Hi there, !
Today Tue 12/04/2007 Mon 12/03/2007 Sun 12/02/2007 Sat 12/01/2007 Fri 11/30/2007 Thu 11/29/2007 Wed 11/28/2007 Archives
Rantburg
533705 articles and 1862021 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 56 articles and 308 comments as of 11:21.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Operations    WoT Background    Opinion    Local News       
Binny: Euroleaders 'like living under shadow of White House'
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 3: Non-WoT
9 00:00 Jusing Barnsmell1761 [6] 
14 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [5] 
6 00:00 DepotGuy [4] 
10 00:00 lotp [4] 
25 00:00 SteveS [6] 
9 00:00 lotp [5] 
4 00:00 wxjames [4] 
6 00:00 Mike Kozlowski [3] 
4 00:00 Alaska Paul [4] 
6 00:00 Abu do you love [7] 
15 00:00 DMFD [3] 
2 00:00 tu3031 [4] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
9 00:00 DMFD [5]
1 00:00 rjschwarz [3]
5 00:00 Verlaine [5]
5 00:00 Redneck Jim [3]
6 00:00 Zenster [10]
2 00:00 Penguin [4]
3 00:00 Besoeker [7]
0 [4]
17 00:00 Red Dawg [7]
1 00:00 g(r)omgoru [5]
12 00:00 no mo uro [13]
0 [4]
0 [7]
1 00:00 gorb [5]
0 [7]
0 [3]
Page 2: WoT Background
3 00:00 Darrell [5]
3 00:00 Glenmore [5]
15 00:00 Abu do you love [8]
6 00:00 Darrell [4]
9 00:00 Red Dawg [4]
15 00:00 Zenster [5]
0 [5]
3 00:00 Old Patriot [5]
0 [5]
4 00:00 bigjim-ky [4]
2 00:00 Anguper Hupomosing9418 [11]
3 00:00 Daffy Glaing1756 [6]
17 00:00 Dave D. [4]
1 00:00 Anguper Hupomosing9418 [4]
1 00:00 Mike Kozlowski [7]
1 00:00 Redneck Jim [8]
1 00:00 g(r)omgoru [3]
3 00:00 Verlaine [4]
1 00:00 Abu do you love [14]
0 [7]
0 [8]
Page 4: Opinion
1 00:00 Procopius2k [4]
0 [5]
7 00:00 Frank G [9]
12 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [7]
3 00:00 AlanC [5]
15 00:00 Tony (UK) [5]
Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
10 00:00 Pappy [8]
-Short Attention Span Theater-
Hulk to Linda -- Pay Your Own, Woman!
Hulk Hogan wants to put a headlock on his own assets -- and doesn't want estranged wife Linda sponging off him. Back off brother!

The Hulkster filed a petition yesterday in the couple's divorce battle, reports Florida's Herald-Tribune, in which he says that Linda can support herself -- and should help support their minor son, 17-year-old Nick. What's more, he thinks that Nick can decide for himself which parent he wants to live with, but Linda has requested that Nick's primary residence be hers.

Nick's primary residence could end up being somewhere else altogether -- he's facing charges of reckless driving after the Aug. 26 crash that left his friend, John Graziano, in a vegetative state.
Posted by: Fred || 12/01/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I have read the local reports; little Hulk is going to the can for a couple of years. Mama Hulk was seen on video, promoting street racing. And Daughter Hulk couldn't sing to save her life.
Posted by: McZoid || 12/01/2007 3:00 Comments || Top||

#2  This news gives entirely unexpected dignity to the term "Trailer Trash".
Posted by: Zenster || 12/01/2007 3:06 Comments || Top||

#3  he says that Linda can support herself -- and should help support their minor son,

Whistle!
Reversal!
Points to Hulk
Posted by: Thomas Woof || 12/01/2007 5:31 Comments || Top||

#4  he says that Linda can support herself -- and should help support their minor son, 17-year-old Nick.

You know that it only takes 'one' parent to sign the contract to allow a 17 year old to enlist, and therefore, support himself. Of course, that 17 year old had better be bright and in condition to compete against others to pass the entrance requirements.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/01/2007 8:10 Comments || Top||

#5  I'm reminded of the gag that, "The next time I think I want to get married, I'll save time. I'll find somebody I hate, and buy them a house."
Posted by: Anonymoose || 12/01/2007 8:38 Comments || Top||

#6  ...My ex finally moved from our former home today - nearly six months after the divorce decree directed her to and apparently she just about had to be pried out of the place, screaming about how unfair it was. The unfair part seems to refer to the fact that in the three years I was paying all her bills, she didn't save a single dime.

