Sig Frohlich, who has died aged 97, was a bit-part actor for much of his long career in Hollywood, playing messengers, waiters, callboys, clerks and soldiers, rarely earning even a flicker of recognition from viewers over 50 years. But he achieved some lasting celebrity as one of the winged monkeys in The Wizard of Oz (1939). This was despite the fact that he was completely disguised in a monkey costume and uttered no words on screen. The 13 actors playing these unlovely animals, in the service of the Wicked Witch of the West, were originally promised $25 for each time they swooped down screaming from the sky on the heroine, Dorothy (Judy Garland). The director, Victor Fleming, protested that this sum was the usual fee for a whole day's work. But it was agreed that Frohlich, who was an early member of the Screen Actors' Guild, should receive an extra $5 a swoop since he was the one who snatched Dorothy's dog, Toto; and he was paid more for his other scenes with Margaret Hamilton, who played the Wicked Witch.
Frohlich, the last surviving monkey, found himself constantly questioned about the film, which enjoys such iconic status in the United States that flying monkeys are periodically referred to in The Simpsons. He was a favourite at the Wizard of Oz festival, which is held in the house where Judy Garland was born at Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Frohlich believed that the great interest was due to the monkeys being the stuff of childhood nightmares of Frank J. He would recall how the monkeys were trussed up like "Thanksgiving Day turkeys" with special belts around their midriffs; these were attached to wires which could carry them through the sky without being seen on screen. Not only do the monkeys have the honour of being listed at 94 in the top 100 film monsters of all time, the slim steel tracks in the reinforced rafters of MGM Sound Stage 29 are still in place as a haunting reminder for visitors.
After Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the Army Air Force to become a B-24 gunner in action over the Pacific.
#1
Hmm.. just like Pakistan.. another nation that does not even produce bicycles yet claims to make atomic bombs.
I think we're seriously underestimating the extent of Chinese support for their WMDs...
Posted by: john ||
10/11/2005 15:54 Comments ||
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#2
Maybe they can get Lance Armstrong to hook his bike up to a generator like he did in that ESPN commercial. I mean, since he's retired and has all that free time...
#3
The DPRK's Waffen SS Soviet People's Army, and the NK Commie Party, aka the State, sub-aka the PC lawfully unincorporated "autonomous" Chinese territory or province of North Korea = Corye, CHINA, can have nukes and nuke elex power, or space cars or space planes, but the masses = peons = legally enslaved can have bikes, AND ONLY BIKES. Kimmie is fat and has the best cars, the People have SOLYENT GREEN - NO, howzabout RETURN OF SOLYENT GREEN!?
Want to know what a journalistâs life is like in a war zone? Well, hereâs your chance because this weekâs 10 plus 1 features CBS London producer and sometimes âactingâ Baghdad Bureau chief Randall Joyce.
If youâve ever wanted to question a wartime reporter, your wait is over. Aside from having spent large amounts of time in Iraq before, during and after the U.S. invasion, Joyce covered the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan prior to the fall of the Taliban, has covered wars in Bosnia and Kosovo, elections and coup attempts in Russia and much, much more.
As you know, each week we ask 10 questions of our weekly subject, then throw open the floor for your submissions. Weâll sort through them and pick one for Randall to answer, so cast your eyes overseas and send him your questions.
A Chinese man who raised bears to tap them for their bile, prized as a traditional medicine in Asia, has been killed and eaten by his animals, Xinhua news agency said Tuesday. Six black bears attacked keeper Han Shigen as he was cleaning their pen in the northeastern province of Jilin on Monday, Xinhua said. "The ill-fated man died on the spot and was eaten up by the ferocious bears," it said, citing a report in the Beijing News.
In practices decried by animal rights groups, bile is extracted through surgically implanted catheters in the bear's gall bladders, or by a "free-dripping" technique by which bile drips out through holes opened in the animals' abdomens.
I can see why the bears would object to this
More than 200 farms in China keep about 7,000 bears to tap their bile, which traditional Chinese medicine holds can cure fever, liver illness and sore eyes. Bear farming was far more widespread before the cruelty involved came to light and Beijing introduced regulations to control the industry in 1993. Animal welfare groups have called on China to completely ban bear farming, arguing that traditional herbal medicines can serve the same purposes as bear bile.
Xinhua said police sent to the scene of Monday's killing injected one of the bears with tranquilizers "but failed to tame the mad animal."
Police then threw meat into the bears' pen to distract them so they could recover Han's remains, it said without elaborating. dumasses. em bears alredy had they meat groop fore the day.
JEDDAH, 11 October 2005 â With the advent of Ramadan, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has intensified inspection tours of date factories in various parts of the Kingdom to make sure that rotten products are not sold to unsuspecting Umrah pilgrims. The campaign aims to protect consumers from fraudulent practices of some factories which take advantage of the high season.
#5
That's impossible. Muslims would never callously profit at the expense of other Muslims. Why, if that were to happen the whole idea of making the world a unified Islamic paradise would amount to just another hare-brained utopian crock of .....
Never mind.
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
10/11/2005 13:37 Comments ||
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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez blamed capitalism for earthquakes hitting India, Pakistan and Afghanistan as well as for mudslides in Central America and Mexico. Speaking on radio and TV, Chavez said these catastrophes were natureâs answer to the âworld global capitalist modelâ. Never have there been such disasters, hurricanes, droughts, torrential rains. Incredible! The world is dangerously off balance,â he said. Earlier, US evangelist Pat Robertson had said the natural disasters point to worldâs end and Christâs return.
Daily Times is behind the curve on this one. We had it a few days ago. I was talking to Utu Napishtim the other day, and he said it's because we're not sacrificing enough goats to Nin Hursag.
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- Venezuela's government has asked Argentina about the possibility of providing technical expertise to help develop nuclear energy in Venezuela for peaceful purposes, officials said Monday. Cabinet Chief Alberto Fernandez said a delegation from the Venezuelan state oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. had inquired about the possibility.
Argentina is one of the leading Latin American nations in nuclear power generation for peaceful purposes, and the two countries have signed a series of energy accords that mark close ties between two left-leaning leaders, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Argentine President Nestor Kirchner.
In Caracas, Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said building a nuclear reactor in Venezuela "is not planned at this moment." "It's about technical exchange and studies, there is no concrete agreement for obtaining anything related to generating atomic energy," Ramirez told state television.
Argentina's foreign minister, Rafael Bielsa, noted that Argentine has helped other countries with reactor projects for peaceful uses, including Australia and Egypt.
Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said he expected government opponents to falsely accuse Chavez of seeking foreign expertise to develop nuclear weapons rather than an alternative energy program. "Of course they will give it military connotations," he said, adding that it was part of a "dirty campaign" against Chavez's government.
Chavez has previously said he is interested in working with Iran to explore peaceful nuclear energy. Chavez has insisted Iran has the right to develop nuclear energy despite opposition from the U.S. government, which fears Tehran may be developing a nuclear weapons program.
Posted by: DanNY ||
10/11/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
IOW, please help/work with us while we reserve our right to overthrow your form of Government.
