Zimbabwean crisis talks due to start in South Africa struggled to get off the ground on Tuesday as chief negotiators had yet to leave Harare, sources from the opposition and ruling party said. Representatives of the ruling Zanu PF party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) were meant to begin negotiations towards resolving the country's political crisis after the signing of a historic pact on Monday. As representatives from both parties remained tied up in Zimbabwe, the European Union sought to tighten the screw on veteran President Robert Mugabe's regime by stepping up sanctions on Tuesday. The long-awaited Pretoria talks, given a tight two week timeline, were now expected to begin "in earnest" on Thursday, said Mbeki's spokesman Mukoni Ratshitanga.
Zimbabwean government sources said that Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa and Labour Minister Nicholas Goche - the chief negotiators for the ruling Zanu PF party - had been locked in a cabinet meeting all afternoon and were not now expected to fly until Wednesday morning. Meanwhile a source in the larger faction of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said its top negotiators, party chairman Lovemore Moyo and secretary-general Tendai Biti, had also yet to leave. However a source in the smaller faction of the MDC, which is also taking part in the talks in Pretoria, said its representative had already arrived in South Africa.
Both sides agreed in their memorandum of understanding inked in Harare to observe a media blackout during the course of negotiations that are expected to conclude within a fortnight. While commentators have warned significant obstacles remain in the path towards forming "an inclusive government", both Tsvangirai and Mugabe tried on Monday to draw a line under a crisis sparked by disputed elections in March. At a ceremony in Harare overseen by chief mediator and South African President Thabo Mbeki, Mugabe and Tsvangirai shook hands in their first meeting since the opposition leader formed the MDC in 1999 - albeit with few signs of warmth.
The Zimbabwean government is struggling to find enough cash to pay its workers, and more importantly the military, after it was forced to cut back on printing money because sanctions have severed its supply of banknote paper from Europe. Officials involved in the printing say the regime fears the presses could be shut down altogether if further political pressure causes the withdrawal of software licences used to design and print notes. Paper money is already in short supply because the state-run Fidelity Printers & Refiners in the capital, Harare, cannot keep up with demand created by the hyperinflation and rapid devaluation that causes notes to lose almost their entire value within weeks of being issued.
On Monday, the central bank issued a Z$100bn note, the highest denomination to date but worth 7p, printed on what remains of stocks of the German paper. The source said the firm had been told new supplies of paper were coming from Malaysia but, for now, it was unable to meet the demand for cash created by the hyperinflation, estimated at 40,000,000%. Fidelity's presses, which had been running 24 hours a day for many months, are now rarely started up. The firm has also had problems maintaining the presses because it is unable to obtain spare parts. The cash shortage is contributing to the rapidly deepening economic crisis and further threatening Mugabe's regime. The government needs a fresh injection of cash soon to pay its workers, from teachers and nurses to the police. It also needs to ensure money reaches the army.
Zimbabweans are limited to withdrawing just $100bn a day from their bank accounts, less than half the cost of a loaf of bread, although the government has just increased the allowance to Z$1.5tn a day for those in the military. The cash is delivered to the barracks by the banks to save soldiers standing in line for hours.
From the website: "Visitors to ZWNEWS.com over recent days will have noticed disruption to normal service. This is because hackers, based in, or at least routed through, China have damaged the site."
#1
Speaking from experience, China is a horrible place to route through, as any packet going out is examined and throttled. On the other hand, anyone working with the government can get special lines that are just as good as any originating from America.
My web browsing speed is usually in the range of 5-10k/s. Sites inside China are lightning-fast, though.
The British government has increased the age of marriage visa seekers from 18 to 21 year as part of a crackdown on forced marriage, the British High Commission (BHC) said in a statement on Thursday.
"On 23 July 2008, the Home Office announced that the age at which someone can apply for a marriage visa would increase from 18 to 21 as part of a crackdown on forced marriage," BHC statement said.
The five key proposals announced include raising the age of sponsorship for a marriage visa from 18 to 21; asking foreign spouses to enter into an agreement to learn English before they come to the UK; introducing a power to revoke leave to remain where there is evidence that the marriage route has been abused; requiring all sponsors to register their intention to marry overseas before they leave the UK, and ensure through a code of practice that specialist teams can identify people vulnerable to the risks of forced marriage.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/25/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Dunno. UK judges are Sharia friendly. Most muslims follow their "prophet's" example and sanction marriage of adult men to young girls. Muhammad seized the betrothal of Aisha when she was 6, and consummated the marriage when she was 9. He was: 55. In 2002, Iran had to raise the age of marriage of girls to 13, after legalized pedophilia led to over population.
Australian TV is now reporting this as a midair explosion.
QANTAS passengers have told of a terrifying mid-air emergency that left a gaping hole in the side of a plane, forcing an emergency landing in Manila.
The Qantas Boeing 747, en route from London to Melbourne, via Hong Kong, landed safely today and a "gigantic" hole was discovered in the belly of the plane, near the wing.
Some of the passengers on board told of debris flying through the depressurised cabin, and oxygen masks dropping from the ceiling. Some said the plane had plunged about 20,000 feet after a door "popped".
"There was a terrific boom and bits of wood and debris just flew forward into first (class) and the oxygen masks dropped down," Melbourne woman Dr June Kane told ABC Radio. "I'm looking at the plane now and ... just forward of the wing, there's a gaping hole from the wing to the underbody," she said, adding that baggage was hanging out. "It was absolutely terrifying, but I have to say everyone was very calm."
Qantas tonight said it had arranged for a replacement plane to fly to Manila to collect the 346 uninjured passengers and 19 crew and fly them immediately back to Melbourne. The replacement Boeing 747 was expected to leave the Philippines capital shortly after 11pm local time (0100 AEST Saturday), to arrive in Melbourne tomorrow morning (AEST).
Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon said the flight had "a hole in its fuselage" and was being inspected.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau today said it was sending four investigators to Manila to inspect the plane.
"At approximately 29,000 feet, the crew were forced to conduct an emergency descent after a section of the fuselage separated and resulted in a rapid decompression of the cabin," the bureau said.
The crew brought the plane down to 10,000 feet and requested an emergency landing in Manila, where emergency crews were on hand to watch it come in. Mr Dixon said the airline was also sending its engineers to Manila.
Manila airport operations officer Ding Lima told local radio the plane lost cabin pressure shortly after takeoff from Hong Kong and the pilot radioed for an emergency landing.
"Upon disembarkation, there were some passengers who vomited. You can see in their faces that they were really scared," he said.
During the emergency part of the plane's flooring gave way, exposing some of the cargo in the hold, he said. Part of the ceiling also collapsed. Another passenger Brendan McClements, the chief executive of the Victorian Major Events Company, described hearing a big bang as the plane flew out of Hong Kong.
"There was a sort of rapid expulsion of wind. It went out of the plane, the air got sucked out, the oxygen masks dropped down and we put them on," he said from Manila. "Where I was sitting wasn't ideal, by no means ideal. "We landed about an hour or so ago, and there was a very large hole that wasn't there when we took off in Hong Kong."
Mr McClements praised Qantas staff for keeping passengers calm.
"The crew were terrific, they did a great job," he said. "Everyone gave them a round of applause as we landed."
British man Phil Rescall said he and other passengers realised how lucky they were when they saw the size of the hole in the plane's underbelly just in front of the right wing.
"You see the hole and you realise we were very lucky," he said. "Some people were crying, some people were pretty shaken when they saw the hole."
Another English passenger, Robin McGeechan, 42, said that despite the bang there was little panic. "We were told a door had popped. We only realised that there was a great big hole in the plane after we landed," McGeechan said.
#1
From the photos, it looked like the skin peeled off, not an explosion.
Posted by: ed ||
07/25/2008 7:20 Comments ||
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#2
This was obviously a terrorist bomb that went off in the baggage hold. I just learned that there was NOT ONLY the hole in the main fuselage structure that went outward to blow off the fairing but ALSO one that went from there and blew a hole through the floor into the cabin! Everyone is simply VERY LUCKY the blast didn't affect the controls or the controlability of the aircraft in any major way. The terrorists failed - THIS TIME... Are airlines lowering their guard again?
Posted by: Mike M ||
07/25/2008 7:29 Comments ||
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#3
We'll see. It could have been a bomb or a failure from the picture.
Posted by: The Rainman ||
07/25/2008 10:07 Comments ||
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#7
It is possible that it was an airmail package with prohibited material inside. People try to pull a sneaky and mail hazardous materials all the time. I don't know why, ignorance, to save money, whatever the reason. I'm thinking even a tiny bomb would cause much more damage than that. I saw a video of a 3 oz. plastique charge that blew a fuselage in half in a test.
#9
TW, I concur. Insufficient information at this time.
At altitude any rupture can be "explosive". And at these airspeeds air ramming into the hole might rupture the floor as they aren't designed to take load from below.
I suspect these folks will never see their luggage (grin). But they won't give a D###.
#10
747 flight controls are routed over the top of the cabin; there was an earlier wide body that crashed due to an inflight de-pressurization ( DC-10, or L-1011, cannot remember) that caused the floor panels and supporting structure to buckle and jam / bind the controls. looking at the one picture that shows the hole forward of the stbd wing, about the only control damage would have been to any leading edge de ice or maybe landing gear hydraulics. if the souce of the explosion ( if true) had been placed further aft, results may have been different ( like under the wing root / spar area). also no mention of any engine loss due to FOD from any baggage ingestion.
good piloting skills displayed here.
* Australian-made torpedo sinks US warship
* Warship was due to be retired
* Explosive fun part of war games
AN Australian submarine has used a new super torpedo to sink an American warship off Hawaii.
The Courier-Mail reports HMAS Waller fired the heavyweight Mark 48 torpedo, which the US and Australian navies say is the world's deadliest, during war games this week.
Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said the torpedo had been jointly developed by Australia and the United States and was used in the planned sinking of a retired US warship.
"This represents the first new heavyweight torpedo warshot to be fired by either Navy. Just as significant is the fact that the torpedo was assembled in Australia," Mr Fitzgibbon said.
#11
I, for one, am glad Oztralian keeps sending us interesting and useful information (intersecting sets, those) from Australia, even if occasionally misposted. After all, it's our job to keep the moderators from getting bored. ;-)
#14
Doesn't have to work against carriers, battleships, or cruisers. Most countries don't have them.
Might be interesting to see what it could do against a supertanker or a container boat.
#16
Re: "A tin can ain't much of a test. Don't we have any old cruisers or battleships? Maybe a carrier?"
it would have been intereisting to know what Damage Control Status the ship was in; if Zebra was set , then that is pretty impressive, if Yoke then not so much. but a broken keel is still a death blow.
And we sank the USS America a few years back to test a lot of 'stuff.' No word has surfaced about what it took to do it.
#17
It would be interesting to see the whole recording. But clearly the keel was broken. This ship was out of action and not returning to port for repairs. How long it took to sink was interesting but irrelevant.
The America, on the other hand, had to be scuttled. But again, we don't know what was thrown at it.
There are only two kinds of ships, subs and targets. The sooner the USN figures this out, the better.
#20
"That MK-48 is out there. It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead."
On 25 February 2005 a ceremony to salute the USS America and her crew was held at the ship's pier in Philadelphia, attended by former crew members and various dignitaries. She departed the Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility on 19 April 2005 to conduct the aforementioned tests. The experiments lasted approximately four weeks. The Navy battered America with explosives, both underwater and above the surface, watching from afar and through monitoring devices placed on the vessel. These explosions were designed to simulate attacks by torpedoes, cruise missiles and perhaps a small boat suicide attack like the one that damaged the destroyer Cole in Yemen in 2000.
