UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. General Assembly (search) on Tuesday approved a nonbinding resolution that seeks to ban human cloning, capping a four-year struggle that saw divided governments abandon efforts for stronger action.
{SNIP}
How each nation voted from UN website:
Vote on Declaration on Human Cloning
The United Nations Declaration on Human Cloning (document A/59/516/Add.1) was adopted by a recorded vote of 84 in favour to 34 against, with 37 abstentions, as follows:
In favor:Afghanistan, Albania, Andorra, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brunei Darussalam, Burundi, Chile, Comoros, Costa Rica, CÃŽte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia, Germany, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Madagascar, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Federated States of Micronesia, Monaco, Morocco, Nicaragua, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Sudan, Suriname, Switzerland, Tajikistan, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Timor-Leste, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania, United States, Uzbekistan, Zambia.
Against: Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, China, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Gabon, Iceland, India, Jamaica, Japan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Tonga, United Kingdom.
Abstain: Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Barbados, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Colombia, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay, Yemen, Zimbabwe.
#1
There are some folks on the "against" list that ought to be wondering why they are there with the likes of China, Cuba, and the DPRK.
Posted by: Tom ||
03/10/2005 20:40 Comments ||
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#2
Probably because Communist regimes may very well be tyrannical, but (unlike the Islamofascists)they don't tend to be inherently anti-science as well.
Anyway your argument's nonsensical. Dictatorships exist on both sides of the issue: I might just as well say that there are some folk on the "in favour" list that ought to be wondering why they are there with the likes of Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Uzbekistan.
#3
My comment was a comment, not an "argument". And if I meant "Communist regimes" or "dictatorships" I would have said that. You still don't understand that threads and comments are not necessarily arguments. Btw, why is Greece absent? Inherently apathetic?
Posted by: Tom ||
03/10/2005 21:14 Comments ||
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#4
Tom, it may be inherently pathetic, the jury is still out on this one. ;-)
#5
I removed "pathetic", "twit", and a few other choice words from my first draft of #3. Didn't want to upset the lad. He has enough problems as it is.
Posted by: Tom ||
03/10/2005 21:25 Comments ||
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#6
And if I meant "Communist regimes" or "dictatorships" I would have said that
So which characteristic of China, Cuba and the DPRK, were you referring to?
If, among thirty-something nations, you choose to mention the three that share a specific characteristic, you shouldn't blame other people for making assumptions.
comments are not necessarily arguments.
Some of them are just jabs, hmm?
Btw, I don't have your email or I'd have done this in private, but I'd like to apologize for the "Have a nice death" of a few days ago. I read something in the Screwtape letters that made me reconsider the viewpoint of the various attacks/curses against whole continents and nations -- I always saw attacks against groups of millions as a million times worse than attacks against individuals. Anyway, a chapter in the Screwtape Letters made me consider that the expression of abstract hatred on people that they'll never meet may not be always as harmful as similar expression on specific individuals one knows. Mind you, I still disagree with such logic, but I now understand why some people may have found it horrible that I reduced the range of my attack to the specific one person rather than generalize and made it abstract.
So, anyway, I apologize for that comment.
Btw, why is Greece absent? Inherently apathetic?
Having a government that exemplifies "wimpy", I think.
BATES TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - A man cooking in his kitchen was shot after one of his cats knocked his 9mm handgun onto the floor, discharging the weapon, Michigan State Police said. Joseph Stanton, 29, of Bates Township in Iron County, was shot in his lower torso around 6 p.m. Tuesday, the state police post in Iron River reported. He was transported to Iron County Community Hospital. State police said he was cooking at his stove when the cat knocked the loaded gun off the kitchen counter behind him.
A likely story, better check his paws for gun shot residue.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/10/2005 9:23:29 AM ||
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#1
Cat: [picking up gun]Look at this!
Owner: [terrified] NO! PUT THAT BACK!
Cat: Are you a man or a mouse?
Owner: MAN! I'M A MAN!
Cat: Could have fooled me! *BLAM*
Posted by: Steve from Relto ||
03/10/2005 9:35 Comments ||
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Geologists have called for a taskforce to be set up to consider emergency management in the event of a massive volcanic eruption, or super-eruption. The recommendation comes in a report timed to coincide with a BBC TV drama that depicts a fictional super-eruption at Yellowstone Park in Wyoming, US. Experts say such an event would have a colossal impact on a global scale. An understatement.
A super-eruption is also five to 10 times more likely to happen than an asteroid impact, the report claims. We don't want to be sensationalist about this, but it's going to happen. The authors want to highlight the issue, which they feel is being ignored by governments. They emphasise that while catastrophic eruptions of this kind are rare in terms of a human lifetime, they are surprisingly common on a geological scale.
The effects, say the authors, "could be sufficiently severe to threaten the fabric of civilisation" - putting events such as the Asian tsunami into the shade. The fallout from a super-eruption could cause a "volcanic winter", devastating global agriculture and causing mass starvation. These are cast iron certainties.
It would have a similar effect to a 1.5km-diameter space rock striking Earth, they claim. But while impacts of this type are estimated to occur once every 400-500,000 years, the frequency of equivalent super-eruptions is about once every 100,000 years. "These are minimum estimates. Super-eruptions could be even more frequent; we just don't know," said Professor Stephen Self, a geologist at the Open University in Milton Keynes and a member of the working group that produced the report. There has only been full coverage of the world land surace for volcanic eruptions for about 60 years and we know very little about the perhaps 25,000 undersea volcanos. Some people think volcano eruption frequency is much higher than the 20th century would indicate.
"We still have a lot of unassessed regions of the world. The US is the place where we see the largest number of super-eruptions. But that may be because more work has been done there." One past super-eruption struck at Toba in Sumatra 74,000 years ago and is thought by some to have driven the human race to the edge of extinction. Signs from DNA suggest human numbers could have dropped to about 10,000, probably as a result of the effects of climate change.
The TV drama, called Supervolcano, sticks closely to scientific understanding of these events. The plot revolves around a series of violent eruptions at Yellowstone in Wyoming that send thousands of cubic metres of rock, gas and ash spiralling up in cloud that rains down over three-quarters of the United States. I understand Long Valley caldera is a higher risk.
