Grab yer bagpipes an' yer haggis, there's video at the link!
(Not all that spectacular, really, but if you have the choice, it's more fun to live in a universe with a Loch Ness Monster than a universe with no Loch Ness Monster.)
Posted by: Mike ||
06/01/2007 08:35 ||
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#1
it's more fun to live in a universe with a Loch Ness Monster than a universe with no Loch Ness Monster
#3
There will be plenty of Single Malt at the Deacon Blues Pork Palace, Potables Parlour, and Home for Wayward Animals and Women next weekend. Who knows, we might see the Loch Ness Monster in my swimming pool.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
06/01/2007 10:49 Comments ||
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#12
Looks to me like a shrieking eel.
Already saw ROUS, too (well not that big, but body about 20", plus tail, which is an unusual size by any count; my cat got it, musta been quite a fight, but I found it dead afterwards), so I wouldn't exclude it.
(SomaliNet) In reaction to a drastic drop in the number of staff turning up for work, authorities have shut down key units at the four largest hospitals and health delivery services at Zimbabwe's main referral hospitals have virtually collapsed.
According to reports Parirenyatwa and Harare hospitals in the capital and Mpilo and Bulawayo central hospitals in Bulawayo have closed most departments, leaving only the casualty wings, and are operating with skeleton staff, as health professionals and aides fail to turn up for work due to low salaries.
The situation was worsening every week, with no sign of a solution in sight, sources at the government hospitals said.
Meanwhile, officials said the maternity wing at Parirenyatwa Hospital was closed last weekend, compelling expectant mothers to turn to expensive private hospitals. Many more, however, have resorted to fly-by-night maternity homes in the high-density suburbs, where sanitary conditions are said to be appalling.
Zimbabwes deputy Health Minister Edwin Muguti, admitted the situation at hospitals was critical. But he insisted the government was working to minimise inconveniencing patients. "There has been no improvement since the workers stopped coming to work. But we are trying our best to keep the hospitals open and fully functional," said Muguti. "We are doing something for the workers, including nurses and doctors, but we fear our efforts as far as awarding better salaries and working conditions are concerned are being eroded by inflation.
The problem is the economic difficulties we are facing."
Stakeholders reported that staff at Parirenyatwa and Harare hospitals were only attending to emergencies. The situation in Harare has been compounded by the closure of almost all municipal clinics due to a lack of personnel, drugs and equipment.
Sources say, in Bulawayo, the situation at Mpilo Central Hospital was yesterday reported to be serious. A skeleton staff consisting entirely of trainees was said to be attending to emergency cases. Things were no different at Bulawayo Central Hospital.
The Zimbabwean government in February, tried to mollify health workers by announcing two salary increments within a month after a crippling six-week strike. Nurses were awarded an additional $263 000 on top of their improved January salaries of $195 000, bringing their monthly earnings to between $458 000 and $500 000.
Wards visited by this newspaper at Parirenyatwa and Harare hospitals on Tuesday were deserted, with nurse aides, administration and general staff having stayed away. Health Minister David Parirenyatwa admitted earlier this month that health workers could no longer afford bus fares to and from work. On a salary of $500 000, a nurse needs to pay an average of $840 000 in bus fares per month.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/01/2007 00:00 ||
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Ahh, that great healthcare that only "democratic socalism" TM) can handle to cut costs and make more other kinds of nifty programs save you problems of having to conserve a nation.
And, "Let them eat cake".
Goodbye Mugabe. Been fun watching you from up here but you are just at the starting gate of the Gauntlet.
For we had already made this nation well and you merely corrupted it for your own ego. And that poor sap Carter certified those results. For Shame.
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia appears to be in a quandary whether to give in to the growing pressure for reforms both from within and outside her party or to quit politics. She has been in virtual isolation as most of the senior leaders have opted to keep away from her during the present crisis situation.
They believe it is about time she relinquishes absolute power she holds over the BNP. Many of them in fact want the former prime minister to bow out of politics to pave the way for the reforms that the party needs badly, sources said.
On her part, things continue to slip with both of her sons now sued for extortion. Her elder son, BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Tarique Rahman, has been detained since March 7 while the other one, Arafat Rahman, was not permitted to accompany her in a trip to Singapore that was later cancelled.
Once acclaimed as an uncompromising politician, she is now desperate to negotiate an understanding with the authorities so they treat Tarique and Arafat leniently. That her younger son might as well be detained on charge of corruption has added to her anxieties about the future of her sons.