You'll understand if I don't feel in the slightest bit bad for Mrs. Hogan.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 12/01/2007 16:34 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
President Wade says world is misled on Zimbabwe crisis
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is solidly in power and the world is misled on the crisis prevailing in the country, President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal has said after a two-day visit to Harare. "We are misled on (the situation in) Zimbabwe," he said on state television Thursday night on his return from Zimbabwe.
"What're y'gonna believe? Me? Or your lying eyes?"
He was there as part of efforts to mend broken ties between the southern African country and its former colonial ruler Britain.
Senegal used to belong to La Belle France...
Zimbabwe was doing well and led by Mugabe with the support of the rural population, Waded was quoted as saying, even if the country was going through "difficulties, like us (in Senegal), perhaps more. There is no threat to Mugabe's power right now, and those who believe that he will be deposed one moment or another, are mistaken. They are totally mistaken."
I thought the problem was that he hadn't been deposed, and that there aren't any prospects of deposing him. But maybe that's just me.
Mugabe, 83, in power for the past 27 years, and the only independent leader the country has known, accuses the Britain of trying to effect a regime change in the country, which is now in its eighth year of recession. Critics have accused Mugabe of stifling basic freedoms and political opposition and blamed his policies for Zimbabwe's economic meltdown.
He's kinda the textbook case for the evil pseudo-Marxist kleptocrat.
Zimbabwe's economy has shrunk by a third, inflation is running at around 8,000 percent -- the world's highest -- and at least 80 percent of the population lives below the poverty threshold.
The same percentage is in fact reported to be unemployed.
But Mugabe has blamed the country's economic woes on drought and the imposition of targeted sanctions by Western nations on himself and members of his inner circle.
If the sanctions are targeted at the ruling circle's personal fortunes, why's the rest of the country imploding? That doesn't make any sense.
Wade joined the chorus of southern African leaders calling for an array of targetted sanctions imposed by the West on Mugabe and his inner circle to be lifted.
"They've suffered enough!"
The sanctions, which include a travel ban and the freezing of bank accounts, were imposed following allegations that he rigged his re-election in 2002. Britain, the prime instigator of the sanctions, has made it clear that it did not want Mugabe to attend the European Union-Africa summit due next week in Portugal. Since Mugabe has said he will be there, no senior British government minister will attend the summit.
Posted by: Fred || 12/01/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I wonder where President Wade went to dinner.
Posted by: gorb || 12/01/2007 3:28 Comments || Top||

#2  This message brought to you by the Black African Dictator Protective Society...
Posted by: tu3031 || 12/01/2007 10:05 Comments || Top||

#3  I wonder where President Wade went to dinner.

The Idi Amin Bistro and Quick Take Out Bar*?

*It's people. Soylent Green is made out of people. They're making our food out of people.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/01/2007 11:58 Comments || Top||

#4  And don't forget, it was Zim Bob that brought the ingenious system of scientific notation to the country's currency.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 12/01/2007 13:26 Comments || Top||

#5  Snark o' the day!
Posted by: lotp || 12/01/2007 19:58 Comments || Top||

#6 
Black African Dictator Protective Society


Would that be the BAD-PoS?
Posted by: Abu do you love || 12/01/2007 22:56 Comments || Top||


Zimbabwe: Minister Presents Zim$7,8 Quadrillion Budget
Posted by: Fred || 12/01/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Iff I remember correctly, LUCIANNE > CHINA may need only US$27.0 Bilyuhn, NOT QUADRILYUHN, to clean its environment.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 12/01/2007 0:08 Comments || Top||

#2  Last I heard, Bob was going to issue a decree establishing "gazillion" as an actual numerical unit...
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) || 12/01/2007 0:33 Comments || Top||

#3  Last I heard, Bob was going to issue a decree establishing "gazillion" as an actual numerical unit...

Bah! It's a "bazillion" and I'll bet one thousand Zimbabwe dollars on it!!!
Posted by: Zenster || 12/01/2007 2:49 Comments || Top||

#4  1 khabluhien dollars! (pinky to mouth)

Seriously, trying to figure out a curve on this chart is making my head spin backways. I can't seem to figure out what factor to take the 'over time'.

Maybe with enough zeros behind the 1, and if you stare at the bill long enough, you see a sailboat 18oz Prime Rib in 3D.

-Serious note (which does not depreciate in the terms of milliseconds bu dump ching) I am watching the chinese; they seem to have a fixation on east coast africa.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 12/01/2007 3:07 Comments || Top||

#5  They're going to have to start a new metric for inflation - the mean time between having to chop three zeros off the currency!
Posted by: gorb || 12/01/2007 3:32 Comments || Top||

#6  Analysts said the budget was devoid of any policies that will solve the fundamental problems of foreign currency shortages, inflation and slumped production levels.

Oh, so you wanna get picky...
Posted by: tu3031 || 12/01/2007 10:09 Comments || Top||

#7  Only Bob could devalue the zero.
Posted by: Grunter || 12/01/2007 10:32 Comments || Top||

#8  Soon they will have to pay people to haul ZimBobs to the dump.
Posted by: ed || 12/01/2007 10:37 Comments || Top||

#9  Only Bob could devalue the zero

Grunter, give the Donks half a chance. O'Bob and thems have shown about equal skill in understanding basic economics.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/01/2007 12:01 Comments || Top||

#10  And the Democrats are slack jawed with envy.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 12/01/2007 12:47 Comments || Top||

#11  I don't think the economic impact of Bob's policies are equally distributed. I think Congress should commission a study of the consequences of the situation in Zimbabwe with respect to coin collectors, stamp collectors and toilet paper manufacturers.
Posted by: Super Hose || 12/01/2007 13:19 Comments || Top||

#12  Zim Bob's currency can be easily explained using semi-log graph paper. Then inflation is a straight line.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 12/01/2007 13:28 Comments || Top||

#13  I'm reminded of the old story of post-war germany, where a man hauled a wheelbarow of cash to the grocery, went in to check prices, and someone dumped his cash on the street, then stole his wheelbarrow.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 12/01/2007 14:27 Comments || Top||

#14  I think Congress should commission a study of the consequences of the situation in Zimbabwe with respect to coin collectors, stamp collectors and toilet paper manufacturers.

