Congolese rebels said Tuesday they were pulling back their forces to allow talks with the army, whose soldiers were fleeing and even fighting their own allies as any lingering army control in the area disintegrated.
Fighting Tuesday took place around Kanyabayonga, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) north of the regional capital, Goma. Clashes between fighters loyal to rebel leader Laurent Nkunda on one side and the army and its allied spear-wielding militias on the other exploded in August and have displaced at least 250,000 people.
Nkunda launched a rebellion in 2004, claiming to protect ethnic Tutsis from Hutu militias who fled to Congo after Rwanda's 1994 genocide left more than 500,000 Tutsis and others slaughtered. But critics say Nkunda is more interested in power and Congo's mineral wealth than in protecting his people.
Continued on Page 49
NEW DELHI: Even as the UN Security Council moves towards pumping in more peace-keeping troops into war-ravaged Congo, India has for now virtually ruled out sending additional soldiers to the Central African nation. India is already the largest troop contributor to the UN peace-keeping mission in Congo (MONUC) with 4,700 soldiers, followed by Pakistan with 3,551 soldiers. With a total of 17,000 troops, MONUC is currently the largest and most expensive UN peace-keeping mission around the globe. But the blue-helmeted soldiers, primarily Indians, deployed in the eastern province of North Kivu in Congo, are increasingly getting sucked directly into the raging conflict between government and rebels forces in the region.
After defence minister A K Antony recently expressed "serious concern'' over the developments in Congo, sources said his ministry has now told the external affairs ministry that there is no need to rush additional troops to Congo unless it is felt that it would "serve some major strategic or politico-economic interest'' of India.
This came even as a battalion of 3rd Gorkha Rifles left for Congo on Friday as part of the "routine turnover'' of Indian battalions deployed in MONUC. "The planes taking them to Congo will return with a Sikh Light Infantry battalion completing its tenure there. With European and other countries reluctant to strengthen MONUC, our troops should not become cannon-fodder,'' said a defence ministry source.
As it is, there is mounting pressure on Indian troops in Congo to undertake "unilateral armed action'' for any breach of peace against both the rapidly-advancing rebel forces led by Tutsi warlord General Laurent Nkunda as well as the poorly-trained and ill-disciplined Congo government forces "increasing running amok'' with raping and looting sprees.
"But UNSC will have to revise the existing mandate to allow unilateral action. Even if it is done, the defence ministry is not in favour of sending more troops,'' said the source.
The Indian reading of the situation is that western powers are playing their "own games'' in the mineral-rich Congo, with a few even "sympathetic'' to Rwanda's support to rebel groups like Nkunda's CNDP (National Congress for the Defence of the People).
With European countries unwilling to send troops to the vastly over-stretched MONUC, Indian and other troops have established COBs (company-operating bases) and MOBs (mobile-operating bases) in the "hot zones'' in the North Kivu province, the epicentre of the conflict.
Except for a few incidents, which led to an Indian Lt-Col and a couple of others being injured recently, apart from a few rockets being fired on UN armoured personnel carriers, the warring groups have refrained from directly attacking the peace-keepers till now.
But there is the distinct possibility of the peace-keepers getting caught in the cross-fire since government forces now often use the cover of COBs and MOBs of MONUC to fire rocket and mortar shells at rebel forces.
With the January 2008 ceasefire agreement between all warring groups shredded to tatters by the escalating battle, estimates suggest over 250,000 people have been displaced in the North Kivu province since August.
After overrunning several important towns and villages in the region, the rebel forces are now threatening to take over North Kivu's capital of Goma, which has a population of around 500,000.
There is also the fear that the conflict will spill over into other countries since Congo borders as many as nine other African nations, in what will be a repeat of the continent's five-year war which touched all of them before it ended in 2003.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/18/2008 00:00 ||
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The Russian Navy will commission the Nerpa nuclear submarine, on which 20 people recently died, rather than sell or lease it to India, the chief of the General Staff told a Russian daily on Tuesday.