Sources say if she does not agree to leave the chairperson's post to allow changes in the party, a number of graft cases might be filed against her.
Intelligence agencies are assembling information about financial irregularities that took place in different ministries particularly in the energy and power ministry under her leadership in the last five years, added the sources.
The government has already gathered information about her bank accounts to detect shady transactions, if there's any. Besides, a few of the BNP chairperson's kin might be rounded up in the ongoing anti-graft drive that, many believe, will force her into tighter corners.
Against this backdrop, she is dithering over whether to leave the country or try to work her way out of troubled times. Earlier, the BNP chief had reportedly agreed to go abroad with Arafat and the other family members on condition that her elder son would later join them. But as she suddenly changed her mind, an extortion case was filed against her younger son.
Since the military-backed interim government began cracking down on the graft suspects including top political leaders, businessmen and bureaucrats, a number of senior leaders started to blame Khaleda for the BNP being in such a mess.
Even when she was confined to her cantonment residence for weeks, very few of the leaders protested the government restrictions on their chief's movement.
Brigadier General (retired) Hannan Shah, came out to be the only person to speak for Khaleda. He had been informing the media of the developments regarding her condition and the reported government pressure on her to go into exile. But soon he too was charged with extortion and arrested, leaving the former premier in the lurch.
Some of the senior leaders, meantime, have gone public with criticism that as the prime minister she was turning a blind eye to the rampant corruption. They suggested curtailing her power to ensure transparency and accountability in the party.
They also criticised Khaleda's unilateral decision to make her brother Sayeed Iskander a vice-president of the party at a time when reform of the political parties is at the forefront of public attention.
The leaders are pressing for a radical change in the party 'for the sake of democracy' even if it means an end to the era of Zia dynasty. They have been relentless in trying to convince the fellow partymen that no meaningful reform is possible with Khaleda at the helm, sources said.
It was learnt that the senior leaders are already thinking about the future of BNP minus Khaleda. A number of those who had left the party in protest at the politics of dynasty might return to the post-Khaleda BNP, sources said. A senior BNP leader, who is spearheading the efforts to rid the party of dynastic politics, said once she calls it a day, the top post will be filled by someone capable of commanding respect of the leaders and workers alike.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/01/2007 00:00 ||
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Would that be like retiring from the Mob?
Posted by: ed ||
06/01/2007 17:28 Comments ||
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Somewhere, a Mass Turnpike Authority hack reads this... and drools.
Actually, it's Friday, so somewhere is probably down the Cape or up at Lake Winnipesaukee...
Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina yesterday directed the party leaders to provide necessary legal support to the party leaders and workers who have been arrested. She also urged them to stand beside the party activists, so that the activists do not get panicked in the prevailing political situation.
Hasina said this when a group of leaders of the AL and its front organisations met the party chief at her Sudha Sadan residence in Dhanmondi in the capital. AL presidium member and former lawmaker Suranjit Sengupta, central committee member AHM Khairuzzaman Liton, former lawmaker Sahiduzzaman Sarker, Mohila League President Ashrafunnesa Mosharraf, Jubo Mohila League President Nazma Akhter, Women affairs Secretary Dipu Moni, Environment Affairs Secretary Hasan Mahmud, Jubo League General Secretary Apu Ukil and Rehana Jalil, wife of detained AL General Secretary Abdul Jalil, were present among others at the meeting.
Talking to the reporters after the meeting, Sahiduzzaman Sarker said, "She [Hasina] asked us to stand beside the party workers as they might be scared and disappointed due to the recent arrest of some senior party leaders."
"She asked us to inquire about how to provide legal assistance to the detained leaders, including party general secretary Abdul Jalil," Dipu Moni said.
Meanwhile, Rehana Jalil expressed concern about his detained husband, as he was ill, sources said. The AL chief expressed her sympathy to the detained leader's family and urged her to have patience. "I came to see her [Hasina]," was the brief reply of Suranjit Sengupta, when asked about his meeting with the AL chief. Other senior party leaders including presidium members Tofail Ahmed and Abdur Razzaq were not present at the meeting.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/01/2007 00:00 ||
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A top opponent of President Hugo Chavez demanded the release of jailed protesters Wednesday as university students poured into the streets for a third day to protest the removal of a leading opposition TV station from the air. Former presidential candidate Manuel Rosales said protests over the government's move to halt the broadcasts of Radio Caracas Television show that "freedom cannot be negotiated nor bargained."