After the completion of the tests, America was sunk in a controlled scuttling on 14 May 2005 at approximately 1130, although the sinking was not publicized until six days later. At the time, no warship of that size had ever been sunk, and effects were closely monitored; theoretically the tests would reveal data about how supercarriers respond to battle damage. The ship rests 16,860 ft. below the Atlantic Ocean surface, roughly 250 miles off the North Carolina coast.[6]
The ship was sunk at the edge of the Sargasso Sea.
Legislators in France have voted to allow companies to sidestep the 35-hour workweek by negotiating individual overtime agreements with their employees.
The new legislation, which was passed by Parliament late Wednesday night and which will take effect in September, is the boldest step yet in stripping what many view as an emblematic labor law, without quite getting rid of it. While the workweek limit is as good as buried, every hour beyond 35 that is worked will be considered overtime and will therefore be more expensive.
"We wanted to put an end to the rigidity of the labor market" Labor Minister Xavier Bertrand, one of the chief architects of the change, said Thursday on France Info radio. "Everything will be negotiated company by company."
The opposition Socialist Party, which reduced the statutory workweek to 35 hours from 39 hours a decade ago, voted against the changes, accusing the government of pandering to big business at the expense of workers.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/25/2008 00:00 ||
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And labor doesn't pander to its members?
Never forget - labor IS big business. Unions are the big business of providing workers. This isn't a David vs Goliath thing. It's two Goliaths.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
07/25/2008 5:40 Comments ||
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#2
Unions can win all the concessions they want then stand by and watch unemployment increase. They never learn.
#3
In the US, labor unions are a political racket to extort millions of dollars for the Democratic Party from American workers. When was the last time you saw a union give money to the RNC?
France is to close 83 of its military units in a major shake-up of its defence strategy, the French prime minister has said.
Speaking at a press conference, Francois Fillon said money saved would be poured back into the armed forces. He also promised the government would help towns and villages cope with the economic fall-out when the local garrison moved on.
The changes are the biggest shake-up of defence policy in 14 years. Mr Fillon announced that the military sites which face closure include regiments, logistic centres and air force bases.
Interior focus
He added that the modernisation plan would generate savings of more than $3bn (1.9bn euros; £1.5bn) a year, which would be re-invested back into the armed forces. Last month, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said it was time to refocus France's defence priorities on interior rather than exterior security, warning the biggest threat to the country was now a terrorist attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/25/2008 00:00 ||
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IRNA > German Chancellor ANGELA MERKEL OPPOSES ANY PLAN TO DISSOLVE THE FRANCO-GERMAN BRIGADE. Wants France to keep EURO CORPS based in Germany; + NATO IN FOR THE LONG HAUL IN AFGHANISTAN.
He should challenge Mahmoud to a duel. Of auras...
PARIS - Democrat Barack Obama said Friday that Iran should promptly accept an international call to freeze its uranium enrichment program, which some nations see as a potential step toward obtaining nuclear weapons, and not wait for the next U.S. president. Instead of stringing us along like they've been doing for the last five years while they advance the program? How stupid are you? Stupid enough not to include 'or else ...' at the end of his statement.
Speaking later at a news conference, Obama said Iran should accept the proposals made by Sarkozy and other Western leaders. He urged Iran's leaders not to wait for the next U.S. president to push them "because the pressure, I think, is only going to build." So sez The Sage of the South Side...
The United States and other Western nations accuse Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons and demand that it freeze its uranium enrichment program. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
Obama said that he and Sarkozy agreed that Iran poses "an extraordinarily grave situation." He said the world must send "a clear message to Iran to end its illicit nuclear program." Obama said: "My expectation is that we're going to present a clear choice to Iran: change your behavior and you will be fully integrated into the international community with all the benefits that go with that. Continue your illicit nuclear program and the international community as a whole will ratchet up pressure with stronger and increased sanctions. And we should have no illusion that progress will come easily." Kinda like they've been doing for the last five years?
Obama is in the midst of a weeklong tour of the Middle East and Europe as the first-term U.S. senator seeks to burnish his international credentials for the general election campaign against Republican rival Sen. John McCain. The trip began with a campaign-season tour of the war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan and ends with meetings with old allies France and Britain. Obama told reporters that "Afghanistan is a war we have to win." The Taliban and terrorist groups it supports, he said, pose an unacceptable threat to the U.S., France and other nations."We've got to finish the job," said Obama, who often has said the Iraq war was an unwise move that distracted the United States from efforts to find Osama bin Laden and other terrorist leaders and to root out the Taliban forces in Afghanistan.
The joint news conference had many light moments. Sarkozy called his guest "my dear Barack Obama," and said the French have been following the U.S. presidential race "with passion. It's fascinating to watch what's happening there," he said. It's almost like Josephine Baker came back from the dead...
Obama urged U.S. political reporters to seek Sarkozy's insight because "he seems to have a good nose for how things play out." Sarkozy wished Obama luck, but did not endorse him. He said it was up to Americans to choose their president.
Asked by a French reporter how he would differ from President Bush on foreign policy, Obama noted that he is a senator, not president."I am a candidate for president," he said. "But there's a wonderful tradition in the United States, that's not always observed, but I think is a good one. Which is that you don't spend time criticizing a sitting president when you're overseas. What I can say affirmatively is that an effective U.S. foreign policy will be based on our ability not only to project power but also to listen and to build consensus," Obama said. Well...isn't that comforting.
Western diplomats and nuclear inspectors who frequently travel to Tehran as part of the international effort to persuade the Iranians to halt their uranium enrichment activities report that a sense of paranoia appears to have gripped the regime in recent months.
