Associates of the legendary performer, Michael Jackson, who wish to remain unnamed, have confirmed to All News Web that recent rumours regarding Michael Jackson converting to Islam are in fact true. 'Michael might not have become a hard-core observer of all the precepts of the Koran but he has made a commitment to come to know the faith and be inspired by it.' the associate commented. 'He has undergone some form of ceremony. Michael has basically been a vegetarian for years and doesn't eat pork at all so the dietary rules are not a problem.'
Another associate also confirmed that while rumours of Michael Jackson being at deaths door and in need of a lung transplant were wildly exaggerated, Michael is struggling with health problems. 'Michael does have health issues and his lungs are not in perfect condition' the associate commented.
'Michael does read the Koran at least once a day and is finding that it gives him massive strength and courage in dealing with the problems that life has thrown at him.' the associate, who is himself an African-American convert to Islam noted 'He has made the first baby steps into the Islamic way of life, whether he will continue on in this journey and grow in his Muslim faith remains to be seen.'
#5
He likes to keep animals around for his young friends. Expect his goat herd to grow to hundreds in a short time, to comply with local traditions, don't cha know.
The world's first reported cases of the Ebola-Reston virus in hogs in the Philippines is under investigation, the World Health Organization said Tuesday.
The Philippine government asked the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, the world Organization for Human Health and the WHO to send experts to investigate the outbreak, the Food and Agriculture Organization said in a news release.
Lab reports in October confirmed pigs on farms in the Nueva Ecija and Bulacan provinces were infected with the Ebola-Reston virus and a virulent strain of Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome.
The syndrome can't be transmitted to humans. The Reston-Ebola virus can infect humans, but no deaths or serious illnesses have been reported yet, the United Nations said.
This year will be longer than usual -- by one second, the U.S. Institute of Standards and Technology said Wednesday.
The earth is sufficiently out of sync that a leap second has been scheduled for 7 p.m. U.S. Eastern Standard Time on Dec. 31, said the institute, noting those interested in watching it happen should go to www.time.gov before midnight, London time, and click on their time zone.
A total of 24 leap seconds have been added since 1972, the last being in December 2005, because the earth is slowing and does not rotate exactly once every 24 hours, or 86,400 seconds, the Institute said.
The discrepancy went unnoticed until highly accurate atomic clocks were developed in the late 1960s. It was decided then, by international agreement, that operators of atomic clocks around the world would adjust the time of day by adding one second to the world's official time when needed.
#1
ION TOPIX > SCIENTIST WARNS ABOUT RUNAWAY GLOBAL WARMING.
We'll either be living underground, or in LOGAN'S RUN, i.e. a computer-controlled, nuclearized, enviro/popul-controlled, domed = encapsulated/enclosed City(s)???
CAIRO - Egypts foreign ministry on Friday denied claims by a human rights group that an Egyptian man was being detained in Saudi Arabia on suspicion of spying but was instead facing unspecified 'security charges'. The Egypt-based Arabic Network for Human Rights had said that software engineer Yusef Ashmawi, who has been held in Saudi Arabia for four months, was accused of spying for Egypt.
During the only visit he was allowed, he told his brother-in-law that he was being accused of spying on Saudi intelligence and relaying the information to Egypt, the networks chief Gamal Eid said.
But Egyptian consular affairs official Ahmed Rizq told AFP that Ashmawi, who was contracted to work for the Saudi defence ministry and intelligence services, was categorically not accused of being a spy. The charge is not spying. Many Egyptians work in sensitive workplaces in Saudi Arabia, he said, adding that the charges were security related without giving further information.
"He's not a 'spy', he's an 'agent'. Can't possibly be accused of being a spy," he added.
Rizq had said in a statement on Thursday that the foreign ministry was following the case. Saudi authorities have said that they have been detaining Ashmawi for several months in a security case, but they have not yet told us the nature of the case, he said.
Asked about the foreign ministrys comments, Eid said: The foreign ministry has no idea about whats going on, so it cant deny it. It is trying to improve its image because of its negligence over the past four months."
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/27/2008 00:00 ||
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Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade has urged the world community to recognise the military junta in Guinea which seized power earlier this week. He said the coup leaders had pledged to hold polls but this would take time.
Mr Wade became the first head of state to publicly back the coup, which has been condemned internationally but supported by many Guineans. "My feeling is that this group of military men deserves support. We should not throw stones at them," President Wade told France's Radio France Internationale in Paris.