Having spent the past 10 days in Costa Rica watching CNN International, I know that those people are indignant because their favorite soap operas are on Globovision. Really. It has nothing to do with any desire for individual liberty or the rule of law. CNN told me so.
Police detained an opposition leader, Oscar Perez, Wednesday afternoon as he came from a meeting to organize another protest for this weekend. "I don't know under what criteria they are detaining me," Perez told Globovision by telephone from a police station. Officials did not immediately comment on the arrest.
Protesters have filled the capital's plazas and streets since the opposition-aligned channel went off the air at midnight Sunday. Chavez refused to renew its broadcast license accusing it of helping incite a failed coup in 2002 and violating broadcast laws and police have clashed with angry crowds hurling rocks and bottles.
A total of 182 people mostly university students and minors have been detained in nearly 100 protests since Sunday, Justice Minister Pedro Carreno said late Tuesday. At least 30 were charged with violent acts, prosecutors said, but it was unclear how many remained behind bars.
"Freedom for those young men and women, immediately. They should not be treated like criminals," said Rosales, the governor of western Zulia state who was handily defeated by Chavez in December elections. He said protesters are demanding not only free speech but also the right to protest "peacefully and democratically."
Rosales noted that a home video broadcast on the Globovision network showed unidentified men in the doorway of a government office apparently Chavez allies firing guns at unseen targets. "For that there is no justice?" he said.
As he spoke, roughly 8,000 student protesters chanting "freedom!" marched toward the offices of the People's Defender, a government official in charge of monitoring human rights. Marchers stopped at a police barricade, while several leaders delivered a protest letter to authorities at the office. "The students are taking a stand, but not to oust the government or cause chaos as some allege," student leader John Goicochea said.
Although the march was generally peaceful, there were several small scuffles between students and "Chavistas" who approached the demonstrators, jeering and shouting insults.
On Tuesday, Chavez warned he might crack down on the privately owned Globovision.
Government officials claim Globovision encouraged an attempt on Chavez's life by broadcasting the chorus of a salsa tune "Have faith, this doesn't end here" along with footage of the 1981 assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/01/2007 01:02 ||
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Russia has banned the export of medical specimens after the country's spy agency allegedly uncovered a Western plot to manufacture a biological weapon that would make Russians sterile.
In a decree that appeared to reflect the Russian state's growing suspicion of all things Western, the Federal Customs Service forbade the shipment of all human blood, hair, DNA and bone marrow out of the country. While officials gave no formal explanation for the ban, Russia's most respected broadsheet suggested that the customs service had been ordered to act after the Federal Security Service, the KGB's successor, handed an alarming report to President Vladimir Putin earlier this month.
Quoting unidentified sources, Kommersant said that foreign health institutions were using human specimens to create a "genetically engineered biological weapon" capable of rendering the Russian population sterile or even of killing it off altogether. Among those purportedly involved in the conspiracy are the Harvard School of Public Health and the U.S. Department of Justice. The FSB declined to comment on the allegations.
The newspaper said the ban had been authorized by deputy prime minister Sergei Ivanov, a hardliner many believe could succeed Mr Putin next year.
Doctors have expressed concern that the ban could lead to thousands of unnecessary deaths. Hundreds of biological samples are shipped out of Russia every day for clinical trials that cannot be carried out locally. It is unclear whether individual samples, which are often sent for analysis abroad allowing life-saving diagnosis for many curable diseases, are affected.
Officials at the Federal Customs Service said they had been "expressly forbidden" from releasing details about the ban. A health ministry spokesman said it was possible individual samples were exempt. "We have nothing to do with the ban," the spokesman said. "As far as I know, it primarily targets clinical trials conducted by pharmaceutical companies." Like many foreign companies operating in Russia, pharmaceutical multinationals have come under growing official suspicion of late, with some accused of improperly carrying out tests on children.
Posted by: ed ||
06/01/2007 17:17 Comments ||
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Russia has banned the export of medical specimens after the country's spy agency allegedly uncovered a Western plot to manufacture a biological weapon that would make Russians sterile.
Too late. They already have this nefarious weapon in their midst. It's called vodka.
The man charged by Britain with the murder of a former Russian agent in London last year says that the man, Alexander Litvinenko, was working for British intelligence at the time. Andrei Lugovoy, whom Russia has refused to extradite to face charges of killing Litvinenko with radioactive polonium, made his comments on Thursday. Lugovoy did not say who he thought murdered Litvinenko but suggested that British intelligence was the most likely suspect.