INDIANAPOLIS: Reporting in Mexico's border region is as dangerous as working in a war zone, Mexican journalists told a meeting of the Inter American Press Association here Sunday. Journalists attempting to cover the region's organised crime and smuggling of drugs and illegal immigrants risk being murdered and operate in a climate of fear, delegates attending the media forum, known by its Spanish initials SIP. Since 1995, at least 10 journalists have been assassinated in Mexico, most recently radio reporter Dolores Guadalupe Garcia Escamilla who was killed on April 16 in the border town of Nuevo Laredo, apparently for her coverage of organised crime.
I blame John Ashcroft.
An upsurge in violence between rival gangs in Nuevo Laredo, in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, earlier this year forced the US consulate to close temporarily. The Mexican border town, situated opposite Laredo, Texas, is home to narcotics gangs whom law enforcement officials say are behind the deaths of more than 100 people in the city this year, including a city police chief.
Gang members have also been blamed for the April disappearance of another journalist in the same area, Alfredo Jimenez, who worked for the Mexican newspaper El Imparcial de Sonora. The newspaper's managing editor, Juan Fernando Healy, told delegates here Sunday that Jimenez' disappearance "has created a difficult and fearful situation at the newspaper." He said the paper has had to take protective measures in a bid to protect its reporters' identities. "Our high-risk stories do not carry a reporter's by-line, and when we decide to cover these stories we assign two reporters to the story," he said, explaining some of the precautions the paper is taking to cover stories in the volatile border region.
In a separate presentation, which is likely to form the basis of resolutions planned for the assembly's final day Tuesday, the president of Mexico's El Universal newspaper, Juan Francisco Ealy Ortiz, said, "Threats and pressures against editors and reporters is such that some media organisations have stopped publishing stories on drug trafficking. "A powerful enemy is beating us at this game. The enemy is the silence, the silence of good citizens, the silence of the community and the silence of journalists," he said. Hector Davalos, another Mexican reporter attending the SIP assembly here who works for the Mexican newspaper Novedades, said the problem is "not only drug trafficking, it's the trafficking of immigrants, weapons, children for adoption it's not only drug trafficking." Jose Santiago Healy, the managing editor of the Diario Latino newspaper in San Diego, California, said it has become extremely risky for journalists seeking to cover the region.
"It's the worst it's been in decades, particularly in the north (of Mexico)," he said. "In 23 years in my profession on the border, I have seen nothing like it," he lamented. Amid a debate on how to improve safety for journalists, the managing editor of El Universal, Roberto Rock, said that crimes against journalists should be investigated by Mexico's federal authorities and not local officials. "Several local authorities have obstructed investigations" in the cases of reporters who were assassinated or threatened, he told delegates. He also explained that reporters could find themselves unwittingly in the middle of drug gang turf wars, particularly if a reporter is given information by rival gang members. Rock called for urgent legal reforms to give journalists covering the border region better protection to enable them to do their reporting without fear of retribution.
Posted by: DanNY ||
10/11/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Build a wall, build it high and put mines and machine guns on it.
#6
I have the feeling it will turn into a minor war before the feds get off their fat asses and do something. Maybe it is time to lay seige to Washington....
Funny you should mention him, mojo... That's where Patton got his "start" - leading the first "motorized" combat mission in history. This account is reasonably detailed... Georgie was a damned fine shot - and his favorite sidearm (.45 caliber Colt Model 1873 Single Action Army Revolver) was the one he used in the Rubio incident described above.
#11
For our government to keep it's blind eye stance is just too incredibly stupid on so many levels here. I predict that nothing will be done unless maybe and only maybe a terrorist act is done stateside and it is found out that they came through Mexico. But then it may be thought to be a conspiracy. It is so important to close our borders, why can't they see this
Posted by: Jan ||
10/11/2005 11:25 Comments ||
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#12
For the most part, all of the violence is on the Mexico side. There's not much the US, or Texas Govt can do about it. My family used to drive from Austin to Laredo for excursions accross the border to get cheap meds and booze. We haven't had a trip in a year because of the violence. I heard Nuevo Laredo's economy is less than %10 what is was since all of the tourist have stop coming from accross the border.
#14
Build a wall, shut off the pressure valve that has allowed Mexican corruption to continue for a century. Watch Mexican Politicians reform and confront the gangs or face revolution. See Mexico become a first world country instead of a basket case laughed at by the rest of Latin America.
All of this can be yours for the price of a single long wall and some political courage.
#15
"Viva Villa!" A complex historical figure not to be pidgenholed. Although his determination to use cavalry charges on Obregon's machine gun emplacments wrote finis to his dreams of rule back in 1915 @ the battle of Celaya...
MOSCOW -- Former President Mikhail Gorbachev warned the Kremlin against quickly burying the embalmed body of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin, saying the nation isn't ready yet such a move, a news agency reported Tuesday.
Gorbachev, the last president of the Soviet Union before its 1991 collapse, said that Lenin's body eventually should be laid to rest at a proper moment in line with his own will, but added that "this moment has not come yet," the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.
Earth to Mikhail: His time has long since come!
In what appeared to be the Kremlin's attempt to gauge public reaction to the divisive issue, Georgy Poltavchenko, a regional envoy of President Vladimir Putin, said last month the body should be taken out of its Red Square mausoleum and buried in a cemetery along with the remains of other Bolshevik dignitaries.
Several senior lawmakers in the Kremlin-controlled parliament followed up on his call, proposing to quickly drive an oak stake through his heart and bury Lenin's body.
Russian Communist Party chief Gennady Zyuganov warned last week that his party would stage a massive civil disobedience action if authorities try to bury Lenin's body.
Putin said in 2001 that he opposed the removal of the body so as not to disturb civil peace in the country. His predecessor as president, Boris Yeltsin, strongly pushed for removing it, but was stopped by vigorous opposition from the Communist Party and others.
Gorbachev said Tuesday the issue could be resolved only on the basis of public accord, but "a great deal is still to be done before stability develops into national accord."
"This will happen in due time," he said, according to the ITAR-Tass. "Haste is unnecessary."
Posted by: DanNY ||
10/11/2005 08:35 ||
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Chinese activist Lu Banglie has been speaking of his beating by unidentified men as he tried to visit a village at the centre of a corruption dispute.
Mr Lu had been supporting the villagers of Taishi in their campaign to remove local authorities who are accused of embezzling public funds.
He remembers being dragged from a car by a group of around 30 men.
His attackers beat him until he was unconscious, and his next memory is waking up in hospital.
He is now recovering at his home village in China's Hubei province.
Tired and bruised, Mr Lu told the BBC that he had little recollection of the events following his beating on Saturday night.
"I feel very weak and my whole body is in pain. I don't know what exactly happened after they beat me because I was unconscious," he said.
Attack witnessed
He had been helping the people of Taishi in a campaign to remove their elected mayor, who is accused of embezzling public money.
When he tried to enter the village on Saturday, he was accompanied a British journalist, who witnessed the beating.
China is experimenting with democracy at a local level, but it remains difficult for candidates who are not Communist party members to participate in these elections.
With little legal or political recourse, an increasing number of Chinese people are protesting against corruption and growing economic inequality.
Mr Lu says he will not take action against his attackers, whom he suspects are connected to the local authority.
"I won't take further action to protect my own rights either by means of law or in other ways because it will take too much energy and money.
But he says he remains committed to helping the villagers of Taishi in their battle for democracy and greater political freedom.
"[The villagers] are in a terrible situation now. Around 20 to 30 villagers are still being detained. Many villagers ran away and they dare not come back," he said.