He said he had had a telephone conversation with Capt Camara, describing him as a "perfectly honest" man. And despite the junta's earlier statements that new elections in Guinea would be held in December 2010, Mr Wade said Capt Camara "spoke of eight months".
Capt Camara earlier said he had no intention of standing in the elections and that he wanted to restore order to the country and rid it of corruption.
The US embassy in Conakry has called for an immediate return to civilian rule in Guinea, while France, which currently holds the EU presidency, also said a vote should be held soon. South Africa's President Kgalema Motlanthe has said the junta must step down and hold elections immediately.
Guinea's two main opposition groups have also urged the coup leaders to stage polls in a year's time.
Despite condemnation from the international community, the coup appears to have been welcomed by many within the country. Sick and tired of despotic rule under the former president and his hugely corrupt government, Guineans are pinning their hopes on the military, the BBC's West Africa correspondent Will Ross says.
The deposed Prime Minister, Ahmed Tidiane Souare, and many within his cabinet have also endorsed Capt Camara's move, as well as older sections of the military.
"Please don't kill us!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/27/2008 00:00 ||
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Bangladesh has arrested more suspected militants ahead of next week's elections, a police officer said on Friday, bringing to 23 the number of people held as part of a pre-polls crackdown.
The South Asian nation will hold its first elections in seven years on Monday amid an unprecedented security operation to counter terrorist attacks and vote-rigging. Eight men were arrested following raids in the northern Govindaganj district where police also seized a cache of explosives -- big enough to make 300 grenades -- that could cause "serious damage", area police chief SM Shibly said.
"It is the biggest haul of explosives we've found in the recent months. We are conducting massive operations across the region to find out other members of the group," he said. The men are suspected of belonging to the banned extremist group, Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). More than 50,000 military personnel have been deployed across the country, 600,000 police officers are manning polling booths and the country's elite Rapid Action Battalion has undertaken a massive anti-crime crackdown since campaigning began two weeks ago. Earlier this week, two suspected JMB militants were arrested in southeastern Comilla district after a raid uncovered a cache of grenades hours after Bangladesh Nationalist Party chief Khaleda Zia held a campaign rally nearby. The deputy chief of the Rapid Action Battalion, Colonel Gulzar Uddin, said a big attack was unlikely before the polls."It appears that they are trying to regroup, but we don't think they have the capacity to make major attacks ahead of the polls," he said.
Guarding polls: Khaleda urged her supporters to guard the elections against rigging by opponents, raising the spectre of protests and violence if she loses a vote billed as the best chance for a return to democracy.
Khaleda and her rival, the Awami League's Sheikh Hasina, are rated the top candidates in the elections, with some giving Hasina an edge. "A vested quarter is hatching conspiracy to get to power by manipulating the election results," Khaleda said late on Thursday, in an apparent reference to the Awami League and the government. "Guard the polling centres until you get the result sheets so that no one can change your mandate," she told supporters. "Sensing a tide of masses in favour of the BNP-led alliance across the country and fearing ... inevitable defeat in the election, they are also conspiring to kill me," she said to cheering supporters in Jamalpur, north of the capital Dhaka.
Hasina, meanwhile, alleged the BNP and its staunch ally Jamaat-e-Islami were trying to create violence to thwart the election, fearing defeat. She warned against "intimidating the voters" in an effort to turn the tide in Khaleda's favour. An analyst for the international Eurasia Group has said there is a 70-percent chance Hasina will win. Many Bangladeshis say the vote will be close but give Hasina a slight edge.
Atiur Rahman, professor of development studies at Dhaka University, said three key factors would influence the coming vote: food prices, farmers' welfare and combating corruption. "People will evaluate who of the two ex-PMs addressed these issues more while they were in power," Atiur told Reuters on Friday, adding he thought Hasina's government had scored best. Sirajul Islam Chowdhury, a retired professor, columnist and analyst, said, "I think the past records of the parties will influence the election, including the abuses of power ... the Awami League looks more favourite to win.""I do expect a stable government after the vote," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2008 01:35 ||
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Hundreds of foreign election observers are fanning out across Bangladesh in an attempt to ensure a fair election in a country where the main candidates have invoked Islam in order to win. The stakes in Monday's parliamentary elections in the Muslim-majority country, which come two years after a military coup, are high as the growing influence of Islamic radicals threatens to undermine Bangladesh's most important diplomatic relationships.
The country's biggest donors are spending millions of pounds on the vote - Britain has given £1 million to the Asian Network for Free Elections - after putting pressure on the desperately poor country to hold the polls. The foreign ministry in Dhaka estimates that 500 observers will monitor the election.