"The sum of $650-780 million, which Rosoboronexport and the Amur Shipbuilding Plant had negotiated over a long period of time with the Indian Ministry of Defense, will now be found in Russia, either within the state weapons procurement program or somewhere else," the Rossiiskaya Gazeta quoted General of the Army Nikolai Makarov as saying.
The construction of the Akula II class Nerpa nuclear attack submarine started in 1991, but was suspended for over a decade due to a lack of funding. Indian media have reported on various occasions that the construction of the submarine was partially financed by the Indian government. India has reportedly paid $650 million for a 10-year lease of the 12,000-ton submarine.
The Navy earlier said the sea trials of the submarine would continue after the investigation into the recent tragedy and certain technical adjustments in the fire safety system.
Nerpa will reportedly join other seven Akula class submarines in Russia's Pacific Fleet. Akula II class vessels are considered the quietest and deadliest of all Russian nuclear-powered attack submarines.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/18/2008 05:40 ||
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Don't want to pay the extra $2 billion for the Gorshkov? Well, we'll keep the Nerpa as well....
Posted by: john frum ||
11/18/2008 5:48 Comments ||
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Thanks for all the fish Rupees!
Posted by: ed ||
11/18/2008 7:11 Comments ||
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I need coffee. For a minute I thought it was Nerf submarine.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
11/18/2008 7:20 Comments ||
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Might as well be, Deacon.
entered the wrong data into the temperature sensor
Huh? Since when do you "enter data" into sensors, aren't they supposed to sense things themselves?
The trial of three men allegedly involved in the murder of the campaigning Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya will be held in open court, a judge ruled yesterday. The unusual move, by the military court in Moscow, stunned Politkovskaya's family and lawyers, who had asked for the trial to be open to the public. Prosecutors wanted the case to be heard behind closed doors, and the ruling paves the way for details of the much-criticised investigation to be made public.
The evidence in Russia's most high-profile journalistic killing will be laid out in a small, overcrowded Moscow courtroom. Three of the men accused of acting as accomplices in her murder appeared there yesterday, inside a cage. They include two brothers from Chechnya - Dzhabrail and Ibragim Makmudov - and a former police officer, Sergei Khadzhikurbanov. A fourth defendant, Pavel Ryaguzov, an officer with Russia's secret FSB intelligence agency, sat next to them, although he appears in a related case.
Politkovskaya, a remorseless Kremlin critic, was shot dead two years ago outside her Moscow apartment block. Russian investigators have so far failed to catch her killer, who was seen on CCTV slipping into her building wearing a baseball cap. They have also been unable to identify who ordered her murder.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/18/2008 00:00 ||
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Most of Australia's navy is to be given two months off over Christmas as part of a new strategy to cope with crew shortages, the defence minister says. Joel Fitzgibbon said the extended break was a way of encouraging sailors to stay in the service.
The number of sailors who stay aboard docked ships will be reduced, to make sailors' duties more family-friendly.
Mr Fitzgibbon rejected claims by the opposition that the move would affect national security. The opposition said the venture was an admission that the government had failed to recruit enough sailors.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/18/2008 16:05 ||
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The UN's highest court will hear a genocide claim lodged against Serbia by neighbouring Croatia for alleged ethnic cleansing committed during the Croatian war of the early 1990s, judges ruled on Tuesday.
A panel of 17 judges dismissed a Serbian challenge to the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) competence to hear Croatia's complaint, a date for which will now be set and may take years to reach finality. "The court ... by ten votes to seven finds that ... the court has the jurisdiction to entertain the application by the Republic of Croatia," said presiding judge Rosalyn Higgins in The Hague.
The ruling paves the way for only the second genocide case to be brought before the ICJ, Serbia also having been the subject of the previous claim filed by Bosnia.
