#1
Dammit. With the most internet connections in the world, Americans are not even in the top 10? How does America expect to ever win the Google wars with such disappointing results? Can we even compete with the internet connectionless and sex starved Chinese peasants? Try and do better.
Posted by: ed ||
05/11/2006 15:13 Comments ||
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#2
I didn't realize Vietnam and Poland had that many muslims.
...no, it's not the DeGaulle.EFL. The Oriskany will be submerged in the Gulf of Mexico to fulfill the Navy's cost-cutting aims and the dreams of anglers and divers.
PENSACOLA NAVAL AIR STATION, Fla. After more than half a century of wartime valor, maritime tragedy and cinematic triumph, the aircraft carrier Oriskany is preparing for its final mission: sinking into an afterlife as an artificial reef.
But being transformed into an attraction for anglers and divers in the Gulf of Mexico is proving one of the more challenging assignments for the storied and long-retired ship. Tons of toxic materials have had to be stripped from its rusted carcass and the Navy's civilian salvagers have prepared its warren of compartments to take on water in strict martial order.
"The Navy builds carriers to float, not to sink," Capt. Lawrence M. Jones, inactive ships manager, says of the difficulty in scuttling a vessel designed to withstand torpedoes and air strikes.
But sink it must, to fulfill the cost-cutting aims of the Navy and the recreational dreams of those claiming the vessel for its last tour of duty.
Although thousands of artificial reefs have been created along U.S. coastlines, the 900-foot-long Oriskany is the largest vessel ever designated for sea-bottom service.
Weather permitting, the now-corroded carrier that was home to 3,460 sailors including a future Sen. John McCain and 80 aircraft during the wars in Korea and Vietnam will be towed 24 miles offshore on Tuesday and sunk a day later. To minimize the risk of storms or tidal action affecting its position, it will be aligned north to south, bow out and stern to the distant shoreline.
Early on sinking day, the Navy and its civilian scrappers, Resolve Marine Group of Port Everglades, Fla., will detonate preset charges to punch the last crucial holes in the hull to allow the carrier to take on seawater at a strategic pace and pattern so that it sinks "even keel, even trim." The slow-motion belly flop is expected to last at least five hours.
"You're not going to see anything on the outside of the ship," Denise Johnston, Resolve Marine's vice president, warned would-be onlookers who might be expecting the wham-bam results of a high-rise building demolition. The Navy will establish a cordon around the Oriskany, but curious locals, visitors and veterans still plan to watch the planned sunrise sinking from boats a mile away.
Named for the New York state battleground where the tide of the Revolutionary War turned in 1777, the Oriskany was authorized for construction by Congress in the heat of World War II, launched two months after that war ended and commissioned almost five years later on Sept. 25, 1950, when the Korean War was already in progress.
Early in its active duty career, the Oriskany became a Hollywood backdrop. Scenes were shot aboard the carrier for "The Bridges of Toko-Ri," a 1955 Korean War drama starring William Holden and Grace Kelly. The ship was still rolling up film credits eight years ago when it appeared in "What Dreams May Come," a fantasy afterlife drama starring Robin Williams.
Decommissioned in 1976 and maintained for possible reactivation until it was stricken from the naval registry 13 years later, the Oriskany was sold for scrap in 1994 but the contractor went bankrupt and the Navy repossessed the ship in 1997. A marine contractor towed the rusting hulk from Mare Island Navy Yard in Vallejo, Calif., around Cape Horn to Beaumont, Texas, in 1999, where it languished for four years in the Port Neches River.
Faced with costly maintenance for an ever-growing fleet of inactive ships, the Navy began exploring alternatives. One possibility was working with maritime communities to incorporate vessels in their waterfront attractions. The Navy designated the Oriskany for the reefing project in 2003, when Pensacola civic boosters and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission expressed interest in developing a place where sea life could congregate and multiply, and thousands of visitors could come to catch or observe them. The ship was towed to Corpus Christi, Texas, for pre-sinking preparations, then here for its final port call on March 22.
Before being towed here from Texas, the Oriskany was shorn of its mast and other protrusions that could snag nets or endanger divers. Some parts of its intricate innards were welded shut to prevent overly ambitious explorers from getting trapped.
Despite what they contend are the best-laid plans, those orchestrating the carrier's sinking concede fate could literally upend their project's culmination. Unexpected winds, incomplete perforations or too much residual buoyancy in the vessel could keep the plummeting behemoth from its intended keel landing.
When private diving groups brought the retired Navy landing ship Spiegel Grove to Key Largo in 2002, they had intended a similar upright landing but the vessel sank prematurely and landed on its side. After costly efforts to right it failed, Hurricane Dennis blew through the Keys last July and the storm's wave action rolled the ship into the position its sponsors had intended.
"Something could happen, but we've put a lot of effort in for it to go down the way we want it," said Jones, who is hoping to use the Oriskany scuttling plan as a model if all goes right for trimming his fleet of 70 inactive ships by at least 20 over the next few years.
The Coast Guard has signed off on the project as no threat to navigation. The topmost part of the submerged carrier, even if it sits up ramrod straight, will be 61 feet below the surface at mean low tide, allowing even the largest ships traveling in that part of the gulf to pass without hazard.
"We expect fisheries to improve as a result of the reef,'' said Michael Bailey of the recreational fisheries commission for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's southeast region. Disputing claims of some environmentalists that artificial reefs concentrate fish in a way that makes them more vulnerable to anglers, he said such reefs in the Florida Keys had proved to create new habitats, expand fish stocks and take pressure off the natural seafloor formations.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission plans considerable post-scuttling inspections and will deploy helicopters ahead of the sinking to ensure there are no sea turtles or dolphins nearby, said Lee Schlesinger of the Artificial Reef Administration.
A community replete with retired sailors and already a popular fishing and diving destination, the choice of Pensacola for the first inactive ship reef was championed by the Pensacola Bay Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. A 2004 Florida State University study predicted surrounding Escambia County can expect $92 million a year in economic benefits from an artificial reef, said bureau spokeswoman Stacy Hopper.
Said Jones of the ship's new role: "Oriskany will be performing one final service to the nation, even when it's sunk."
#1
Although a noble deed of intent; the thought of any carrier being sunk turns my stomach! I equate such majestic creations on par with any US city!! We saw how we felt when New Orleans sunk into the Gulf; I'll turn my head on this one...proceed!
#2
I used to love diving wrecks. They very quickly become home to lots of marine life, and at the right latitude are a fabulous base for new coral reefs. I always find it interesting how much our Armed Forces are a support for the nature world, what with the wild areas around shooting ranges, sunken ships and so forth.
#3
smn: Be at ease. This ship in its honorable end will serve the US in a noble manner. It will bring a profusion of wildlife to a big part of the Gulf, which in turn will improve the quality of life for those on the coast.
Such quality inspires the young, some of whom will in turn grow up to become US Navy sailors.
A dozen smaller craft meeting the same fate will restore much of our "arable ocean", which in past was destroyed through lack of foresight.