Posted by: DanNY ||
10/11/2005 08:52 ||
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#1
Next time send Bruce Lee and a pair of nun-chuks to deal with the angry villagers.
h/t Drudge -- Discovering the joys of sucking vacuum.
China plans to launch two astronauts into orbit Wednesday for a mission lasting several days that is meant to seal its status as an emerging space power. The mission, which reportedly could last up to five days, is more ambitious and riskier than China's first manned space flight two years ago, which lasted just 21 1/2 hours. The manned space program is a high-profile prestige project for the ruling Communist Party. The 2003 flight made China only the third nation, after Russia and the United States, to send a human into orbit on its own. "Several days" is sufficiently vague to cover their asses, I guess. A launch every two years and by 2750, they'll be on the moon!
A rocket carrying the Shenzhou VI capsule will blast off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert of China's northwest, the official Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday. It didn't give a time but said there would be a live television broadcast from the launch site. Xinhua said a crew had been picked from a field of six finalists but didn't give their names. The broadcast will be live. But we're not gonna tell you when or what channel. You had 7 Mercury Astronauts. We only needed 6 because we are the superior race.
The flight this week will be more complicated than the 2003 mission, according to state media. Reports say the two astronauts will take off their 22-pound space suits to travel back and forth between the two halves of their vessel _ a re-entry capsule and an orbiter that is to stay aloft after they land. They will also conduct experiments, Xinhua said, but details weren't immediately released. Taking off the space suit is very complicated - and it's secret how it's done. But not nearly as secret as the secret experiments we'll conduct with breakfast drinks, funny fastening devices and other "space-age" goodies. Weep, poor Westerners!
Meanwhile, China on Tuesday said it opposes deploying weapons in outer space and asserted that its ambitions in the field are strictly peaceful. "The Chinese government has consistently advocated the peaceful use of outer space and opposed the weaponization of outer space," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan at a regular news briefing. "We do not wish to see any form of weapons in outer space, so we reaffirm that our space flight program is an important element of mankind's peaceful utilization of outer space." Of course, we will be dumping a large gunny sack of nuts and bolts into low-Earth orbit to, um, test stuff. Anti-satellite? No, of course not, why do you ask?
In a break with the space agency's typical secrecy, Xinhua said a live broadcast of the entire flight would be provided to foreign media. Earlier reports said the liftoff and space flight would be shown on Chinese television with a brief delay, possibly to allow authorities to cut the signal if anything goes wrong. None of the 2003 space flight was shown live by Chinese television.
Foreign reporters are barred from the remote launch base in the Gobi Desert in China's northwest. A handful of Chinese journalists are to be on hand for the liftoff, but have been warned that they might be ordered to hand over any photos or video _ a possible image-control measure if anything goes wrong.
The Shenzhou -- or Divine Vessel -- capsule is based on Russia's three-seat Soyuz, though with extensive modifications. Space suits, life- support systems and other equipment are based on technology purchased from Russia. The word "based" is used loosely, here. "Copy" works, too. But it's improved. We put chopsticks-holders in the arm rests.
China has had a rocketry program since the 1950s and fired its first satellite into orbit in 1970. It regularly launches satellites for foreign clients aboard its giant Long March boosters. I predict they'll shortly invent Tang, velcro, and thermal blankets. Many fabulous wonders will follow.
The United States formally handed Rhein-Main Air Base over to the German government Monday, ending a 60-year stay during which the sprawling field was a hub of activity for American forces facing Soviet bloc troops and Mideast tensions. Gen. Robert Foglesong, commander of the U.S. Air Force in Europe, called it "a grand old base with a lot of history," but said moving operations to other bases in Germany was necessary to save money.
Instead of the constant landings and takeoffs of C-130s, F-16 Fighting Falcons and the gargantuan C-17s ferrying tons of supplies and thousands of troops worldwide, Rhein-Main Air Base has gone quiet, nearly devoid of activity as it prepares to shut down. The handover, based on a 1999 U.S.-German agreement, will take until the end of the year. Fraport AG, which operates the adjacent Frankfurt International Airport, plans to use the additional space as it prepares to house a new maintenance and supply facility for the new Airbus super-jumbo A380, the world's largest passenger jet. Construction began last month on the new hangar, part of a $124 million effort to get ready for the plane.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
buh-bye!
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/11/2005 0:04 Comments ||
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#3
Fraport AG, which operates the adjacent Frankfurt International Airport, plans to use the additional space as it prepares to house a new maintenance and supply facility for the new Airbus super-jumbo A380, the world's largest passenger jet. Construction began last month on the new hangar, part of a $124 million effort to get ready for the plane.
new maintenance and supply facility.
Gotta factor in the buzz off quotient rule.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
10/11/2005 1:07 Comments ||
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#4
Bye.
*sniff*
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/11/2005 1:48 Comments ||
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#5
C ya, wouldn't wanna be ya.
Posted by: Captain America ||
10/11/2005 2:26 Comments ||
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#11
tw say "our feet are the same" real fast. Kind of like Harry Fraderchie is good bye in Italian and jeetjet means "did you eat yet" in South Alabama.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
10/11/2005 10:37 Comments ||
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#12
I second that CS. At least not bearing arms and needing to employ the grand attitude adjusters of democracy.
Warsaw's tough-talking mayor took his message of family values and moral renewal to northeastern Poland on Monday in the fight for the presidency, while his rival sought the support of anti-communist legend Lech Walesa. Both Mayor Lech Kaczynski and pro-market lawmaker Donald Tusk failed to win a majority in the first round of Sunday's presidential vote and will meet in a second round Oct. 23. Tusk won 36 percent of the vote and Kaczynski 33 percent. Ten other candidates shared the rest.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2005 00:00 ||
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Is Al Gore coming back? If allies we talked to have their way, the former veep will be the next president. "It's Gore Time," says a political strategist and fundraiser who is opening a bid to get Gore into the race. Gore friends see his recent political and business moves as proof he's preparing to run. Allies say that in speeches, Gore has found his voice to address domestic and world issues. And in raising money for his Current TV network, which targets the critical youth market, Big Al has built an issue base and donor network that's competitive with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton 's. Our source--a top aide in the previous Bush administration--is planning meetings with Gore's team to push an early entry while Clinton runs for re-election in New York. It doesn't end there: The Gorebots want him to pick Sen. Barack Obama, the youthful Illinois African-American, as his No. 2.
#1
This has all the reality of a Bugs Bunny movie to me.
Am I wrong or wasn't there a whole lotta talk back in Sept. '01 about how lucky the country had been caus Gore lost? And weren't lots of those people saying such things Gore supporters?
How long will a Gore candidacy survive when all that stuff is brought up?
#3
The lefties want the new Gore, whos more left than the Old Gore. Esp cause hes "antiwar" on Iraq. They hate Hillary for her hawkish position.
Gore wont win over anyone in the DLC camp.
It may come down to electability. Gore managed to blow the 2000 election, despite prosperity and a weak GOP candidate. And moving to the left has probably made him LESS electable. OTOH the Gore supporters will cite the Hillary hatred.
My sense is that the Hillary hatred probably helps. It doesnt really effect the swing voters in the center - and it means the base will vote for Hillary in the general, to spite the far right - which gives her room to play to the center.