Except for coins, there's not much difference between Zimbob stamps and toilet paper these days - they're both worth about the same. This stamp collector found the solution by not collecting shiny pieces of paper (can't really call them "stamps", which are supposed to prepay postage") from Zimbobland issued after Dec 31, 1990.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 12/01/2007 14:27 Comments || Top||

#15  7.8 quadrillion Zimbabwe dollars - that works out to about a buck and a half.
Posted by: DMFD || 12/01/2007 15:47 Comments || Top||


Britain
Benazir to star with Al Gore
Former US vice president Al Gore and former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto will join Hollywood stars for a summit to tackle climate change, global poverty and healthcare issues today, Press Association National Newswire reported.

The second annual Fortune Forum Summit will take place at LondonÂ’s Royal Courts of Justice. Nobel Peace Prize winner Gore will be the keynote speaker.

Campaigning musicians Sir Bob Geldof and Damien Rice will attend, as well as Daryl Hannah, Jerry Hall, Bianca Jagger, Gillian Anderson, Lily Cole, Joseph Fiennes, Christian Slater and Sir David Frost and “surprise” guests.
Boy, you don't usually find that many PhDs packed into one place, do you?
Not since JFK dined alone. Er, or something like that.
All those world-class brains wasted singing songs ...
Posted by: Fred || 12/01/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Posted by: doc || 12/01/2007 9:23 Comments || Top||

#2  I'll bet Bianca Jagger is sooooo grateful to Al Gore for creating this new gravy train for her to latch onto...
Posted by: tu3031 || 12/01/2007 10:16 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Chavez threatens to stop oil exports to U.S. if referendum violence
(Xinhua) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Friday he will stop oil exports to the United States, close television channels and expel journalists if the December 2 referendum victory he expects is disclaimed and violence starts in this country. "I swear to God and to my mother we are not going to allow it," Chavez said in his campaign speech in favor of "yes" to the constitutional reforms he promotes and pronounced before thousands of his followers meeting at the ample Bolivar avenue in downtown Caracas, Venezuela's capital city.

Chavez repeated his accusation made in past days about "imperialist plans and their creole oligarchy servants," including the U.S.'s Central Intelligence Service, which were planning to create violence against Venezuela with what he called "Pincers Operation."
Posted by: Fred || 12/01/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Bloomberg
So far, Chavez doesn't have the ability to abruptly suspend sales to the U.S. without damaging his own economy. Petroleos de Venezuela would be unable to find buyers for most of the 2.1 million barrels of crude oil it exports today, said Juan Carlos Sosa, president of Grupo Petroleo YV, a Caracas-based energy consultant. Potential customers, including China, don't have sufficient capacity to process the most common Venezuelan crude oil grades, he said.

Heavy Crude

``Chinese refineries can't process Venezuelan crude, which is heavy in metals and sulfur,'' said Sosa. ``Chinese refineries are still geared toward lighter crudes,'' such as those produced by Nigeria, the sixth-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Building the refinery units needed to handle cheaper, stickier, high-sulfur crude oil from Venezuela will take years, Sosa said. In the U.S. some refineries have been upgraded specifically to handle Venezuela's output.


It is interesting and depressing to note that Venezuela, Canada, and Mexico are three of our four top sources of foreign oil.
Posted by: RWV || 12/01/2007 0:40 Comments || Top||

#2  He knows nothing about economics or history. Oil is fungable. If he doesn't sell to the US someone else in the world will. From our point of view there will be no change. From his point of view there will be no change except the Europeans or whomever buys his oil might pay him less. This is more or less what happened when Opec tried to stop exports to certain countries in the 70s.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 12/01/2007 1:41 Comments || Top||

#3  ``Chinese refineries can't process Venezuelan crude, which is heavy in metals and sulfur,'' said Sosa. ``Chinese refineries are still geared toward lighter crudes,'' such as those produced by Nigeria, the sixth-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
via Sudan is what makes my brow crinkle.

Chavez Is A Thief, and that is as far as his thinking goes. Adjust accordingly.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 12/01/2007 2:50 Comments || Top||

#4  Oil is fungable
More to the point... oil products are fungeable, heavy oil less so.

'ugo relying on CNE now. No! Is leading by 10 points but turnout is everything. Have heart an d vote if you read this and think of abstaining.

No! Must win by 5-10 points or CNE will massage the results.

Posted by: Thomas Woof || 12/01/2007 5:37 Comments || Top||

#5  Meh, go ahead, crackpot. It will hurt you a hell of a lot more than it hurts us. We will be inconvenienced, you will be finished.
Posted by: DarthVader || 12/01/2007 7:41 Comments || Top||

#6  Hey Chavez, stop this!

Heh. This has to put a cold shiver down the spine of every oil tryant around the world. Might be a good time to invest in sand packing plants.
Posted by: Whomong Guelph4611 || 12/01/2007 10:38 Comments || Top||

#7  Sand packing plants?

I believe Venezuela's share of the American market has fallen as their production has fallen. What is their share of our market now?
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/01/2007 10:56 Comments || Top||

#8  Brazil just discovered oil off shore. It is amazing how when one moron takes over an oil country, an allie finds oil to offset it.
Posted by: Pliny Pheath1680 || 12/01/2007 13:28 Comments || Top||

#9  What is their share of our market now?

From this industry chart, about 12%, slightly lower than last year.
Posted by: lotp || 12/01/2007 20:06 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Putin's party heads for landslide as campaign ends
Campaigning for Russia's parliamentary election ended on Friday with President Vladimir Putin's party on course for a landslide victory and opposition groups voicing fears of widespread ballot-rigging.