Highways become blocked with cars as millions flee the unfolding disaster, and as the chain of eruptions unzips Yellowstone's volcanic crater, hundreds of thousands are killed as the ash swamps whole towns and cities. Yellowstone is the largest volcanic system in North America
America's food-producing regions are devastated, communications are knocked out and planes are forced out of the sky. Sulphuric acid droplets form in the atmosphere, blocking out sunlight, and causing global temperatures to plummet.
Professor Stephen Sparks, of Bristol University, an author on the new report, said civil contingency plans would need to be similar to those for a nuclear war. "You would need contingencies for food and shelter. But you would need to put a serious amount of resources into any effort to cope with an event on this scale, so it poses a dilemma," he said.
The volcanic winter resulting from a super-eruption could last several years or decades, depending on the scale of an eruption, and according to recent computer models, could cause cooling on a global scale of 5-10C.
Ailsa Orr, producer of Supervolcano, said that when the programme team presented the scenario to the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), the agency admitted it had given little thought to such an event happening on American soil. "We don't want to be sensationalist about this, but it's going to happen. Unlike global warming. We just can't say exactly when," said Professor Self.
"But we have just had a natural disaster affecting hundreds of thousands of people. Now is the time to be thinking about this."
Yellowstone is the largest volcanic system in North America. The area's cauldrons of bubbling mud and roaring geysers attract nearly three million visitors each year. It was an obvious choice for the programme makers as the site of their super-eruption because of its location on a highly populated continent and because it has already had three of these events, which have occurred roughly 600,000 years apart from each other. The crater from the last super-eruption, 640,000 years ago, is large enough to fit Tokyo - the world's biggest city - inside it.
The report, released by The Geological Society in the UK, identifies at least 31 sites where super-eruptions have occurred in the past. They include Lake Taupo in New Zealand and the Phlegrean Fields near Naples, Italy. The drama Supervolcano is broadcast in two parts, on BBC One on Sunday 13 March and Monday 14 March. Both transmissions are at 2100 GMT. Two science documentaries called Supervolcano: The Truth About Yellowstone are broadcast after the drama, on BBC Two. Again, these air on Sunday and Monday but at the later time of 2200 GMT. Shame I can't get BBC, I would enjoy these.
Posted by: phil_b ||
03/10/2005 12:28:40 AM ||
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#1
Dooom, everywhere you look, Phil. Isn't it terrific?
Well, it wouldn't be the first time, we would survive again. The accompanying breakdown and resulting amnesia sucks, but maybe in 10K years, we would get back to where we are now. It may go faster, or slower, depending on circumstances.
#2
Sobiesky, I'm not that pessimistic. Basically what would happen is climatic zones would move hundreds of kilometrs closer to the equator and large areas of cool temperate zones would become unsuitable for agriculture - Europe north of the Alps, all of Canada, much of northern China. At the same time large areas that are now hot deserts would become wet temperate - Australia, much of the Sahara and middle east. We would have 12 months to react before billions die. Now do you see the problem. Tranzis would dither until it is too late, but a USA/Australia axis would come through it relatively unscathed and capable of feeding selected allies but only some. Europe could save itself by invading N. Africa but I doubt they would do it in time. The Arabs would seeth as their camels died of wet climate diseases. China would probably invade Borneo and transport millions of rice farmers.
#3
Phil, reasonable scenario... It all would depend how nasty it would be. The volcanic activity may be chained (at once in many locations--Pacific Ring of Fire is a good candidate) and trigger also a large water displacements. Last time something on that scale happened was about 12500BCE (not only warming and rapid rise of waters, but quite a few spewers got active in a relatively short span of time).
#5
Is there a reason why the magma pressure can't be relieved before a volcano bursts of its own accord? Why couldn't you nuke any area that bulges in a supervolcano zone and lance the boil, so to speak. IIUC, supervolcanoes are usually long-term eruptors and their awakening should be predictable well in advance. What effect would a nuke a year have on a supervolcano? I'm envisioning something that triggers managable lava flow on a regular basis. Is it an impractical idea, am I a crank, and/or is it too risky politically?
#7
Anyone else remember MoHo. A scheme to drill through the earth's crust in the late 60s (I think). It was stopped by the equivalent of radical greens who predicted doom and gloom scenarios. In theory you could stop an eruption by releasing the pressure in a controlled way through drilling, and releasing the magma and/or cooling the hot magma.
I think nuking a volcano would just give you radioactive ash clouds.
#8
Drilling and hitting magma under pressure would definitely ruin your whole day -- putting your rig out of business forever, and possibly your crew, as well.
We have explosives, non-nuke, such as bunker busters which sound as though they might perform the trick.
In order to relieve pressure, you would have to know the exact situation in 3d so you can do managed explosion. Else, you may do more harm than good by packing more material in some places than it contained previously. Until there are means to get a 'CAT scan' of the volcano in real time, I'll be inclined to leave it to the natural means.
#10
Is there a reason why the magma pressure can't be relieved before a volcano bursts of its own accord?
Pressurized gasses dissolved in the magma. Think of what happens when a soda bottle cap is opened. Now imagine what happens with gasses trapped under many thousands of atmospheres. Hint...Kablooie!
Posted by: ed ||
03/10/2005 7:58 Comments ||
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#11
I'm a bit more optimistic, I just can't see the crap hanging in the air that long. Yeah we'd have a really bad winter or two but after that things would clear up and be mostly back to normal.
I don't think it's a coincidence that mass starvation only happens in Dictatorships where food is used as a weapon. Somehow I think the democratic world would get by without all that much loss of life. Might put the diet industry out of business though.
#13
The scientists are watching yellowstone with some alarm. I was there back in '01 and the lake depth was changing due to the magama starting to make a bulge. One side of the lake the water level "dropped" 20 feet due to the rising of the land and the other side swamped under 10 feet. There is a lot of activity under the ground and the worst thing is, scientists have NO idea what it means or what the hell is going on since they have never seen a super-eruption. It could be the hot spot shifting, it could be the beginnings of something bad...
#19
"The plot revolves around a series of violent eruptions at Yellowstone in Wyoming that send thousands of cubic metres of rock, gas and ash spiralling up in cloud that rains down over three-quarters of the United States."