#4
This is about as fun as watching the Conservatives destruct over the Meirs nomination. Yeah, please pass some popcorn. Thank goodness for picture within a picture television. Two entertaining shows at once.
#5
I think the big donor network that Al Gore thinks he has will dry up pretty fast unless he endorses some close-to 50/50 Democratic Senate candidates and then he campaigns for them and then they win.
Also, if Hillary tops 60% in her Senate race, that will also take the steam out of the Gore campaign.
#6
As much as I dislike Al I hope he has enough sense to watch his ass around Hillery. Hate to think what accident might befall him if Hillery determines hes a threat.
#7
Now is the time, don't look back ... don't look back ... keep hope alive ... keep hope alive ... hope not the dope ... hope not the dope ... give ALgore enough rope ... don't spare the rope ... he'll do the rest as well as the best and twice as nice as ice. They'll put the devolution of Algore on pay for view won't they.
#11
Vote for me or suffer the consequences, pathetic Earthlings!
Posted by: General Zod ||
10/11/2005 14:04 Comments ||
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#12
They hate Hillary for her hawkish position.
I dislike Hillary for not divorcing her husband after he shamed their family. Which is not as *political* a reason as my posts tend to be, but the heart dislikes at it will.
Plus, a chief politician's wife using the fame from her spousal connection to try and propel her political career after her husband's own has ended reminds me horribly of Dimitra "Mimi" Papandreou's own (eventually failed) ambitions.
I'd suggest to the Democrats that they bypass both Gore and Hillary and put their money on Obama-for-President directly.
#14
When was the last time a failed Presidential contender was given a second shot by his party? Nixon? Its not going to happen. The smell of loser is too strong.
#16
her hawkish position? You'd fall for that head fake, LH. What a scam. Either you're naive or a useful tool for her
She's a socialist in sheep's clothing, mewing toughtalk to selected audiences. Kinda like Yasser and what he said in English vs Arabic, only more sleazy
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/11/2005 15:17 Comments ||
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#17
Always look at Hillary as a Theodora wannabe. Gaining power through the husband and a willingness to destroy anyone who got in the way. All so Byzantine.
What are we supposed to do if the Branch Davidians attack again? What if Elian Gonzales attacks again?
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
10/11/2005 18:42 Comments ||
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#19
There is NO competition between Gore and Hillary - the Clintons still control the Dems pursestrings, and Obama IMO hasn't done anything substantive that I'm aware of since his MSM debut. Iff Obama was a Senator from Naw Yark, unless something changes he's basically a "male" Hillary despite his youthful looks. All Demmies are Repubs, Conservatives, and alleged
"Fascists" for the time being, if in name only [RINO/CHINOS's]. Wid Dubya's record of achievements, the odds are minutae the Demmies can win short of elex shennanigans/fraud and
casualty-intensive WMD attacks targeted at Dubya, the GOP-Conservatives, and anti-Clinton Dems. The MSM's current penchant for alternatist "reality" viewing isn't doing much to help the Demmies despite is silent mesage that Universal Govt.-led Regulation is good for everybody - inducing nation-wide ANARCHY-VIOLENCE-FRACTIONALISM ala CINDY-GATE, etc. IS ABOUT THE ONLY OPTION THE DEMMIES AND HILLARY HAVE LEFT, AS BILL'S OWN COMMENTS HAVE ESSENs DESTROYED ANYTHING HILLARY AND THE DEMS COULD CLAIM FROM THE 1990's. Lastly, most American women do NOT want a female(s) in power, i.e. the Oval Office as POTUS/VPOTUS during times of national crises or stress, and even presum that a Dem wins the WH in 2008, iff Hillary still desires to be POTUS she can't allow Gore-Kerry-Dean, etal. to usurp any public glories at her expense. THE CLINTONS AND FAR/ULTRA-LEFT RIGHT NOW ARE HIDING IN THE BACKSTREETS, DARK ALLEYS, AND PC SHADOWS OF BOTH GOP-CONSERVATISM AND ALLEGED "FASCIST SOCIALISM", SO "GORE-OBAMA" IN REALITY DOESN'T DETRACT FROM THE FORMER - WHAT WILL BE in 2008 WILL BE WHAT IS. WHAT THE MSM ISN'T ACCOMPLISHING FOR THE COMMIE CLINTONS, AL-QAEDA AND RADICAL ISLAM MUST DO vv NEW 9-11's!?
#1
Hilldabeast the lying kankle monster has way to many skeletons in the park closet to make it out of the primaries.
If Gore runs as well in 2008, those 2 lefty lunatics know each others secrets, the Dem primaries could be the best TV we've had in a long time.
#2
Then again, Dick Morris doesn't have a great track record when it comes to predictions. Really, all Hillary has to do to win the Democratic primary and the general election is not say anything bitchy, pretend she's hawkish about the war on terror, and make sure only Democrats see or hear Bill. The MSM will do the rest. So prepare yourself for at least 4 years of divided government after 2008.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
10/11/2005 9:55 Comments ||
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#3
I don't see where Dick Morris explains away the electoral college math that is making presidential races increasingly difficult for Democratic candidates.
Any Dem running for prez, including Hillary, automatically finds himself (that too includes Hillary) in a 220-120 vote hole. A lot easier to cobble togther another 53 votes than 153.
#4
Well, we don't know what socio-economic factors will be in play in '08, so no one can really predict what will happen then.
Unfortunately, I can envision the Hilldebeast running a successful "back to normalcy" campaign
that will resonate after all the crises we've gone thru in this decade.
And yes, I know that these crises are the legacy of Clintonian fecklessness.The question is, how much of the electorate will grasp that fact as well?
#5
I can imagine a Hildebeast primary season being the greatest sleaze-fest in the history of the American Media. There is no way she could survive what would be thrown at her. And if she did, there is no way the donks would be dumb enough to believe she could win the election. She's damaged goods and should follow the example of St. Ted of Taxachusetts and bloviate from her safe seat for the rest of her life.
Likewise, Condi should go out and win an election before she thinks about running for office. Ahnuld's successor, perhaps? The last president who won office without being in a prior election had been the president of Columbia University. Oh, he also conquered Europe and defeated the Nazis by preserving one of the oddest coalitions in history.
#6
I think they are making more of Hillary than she has going for her. She is already running a 47% of people with negative views of her. Historically, any candidate with over 39% out of the gate is defeated. The republicans hate her, centrists don't trust her, moderates despiser her and the liberals love her. Not a whole lot to build a campaign out of for a national election. I see her going down in the primaries or barely squeaking the nomination and getting trounced in the full election.
#8
she has such a raw naked ambition for power that most will be turned off completely. It'd be like having your angry ex-wife control your wallet and social life.
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/11/2005 12:08 Comments ||
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#9
"The republicans hate her, centrists don't trust her, moderates despiser her and the liberals love her."
The Daily Kos crowd, etc dislike her - but will rally to her against y'all. The moderates within the Dem party establishment are her base. The centrists may not trust her, but would they trust any more liberal Dem candidate? Would another moderate (say Biden, or Bayh) be able to hold the base?
The conservatives despise her, but theyre not going to vote Dem anyway.
Best counter to Hillary isnt Condi, its McCain, but could he be nominated?