The Litvinenko case has become a major irritant in Russian-British relations. The accusation clearly sought to parry British suggestions of a serious criminal act on British soil by a man with past links to the Russian security services. "Litvinenko became an agent who left the control of [British] special services and was killed," Lugovoy, himself a former KGB agent, told a news conference. "If not by the [British] intelligence services themselves, then under their control or with their connivance."
Lugovoy said Litvinenko and his patron, Boris Berezovsky, a self-exiled Russian billionaire, were both working for British secret services. "In the words of Sasha [Litvinenko] himself, first he was recruited and afterwards, on his advice, Boris Abramovich [Berezovsky] gave to the British some [Russian] security council documents and also became an MI6 agent," Lugovoy said. Lugovoy also said British intelligence had tried to recruit him in order to provide compromising information on Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, and his family. He again dismissed the British charges against him, saying "Britain is making me a scapegoat. A real war is being waged against me and Russia in the press."
Lugovoy, who now runs a private security firm in Moscow, has repeatedly denied any involvement in Litvinenko's death.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/01/2007 00:00 ||
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Research now indicates that the enormous tanks holding discarded submarine fuel rods in the Andreeva Bay may explode at any time, creating a nuclear nightmare for Northern Europe.
Norway and other Western authorities have argued for years that the stockpile of highly radioactive nuclear waste on the Kola peninsula poses an environmental hazard to the local population and for Norway.
A new report from Rosatom, the Russian government's highest nuclear authority, shows that there is a grave danger that the stockpile can explode. For Norway the consequences could exceed the fallout from the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, and no one knows how imminent the danger is - if it is a question of years - or hours.
"In the best case a small, limited explosion in just one of the stored rods can lead to radioactive contamination in a five-kilometer (three-mile) radius. In the worst case, such a single explosion could cause the entire tank facility to explode. We have no calculations for what that could lead to," Aleksandr Nikitin of environmental group Bellona told Aftenposten.
"It will at least, at a careful estimate, hit Northern Europe. There are enormous members of radioactivity stored in these tanks," said Nils Bøhmer, nuclear physicist and head of Bellona's Russian division.
In 1982/83 radioactive contamination began to leak from used fuel rods from the nuclear submarine reactors. These were stored in flimsy warehouses in the old navy installation at Andreeva Bay. Three large cement tanks became a hurried solution, housing a series of large metal pipes encased in concrete. The rods were carefully placed in these pipes.
This measure was intended as a provisional solution for four to five years, but nothing has happened since. Norwegian authorities partially financed a study involving several of Russia's foremost experts and institutes. In the end of 2006 a conclusion was reached, but the research has not been made public until now.
Nikitin came across the conclusions in the course of compiling a new Bellona report on the state of Andreeva Bay.
Nikitin and Igor Kudrik translate from the reports and explain. The large tanks, each containing 21,000 rods, are near the sea. Salt water has entered the tanks and lead to the rapid disintegration of the metal pipes. The salt water has then entered the pipes, breaking down the rods, releasing small uranium particles that fall to the bottom of the metal pipes.
"The conclusion of Rosatom is that when the amount of particles on the bottom reaches five to ten percent in relation to the amount of water, potentially explosive critical mass will occur," Kudrik said.
Rosatom uses the term "uncontrolled chain reaction" for what will occur.
Nikitin has had a prison term and a five year battle to be totally cleared of espionage charges by the Russian Supreme Court as his price for compiling Bellona's first report on radioactive contamination at Kola.
"These stockpiles and what they contain have been known to the world for over 15 years. Nothing is done. But now something must be done or uncontrolled events will take place of their own accord. The consequences will be more dramatic than we can imagine. Inaction for all these years has put us on top of a large nuclear bomb. We know where the 'gunpowder' is, but we don't know how long the fuse is," Nikitin said.
"Significantly greater pressure on Russia from its neighbors - and the entire world - is needed. The day it goes wrong, no one can say any longer that we did not know what would happen," Nikitin said.
But the Russkies now have a missile that can "defeat" our AMD system, so they have that going for them.
#1
Russians---gorillas with tools---and that's not being fair to gorillas.
From the people that's brought more death from nuclear irradiation (Chernobyl, North Sea Fleet, etc.) than Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Posted by: Almost Anonymous5839 ||
06/01/2007 10:49 Comments ||
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Osama is sending a crew shortly to pick up the fuel and transport it to jihadistan. It may take several crews being sequentially irradiated to death, but they're lined up to give it all for Allan.