SMN- this is IMO a much better use for the fine lady than breaking her up and selling the metal for scrap. She should be even more popular than the Spiegel Grove (a big troopship (I think) that was sunk as a reef off the Keys.)
If they can get her down correctly, she will be a queen of the (not so) deep... Divers from the world over will take care of her and her memory.
#8
they sunk a Canadian ship off Mission Beach in San diego - great dive spot, except a couple have ventured in offlimits and paid the price, including Master Divers
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/11/2006 22:55 Comments ||
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ROME (Reuters) - An Italian restaurant was fined 688 euros ($855) for displaying live lobsters on ice to attract patrons, in an innovative application of an anti-cruelty law usually affecting to household pets.
A court in the northeastern city of Vicenza ruled the display was a form of abuse dooming the crustaceans to a slow death by suffocation. "We're appealing," said Giuseppe Scalesia, who runs La Conchiglia D'Oro, or "Golden Shell," restaurant along with his brother Camillo. "They said that the lobsters, laying on the ice, suffer... They compared them in court to other animals, like cats and dogs." OK honey. Mommy and daddy will buy you a lobster but only if you agree to feed and clean up after little Crusty.
The case was brought by Gianpaolo Cecchetto, a former environmental activist, who took his two young children to the Vicenza restaurant in May 2002. "They were shocked by the display," Cecchetto told Reuters, adding he immediately got in touch with the ENPA national animal protection entity. "ENPA took care of the lawyers and legal proceedings."
The man has been eating Italian sausage all his life and he's shocked by lobster on ice?
Italy has some of the world's toughest animal rights laws. The city of Rome in October banned goldfish bowls, seen as cruel, while Turin passed a law last year that would fine dog owners 500 euros unless they walked their canine friends at least three times a day. In a related story, Cecchetto agreed to drop his Bovine sexual harrassement case for the drawn butter.
#3
But it's OK to hire an actor in a lobster costume to lay on the ice.
Posted by: ed ||
05/11/2006 12:00 Comments ||
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#4
Here a good brief on the "animal rights" issue from the objectivistcenter.org:
"Many believe that animals have the right to be free from harm by people. In particular, they believe that animals should not be harmed in food production, clothing production, or medical research. This belief is the product of a misunderstanding of the nature of rights. Philosophers like Peter Singer argue that rights are derived from the capacity to experience pain, and since animals can experience pain just as people can, animals also have the right to be free from harm. However, rights are derived from the capacity to reason, and thus people have rights and animals do not.
Both people and animals seek values such as food and shelter to sustain their lives. However, they do so by different means. Animals pursue values in their environment automatically. For example, an animal scavenges and finds food around it. People, on the other hand, use their faculties of reason to produce values volitionally. For example, a person can choose to study how plants grow and choose to plant and grow his own food. Moreover, people trade values with each other. For example, if one person grows vegetables and another person weaves clothing, the former can give the latter vegetables in exchange for clothing to their mutual benefit.
People survive by producing for themselves without interference from others and by trading freely with other people. However, if others (either people or animals) use physical force against a person to stop him from producing and trading, his ability to use his reason to survive is impaired. Rights protect this ability. "A right," according to Ayn Rand, "is a moral principle defining and sanctioning a person's freedom of action in a social context" ("Man's Rights," Virtue of Selfishness [New York: Penguin, 1964], 130). The rights to life, liberty, and property leave each person free to pursue his own self-interest through production and trade. Moreover, it is in a person's self-interest to respect the rights of other people so that they can freely use their own faculties of reason to produce values for which he can trade.
The value a person receives from other people depends on their freedom from physical force. However, the value a person receives from animals depends on their lack of freedom from physical force. While a person receives food, clothing, and medical knowledge from other people by allowing other people to freely produce these things and trade them, a person receives food, clothing, and medical knowledge (through research) from animals only through force. Moreover, disputes with animals cannot be resolved with discussion or the threat of legal sanction, as they can be with other people, and so to prevent animals such as lions, rats, and cockroaches from attacking a person's person or invading a person's property, his only option is to initiate force against them. This is why a person should refrain from initiating physical force against other people but not against animals, and this is why people have rights and animals don't.
The issues of gratuitous cruelty to animals and of vegetarianism are not fundamental philosophical issues. Nonetheless, Objectivist principles can be extended to provide a framework in which individuals can consider these issues themselves. Legally, since people have rights and animals don't, no form of force initiated against animals should be outlawed, even if it is gratuitously cruel or if it is used to produce food that is not necessary for a person's survival. Morally, however, gratuitous cruelty should be condemned because it reinforces the immoral habit of destroying other's lives rather than promoting one's own life. Moreover, such cruelty can be the product only of gross irrationality, for it is natural for a person to empathize with another living being to the extent that the two resemble each other. While such cruelty is emotionally offensive to many people and rightly so, this is not grounds for government intervention because the sole purpose of the government is to protect rights, and animals don't have rights."
IQALUIT, Nunavut - Northern hunters, scientists and people with vivid imaginations have discussed the possibility for years. But Roger Kuptana, an Inuvialuit guide from Sachs Harbour, North West Territories, was the first to suspect it had actually happened when he proposed that a strange-looking bear shot last month by an American sports hunter might be half polar bear, half grizzly. Seems like there ought to be a cloning image in the photo collection.....
Territorial officials seized the creature after noticing its white fur was scattered with brown patches and that it had the long claws and humped back of a grizzly. Now a DNA test has confirmed that it is indeed a hybrid - possibly the first documented in the wild. "We've known it's possible, but actually most of us never thought it would happen," said Ian Stirling, a polar bear biologist with the Canadian Wildlife Service in Edmonton. It's Bush's fault. Must be Global Warming
Polar bears and grizzlies have been successfully paired in zoos before - Stirling could not speculate why - and their offspring are fertile. Breeding seasons for the two species overlap, though polar bear gets started slightly earlier.
I think it should be called a grolar bear, 'cos it might not like being called a pizzly bear...
Call it whatever you want, but don't call it for supper ...
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/11/2006 07:57 ||
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#1
As this pic shows, the warming hasn't just brought these freakish creatures into the world, but completely changed their environment.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
05/11/2006 10:37 Comments ||
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#2
And so it's off we go
to some uncharted shore
'Cause the only kind we're out to find
are those worth looking for
You can tag along should you
feel the urge to merge
'Cause we're all agreed that all we need
is Hope and a little courage
The urge to merge can rob us of our senses
The need to breed can make a man a drone
We must be on alert with our defenses
For every skirt will test testosterone
So knowing this I severed all connection
With any creature sporting silk or lace
I was firmly headed in the right direction
When suddenly I stumbled on that face
That face, that face
That dangerous face
I mustn't be unwise
Those lips, that nose, those eyes
Could lead to my demise
That face, that face
That marvelous face
I never should begin
Those cheeks, that neck, that chin
Will surely do me in
I must be smart
And hide my heart
If she's within a mile
If I don't duck
I'm out of luck
She'd kill me with her smile
That face, that face
That fabulous face
It's clear I must beware
I'm certain if I fall in love
I'm lost without a trace
And so it's off we go
to some uncharted shore
'Cause the only kind we're out to find
are those worth looking for
You can tag along should you
feel the urge to merge
'Cause we're all agreed that all we need
is Hope and a little courage
A new financial district will be constructed over an area of three million square meters in the north of Riyadh, making it the biggest project of its kind in the world, Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf announced yesterday.