There has certainly been a change of mood since the start of the year, a Vienna-based official told me this week. In the past they always appeared very self-confident and sure-footed in their dealings with foreign officials. Now they come across as very suspicious, and watch our every move.
Tehrans changed political atmosphere might be explained by the fact that President Ahmadinejad and his senior officials realise they are running out of time in their negotiations with the West. After more than four years of painstaking talks with the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran is continuing to enrich uranium at its underground facility at Natanz, a clear breach of its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Even senior officials at the agency, who have gone out of their way to accommodate the Iranians concerns, have little confidence that the Iranians have any intention of reaching a compromise. All they seem interested in is extending the talks as long as possible while all the time they continue with their uranium enrichment programme, said an official close to the talks. Their entire strategy appears to be based on playing for time.
#2
Do you suppose Commmander nutjob wet his pants laughing at this latest beatitude from the chosen one?
I wonder what Obamaramalamadingdong is going to say when a city somewhere disappears courtesy of the Iranian Mullahs? Is he going to want to negotiate? Threaten them with another letter? Maybe we'll really get tough and ask for a non binding resolution from Congress or the UN?
Posted by: James Carville ||
07/25/2008 18:32 Comments ||
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Three ballistic missile crew members in North Dakota fell asleep while holding classified launch code devices this month, triggering an investigation by military and National Security Agency experts, the Air Force said Thursday.
The probe found that the missile launch codes were outdated and remained secure at all times. But the July 12 incident comes on the heels of a series of missteps by the Air Force that had already put the service under intense scrutiny.
Is the USAF strategic side of things falling apart due to crap leadership? This on top of failed nuclear security earlier, and their stupidity and intransigence in the UAV area spells big trouble - no wonder they sacked a lot of AF leadersip a while back. Bring Back SAC! (and SAC standards). Or maybe its time to put the USAF back under the Army again.
Maybe they ought to forbit flag rank promotions to any combat aircraft pilot (except A-10s) for the next 6 years, and fill the flag ranks from the intelligence, support, missile and transport people.
#2
According to my dad, who served in the 68th Strategic Missile Squadron back in the 70's, falling asleep was a court martial offense, an extremely serious one. I'm curious if standards have fallen so much that this won't merit that?
#4
The AF hasn't accorded the nuclear mission much respect since the creation of Air Combat Command by Merrill McPeak in 1992. Fighter pilots never really understood nukes, treating bomber pilots with condescension and missile guys with contempt. Things have gone steadily downhill since. I, for one, am happy to see the white scarf crowd rendered obsolete by UAVs. Given the current AF leadership, the only way to get control of the nuke situation is to take it away from ACC and, possibly, from the AF.
#8
I guess it's comforting to know that the chances of nuclear war are so slim that the guys charged with being prepared for it are bored out of their skulls.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
07/25/2008 15:37 Comments ||
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#9
Lemay would have these guys for dinner.
In the early sixties, when LeMay was head of the Air Force, there were a couple back-to-back incidences where USAF planes strayed across the German border into Communist territory. LeMay flew to Germany to inform the USAFE commander that if another such violation occured that he had better be on the plane. That put a stop to that.
#10
My first guess would be young people, post-Cold War complacency, 'Net Generation, and too many coffee refills - in certain individuals, once the caffeine levels are high enuff, can make one feel suddenly sleepy as opposed to staying awake. I DO AGREE, HOWEVER, YOUNG OR OLD, COLD WAR OR NO COLD WAR, LEMAY WOULD SKIN THEIR BUTTS.
#11
Hard to imagine how low fucked you'd feel if Curtis Lemay waz about the rip you a new one.
I go back JUST far enough to have served with men who served in LeMay's SAC and who had been on the recieving end of his ire. One thing I remember about their stories is that however funny they may have been, no one EVER laughed about it. SAC's attitude - right up to the end - was that failure to meet standards was total, complete, and utter failure in everything. It is a sad commentary on the modern USAF that they simply threw away the most demanding and successful standards in US military history (IMHO the USN's nuclear power standards coming in a VERY close second)solely because of an attitude problem.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
07/25/2008 20:00 Comments ||
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#12
All this stuff about LeMay reminds me of a serious ass-chewing Ned Almond gave an Army tank group captain during a Chicom offensive in Korea. The Army guys had been retreating in the face of overwhelming force when Almond, in a jeep, drove up and stopped them. He proceeded to rip the guy in charge a new one and told him in no uncertain terms to get his tanks turned around and go kick some enemy ass RIGHT NOW. Almond then jumped back in the jeep and headed parallel to the line to go "inspire" some other retreating soldiers.
When Almond had gone, the second-in-command of the tank force asked the OIC what he was going to do since heading back to the fight was almost certain death. The OIC said, "Didn't you hear the man? Hell, we've got no choice but to go back. At least we can use our guns against those guys!"
The U.S. Senate soon could be debating whether you, your spouse and each of your children -- as well as your in-laws, parents, grandparents, neighbors and everyone else in America -- each will be spending $2,500 or more to reduce poverty around the world.
The plan sponsored by Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee for the office of president, is estimated to cost the United States some $845 billion over the coming few years in an effort to raise the standard of living around the globe. S.2433 already has been approved in one form by the U.S. House of Representatives, and now has been placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar for pending debate.
WND previously has reported the proposal demands the president develop "and implement" a policy to "cut extreme global poverty in half by 2015 through aid, trade, debt relief" and other programs.
Cliff Kincaid at Accuracy in Media has published a critique asserting that while the Global Poverty Act sounds nice, the adoption could "result in the imposition of a global tax on the United States" and would make levels "of U.S. foreign aid spending subservient to the dictates of the United Nations." He said the legislation, if approved, dedicates 0.7 percent of the U.S. gross national product to foreign aid, which over 13 years he said would amount to $845 billion "over and above what the U.S. already spends."
