#1
And the 'beeyoutiful(of themselves) people wonder why these last Oscars were a disaster as far as ratings were concerned: one report I heard mentioned the ratings were off by 14% from the previous least watched edition.
Does anybody really give a sh!t about these self -indulgent brats?
Anyone? Bueller?
#2
Sorry, I'm too busy on my PS3, where there is some real entertainment. :)
This just in: the U.S. video games industry shot up an astonishing 43% in 2007 with chart-busting performance in every product category. You've heard me mention record-breaking figures to come? How's $17.9 billion (versus $12.53B in 2006) in total sales grab you?
Top Selling Games, 2007
4.8m - Halo 3 [Xbox 360]
4.1m - Wii Play [Wii]
3.0m - Call of Duty 4 [Xbox 360]
2.7m - Guitar Hero III [PS2]
2.5m - Super Mario Galaxy [Wii]
2.5m - Pokemon Diamond [DS]
1.9m - Madden NFL '08 [PS2]
1.9m - Guitar Hero 2 [PS2]
1.8m - Assassin's Creed [Xbox 360]
1.8m - Mario Party 8 [Wii]
http://blogs.pcworld.com/gameon/archives/006324.html
Making the entertainment Hollyweird* won't.
*Soon the Oldsmobile Division of major entertainment conglomerates.
#3
P2K, please don't compare Ransom's finest with that trash from the Left Coast. Some of my favorite teen age memories were behind the wheel of a Delta 88 with a J-2 engine. (trivia question: cubic inch and carbureator configuration of the J-2 please)
Actress Marion Cotillard sparked a political row yesterday after accusing America of fabricating the 9/11 attacks.
The 32-year-old French actress, who received an Oscar last month for her performance as singer Edith Piaf in La Vie En Rose, openly questioned the truth behind the terrorist atrocity in an interview broadcast on a French website.
"I think we're lied to about a number of things," Cotillard said, singling out the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center as an example of the US making up horror stories for political ends.
Referring to the two passenger jets being flown into the Twin Towers, Cotillard said:
"We see other towers of the same kind being hit by planes. Are they burned? They [sic] was a tower, I believe it was in Spain, which burnt for 24 hours. It never collapsed. None of these towers collapsed. And there [in New York], in a few minutes, the whole thing collapsed."
She added that the towers, planned in the early Sixties, were an outdated "money-sucker" that would have cost more to modernise than to rebuild altogether, which is why they were destroyed.
She said: "It was a money-sucker because they were finished, it seems to me, by 1973, and to re-cable all that, to bring up-to-date all the technology and everything, it was a lot more expensive, that work, than destroying them."
Cotillard's stardom and increased earning power looked assured following her Oscar win.
But after her outburst, in which she also queried the 1969 Moon landings, a successful future in Hollywood appears to be in jeopardy.
She said: "Did a man really walk on the Moon? I saw plenty of documentaries on it, and I really wondered. And in any case I don't believe all they tell me, that's for sure."
Cotillard, who was born and brought up in Paris, made the comments on Paris Première - Paris Dernière, a programme broadcast a year ago.
Celebration: Marion celebrated her win with Hollywood's A-listers - including Sharon Stone - at Elton John's party in Hollywood
At the time her remarks were largely ignored, but their appearance yesterday on the French magazine website Marianne2 comes at a time when Cotillard's profile is sky-high.
She is shortly due to fly to Chicago to star alongside Johnny Depp in Public Enemies, a gangster movie expected to be her first big money-spinner.
Cotillard's film career began in Luc Besson's 1998 film Taxi - a huge hit in France but less so around the world.
She is slowly becoming a household name in France, in a list most recently topped by her close friend Audrey Tautou and previously by women such as Catherine Deneuve and Brigitte Bardot.
'I think we're lied to about a number of things' Cotillard said, singling out the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center as an example of the US making up horror stories for political ends
But Cotillard, who lives with actor and director Guillaume Canet, frequently tells interviewers she has no interest in money or prestige.
Denying that she had any kind of "Anglo-Saxon ambition", she said she prefers to "choose roles which suit me".
Despite her low-key image, Cotillard is an environmental activist who once worked as a spokesman for Greenpeace.
News of her anti-Americanism comes as Franco-American relations appear to be thawing, following Paris's refusal to show support for the invasion of Iraq.
President Nicolas Sarkozy insists he is pro-American, even supporting so-called "Anglo-Saxon" economic reforms.
#1
The book claiming the US Government faked the attacks was a best seller in France so is it a surprise that a French person believes this nonsense? It is more a comment on her education and ability to determine cause and effect than anything else.
#6
Thanks for reminding why I haven't been to the movies in two and a half years.
I was considering seeing the new Batman movie this summer (Batman Begins was the last movie I saw in a theater), but with Maggie Gyllenhall being in it, screw that.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- A tiny Alaska village eroding into the Arctic Ocean Geez, can you blame them? That's never happened in all of history.
sued two dozen oil, power and coal companies Tuesday, claiming that the large amounts of greenhouse gases they emit contribute to global warming that threatens the community's existence.