I think that should have been thousands of cubic kilometers. Folks seem to have a hard time comprehending the scale involved.
It is this enormous scale that would make a lancing the boil approach pointless. The crater at Yellowstone covers an area of thousands of square miles! By the time the unimaginably vast reservoir of gas saturated magma is close enough to the surface for even a multi-megaton nuke to release the pressure, it would be far too late to reduce the scale of the eruption.
#20
I can understand you wouldn't want to be too close to the rig on success. The question is whether or not it would be useful to do. (quick calculation) Yellowstone is apparently on the order of 1000 km3 every 600k years, or 190 m3/hour. That's what we'd have to relieve to maintain roughly steady state.
I would be somewhat concerned about the possibility of an avalanche effect, wherein the release dramatically widens the initial hole.
I'd be really concerned about using a nuke on the grounds that it might be indistinguishable from a full eruption.
#21
phil_b: (#2) It depends on how big the eruptions are. Bury the midwest in ash, and you'll put a pretty big crimp in the food supply right away. I'm not so sure we'd be able to feed our own survivors, not to speak of any allies. And timing is a big deal here. Can you rework agriculture in the Amazon for new crops in time for the new growing season?
Posted by: James ||
03/10/2005 12:48 Comments ||
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#22
The so-called "reality based community" does not see the world as being fundamentally malleable. That's what that comment meant. We shape our own reality, though.
Should we completely accept plate tectonics and vulcanism?
I'm leaning towards trying to inject this question into the Sierra Club. I think I can do it if I try, particularly with the BBC pushing the context. To my mind, it's a loaded question.
In the 1970s, a resurvey of benchmarks discovered the unprecedented uplift of the Yellowstone Caldera of more than 28 inches (72 cm) over five decades. More recently, new and revolutionary satellite-based methods for tracking the Earth's shifting ground motions have enabled University of Utah, U.S. Geological Survey, and other scientists to assemble a more precise and detailed picture of Yellowstone's ground movements. [snip]
The 1975â77 survey showed that the area of recent uplift was located within the Yellowstone Caldera, a shallow, oval depression, 53 miles long and 28 miles across (85 by 45 km), in the middle of the park. This caldera was formed 640,000 years ago during the most recent of Yellowstone's great volcanic eruptions. In that eruption, 240 cubic miles (1,000 km3) of molten rock (magma) was blasted into the atmosphere and scattered on the Earth's surface-more than 1,000 times the volume erupted at Mount St. Helens in 1980! The ground then collapsed into the partly emptied magma reservoir, forming an enormous craterlike depression.
Later eruptions of many large lava flows, some as thick as 400 feet (120 m), buried the original caldera floor and most of the caldera walls. Mount Washburn, a prominent landmark in the park, is a section of the caldera rim that escaped burial. The most recent series of eruptions at Yellowstone, 160,000 to 70,000 years ago, covered much of the caldera floor with more than 20 thick lava flows, including the Elephant Back flow, which can be seen west of Fishing Bridge. [snip]
To learn more about the changing ground levels in the Yellowstone area, scientists conducted additional surveys across the eastern part of the caldera nearly every year from 1983 to 1998. In the 1990s, new and revolutionary satellite-based methods for tracking the Earth's changing ground surfaceâthe Global Positioning System (GPS) and Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR)âwere applied by University of Utah, USGS, and other scientists to assemble a more detailed picture of how and when the ground moves above Yellowstone's magma reservoir.
These new data reveal that Yellowstone is in nearly continuous but frequently changing movementâthe floor of the caldera continued to rise until 1984, stopped rising during 1984â85, and then subsided for the next 10 years. Parts of the central caldera began rising again in 1995, but a more complex pattern of uplift and subsidence has prevailed since 2000. InSAR data show that between 1995 and 1997 a large area along the northwest rim of the Yellowstone Caldera, centered near Norris Geyser Basin, started to rise. The picture that emerges from all these data is of a dynamic system in which the caldera floor is in almost constant motionâepisodes of uplift and subsidence occur at various locations and over different time scales.
#27
Indeed, mojo, it is just a question how to delay the inevitable and how to make the best of it in between.
As a civilization, may happen. As a species, no. We are very adaptible. Bare some terminal Vogon-type accident tomorrow, we'll spread like a plague throughout the universe.
We shape our own reality, true, but so do other complex systems we interact with. Plate tectonics is a model of reality and must be somewhat imprecise as such as any model we come up with, but it does reflect observations.
#30
Sobiesky: Should we completely accept plate tectonics and vulcanism?
I'm not talking about the models, I'm talking about actual events.
Models are something we use to help understand the events, and as such are judged on their utility. When I say "I am opposed to blatant displays of plate tectonics", I'm not referring to the activities of seismologists, but the San Andreas Fault (among others).
I choose not to accept "que cera cera" when I don't have to. This is a case where I don't think we have to.
James, that was my point, it is only a disaster if you don't change in response to it and food supplies give you about 12 months before large scale starvation in developed countries. Ash per se as long as its not to thick is a nice fertiliser. The main problem is the shifting in climatic zones and the required mass changes in agriculture for just a few years. The more adaptable your society, in general the better you will adapt. Otherwise rerun the scenario with a Kamchatka or Indo volcano and the USA has to respond to global effects rather than local effects from a Yellowstone eruption.
#32
Just to put things further into perspective, there are something like seven super-volcano calderas in the United States. The Silverton area is the mineralized remains of a super-volcano from about 35 million years ago. There's another one up in the Middle Park area. Both still have dozens of hot springs, old chimneys, dikes, and other remnants of volcanic activity. IIUC, there's another major caldera in northern California, and one somewhere in Oregon. Don't know about any in Nevada or New Mexico, but that doesn't say they don't exist. The last active volcano in the US before Mt. St. Helens was in New Mexico. A friend of mine, "Rocky" Crandall, a former USGS Vulcanologist, said that Colorado was overdue for a volcanic eruption - about 5000 years overdue! There's a possible rift valley forming in the central US, from about Lawton, OK, up through Duluth, MN. Geology and geomorphology are just so much FUN! Most of the time it runs in slow motion, but as we saw in Indonesia, it doesn't have to. Maybe we need to get the geneticists busy on developing cold-weather and drought-resistant crop modifications, so we can grow crops right up to the glacier walls.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/10/2005 18:36 Comments ||
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#33
OP, Yep GM will be a critical component of the response, and GM scientists and labs will be like gold dust. Of course the Euros don't have any cos they are agin it.
