the Arab jockey commits suicide, which contradicts the beliefs of Islam."
#3
Apparently Muslims don't understand the difference between fiction and reality. Of course, they haven't for centuries . . .
Zpaz, they're just upset because he didn't take any infidels with him.
Posted by: The Doctor ||
05/22/2004 12:32 Comments ||
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#4
Each religion has its own perilous failings. Mocmud never set forth any kind of principal on which you could base a "good" government. Therefore might makes right. Allah favors the winners.
Both Islam and Judaism fail in their inability to curb their fanatics. Christians openly sneer at the ignorant and fanatical among themselves--they certainly don't see them as role models. But a religion is judged not by its best and brightest, but by its fanatical and most ignorant.
Christianity with hierarchy is obnoxious, but without hierarchy fades away into ennui and superstition. "Christian agnosticism", or secular Christianity, has produced astounding advances, both socially and intellectually.
This leads me to suspect that God likes to be left alone.
#5
Hildago is reason No. 734572 why Arabs seethe. If LOTR had an Arab in it, the Arab Alley Ditch skid road boulevard freeway overpasss Street⢠would have gone nuts.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/22/2004 13:13 Comments ||
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#6
If LOTR had an Arab in it, the Arab Alley Ditch skid road boulevard freeway overpasss Street⢠would have gone nuts.
Don't look too closely at the Haradrim.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
05/22/2004 14:30 Comments ||
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#7
Robert-----Shhhhhhh! Heh heh
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/22/2004 14:41 Comments ||
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#8
"But a religion is judged not by its best and brightest, but by its fanatical and most ignorant."
That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Why stop at religion? Why not hand out a class grade based on your LOWEST score? Why not judge YOUR entire life based on your biggest failure? why not judge a college by it's worst graduate? Why not judge an entire nation by it's worst citizen? And what's YOUR reason for not applying it to anything else but religion, other than to ensure that you don't have to acknowledge a Mother Theresa, as long as you can find a Paul Hill? And where do you put the 40 plus jailbirds I helped lead to Christ, and who now are leading honest lives? Where do you put the people who CLAIM to be Christians, but are as hopelessly ignorant of the details as you are, and thus live lives so contrary to its demands?
Seems to me you're not enunciating some grand epistemological principle, but making an excuse to not think and find the facts.
#9
I met Omar Shariff a few years back here in Dallas--he was still handsome and completely charming.
He was here to play championship bridge, which is his second career.
Shariff stands for everything Islamists hate but need to embrace--films, success, working with Jews, capitalism and individualism, drinking booze, liberated women...and the buzz had it that he was gay.
But when I visited Egypt last in the late '80's, they claimed him as their "proud son."
Posted by: Jen ||
05/22/2004 18:06 Comments ||
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#10
Jen sez, "But when I visited Egypt last in the late '80's, they claimed him as their "proud son."
That reminds me of the wonderful Iranian actress (name escapes me) Oscar nominated for "House of Sand and Fog".
She had to flee Iran to work and was then praised by the scum who chased her out for getting the nomination.
... Diversity is not the most important truth about America. Where it is important - in the Balkans, Lebanon, Armenia, Angola, Sri Lanka, Cyprus, Iraq, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, South Africa - diversity becomes violent divisiveness. In America, the greater truth - or miracle - is how one culture unifies our diversity. Yet in college, after years of high schools' marinating minds in the pieties of multiculturalism, diversity is a curricular diversion from the intellectual engagement with the great books, people and events that make America still the world's best hope, even for the refuse-to-be-assimilated immigrant who wants our culture as a cure while rejecting it with a curse.
Though some multiculturalists would actually exchange courses in Shakespeare for ones in healing chants, few would replace automobiles with rickshaws or computers with signaling drums. And none would visit a witch doctor for coronary care, countenance female infanticide or clitorectomies, cast themselves on their husband's funeral pyre, applaud bloody coups and despots, be tolerant of cruel and unusual punishment, laudatory about theocracies and open-minded about slavery. Yet many multiculturalists teach, in the cause of liberal open-mindedness, as if they would grant cultures still practicing such customs a moral equity with - if not superiority to - Western ways. And having themselves studied Western civilization not so long ago in college, they would deny that privilege to their own students. Their ethical compass spins wildly.