The city of Kivalina and a federally recognized tribe, the Alaska Native village of Kivalina, sued Exxon Mobil Corporation, eight other oil companies, 14 power companies and one coal company in a lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco. Just one coal company? The lawyers are slipping....
Kivalina is a traditional Inupiat Eskimo village of about 390 people about 625 miles northwest of Anchorage. It's built on an 8-mile barrier reef between the Chukchi Sea and Kivalina River. I think I see your problem right there....
Sea ice traditionally protected the community, whose economy is based in part on salmon fishing plus subsistence hunting of whale, seal, walrus, and caribou. But sea ice that forms later and melts sooner because of higher temperatures which of course is the fault of the Eeeevil Oil Companies and not, say, Nature (who has been known to be a real Mother)
has left the community unprotected from fall and winter storm waves and surges that lash coastal communities. "We are seeing accelerated erosion because of the loss of sea ice," City Administrator Janet Mitchell said in a statement. "We normally have ice starting in October, but now we have open water even into December so our island is not protected from the storms."
Relocation costs have been estimated at $400 million or more. Cha-ching! So they wanna move, eh? Maybe closer to civilization to a more populated area?
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Kivalina by two nonprofit legal organizations -- The Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment and the Native American Rights Fund -- plus six law firms. Of course they did. Out of the goodness of their hearts, too, I'm sure. Based on the latest world-wide climate charts showing a discernable drop in temperatures in the past year, and the lack of sunspots, they'll be freezing their asses off (and complaining about it) before this ever gets to court. Discovery should be entertaiing interesting.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/03/2008 14:13 ||
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#1
So they are claiming moving a family of four's stuff will cost $4+million. I guess Uncle Sugar has been very, very kind to this poor, oppressed minority.
Posted by: Grinese Dark Lord of the Antelope8579 ||
03/03/2008 15:06 Comments ||
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#2
$400 million is a pittance; see because you need the refrigerated trucks to transport the igloos.
#3
The Kivalina school was one of about 13 that I took care of as facilities director for a school district years ago. In the 80s they were talking about relocation because of erosion of the gravel spit they were on. But they dithered around and now that Sen. Ted Stevens has lost much of his power, the funds for the relocation of the village are going to be harder to get through Congress.
The village of Shishmaref, located on a barrier island off the NW corner of the Seward Peninsula, is in the same straights, no pun intended.
So now they are looking for an opening with the 9th circus court of appeals? Well, Exxon has battled the plaintiffs of the Prince William oil spill case for 14 years, and now it is with the Supremes. Good luck on the court case.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/03/2008 16:15 Comments ||
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#4
The Kivalina school was one of about 13 that I took care of as facilities director for a school district years ago. In the 80s they were talking about relocation because of erosion of the gravel spit they were on. But they dithered around and now that Sen. Ted Stevens has lost much of his power, the funds for the relocation of the village are going to be harder to get through Congress.
The village of Shishmaref, located on a barrier island off the NW corner of the Seward Peninsula, is in the same straights, no pun intended.
So now they are looking for an opening with the 9th circus court of appeals? Well, Exxon has battled the plaintiffs of the Prince William oil spill case for 14 years, and now it is with the Supremes. Good luck on the court case.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/03/2008 16:24 Comments ||
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#5
Humans couldn't produce enough CO2 to effect climate, even if we wanted to. The main source of CO2 is: the oceans. But again, natural warming-cooling phenomena, as noted in Ice Age Theory, is generally accepted by scientists. Al Gore's alarmist fictions include unproven human causes. A BBC documentary quoted scientists who feared loss of employment, if they told the truth about the "swindle."
Historical note: in the 17th century there was a Mini-Ice-Age. Records reveal repeated freezing of the Thames River in London. However, it ended and warming continued. You can expect a real Ice Age, commencing in 30,000 years or so.
Fresh ethnic violence claims at least 15 lives in Kenya's Rift Valley region, police said Monday, while political rivals discussed their new deal to share power and tackle root causes of the strife. "A total of 15 people died: six burnt in their houses, six hacked with machetes and three shot dead," a police commander said after the attack that occurred in the Rift Valley's Trans Nzoia area.
Police said attackers, armed with machetes and guns pounced on their victims -- who recently returned home from displaced people's camps -- while they slept in a region swept by violence after a disputed December 27 presidential election. "It was horrifying. These people were merciless. They burnt people alive. About 10 houses were razed," said another police officer, who asked not to be named.
The killings prompted a fresh exodus among families that had recently returned to homes near the volatile Cherangani and Mount Elgon area after the ethnic strife was triggered by the election, police said. "This attack is really scaring people. Instead of people re-settling, they have again begun fleeing their homes," said National Security Minister George Saitoti. Meanwhile attackers overnight razed a school in the volatile Molo district, police said.
The government and opposition resumed talks in the capital Nairobi, under a new international mediator, after a weekend break in marathon talks that led to their accord last week to end share power and end violence.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/03/2008 14:00 ||
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Colombia said on Sunday documents found in a camp in Ecuador where Colombian troops killed a top guerrilla boss showed ties between the FARC rebels and Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, including contacts about political proposals and local military commanders.