DHAKA - Bangladesh said on Friday it would protest to India about Indian ships conducting a survey in an area in the Indian Ocean Dhaka states falls in its territorial waters. The spot lies southwest of Bangladeshs southwestern Mongla port in a block earmarked by Bangladesh for exploration of gas and oil.
The vessels moved towards Indian waters after protests by a Bangladesh navy vessel that located the intruding ships during a routine patrol, but came back afterwards, the ministry said. Bangladesh sent a navy frigate to the area, but Indian ships refused to pull away, saying they were within Indian waters, a foreign ministry official said.
An Indian survey ship was seen conducting a survey in the deep sea block 14 in the maritime area claimed by Bangladesh. The survey ship was aided by two other support vessels, a foreign ministry statement said. Bangladesh will lodge an official protest with India on Saturday, the statement said. Bangladesh will ask for postponement of any exploratory or development activity in the area till such time the maritime boundary between the two countries is settled by mutual agreement.
Bangladesh sent war ships to a similar disputed sea patch in November when Myanmar started exploring gas and oil. Myanmar later withdrew its vessels and agreed to negotiate the issue with Bangladesh. Both countries said they would need more talks to settle the dispute.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/27/2008 00:00 ||
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BAKU - Azerbaijans parliament on Friday called a referendum in March on whether a two-term presidential limit should be scrapped, a move likely to prolong leader Ilham Aliyevs grip on power.
Parliament, dominated by the pro-government Yeni Azerbaijan (New Azerbaijan) party which is led by Aliyev, voted to hold the vote on March 18 in the oil-producing nation. Aliyevs second and last term allowed by the constitution is due to end in 2013.
Few doubt that Aliyevs presidency will be extended.
Azerbaijans nation will openly and freely express its confidence in the countrys President Ilham Aliyev, parliamentarian Ali Ahmedov, Yeni Azerbaijans deputy leader, told the legislature before the vote. The date of the referendum was set by a 100-7 vote.
The ex-Soviet republic, which lies along the Caspian between Russia and Iran, has been dominated by the Aliyev family for more than three decadesfirst under former Communist boss Heydar Aliyev and since 2003 by his son Ilham. Ilham Aliyev, 47, won his current five-year term in October in a landslide election boycotted by the opposition and judged by European monitors as less than democratic.
The president is blamed by critics for concentrating too much power in his own hands though he remains popular after years of an economic boom fuelled by high energy prices while the opposition remains weak and fractured.
Police on Wednesday broke up a rally by a dozen opposition activists, who tried to protest against the referendum outside the Constitutional Court headquarters. Before being pushed away by police, the protesters briefly unfolded banners reading Down with the monarchy! and We do not need a king!
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12/27/2008 00:00 ||
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India has received intelligence inputs saying that China has secretly resumed assistance to Pakistan's civilian nuclear programme. The report has also been corroborated by Western intelligence agencies. China's resumption of assistance is a possible follow up to the visit of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari to Beijing on October 18. A bilateral nuclear agreement was signed during the visit. Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had later said that China had agreed to set up two atomic reactors, the Chashma-3 and Chashma-4 and that the Pakistani-China Joint Atomic Commission would meet soon. The deal is expected to provide a symbolic balance to the Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement.
The Chashma 3 and 4 reactors have been under cloud since China signed up to the Nuclear Suppliers Group in 2004. Under group guidelines, no NSG member could provide nuclear assistance to a non-signatory of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty. Beijing claimed to have 'grandfathered' the Chashma 3 and 4 reactors saying that it had the right to fulfil the contract with Pakistan because it had been signed before China's entry into the NSG.
However, according to a senior government advisor, the US has demarched China about providing Pakistan reactors and declined to endorse the 'grandfather' clause. Beijing on its part had never given up its right to provide Pakistan the two reactors; it merely avoided angering the US for fear of sanctions.
China may have now begun preparing the ground for a transfer in expectation that the US may be too consumed with the financial crisis and the Presidential transition to take notice of any infraction of the NSG guidelines.
In the past, China has defended its nuclear cooperation to Pakistan arguing that Pakistan's nuclear arms posture was 'defensive' and that the Indo-Pakistan nuclear standoff provided stability to the region.