It was also announced that the Kingdom would go ahead with the privatization of the Saudi stock market as part of its economic reforms program designed to boost investment and create job opportunities.
Reading out the speech of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, Al-Assaf said the King Abdullah Financial District would be the Middle Easts first financial district to match the major global trade zones.
He was speaking at the start of the two-day Euromoney conference titled "Building the Future" attended by some 1,000 participants from over 40 countries. The event has been co-sponsored by the Capital Market Authority (CMA).
Referring to the financial district, King Abdullah said it would house the stock exchange as well as banks, brokerage services and other financial institutions. The king said in his speech that the project is expected to take three years to complete.
King Abdullah said the moves are part of the Kingdoms measures to bring its economy in line with that of other advanced countries following its accession to the World Trade Organization. The ultimate objective of this gigantic exercise was to promote sustainable economic development and create job opportunities for Saudis.
Elaborating on the kings statement on King Abdullah Financial District, Jammaz Al-Suhaimi, chairman of CMA, said the state-of-the-art center would encompass not only offices that will house the large community of professionals working within the financial sector, but also conference facilities, retail and recreational space that could act as a focal point for the wider community.
The King Abdullah District will also incorporate a financial academy, which will provide training and education for those wishing to enter the market. The center, he said, provides the next generation of development, underpinning Saudi Arabias place as the largest economy and financial market in the region.
The CMA chief also unveiled plans to turn the stock market into a shareholding company. He said the move to privatize the stock market would help it operate on a more professional and transparent basis and introduce new products and services.
Referring to the fluctuations on the stock market, Suhaimi said it was the result of market manipulation by some major players. The turbulence also stemmed from the lack of transparency on the part of some companies in releasing information in public interest, he added.
"The CMA is actively working on launching the Saudi Arabian Financial Exchange (SAFX) ... (which) will become a private sector corporation based on the leading-edge international model for exchanges," Suhaimi said. "The exchange will have a mandate to develop a range of products and services that are vital to the development of our capital markets and the competitiveness of our securities industry."
Procedures to "establish SAFX as a shareholding company will begin soon," Suhaimi said, adding that studies prepared by the CMA envisaged "opening part of the companys shares to public subscription."
Speaking about the stock market plunge in recent months, Suhaimi said many investors, especially small and first-time investors ignored fundamentals of investment. "Unless investors truly understand both the opportunities and the risks of todays market, too many may fall victim to their own wishful thinking," he added. Stock markets by definition are prone to short-term volatility due to, for example, unexpected news.
"Taking a medium to long-term view means that real investors can ride out shor-term swings," he said and urged investors to conduct a thorough study on companies before putting their hard-earned money in their stocks.
Suhaimi attributed the tremendous growth of the Saudi stock market over the past seven years to high-levels of economic growth, sustained increase in oil prices, and the positive sentiment of investors toward the local economy.
He advised investors to do their homework and then invest carefully in line with their own risk profile. He did not favor borrowing to invest in the stock market.
"It is an extremely high risk strategy."
He promised tough action against those who try to destabilize the market.
"We will not permit those who seek to manipulate market prices, engage in insider dealings, or abuse their positions of trust for personal gains to go unpunished," he warned.
He said the CMA would develop effective surveillance tools to monitor industry compliance. "We have coordinated with SAMA to limit bank lending in the stock market."
The CMA chief spoke about a series of steps to strengthen the stock market. "We are redoubling our investor awareness efforts ... We will be launching a new website dedicated to investor education. We will also reach out to investors by conducting a series of workshops throughout the country."
He said CMA would check professionalism of officials charged with making investment decisions on behalf of investors.
"We are also finalizing regulations for investment funds," he said. "We are also working closely with market participants to develop new instruments to channel surplus funds efficiently into the market."
Suhaimi also disclosed plans to establish a corporate "sukook" market in the Kingdom. He also expected more companies to go public in the coming years. "I assure you that the CMA will do all that it can to ensure that we deepen our capital markets by listing more and more companies in the future." Sea change for Arabia. I suspect that the Saudis carefully watched J. Paul Bremer set up the Iraqi market from scratch, and now realize what a multiplying factor markets can be in an economy. Expect to see stock markets cropping up all over the ME soon after this.
Another well written obit about another amazing WWII hero. I had to post it. Here are some excerpts but read the whole thing if you have time... On Boxing Day 1943 Bates was electrical officer in Duke of York, the flagship of Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser, when Scharnhorst slipped out of the Norwegian fjords to attack Russian convoy JW55B, off the North Cape. Bates's report enabled Fraser to close within visual range at 8,000 yards, enabling Duke of York to surprise Scharnhorst with a first salvo.
German near-misses were soon falling around the British ship when, with a sudden whoosh, the radar failed. Bates and his two operators were thrown in a heap to the deck, and when he picked himself up the radar, though seeming to work, showed no echoes. Puzzled, Bates climbed two-thirds the way up the swaying mast. Feeling about in the dark, with the aid of a small torch between his fingers, he found that the aerial was pointing skywards: the shock wave of a German 11-inch shell, which had passed though the tripod mast and under Bates's feet, had blown it out of alignment.
Bates returned the aerial to the horizontal and restarted the gyro-stabiliser so that within a few minutes the radar was working again, thus restoring to Fraser the advantage of a clear tactical picture in the prevailing low visibility. When Duke of York's guns re-commenced firing in radar-control, 25 of 44 salvoes were near-misses, 16 of them within 200 yards; at least three hits were seen, one of them starting a fire on the after superstructure...
...At about 18:20, Duke of York scored a direct hit, which penetrated Scharnhorst's starboard side and put a boiler-room out of action, thereby reducing the speed so that she was was sunk a few hours later...
...Later, he witnessed the surrender of the Japanese from the quarterdeck of the battleship King George V in Tokyo Bay in August 1945.
As commander of a landing party, he was commended for his initiative and compassion in searching for and releasing large numbers of allied prisoners of war, some of whom were held in secret camps...
...As a captain Bates was assistant director of Naval Intelligence, and then deputy director of the Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment at Portland, before retiring in 1969.
Bates then bought and ran a filling station and shop at Yarnbrook crossroads, Trowbridge, Wiltshire, where he was assisted by an ex-chief petty officer, known only as "Mr Fido", who was vigilant in guarding the sweet counter from small boys.
Bates enjoyed a beer at the Long Arms opposite, from where he could view the forecourt and sally forth as necessary to serve customers.
Bates had a passion for motor cars, owning a Rover Speed 20 drophead coupé, a Jaguar XK120 and many later models of Jaguar. He also bought one of the first Mini Coopers, which he had to drive with his large frame doubled-up. In his spare time he was usually head under the bonnet, stripping down engines and maintaining cars for family and friends - not always an easy task with his huge hands.