The plan passed the House in 2007 "because most members didn't realize what was in it," Kincaid reported. "Congressional sponsors have been careful not to calculate the amount of foreign aid spending that it would require."
A recent statement from Obama's office noted the support offered by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "With billions of people living on just dollars a day around the world, global poverty remains one of the greatest challenges and tragedies the international community faces," Obama said. "It must be a priority of American foreign policy to commit to eliminating extreme poverty and ensuring every child has food, shelter, and clean drinking water. As we strive to rebuild America's standing in the world, this important bill will demonstrate our promise and commitment to those in the developing world.
"Our commitment to the global economy must extend beyond trade agreements that are more about increasing profits than about helping workers and small farmers everywhere," he continued.
Obama has continued to lobby for such massive expenditures on his campaign stops. During an address as recently as last week, he said, "I'll double our foreign assistance to $50 billion by 2012, and use it to support a stable future in failing states, and sustainable growth in Africa; to halve global poverty and to roll back disease."
Beck and Kincaid pointed out that the plan not only commits the U.S. to the anti-poverty spending proposal, it also adopts for the U.S. the United Nations Millennium Development Goal, which includes a variety treaties and protocols advocated by the U.N.
Objections have remained strong. On a posting also available at the All American blogger, a commentator warned that the U.S. has yet to be able to win its own war on poverty.
"On January 8, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson declared "all-out war on human poverty and unemployment in these United States." This "all-out war" would last through the presidencies of Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, H.W. Bush, Clinton, and George W. Bush. We have spent billions of dollars fighting this war, and what have we achieved?"
He continued, "Very little. In 1964, there were 36 million Americans living in poverty, or about 19 percent of the population. In the 40 years between 1964 and 2004: ... poverty never measured less than 11 percent of the population. In 1983, under President Reagan, poverty registered 15.2 percent; in 1993, at the beginning of Bill Clinton's presidency, poverty was measured at 13.7 percent of the population. In 2004, under George W. Bush, a president often accused by the political Left as not caring about the poor, the poverty rate declined to 12.7 percent. Still, some 37 million Americans remain poor."
Despite that performance, "Obama is ready to take the fight global," said commentator Duane Lester. "In addition to seeking to eradicate poverty, that declaration commits nations to banning 'small arms and light weapons' and ratifying a series of treaties, including the International Criminal Court Treaty, the Kyoto Protocol (global warming treaty), the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child," he wrote.
Tom DeWeese at NewsWithViews said the plan "is very telling" about what Obama would do as president. DeWeese, president of the American Policy Center, warned the over-arching plan includes the ideals of consolidating all international agencies under the U.N., regulation by the U.N. of all corporate environmental issues, license fees charged by the U.N. to use air, water and natural resources, a restructuring that would give hand-picked non-governmental organizations huge influence, authorize a standing U.N. army and require registration of all arms.
#3
This guy, along with a bunch of others need to have an accident. The Call to Arms point is getting closer and closer.
Posted by: Grease Dark Lord of the Algonquins9226 ||
07/25/2008 10:16 Comments ||
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#4
I say if we're going to dig everybody's hole $2500 deeper, then we might as well get something for it. I say use it to take out the remainder of the countries on the planet who are just a thorn in everyone else's side.
#6
Why does the U.S. have to bankroll the entire world?
Norway, Sweeden, Belgium, CHINA, Russia, Australia, and a host of other countries all have plenty of bank too. So why does this ballsack want to soak us and nobody else? Divide it between 10 countries and ding us for $250 apiece. Americans dont mind helping people, we never have minded, but we don't like getting hustled either.
#7
Considering the UN administered Oil-for-Bribes program, its a UN bureaucrat's lotto. Nothing more, nothing less. It's the Chicago way, of buying votes of the elite.
#8
The point is not to do anything about poverty but to feel good about ourselves whatever the cost. Pouring money into places without free markets or the rule of law is such an obvious, glaring waste of resources it can't have anything to do with economics. The explanation lies in psychology, particularly the minds of over privileged elites who have no clue as to how their privileges arose or what keeps them afloat. It is balm for the conscience of the ignorant.
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
07/25/2008 13:11 Comments ||
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#9
Nawlens has proved that pouring money into any place willing to sit back and accept largess without any effort is a waste of $. Screw them all.
#10
Well I think the point here is that this is taking charity from a voluntary thing to a govt. mandated asset grab. And eventually to a UN mandated grab on American citizens' money. Once they get their hooks into us they will bleed us dry. Americans have always dug deep and given big to the rest of the world, without being forced to give by law. This should be snuffed out immediately and without the slightest ambiguity. We are rapidly approaching the need for another whiskey rebellion. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiskey_Rebellion
#11
Foreign aid has generally polled as one of the least popular programs. Nevertheless, Transi and most StateDept apparachniks have been successful over the past decades in increasing this item.
It will be more difficult for them in the next administration. There is now plenty of academic research which correlates foreign aid with dictator longevity, plenty of documentation of foreign aid being stolen, being diverted to terrorist support, etc.
A future president Obama would have a tough fight on his hands to drastically increase foreign aid even with a democratic majority in both houses.
If the McCain people are smart, they'll let Obama make this a centerpiece of his campaign and then hammer him on it.
#12
$2,500? $250? I wouldn't give these dopes $.25. Here's a news flash to the rest of the world - get off your own asses, raise the children you were grown up enough to produce, fix your govt's and quit asking us for handouts. Oh, and fuck you to Obama.
#13
I think it depends on the country, the UN is not the intermediary you want handling it regardless. But there are people in this world that are grateful and hardworking, and don't chant Death to America in the streets. They just have a shitty govt. or economy and need an extra bump to get them started. I have no probs at all with giving to people like that. Ukraine is a good example I think. Israel is another. Columbia is starting to look that way, still some probs with corruption there, but they are working hard to turn it around. So I think the UN is out, but there are a few countries that can do good for themselves with a little help.