Putin is leading the United Russia party into Sunday's vote and will use the big majority it is expected to win to cement his grip on power even after he steps down from the presidency at the end of his second term next year. Most Russian voters credit Putin with restoring stability and economic growth after the chaos of the 1990s. Opinion polls indicate his party will pick up about 60 percent of the vote on Sunday, with its nearest rivals trailing far behind.
Posted by: Fred || 12/01/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  See Hugo, you don't have to gun up the students to do this. Just good old fashion KGB methodologies that have proven successful for decades. That's why you don't get respect. You're a country bumpkin making an ass out himself. You don't have that cold professional business like projection of o'Puty here. You won't see the King of Spain telling Puty to shut up. And for good reason.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/01/2007 8:15 Comments || Top||

#2  Why the hell did the ruskies go through all the bullshit and hardship of overthrowing their government if that is what they really wanted anyway?

I don't get it, sometimes I simply don't "get it".
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 12/01/2007 12:42 Comments || Top||

#3  they're gonna be soooo surprised when they sober up....
Posted by: Frank G on the road || 12/01/2007 13:28 Comments || Top||

#4  Won by a mudslide.
/Firesign Theater
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 12/01/2007 16:57 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
Chicom's covert space war projects include US GPS sats
From East Asia Intel, subscription.
The annual report of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, released last week, disclosed new details of ChinaÂ’s anti-satellite and space warfare capabilities.

The report said that China also is developing civilian technology that can be applied to military space programs and is acquiring the “ability to destroy or temporarily incapacitate every enemy space vehicle when it is located above China,” the report said.
Of course you know, this means war....
The Chinese also plan to attack U.S. global positioning system (GPS) satellites through various means, including anti-satellite weapons, high-energy weapons, high-energy weather monitoring rockets and ground attacks on earth-based stations.

One section of the report, based on public and classified briefings, concluded there was a need for more information about Chinese activities and intentions.

Research from nearly 100 Chinese sources identified 30 proposals and recommendations by Chinese military leaders “regarding the development of space and counter-space weapons and programs.”

They included the goals of ensuring that Chinese space weapons are “conducted covertly so China can maintain a positive international image.” China has called for a ban on space weapons at the United Nations.
Watch the hands and not the mouth. Just like street fighting.
The military is also developing stealth satellites and a space program that will “provide key support for Chinese combat forces.”

“Some of these proposals appear to have been implemented already, as evidenced by January’s kinetic anti-satellite test and earlier laser incidents involving American satellites,” the report said.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 12/01/2007 13:56 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Ruskies tried this sh$$ too, and we did some things to counter their threat. We can do the same to China if they get too beligerant. This is one reason we HAVE to go back to the moon. If the Chinese get there, they will claim the moon as Chinese territory, and the rest of the world will more or less be at their mercy - for a short while, and possibly at heavy cost.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 12/01/2007 14:34 Comments || Top||

#2  You mean the Chinese haven't already claimed the moon?
Posted by: john frum || 12/01/2007 15:08 Comments || Top||

#3  Yeah I thought Zhang He explored the moon an even made a map to claim it for China.
Posted by: darrylq || 12/01/2007 17:06 Comments || Top||

#4  China needs to be put on notice that any damage by them to our satellite fleet is automatic grounds for nuclear retaliation. In many respects our over-reliance upon satellite-based imaging and remote sensing has increased the possibility of a nuclear exchange.

Imagine if suddenly our entire network of satellites went down. The loss of stare-down mosaic CCDs that detect silo launch blast rings and other indications of a first strike would push us into a "use-or-lose" position. China disabling our overhead detection capabilities could easily be interpreted as their opening salvo of a first strike against CONUS. We need to make this crystal clear to Beijing and let them know that China would cease to exist within hours of such a move.

With respect to the moon, America should have had a functioning lunar base decades ago. As Heinlein noted, we currently have all of our eggs in one very fragile blue-green basket. The human race needs to get its genetic material out of this gravity well in case of a catastrophic asteroid strike.
Posted by: Zenster || 12/01/2007 17:15 Comments || Top||

#5  Every piece of crap you buy at WalMart this Christmas indirectly goes to fund the destruction fo the US.
Posted by: anymouse || 12/01/2007 17:36 Comments || Top||

#6  Actually, anymouse, about 62% of crap. One has to be picky.
Posted by: Spike Uniter || 12/01/2007 18:11 Comments || Top||

#7  Buying anything at Wal-Mart still helps support a corporate engine whose Chinese purchases represent a solid 10% of our over $12,000,000,000 trade imbalance with communist China. I refuse to shop at Wal-Mart as a matter of sheer principal. I may not be able to avoid purchasing any Chinese goods but I sure as Hell will not abet one of the most active supporters of our communist enemy.
Posted by: Zenster || 12/01/2007 18:26 Comments || Top||

#8  I buy all my food there, since it saves me $60 a week and I can't afford not too. But we don't buy anything else from there.
Posted by: DarthVader || 12/01/2007 18:37 Comments || Top||

#9  I buy all my food there, since it saves me $60 a week and I can't afford not too. But we don't buy anything else from there.

Depending on what part of the country you're in, there are other alternatives to affordable food besides Wal*Mart. Just look around. Food for Less, Costco...etc. I have completely stopped shopping at WalMart.