Sometimes described as "tall, dark and some hands", family legend had it that he inherited these from a miller grandfather, John White of East Redford, Lincolnshire, who was said to be able to throw a bag of flour further than any man in the county.
#2
I meet my Father for breakfast almost every saturday, and he is a WW2 and Korea Marine Corps vet. For the past 20 or so years that I have been doing that, I have seen many WW2 vets go off to retire out west. Many of these guys had amazing stories like this one too... They tell the stories as if they can barely remember, and leave out the most interesting deatils, which you have to ask about later; things like: "so you're telling me that you accidentally killed 20 germans with a truck? Yep."
Heroes all.
Posted by: Mark E. ||
05/11/2006 10:15 Comments ||
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A court in London has recommended that a British man be extradited to the United States to stand trial on charges of hacking into US Government computer systems. American authorities have described Gary McKinnon, 40, as the "biggest military computer hacker of all time". Mr McKinnon is accused of gaining access to more than 90 computers in 2001 and 2002. They included computers at the Pentagon, NASA, Army bases and a naval station. His actions brought the entire military district of Washington to a standstill. He denies causing malicious damage and says he was looking for information on UFOs.
His legal team says that if he was sent to America, he could end up in Guantanamo Bay - an allegation dismissed by the US Department of Justice. Mr McKinnon's case is expected to be passed to the Home Secretary for a final decision. Mr McKinnon says he will appeal to the High Court if the Home Secretary approves his extradition.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
We will see him some time after the statute of limitations runs out.
Hacking is hacking the reason doesn't matter this twit and his supporters seems think it does.
Posted by: SPoD ||
05/11/2006 1:51 Comments ||
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#2
He denies causing malicious damage and says he was looking for information on UFOs.
Look at it this way Gary If your convicted you might get some first hand knowledge about alien probing.
Bolivian President Evo Morales said he will extend his nationalization of private property to include agricultural estates and ruled out any compensation for oil companies' whose assets the government took over May 1. Morales today also renewed accusations foreign companies, including Brazil's state oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA, acted illegally by avoiding taxes and smuggling oil. He said the government doesn't owe anything to Petrobras or Madrid-based Repsol YPF SA, the biggest investors in Bolivia's oil industry.
``If they have recovered their investment and have also booked some earnings, there's no need to indemnify them whatsoever,'' Morales told reporters at a news conference in Vienna before a meeting of European Union and Latin American leaders. ``What we are looking for are partners not bosses that exploit our oil resources.''
Bolivia's army took control May 1 of the country's oil and gas fields and gave foreign energy companies operating in the country 180 days to agree to new contracts with the government. The property seizures will extend beyond oil assets, Morales said today. ``Nationalization will not stop to oil resources, we'll extend it to land,'' he said.
"Cuz it's worked so well in Zim-Bob-Way"
Morales, who meets with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero later today, called Spain a ``strategic ally,'' adding that Repsol's business activities may be probed. Repsol, which has invested $1 billion in Bolivia, today reported first-quarter profit increased 8 percent.
``The rule of law and trust are key issues not just for the Bolivian people but also for investors,'' Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik of Austria, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, told reporters today in Vienna. ``It is up to the Bolivian government and president to explain'' the nationalization decisions.
Morales praised Cuban President Fidel Castro and said his country needed time to overcome the ``black history'' of 500 years of exploitation.
"So I'll have to stay in office till it's fixed"
Under a contract that extends to 2019, Petrobras pays Bolivia less than half the natural gas prices in North America. Morales, making good on campaign pledges to enable Bolivia's poorest citizens to share in the nation's energy wealth, vowed to set export prices himself.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/11/2006 09:29 ||
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#1
Boy, am I poor in geography. I wasn't aware Bolivia is in North America.
Commies screwing each other, I love it.
But in the end, it'll be our fault the revolution failed.
#2
Cut off aid and liberally aerial spray the cocoa leaf fungus.
Posted by: ed ||
05/11/2006 12:17 Comments ||
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#3
We don't have to do a thing, just sit back and watch them do it to themselves. They can't get the oil and gas out of the ground by themselves. If they could they would have already, besides, they don't have the cash to run the operation until it is in the black. They are going down the exact same road as Zimbobwe and they are cheering all the way. Power to the people, you poor dumb bastards!
#5
These bozos think that the Chinese will bail them out. They don't realize that Chinese guns back Chinese business and engineers. I think that should these people sieze any US company's property that GWB should take a leaf from Teddy Roosevelt and send in the Marines to insure FULL COMPENSATION.
May 11, 2006: Despite Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez' defense spending spree, fueled by soaring oil prices, the Venezuelan Armed Force appear to be deteriorating at a rapid rate. The key problems for the Armed Forces are that Chavez' money is not going to the regular forces. Most of the money is being spent to train and equip his "Bolivarian Militia," which is expected to eventually number some two million personnel for irregular operations and regime protection. A secondary problem is that Chavez is insisting that the regular armed forces adopt "Bolivarian" principles of strategy and tactics, though these are pretty hazily defined and have never actually been subject to field tests.
Reportedly fewer than half the ships in the Navy are able to get underway, and none are combat ready by any measure. When asked by Brazil to take part in a combined exercise this coming September, the Venezuelan Navy replied that it would be unable to do so due to equipment and maintenance shortfalls, and a lack of fuel.
While Air Force readiness appears to be better (Chavez is an Air Force man), its ability to conduct more than token operations is debatable. Even the Coast Guard is feeling the pinch, and has had to lay up some vessels and close some bases, which is having a deleterious effect on anti-drug and anti-smuggling operations.
On the ground, the best troops are a handful of battalions of "special operations" personnel and some of the marine battalions. The bulk of the Army and Marines may retain some flexibility, and would probably be able to conduct defensive operations against convention forces or support guerrilla operations. The new Bolivarian Militia is likely to be useless.
Meanwhile, in a surprisingly public admission of a problem, the Inspector General of the Armed Forces, Major General. Guillermo Rangel, issued a report that claimed about $8 million was disappearing each month through graft, with senior officers taking the pay for "phantom soldiers," bogus procurement contracts, and the like. Rangel's report actually named Army Commander in Chief Raúl Baduel as one of the culprits, alleging that Baduel himself is raking off some $3 million a month himself. Both Rangel and Baduel are staunch Chevez supporters, and Rangel's report may be a political move Rangel is rumored to want the post of Army chief-of-staff.
Chavez appears to have some serious attention span issues. When faced with an issue that demands a hard decision, and quickly, Chavez tends to charge off to deal with another, often unrelated, matter. For example, instead of taking care of serious problems with military readiness, Chavez has been meddling in Peru's presidential elections. The first round, in January, resulted in the need for a run-off between leftist Ollanta Humala and the more conservative Alan García scheduled for early June. Already condemned by many political and cultural figures in Peru for his open backing of Humala during the January balloting, Chavez recently upped his rhetoric, even threatening to break diplomatic relations with Peru should García win. As a result, many prominent leftist Peruvians have been telling him to mind his own business, and Humala has publicly distanced himself from any association with Chavez.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/11/2006 08:52 ||
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"...train and equip his "Bolivarian Militia," which is expected to eventually number some two million personnel for irregular operations and regime protection."