Question: I just got married, and would like to know the essential fiqh of bedroom relations. I wanted to know the fiqh of intimacy with one's spouse. Specifically what is haram, makrooh, mubah, halal..etc...
Answer:
It is disliked to:
o Face the qibla. (Ibn `Abidin)
o Be in the presence of a mature child. (Ibn `Abidin)
o Talk, for it is from the sunna not to talk excessively during intercourse. (Ibn `Abidin)
It is proper to cover up a Qurâan in the bedroom. (Ibn `Abidin)
It is best to avoid looking at each otherâs private parts, though some Companions held that it is fine because it increases desire. (Durar)
Ibn al-Hajj al-Maliki mentioned in al-Madkhal:
o The beginning of the night is betterâŠ
o One must avoid intercourse with oneâs wife before any foreplay, because it has been interdicted. Rather, one should play around with her and jest with kisses, touches and the like. Then, one sees that she is ready, prepared, and desirous of him, only then should he initiate intercourse. The wisdom of the Lawgiver in this is evident, for the woman derives pleasure as a man does. If he approaches her while she is unprepared, he may fulfill his need, but she may not, and would feel frustratedâŠ
o Before penetration, one should say, Bismillah Allahumma Jannibna al-Shaytan, wa Jannib ish-Shaytanu ma Razaqtana, as has been authentically reported in the sunnaâŠ
o One should be careful to fulfill the rights of the wife with regards to intercourse, and to safeguard her religion. One should fulfill oneself [=orgasm] after she has achieved fulfillment, to be under the general rubric of the Prophetâs saying (Allah bless him and give him peace), âAllah is in the assistance of a servant as long as he is in the assistance of his fellow.â
o One should not have intercourse without coversâŠ
o It is best to perform ghusl before sleeping after intercourse. Or, at least to do wudu and wash the private parts. [f: One should not, at the very least, leave washing the private parts.]
These are general guidelines. Ruqayya Waris Maqsoodâs book on marriage goes into some detail on the subject, as does Imam al-Ghazaliâs work.
Anal sex is, of course haram.
Mutual hand stimulation is permitted.
Sexual fluids are najis, so oral sex is detested.
During mentruation (hayd), intercourse is haram. So is direct skin contact between the wifeâs navel and knee. Everything else, however, remains permitted.
And Allah knows best.
Answered by Sidi Faraz Rabbani of the Hanafi fiqh list.
Posted by: john ||
10/11/2005 16:37 ||
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Posted by: Frank G ||
10/11/2005 18:12 Comments ||
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#5
Some of this is actually good advice.
The stuff from the Prophet himself seems the soundest. One gets the feeling that a lot of wankers took all those hadith and sunnah things much too seriously.
#6
Yeah, the prophet is a fine example, the rapist of a nine year old girl.
He probably said Bismillah Allahumma Jannibna al-Shaytan, wa Jannib ish-Shaytanu ma Razaqtana before raping his child bride or his slave women
Posted by: john ||
10/11/2005 20:00 Comments ||
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#7
Before penetration, one should say, Bismillah Allahumma Jannibna al-Shaytan, wa Jannib ish-Shaytanu ma Razaqtana, as has been authentically reported in the sunnaâ¦
Sam Kinnison recommend "doing the alphabet" with your tongue.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
10/11/2005 20:41 Comments ||
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#8
Hell, I can't even say "Bismillah Allahumma Jannibna al-Shaytan, wa Jannib ish-Shaytanu ma Razaqtana" right here, looking at it on my computer screen.
Posted by: john ||
10/11/2005 21:08 Comments ||
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#10
al-Ghazali was the SOB that insisted that Moslems should abhor knowledge and learning unless it was based in the Koran. He and his crew were primarilly responsible for ending serious scholarship and why Moslems didn't amount to squat ever since.
Much of the crap that the Moslem world is today is his responsibility.
Maybe Hollyweird ought to look at the population and target the groups that are NOT enamoured of video games and hi-tech DVD stuff, but still have money. You know, that demos that Hollyweird wrote off years ago, Adults 45 & up.
That group has money and is not as tied to the new tech stuff, their kids are grown and they'd probably be interested in movies targeted at them.
#3
The last movie I went to a theater to see was "The Green Mile". I haven't seen anyhting that interested me since. I'm 53
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
10/11/2005 9:12 Comments ||
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#4
Hollywood needs to go the way of the dinosaur, since it is one. Big budget productions on a sound stage will and are being made obsolete by cheap and powerful computers and software. You can make a really good, CGI rich movie for pennies on the hollywood dollar nowdays. Some of the fan films from Star Wars have amazing, movie quality CGI (acting is always iffie, but the effects are wonderful). I expect to see more and more lower budget with unknowns and edited in the producer's basement movies coming out in the future.
#5
males aged between 13 and 24, are opting to stay home to watch DVD and play video games.
Let's see bro. We can spend several hours worth of pay to see a Chick Flick or a crappy message movie that's no different than the rant the teachers or profs in school put out and stock up on way overpriced junk food with bratty kiddies and cell phones going off. Or we can wait six months and numerous buddy reviews later to see if its worth the same cost on wide screen DVD. Or..we can skip the passive viewing crap and engage ourselves interactively in a game in which we have some participation in the story line. Decisions, decisions, decisions. I'll take 21st Century Male Pastimes for 100, Alex.
#6
Some of the fan films from Star Wars have amazing, movie quality CGI (acting is always iffie, but the effects are wonderful).
Pretty much the same as the official Stars Wars films. The most charming character in the 6 films was a robot, probably because he didn't have to recite any of Lucas's "dialogue".
#7
mm821, your perspective is a large part of Hollyweird's problem. CGI is fine for the shoot em up, fantasy stuff that they keep trying to lure in the young'uns in with.
It won't work with the old farts >45 cause that's not a big part of our (55 meself) want list!
If you want to put some Fx in with CGI, fine, but CGI ain't the answer. What I want are thoughtful, funny adult (no not THAT kind) entertainment. They don't have to be "great works" just realistic and aimed at where I am in my life now.
Master & Commander was a farce because the idiots didn't follow the story!! The whole set of books are action / adventure AS SUPPORTS and CONTEXT FOR A VERY REAL HUMAN STORY. Instead we get action for the hell of it, Star Wars in 19th century drag. If they'd made the book along the lines it was written it could have bee a very great epic (think GWtW). THAT's where the old studio model can excel!
And only because I gigged onto the DVDs for Firefly and I really like the reviews coming from bloggers. Meant to go 2 weeks ago but other stuff got in the way.
#12
I would agree Alan. CGI supports the story and fleshes out the background. Just like supporting characters. However, Hollywood has made it the leading roll and most people over 13 don't go just to see pretty lights. We want story damnit!
For the record I'm 33 and don't think I qualify for the oldfartburg catagory.
#13
Awhile back I saw a movie(taken from a sieries of books,"Deathlands",if your looking for high literary art this ain't it.pure action/adventure)on SciFi.Acting was ok at best,special effects minamil.But the use of film and light and shadow was great.
#14
mm821, 33? That's okay, you can be an honorary oldfart. ;^)
I am not a great example of a movie goer since I have a limited taste in that sort of entertainment. Basically, I don't go much for serious drama. If I want serious I do non-fiction. Now, the epic drama is another thing as are mysteries and other sub-genre.