It requires some research and an effort to remove WalMart from your life, but it can be done.
Posted by: Jusing Barnsmell1761 || 12/01/2007 20:48 Comments || Top||


Europe
Amsterdam to Study Gay Bashers
With the number of homophobic attacks rising in the Dutch metropolis, Amsterdam officials are commissioning a study to determine why Moroccan men are targeting the city's gays.
Quick: To the Studymobile!
This month, Mayor Job Cohen commissioned the University of Amsterdam to conduct a study on the motives behind the hate crimes. Half of the crimes were committed by men of Moroccan origin and researchers believe they felt stigmatized by society and responded by attacking people they felt were lower on the social ladder. Another working theory is that the attackers may be struggling with their own sexual identity.
It is difficult to imagine what common factor might encourage Moroccan men to attack people weaker than themselves or who hold a different worldview. Let alone what in a Moroccan man's upbringing might leave him feeling uncertain of his own sexual identity. Perhaps a quick spin in the Study Vats will reveal the mysterious common factor.
Posted by: Excalibur || 12/01/2007 01:06 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ...felt stigmatized by society and responded by attacking people they felt were lower on the social ladder.

I should have added: Which would also explain why gay men are known for targeting sociologists.
Posted by: Vortigern Slereting6052 || 12/01/2007 7:37 Comments || Top||

#2  That last was me. Darned browser history purge...
Posted by: Excalibur || 12/01/2007 7:38 Comments || Top||

#3  Amsterdam officials are commissioning a study to determine why Moroccan men are targeting the city's gays.

Cause they dress better?
Cause they can afford to dress better?
Cause the girls give them more attention?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/01/2007 7:52 Comments || Top||

#4  Because they are muslim, and the koran terror manual tells them to.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 12/01/2007 8:56 Comments || Top||

#5  And while they are at it, maybe they can also study why they rape women.
Posted by: Whomong Guelph4611 || 12/01/2007 10:02 Comments || Top||

#6  "...researchers believe they felt stigmatized by society..."

Ahhh yess...the "Cultural Timebomb" theory. The same ole multi-culti crappola again. You know...it's not their fault...it's the host "society".
Posted by: DepotGuy || 12/01/2007 12:02 Comments || Top||


EU clinches unanimous Galileo deal
BRUSSELS - European Union nations reached unanimous agreement on Friday on the future of the Galileo satellite navigation project, after allaying concerns from Spain. Galileo is a long-delayed European project to build a satellite network to challenge the dominance of the US-built Global Positioning System (GOS), which is widely used in satellite navigation devices.

“The presidency announces that it was possible to have the agreement of all the delegations, without exception, on Galileo,” said Portuguese Transport Minister Mario Lino, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency. “We have always thought that it was best to be united on a project that is so important for Europe,” he said.

In a move overnight that deeply angered Spain, Portugal changed the voting system to reach a deal on the flagship project, allowing a qualified majority vote, rather than the unanimous decision that is usually required.

Under the deal sealed late Thursday, Spain would play host to a ”Safety of Life” ground centre dedicated to civil protection, in particular in the area of maritime, air and rail security. But it had demanded that, like Germany and Italy, it be allowed to host a control centre for the future 30-satellite scheme aimed at showcasing Europe’s hi-tech know-how and due to come into operation in 2013.

Under the compromise reached Friday, its “Safety of Life” centre would “be qualified” as a control centre by 2013, allowing Madrid to supervise operation of the satellites and their transmissions to Earth. “The Spanish centre, once it is up and running from a technical point of view, would act as a control centre along with the others” in Germany and Italy, EU Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot explained.
Just dividing the boodle, it seems. Why Galileo is so important to the Euros as anything other than a high-tech, expensive make-work project isn't clear.
The controversy is just the latest in a series that has dogged the system. Work on Galileo, a project already running five years behind the initial schedule, stalled this year as cost over-runs piled up, private contractors bickered and member states lobbied for their own industrial interests. As the original public-private partnership involving a consortium of eight European companies fell apart, the European Commission recommended that the project should be relaunched using public money entirely.

Meanwhile the US military is already working on super-powerful updates to its GPS technology to try to trump Galileo before it even gets up in the air, according to military experts there.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/01/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Total waste of money. 2 other systems currently exist with China and maybe India doing 3rds and 4ths.
so 5 systems doing the same thing?
Posted by: 3dc || 12/01/2007 0:46 Comments || Top||

#2  A desperate attempt to feel relevant.

"But we don't want to be dependent upon the Americans for our GPS"

Ok, then why is it all right to be dependent upon the muzzies for your basic energy supplies? Cause you're the ones buying the crude.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/01/2007 7:49 Comments || Top||

#3  The EU, will never be a United States...and I am not sure how long we will the United States either.
Posted by: Enver Uloper1117 || 12/01/2007 8:03 Comments || Top||

#4  Why Galileo is so important to the Euros as anything other than a high-tech, expensive make-work project isn't clear.

If your ambition is to rival the USA, by eventually having that "heartland" Great Power (enlarged EUrabia with turkey, russia, north africa, possibly Israel), with ties to china, then it is logical to have your own GPS system, should you ever need it in anger.

I'm not saying the EU will ever be that "empire", it's just I really think it's the ultimate goal. Some kind of transnational, bureaucratic, constructivist hubris, not much unlike the late USSR, just more PC and festive.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 12/01/2007 9:47 Comments || Top||

#5  World-Island

Also, the idea of a Paris-Berlin-Moscow axis as seen during the prelude to OIF, or the russian eurasists, who have ideological counterparts in western Europe, with the idea of an alliance of continental cultures closer to each others than to the materialistical, imperialistical anglo-saxons.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 12/01/2007 9:53 Comments || Top||

#6  The article doesn't mention that the funding was provided by transferring funds from agricultural budgetr to Galileo.

Hint: One of the keys of democarcy is Parlamentary control over spending: ie governmentr is not free to spend money as it wants but has to spend the mùon,ey on what it was voted with only minor powers of reassigning funding, not without a vote.