#15
If it's our money, yet we have no say in what is done with it, how close is this to "taxation without representation"?
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
07/25/2008 18:15 Comments ||
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#16
We've already paid through the nose for their benefit due to globalization and increased immigration. Just think how much better off this country would be if we had never had the post-1965 immigration reforms. Population would be down, gas demand would be down, societal cohesiveness would be up, budgets would be in better shape...the list is endless. The rest of the world brought a lot of its garbage to us and dumped it. Thanks for nothing. Screw them and the horse they rode in on.
I've already said that if Obama gets in two things will rise exponentially: taxes and the number of anti-black racists. I was wrong: it's three things: taxes, anti-black racists, and tax cheats.
#17
ION REDDIT/FREEREPUBLIC > SCIENTISTS: MORE GLOBAL WARMING WILL RESULT IN LESS/FEWER WEATHER STORMS. IOW, More SOLAR HEAT will overwhelm the Earth's natural mechanisms for producing storms; + REDDIT/RENSE > PERSONAL LAPTOPS CAN NOW BE CHECKED AND DOWNLOADED AT US BORDER CHECKPOINTS.
*BREAKING NEWS > MSM - POTUS Dubya has once again utterly failed to prevent TERROR ATTACKS BY THE SUN ON THE MOTHERLY OWG USA = USSA/USR.
D *** NG IT, MSM > JUST BECUZ WE DEMANDED DUBYA NOT ATTACK THE SUN DOESN'T MEAN HE HAD TO LISTEN TO US, THUSLY ITS DUBYA's FAULT FOR NOT UNDERSTANDING WHAT WE REALLY MEANT WHEN WE DIDN'T TELL HIM = DEMANDED HE DO THE OPPOSITE!
NBCs Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube get the skinny on the abrupt cancellation of Barack Obamas visit to Landstuhl and Ramstein yesterday. The campaign tried to excuse it by claiming that it wouldnt be appropriate to visit while on a campaign-funded portion of his trip, but that wasnt the real problem. When Obama found out he couldnt use the visit as a photo op, he canceled:
One military official who was working on the Obama visit said because political candidates are prohibited from using military installations as campaign backdrops, Obamas representatives were told, he could only bring two or three of his Senate staff member, no campaign officials or workers. In addition, Obama could not bring any media. Only military photographers would be permitted to record Obamas visit.
The official said We didnt know why the request to visit the wounded troops was withdrawn. He (Obama) was more than welcome. We were all ready for him.
In fact, those same rules applied for the CODEL trip to Iraq and Afghanistan. They serve to keep politicians from exploiting military facilities for political reasons, and to ensure that all visitors get treated fairly. Andrea Mitchell, also of NBC, complained of this very issue during the earlier visits with the troops when she told Chris Matthews that the media couldnt get access to Obama when visiting troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This makes the decision track very clear. Obama and his team set up the visits to military installations before going overseas. After seeing how the media got excluded in Iraq and Afghanistan, they decided it wasnt worth traveling to Ramstein and Landstuhl to visit the severely wounded troops because they couldnt bring the campaign and get the photo ops they wanted. Instead, Obama went shopping in Berlin.
As I wrote yesterday, thats certainly a revealing set of priorities for a man who wants to lead these troops as Commander in Chief.
#1
Obamessiah thinks he has the election locked up while he doesn't even have the nomination clinched. Many more dumb moves like this and he may go into the convention behind Big Mac.
This election will be close and uncallable on election day. And if he loses, Obamessiah will have no one to blame but himself...his wife, his pastor, his spiritual advisor...
#3
There is a big buzz out in the media these days. The MSM has their panties in a wad because Obamaramalamadingdong has not gain a "bump" in the polls from his "worlds longest drive by photo op"
I hope this story gets out.
I think more people should realize how superficial this all is. He is a manufactured product of media hype and PR grooming. He's a polished verious of the Peter Sellers gardener.
Rush played some cuts from JFK's Berlin speech and made a very telling point. There is not one Democrat out there who could make that speech today. JFK sounded more like Ronald Reagan than Barak Obama.
The last thing that I think is going to turn on the Dems and the MSM is this gross insinuation that if the US does NOT elect Obamaramalamadingdong president, it will be proof of how racist the US still is....as if using your head and voting qualifications and depth of character don't count.
Personally, if Obama is defeated, it will be the end of the MSM as a democratic cheerleader. They will be finally rendered impotent and fangless. Maybe some of the networks should cancel the nightly news.
Posted by: James Carville ||
07/25/2008 10:37 Comments ||
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#4
This just makes me sad in that he "did" intend to use America's most noble, our wounded, as a prop for his elitist tour. It goes beyond emotion and anger and just burns at my soul in disapointment that he could even have one supporter in this nation of ours. Our nation is drifting away.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/25/2008 10:52 Comments ||
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#5
It's not our nation, 49 Pan. Just Candidate Obama and his little friends, who are just as they've been for the last several generations; the honourable senator just isn't clever enough to hide it. The nation stages surprise parades for troops on leave for a home visit, sends care packages to total strangers, repairs homes on television (or with no publicity at all) for the family waiting back home. Rejoice, 49 Pan, that this time it isn't at all like Viet Nam, however much Candidate Obama and his little friends would like it to be.
#9
Thanks TW! This guy and his followers frighten me more than any armed enemy I have faced. I just find it hard to believe he is even a contender to lead this great nation, he certainly is not qualified.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
07/25/2008 13:31 Comments ||
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Gibbs said Obama had decided several weeks ago he wanted to visit wounded troops in Germany. Asked whether either the senator or aides had considered that the trip might be viewed as political, he replied, "We had taken some of that into consideration but we believed that it could be done in a way that would not create, it would not be created or seen as a campaign stop."