#4
The Soviet Union's enduring historical legacy will be an endless laundry list of crimes against humanity and nature. The global community's condemnation of America for how it consumes so much of this world's resources rings false in light of how Rusiia continues to squander everything that passes through its hands. Much like the Palestinians, Russia has almost nothing to show for nearly a century of communist corruption. They are parasites on a massive scale.
#5
One would have thought the Russians might have learned their lesson(s) following Chernobyl and a similar storage disaster in the Urals back in the 60's as I recall.
An entire town simply seized to exist on old Soviet maps with no explanation as to why. Years or a decade or more later western experts figured out that the Soviets had been using an old mine to store nuclear power plant waste (ie used fuel rods), stored them improperly, and they blew taking a large chunk of the countryside with them (primarily due to radioactive contamination).
To this day, I'm told, the area is a "No Go" area in Russia.
#6
Ah! Found it. Disaster occured in 1957 in the Urals near a secret Soviet nuclear facility at Ozersk. The town of Karabolka was evacuated and nearly a quarter of a million people were contaminated by a radioactive plume.
President Nicolas Sarkozy, ever-present, hyperactive, and riding high in the polls, appears to be heading for an overwhelming victory in the French parliamentary elections this month. According to the most recent poll, M. Sarkozy's centre-right party and its centrist allies could take as many as 430 of the 577 seats in the national assembly in the two-round election on 10 and 17 June.
Such a tidal wave is not unprecedented. The right did even better in 1993. But an electoral landslide would place President Sarkozy in a commanding position - politically and morally - to force through his programme of social and economic reforms.
A parliament heavily tilted to the right might also be dangerous - not least for M. Sarkozy himself.
The Independent can always find the black lining in a silver cloud.
His glittering, accommodating, all-action first two weeks in power has impressed many French people, both on the left and the right. However, M. Sarkozy has also confirmed fears that he intends to overturn the traditional division of labour in French government and use the once aloof presidency as a kind of super-prime-ministership.
Since that's exactly why he was elected ...
A national assembly heavily dominated by President Sarkozy's Union Pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP) would re-inforce the impression of a country dominated, as never before, by one man.
... and an elected parliament ...
There was some consternation earlier this week - even within his own camp - when President Sarkozy broke with constitutional tradition and addressed a UMP parliamentary campaign rally in Le Havre. Previous presidents in the Fifth Republic have maintained the illusion of standing aside from the dirty business of parliamentary party politics. M. Sarkozy has also found time for visits to Germany, Italy and Spain; to hold talks with employers and unions; to visit workers in Dunkirk and Toulouse; and to jog daily in the Bois de Boulogne.
The Socialists, the main opposition party, are forecast to win only 100 to 142 seats. They hope that M. Sarkozy's "in-your-face" style could still help them to mobilise the one in three French voters who cannot stomach the new President. The Socialist campaign has failed to make much impact so far. Grass-roots party workers are exhausted and demoralised after M. Sarkozy's presidential victory on 6 May. Party leaders, including the defeated candidate Ségolène Royal, have been squabbling over who should emerge as the de facto "leader of the opposition" and 2012 presidential candidate in waiting.
The parliamentary campaign is also proving disastrous for the centrist leader, François Bayrou. Emboldened by his 18 per cent score in the first round of the presidential elections, M. Bayrou has dissolved his old UDF party, which was traditionally allied with M. Sarkozy's centre-right. He has created a new Mouvement Démocrate, which has refused all electoral deals with the Sarkozy camp. All but a handful of M. Bayrou's 29 sitting deputies have broken ranks and created another party, the Nouveau Centre, which is little more than an adjunct of M. Sarkozy's UMP. As a result, M. Bayrou's party is forecast to take only 10 per cent of the vote in the first round of the parliamentary elections on Sunday week. He is projected to win at most six seats in the new national assembly - and conceivably none.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/01/2007 00:04 ||
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A national assembly heavily dominated by President Sarkozy's Union Pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP) would re-inforce the impression of a country dominated, as never before, by one man.
Louis XIV, Napoleon, de Gaulle, oh, say, Adolf Hitler... do these people bother to read their own articles?
For a nation that invented the term "guest worker" for its immigrant labourers, Germany is facing the sobering fact that record numbers of its own often highly-qualified citizens are fleeing the country to work abroad in the biggest mass exodus for 60 years.