The American compass points steadily to the classical West, via England. Our national culture believes in equality before the law, due process, civil rights, freedom to speak, to worship, to keep arms and defend ourselves, to own property, to vote, to move about freely. While Americans feverishly disagree about policies, we fervently agree about these English principles to debate and resolve them. But how can debate and citizenship even begin if not in a common language? America may be gloriously multiethnic, but it is not multicultural. For the better of all hyphenated Americans, starting with the language, it is an English culture. And that culture is our common and precious tradition. The academic and political danger now is not so much in having a closed mind about other cultures, but an empty mind about our own. For academics and demagogues to close their mouths to that danger is worse than ignorance. It's a lie.
#1
[mini-rant]
Assimilate and prosper - or fuck off to whatever backwater you came from. Multicultifascism is dying fast, as it should: there is no defense that holds water nor benefit to the host.
[/mini-rant]
#2
another attack on U.S. soil should be about what it takes to turn the tide. Those who don't respond with hate and courage against the perpetrators will be isolated even more than they are by tenure
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/22/2004 20:35 Comments ||
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#3
Ignoring them by focusing on the WoT won't get them to go away- they'll still have plenty of children who are indoctrinated in their philosophies. Not an effective solution.
LARKANA: Five new cases of polio have been reported in Sindh, said Director General (DG) Health Services Dr Hussain Bux Memon on Thursday. The most affected district is Ghotki where two new cases of polio have been reported, and three cases have been reported from Jacobabad, Nawabshah, and Gadap in Karachi. He claimed that the chances of affliction have been reduced by 99 percent in the province and that a special task force had been formed to work in the areas affected by polio. He was optimistic that Sindh would be polio free after December.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2004 2:14:40 AM ||
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unless the Islamic holy men intervene - then expect epidemic events
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/22/2004 19:16 Comments ||
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PESHAWAR: Residents of district Lakki Marwat have condemned the Saifullah brothers for starting a private radio channel, FM-88, and called it a source of âvulgarityâ and âobscenityâ in the area.
"Mahmoud and Achmed in the Morning"? The Goat Fat Man? When does the book come out? "Liaquat Saifullah Has a Very Small Pee-bug"?
Commander Mumtaz Ahmad Marwat, Farid Khan Marwat, Muhammad Nadeem Marwat and Inamullah Marwat in a statement said that the Saifullah brothers had done nothing for the development of the area but started a private radio channel to air âvulgarâ and âobsceneâ songs throughout the day. They said it was an attempt to engage young people in vulgar activities. They said if the Saifullah brothers really wanted help people, the channel should air religious programmes. They warned they would take action if the âvulgarâ songs were not stopped.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2004 2:03:38 AM ||
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#1
Better be careful what they say or alot of music fans will declare Jihad against them. And there's nothing quite so terrible as a rampaging Brittney Spears fan.
Posted by: Charles ||
05/22/2004 5:49 Comments ||
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"Welcome back to Kashmiri Top Forty, I'm Kassim al-Kassim. Our number ten song in this week's countdown is a long distance dedication, from Mahmoud in Panjashir Valley to his sweetheart Fatima in Lakki Marwat. Here's the Burka Band with their hit single 'Burka Blue' . . . "
Posted by: Mike ||
05/22/2004 7:54 Comments ||
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The U.N. Security Council on Friday approved a peacekeeping force of 5,650 troops for Burundi to help the African nation finally end a 10-year civil war. The U.N. force will take over from 2,700 African Union peacekeepers now in the country, and will likely incorporate the bulk of the troops from South Africa, Ethiopia and Mozambique.