It seems when most people talk about adult entertainmnet (No NOT that kind, I told you) they mean dark, search the human soul, tragic ending kind of stuff. This is fodder for the snobs, like "art" aimed at the art critic, not the public.
I believe that movies with attitudes similar to the musicals, mysteries and epics of the 30's - mid 60's could find large audiences. Hollyweird lost the audience in the '60s cause us oldfarts were, at that time, the young'uns looking for relevance, sex and fantasy; and TV took away the adults (Exercize: what current TV shows would compete with the must sees of the mid '60s?). Now, we're still the largest demographic, but, Hollyweird is still trying to play up our juvenile tastes.
Where are the movies (NOT re-makes) comparable to Singin' in the Rain, GWtW, The Thin Man, Maltese Falcon, etc?
#15
Alan, Odd you should mention the 30's to mid 60's. That was the period of censorship of movies by the Hayes Office. Man and woman couldn't be on the bed at the same time, etc. It forced the movie makers to make good movies as opposed to the junk we see today. It all got started because in the late 20's early 30's Hollywood was starting down the road to the kind of movies we get today. The establishment said no, thanks. By 1964 someone read the constitution and said "you can't do that." and they were right. So we got libertinism. It will keep going till it stops selling. Or Osama wins.
#16
I think the trouble is less the price than what a theater offers you for the extra price. Nothing.
Boxy generic multiplexes that are not particularly stylish, have classroom style "pack 'em in" designs, are no good for dates, and otherwise are utterly devoid of personality, just have no attraction.
Often you see advertisements before the movie about "how you can rent this theater" for some other function. But very few people ever do that. If they *want* to do that, they seek out a really old venue that still has a stage up front, extra lighting, etc.
So why not design a theater like they used to? They would all cite "up front" costs, saying that it would be too expensive. But how expensive is a theater that nobody goes to? There is no reason not to have a "cheap seats" section down front; a "mezzanine" section above, at a higher price; and box seats for groups who want to be together or away from the crowd.
Theaters could also have live entertainment between movies, morning and matinee shows, everybody and anybody who would take to the stage, entire live shows, small concerts, etc. If designed for it ahead of time, their additional overhead would be minimal, and they would get a hard corps of people who would *expect* their entertainment there.
A theater name would again mean something, not just "the closest one where the movie we want to see is playing at the time we want."
I know of an old, old venue that is the only survivor of this kind of theater in a major metropolitan area. It is packed every night of the week, and everybody in town knows its name. The place is crumbling, it is so old.
Think back to TV. Can anyone name a better Sit-com than the Dick Van Dyke show? Yet Rob and Laura had to sleep in single beds!! Where'd Richie come from? (And you wondered why they had a shag rug in the living room.)
Contrary to conventional wisdom, I think that arbitrary limits on certain activities INCREASES the creativity, and inventiveness of human occupation.
In my own area of expertise, those who had to code on a machine with 64K available space tended to write much better code than those with, compartively, unlimited space. The constraint stimulated the creative juices.
By showing all, the movies not only remove this creative stimulation from the writers, directors and actors; they remove it too from the viewing audience. What DID happen in scene 2 when the light went out, hmmmmm?
#18
You're seeing the "antique" phenomenon. (i.e. the expensive, well-made stuff holds up over time & the cheap stuff from the past ends up as garbage of interest only to urban archeologists)
However, even the schlock movies of the past generally have a plot and aren't actively offensive to the intellect and soul. That's because the old movie makers literally put their names on the product and had to have SOME self-respect. (Warner Bros. was really run by the Warner Brothers, for example)
Take even a goofy movie like PLAN 9 and compare it to a similar film from the 80's that laughs at its own incompetence and tries to pass it off as "camp." The old movie is still more entertaining!
Posted by: Ernest Brown ||
10/11/2005 12:17 Comments ||
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#19
Kingdom of Heaven's out today on DVD - rent it - I recommend it
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/11/2005 12:18 Comments ||
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#20
You guys don't get out much, methinks. Why there are classics galore, such as:
Analyze These
Bat Dude and Throbin
Boobarella
Breakfast With Tiffany
Buffy The Vampire Layer
Cheeks & Thongs: Up In Stroke
Clockwork Orgy
Das Boob
Dial E For Enema
Dun Hur
Erectnophobia
Girlz N The Hood
The Good the Bad and the Wicked
Hell On Heels
Honey, I Blew Everybody
Intercourse With The Vampire
Leave It To Cleavage
The Long Ranger
Miracle on 69th Street
NYDP Blue
On Golden Blonde
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Breast
Planet Of The Babes
Pulp Friction
Rebel Without A Condom
She Got Game
Sheets Of San Francisco (ick!)
Snatch Adams
Spankenstein
Swinging In The Rain
The Wild, Wild Chest
Waiting To XXXhale
#21
Gee .com, all available on the adult cable/satellite channel. And better on 'small' screen cause you don't get an inferiority complex from the creative photography close up. 'OMG, look at the size of that thing' is unlikely to be expressed at home. Plus, no sticky floors, etc.
#22
When our daughters were young, yes, I too am an oldfart, we went to a local theater that showed pre-1962 movies only. They grew up on them and love them. One benefit of being able to go to movies youngsters can watch with parents was they stimulated a lot of discussions between parents and children at the ice cream parlour down the street about growing up issues, why adults behave they way they do, etc. without the graphic presentation getting in the way.
One of their favorite films is the Philadelphia Story. When one daughter had a bunch of her high school friends over for a slumber party she wanted to show them her favorite film. It lasted 10 minutes. "It's so boring." "All they do is talk." This is Hollywood's problem with resurrecting "good" movies. They and Sesame Street have trained an entire generation to have the attention span of a hummingbird.
#23
I rarely go to the show and if I do I go early for the matinee prices (hey I'm cheap, get over it). But when I do go it is for the movies that I want to see and feel they are not done justice on the small screen. I thought "Master and Commander" was very good as it was not all about the action but the core of the story the freindship between the captain and the surgeon. Another recently was "Open Range". Costner I can care less about but Duvall is great. It is an example of a movie done justice by the large screen. But a lot of the crap out now you're just as well off to wait for the DVD or cable release
One of my favorites whose name alone pays tribute to one of the best films ever. "The Usual Suspects" could easily match up with "The Maltese Falcon". Sadly, I can't think of any others.
Sin City - uber violence, not for everyone Cinderella Man - maybe best movie of the year so far March of the Penguins - excellent family film War of the Worlds - good FX movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Johnny Depp at his best A History of Violence - excellent drama, in running for best movie
Posted by: Steve ||
10/11/2005 14:26 Comments ||
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#28
When the best movie on your list was made in France, you can tell how far Hollywood has sunk.
#29
Hollywood is not in danger, the theater distribution system is. There are not many movies I wouldn't wait 6 months for them to arrive on DVD. There are even fewer that I wouldn't wait a year for HBO/Showtime.