Figures released by Germany's Federal Statistics Office showed that the number of Germans emigrating rose to 155,290 last year - the highest number since the country's reunification in 1990 - which equalled levels last experienced in the 1940s during the chaotic aftermath of the Second World War. The statistics, which also revealed that the number of immigrants had declined steadily since 2001, were a stark reminder of the extent of the German economy's decline from the heady 1960s when thousands of mainly Turkish workers flocked to find work in the country.
Leading economists and employers say the trend is alarming. They note that many among Germany's new breed of home-grown "guest workers" are highly-educated management consultants, doctors, dentists, scientists and lawyers. OECD figures show that Germany is near the top of a league of industrial nations experiencing a brain drain which for the first time since the 1950s now exceeds the number of immigrants.
Import lots of poorly-trained folks from North Africa and the Middle East, and export your home-grown talent. Sure recipe for success.
Stephanie Wahl, of the Institute for Economics, based in Bonn, said that those who are leaving Germany are mostly highly motivated and well educated. "Those coming in are mostly poor, untrained and hardly educated," she added.
Fed up with comparatively poor job prospects at home - where unemployment is as high as 17 per cent in some regions - as well as high taxes and bureaucracy, thousands of Germans have upped sticks for Austria and Switzerland, or emigrated to the United States.
The elites can't quite understand it: why would ambitious, smart people want to stay aboard a sinking ship?
Yesterday, the country'swoes were underscored by a report which disclosed that areas of unemployment-wracked eastern Germany were populated by a "male-dominated underclass susceptible to far right ideology" because of a dramatic 25 per cent exodus of young women aged 18 to 29.
More than 18,000 Germans moved to Switzerland last year. The US was the second most popular destination with 13,245, followed by Austria with 9,309.
Switzerland already has a resident German population of 170,000. Its presence has even provoked a xenophobic backlash in the country's tabloid press.
Even though a third of the country is German speaking.
Earlier this year, the Swiss newspaper Blick ran an anti-German campaign which spoke of a "German invasion" and quoted readers who claimed they found the German immigrants to be "arrogant and rude". Many immigrants, however, say the benefits of lower taxes and pay up to three times higher than at home far outweigh the occasional xenophobic outburst.
The current exodus hardly fits in with the official view of the German economy, which is said to be "booming". Although jobless figures for May were reported to be marginally up yesterday, Chancellor Angela Merkel's grand coalition government of conservatives and Social Democrats has taken credit for a steady 13-month decline in the country's unemployment to below four million.
However, the gradual economic upturn has so far failed to halt an exodus of the country's well-trained. Thomas Bauer, a labour economist from Essen, was scathing about Germany's employment conditions. "Germany is certainly not attractive when compared to other countries in Europe," he said. "The taxes are too high, the wages are too low and feelings of jealousy towards high-income earners is widespread. This is a special deterrent to the highly qualified."
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/01/2007 00:00 ||
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High taxes, low pay, and hatred towards the well-off: sounds like an ideal Socialist state. Why on Earth would people be leaving it?
#3
Fed up with comparatively poor job prospects at home - where unemployment is as high as 17 per cent in some regions - as well as high taxes and bureaucracy, thousands of Germans have upped sticks for Austria and Switzerland, or emigrated to the United States.
Hillary '08 It's time for a new beginning, for an end to government of the few, by the few and for the few, time to reject the idea of an "on your own" society and to replace it with shared responsibility for shared prosperity. I prefer a "we're all in it together" society.
Being a socialist means never having to learn. Repeating the same mistake over and over and over again.
#5
feelings of jealousy towards high-income earners is widespread.
This is nothing new. When we lived there in the early '90s, Mr. Wife's company rented us a little 150 square meter house (well under 2000 sq.ft.) with a small garden (I literally cut the lawn with my kitchen scissors -- a 3 sq. ft. patch). When trailing daughter #1 came of age, we sent her to a local German preschool. Some of the mothers would not let their children come over to play when they discovered we lived in the entire house. For perspective, that village had one of the highest average incomes in all of Germany; one of the neighbors was a titled graefin, another raised the family flag every morning when she was in residence... and a number of the locals in the American Women's Club playgroup were married to corporate presidents, CEOs and suchlike immensities. At the time, Mr. Wife was definitely a corporate peon. When I got a very used little BMW to drive around in, I was twitted for taking my husband's car. Husbands in management drove only BMWs or Mercedes, you see; their wives drove only VW something-or-others (I don't remember which one, but not the Beetle), the only choice being the colour. It felt to me almost like the Medieval sumptuary laws, where each class of society wore prescribed materials and styles of clothing, hats and shoes, and jewelry, to avoid overwheening pride and extravagance of appearance.