EU democrcay at work.
Posted by: JFM || 12/01/2007 10:17 Comments || Top||

#7  It's about GPS weaponry. All European GPS weapons rely on the goodwill of the US to operate. Therefore they are not exportable to nations not in good standing with the US. This way the French get the other EU nations to pay for 90% or so of the Galileo system (probably $15B for a full constellation) and rake in 100% of any Galileo weapons sales.
Posted by: ed || 12/01/2007 10:30 Comments || Top||

#8  Can you say 'Iridium'?
Posted by: Pappy || 12/01/2007 12:29 Comments || Top||

#9  Yes, Pappy. We believe that the dinosaurs died off after an iridium-laden meteor or comet hit the Earth. Perhaps we'll know Europe has died out in the same way.

(Don't tell me; I know.)
Posted by: Eric Jablow || 12/01/2007 13:11 Comments || Top||

#10  ed nails it. Also, when Galileo was proposed originally, the French and Germans planned to sell it to China as well.
Posted by: lotp || 12/01/2007 20:28 Comments || Top||


MI5 to UK companies: your systems are under attack from China
The Government has openly accused China of carrying out state-sponsored espionage against vital parts of BritainÂ’s economy, including the computer systems of big banks and financial services firms.

In an unprecedented alert, the Director-General of MI5 sent a confidential letter to 300 chief executives and security chiefs at banks, accountants and legal firms this week warning them that they were under attack from “Chinese state organisations”. It is believed to be the first time that the Government has directly accused China of involvement in web-based espionage. Such a blunt and explicit warning from Jonathan Evans could have serious diplomatic consequences and cast a shadow over Gordon Brown’s first official visit to China as Prime Minister early in the new year.

A summary of the MI5 warning, a copy of which has been seen by The Times, was posted on a secure government website. It says that Mr Evans wrote to business leaders “warning them of the electronic espionage attack”.

The summary, on the website of the Centre for the Protection of the National Infrastructure, says: “The contents of the letter highlight the following: the Director-General’s concerns about the possible damage to UK business resulting from electronic attack sponsored by Chinese state organisations, and the fact that the attacks are designed to defeat best-practice IT security systems.”

It adds: “The letter acknowledges the strong economic and commercial reasons to do business with China, but the need to ensure management of the risks involved.”

Access to the site is limited to groups that form part of the countryÂ’s critical infrastructure, which include telecoms firms, banks and water and electricity companies.
more at the link
Posted by: lotp || 12/01/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Of course. The Chinese Information Warfare Campaign should be noted, in every single instance. Their IW divisions are already known, as is their "cover". Of course, they are under surveillance.

The Chinese can not run, and they can not hide. The same may be mentioned with respect to the "Russian hacker group" that supposedly "disappeared" a few days ago, when they went to China. They, also, are under constant surveillance. Too bad for the Ruskies. Wrong side of the fight.
Posted by: OperationWalkabout || 12/01/2007 0:37 Comments || Top||

#2  So are Lenovo computers built with permanent Chinese back doors? (Actually, a semi-serious question - I need a laptop and as an IBM shareholder I can get a rather good deal on a Lenovo.)
Posted by: Glenmore || 12/01/2007 7:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Maxtor (sp?) hard drives and Lenovo computers are both suspect! The chinese info war is the single biggest threat to the DoD and academic environments, as well as SCADA systems and most importantly, the Federal reserve monetary exchange system. Anybody else notice the Chinese aren't even trying very hard to conceal their warlike intentions? Their sussesses and wealth breed arrogance as they move to confront the US across the spectrum of international and economic relations. After th AQ and radical Islam, they are the next strategic threat, and we only have about 5-7 yrs to get ready for the confrontation. The warning point is the level of US currency reserves they hold.
Posted by: No More BS || 12/01/2007 11:41 Comments || Top||

#4  This is alarming, an act of war and little responce ! Since China is in full control of what enters and leaves China, then they are in fact guilty of this warlike provocation. It supports my theory that the Chinese have dilibertly added lead to the paint on exports to America, especially kids toys, and dilibertly added opoison to pet foods. The pattern has been established, and now we should do what we can to destroy their economy.
This is yet another test to determine how many or few balls are left in the west. Don't talk, act, and act fast. When their exports plunge, then they will want to talk.
Posted by: wxjames || 12/01/2007 12:13 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Erin Burnett refers to GWB as "the Monkey in the Middle"
Click the link!

The monkey says that Erin must be . . . spanked. Repeatedly. :-P
Posted by: gorb || 12/01/2007 06:04 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  My comments can not be printed in sucha fine journal as Rantburg. Suffice to say any spanking of said talking head should be performed with a splinter-encrusted twobyfour (the lumber, not the Poster!)
Posted by: Bobby || 12/01/2007 7:04 Comments || Top||

#2  She's looking a little fat. Maybe she's pregnant and having hormone issues.
Posted by: Whomong Guelph4611 || 12/01/2007 9:47 Comments || Top||

#3  She was jet-lagging, by the sound of the comments from her colleagues. Still, there are plenty of pretty faces looking to get on that camera -- what odds hers gets moved to where her tactlessness is less damaging?
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/01/2007 10:47 Comments || Top||

#4  Think she's a lib?

Erin's pretty, vivacious, and very sharp, unlike most money honeys. She's upstaged Maria pretty thoroughly.

Bet she doesn't do this again, even though it's clear from her rejoinders that she meant it. She'd be well served by skipping the politics.
Posted by: KBK || 12/01/2007 10:55 Comments || Top||

#5  Erin's pretty, vivacious, and very sharp, unlike most money honeys.