These are meant to keep the rioting population down; always the biggest problem for a dictator...
Posted by: Mark E. ||
05/11/2006 10:05 Comments ||
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#2
"...with senior officers taking the pay for "phantom soldiers," bogus procurement contracts, and the like.
#6
"...When faced with an issue that demands a hard decision, and quickly, Chavez tends to charge off to deal with another,"
This is a text book example of the Peter Principle. Chavez has obviously risen to his level of incompetence (and will take the whole country down with him).
#7
I'm thinking large amphib exercises off the Venezuelan coast annually around harvest time.
Posted by: ed ||
05/11/2006 12:29 Comments ||
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#8
These people are making a big mistake by not killing this asshole right now.
In fact, why don't we ?
Hey Bushy, do a Reagan on his ass....bombs in the night, raiders in the sky, people in the compound will die, die, die.
#9
Chavez cant even put together an order for 100,000 AK's, how is he going to get 2 million? And for that matter, how many rounds does a person have to fire off to become even slightly proficient with a rifle? 1,000, at least? Thats 2 billion rounds of ammo just to train them, and then you will want them to have a few rounds to fight with, so what? Sounds like a crazy pipe dream to me.
#10
Major General. Guillermo Rangel Nagin, issued a report that claimed about $8 million was disappearing each month through graft, with senior officers taking the pay for "phantom soldiers police," bogus procurement contracts....
#11
...Hugo, remember the DigBats. Noriega put together his own private thug army, let the Panamanian military atrphy except for a few select (read 'loyal')units, then started harassing US companies, US military personnel (including at LEAST one sexual assault on a military spouse)and US civilians. All the while, he is blaming all of Panama's problems on the US and suggesting that he might have to take action. He told the deputy commander of the Panama Defense Forces, "I've got Bush by the balls."
Then the dumb son-of-a-bi*ch stood up, waved a machete, and declared war on the US. The Dignity Batallions - organized groups of street toughs whose sole job was to keep the population under control - melted away and stayed there when faced with well-trained and well-armed men who feared nothing.
Noriega's spending the rest of his life in a very quiet little cell in Florida. He may be out in '07, but I wouldn't count on it.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
05/11/2006 13:33 Comments ||
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#12
#11 Mike - Heh.™ :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/11/2006 17:36 Comments ||
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MOSCOW -- President Vladimir Putin warned yesterday that the U.S.-Russian arms race is not over and called for a strengthening of his nation's nuclear and conventional forces so Moscow can better resist foreign pressure.
The remarks, in his seventh state of the nation address since taking power in 2000, follow increasingly sharp criticism of Russia's democratic and foreign policy directions from the United States, including a harsh rebuke by Vice President Dick Cheney last week in Lithuania.
"It is premature to speak of the end of the arms race," said Mr. Putin, who pointed out in the nationally televised address that U.S. defense spending is 25 times higher than Russia's and said his country needs to catch up.
"Their house is their fortress? Well done," he said. "But it means that we must build our house strongly, reliably, because we see what is going on in the world.
"We must always be ready to counter any attempts to pressure Russia in order to strengthen positions at our expense," he continued. "The stronger our military is, the less temptation there will be to exert such pressure on us."
Mr. Putin said Russia's military would work to strengthen both its nuclear deterrent and its conventional forces but without repeating "the mistakes of the Soviet Union and of the Cold War" by draining the country's resources.
Many analysts attribute the collapse of communism in Russia to the Kremlin's inability to keep up with U.S. arms spending during the Reagan administration, particularly its space-based anti-missile initiative known familiarly as "Star Wars."
Skyrocketing world energy prices have provided oil-rich Russia with windfall surpluses that could be used to fund at least a modest defense buildup. Russian revenues totaled $41.8 billion compared with expenditures of $25.5 billion in the first two months of this year, the Novosti news agency reported.
Mr. Putin said his government would soon commission two nuclear submarines equipped with the first new intercontinental ballistic missiles developed in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union and that land-based strategic forces soon would get their first unit of mobile Topol-M missiles.
He said the new missiles and warheads would be able to change direction in flight, foiling advanced defense systems such as the one being developed by the United States.
In the hourlong speech, which focused largely on domestic problems, Mr. Putin also responded to the wave of criticism from the United States, which questioned Moscow's fitness to serve as president of the Group of Eight industrialized nations this year after it cut off gas deliveries to Europe in a midwinter pricing dispute with Ukraine.
FBI officials say they have seen a sharp increase in Russian civilian and military intelligence gathering activities in the United States, much of it directed at stealing weapons-related technology. Delusional, but interesting. More at link
#2
Say Pootie, has the number of Chinese east of the Urals passed the 50% mark? Putin needs to realize the empire is dead. Whether rump Russia survives does not depend on threatening the US, because basically, we don't care one way or the other.
I think the best thing the US can do is finance 2 dozen large PWR reactors in Ukraine, Georgia, Baltics, etc and conclude favorable trade agreements (and anticorruption redress mechanisms) with them to expand trade and encourage jobs to locate there.
Posted by: ed ||
05/11/2006 12:56 Comments ||
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#3
He said the new missiles and warheads would be able to change direction in flight, foiling advanced defense systems such as the one being developed by the United States ......which initiates computer change direction commands that cannot be overriden, and returns the missile to it's silo.
#4
Ed, have you noticed how Pootie, with his declining population, jumps in bed with the two true enemies adjacent to him, China and the Caliphate, that are ready to grab whatever of Russia they can in order to defend Russia from the superpower on the other side of the globe that has no interest in Russian territory? And the Russian people rally round him for it.
#5
The Soviet's brainwashing was pretty thorough. Unfortunately, the Russians don't have time for the current leadership to die off before they figure who are their real enemies.
Posted by: ed ||
05/11/2006 15:30 Comments ||
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#6
What about money? How the hell is he planning to pay for all this? Russia has about half of the economic resources available to them before the break up of the soviet union. I think he may be full of shit.
#7
On top of all of that, we bankrupted the Soviet Union with the Cold War - they literally fell apart when the low-scale civil unrest started in the Warsaw Pact countries. Russia is going to outdo the Soviet Union? I don't think so. Plus, in about 7 years, they are going to have bigger worries when China decides to pull a Tibet on Siberia and all the natural resources contained within.
MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia's population was shrinking so fast the state would pay women to have more children. "Let's talk about the most acute problem facing Russia - demography," the Kremlin leader said in his annual state-of-the-nation address. "The number of our citizens shrinks by an average of 700,000 people each year."
"So get out there and hump!"