Continued on Page 49
When crackpot socialism flops, there's always Voodoo Economics as Plan B.
An enterprising Swedish company seeking to hire 20 witches has provided a welcome break in the country's otherwise steady flow of dismal employment news. Häxriket i Norden, based in Åhus in southern Sweden, is currently seeking to place five witches each in four separate locations around the country, the Skånska Dagbladet newspaper reports.
According to the company's advertisement on a listing maintained by Sweden's Public Employment Agency (Arbetsförmedlingen), qualified candidates should be well-versed in "contact with the other side, runes, tarots, crystals, herbs, rituals, exorcism, meditation, personal coaching, and more".
The job also requires having a fixed telephone line and an internet connection, as most of Häxriket's services are delivered online or over the phone at a cost of 19.90 kronor ($2.45) per minute. I guess the peer-to-peer crystal ball network still needs work
The sudden wave of new hires comes following an internal shake up at the company in which a number of Häxriket's former witches were let go for violating the telemarketing ethics code put in place by the Etiska Rådet för Betalteletjänster ('Trade Ethical Council for Telemarketing') -- ERB. Jeez Loueeze, local.se! Don't you think a translated copy of the complaint might be newsworthy? Heck, Drudge would link that in a heartbeat!
ERB was created in 1994 to develop rules governing a variety of telemarketing services and associated fees and includes representatives from Sweden's major telecommunications operators
"We've really cleaned house," said Qinna Blomgren, who refers to herself as the "top witch" and is partial owner of Häxriket, to the newspaper. "In order to work with us you don't only need to have certain skills, but you also have to be serious and prepared to continually develop. We have a responsibility to our customers, and therefore our witches go through an employment exam so that we can see that they really can do what they say they can." Any reports from the neighbors?
Blomgren is quick to dismiss critics who question the legitimacy of Häxriket's operations. "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. If I like cinnamon buns with cardamom, it doesn't mean that I can claim it's the only correct path," she said. Never mind Sweden - she's a perfect fit for Obama's economic team.
And representatives from Arbetsförmedlingen agree. While the agency reserves the right to refuse to post what it considers to be offensive or inappropriate job announcements, it chose to reserve judgment in the case of Häxriket's witch recruitment drive. "When it comes to the type of activities described in the announcement, with cards, and crystal and the like, it has a lot to do with what each individual believes, and that isn't something about which we can have an opinion, and that'll be $100, please. And no checks. " said Arbetsförmedlingen's Britt-Marie Grahn to the paper.
New Delhi: "Pay up $2 billion more for the aircraft carrier Gorshkov, or else we call off the deal" - that was the Russian threat on Friday. But if the Russians had expected the Indians to whimper and comply, they were sadly mistaken.
Former Indian Navy chief, admiral (Retd) Arun Prakash said, "This is nothing but sheer, bare-faced blackmail."
Russia suddenly upped the price three years after it signed a $750 million contract for supplying the refurbished Admiral Gorshkov to India. However, the Navy Chief gave enough indication that India's patience with Russia was running thin.
Indian Navy Chief, Admiral Sureesh Mehta said, "I don't think that there is anything like they taking advantage of us, because we can also put our foot down and say it's a government to government contract."
Under pressure, India snubbed its tough talking Navy Chief last year and agreed to renegotiate the price. But with Russia now serving an ultimatum, opinion in India is building up against the deal.
Admiral Arun Prakash says, "The long-term price that we pay for 25 years of mischief, of twisting our arm will be much more than what we pay now."
But India urgently needs a replacement for its only aircraft carrier, the ageing Viraat. The indigenous carrier is still many years away. So, can India do without the Gorshkov?
Admiral Arun Prakash says, "I don't think there will be a catastrophe if we don't get the Gorshkov. India can do without carrier for a year or two.
India is building the first of its new Vikrant class carriers at a Cochin, Kerala shipyard. It should be ready by 2012
There is a doctrine built around carrier battle groups, but a void can be managed for sometime by other strategic measures."