Nowadays there are plenty more who encompass all that, where she came from. She's clearly not nearly as quick on the uptake as those who hired her thought.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/01/2007 11:09 Comments || Top||

#6  If I knew who she was, this'd probably bother me...
Posted by: tu3031 || 12/01/2007 11:24 Comments || Top||

#7  She's just turned off half her audience. And this is a small, specialized audience. Dumb, dumb, dumb ...
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 12/01/2007 12:17 Comments || Top||

#8  I have CNBC on all the time so I have listened to Erin Burnett on many occasions. I have always thought she is more conservative than liberal. At least where economics is concerned. I've watched her defend Bush's tax cuts and question liberal Democrat politicians in a way they're not accustomed to. Even Limbaugh has cited her a few times. So I think this monkey thing was just a little childish kidding around. She called Angela Merkel a "monkey in the middle" too. Not a very funny way to joke.
Posted by: Intrinsicpilot || 12/01/2007 13:23 Comments || Top||

#9  here's her lame apology: "attempt at humor"

not accepted -
consider yourself "outed", beeyotch
Posted by: Frank G on the road || 12/01/2007 13:26 Comments || Top||

#10  Newscasters should not attempt humor. They should leave that to opinion people. She will forever be tainted as biased.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 12/01/2007 13:42 Comments || Top||

#11  I hope when she's 55 or 60 and time + gravity have taken their toll she'll still remember her ignorant little comment.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/01/2007 14:01 Comments || Top||

#12  Frank Erin Burnett has an opinion on citi-group also!
/~:0
Posted by: Red Dawg || 12/01/2007 23:21 Comments || Top||

#13  Stupid Freudian slip? Or is she just dim-humored moonbat with poor enunciation? You decide. To me, she's a perfect fit for MSNBC/CNBC
Posted by: Frank G || 12/01/2007 23:35 Comments || Top||

#14  Who?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 12/01/2007 23:40 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Weak box office for 'Lions' gives United Artists bumpy ride
The weak box office performance of "Lions for Lambs" marks a rough start for Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner's United Artists, with the film looking likely to gross no more than $60 million worldwide. The pic, which boasted the marquee trio of Cruise, Redford (who also directed) and Meryl Streep, isn't expected to hit the $20 million mark in the U.S. MGM distributed Stateside, and 20th Century Fox Intl. has it overseas.

Removing some of the sting is the fact that the film cost only $35 million to produce.

While it's true that start-up studios and production companies aren't made or broken by their first film, UA is far more high-profile than most ventures, meaning its every move will be scrutinized. "Lions" is the label's first release since being revived a year ago by Cruise and Wagner following their departure from the Paramount lot. But there's no denying that with that kind of star power, "Lions" was still expected to do far better at the box office, both here and overseas, where Cruise has enjoyed blockbuster status.

"Lions," which heads into its fourth frame this weekend, grossed $14 million through Tuesday at the domestic box office, according to Rentrak. Overseas, the film grossed $27 million through Wednesday. The final overseas haul should come in between $35 million and $40 million. Film has only two major foreign territories left in which to open: Japan and Italy.

UA doesn't try to hide its disappointment at the film's failure to grab the attention of auds, saying it was one in a string of dramas about the Middle East and the war on terror that didn't work this fall. At the same time, studio says no one is panicking, including its investors.

Some say "Lions" could lose as much as $25 million, although UA and parent company MGM won't comment on any figures. They said that "Lions" could even be profitable once it gets into its home entertainment and television runs.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/01/2007 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The movie is horrible. Redford has the gall to think that he can define present day America from his base in pot-polluted Aspen. He juggles together an interview between a liberal reporter and a hardline GWOT senator, front line soldiers whose experience is supposed to illustrate the futility of intervention in Afghanistan, and himself as a guidance counselor to a youth who seems to have lost his social engineering zeal. There you go; Redford tried to clone radicals. To show my anti-pinko cynicicm, I downloaded it off one of those torrent websites. More GWOT please.
Posted by: McZoid || 12/01/2007 3:13 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm not going with 12 of my friends.
On Sunday after lunch we're not going again.
Posted by: Thomas Woof || 12/01/2007 5:48 Comments || Top||

#3  Tom, you got room for one more?
Posted by: Steve White || 12/01/2007 6:37 Comments || Top||

#4  Removing some of the sting is the fact that the film cost only $35 million to produce.

That's the pre-post-production costs. Hollyweird is famous for the cost of movies to go up after its been sent the theaters to cover 'expenses'. Well, at least that's what they tell the IRS. Which is another reason to take the 'tax' cut, like everyone else in the business, off the gross.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 12/01/2007 7:43 Comments || Top||

#5  United Artists used to make Bond films; now it is making treasonous retard drivel. Typical Scientology tactic to buy a brand and use it as cover for their propaganda.
Posted by: Excalibur || 12/01/2007 7:46 Comments || Top||

#6  I personally know of four men who won't be going. Maybe we could make an evening of it?
Posted by: badanov || 12/01/2007 8:14 Comments || Top||

#7  I think they spent at leat 35mil to advertise the wretched thing. 1 or 2 mil on Fred's sidebar alone, by my estimation.

And I'm not going neither. Maybe we should rent a minibus?
Posted by: Seafarious || 12/01/2007 10:52 Comments || Top||

#8  Make it a full-sized bus. I'm sure we can convince a few others.
Posted by: Pappy || 12/01/2007 11:14 Comments || Top||

#9  I'll hook Ace to a wagon and we can all not go together. A locally produced and directed film showed in a few theaters here last summer. It is the only film to sell out every night for 14 consecutive nights. It was very well done on a shoe-string budget ($5,000.00). If locals can make a decent film with so little money Hollywierd should be able to as well. The problem with Hollyweierd is they are more interested in making "Political Statements) then good movies.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 12/01/2007 11:17 Comments || Top||

#10  Team America: World Police did almost as well ( ~$33 M US gross, $50 M world vs $20 M production cost) and it starred PUPPETS! America, *bleep* yeah!