#35
Just curious. Does anybody know if all that grain we buried in the Alaskan permafrost in the 50s for a nuke war is still there? If it is, is it still edible? That was suppose to be enough for 5 years of some size of a post nuke war population.
#38
OP - Long Valley Caldera - from Crowley Lake past Mammoth Mtn along 395 is a potential site, and experiences quakes and CO emissions all the time...
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/10/2005 19:26 Comments ||
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#39
Legislation based on recently-viewed TV shows is always a good idea.
#40
Frank G - and that Long Valley Caldera would be in the state of ???? (My guess is California) Crater lake in Oregon is a MUCH smaller caldera than we're taling about here, yes?
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/10/2005 22:39 Comments ||
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#41
Dishman, sure...San Andreas, it is all his Fault! ;-)
Phil, thanx for notice, Kamchatka may be a miner's canary, but it is not the whole kaboodle I had on mind. Something happened at the end of last glacial what activated a lot of them in a geological fraction of time, from Cascades to Sumatra.
#42
Now, thinking of it, we are not at the end of a glacial. That is somewhat comforting. Also good's that Mt Olympus is on Mars and not here (that thing in Greece is just a hill).
I'm telling you, it's a Workers Paradise!
HAVANA (Reuters) - President Fidel Castro gave Cuban women some good news on International Women's Day: rice cookers are coming to every household. In a five-hour 45-minute speech to cheering women on Tuesday night, the Cuban leader announced 100,000 pressure cookers and rice cookers would be available each month at subsidized prices. A '59 Chevy in every garage and a rice cooker in every kitchen. El Jefe commands it!
"Those of you who like rice cookers, raise your hands," Castro said to applause from hundreds of women. The 78-year-old leader spent two hours talking about the merits of pressure cookers. His cook must've told him all about it.
Castro's gesture may have carried some irony, coming on a day commemorating women's battles for equality. But many Cuban women, who do the vast majority of domestic work despite advances toward equality under Castro, were only too happy to hear the Chinese-made rice cookers were on their way. The electric rice cooker is a treasured appliance in communist-run Cuba, where the basic diet is black beans and rice. The cookers were among appliances banned to save energy a decade ago when Cuba was plunged into economic crisis and power outages due to the loss of Soviet aid and oil. Looks like Hugo's coming through for them. Wonder if they're paying $55 a barrel?
The cookers could be distributed now, Castro said, because Cuba was emerging from the crisis and had resolved its latest energy crunch, caused by a failure of the island's largest power plant last summer. With average salaries of $12 a month, most Cubans cannot afford rice cookers that now sell for $60 on the black market. Yep, a Workers Paradise!
"They will be received with open arms. When the gas goes, you can make beans, boil vegetables or heat up milk for the baby," said a Cuban housewife. She said electric rice cookers are vital in rural Cuba, where households cook on wood or coal fires when gas is not available. What happens when the electricity goes out?
Posted by: tu3031 ||
03/10/2005 9:36:21 AM ||
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#1
"...a five-hour 45-minute speech..."
"...two hours talking about the merits of pressure cookers..."
I don't know about the whole speech, but the two hours on pressure cookers surely qualifies him for a new job in the EU bureaucracy.
Posted by: Tom ||
03/10/2005 10:32 Comments ||
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#2
Oprah gives away better presents, and her audience only has to sit through an hour taping.
#6
Another report adds a different slant: The program could wipe out what has become a popular, and in most cases legal, private business that uses molds to make pressure cookers from cheap aluminum. Although imported cookers are sold in stores for about $25 - more than the average Cuban earns in a month - homemade ones cost about $5.50. At subsidized prices, the government-distributed cookers will cost about the same as the homemade ones. And the government's cookers can be paid for in monthly installments.
The government began moving last year to trim the already small number of people legally allowed to work for themselves. Cuba was forced to allow some private business beginning in the mid-1990s amid an economic crisis in the years after the withdrawal of Soviet aid and trade. Those modest reforms were seen as temporary, but necessary, evils.
But after a slow recovery, recent discoveries of oil deposits off Cuba's coast and economic alliances with Venezuela and China, Castro clearly believes the island is strong enough to return to a more centralized economy.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/10/2005 15:24 Comments ||
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#9
Way back when I was 8 or so, when we first moved from New Orleans to Acadiana, my mom was at the grocery when someone mentioned in passing that the brand of rice she was shopping for "didn't stick together right..."
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
03/10/2005 22:53 Comments ||
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OSLO, Norway (Reuters) - Dhimmi Swedish home furnishings giant IKEA is guilty of sex discrimination by showing only men putting together furniture in its instruction manuals, Norway's prime minister says.
IKEA, which has more than 200 stores in 32 nations and features Halal cuisine in all company cafeterias , fears it might offend Muslims by depicting women assembling everything from cupboards to beds. Someone should tell them it's OK if they're wearing a birka. Its manuals show only men or cartoon figures whose sex is unclear Sounds very European. No wonder they're having so much trouble reproducing..
"This isn't good enough," Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik was quoted Thursday as telling the daily Verdens Gang. "It's important to promote attitudes for sexual equality, not least in Muslim nations." This guy is going to have a Jihadi hit squad on him faster than you can say Dutch Parliamentarian
"They should change this," s/he said. "There's no justification for it."
IKEA stores are visited by 365 million people a year around the world. Many products have to be assembled by the buyer -- the "flat pack" concept saves the company huge amounts in transport, storage and sales space.
Bondevik, whose sex could not be detemined, added: "I myself have great problems with screwing together such furniture." Shakes head, too easy. Leave something for commenters.
Verdens Gang quoted an IKEA spokeswoman as saying: "We have to take account of cultural factors. In Muslim countries it's problematic problematic? How about forbidden? to use women in instruction manuals."