To rapturous applause from his Russian establishment audience, Putin said the government would include special finance to boost the birth rate in next year's budget. He proposed more than doubling monthly payouts to families for the first baby to 1,500 roubles ($55), and giving twice that for a second child. Average wages are below $100 a week. "But the problem of low birth rates cannot be resolved without a general change in the attitude of our society towards the issue of family and family values," Putin said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
I hear the Russian Goulash is pretty tasty...
Posted by: Captain America ||
05/11/2006 1:13 Comments ||
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#2
AK-47's, drugs, nukes, babies.... kapitalism at work.
Marriage is on the wane all over Europe, as couples prefer new conjugal practices such as living together, says a French study. But although Europeans overall are marrying less, people in some countries are marrying a lot less than in others, as national differences across the continent remain marked, the study by Frances National Institute of Demographic Studies (INED) found.
The survey of 20 European countries found three main reasons for the trend: People tend to form stable, long-term relationships later in life; they are more inclined to move in together without getting married; and they are less bothered about cementing their union in marriage later on.
Moreover, the study shows that couples in Europe break up more readily than they used to. Despite experiencing relationships and cohabitation before marriage, couples are apparently no better equipped to get along once they do tie the knot. In general, the report says, a higher cohabitation rate is matched by a higher divorce rate.
And there's no relation at all in that, no whatsoever, nope, nope.
New conjugal practices appeared in the late 1960s in Scandinavia, notably in Sweden, and then gradually spread across Europe, notes the studys author, France Prioux. But although the trends are going in the same direction everywhere, she adds, there is still great variety in how couples live, and how long they stay together, from country to country. In the Mediterranean region, people are traditionally more inclined to continue living with their parents for longer, a trend that is on the rise.
Because they can't get a job.
Often, they move out only when they get married, so emancipation coincides with coupledom - there is less likely to be an in-between, singleton period. Among women born in the mid-1960s, only 60 percent had flown the family nest by age 25 in Spain, and only two-thirds in Italy and Portugal, compared with 98 percent in Sweden. Unmarried couples who live together remain the exception in Mediterranean countries, and most marriages are what is known as direct: the couple does not move in together until after the wedding.
And while the proportion of cohabitations that ultimately lead to marriage has fallen dramatically in Scandinavia - less than a tenth of Swedish couples tie the knot after living together for two years - it has risen in Spain and Italy, showing that these countries remain attached to the institution of marriage, according to Prioux. The duration of relationships is on the decline all over Europe, but their average length still varies markedly from country to country, with the north-south divide again very much in evidence. Of course, no mention of any correlation with government pestering of married couples, everything from "marriage taxes", to the endless imposition of extra responsibilities when children are made, making them less desireable as well.
#1
Its a bunch of factors, from TV saying "GOD IS A LIE/FAKE" to Secular, Blame-free and Consequence-free FREE LOVE/POLYAMORY, to Socialism telling males they are not needed for anything anymore except to be a glorified sperm donor. Men no longer need to marry or take care of anyone becuz the Gummermint or Third Party(s)is going to do it ALL for them. We Male Brutes are taking care of ourselves, numero uno - God gave men the gene of universal competition, innovation, and progressivity, but FEW IFF ANY of us don't have to do any of that anymnore. Instead of depending on many warrior-leader, competitive, innovative males to achieve same, a Govt. and Society must now depend on "the Few" or "a Few" to do all the UNIVERSALLY-ECON VITAL things many men used to do as routine or nary a thought. Females can try to do what a man does but that bears serious LT risks of Govt and Society NOT having enuff capable progenitors for either self-supporting tax revenues, or effective or victorious self-defense against enemies, aka SURVIVAL AND CONTINUITY. Neutralist or pro-Androgynous intellectuals may not publicly care or claim such concepts don't matter, but it does - iff they truly knew what they were doing, all these nations in Europe or Asia WON'T be demographically dying or sufferring. They care now, right, now that demographic regression or destruction/extinction looms, ergo their answewr is MORE FAILED OR PROHIBITIVE STRATIFICATION AND SOCIALISM, NOT LESS.
#2
This is the inevitable consequence of the family model being shifted from "husband, wife, child" to "state, woman, child".
Since its violent bursting upon the scene July 14, 1789, leftism has always at its core had certain pricnciples - the release of the ages old proscription against envy, animosity towards the spiritual, and iconoclasm against institutions both for its own sake and to prevent loyalty to an entity outside the state. Outside of violent revolution, though, for decades it never really succeeded. Most democratic societies did not go for nanny state socialism.
However, as women gained the vote across the west, they acted on their most ancient and strongest impulse - fear of abandonment, or, put another way, ironclad ascertainment of means to raise their progeny. Even in Western society with its strong marriage institution men were historically unreliable in a certain small percentage of cases, so in order to eliminate even this small possibility, women voted for politicians and policies who would advance the elimination of this insecurity. The rise in west of socialism, divorce, and the nanny state can be tied, temporally at least, to universal suffrage. I suspect there is causality there as well.
Please note I am NOT suggesting that women not be allowed to vote or that ALL women vote this way. Nor am I suggesting that there aren't men who fall under the spell of these notions. Just recounting the history.
Once the women so inclined saw that they could effect these changes through legislation and the courts to get to their Holy Grail of never having to worry about anything, ever, then came the unscrupulous men who would exploit this impulse for their own advancement - elected officials and magistrates, both.
Add to this the rise and perfection in Gramscian techniques of taking down good and decent western institutions like religion and the family made possible by the 20th century explosion of mass media and state controlled education industries, and you end up with the situation at hand.
Unfortunately for Europe, they created a happy but fatal little illusion. Everything is great this way for a couple of generations, but it is clear it is a short quarter step from this society (with its lotus dream of no risks thanks to a mommy state) to a listless, moribund, hedonistic,and aspiritual one which lacks even the will to breed. Extinction is probably inevitable.
Americans take note - which political party wants the the U.S., in almost every way, to become more like Europe? Do you want the U.S. to go extinct as well? If you do, vote for that party that thinks that Europe has it all figured out.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
05/11/2006 7:01 Comments ||
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#3
It has much to do with institutionalized adultery. Monogamy is out of style in Europe. But women aren't going to be marrying and having babies when their cultures sanction hubbies plowing several fields at once.
All these articles about not enough babies and the fall of marriage are skirting the edge of truth. It's not that complicated. Women have the urge to marry and have babies-IF doing so doesn't put their familial security in danger. When vows of monogamy are kept, women have incentive to have children. When there is no intention to keep vows of monogamy, women understand that the financial, social and emotional consequences will be too high to both them and their offspring.
So Putin can offer money, and laws can change in Italy, and so on and so on and so on, and a few more babies will be born, but the basic problem remains. This is just one more instance of Europe in moral crisis.
#4
Stability for their children is written into women's genes. It was and is necessary for the successful raising of a child. No marriage to most women means less stability. Less stability means no or fewer children. Cause and effect again. Punish marriage and you will get fewer kids to replace the older generation and your socialist utopia nose plants under the higher tax burden on the working people as the population gets older.
Goodbye Europe, we will kinda miss you.