But after hearing from the Pentagon, he said, "We decided, Senator Obama decided having made that decision he was far more willing to take the criticism from some political people or political opponents in a political atmosphere than to put our troops in the middle of our campaign back and forth."
Counterpoint:
At the Pentagon, spokesman Bryan Whitman said Obama was told he could go to Landstuhl, but the visit would have to conform to Defense Department guidelines that restrict political activity on military installation. That meant campaign staff would have been barred from accompanying him, he said.
At the same time, he said, "The Pentagon certainly did not tell the senator he could not visit Landstuhl."
#2
Almost no one other than political junkies pays much attention to the Presidential race until September. If Obama's losing ground now just wait until people actually start paying attention.
#5
Obama is in self-destruct mode. He is talking without reading from a script. Er, ah, he is ah, er, In my opinion, ah, he um , is um-ah er, I'll get back to ya.
One of South Africa's leading female jurists who won acclaim defending apartheid opponents was nominated Thursday to serve as the next United Nations high commissioner for human rights.
Navanethem Pillay was formally put forward for the job by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who cited her "outstanding credentials in human rights and justice." Pillay, who holds a Harvard Law School degree, serves as an appeals chamber judge with the Dutch-based International Criminal Court, where she has been since 2003. Pillay, who is in her mid-60s, is of Tamil descent.
Her selection now goes to the General Assembly for consideration where she is likely to be approved at a plenary meeting next Monday, U.N. officials and diplomats said. The world body previously elected Pillay as a judge to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in 1995. She became that court's president in 1999.
Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador, said Pillay will occupy a very important position. "She has to be the voice for human rights, focus on the violations of human rights, speak clearly and focus world attention on the egregious violations of human rights that unfortunately still take place in many places around the world," he said. "We look forward to working with her."
In 1967, Pillay became the first woman to establish a law practice in South Africa's Natal Province, where she defended apartheid opponents. She also became the first woman of color to serve on her country's High Court, whose divisions hear both civil and criminal cases. She also co-founded Equality Now, a New York-based international women's rights organization.
During the selection process some nations, including the United States, had expressed reservations about Pillay, including her support for women's access to abortion, contraception and other reproductive freedoms, and how she might handle next year's follow up to the 2001 U.N. World Conference on Racism in Durban, South Africa, which drew controversy due to anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli stands.
If confirmed to the job, Pillay will take over the fast-growing U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, based in Geneva, Switzerland. During the coming year, the office will have almost 1,000 employees and budget approaching $120 million. She would succeed Louise Arbour, a former Supreme Court judge in Canada, who stepped down at the end of June. Pillay won out over two other finalists for the job, Pakistani lawyer and human rights activist Hila Jilani and Argentine human rights lawyer Juan Mendez.
Attorney General Menachem Mazuz criticized the prime minister on Thursday saying that Ehud Olmert was deliberately obstructing the corruption investigation currently underway against him.
In response to a petition submitted by journalist Yoav Yitzhak asking the High Court of Justice to declare Olmert incapacitated and remove him from office, Mazuz said "the police have faced serious difficulties in setting dates for questioning of the prime minister, as well as in determining the length of the questioning."
"These are difficulties that the police have not faced while investigating any other public figure, including previous prime ministers," Mazuz went on to say.
Yitzhak petitioned the High Court of Justice asking the court to declare the prime minister incapacitated for a pre-determined period of time, during which he would be questioned every day in regard to all six open investigations against him. Yitzhak also asked that Olmert be compelled to comply with short notice summons for questioning should the investigation require it.
In a response to the High Court, Mazuz said that "the investigations against Omlert in various affairs are well underway, in advanced stages, but not yet complete. In any case, decisions have yet to be made, and it is not yet clear whether the evidence gathered will be sufficient to support an indictment in any of the cases, and which charges they will include."
"In light of the public sensitivity of the matter, we will do the utmost in our power to expedite the investigation process," Mazuz added.
In regard to the petition calling for Olmert to be declared incapacitated, the attorney general reiterated his previous assertion that Olmert's continued service as prime minister is not a legal issue, but rather a political one.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/25/2008 00:00 ||
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I'll bet they wish they could slam her...
KUALA LUMPUR - THE youth wing of Malaysia's opposition Islamic party on Thursday slammed an upcoming concert by an Indonesian songstress, saying her hip-swivelling dance moves were 'too sexy and immoral.' Do you wish our heads to EXPLODE!
Mr Kamaruzaman Mohamad, Kuala Lumpur PAS youth chief said party workers would distribute about 20,000 pamphlets to discourage youths from watching Inul Darastita's concert on Sunday at the Bukit Jalil sports stadium south of the city. 'This concert not only promotes un-Islamic values, it is also a very immoral showmanship and even non-Muslims would agree with me,' he said. Ummmmmmmm...why, no.
'Just watch her videos on YouTube website and you will see what I mean. It is too sexy, erotic even and not suitable for Malaysians,' he said. ...and I have them all. And they are even more disgusting everytime I watch them.
PAS youth has in the past opposed performances by Gwen Stefani and Beyonce in Malaysia, saying they promoted a 'very, very immoral' culture among youngsters. 'We are experiencing a moral decay in society so we should work to promote a cleaner culture, not one that is sinful." I mean, look at these videos! Look at them! I will play them again so you can get a good look!
'We are not denying public rights to have a concert but please, Indonesia has a host of very good, classy artists so why can't they bring them instead?' Mr Kamaruzaman said. Songstress Inul is well known for her 'dangdut' song and hip-swivelling dance routines which she performs in form-fitting, sexy attire. FILTHY INFIDEL TEMPTRESS!
Last week her concert in southern Johor state was cancelled by the state government, with no reasons given. Inul reportedly fainted in distress upon hearing the news, reports said. Quick! The salts!