IKEA was not immediately available for comment.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/10/2005 11:12:22 AM ||
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ask 'em if they'll make sure their cafeterias are kosher, too.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/10/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Money. Power. Incest. Power Corp didn't get "caught up" in the OFF Scam, it was at the center of the web. Rae, Francois-Poncet, et al are as dirty as they can be. I hope this gets very very ugly, nasty, and vicious as they get rolled into the investigation ... we have an extradition agreement with Kanada. How they react will tell us much about our future relations. The tens of thousands of mfg jobs exported across the border, the incredible level of trade with the US, etc. could all be on the line. Time for a Northern Friendship Fence to match the sorely needed Southern Friendship Fence.
#2
I'll wait till I hear the response to the extradition order, but I'm ready to fortify the longest unguraded border in the world. They're a bunch of Euroweenies up there.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
03/10/2005 7:31 Comments ||
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#3
Now, what was that again about Volker being a unbiased outside investigator?
Posted by: Steve ||
03/10/2005 8:16 Comments ||
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#4
Just a month before the Canada Free Press revealed that Volcker, a former Federal Reserve chairman, is a member of Power Corp.âs international advisory boardâand a close friend and personal adviser to Powerâs owner, Paul Desmarais Sr.âa U.S. congressional investigation into the UN scandal
wow! This is huge. Not that it will get the play it deserves - but still huge.
EFL: (CNSNews.com) - Web log author Garrett M. Graff made Internet history when he became the first blogger to post from the White House briefing room this week. But, in a letter to the White House seeking temporary press credentials, the "non-partisan and independent" blogger did not divulge his current position with a politically "progressive" Internet consulting firm that has liberal politicians and activist groups as clients.
Since mid-January 2005, Graff, the former deputy national press secretary for Howard Dean's failed 2004 presidential campaign, has been writing for Fishbowl D.C., "a gossip blog about Washington, D.C. media."
Last week, he wrote an open letter to the White House Office of Media Affairs, asking to be considered for temporary news media credentials. In that letter, Graff stated that, "By both design and practice, Fishbowl D.C. is a non-partisan and independent publication that covers the media industry and journalism in Washington, D.C."
Cybercast News Service asked Graff if he discussed his current or former political work with officials at the White House. "No, and I don't think ..." Graff said, not finishing the thought. "The simple answer is: My blog doesn't cover politics, you know? I think that you would be hard pressed to read through the, uh, the blog and really see it take any sort of political take at all. I mean, it's a blog about journalism," Graff added.
Uh huh, right
In addition to blogging for Fishbowl D.C., Graff serves as vice president of communications and articulation for EchoDitto.com, a politically-oriented and politically-liberal Internet consulting firm. Of the 16 team members listed on EchoDitto.com's site, Graff is one of 14 who previously worked on staff or volunteered with the Howard "Dean for America" 2004 presidential campaign. The organization also advertises that "In addition to our full-time staff, we work with a broad network of progressive activists on a regular basis, as well as others on a contract basis."
Graff hesitated when asked about EchoDitto.com's work with political groups.
"All of our clients are actually listed on the EchoDitto website," Graff explained after a pause.
"Ah, crap, I am soooo screwed..."
A list of "EchoDitto Projects" published on the site includes a few of charities such as the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. But the overwhelming majority of the firm's clients are liberal organizations like Air America Radio, liberal political candidates and office holders such as Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), and liberal activist groups such as the Campaign for America's Future.
No bias there, nope, nope
Posted by: Steve ||
03/10/2005 9:09:17 AM ||
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#1
Goldstein's gonna pop a nut over this.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/10/2005 9:50 Comments ||
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#2
Since the Gannon affair has established a precedent, would it be proper for us to inquire as to Mr. Graff's sexuality? Or it that okay only when the Kos-ites do it?
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/10/2005 10:49 Comments ||
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#3
Kossacks are immunized against charges of gay-baiting. Why? Well...just cuz.
Bill Clinton enjoyed a round of golf yesterday with his old rival turned new buddy, the first President George Bush, in the odd couple's latest outing in front of the cameras. Such a joint appearance would once have looked like a stuffy piece of presidential protocol. For years Mr Clinton was all but the devil incarnate to diehard Republicans after he upset Mr Bush's bid for re-election in 1992. But the atmosphere of the old presidents' club and the pair's recruitment by the White House to be America's co-chief fund raisers for the victims of the Asian tsunami, has forged an intriguing bond.
Yes, they were mismatched, Mr Bush senior conceded recently. But despite their rivalry on the campaign trail, he went on, they had never been hostile. In a rare public and even Clintonian display of sentiment from an essentially private man, he added: "Maybe I'm the father he never had". Mr Clinton's father died in a car accident a few months before the future president was born. Mr Clinton too has been the model of courtesy, regularly deferring to his predecessor's extra 22 years of experience, even though, as a two-term president, he technically trumps Mr Bush.
To the bemusement of his enemies on the Right, on the government 757 jetting across Asia, Mr Clinton insisted on ceding the only bed to his elder travelling companion and sleeping on the floor. "He was very considerate of the old guy. That's me," Mr Bush told the Houston Chronicle. "I mean, like the room on the plane. There was every reason in the world he should have had equal time if not priority, but he insisted. That's a tiny little thing that meant a lot to me."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Bulldog ||
03/10/2005 3:52:43 AM ||
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#1
One is an honorable well-spoken and mannered gentleman of the Old School. The other is a glib slimy smarmy consummate liar capable of any farce or fancy.
As for the coverage of the Clintons as the defiler of maids, self, marriage, and office goes under the knife, one could hardly expect anything less than fawning sycophantic mewling from the whores of the MSM.
#2
To paraphrase Orrin Judd, GWB can't really have Bill stuffed and mounted over the fireplace, so keeping him around like this will have to do.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/10/2005 10:50 Comments ||
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#3
Gosh! Bill is such a great guy. Even George Senior likes him. And he gave up the bed and sent press releases world-wide to let the world know what a consumate gentleman he is.
We thought he was a putz - but now I realize he's just a nice friendly man. I think I'll vote for his wife.
#4
.com - I take it you were you not taken with Mr. Clinton's charm?
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/10/2005 22:19 Comments ||
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#5
Lol, Bobby! No, you could say his incredible smarminess failed to impress me. I guess actual perjury and personal dishonesty aren't balanced by a glib persona. Go figure, huh? ;-)
Wal-Mart and other retailers are lobbying Congress to extend the workday for truckers to 16 hours, something labor unions and safety advocates say would make roadways more dangerous for all drivers.