Ahah! Canoodling, were they?
FARC rebel commander Raul Reyes was killed inside Ecuador in an army operation that has fuelled tensions between Washington ally Colombia and neighbours Venezuela and Ecuador, where leftist leaders are fiercely opposed to U.S. proposals.
Police Commander Gen. Oscar Naranjo said documents found in computers belonging to Reyes showed contacts between a Correa government minister, Gustavo Larrea, and the FARC commander to discuss political proposals and projects on the frontier. "The questions raised by these documents need concrete answers," Naranjo said. "What is the state of relations between Ecuador's government and a terrorist group like the FARC."
But Ecuador's Interior Minister Fernando Bustamante dismissed the accusations as false and Venezuela called the announcement an attempted smear campaign against Correa, an ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
"Lies! All lies! Vile blasphemy!"
Posted by: Fred ||
03/03/2008 14:41 ||
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Found originally at discarded lies, which quoted the blog Redneck's Revenge. The source they linked to was here but it no longer contains the quote.
MSNBC's current version
Troops mass on Colombias borders
Leaders of Ecuador, Venezuela warn action against rebels could bring war
CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuela and Ecuador have ordered troops to their borders with Colombia, raising concerns of a broader conflict after Colombia killed a top rebel leader on Ecuadorean soil.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Sunday promised Venezuela would respond militarily if Colombia violates its border, where he ordered tanks as well as thousands of troops. He also ordered closed Venezuelas embassy in Bogota.
Ecuadors president, Rafael Correa, called for the troop deployment while also withdrawing his governments ambassador from Bogota and expelling Colombias top diplomat.
There is no justification, Correa said Sunday night, snubbing an earlier announcement from Colombia that it would apologize for the incursion by its military.
Chavez called the killing of rebel leader and spokesman Raul Reyes and 16 other rebels on Saturday an attack by a terrorist state.
Mr. Defense Minister, move 10 battalions to the border with Colombia for me, immediately tank battalions. Deploy the air force, Chavez said during his weekly TV and radio program. We dont want war, but we arent going to permit the U.S. empire, which is the master (of Colombia) ... to come divide us.
Correa said Colombia deliberately carried out the strike beyond its borders. He said the rebels were bombed and massacred as they slept, using precision technology.
The Ecuadorean leader said Colombia violated Ecuadors airspace when it bombed the rebel camp, which the Colombian military said was located 1.1 miles from the border.
Colombian officials have long complained that Ecuadors military does not control its sparsely populated border, allowing rebels to take refuge.
The same holds true for Venezuela, where rebel deserters say the guerrillas routinely rest, train, obtain medical care and smuggle drugs. Chavez denies that his country provides refuge to the FARC.
In a statement, Colombia said FARC terrorists including Reyes have had the custom of killing in Colombia and taking refuge in the territory of neighboring countries.
Ecuadorean leader deepening FARC ties?
Colombias police commander Gen. Oscar Naranjo said documents from a computer seized where Reyes was killed suggested Ecuadors president is deepening relations with the FARC.
The two documents, copies of which were obtained independently by The Associated Press, were apparently written by Reyes in the past two months and addressed to the high command of the FARC. An Ecuadorean government spokesman called the Colombian claims a lie.
Ecuadorean soldiers recovered the semi-nude bodies of 15 rebels in their jungle camp, the corpses scattered around the site along with pieces of clothing, shoes, a refrigerator, guns and grenades.
Soldiers stood guard at the camp, saying they also found three wounded women, who were evacuated by helicopter to be treated. One was a Mexican philosophy student injured by shrapnel, while the other two were Colombians, said Ecuadors defense minister, Welington Sandoval.
Ecuadorean officials found that there were two bomb attacks on the camp early Saturday, Lt. Col. Jose Nunez told reporters in the remote village of Angostura, where the bodies were found.
Colombian commandos removed the cadavers of Reyes and one other rebel.
Threats of war
Chavez called the raid cowardly murder, all of it coldly calculated.
This could be the start of a war in South America, Chavez said. He warned Uribe: If it occurs to you to do this in Venezuela, President Uribe, Ill send some Sukhois Russian warplanes recently bought by Venezuela.
The situation tested already tense relations between Venezuela and Colombia, though cross-border trade has not yet been seriously affected.
Chavez did not specify how many troops was sending to the border. A Venezuelan battalion traditionally has roughly 600 soldiers.
Undoubtedly the recent actions on the part of Colombia and Venezuelas response raise the risk for armed conflict, said Miguel Tinker Salas, a Latin American studies professor at Pomona College in Claremont, California. Although it is unlikely we will see military confrontations, what is clear is that Colombia has been pursuing a military solution to its own internal problem, ... drawing in Ecuador and Venezuela.
Chavez has increasingly revealed his sympathies for the FARC, and in January asked that it be struck from lists of terrorist groups internationally.
The leftist FARC has been fighting Colombias government for more than four decades, and funds itself largely through the cocaine trade and kidnaps for ransom and political ends.