Posted by: An Old Nun ||
10/11/2005 16:10 Comments ||
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#33
YS - Heh, I was trying to be sensitive 'n stuff, so I dropped some of the ones I stumbled across... I think Das Boob, Dun Hur, and Leave it to Cleavage are pretty good. Funny thing is, I had never even heard of any of these, much less seen 'em. They're sure as shit not shown on my cable system lol. :)
#34
Just go see "The Work and the Glory II" when it comes out in November. It stars yours truly as the mean, nasty Tavern Muscian. I got to tear up a newspaper office and tar and feather the Editor and his assistant. Then we went to the Tavern for a shot of whiskey and I flirted with the Barmaid.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
10/11/2005 16:44 Comments ||
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#35
Yeah - they always fall for the piano player. :)
#36
TV is not much better. Example: Over There. Who knew that people die in wars? I was shocked when I found out.
Posted by: Rafael ||
10/11/2005 17:27 Comments ||
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#37
DWD - how about Memento?
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/11/2005 17:42 Comments ||
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#38
people - there are good flicks - in teh last year I've had favs : Last Samurai (excellent, even Tom Cruise), Open Range, Kingdom of Heaven, Batman Begins, the Spiderman flicks - all were in the theaters for a long time - all made money - all had good messages - if you missed them, it's nothing to brag about
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/11/2005 17:47 Comments ||
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#41
I agree with moose, you're crammed into a small box of a theater with no leg room and subjected to watching gobs of advertisements after you've paid the high price of admission. And like E T just mentioned, you're supporting these dirt bags to support the moonbats.
It's more fun to have friends by to watch with your home bar close I'm 53 too, year of the dragon heh
Posted by: Jan ||
10/11/2005 19:06 Comments ||
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#42
The future is CPU-integrated households. includ home offices/cubicles, personal wear, and George Jetson's nuclear flying car iff Detroit can ever get its act together- within this context, big studios will decentralize into small studios in order to compete with newbies. I believe, however, that most Americans will still go to community-thespian stage theater to watch SHAKEPEARE. Big Media and Big Hollywood have another 10 years - 15 maxima.
h/t Lucianne
A federal court ruling in favor of environmentalists is forcing the Forest Service to suspend more than 1,500 permits for activities ranging from fire prevention to Boy Scout meetings and also is threatening to delay cutting of the Capitol's Christmas tree until after the new year. A Forest Service regulation that allowed projects determined as having minimal environmental impact to be exempt from environmental studies and reviews was challenged by the Earth Island Institute.
Judge James K. Singleton of the Eastern District Court of California ruled in July against a project to remove charred and damaged trees, which could kindle a future fire, in the Sequoia National Forest. The court said last month in a follow-up ruling that its decision in Earth Island Institute v. Ruthenbeck applies nationwide, rather than just to the local dispute.
As a result, the Forest Service immediately suspended all "categorical exclusions," which approved the Sequoia project and had been used since 2002 to allow permits of numerous other activities, including trail upkeep at ski resorts and issuing outdoor guide permits. "We are actively pursuing options in light of this nationwide ruling, including working with the Department of Justice to seek a stay of the ruling pending appeal," Forest Service chief Dale Bosworth told employees in a Sept. 23 memo.
Court documents and Forest Service memos show that the permits immediately suspended include hundreds of projects nationwide for fire prevention on tens of thousands of acres; nearly 100 guide permits for hunting, fishing, horseback riding and fishing; 150 wildlife habitat projects; 165 permits to maintain camp grounds and trails; 15 ski area projects that may shut down the upcoming ski season in some areas; and 40 permits for family reunions and Boy Scout and Girl Scout activities.
Under the new requirement of public notices, comment periods and appeals, the tree selected from a New Mexico forest for this year's Christmas display on the Capitol lawn would arrive around Valentine's Day. That prospect is frustrating New Mexico's federal lawmakers who see Washington bureaucrats as depriving their state of a major annual civic honor. "We need these reindeer games to stop so New Mexico can stay on schedule with its national holiday tree plans," said Sen. Pete V. Domenici, New Mexico Republican. "This ruling and the Forest Service response to it would be like the Grinch who stole Christmas for the many New Mexicans who have worked well over a year to prepare for the tree's state tour and eventual trip to the nation's capital, and for school kids and groups who are already creating ornaments to festoon the tree," he said.
Mr. Domenici noted the seriousness of the court ruling's implication on the far-reaching impacts and "consequences of some environmental lawsuits," but he and Sen. Jeff Bingaman, New Mexico Democrat, are asking Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns to intervene so the holiday conifer can be delivered on schedule. "We are troubled that the interpretation of a decision made by a Federal District Court in California may adversely affect these plans. We urge you to redouble your efforts to address concerns regarding the procurement of this year's Capitol Holiday Tree in order to resolve this situation in time for the tree's tour around New Mexico," the senators said last week in a letter to the federal officials.
The Earth Island Institute filed suit against the Forest Service in 2003 and argued that the agency was breaking the law by exempting some projects from public comment and appeals.
On July 2, the court ruled in favor of the California environmental group and held as "invalid" Forest Service regulations that exclude some projects from public notice, comment or appeal. The September court decision ordered that all Forest Service projects and decisions since July 7 be suspended, and the federal agency must add a 105-day notice, comment and appeal period to the decision-making process.
#3
I predict that the Congressional Christmas Tree will be rustling serenely on the West Lawn of the Capitol right on schedule. As for the rest? Piss off.
#4
The forest service is rightly putting heavy pressure on the judge who decided his whacky decision applied NATIONWIDE. Eastern CA district is probably Kern county-centered. He'll get sqquashed like a bug
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/11/2005 16:36 Comments ||
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#5
Don't you know? Only "Environmentalists" can go into the forest and on to public lands. The rest of us can piss off.
#6
This is the problem I have with the courts. A judge for one circuit tries to apply his limited ruling to the ENTIRE nation. Fuck you judge. You ain't the SCOTUS which can apply ruling to the entire nation. You are one little prick in one little district. Judges like this need killed and represent the failure of our current system. One man rules over millions. We broke away from England because of that, remember? Don't make us break you off and plant you in the fertilizer where you rightly belong.
The massive earthquake that hit the Indo-Pakistan border on Saturday is not the great Himalayan earthquake predicted by scientists. That means the worst is yet to come. Though the magnitude of the present earthquake _ 7.6 and large enough to cause widespread destruction and loss of life in Pakistan administered Kashmir and the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, it appears that this was not the worse case yet. American and Indian scientists, who have been studying both historic and present earthquake data as well as measuring plate movements, predicted in 2001 that several large intensity quakes are overdue in the Himalayan region. Prof Roger Bilham of the University of Colorado, who has been spearheading the research effort for several years now, said that the Muzaffarabad quake is not the massive quake his team had predicted. The quake was not strong enough to release a build up of energy below the Himalayan range. Only earthquakes of intensity greater than eight could release this pent up energy.
``Yes, it was in the right place but not as big as forecast,'' said Prof Bilham, who is currently involved in intensive research on the Sumatra quake that caused the Indian Ocean tsunami.
The latest quake occurred on a thrust fault in the region of collision between the Indian and the Eurasian plates. According to calculations made by Prof Bilham's team, the Indian plate is moving 5-cm closer to the Asian plate each year, while Tibet moves 32-mm closer to the Asian plate each year. As a result, the Kingdom of Nepal is shortened by 18-mm each year.
This is equivalent to the loss of two soccer fields a year along its 600 km-long northern border. The mountains of Tibet, the Tien Shan, and the Himalayas are results of compression caused by plate collision millions of years ago.