Bring out the mighty Uruguayans!
The new mission, to be known as the United Nations Operation in Burundi, or ONUB, will also include a civilian staff to deal with graft, camp "girls" and selling of UN favors elections, human rights and administrative reforms. Peace deals were reached last year between Burundi's transitional government and three of the country's four rebel groups. But fighting between the army and the last rebel holdouts - the National Liberation Forces - has continued throughout the tiny central African nation of 6 million people. The resolution urges the National Liberation Forces to conclude a peace agreement with the transitional government "without delay with a view to a complete cessation of hostilities." Friday's resolution authorizes a broad-based peacekeeping operation for an initial six months starting June 1 but the council said it intends to renew the mission for further periods. The peacekeepers were given authority to monitor implementation of ceasefire agreements, investigate violations, carry out the disarmament and demobilization of combatants, and monitor the illegal flow of arms. They also were authorized to provide security for the return of refugees and for holding elections, especially legislative elections scheduled to take place before Oct. 31.
No mention of whether they're allowed to defend themselves.
Burundi's U.N. Ambassador Marc Nteturuye called the resolution "a crucial step" and expressed hope "it will reinforce the peace process by the United Nations and the international community." Nteturuye said he expects the African troops to become part of the U.N. force and be joined by soldiers from Pakistan and Nepal and additional troops from Mozambique. He said the United Nations is seeking additional French-speaking soldiers and police.
What??? No Uruguayans?
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/22/2004 12:03:03 AM ||
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All things considered, Stan did a good job that day.
A retired Soviet military officer was honored Friday for averting a potential nuclear war in 1983 by ignoring an alarm that said the United States had launched a ballistic missile, a U.S.-based peace association said on its Web site. Lt. Col. Stanislav Petrov was in charge of the Soviet Union's early warning system when the system wrongly signaled the launch of a U.S. Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile in September 1983. Petrov had to decide within 20 minutes whether the report was accurate and whether he should launch missiles in retaliation, the Vlast magazine reported in 1998. At the time of the incident, tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union were high. The Soviet military had recently shot down a Korean Air Lines jet that strayed over Soviet airspace, killing all 269 people on board. Petrov decided the alarm was false and did not launch a retaliatory strike.
The article said Petrov suffered severe stress after the incident and spent several months in hospitals before being discharged from the military. On Friday, the San-Francisco-based Association of World Citizens, a worldwide organization promoting peace, presented Petrov with the World Citizen Award and launched a campaign to raise $1,000 for the Russian, who receives only a meager pension. "All the 20 years that passed since that moment, I didn't believe I had done something extraordinary. I was simply doing my job and I did it well," Petrov said on Russia's NTV television.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/22/2004 12:00:00 AM ||
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#1
269 people ya say, on a commercial flight?
That really pissed me off then, no kidding I let my beard grow, people would say, you were such an exceptional child but now you grow your beard, Why?
269 dead by a group of paranoid folk. I got over it as did us all. OBTW way to go Stan?
#2
Lucky - What was wierd is that it was flight Korean Air #007, and certain folks say S Korea and the CIA had survelience equipment (active) in the cargo hold.
Also on the plane was a congressman, I believe a cons Dem from Georgia named McDonald.
#4
"Petrov had to decide within 20 minutes whether the report was accurate and whether he should launch missiles in retaliation,"
What? Some Lt. Col. has the authority to launch nuclear weapons? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? The same guy making the true/false detection call also is responsible for the launch call? On the US side, the decision making process is smeared out over many people. Surely this is a reporter being careless. Please tell me they were/are not organized to delegate launch decisions to an LTC.
#5
Zpaz,it is probable the LTC din't have launch authorization,but the people who did would base their decision on his call-if he said ballistic missile(s) were inbound the response would be pretty automatic.
Incidently,I believe in war-game exercises the US has run,it was very difficult to get participants to actually authorize nukes.
Posted by: Stephen ||
05/22/2004 17:30 Comments ||
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