Chavez said that with U.S. support, Colombian troops invaded Ecuador, flagrantly violating Ecuadors sovereignty.
U.S.: Chavez has odd reaction
U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Suzanne Hall, in Bogota, declined comment on the possibility of U.S. involvement, saying it was a Colombian government operation.
In Texas, U.S. National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said of Chavezs latest moves: This is an odd reaction by Venezuela to Colombias efforts against the FARC, a terrorist organization that continues to hold Colombians, Americans and others hostage.
How exactly Reyes was killed was not immediately clear.
Colombias defense minister, Juan Manuel Santos, said Colombian commandos, tracking Reyes through an informant, first bombed a camp on the Colombian side of the Ecuadorean border. He said the troops came under fire from across the border in Ecuador and encountered Reyes body when they overran that camp.
Colombia and Venezuela have been locked in a diplomatic crisis since Uribe sought in November to halt Chavezs efforts to mediate a prisoner swap. The FARC has since freed six hostages to delegates of Chavez, including four released last week.
The FARC has demanded that a safe zone be created in Colombia to negotiate a swap of some 40 high-value captives, including former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and three U.S. defense contractors, for hundreds of imprisoned guerrillas.
As quoted by "Redneck's Revenge" and I'm guessing what they had up earlier:
CARACAS, Venezuela - President Hugo Chavez on Sunday ordered thousands of troops to the border with Colombia after Colombia's military killed a top rebel leader.
Chavez told his defense minister: "Move 10 battalions for me to the border with Colombia, immediately." He also ordered the Venezuelan Embassy in Colombia closed and said all embassy personnel would be withdrawn.
The announcements by Venezuela's leftist leader pushed relations to their tensest point of his nine-year presidency, and Chavez warned that Colombia could spark a war in South America.
He called the U.S.-allied government in Bogota "a terrorist state" and labeled President Alvaro Uribe "a criminal."
The leftist leader warned that Colombias slaying of rebel spokesman Raul Reyes could spark a war.
It wasnt any combat. It was a cowardly murder, all of it coldly calculated, Chavez said.
We pay tribute to a true revolutionary, who was Raul Reyes, Chavez said, recalling that he had met rebel in Brazil in 1995 and calling him a good revolutionary.
Chavez: Colombia 'the Israel' of region
Chavez said he had just spoken to Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa and that Ecuador was also sending troops to its border with Colombia.
The Colombian government has become the Israel of Latin America, an agitated Chavez said, mentioning another country that he has criticized for its military strikes. We arent going to permit Colombia to become the Israel of these lands.
Chavez accused Uribe of being a puppet of Washington and acting on behalf of the U.S. government, saying Draculas fangs are covered in blood.
Some day Colombia will be freed from the hand of the (U.S.) empire, Chavez said. We have to liberate Colombia, he added, saying Colombias people will eventually do away with its government.
The U.S. State Department had no immediate reaction to Chavezs comments.
On Saturday, Chavez cautioned Uribe against similar military strikes along Venezuelas border.
Dont think about doing that over here, because it would very serious, it would be cause for war, Chavez said. How far is President Uribe willing to go in his warlike madness?
Chavez, who maintains warm relations with the Colombian guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, said that it was obscene to see the smiling faces of Colombian military commanders standing behind Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos as he announced the death of FARC spokesman Raul Reyes and 16 other rebels on Saturday.
Colombia defends incursion
On Sunday, Colombia defended its decision to carry out the raid, saying it acted in self-defense.
The terrorists, among them Raul Reyes, have had the custom of killing in Colombia and taking refuge in the territory of neighboring countries. Many times Colombia has suffered from this situation that we must avoid to protect our citizens, a Foreign Ministry statement said.
Ecuador has done little to try to remove the heavily armed fighters from Colombias conflict who cross the long, porous border into its territory.
Colombias military tracked Reyes location through an informant and bombed a camp on its side of the Ecuadorean border, where Reyes was thought to be, Santos said. Ground troops moved in but came under attack from another camp across the border in Ecuador. When the military overran that camp, they found Reyes body, Santos said.
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said Uribe had informed him of the raid but later announced that he was misled after Ecuadorean officials inspected a bombed rebel camp.
Ecuador: 'Airspace was violated'
The (Colombian) president either was poorly informed or brazenly lied to the president of Ecuador, said Correa, who called home the ambassador to Colombia for consultation and promised a diplomatic note of protest.
Clearly Ecuadorean airspace was violated in the bombing, Correa said.
Uribe earlier called Reyes death a step forward in defeating terrorism.
Today weve taken another step in the process of recuperating the respect of the people of Colombia, the respect that our people deserve, Uribe told a news conference.
Combatants in Colombias bitter four-decade conflict frequently cross borders with Ecuador and Venezuela, creating friction between the neighbors.
Colombia and Venezuela have been locked in a diplomatic crisis since November, when Uribe ended Chavezs official role negotiating a proposed hostages-for-prisoners swap.
Nevertheless, the FARC freed four hostages to Venezuelan officials last week, and they were reunited with their families in Caracas. It was the second unilateral release by the FARC this year.