Rep. John Boozman, an Arkansas Republican whose district includes Wal-Mart's headquarters in Bentonville, is sponsoring a bill that would allow a 16-hour workday as long as the trucker took an unpaid two-hour break. The proposal is expected to be offered as an amendment during debate over the highway spending bill on Wednesday.
"Truckers are pushing harder than ever to make their runs within the mandated timeframe," Boozman said. "Optional rest breaks will reduce driver layovers and improve both safety and efficiency."
Current rules limit drivers' workdays to 14 hours, with only 11 consecutive hours of driving allowed, union leaders and safety advocates say. That gives truckers three hours to eat, rest or load and unload their trucks... And a two hour *unpaid* break. I'm surprised that Wal-Mart didn't just ask to be exempted from paying minimum wage.
#6
I drove over the road for 2 years back in the early 70's -- 14 hrs in every 24 is already pushing it to the wall, IMHO. Remember, many of these guys, especially the independents, do this shit day in, day out, 7 days a week. Let that sink in and it becomes even more insane.
This year, the United States proudly honors the Marine Corps and all Marines who have sacrificed and contributed in our Nation's service. Public Law 108-291, signed August 6, 2004, authorizes the minting of a Silver Dollar to commemorate the 230th Anniversary of the United States Marine Corps...
WEST BEND, Wis. -- A man accused of impersonating a Marine Corps officer is facing federal charges.
Michael Schuster is well known in veterans circles in West Bend.
He's played taps at dozens of veterans' burials, wearing a Marine uniform with military decorations and medals. He was the featured speaker at last year's Memorial Day observance.
The 52-year-old claimed to have served in Vietnam, achieving the rank of major.
But at least one veteran who served as a Marine Corps master gunnery sergeant in Vietnam was suspicious.
Jim Krudwig noticed Schuster wore his medals and ribbons out of place, and he said Schuster saluted like he was in the Air Force.
Federal authorities investigated Schuster's claims and he was charged with wearing military decorations without authorization.
The charge carries a maximum $100,000 fine and a year in federal prison.
WISN 12 News spoke with Schuster by phone Wednesday. He had no comment. If protesting the Vietnam war was "just as honorable" as having served in the military, then how come so many draft-dodging baby boomers pretend to have been combat veterans? I do so enjoy when one of them crashes and burns.
#1
"saluted like he was in the Air Force." What the hell does that mean? I recieved praise from a Marine Major for my "Snappy" salute and I wore blue. I am sure he meant Canadian Air Force and not the USAF.
#2
I think there's a slight but noticeable difference in how the hand is held for a Marine salute. The Marines put far more emphasis into training for their salute than does the other branches. An NCO would spot such a difference instantly, and combined with (horrors!) scrambled uniform decorations, he would smell a gigantic rat.
From Secrecy News newsletter, link to FAS website.
The government of Sudan is seeking clarification of reports that the United States carried out a nuclear explosive test in Sudan in 1962. I'm suprised and shocked. You sure?
Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Uthman Isma'il told Al Jazirah television yesterday that his country was responding to the disclosure of the Sudan nuclear test at a congressional hearing held by the House Armed Services Committee last week. But there was no such test.
Oh, sure there was. Remember, they had that real big city, bigger than Khartoum, and we blew it up in the wee hours of the morning, but we weren't gonna tell the dumb guys, because we knew they'd forget it happened because of their short attention spans, and... uhhh... never mind.
A review of the transcript of the March 2 House Armed Services Strategic Services Subcommittee hearing does indeed include a startling reference by Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) to a 1962 "Sudan" nuclear test. Typo or malapropism alert!
"The Sudan test displaced 12 million tons of earth and dug a crater 320 feet deep in over 1000 feet in diameter," she noted. It is clear from the context that she was referring to a well-knownJuly 6, 1962 explosion at the Nevada Test Site codenamed "Sedan." Ohhhhhhhhh, I see now.
Yeah. Now the Frenchies will want "clarification."
The remarkable crater it left behind can be visited today by tourists. 'Hey, check out the big hole. Did a JDAM do that, Daddy?'
'No, son. That was produced by an atomic bomb of the type that we tested in the Sudan in 1962.'
The term "Sedan" was mistakenly transcribed as "Sudan" both by Federal News Service and by FDCH Political Transcripts and has been so recorded in the Nexis news data base, where it continues to cause mischief. Bwahahahaha!
Sudanese Agriculture Minister Majzoub el-Khalifa suggested Wednesday that the purported U.S. nuclear test may have caused cancers in Sudan, according to a Xinhua news story today. I see that the story is now taking a life of its own, with some help from the Sudanese govt, al Jazz, and the Chicom news service. I guess Iraq is old news to Al Jazz, and they are looking for new headlines.
Obviously, he's got lots of research to back that claim up...
See "US Envoy Summoned Over House Remarks on US Nuclear Tests in Sudan," Al Jazirah, March 9 (translated by CIA's Foreign Broadcast Information Service), and an excerpt from Rep. Tauscher's remarks, March 2, here.
#10
I'm sure that if Sudan is disappointed with the US response, we can follow through by actually conducting a nuclear surface test. I recommend Khartoum, and we'll need to keep it a surprise, so there won't be too many onlookers and gawkers. Oh, and let's make it a really BIG one, say 15MT.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
03/10/2005 18:57 Comments ||
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#11
Emir al-Litella has it right -- this has all the makings of a Saturday Night Live skit.
Posted by: Tom ||
03/10/2005 19:45 Comments ||
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At least 10 students at Nigeria's Ambrose Alli University have been killed in gang-related gun and machete fights, the BBC reported Thursday. Officials at the university in the town of Ekpoma refute the claim, saying there has only been one death over the past four days, but Edo state regional assembly member Patrick Ajuenede confirmed the 10 deaths. The gangs, known locally as cults, are growing in numbers as the number of students gradually increases. They are also growing in sophistication, with reports of one Ambrose Alli gang hiring mercenaries from another university to carry out the killings. In the 1990s, the groups slowed their activities in the face of stiffer penalties and lengthy jail sentences, but in light of this week's surge in bloodshed, Edo state governor Lucky Igbinedion has called for an emergency state security meeting, the report said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2005 11:16:17 AM ||
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March 10, 2005: The UN announced that it will investigate the counter-militia operation launched on March 1 by Pakistani and South African peacekeepers in the Congo's Ituri province. The UN said the investigation was routine, though press sources report that villagers in the area where the combat action occurred said that peacekeepers also killed civilians. UN commanders denied this accusation. The UN commanders did say the militiamen tried to use hostages as "shields" but UN soldiers held fire until they could initiate combat without civilian losses.