Any over-under on when the naughty version "Loins for Lambs" appears?

Posted by: SteveS || 12/01/2007 11:25 Comments || Top||

#11  Can we not go see "Redacted" too?
Or was it "Rendition"?
Posted by: tu3031 || 12/01/2007 11:33 Comments || Top||

#12  I think it was "Redundant".
Posted by: wxjames || 12/01/2007 12:03 Comments || Top||

#13  I'll guarantee you that Team America sold more DVDs than this POS ever will also.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 12/01/2007 12:35 Comments || Top||

#14  I am not going to that movie, or most any other Hollywood perv POS movie. Ima going to "Freedom," starring Deacon and Ace. Read the reviews and looking forward to it. This is for real.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 12/01/2007 13:40 Comments || Top||

#15  When these disastrous anti-war productions were in the planning stage, Hollywood and other media cultists fully expected them to be released into a world where the US effort in Iraq had already resulted in disaster. Their sacred Vietnam dogma told them this was inevitable. They might even have expected dramatic scenes of a chaotic Saigon-style evacuation to be available to assist marketing. The Hollywood political arm was trying to defund the war to bring about such a debacle, as they had defunded South Vietnam, and there was every reason for true believers like Redford and retards like Cruise to expect a repeat performance.
The resulting films now look about as silly as Leni Riefenstahl's efforts did in the summer of 1945.
Posted by: Angique Gonque2974 || 12/01/2007 13:51 Comments || Top||

#16  Some say "Lions" could lose as much as $25 million, although UA and parent company MGM won't comment on any figures. They said that "Lions" could even be profitable once it gets into its home entertainment and television runs.

Denial aside, I believe the trend is actually .... bad at the box, worse at Blockbusters.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/01/2007 13:57 Comments || Top||

#17  ! was all set to not go today. Then the Army/Navy game came on and I forgot all about not going.
Posted by: Mike N. || 12/01/2007 15:23 Comments || Top||

#18  I wasn't going to go either, even after I clicked on the ad. at rantburg for more information about this great movie.
Posted by: Tony (UK) || 12/01/2007 18:55 Comments || Top||

#19  Count me out!
Posted by: jds || 12/01/2007 19:30 Comments || Top||

#20  I'm going to wait for the DVD and not watch it on that. It's a waste of no money to not watch it now when I can not watch it later instead.
Posted by: Darrell || 12/01/2007 19:42 Comments || Top||

#21  Any over-under on when the naughty version "Loins for Lambs" appears?

I think it already has on numerous Islamic naughty sites. They always really, really liked their goats.
Posted by: DarthVader || 12/01/2007 19:46 Comments || Top||

#22  You folks have convinced me! I guess I'll not go to the movies tomorrow, either. Maybe I can do something even more exciting than watching "Lions", or "Redacted", or any of the other silly offerings from the lamestream media. I might be able to find some paint and a brush, and I can watch paint dry. Sounds more exciting than these movies...
Posted by: Old Patriot || 12/01/2007 20:54 Comments || Top||

#23  I'm not going, and neither is anyone I know.

Maybe we'd better rent Amtrak for the occasion?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 12/01/2007 20:56 Comments || Top||

#24  Report: I had a lovely time today not going to the cinema. Tomorrow looks to be even better.
Posted by: Seafarious || 12/01/2007 21:41 Comments || Top||

#25  With all these people not going, shouldn't we be getting some carbon credits for not going together? And what say we smuggle in a couple garbage bags of popcorn? The AoS travels on its stomach - even if it's not going anywhere.
Posted by: SteveS || 12/01/2007 22:31 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
35[untagged]
3Taliban
2Iraqi Insurgency
2Govt of Pakistan
2Global Jihad
2Palestinian Authority
1Hamas
1Iraqi Baath Party
1Jamaat-e-Ulema Islami
1MNLF
1TNSM
1al-Aqsa Martyrs
1al-Qaeda
1Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
1Govt of Iran
1Govt of Syria

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

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

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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

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

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

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

Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2007-12-01
  Binny: Euroleaders 'like living under shadow of White House'
Fri 2007-11-30
  Perv Sworn In as Civilian President
Thu 2007-11-29
  Perv finally quits army
Wed 2007-11-28
  Sistani tells Shiites to protect Sunni brothers
Tue 2007-11-27
  Perv to bid farewell to troops
Mon 2007-11-26
  Nawaz returns, vows to contest elections
Sun 2007-11-25
  Sharifs reach deal with Perv
Sat 2007-11-24
  Tanks deployed in Beirut to prevent possible violence
Fri 2007-11-23
  Lahoud stepping down at midnight
Thu 2007-11-22
  Iraqi Security Forces detain 81 suspected extremists
Wed 2007-11-21
  Berri postpones Lebanon presidential vote for fourth time
Tue 2007-11-20
  Israel to free 441 Palestinian prisoners
Mon 2007-11-19
  Israel agrees to return 20,000 Palestinian refugees
Sun 2007-11-18
  Negroponte meets with Perv
Sat 2007-11-17
  40 militants killed as gunships pound Swat and Shangla


Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
3.142.96.146
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Operations (16)    WoT Background (21)    Opinion (6)    Local News (1)    (0)