Chavez has recently angered Uribe by urging world leaders to classify the leftist rebels as insurgents rather than terrorists.
The FARC has proposed trading some 40 remaining high-value captives, including former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and three U.S. defense contractors, for hundreds of imprisoned guerrillas.
We're always used to hearing the tranzi's tired old trope that "Antizionism isn't the same as antisemitism" but isn't it telling that any conflict they get in they start calling their enemy Israeli? And that while the press here may report it, they'll backtrack over it for whatever reason compels them to do so?
#7
Colombia as Israel, interesting comparison when you consider the neighbors appear to be arming Colombian rebels or allowing the use of their territory for strikes into Colombia.
It would be nice to see Colombia take out Chavez and end his attempts to convert Latin America into North Korea.
#11
BP, if you know a way to automatically flow text from one <div> to another, and to balance the columns, please let me know. I can really use the info.
I hate using <table> for anything but actual grids too, but I don't see a replacement here. And I'm stuck with an app that uses frames, tables, and J2EE Struts tiles. I'm trying to wean everyone from frames and tables, but it isn't easy.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
03/03/2008 22:32 Comments ||
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#12
I'll have to look into "div".
Anyway, notice that I wasn't flowing text from one column to another, although now that I think about it, that would be a really nifty trick.
<div>s don't do anything by themselves; they are just placeholders. However, given appropriate CSS declarations, they can do a lot. You'll need to read some books or visit some online sites to learn about them; I doubt Fred wants that much geekery in these comments.
Let's just say that you can make your pages much clearer if you put the comment in the html files and the rules for displaying the content in CSS files.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
03/03/2008 23:18 Comments ||
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#14
Uh, I am afraid that my standing isn't high enough around here to change Fred's CSS, even if I understood CSS.
I guess I need to find a current guide to html for hominids.
Ecuador and Venezuela say they are moving thousands of troops to Colombia's borders, a day after Colombian forces killed a leftist rebel leader in Ecuadorean territory. Colombia later charged that high-ranking Ecuadorean officials met recently with the slain rebel, Raúl Reyes, to accommodate the guerrillas' presence there.
The developments raised tensions in a region that has been on edge in the several months since Colombian President Álvaro Uribe and Venezuela's Hugo Chávez had a bitter falling-out. Mr. Reyes was the second-ranking commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
At a news conference late Sunday, Colombian National Police director Oscar Naranjo said that files in three laptop computers recovered in a jungle camp a mile inside Ecuador, where Reyes's body was found, show that the rebel met Jan. 18 and Jan. 28 with Ecuadorean Interior Minister Gustavo Larrea to discuss several issues, including stationing Army and police officers "who were not hostile to the FARC."
Mr. Naranjo also said documents show that Mr. Larrea and Reyes discussed a meeting between Reyes and President Rafael Correa in which Reyes's "secure transport" would be guaranteed. "The questions posed by these documents merit a response from the Ecuadorean government," Naranjo said.
In a nationwide address late Sunday, President Correa rejected Colombia's apology for the incursion and said President Uribe lied when he told him Saturday that Reyes and 16 other FARC rebels were killed in hot pursuit.
"They were massacred," Correa said.
The FARC, Colombia's largest rebel group, has been locked in a 40-year war with that nation's government. It holds 700 hostages.
Earlier Sunday, Ecuador said it was moving additional troops to defend its northeastern border with Colombia, expelled Colombia's ambassador and recalled its own ambassador to Bogotá. Saturday's killing of Reyes was a "violation of the territorial integrity and legal system of Ecuador," a Foreign Ministry statement said.
Meanwhile, leftist Venezuelan President Chávez said he was sending troops to his country's border with Colombia.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/03/2008 14:29 ||
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#1
The Rumor Mill says that those laptops not only show high level meetings with Ecuador's government, but also show that Chavez has invested $300 million dollars in the FARC.
Posted by: Destro in Panama ||
03/03/2008 14:44 Comments ||
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#2
Am I the only one who thinks "jungle" and "tank battalion" don't really go together?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/03/2008 14:54 Comments ||
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#4
I just hope that SOUTHCOM has already sent a planeload of anti-tank weapons and one of Stingers to Colombia. That and a couple hundred Green Berets could make things very entertaining.
#8
The Colombians have some very good special forces that operate in the mountain terrain in that area. Chavez could loose 9 battalions of tanks if he tries to push them over the mountain jungle roads.
Of course, no one claimed that Chavez was the brightest bulb in the back either....
#10
None of this nonsense would be taking place if the US would have run a few ARCLIGHT strikes down through Iraq prior to the US invasion, and through Iran (Natanz, Bushehr, Bandar Abbas) the first time they made nasty noises. Chavez would be quivering in fear somewhere in the Venezuelan jungle, absolutely terrified of the same thing happening wherever he showed his ugly head. Correa would have no more desire to incur the wrath of the United States, and Morales in Bolivia would be trying to find the deepest tin mine he could to crawl into. It's better to be feared than to be treated with contempt. Our State department has caused us to be considered contemptable and inept for the past 40 years. ARCLIGHTing Washington, DC, would be disasterous, but firing everyone in the State Department and starting again from scratch may be the only other alternative.