During the Kargil war, the Vikrant (ex-HMS Hercules) had just been decommissioned and the Viraat (ex-HMS Hermes) was undergoing refit. The Indian Navy operated their Sea Harriers from the decks of merchant ships. With their new Israeli built AWACS and their Il-78 airborne tankers, the land based Indian SU-30 Flankers should be able to provide a CAP over their fleet
'Call the bluff and draw the line' - that's the Navy's message for the Government at the moment.
Kitty Hawk is available. Just saying ...
Posted by: john frum ||
11/18/2008 00:00 ||
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ION, CHINA > Officio hints that any future Chin PLAN Carrier will be for regional "defensive purposes" only, NOT FOR "GLOBAL REACH" SCOPES.
As for INDIA, considering how many times Russia's hardware had failed to meet their requirements + now reportedly killed a number of Indian citizens ala NERPA fire, METHINKS SAFE TO SAY INDIA'S NAVY WOULD PROB BE BETTER OFF WID A CERTAIN "HAVE PROPELLERS, WILL LOSE" FRENCH CV, AS THE USN LIKES SINKING THEIR AMPHIB CV'S FOR FLORIDA REEFS???
#2
In addition to the Hawk, so is the Independence (CV-62), Constellation (CV-64), and Ranger (CV-61) all sitting quietly up here at Bremerton Naval Shipyard. BO sould take the 2 billion bribe money, sell at least one of them to India and modernize their fleet, as well as remove the overhead that we incur to keep them in 'reserve.'
Throw in a handful of F-4's, S-3's , A/KA-6's, H-3's and Hummers from Davis Mothan and you have a turn key battle group.
My understanding is that of all those ships, only Kitty Hawk is in any condition at all to be used again. I know Indy has gotten almost no maintenance or upkeep, and Ranger is missing one or both rudders.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
11/18/2008 7:02 Comments ||
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Ranger is missing one or both rudders.
Mike
After November 4th, feeling a bit rudderless myself.
#6
Oh, all of those ships could be rehabbed. It's a question of how much it would cost. And for $2 billion, one could (I'm guessing) get a fair ways down the road refitting Ranger, Independence or Constellation. What's missing here is a little imagination and will.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/18/2008 8:11 Comments ||
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signed a $750 million contract for supplying the refurbished Admiral Gorshkov to India
"Kon-drrrract? Vot kon-drrract?"
Personally, I don't have any faith in BO's foreign policy, and would assert he won't intervene to 'prevent any slight to China'.
#8
Ranger and Indy are the same class as is the Hawk and Connie; even if one were cannabalized to make the other operational, there is still a lot of life in them, even for oil burners.
and for half mts comments: since the lawn dart Mafia took over NAVAIR's tac air fixed wing assets, anything that ain't got an '-18' painted on the grille gets parked in the desert. putting aside my personal affection for the lawn dart (NOT!) the Hoover would have been an excellent tanker, but we sold out to the USAF in the name of 'joint ops.' and at the same time gave up long range sea-based ASW to the VP community, relying on their 'P-8A' promise. Organic ASW is now limited to the various H-60 variants and even they are being reconfigured to a 'one size fits most' vertical truck role.
it would be an interesting discussion to have regarding the CV and the Chinese sub last year if the Vikings had still been in the airwing mix...
#9
CHINESE MIL FORUM > REPORT: CHINA SECRETLY SUBVERTING INDIA, IS NOW TOP SUPPLER OF REBELS [India's NE]; + PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > INDIA FALLS BEHIND ITS NEIGHBORS IN VARIOUS IMPORTANT HEALTH, SOCIAL INDICATORS,
ALso from PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > HINDU AL-QAEDA: ASIAS NEW TERROR CENTRAL? US "Wag the Dog" MSM is all but ignoring the rise of INDIA + INDIAN-HINDI RELIGIOUS TERROR ORGS AS A SPONSOR AND PROLIFERATOR OF REGIONAL-GLOBAL TERROR!?