The counter-militia operation (which has all the markings of a carefully planned counter-bandit operation)(just like I said) was conducted in response to a rogue militia's ambush of Bangladeshi peacekeepers on February 25 that left 9 Bangaldeshis dead. The Pakistanis and South Africans estimated they killed around 60 militiamen in the operation which took place near the Congo town of Loga. The UN (MONUC) force had two wounded.The Pakistanis are part of the UN's "Ituri Brigade" and the South African contingent had been moved into the area to act as a rapid response force. The rogue militia belongs to the the Nationalist Integrationist Front (FNI).
UN peacekeepers (presumably in the Ituri Brigade) reported that the Pakistani and South African troops had "precise intelligence." March 1 was a market day in Lago and a UN source said on market days "the militia gather taxes" (translation: rob or take protection money from the locals). The situation in the Congo appears to be getting worse-- if that sounds possible. The civilian death rate in the region among refugees seems to be running at 1,000 a day in the area. Most of these people die from malnutrition and various diseases. Sexual abuse of women and girls continues in rebel controlled areas-- if you thought UN peacekeepers were bad, the militiamen are worse. There are also new reports of militias "recruiting" child soldiers. The possibility of any solution is dim, given the complex interrelationships of social unrest, criminal gangs, traditional tribal conflicts, and the presence of defeated Rwandan Hutu rebels. The increasing aggressiveness of the UN peacekeeping forces may suggest that Congo -- or at least the war -- is about to (and we quote) "fall into UN receivership."
This is a UN Charter Chapter 7 operation, which empowers the peacekeepers to act aggressively (the only prior Chapter 7 ops have been Korea, Congo 1960, Iraq '90-'91, and Somalia), but from 1999 until recently the chief UN official overseeing the operation has been reluctant to act decisively. That seems to have changed as of March 1. MONUC is the world's largest on-going peacekeeping operation. UN security strength --currently around 13,206 troops, 569 military observers, and 175 civilian police--is scheduled to rise to 17,000 troops and right at 500 civilian police officers.
Counting the 9 Bangladeshis killed February 25, the current UN death toll in the Congo MONUC operation (KIA or died of wounds) is 45. The breakdown is as follows: 34 military troops, eight military observers, two international civilian UN staffers and one local civilian hired by the UN.
Posted by: Steve ||
03/10/2005 9:44:58 AM ||
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#1
why do we bother calling them peacekeepers? Why don't we call them what the really are - war watchers.
Does the Israel Defense Forces believe incoming recruits and soldiers who play Dungeons and Dragons are unfit for elite units? Ynet has learned that 18-year-olds who tell recruiters they play the popular fantasy game are automatically given low security clearance. "They're detached from reality and suscepitble to influence," the army says.
Fans of the popular roleplaying game had spoken of rumors of this strange policy by the IDF, but now the army has confirmed that it has a negative image of teens who play the game and labels them as problematic in regard to their draft status. So if you like fantasy games, go see the military psychologist.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: tipper ||
03/10/2005 6:48:16 AM ||
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"'These people have a tendency to be influenced by external factors which could cloud their judgment, a military official says. "They may be detached from reality or have a weak personality - elements which lower a personâs security clearance, allowing them to serve in the army, but not in sensitive positions.'"
Hmm. Wonder if the Greek Army has the same sort of attitude.
#3
Soon hundreds of fans are expected to meet in a forest in the southern part of Israel for a two-day game of pure fantasy.
They appear to be confusing D&D with LARPing or perhaps an offshoot of the SCA.
Besides, real men play GURPS.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/10/2005 9:47 Comments ||
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#4
No, real men play Myst, Riven, Exile, Uru, and Reveltion. (And End of Ages when it comes out this fall)
Posted by: Steve from Relto ||
03/10/2005 10:02 Comments ||
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#5
Dayum, didn't this theory go away in the '80s? Hey IDF! Make sure they're not listening to heavy metal, too. They put backward prayers to Satan on the tracks. One time, my brother's girlfriend's sister's boyfriend's cousin played a Twisted Sister record backward, and they found him the next day hanging in the attic. Whoa!
#6
this aint about satanism, more its a clash of cultures - IDF retains an old Zionist pioneer SERIOUSNESS - a deep distrust of fantasizing of any kind - there are reasons Israel, while producing great writers, produces nothing like the magic realism of Latin America. This is historically a society that is focused on the pragmatic, the results oriented, the real (one of many reasons its so alien to the rest of the region, I might add) But Israeli society is changing, the pioneers are dead, and its becoming more like any Western society - Israel now has rappers, and all sorts of stuff. Its not only the Orthodox who look at that and are shocked - its those sectors of secular society that are still rooted in the old pragmatic, this worldly, social democrat, pioneer ethos who look on their children and are perplexed.
#8
of course the irony is that RPGs were invented wargamers, for use in a realistic historical scenario, but only took off when they adopted the Tolkienish Forgotten Realms.
bloodninja: Baby, I been havin a tough night so treat me nice aight?
BritneySpears14: Aight.
bloodninja: Slip out of those pants baby, yeah.
BritneySpears14: I slip out of my pants, just for you, bloodninja.
bloodninja: Oh yeah, aight. Aight, I put on my robe and wizard hat.
BritneySpears14: Oh, I like to play dress up.
bloodninja: Me too baby.
BritneySpears14: I kiss you softly on your chest.
bloodninja: I cast Lvl. 3 Eroticism. You turn into a real beautiful woman.
BritneySpears14: Hey...
bloodninja: I meditate to regain my mana, before casting Lvl. 8 Cock of the Infinite.
BritneySpears14: Funny I still don't see it.
bloodninja: I spend my mana reserves to cast Mighty F*ck of the Beyondness.