#6
Perhaps they should build a wall around the country. They'd need to put landmines around it, towers with machine guns, and have trained dogs to hunt anyone attempting escape. I think it's simple, don't you?
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
06/01/2007 7:41 Comments ||
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Yet another illustration as to how badly Europe is screwed.
Eastern Germany is facing a demographic crisis as huge numbers of women abandon the former communist region leaving behind an underclass of poorly educated, jobless and disillusioned men. The population imbalance in the former communist state is worse than anywhere else in Europe, social scientists say. Even communities that traditionally have more men than women - such as the polar regions of Sweden and Finland, or the majority of remote Greek islands - do not have such pronounced male surpluses, according to a study by the Berlin Institute for Population and Development.
The study, Too Many Men, paints a bleak picture of young, partner-less men in the region; for every 100 men aged 25 to 30, there are just 80 women. Hundreds of thousands of eastern Germans of both sexes have left the former GDR in search of work in western Germany or abroad. But the exodus of young females (400,000 in the age range 18-29 since 1991) is believed to have more to do with the fact they are better educated than men and set on improved opportunities away from the rather depressed climate at home.
"The clever girls ... are leaving the east German working-class boys behind," said Reiner Klingholz, head of the Institute for Population. "In the west, many women look for their intellectual equal as a partner. As a result, most do not return." The proportion of eastern German women with degrees is 31%, compared to 20% of men.
A substantial number of men have nevertheless also left - 270,000 since 1991 - but a much higher percentage return, more often than not because they are disappointed by the experience, having failed to find a job and make social contacts.
The development is leading to social erosion on a large scale, according to the report, and is set to have an even more dramatic effect in the future. It is estimated that between 1995 and 2005, around 100,000 fewer babies were born in the region than would have been the case if the imbalance had not existed.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/01/2007 00:00 ||
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The mills of the Gods grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine.
The Turkish parliament has backed a package of constitutional reforms that will allow the president to be elected by by popular vote. It was the second time that the bill had been voted on after Ahmet Necdet Sezer, the outgoing president, rejected it last week. On Thursday, the amendments received the support of 370 deputies in the 550-seat house, which is dominated by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister. At present, parliament elects the head of state and Erdgoan says the changes will improve democracy.
The bill now returns to Sezer for signing. He cannot veto the amendments a second time but can put them to a referendum. Sezer said last week that the haste with which the reforms were introduced would lead to "a deviation from the parliamentary system" and "create far-reaching, irreparable problems".
Posted by: Fred ||
06/01/2007 00:00 ||
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WASHINGTON President Bush asked Congress Wednesday to boost funding to fight AIDS and treat up to 2.5 million people with the disease around the world. His proposal for $30 billion over five years would extend an existing AIDS prevention program, which Congress first approved in 2003 and expires next year. The president often has touted the program, which also fights tuberculosis and malaria, as a key piece of his foreign policy.
"Villages in Africa now talk of the 'Lazarus Effect,' dying communities being brought back to life thanks to the compassion of the American people," Bush said in the Rose Garden.
An estimated 39.5 million people are living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, according to the Joint United Nations Program on HIV and AIDS. There were 4.3 million new infections in 2006 with 65% occurring in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the U.N. program.
Bush said the President's Emergency Program for AIDS Relief has treated 1.1 million people. The United States will partner with different African countries and the private sector to meet specific needs, he said. "This investment has yielded the best possible return: saved lives," he said.
Bush's proposal comes a week before he and other leaders will discuss AIDS and Africa at the Group of Eight summit of leading industrialized nations. He also announced that first lady Laura Bush will travel to Mozambique, Zambia, Senegal and Mali June 25-29 to meet with current participants of HIV and AIDS programs and assess progress.
AIDS activists generally praised Bush's efforts but challenged some details.
Of course they did.
Paul Zeitz, executive director of the non-profit Global AIDS Alliance, said the goal of treating 2.5 million people by the end of 2013 is good, but the United States should aim to treat 4 million, which he said would equal about one-third of the world's expected AIDS caseload.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/01/2007 00:08 ||
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#4
How about $30 billion worth of new F-22's, $30 billion worth of new infrastructure, $30 billion worth of new schools. Hell, even $30 billion worth of social services wouldn't be completely out of line.
#5
Bono, of U2, made huge numbers of liberals gnash their teeth when he said that "George W. Bush has done more for Africa than any other US President".