To kiss or not to kiss. That is the question the Egyptian scholar who condoned kissing between unmarried couples is seeking to answer in his new book of Islamic interpretation. Islamic intellectual Gamal al-Banna became embroiled in controversy after he issued a fatwa, or religious ruling, sanctioning kissing between unmarried males and females and has written a new book to set the record straight.
Al-Azhar scholars accused Banna of promoting vice last March when, in an interview with the Egyptian al-Saa channel, he issued a fatwa permitting unmarried people to kiss.
Later Banna appeared on Al-Arabiya and backpedaled, saying that Islam does not permit unmarried kissing but that it is not one of its grave sins.
" If I say kisses are a reaction, this doesn't mean I am allowing them "
Gamal al-Banna, author
The 254-page book, entitled The Issue of Kisses and Other Interpretations, tackles more than just the intricacies of smooching, delving into modern relationships and the problems facing marriage in modern times.
Banna, brother to Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna, said kissing is a reaction to parents' inflexibility with suitors, which inevitably leads to committing even greater sins. "If I say kisses are a reaction, this doesn't mean I am allowing them," Banna told AlArabiya.net. "But it is a minor sin that results from instinctive human weakness and that can be redressed by good deeds."
Banna added that he based his research on the Quran and the theories of prominent scholars about the concept of minor sins. He also explained that if redemption atones for major sins then the same applies to minor ones. He offered the example of fornication, noting that whatever happens prior to the act of intercourse is considered a minor sin.
In the book Banna, criticizes the way Muslim societies belittle feelings of love and beauty and how Muslims are portrayed as devoid of emotions. "The book provides a religious analysis of kissing and deals with it as a human frailty, nothing more," Banna said.
" He talks about human nature and instincts, but these should be controlled by God's laws. Otherwise, what is the use of religion in our lives "
Abdul-Fattah al-Sheikh, Former president of al-Azhar University
Former president of al-Azhar University Abdul-Fattah al-Sheikh rejected Banna's argument. "He talks about human nature and instincts, but these should be controlled by God's laws. Otherwise, what is the use of religion in our lives," he told AlArabiya.net.
Sheikh accused Banna of giving youth the green light to have open relationships and argued that they would not stop at kisses. "This could lead to fornication and possibly pregnancy. Parentages will be mixed and society will have no rules," he said.
Sheikh argued that kisses cannot be considered minor sins since they could develop to major ones. "Then we will regret it when it is too late" he added.
This article starring:
Hassan al-Banna
Posted by: Fred ||
11/18/2008 00:00 ||
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The 254-page book, entitled The Issue of Kisses and Other Interpretations
The mind boogles. Really, most of what I've read about islma, and the little I understood from it, leads me to think this is not a religion, meaning there's no transcendence, no faith per se... but it's rather a LAW, a set of rules aiming at controlling the very least of human behavior (with a marked insistance on mictions, bodily fluids, bodily functions), and all of this is absolutely involutive, spiralling down into an ever more encompassing and absurd set of LAW... until there is nothing more left of the thinking, human mind. Truly satanic.
1) Shativah: Proclam that Muhammad was the nicest, smartest and prettiest.
2) Prayer: Five times a day proclaim that Muhammad was the nicest, smartest and prettiest
3) Ramadan: Fast for the sake of it. BTW, even in South of Finland there is ever enough daylight to read during teh summer. And too much for a Mulim being allowed to eat and drink if Ramadan is in summer.
4) Hadj: Fill the pockets of the master race (and in his times, of the master tribe) even if you are a Bangladeshi.
5) Zakat: That is the only one who could e deemed as "positive" but notice that charity is limited. Give 3% of your money to the poor, if you can afford it.
And then there is what some Muslim scholars call the Sixth Pillar, the unofficial one: Jihad. Make war on ten infidels so the rich can get new sex toys and the master race can get more money through the Hadj.