ARCLIGHTs and jungles have a long history together...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/03/2008 15:37 Comments ||
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#11
What would Hussein Obama do? On Feb. 22 he told a Corpus Christi rally that a "wall" is not the solution to illegal immigration of hispanics. That mentality shouldn't inspire confidence among our besieged allies.
The solution to Columbia's problems can be solved in one word: napalm. I would also add: cease identifying American "values" with Carter-Constraints. Even some Rantburgers have no recollection of the world before the peanut farmer. Think like this: enemy life is cheap.
#12
Chavez is all hat and no cattle. He hasn't got the stones to invade. Even if he did he'd get slaughtered, which would hurt him badly at home. Recall the Argentine generals.
And he won't stop pumping oil. He's a tin pot dictator who needs the money. He may stop selling to the US, but oil is a fungible commodity. He'd sell to someone else whose former supplier would sell to us. We'd see a slight pop to offset increase shipping fees. Yawn.
No, the final act in this play will be to extract some token concession from Columbia and declare victory. Then get back to the business of building a workers' paradise replete with political prisons, pandemic corruption, chronic shortages of everything, secret police and lavish digs for visits from swooning Hollywood well wishers.
#13
"jungle" and "tank battalion" don't really go together?
If they are AMX-30s they would at least be able to move in the jungle. However, calling the AMX-30 the best post WWII French tank is like talking about the "bravest Palestinian war hero".
Consider that during Desert Storm, the AMX-30s were kept on the flank because Saddam's anti-tank weapons were too dangerous.
A 66mm LAW or heavier weapon will shred those tanks.
As for the rest of Hugo's Army, he's been replacing his American trained troops with "Bolivarian" units. Most of the Venezuelan officers have emigrated to the US.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
03/03/2008 17:42 Comments ||
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#14
he might stop pumping oil, but it will be as much about his new teams efficiency as its malice. I favor a squadron of a10 and 4 or 5 f22's be moved to canal zone for routine manuevers.
#18
The man doesn't think in three dimensions. One good flight from Bogotá to the oil off load point would shut down the entire export trade. Who other than the Chinese would 'credit' Hugo for the work and maintenance to get it going again? Yeah, check is in the mail.
China is speeding up its military buildup and developing high-technology forces for waging wars beyond Taiwan, according to the Pentagon's annual report on Chinese military power. "The pace and scope of China's military transformation have increased in recent years, fueled by acquisition of advanced foreign weapons, continued high rates of investment in its domestic defense and science and technology industries, and far-reaching organizational and doctrinal reforms of the armed forces," the report states.
The report also warned that China's expanding military forces "are changing East Asian military balances; improvements in China's strategic capabilities have implications beyond the Asia-Pacific region."
The new weapons include road-mobile long-range nuclear missiles.
The report to Congress is required under 1999 legislation and is the only U.S. government publication providing a close look at China's military strategy, and force structure and recent advances in technology. The report said U.S.-China defense ties are improving and that Beijing agreed Friday to set up a telephone communications link between the U.S. and Chinese military that could be operational this month.
Key finding of the report include:
China's military spending continues to increase by double-digit figures and that official Chinese claims of spending $45 billion are short of actual spending, which could be as much as $139 billion
China has deployed between 990 and 1,070 CSS-6 and CSS-7 short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) to garrisons opposite Taiwan and is adding more than 100 missiles per year, including more advanced systems.
Chinese computer hackers have launched sophisticated strikes on computer networks around the world in the past year, including U.S. government networks, that might be the work of the Chinese government.
China's strategy of defense includes conducting pre-emptive attacks "if the use of force protects or advances core interests, including territorial claims, for example, Taiwan and unresolved border or maritime claims."
China's anti-satellite weapon test in January 2007 shows that the military's space warfare capability is more than theoretical. Additional space weapons include jammers, laser blinders and microwave weapons to disable satellites and ground stations.
China is engaged in "wide-ranging espionage" targeting officials, businessmen and scientists prompting more than 400 U.S. investigations..
China's military buildup is shifting the cross-Strait military balance in its favor, through a long-term expansion designed to fight "local wars" with high-tech weapons using speed, precision targeting, mobility, and the role of information technology as a force multiplier.
The report counters the findings of U.S. intelligence analysts who have sought to play down China's buildup by saying it is limited to preparing to fight a war against Taiwan. The report stated that while the near-term focus is on a Taiwan conflict. "long-term trends suggest China is building a force scoped for operations beyond Taiwan."
However, the report said that China's military currently lacks the ability to defend sea lanes that carry oil to China from the Middle East, but is discussing ways of doing so in the future.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/03/2008 17:12 ||
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Courtesy of the American consumer and moneyed classes.
Posted by: ed ||
03/03/2008 19:01 Comments ||
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An annual Pentagon report on China on Monday said Beijing's lack of transparency posed risks to stability, voicing concern over how it would use expanding military power.