BritneySpears14: You are the worst cyber partner ever. This is ridiculous.
bloodninja: Don't f*ck with me bitch, I'm the mightiest sorcerer of the lands.
bloodninja: I steal yo soul and cast Lightning Lvl. 1,000,000 Your body
explodes into a fine bloody mist, because you are only a Lvl. 2 Druid.
BritneySpears14: Don't ever message me again you piece of ****.
bloodninja: Robots are trying to drill my brain but my lightning shield inflicts DOA attack, leaving the robots as flaming piles of metal.
bloodninja: King Arthur congratulates me for destroying Dr. Robotnik's evil army of Robot Socialist Republics. The cold war ends. Reagan steals my accomplishments and makes like it was cause of him.
bloodninja: You still there baby? I think it's getting hard now.
bloodninja: Baby?
#17
LH -- your history is close, but off on a few things. The first RPG was not for "historically realistic scenarios", but rather for Conan-esque fantasy battles. More realistic rules and settings didn't come along for quite a while; I can't think of anything that tried to be "historical" until the late '80s at the earliest.
I'd also place the peak of D&D a bit before the advent of "The Forgotten Realms", but that's probably nitpicking.
The IDF should definitely get over it, though. I'd be more worried about the greedy and those with unfortunate ideologies. This is as bad as the US government appearing to reject out of hand any Jewish Arabic speakers for translation duties.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
03/10/2005 21:18 Comments ||
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#18
Inductees who are proficient at bin Laden's Liquors should be considered for commando school. :)
Sanjay Nirupam, a member of India's upper house of Parliament, quit Shiv Sena yesterday after refusing to apologize to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pramod Mahajan for alleging that Mahajan was involved in the Reliance shares scam. According to Shiv Sena sources, Nirupam was ordered to resign by party chief Bal Thackery, following protest from the BJP, a Shiv Sena ally. Nirupam stood his ground and accepted that there had been serious differences between him and Mahajan over the involvement of him and his family members in the Reliance shares scam. "Yes, I said that there cannot be two sets of law in the country, and that I had demanded in a statement that a thorough investigation be made into Mahajan's role in the scam," Nirupam said. A defiant Nirupam said that there was no question of his apologizing to Mahajan or the BJP, and he was quitting the party because Thackeray had asked him to.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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EFL
Families having a single girl child in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh will be given 100,000 rupees ($2,300) in an attempt to boost the female population. The money will be given to the child when she turns 20, and both parents would have to undergo verified birth control operations. The state government says it is concerned at the falling female-to-male ratio - in 2001 it was 943 to 1,000. State Chief Minister YS Rajashekhar Reddy said there would be several other benefits for families having a single girl child. They include an annual grant of 1,250 rupees for education for the girl in classes nine to 12 (ages 14-17). In case of the death of either parent, the family would get up to 50,000 rupees immediately. The Andhra Pradesh government says it is also planning a major publicity campaign to promote female children.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/10/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
Anything that stops the practice of aborting female children is good to me! (But then again, I'm biased. ;) )
#2
I am too lazy to check facts today , but the last time I was in India , its population was growing faster than China's , and will probably surpass it by 2020 . There was a national campaign celebrating this during my stint out there . Its concerning whether the state will be able to keep up with the population growth . That being said , I am in total agreement with Desert Blondie , as any sane person would be
Anyway , I have said it before , and will continue to say it , India is a great country with alot happening for it , but it still has a long road to travel down . Bordering Pakistan and China can not be an amusing prospect by anyones standards . And the diversity of culture is not only a great sight but also a small thorn in its side .
#3
Population growth is not the problem. With modern medical equipment the child can be viewed before birth and the gender can be determined. Such medical services have become a cottage industry in India. In societies like India still with strong agrarian social underpinnings, the families are aborting females and opting for male deliveries. Amazing how this 'choice' is so upsetting for feminists who trumpet a woman's right to choose. Momma is choosing a son to take care of her in her old age. Females are looked upon as a liability with doweries still a common practice let alone other less 'civilized' practices.
Two days after president's rule came into force in Bihar, Governor Buta Singh officially assumed charge of the state administration yesterday. The governor had recommended direct central rule in the state on Sunday and had dissolved the state assembly, after elections in February gave a fractured verdict with no party in a position to form the government. Soon after taking over the charge, the governor held a meeting with the state officials, including the Chief Secretary K.A.H Subramanian, Home Commissioner Girish Shankar and Director General of Police Narayan Mishra and outlined his priorities.
In his first public announcement, Singh said he would soon affect a major reshuffle to tone up the police and civil administration. Law and order and development, besides measures to check terrorism on the Bihar-Nepal border would be accorded top priority while health, education and protection of human rights and programs for women would be other thrust areas, he said. Meanwhile, as per the new order of the state chief secretary, heavyweight politicians and former state ministers will have to vacate their palatial bungalows — their homes for years — immediately.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/10/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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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.
Joseph Stanton, 29, of Bates Township in Iron County, was shot in his lower torso around 6 p.m. Tuesday, the state police post in Iron River reported. He was transported to Iron County Community Hospital. State police said he was cooking at his stove when the cat knocked the loaded gun off the kitchen counter behind him. 
Geologists have called for a taskforce to be set up to consider emergency management in the event of a massive volcanic eruption, or super-eruption. The recommendation comes in a report timed to coincide with a BBC TV drama that depicts a fictional super-eruption at Yellowstone Park in Wyoming, US. Experts say such an event would have a colossal impact on a global scale. 
At least 10 students at Nigeria's Ambrose Alli University have been killed in gang-related gun and machete fights, the BBC reported Thursday. Officials at the university in the town of Ekpoma refute the claim, saying there has only been one death over the past four days, but Edo state regional assembly member Patrick Ajuenede confirmed the 10 deaths. The gangs, known locally as cults, are growing in numbers as the number of students gradually increases. They are also growing in sophistication, with reports of one Ambrose Alli gang hiring mercenaries from another university to carry out the killings. In the 1990s, the groups slowed their activities in the face of stiffer penalties and lengthy jail sentences, but in light of this week's surge in bloodshed, Edo state governor Lucky Igbinedion has called for an emergency state security meeting, the report said.
Sanjay Nirupam, a member of India's upper house of Parliament, quit 