The Chashma reactors however are supposed be safeguarded and would, in theory, not contribute to Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/27/2008 15:30 ||
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#1
China stirring the pot? Knock me down with a feather. Next you'll say there's an "incident" along the Indo-China LOC border! I imagine those warships sent to pirate-duty will have to make a port callin Karachi to offload supply up
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/27/2008 16:13 Comments ||
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#1
The great majority of disasters don't last very long, and those who are prepared provide a great buffer for society when they do.
For example, if someone stores enough food for their family for six months, once they know a disaster will only last a month, they can feed five other families as well.
In turn, that means the relief agencies can feed five more families. So a single survivalist can actively help eleven families, including their own.
Survivalists have also been around for decades, so there are some whose food is nearing its expiration date, when the disaster hits. Had they not used it, it would have just been thrown away, which gives them motivation for charity.
New Delhi, Dec. 26: Ignoring Pakistan's objections to the Kishan Ganga hydro power project, the government on Friday cleared the proposal for building plant with a capacity of 330 MW in Jammu and Kashmir at an upwardly revised cost of Rs 3,642 crore.
"Pakistan had raised some questions about the project, but we are sure it fully complies with the Indus Water Treaty of 1960 between the two countries," the home minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, said while announcing the decision of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). The Minister said, "The project cost had been revised from Rs 2,238 crore to Rs 3,642 crore because of the change in scope of the project, ecology, law and order and inaccessibility of the dam area during winters."
He also said that the lowest bidder had quoted a very high price which was reduced by 110 per cent and the task of completing the project in time has been entrusted with state-run power utility National Hydro Power Corporation Ltd (NHPC).
Describing the project of being "strategic importance" to India, the minister said, "It will help the country use its share of water from the treaty. It will create irrigation potential in Baramulla." The project was conceived in 1994.
Meanwhile, keeping in mind the country's energy requirement for next 25 years with intent to sustain a robust average growth rate of nine perc ent, the Union cabinet in its meeting here approved the "Integrated Energy Policy". The policy aims at optimal exploitation of domestic resources and exploring and acquiring assets abroad to attain energy security for the country, Mr Chidambram said.
The broad vision of the policy, drafted by the Planning Commission, is to reliably meet the demand for energy services in all parts of the country with safe, clean and convenient energy at the least cost.
Mr Chidambaram said, "It has also been decided to set up a monitoring committee under the chairmanship of the Cabinet Secretary to review the progress of implementation of the policy."
Posted by: john frum ||
12/27/2008 00:00 ||
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NEW DELHI: Even as tensions with Pakistan persist in the wake of 26/11, India is now poised to ink its biggest-ever defence deal with US: the around Rs 8,500-crore contract for the supply of eight Boeing P-8I long-range maritime reconnaissance (LRMR) aircraft for the Navy.
"Virtually all the steps'' required for the contract to be signed, including tabling of it in the Cabinet Committee on Security for approval, have been completed, said sources on Friday.
The first of these LRMR aircraft will be delivered within four years of the contract being actually signed, with the rest being handed over by 2015, said sources. The LRMR planes will replace the eight ageing and fuel-guzzling Russian-origin Tupolev-142Ms. Customised for India and based on the Boeing 737 commercial airliner, the radar-packed P-8I aircraft will go a long way in plugging the huge gaps in Navy's maritime snooping capabilities with a range of over 600 nautical miles.
Incidentally, Navy is also in the hunt for six new medium-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft for around Rs 1,600 crore to achieve its aim of an effective three-tier surveillance grid in the entire Indian Ocean.
Both Navy and Coast Guard have come in for some criticism for not being able to pre-empt the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, even though the two forces maintain that they did not get "actionable intelligence'' in time.
The P-8I aircraft will also be armed with Harpoon missiles, torpedoes and depth bombs to give them potent anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare capability. Moreover, they "will enhance interoperability'' between the Indian and American navies, in keeping with the growing strategic embrace between the two countries.
The LRMR deal will supplant last year's $962-million contract signed with US for six C-130J `Super Hercules' aircraft for use by Indian special forces.
US is still, however, leagues behind Russia, Israel and France in supplying military hardware and software to India. While Russia notches up sales worth about $1.5 billion to India every year, Israel chalks up an annual tally of around $1 billion.
Apart from the C-130J deal, America's only big-ticket deal with India in recent years has been the $190-million contract in 2002 to supply 12 AN/TPQ-37 firefinder weapon-locating radars.
Then, of course, India last year acquired amphibious transport vessel USS Trenton for $48.23 million, with the six UH-3H helicopters to operate from it costing another $39 million.