China was developing missiles capable of striking aircraft carriers and other warships at sea, has tested an anti-satellite weapon and fielded new intercontinental ballistic missiles, the report said. "Much uncertainty surrounds China's future course, in particular in the area of its expanding military power and how that power might be used," it added.
The report said the international community has limited knowledge of the motivations, decision-making and key capabilities that supports China's military modernization. "The lack of transparency in China's military and security affairs poses risks to stability by increasing the potential for misunderstanding and miscalculation," it said. "This situation will naturally lead to hedging against the unknown," it said.
It said preparations for contingencies in the Taiwan Strait, including the possibility of US intervention in a crisis, was driving its military modernization effort over the near term. "However, analysis of China's military acquisitions and strategic thinking suggests Beijing is also developing capabilities for use in other contingencies such as conflict over resources or disputed territories," it said.
The report said the pace and scope of China's military transformation have increased in recent years, fueled by acquisition of foreign weapons, high rates of investment in defense and science and technology industries, and far reaching reforms of its military. "China's expanding and improving military capabilities are changing East Asian military balances; improvements in China's strategic capabilities have implications beyond the Asia-Pacific region," the report said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/03/2008 16:47 ||
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An annual Pentagon report on China on Monday said Beijing's lack of transparency posed risks to stability, voicing concern over how it would use expanding military power.
Well with the lack of transparency, it means the CIA can't be caught dead wrong again on the robustness of the Chinese state like they were on the first Soviet Union.
#2
WAFF.com > SPACEWAR > ANALYSIS: CHINA'S NUCLEAR EXPANSION AT SEA. See also NOSI.org for related.
OTOH, CHIN MIL FORUM Poster thread > asks will INDIA/HINDUS GET THE USS KITTY HAWK AIRCRAFT CARRIER, whereas WAFF.com Poster thread > asks RUSSIAN CARRIERS AND US F18's - can these ever come together???
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/03/2008 20:56 Comments ||
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FOX > Hillary leads Barack in Ohio, but in statistical dead heat agz same vv Texas. Hillary vowing to stay in race no matter the TUesday outcomes in Ohio or Texas.
New Delhi, March 3: Troops from the Indian Armys Southern Command are deploying to the desert in Rajasthan to test new land warfare doctrines woven around technology procured recently for the armed forces.
Exercise Dakshin Shakti involving troops of a desert formation and a strike corps begins this week. It will culminate in a firepower demonstration christened Brazen Chariots on March 19.
Indian Air Force fighter aircraft and helicopters will also be used for the war games. Dakshin Shakti is one of the largest war games to be conducted by the army in recent years.
Although the Jodhpur-headquartered formation, also known as the 12 (Desert) Corps, will be at the centre of the drill, troop carriers and tanks from the Bhopal-based 21 Corps have also been pulled in.
Army headquarters sources are not detailing the criteria for the drill. But it is clearly a test of speed and force for troops whose operational brief is to capture and hold on to enemy territory while keeping own supply lines intact.
Army formations will be exercised through the full spectrum of simulated operations in desert terrain, an army statement said today.
Although the troops have started concentrating, the actual war game will be spread over 10 days.
Troops will be split into red (enemy) and blue (friendly) forces. The battle space will run parallel to the international boundary with Pakistan so that the formations are not positioned in a manner that would present a threat and every movement will be monitored on video screens by controllers with the help of newly acquired network-centric capabilities.
India has over the past few years acquired new and advanced capability in all spheres and undertaken a massive drive to modernise its armed forces, the army statement said.
Exercise Dakshin Shakti will see the Southern Command of the army and the Southwestern Command of the IAF coming together to validate the land doctrine in a mechanised and network-centric environment.
The army would be testing and integrating its newly acquired weapon systems as well as its reconnaissance and surveillance systems.
The manoeuvres will include mechanised movement of infantry and artillery units with combat-support elements. Smaller exercises leading up to Dakshin Shakti had been held at the level of brigades and battalions.
Posted by: john frum ||
03/03/2008 17:50 ||
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do the Indians really need too practice too fight the Pakis?I mean they can hardly put up a fight against a bunch of thugs in NWFP and south waziristan
#2
After the attack on the Indian parliament, the Indian Army mobilized for war. They even appointed martial law governors for the Pakistani cities they may have captured. What they found however was that their strike formations took too long to assemble. By the time everything was in place, the politicians had become preoccupied with other matters. The ISI had instigated an attack on Hindu pilgrims on a train and the resulting riots in Gujarat state diverted attention.
Hence Cold Start... independent battlegroups that can strike hard and fast into Pakistan with little mobilization, while the blood is still hot.
This is what they are practicing... infliction of punishment on Pak armored formations, followed by rapid withdrawal.
Posted by: john frum ||
03/03/2008 20:42 Comments ||
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"This is what they are practicing... infliction of punishment on Pak armored formations, followed by rapid withdrawal."
Anything we can do to help, John? ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/03/2008 20:55 Comments ||
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NEW YORK: With high oil prices weighing on a struggling U.S. economy, the OPEC oil cartel is reconsidering plans to cut production this week, which could push prices above their current record levels. Instead, OPEC is likely to keep its output unchanged when its members meet Wednesday.