Notice that between those five pillars there is nothing like "Thou shalt not kill" or "Thou sall not lift false testimony". Nothing, except for the quite limited precept of Zakat contributing to a better world. And no "difficult" precept like the Christian precept of putting the other cheek when you are slapped.
While we are at it, notice that official (that is saducean judaism) was more about rites than moral. The moral dimension was not in the Bible in the oral tradition that sadduceans rejected (in fact they rejected everything in the Bible buit the first five books) but that the pharisian movement (later to become rabiinc judaism) vindicated.
Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand's controversial former prime minister, has divorced his wife Potjaman after 32 years of marriage.
The divorce comes at a time when Thaksin, who became a billionaire in the telecommunications industry, and his wife are effectively stateless. They both face jail sentences if they return to Thailand -- he on charges of breaching conflict-of-interest laws and she for tax evasion. Thaksin has said the charges and convictions are politically motivated.
Britain, where the two have spent most of their time since he lost his office in a military coup in 2006, recently revoked their visas, citing their criminal convictions. Thaksin's current whereabouts are unclear, although the divorce was finalized in the Thai consulate in Hong Kong last week.
There has been speculation in the Thai media that the divorce was a charade motivated by financial considerations -- that because many of their seized assets are in Potjaman's name, they would have greater access now that they are divorced. A spokesman denied this was the case.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/18/2008 00:00 ||
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Wholesale prices in October experienced the biggest one-month drop on records that go back more than 60 years, illustrating the impact falling energy prices and fears of a prolonged recession can have on inflation.
Wholesale prices dropped by a record 2.8 percent last month, reflecting the fact that energy prices decreased by the largest amount in 22 years. After spending most of the year worrying about surging costs for energy, food and other commodities, analysts found it remarkable that prices could reverse so quickly.
"Inflation is yesterday's problem," said Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist at IHS Global Insight. He called the change "a testament to how suddenly the global economy's expansion has turned into recession."
Economists said they did not believe the country would experience outright deflation, which was last faced in the U.S. in the 1930s when the nation suffered through the Great Depression and a long, debilitating bout of falling prices.
"I think deflation concerns will rise over the next three to six months while the economy is at its worst and businesses are scrambling to hold on to sales by cutting prices," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. "But I don't think we will get an actual period of deflation because the Federal Reserve will be working very hard to make sure that doesn't happen."
Many economists believe the economy has fallen into a recession that could be the worst downturn in more than two decades. But they believe that retreating inflation pressures will give the Fed the room to cut interest rates further to combat the economic weakness.
The Fed cut interest rates by a half-point in a coordinated move with other central banks on Oct. 8 when the financial market turmoil was growing in intensity and followed with another half-point reduction on Oct. 29.
The federal funds rate, the target rate for overnight loans between banks, is now at 1 percent, matching a low seen only once before in the last half-century. Many economists are predicting the Fed will cut the funds rate to 0.5 percent at their next meeting on Dec. 16.
"We are facing a recession and it is going to be a pretty bad one," said David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor's in New York. "The Fed is going to keep doing all it can to support the economy."
The 2.8 percent drop in wholesale prices in October followed smaller declines of 0.9 percent in August and 0.4 percent in September. It was bigger than the 1.8 percent decline economists had been expecting, and surpassed the old record fall for a single month, a decline of 1.6 percent in October 2001, the month after the terrorist attacks.
The majority of Americans believe Hollywood goes against their religious and moral values, a Marttila Communications Group poll finds. Commissioned by Anti-Defamation League, the 'American Attitudes on Religion, Moral Values and Hollywood' poll surveyed 1,000 adults throughout the US.
The results showed that 61% of the participants believe religious values are 'under attack' in America and 59% agreed that 'the people running TV networks and major movie studios do not share the religious and moral values of most Americans'.