The number of great earthquakes known in the past several centuries appears inadequate to accommodate the Himalayan convergence being observed, said Prof Bilham. Hence, the scientist concludes that several earthquakes of magnitude greater than eight may be overdue. ``Due to the increased population and urbanisation in the Ganges plain, the death toll from any one of these earthquakes could now exceed one million. We know only approximately where these future earthquakes will occur and we know considerably less about their timing,'' he said.
The area in focus is a 500-km-to-a-800 km-long segment, popularly known as the Garhwal-Kumaun Himalayas, where earthquakes of magnitude greater than eight have not occurred since historic times. In scientific talk, this segment is referred to as the ``central seismic gap''since it defines an unruptured part of the Himalayan arc. However, a section of Indian experts believe that the absence of any great earthquake in the region in the past century may have something to do with a period of dormancy.
``An assessment of historical and archaeological database from the central Himalaya and the Gangetic Plains leads us to conclude that the central segment of the Himalayas is undergoing an intriguingly long period of quiescence in terms of generation of plate boundary earthquakes,'' said scientists at the Centre for Earth Science Studies, in Trivandrum.
"On the other hand, who the hell knows?" they added.
This period of tectonic dormancy may run into more than 1000 years, the group said. ``We speculate that the long-term tectonic impasse that we observe in the central Himalayas is a segment-specific property, which may either be explained as `seismic locking' due to the coupling at the plate interface or as a consequence of strain moderation by the development of the duplex zone at the ramp beneath the Higher Himalayas. If the historical trend is any indication, it is equally likely that the central Himalayas may remain a ``seismic gap'' for an indefinite period of time,'' the group of scientists said.
Posted by: DanNY ||
10/11/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Maybe the Himalayas just need a few more mult-bomb nuke tests like the Paks and Indians did a few years ago to loosen some sticking rocks. Maybe they could turn a few more mountains WHITE.
the absence of any great earthquake in the region in the past century may have something to do with a period of dormancy
The quakes may be in a period of "dormancy" (read: plates stuck together at some point for a long time) but the movement of the plates sure as hell ain't.
Moving tectonic plates that are locked together at some point will eventually build up so much tension that the sticking point lets loose [see: Boxing Day Tsunami], and the plates spring back to the positions they would have been in had they not gotten hung up on each other. All at once.
I don't even want to speculate what an 8+ quake in that area would do, but I'm sure it would involve lots of bodies. :-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/11/2005 2:00 Comments ||
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Zanzibar police have arrested 24 people in connection with election violence in which police shot and injured eight opposition supporters who defied a government ban on a campaign rally, a senior police officer said Monday. Police made the arrests Sunday and Monday and will soon charge the supporters of the main opposition party Civic United Front, said Ramadhani Kinyogo, Zanzibar's head of criminal investigations. He did not identify those arrested or say what charges they would face.
Police shot and wounded eight people Sunday who resisted orders not to gather at a campaign rally, Kinyogo said. The rally was banned because of reports of impending violence, Kinyogo said. Opposition leaders initially said police shot and injured 19 people who tried to force their way through a roadblock to attend the rally, but Salim Bimani, a spokesman for Civic United Front, said Monday that only eight were hurt. He offered no explanation for the different numbers. Another police officer, Khamis Kheri, said Sunday that riot police used tear gas to disperse opposition supporters who attacked an officer with stones and then tried to overrun a police station.
The Oct. 30 general election is only the third multiparty election in Zanzibar's history. The last two suffered serious flaws, according to international observers. Zanzibar united with Tanganyika in 1964 after the violent ouster of the Arab Sultan to form the United Republic of Tanzania. The elections, which are for both the Tanzanian and Zanzibari regional presidencies and their legislatures, come as a growing number of Zanzibaris are turning toward a stricter form of Islam and possibly away from democracy _ a source of concern for the secular government of Tanzania.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2005 00:00 ||
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Morocco on Monday defended its use of force in preventing Africans from crossing into two Spanish enclaves on its northern coast as it started deporting some of those caught storming border fences in recent weeks. In an interview with The Associated Press, Communications Minister Nabil Benabdallah also accused neighboring Algeria, with which Morocco has tense relations, of leaving its borders "completely open" and allowing immigrants through "without any surveillance."
Morocco has been criticized for its handling of attempts by thousands of Africans to rush razor-wire fences protecting the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. At least a dozen migrants have been killed. Benabdallah said Morocco is in a no-win situation. Previously it was criticized for not doing enough to stem African immigration. "Then, when we used other means, including force, we created some humanitarian problems. It is not possible to fight this problem without causing humanitarian problems," he said. His comments came as Morocco began deporting migrants, starting with a flight carrying 140 Senegalese back to Dakar. More than 900 Senegalese and Malians were to be sent home Monday and Tuesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2005 00:00 ||
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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.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez blamed capitalism for earthquakes hitting India, Pakistan and Afghanistan as well as for mudslides in Central America and Mexico. Speaking on radio and TV, Chavez said these catastrophes were natureâs answer to the âworld global capitalist modelâ. Never have there been such disasters, hurricanes, droughts, torrential rains. Incredible! The world is dangerously off balance,â he said. Earlier, US evangelist Pat Robertson had said the natural disasters point to worldâs end and Christâs return. 
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- Venezuela's government has asked Argentina about the possibility of providing technical expertise to help develop nuclear energy in Venezuela for peaceful purposes, officials said Monday. Cabinet Chief Alberto Fernandez said a delegation from the Venezuelan state oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. had inquired about the possibility. 
The United States formally handed Rhein-Main Air Base over to the German government Monday, ending a 60-year stay during which the sprawling field was a hub of activity for American forces facing Soviet bloc troops and Mideast tensions. Gen. Robert Foglesong, commander of the U.S. Air Force in Europe, called it "a grand old base with a lot of history," but said moving operations to other bases in Germany was necessary to save money.
The massive earthquake that hit the Indo-Pakistan border on Saturday is not the great Himalayan earthquake predicted by scientists. That means the worst is yet to come. Though the magnitude of the present earthquake _ 7.6 and large enough to cause widespread destruction and loss of life in Pakistan administered Kashmir and the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, it appears that this was not the worse case yet. American and Indian scientists, who have been studying both historic and present earthquake data as well as measuring plate movements, predicted in 2001 that several large intensity quakes are overdue in the Himalayan region. Prof Roger Bilham of the University of Colorado, who has been spearheading the research effort for several years now, said that the Muzaffarabad quake is not the massive quake his team had predicted. The quake was not strong enough to release a build up of energy below the Himalayan range. Only earthquakes of intensity greater than eight could release this pent up energy.
Zanzibar police have arrested 24 people in connection with election violence in which police shot and injured eight opposition supporters who defied a government ban on a campaign rally, a senior police officer said Monday. Police made the arrests Sunday and Monday and will soon charge the supporters of the main opposition party Civic United Front, said Ramadhani Kinyogo, Zanzibar's head of criminal investigations. He did not identify those arrested or say what charges they would face.
Morocco on Monday defended its use of force in preventing Africans from crossing into two Spanish enclaves on its northern coast as it started deporting some of those caught storming border fences in recent weeks. In an interview with The Associated Press, Communications Minister Nabil Benabdallah also accused neighboring Algeria, with which Morocco has tense relations, of leaving its borders "completely open" and allowing immigrants through "without any surveillance."