#6
True true gromgoru, but thank God these things happen in cycles. After 6000 years of example after example that marriage is the bedrock of society, the civilizations that forget that are replaced with ones that remember.
#9
Unfortunately for Europe, they created a happy but fatal little illusion. Everything is great this way for a couple of generations, but it is clear it is a short quarter step from this society (with its lotus dream of no risks thanks to a mommy state) to a listless, moribund, hedonistic,and aspiritual one which lacks even the will to breed.
Someone should write a book around this premise and call it: Brave New World ... oh, wait ...
LAHORE: A boy killed his 22-year-old newly wed elder sister in Mohlanwal village in Manga Mandi police precincts on Wednesday. Police said Kishwar (22) from Sahiwal had an affair with her neighbour, whom she eloped with to Lahore. The couple married and was living in Kishwar's aunt Razia's house. When Irfan arrived at Razia's house and found his sister, he quarrelled with her and shot her. The body has been sent for autopsy and Irfan has surrendered.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2006 00:00 ||
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#3
One can only hope that the bereaved husband will find some sort of productive outlet for his grief ... like using a dull reciprocating saw to veeeeeeeery slowly disassemble his loving wife's murderer.
LAHORE: WWF Pakistan in collaboration with Cleaner Technology Program has organised a training workshop for Textile Processing Mills (TPMs) on water and energy conservation and Better Environmental Management Practices (BEMPs).
According to a press release on Wednesday, the workshop was organised in Lahore, Faisalabad and Karachi under a project funded by EU-Pakistan Small Project Facility. Mr Anton Kaasjager, a consultant from a Dutch textile-training institute, was the main resource person for the training. Anton informed the workshop participants about why environmental compliance was necessary and how it could help to save money. Project coordinator Hania Aslam told the participants that they had already organised nine workshops for textile sector on specific issues.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
Yeah but can they show me how to smash a steel folding chair across someone's head without actually killing him?
#5
WWF is the World Wildlife Fund. They won their court suit against the World Wrestling Federation, claiming copyright infringment or something. They didn't want people confusing them with staged events...Oh, wait.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/11/2006 16:31 Comments ||
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BANGKOK: A Pakistani man has been arrested on suspicion of smothering to death a Thai woman whom he met via an Internet chat room and then chopping up her body, police said on Wednesday. Muhammad Arif, a 33-year-old employee of a Thai shipping firm who could face execution by lethal injection, was arrested at a Bangkok hotel on Monday after a tip-off from a taxi driver, police confirmed.
The taxi driver had telephoned the police to say that he had driven Arif, who had two bags in his possession, to a dumpsite in a city suburb. The bags were later recovered and found to contain the torso and other body parts of Disney Thongnakthae, a 28-year-old English language teacher from the northeastern province of Ubon Ratchathani. Her head was found on Tuesday in another bag dumped in a Bangkok canal, while her two feet were retrieved from a separate bag on Wednesday, police said.
They said that Arif had confessed to killing the woman in a fit of rage after she accused him of posting someone else's picture on the Internet and demanded that he pay her airfare home. "He confessed to killing her by smothering her with a pillow in the hotel room and couldn't figure out how to hide the body," Police Lieutenant-Colonel Soonthorn Kongklum said. "He then went to buy some knives to chop her up."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2006 00:00 ||
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#4
With a good handler or jili jili man up on top, elephants do have potential. Anyone given any thought to the Hilderbeast slamming thigh executions? No handler or jili jili man required.
#5
Thai method of execution prior to lethal injection was firing squad.
Prisoner was chained to a post and was shot from behind.
Posted by: john ||
05/11/2006 20:28 Comments ||
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#6
So the Pak posts a photo of some hunk on his date site and then freaks when she discovers he doesn't look at all like the hunk in his photo and whacks her when she claims false advertising.
Did he not think she'd notice his skanky ass wasn't the Adonis she came to meet?
Hurt his feelings, did she? Oh, the humilation(TM). But, but - it's his honour that counts.
Missing: scantily-clad females hawking the latest in electronic toys for the boys. The video game industry's annual trade show in Los Angeles opened its doors to its exhibitors on Wednesday with organizers ordering women staffing the booths to cover up or face a $5,000 fine. How about Burkas? That work for you, assholes?
Banned are nudity fine, partial nudity ok, bikini bottoms or any sexually explicit or provocative conduct Here we run into problems since some people think showing an ankle is sexually explicit., according to the handbook from The Entertainment Software Association, or ESA, which owns and operates the E3 Expo.
Pauline K, who declined to give her last name, wore a white shredded tank top with an exposed midriff, short mini skirt and knee-high leggings as she handed out fliers for a company that makes custom face plates for Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 game machine. She had a nice smile too.
She said another of the models received a warning from show organizers for showing too much skin. "Apparently her cleavage was a little too distracting," she said. That is why most guys go to E3, moron.
In January, the ESA outlined tough new penalties to enforce Koran decency rules. Exhibitors get a verbal warning for a first violation and a second violation carries a $5,000 fine. And are stoned to death on the third
"Last year there were a lot of complaints about how the models were beyond, in many cases, what was decent," said ESA President Douglas Lowenstein on Monday.
Despite the new rules, there was no shortage of exposed skin, patent leather and knee-high boots. Many exhibitors dressed women like video game heroines and there was a group of women wearing sexy nurses' outfits. Medic!
"They're wearing slightly more clothes this year," said Gail Salamanica, an exhibitor at the show, "But not much." Ok, news flash morons. People who are not part of the industry go to E3 for the booth babes, food and free swag. All the new and hottest demos are on the web in a day anyway. We don't go to E3 for the demos. Swag, food and babes. Got it? Otherwise E3 will go by-by as people stop coming.
We had this problem with medical conferences some years back. I remember going to a lung conference and seeing some outrageous outfits on the babesdollsarm-candy women who were 'demonstrating' exercise testing equipment. What put a complete stop to it were women physicians walking up to the vendor booths and informing the reps there that they would never, ever purchase anything from their companies until this changed. It's for the better, I think, at least for medical conventions.
#1
Ok, news flash morons. People who are not part of the industry go to E3 for the booth babes, food and free swag. All the new and hottest demos are on the web in a day anyway. We don't go to E3 for the demos. Swag, food and babes. Got it?
Well, maybe some people go there for the ... um ... articles.
#2
I got sick of it when I saw booth babes at Origins a few years ago. Um, guys, you don't need scantily clad, attractive women to sell things to geeks.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
05/11/2006 12:09 Comments ||
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#3
but it helps
Posted by: Mark E. ||
05/11/2006 12:32 Comments ||
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#4
"Um, guys, you don't need scantily clad, attractive women to sell things to geeks."
Says you! JK but it makes the experience nice.
#5
When I was in business, a couple vendors lost substantial sales to my units over this. Would lost the sales again if I were back in an executive role again, too.
But I don't hold to PC speech codes, just exercising my market rights to choose from whom I will buy.
A home where police found a "super" drug lab last week also housed an elaborate hospital-like operation -- stocked with thousands of dollars in medical equipment, surgical tools and supplies -- that authorities believe was to be used to treat injured criminals.