PAS, which rules the northern state of Kelantan, has had ambitions of turning mainly-Muslim Malaysia into a theocratic state under Islamic rule. But in recent years it has begun introducing reforms designed to tone down its hardline reputation and woo young voters. You'll love living in a bag and reading the Koran for fun...
(Bloomberg) -- Ford Motor Co., the world's third- biggest automaker, posted a record quarterly loss of $8.7 billion and accelerated a conversion to fuel-efficient vehicles to wean itself from money-losing trucks.
Just a piece of advice: keep producing trucks if you want, stop producing anything that runs on gasoline or diesel. Produce nothing but trucks and cars that'll run on natural gas or propane in the interim, with the ultimate goal of running them on hydrogen without major modification. If you build it, they will come, and the distribution system with them. Most of us by this point will be happy to avoid any of our dollars going to any Arab or African oil producing nation, and happy enough to see Exxon, Shell, and Citgo in penury.
Ford shares fell the most in almost seven years after the company reported a second-quarter deficit of $3.88 a share compared with a profit of $750 million, or 31 cents, a year earlier. The figure included $8 billion in pretax writedowns for plant closings and the declining value of truck leases at Ford Motor Credit Co.
Don't timidly try and compete in the hybrid market. Make a bold break and go for CNG/LNG.
The automaker said it will double production of hybrid vehicles, sell more European autos such as the Fiesta in the U.S. and convert three North American truck factories to make a redesigned Focus and other small cars.
The Focus isn't half-bad. It gives them something to sell while they figure out what to do. Guess they thought they could sell the Explorer forever ...
The revamping is a response to record gasoline prices that have ravaged sales of large pickups and sport-utility vehicles and derailed Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally's turnaround plan. ``They believe this is a permanent shift in buyer sentiment that they have to adjust to no matter how hard it will be,'' said Maryann Keller, an independent auto analyst and consultant based in Greenwich, Connecticut. `This is going to be expensive.''
Converting a car from gasoline to CNG/LNG costs about $100 in parts. Approaching the problem from the ground up you may come out with negative costs.
The loss marks the sixth in eight quarters under Mulally, 62, recruited from Boeing Co. to revive the Dearborn, Michigan- based automaker. Gasoline approaching $4 a gallon and plunging sales of F-Series pickups forced the CEO in May to abandon his target of returning to profit in 2009.
Six losses in eight quarters sez the old imagination factory's getting a little run down.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/25/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
No, that would require competent management and flexible workers, both of which are nonexistent at the Big Two.
#4
can't disagree with the variable fuel philosophy, but McZoid's mid-sized chevy won't move that bed set or ATV to the desert. There are some things a truck is necessary for, and the first of my friends that gives me shit for my 2004 F-150 4X4 will find it is no longer available to borrow to pick up that new BBQ at Lowes or help move their kid to a new apartment. I love my truck
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/25/2008 8:07 Comments ||
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#7
will find it is no longer available to borrow to pick up that new BBQ at Lowes or help move their kid to a new apartment.
From my C20HD days.... "you don't know me but I sat behind you in the 4th grade, can I borrow you and your truck to help us move this weekend... pizza and beer?"
The pizza was always small, the bier Old Mill... still sometimes it worked.
#8
are people still driving ATVs in the desert? Anyone whos doing that has no right to criticize your truck.
These days, if you want to pick up stuff or move someone, the rental prices on trucks and vans aint too bad, IIUC. Easier to find than a compact for rent.
#9
If sombody makes a vehicle that will pull a horse trailer with 2 horses or a trailer with 200 bales of hay and still gets 30mpg I'll buy it. Until then I'll keep my Dodge 2500.
#10
If they thought record gasoline prices would never ravage sales of large trucks and SUVs they deserve to go under. I can't blame them for selling these things as long as they could but they had to know this day was coming and they should have been prepared for it. Big trucks may come in handy if you have a big load to haul. But it doesn't make much sense these days to drive some big ass truck or SUV to work every day when the bed is empty.
#12
If sombody makes a vehicle that will pull a horse trailer with 2 horses or a trailer with 200 bales of hay and still gets 30mpg I'll buy it. Until then I'll keep my Dodge 2500.
#13
concur, Frank. My dodge ram 1500 quad cab 4x4 always seems to be in demand from some of my so called "eco-neighbors" out here. My enviro uncle asked me if I needed something that big - I said "No, but I can afford something this big". God Bless America.
#14
Re big private trucks: let's not forget that any city and town has numerous contractors who will haul your stuff on short notice. They usually have a 3 hour minimum and charge $15-$20 per hour. I give them business.
#15
Mad Eye Gromotle44 - I have an SUV and a Grand Caravan for that.... little Saab doens't even fit my 6'4" 230lb body.
Neither will a prius.
Some of us just need big stuff.
#19
at 6'-2", 275, I doubt I fit in the parameters of our friend's "optimal" parameters. I would suggest he is a small man. In every measure of the phrasing. We do not share the same needs and his will be imposed over mine when he can enforce it. I hate pencilnecks.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/25/2008 21:11 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The Zimbabwean government is struggling to find enough cash to pay its workers, and more importantly the military, after it was forced to cut back on printing money because sanctions have severed its supply of banknote paper from Europe. Officials involved in the printing say the regime fears the presses could be shut down altogether if further political pressure causes the withdrawal of software licences used to design and print notes. Paper money is already in short supply because the state-run Fidelity Printers & Refiners in the capital, Harare, cannot keep up with demand created by the hyperinflation and rapid devaluation that causes notes to lose almost their entire value within weeks of being issued.
France is to close 83 of its military units in a major shake-up of its defence strategy, the French prime minister has said. 
One of South Africa's leading female jurists who won acclaim defending apartheid opponents was nominated Thursday to serve as the next United Nations high commissioner for human rights. 