"The belief that religion is under attack underlies the drive to incorporate more religion into American public life. Disturbingly, 43% of Americans believe there is an organized campaign by Hollywood and the national media to weaken the influence of religious values in this country," said ADL national director, Abraham H. Foxman.
Nearly 40% of Americans agree that 'dangerous ideas should be banned from public school libraries,' and about the same number do not believe that 'censoring books is an old-fashioned idea.'
Some 49% believe that the United States is becoming 'too tolerant in its acceptance of different ideas and lifestyles.'
Posted by: Fred ||
11/18/2008 00:00 ||
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It's a meaningless poll. Unless they have follow up questions specifying the "dangerous" idea. And if Hollywood followed mainstream morality it wouldn't be very interesting.
#2
the American market votes with their wallets. Check out all the anti-Iraq war ticket sales. All sucked.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/18/2008 7:57 Comments ||
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In the other medium which is still growing, Call of Duty 4:Modern Warfare racked up one nice ROI. Guess the media moguls are incapable of taking a hint. Of course they'll turn some crappy products out based upon vid games [showing a total lack of any skill or understanding of the product or audience]. They just can't tell stories anymore from within the LA bowl like they used to. Fortunately, in one, two or three more computer generations, we won't need Hollyweird. Hollyweird meet GM.
#4
Proc, Howard Veit has been saying exactly the same thing you did for years. He knows that business (movies) and says they're getting worse financially and morally with every passing year. He also is calling the end of Hollyweird and its replacement by video games.
It can't come soon enough for me. The last movie I saw was "300." It was pretty good for a comic book. I think the last before that was LOTR 2. They make damned little there I'm willing to see and the more expensive it gets to see them, the less willing I am to support them. It's already a PITA to go to a movie theatre because of the rude behavior of many of the patrons, so there's almost no incentive to go. If there ever arises another even roughly equivalent dating locale, movie theatres are toast.
#7
Hell, if you're so inclined, you don't even have to wait till the stupid things come out on Netflix to watch 'em if you're not too picky about screen quality. There's plenty of sites on the net to choose from.
#9
I prefer my Gramscian damage to come with a Japanese soundtrack & limited animation. The ironic distancing of subtitles makes it feel more like anthropology than a night at the movies.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
11/18/2008 15:42 Comments ||
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#10
They still make Movies in Hollywood?
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
11/18/2008 19:31 Comments ||
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#11
check out Appaloosa?
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/18/2008 19:37 Comments ||
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#12
but what about Valkyrie w/Tom Cruise as a German patriot wearing an eye patch and trying to kill Hitler?? Hahaha, that trailer looks like something from a SNL skit...
#13
I can't speak to teenagers in general, but both trailing daughter #2 and formerly temporary daughter prefer to stay home and watch videos or otherwise cocoon, because going to the movies is too expensive for the value.
The US banking giant, Citigroup Inc., is reportedly planning to cut more than 50,000 jobs as the global financial crisis deepens.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/18/2008 00:00 ||
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Knowledge-Based and tech Economies running out of steam? Let's try something really innovative, really old-time American, like....manufacturing something that people need.
#6
Firing people is HARD work, I think I'll give myself a large bonus.
Posted by: CEO ||
11/18/2008 21:31 Comments ||
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#7
Done properly, firing people is indeed hard work. Hopefully, those freed from Citigroup's current struggles will quickly find ways to employ their skills and and company-paid training in ventures more appreciative of what they have to offer. In the current financial climate Mr. Wife's company feels compelled to focus more closely on those efforts most likely to be profitable, which sadly means some very good people are being downsized out of jobs there. But there is no doubt that those companies out there clever enough to pick them up will get a very good return on their investment, painful as the interim is for all involved.
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.
Congolese rebels said Tuesday they were pulling back their forces to allow talks with the army, whose soldiers were fleeing and even fighting their own allies as any lingering army control in the area disintegrated. 