The top floor of the Runnymede Street home was filled with "boxes upon boxes upon boxes" of medical supplies and contained a room equipped with a hospital bed, fresh linens, scalpels, IV stands and surgical tools, according to Lt. Tom Alipio of the East Palo Alto police department.
"It was set up just like a hospital room,'' said Alipio, who said a second room was in the process of being set up. "We found a kit that a surgeon would use to reassemble a joint -- like a hip or a shoulder."
The room also contained hospital gowns for patients, surgical scrubs and baby carriers for infants -- but apparently no medicines routinely used during surgical procedures.
The owner of the home, Benjamin C. Ruezga, was among six men police arrested in Friday's raid, in which authorities found a fortified lab with five pounds of methamphetamine and nearly 70,000 cold tablets that contain the key ingredient for making the drug.
Ruezga, an employee at Stanford Hospital, was wearing his hospital identification around his neck when police burst into his home. Alipio said Ruezega worked in a warehouse at the hospital but police also found documents showing he had been a nurse in Mexico.
Authorities are investigating whether the items were taken from Stanford Hospital. Andrea Smith, communications manager for the hospital, said officials are cooperating with police, but declined to comment further on the investigation.
Police also found several books on how to treat the human body.
Alipio, who said the items appeared to have been stockpiled to treat gunshot or chemical wounds, said everything appeared brand new, but he couldn't be sure if the room had been used to treat any patients.
Alipio said he was stunned by the sheer volume of the items, which he said would fill a semi-trailer truck.
"This goes above and beyond the taking of a garbage bag or a bottle of soap,'' said Alipio.
Investigators said wounded criminals could use such a place to avoid going to regular hospitals, which are required to report suspected criminals to authorities.
The room and supplies were discovered in the upstairs front unit of a house that had been divided into three units and also contained a drug lab that had been fortified with concrete cinder blocks, steel doors and metal bars. The entire property had been wired with an elaborate security camera system that police said was not being monitored at the time of the raid.
A single mother of five young children had been living in the back of the home at the time of the raid but was not connected to the drug operation, police said.
East Palo Alto police said they do not know how long the lab had been operating. The raid was the result of a monthlong investigation that began in Soledad after a pharmacist there told police a customer had asked to buy 10 bottles of Sudafed. The common cold medicine contains pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient used to make methamphetamines.
During the raid, authorities confiscated five pounds of methamphetamines valued at $225,000; 70,000 pseudoephedrine pills, which can yield 12 pounds of methamphetamines and as much as $550,000 on the street; a pound of cocaine worth $45,000, several assault weapons and handguns; and $25,000 in cash.
Ruezga and the five other suspects appeared in a Redwood City courtroom Monday and pleaded not guilty to drug and weapons charges. Each of the men is being held on bail ranging from $5.6 million to $5.7 million.
Media-entertainment giant News Corp says its most recent quarterly profit more than doubled to $US820 million, led by strong growth in its Fox television and cable operations. The results were also boosted by a gain on the sale of its investment in Mexican satellite entity Innova, which reaped $US206 million ($A266 million). The New York-based company, formerly headquartered in Australia and headed by Rupert Murdoch, says net income in the third fiscal quarter to March 31 amounted to 26 cents a share. Analysts had expected on average a profit of 20 cents per share excluding special items.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/11/2006 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
ROME (Reuters) - An Italian restaurant was fined 688 euros ($855) for displaying live lobsters on ice to attract patrons, in an innovative application of an anti-cruelty law usually affecting to household pets.
IQALUIT, Nunavut - Northern hunters, scientists and people with vivid imaginations have discussed the possibility for years. But Roger Kuptana, an Inuvialuit guide from Sachs Harbour, North West Territories, was the first to suspect it had actually happened when he proposed that a strange-looking bear shot last month by an American sports hunter might be half polar bear, half grizzly. 
On Boxing Day 1943 Bates was electrical officer in Duke of York, the flagship of Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser, when Scharnhorst slipped out of the Norwegian fjords to attack Russian convoy JW55B, off the North Cape. Bates's report enabled Fraser to close within visual range at 8,000 yards, enabling Duke of York to surprise Scharnhorst with a first salvo. 
A court in London has recommended that a British man be extradited to the United States to stand trial on charges of hacking into US Government computer systems. American authorities have described Gary McKinnon, 40, as the "biggest military computer hacker of all time". Mr McKinnon is accused of gaining access to more than 90 computers in 2001 and 2002. They included computers at the Pentagon, NASA, Army bases and a naval station. His actions brought the entire military district of Washington to a standstill. He denies causing malicious damage and says he was looking for information on UFOs.
Bolivian President Evo Morales said he will extend his nationalization of private property to include agricultural estates and ruled out any compensation for oil companies' whose assets the government took over May 1. Morales today also renewed accusations foreign companies, including Brazil's state oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA, acted illegally by avoiding taxes and smuggling oil. He said the government doesn't owe anything to Petrobras or Madrid-based Repsol YPF SA, the biggest investors in Bolivia's oil industry. 
Marriage is on the wane all over Europe, as couples prefer new conjugal practices such as living together, says a French study. But although Europeans overall are marrying less, people in some countries are marrying a lot less than in others, as national differences across the continent remain marked, the study by Frances National Institute of Demographic Studies (INED) found. 
LAHORE: A boy killed his 22-year-old newly wed elder sister in Mohlanwal village in Manga Mandi police precincts on Wednesday. Police said Kishwar (22) from Sahiwal had an affair with her neighbour, whom she eloped with to Lahore. The couple married and was living in Kishwar's aunt Razia's house. When Irfan arrived at Razia's house and found his sister, he quarrelled with her and shot her. The body has been sent for autopsy and Irfan has surrendered.
LAHORE: WWF Pakistan in collaboration with Cleaner Technology Program has organised a training workshop for Textile Processing Mills (TPMs) on water and energy conservation and Better Environmental Management Practices (BEMPs).
BANGKOK: A Pakistani man has been arrested on suspicion of smothering to death a Thai woman whom he met via an Internet chat room and then chopping up her body, police said on Wednesday. Muhammad Arif, a 33-year-old employee of a Thai shipping firm who could face execution by lethal injection, was arrested at a Bangkok hotel on Monday after a tip-off from a taxi driver, police confirmed. 
Missing: scantily-clad females hawking the latest in electronic toys for the boys. The video game industry's annual trade show in Los Angeles opened its doors to its exhibitors on Wednesday with organizers ordering women staffing the booths to cover up or face a $5,000 fine.
Media-entertainment giant News Corp says its most recent quarterly profit more than doubled to $US820 million, led by strong growth in its Fox television and cable operations. The results were also boosted by a gain on the sale of its investment in Mexican satellite entity Innova, which reaped $US206 million ($A266 million). The New York-based company, formerly headquartered in Australia and headed by Rupert Murdoch, says net income in the third fiscal quarter to March 31 amounted to 26 cents a share. Analysts had expected on average a profit of 20 cents per share excluding special items.