When the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries gathered in Vienna last month, the group suggested it might curb production soon to make up for a seasonal decline in oil demand. Since then, however, oil prices have risen above $100 a barrel and the economic picture in the United States, the world's top oil consumer, has darkened significantly.
This is a time of the year when oil prices usually fall, between the peak winter and summer seasons. Typically, refineries prepare to shut down for annual maintenance and oil consumption falls. Instead, oil prices are reaching new records. Crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed at an all-time high of $102.59 a barrel Thursday and fell 75 cents to end at $101.84 on Friday.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/03/2008 16:57 ||
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WASHINGTON A subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum has notified the Bureau of Land Management that it would like to explore for oil in a central California national monument.
John Dearing, a BLM spokesman, said the agency can do nothing to stop Vintage Production from testing for oil under the Carrizo Plain National Monument in eastern San Luis Obispo County because the company has owned the mineral rights there since before President Bill Clinton created the monument in 2001. Because this is a national monument, there will be environmental concerns that will have to be strongly looked at, Dearing said. But they have a right to access.
The monument's 250,000 acres are not virgin territory for drilling rigs. The monument is just over a hill from the oil fields of Kern County. There is a small amount of production already occurring in remote canyons of the monument.
But Vintages holdings are under the heart of the monument grounds, and whatever it does cant help but affect the natural grasslands and wildlife diversity of the area. The monument contains the last remaining vestiges of San Joaquin Valley grasslands and is home to the greatest concentration of endangered species in the country. Among those endangered animals is the kangaroo rat, which lives in the ground where Vintage Production wants to explore.
The exploration proposal, which Dearing said has yet to be submitted to the BLM, is dividing environmentalists. Oil drilling is not going to occur on the Carrizo Plain National Monument without a huge battle, said Pat Veesart, a former member of the San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission and a board member of Los Padres Forest Watch. If anyone wants to drill for oil there, they had better be prepared to go to war over it, Veesart said.
But others see an opportunity, noting that at least initially there will be no holes bored into the ground.
Seismic testing will determine whether there is oil and gas in Vintages holdings, which lie beneath 30,000 acres of the monument. That in turn could set a value for the mineral estate. With such a value established, the BLM could begin negotiations to trade other oil rights for the monument property or open talks with the BLMs monument partners, the state Department of Fish and Game and The Nature Conservancy, for an outright purchase.
If they had a show, it might let us get our heads together for a trade out, said Tom Maloney, the Conservancys San Luis Obispo County project manager. Its just exploration now, and not development.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/03/2008 16:55 ||
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If you allow the common man the choice of 'None of the Above' you'll find out, as will the political elite, which is why they'll never let you have that choice.
#3
Since there are gremlins attacking the system, I will hand-type my nominee for Guest "Snark of the Week", Leonard Pitts of the Miami Herald, on the subject of what he calls the NYT's "kneecap job" on John McCain:
"So what are we left with? Anonymous innuendos of an affair between two adults that may or may not have happened eight years ago. Or, to put it another way: Bupkis.
Yet, this is deemed worthy of 3,100 words beginning on the front page of the nation's newspaper of record? Oh, how the mighty have prat-fallen."
#4
...the public often doesn't understand that the sources they are accessing online such as Google News and Yahoo News pull stories from newspapers, television, wire services and other media sources. "It's delivered in a non-traditional form, that doesn't necessarily mean there isn't traditional journalism underneath it," he explained.
Except for the 'Burg, where we get news AND analysis!
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/03/2008 17:56 Comments ||
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Yeah, and we know the Pak Daily Times won't lie to us like WaPo, al Rooters, NYT and AP.
I remember back in the 80's when the Olympics were being held in Norway and CBS sent Connie Chung to interview Tonya Harding. I thought, That's the news, huh? I'd just as soon watch Entertainment Tonight. At least then I wouldn't have to listen to Dan Rather.
The American people come to the table looking for meat and potatoes and they feed us Twinkies.
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.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- A tiny Alaska village eroding into the Arctic Ocean
Fresh ethnic violence claims at least 15 lives in Kenya's Rift Valley region, police said Monday, while political rivals discussed their new deal to share power and tackle root causes of the strife. "A total of 15 people died: six burnt in their houses, six hacked with machetes and three shot dead," a police commander said after the attack that occurred in the Rift Valley's Trans Nzoia area.
Ecuador and Venezuela say they are moving thousands of troops to Colombia's borders, a day after Colombian forces killed a leftist rebel leader in Ecuadorean territory. Colombia later charged that high-ranking Ecuadorean officials met recently with the slain rebel, Raúl Reyes, to accommodate the guerrillas' presence there. 
NEW YORK: With high oil prices weighing on a struggling U.S. economy, the OPEC oil cartel is reconsidering plans to cut production this week, which could push prices above their current record levels. Instead, OPEC is likely to keep its output unchanged when its members meet Wednesday.
WASHINGTON A subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum has notified the Bureau of Land Management that it would like to explore for oil in a central California national monument.