I will hand it to Bono, he truly does care about that continent, and will sit down with anyone who really wants to help it, but not those who just want to have photo-ops of themselves "caring" about it, or just use it for political points.
#9
I object to my tax money being used to pay for even more African overpopulation. Not one of them is going to thank us for keeping them alive, as long as they're poor and miserable.
HT Instapundit
STOP THE PRESSES!!! Barbara Lee has just issued her second press release in two days commending President Bush.
The liberal California Democrat, who is among the most vocal critics of the war, issued a statement Tuesday applauding the president for ratcheting up pressure on the Sudanese government to stop the killing in that country's Darfur region. Now, she's acknowledging Bush for asking Congress for another $30 billion to fund his AIDS relief program in Africa.
Lee, however, punctuates her praise with sharp objections to a requirement in the initial request that 33 percent of the funds for international AIDS relief go to programs that promote abstinence until marriage. But hey, it's not every day that these two see eye to eye on anything.
It seems like the president is once again reaching out to congressional Democrats through a shared concern for Africa.
#1
Lee, however, punctuates her praise with sharp objections to a requirement in the initial request that 33 percent of the funds for international AIDS relief go to programs that promote abstinence until marriage.
$10 billion is a bit high, even for a pro-lifer like me who sees the connection between premaritial sex and the pressure to abort babies. However, the logic is obvious: AIDS is an STD playing a game of "tag" in which players become "it" permanently. Abstinence before marriage means you never join the game, and so don't have a chance of being "it". Faithfulness on the part of both partner within marriage effectively isolates two players in a private game that neither can be "it" if both were not "it" to start with.
I remember reading of the indignation of a West Coast Gay who complained that he was in a "faithful partnership" and still got AIDS because "he and his partner went out 'on the town' separately only on Wednesdays!". To keep their partnership "fresh", mind you.
It seems like the president is once again reaching out to congressional Democrats through a shared concern for Africa.
Bullshit. He's doing the right thing, and they're just tagging along, taking credit for his work, just as Clinton did with Welfare and the Improved economy he inherited from Bush I.
#2
Bush is reaching out with our tax dollars, and for what ? Some legacy bullshit ? Maybe the darkies are gunna start voting republican, eh ?
When pigs fly.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/01/2007 17:34 Comments ||
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#6
He's saying it the weobf way, but he's got an opinion that is valid. He thinks its a way of buying the black vote.
Everyone with a fully functioning brain knows that it will never work, but we are talking about politicians, so brains doesn't really apply here.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
06/01/2007 22:50 Comments ||
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#7
You've got to be careful at Rantburg expressing thoughts like that, my dear Mr. Grusosh Borgia9229. A good many of the regulars are one of the other shades of the rainbow, and an intersecting set are current or former military... or other professions wiser not to annoy. Clever people modify their language accordingly.
Mike N., like the Jews the percentage of Blacks who think of themselves as Conservative and vote Republican has been growing steadily over the past decade. It's not just one Supreme Court Justice, an economics professor, and the Secretary of State anymore. I'm quite certain President Bush is aware of that.
I read this as the execution of another of Bush's pre-emptive moves -- like invading Iraq -- to keep the problem over there and small, rather than growing and invading our shores.
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.
(SomaliNet) In reaction to a drastic drop in the number of staff turning up for work, authorities have shut down key units at the four largest hospitals and health delivery services at Zimbabwe's main referral hospitals have virtually collapsed. 
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia appears to be in a quandary whether to give in to the growing pressure for reforms both from within and outside her party or to quit politics. She has been in virtual isolation as most of the senior leaders have opted to keep away from her during the present crisis situation. 
Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina yesterday directed the party leaders to provide necessary legal support to the party leaders and workers who have been arrested. She also urged them to stand beside the party activists, so that the activists do not get panicked in the prevailing political situation.
A top opponent of President Hugo Chavez demanded the release of jailed protesters Wednesday as university students poured into the streets for a third day to protest the removal of a leading opposition TV station from the air. Former presidential candidate Manuel Rosales said protests over the government's move to halt the broadcasts of Radio Caracas Television show that "freedom cannot be negotiated nor bargained."
President Nicolas Sarkozy, ever-present, hyperactive, and riding high in the polls, appears to be heading for an overwhelming victory in the French parliamentary elections this month. According to the most recent poll, M. Sarkozy's centre-right party and its centrist allies could take as many as 430 of the 577 seats in the national assembly in the two-round election on 10 and 17 June.