During its quest for LRMR planes, India had earlier rejected the US offer to lease two P-3C Orion reconnaissance aircraft under a $133-million contract. India, of course, remains unhappy over the American decision to sell eight more P-3C Orion aircraft to Pakistan, which already has two such planes in its inventory.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/27/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Getting tired of buying Yugos from the Russkies?
The United Auto Workers may be out of the hole now that President Bush has approved a $17 billion bailout of the U.S. auto industry, but the union isn't out of the bunker just yet.
Even as the industry struggles with massive losses, the UAW brass continue to own and operate a $33 million lakeside retreat in Michigan, complete with a $6.4 million designer golf course. And it's costing them millions each year.
The UAW, known more for its strikes than its slices, hosts seminars and junkets at the Walter and May Reuther Family Education Center in Onaway, Mich., which is nestled on "1,000 heavily forested acres" on Michigan's Black Lake, according to its Web site. But the Black Lake club and retreat, which are among the union's biggest fixed assets, have lost $23 million in the past five years alone, a heavy albatross around the union's neck as it tries to manage a multibillion-dollar pension plan crisis.
Critics call it a resort for union leaders that wastes money from union dues. "It's their members' money that they're spending on this thing," said Justin Wilson, managing director of the Center for Union Facts, a union watchdog group. "The union has bigger issues at hand than managing a golf course."
Managing the course may become a burden for the union. The UAW covers costs for the Reuther Center from the interest it earns on its strike fund, according to tax documents, but massive losses in the past five years have forced the union to make heavy loans to keep the center afloat. Critics call it a poor investment for a group with over $1.25 billion in assets. "Unions certainly have had real estate investments in the past, but investments are supposed to make money, not bleed money," said Wilson.
The Reuther Center is open 11 months of the year to offer courses on leadership, political action, civil rights and other topics; it hosts nearly 10,000 visitors annually. The UAW says it sends workers there to "learn, experience unionism (and) commit to labor's cause," according to their Web site.
The center was purchased in 1967 and underwent massive renovations in the '90s under the careful watch of former UAW president Steve Yokich. "Today's Black Lake might not exist if not for Steve Yokich," said union member Bob Reidt, whom Yokich appointed as Black Lake's director. "Yokich is responsible for rebuilding Black Lake."
The UAW erected a monument to its longtime president Walter Reuther -- the center's namesake -- which bears an inscription of his words: "There is no greater calling than to serve your brother. There is no greater satisfaction than to have done it well."
But Reuther, who died in a plane crash en route to the center in 1970, never knew the satisfaction of Black Lake's "well-groomed fairways," a course that Michigan Golf Magazine called a "stunning visual marvel."
Union members can play golf at discounted rates on one of the country's top 100 courses, designed in 2000 by famed course architect Rees Jones at a cost of $6 million.
The center has a storied history. Reuther had his ashes scattered at the site, and Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz honeymooned there in 1940, well before it was bought by the UAW. "It's funny that they call it an education center -- it's a resort," said Wilson. "If I was a union member, I would prefer that they rented out a room at the Ramada Inn."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2008 01:35 ||
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#6
Why would the UAW want to buy Ford? The way it is now they have the best of both worlds -- they can dictate stupid business decisions to Ford (and GM) under threat of a strike and avoid the consequences of the result -- all the while continuing to suck the lifeblood of the company.
The UAW will continue to drain the resources of the corporations while trying to get the taxpayers on a schedule of providing 'bailouts' for companies which are 'too big to allow to fail'. That way not only do they get to drain the corporations themselves - but also each and every taxpayer.
Problem is that the UAW needs to keep the corporations alive. Look for them to start organizing protests and marches on D.C. to get another (and another and another) bailout.
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.
Associates of the legendary performer, Michael Jackson, who wish to remain unnamed, have confirmed to All News Web that recent rumours regarding Michael Jackson converting to Islam are in fact true. 'Michael might not have become a hard-core observer of all the precepts of the Koran but he has made a commitment to come to know the faith and be inspired by it.' the associate commented. 'He has undergone some form of ceremony. Michael has basically been a vegetarian for years and doesn't eat pork at all so the dietary rules are not a problem.'
CAIRO - Egypts foreign ministry on Friday denied claims by a human rights group that an Egyptian man was being detained in Saudi Arabia on suspicion of spying but was instead facing unspecified 'security charges'. The Egypt-based Arabic Network for Human Rights had said that software engineer Yusef Ashmawi, who has been held in Saudi Arabia for four months, was accused of spying for Egypt.
