As climate alarmists from all over the world head to Bali to talk about the sacrifices regular folks have to make to save the planet from global warming, it seems certain media will ignore all the private jets clogging the tiny airport.
As if its not enough that the United Nations Climate Change Conference is being held at what NewsBusters reported as "a truly beautiful tropical island paradise," the management of the nearby airport has issued a warning to attendees that they are going to have to park their private jets somewhere else.
I kid you not.
As reported by Bali Discovery Tours on November 3:
Tempo Interaktif reports that Angkasa Pura - the management of Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport are concerned that the large number of additional private charter flights expected in Bali during the UN Conference on Climate Change (UNFCCC) December 3-15, 2007, will exceed the carrying capacity of apron areas. To meet the added demand for aircraft storage officials are allocating "parking space" at other airports in Indonesia.
The operational manager for Bali's Airport, Azjar Effendi, says his 3 parking areas can only accommodate 15 planes, which means that some of the jets used by VIP delegations will only be allowed to disembark and embark their planes in Bali with parking provided at airports in Surabaya, Lombok, Jakarta and Makassar.
Talk about your really inconvenient truths. But, but, you can't expect these beautiful people to think straight after 12 or 13 hours shoehorned into tourist class with a bunch of loutish peasants and eco-criminal business types, can you? They are entitled to some extra consideration, you see, because of the good works they are doing on behalf of the world's children. It's all for the children, you know.
#4
Where are the suicide bombers when you need them? /sarcasm off
However, if you really really want to wage war by media event, then this has to be a big juicy target.
Of course the MSM would be so conflicted, if they do report, the arrogance of the elites would be clearly demonstrated. If they don't report they would be admitting they have been active agents in the WOT for the other side. Pray MSM, that nothing happens.
#5
Another reason to do nothing and not worry until the people telling you to worry and do something start acting like they mean it.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
11/24/2007 12:34 Comments ||
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#6
CrazyFool, nah, they won't be needed. I'm sure every single last luxury jet landing there will be burning eco-friendly biofuel, or getting there on solar power.
And they'll all drink the local water, and eat only locally grown organic produce. They'll ensure that they drink only fair market coffee, and will walk to the conference site each morning.
Unless, of course, it's totally inconvenient for them. Then, they'll each personally burn up more resources in one week than the average third world farming village does in a century.....
#1
The only way the Afrikaans can be bullied is if they allow themselves to be bullied. Resistance is both great and small, from tearing down roadsigns that have been renamed and putting up signs with the old names, to killing any black who enters their turf.
It is precisely intolerance that will save them, and intolerance at all levels. If the Afrikaans will not give a millimeter, any of them, they will win, because it will just take too much effort to put them down.
If they demand, refuse and counter demand. If they give you anything, demand more. Never give them anything in return. If they push, take the violence to them, do not fight on your territory, fight on theirs.
#2
Anonymoose: Correct. And this is true at all times and everywhere. We have given away the West. What replaces it will not last long against the jihadis. It is time to start thinking about how to rebuild in a couple or five hundred years.
#3
President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa is using the same formula for Afrikaan exclusion or white genocide as did Mugabe, just in smaller more subtle doses. He continues to prop up Mugabe and his communist thugs on a daily basis. The Afrikaan people badly need a champion. As in 1899-1902, they have none. Niether the UK or the US will touch the issue. After decades of revisionist history and aparthied kak, can you imagine the domestic outrage of a US President who would come to the aid of a Boer minority? Quite frankly, just the opposite it happening. Washington is prostrating itself before the tribal throne and extending aid and military assistance. I'm afraid the way ahead is clear.
Because it works so well for the Palestinian people. Right?
No, if you are white and you live in South Africa, leave. Come to the United States or Australia or anywhere else. While I admire and respect those who stay, it is a losing battle and has been for years. It's like staying behind when the hurricane or tornado is sure to hit you dead on. There is a fine line between being brave and stupid.
For all his bravado, Mr Idris Ali, who heads a little-known Muslim organisation that operates under the name of 'All-India Minorities Forum', panicked when he saw his followers run riot in those parts of central Kolkata where there's dancing in the streets every time Pakistan wins a cricket match against India. Hence his sly attempt to distance himself from the rioters who set upon innocent people, torched cars and police vehicles, attacked school buses and held petrified children hostage in their schools till the Army was called in on Wednesday late afternoon.
"They (Marxist cadre) have infiltrated our ranks and sparked the violence. We wanted to protest peacefully, but the Marxists are trying to discredit us," he told newspersons on Wednesday evening, obviously hoping to be spared the punishment that he justly deserves but is eager to escape. To paint himself and his murderous mobs as innocent victims of 'state repression', he claimed that "the disturbances broke out after the police, without reason, arrested 200 protesters owing allegiance to the AIMF and Furfurasharif Muzaddedia Anath Foundation at Park Circus".
Without reason? Mr Ali's foot soldiers were armed with swords and an assortment of weapons, including Molotov cocktails, which they used generously to terrorise people and attack the police. The high casualties reported by Kolkata Police -- two Deputy Commissioners were among those grievously injured -- and the widespread destruction of public and private property bear witness to the ferocity of those whom Mr Ali has sought to defend. But he is not alone in being indulgent; the anchor of a Delhi-based 24x7 news channel described the rampaging mobs as "civil society in ferment". So much for media integrity.
The issue, however, is not Mr Ali's too-clever-by-half defence of his criminal deed. Thankfully, the marauders were forced to back off before lives were lost; but the 'peace' that has been enforced with the help of the Army and night curfew is at best tenuous: Only the naïve and those who subscribe to Communist calumny will believe that Wednesday's communal violence was an aberration and that Kolkata is back to being a 'city of joy'. Nor should we get distracted by the suggestion that Kolkata's Muslims are up in arms against the CPI(M)'s thuggery in Nandigram where many of the victims are their co-religionists.
Indeed, it is doubtful whether Mr Ali is truly concerned about the plight of the maimed, the raped and the homeless of Nandigram. Had this not been the case, he would have mobilised political opposition to the CPI(M)'s atrocities in Nandigram and elsewhere. After all, Mr Ali, apart from being the chief of All-India Minorities Forum, is also a Congress leader, or at least is known for being close to certain individuals in the party who have defended his action.
By seeking to convert Nandigram's mind-numbing tale of human misery into a 'Muslim issue', he has tried to add to the list of the community's imagined grievances. For, the CPI(M)'s 'Harmad Vahini' was, and remains, indiscriminate while letting loose its reign of terror in Nandigram. Among the thousands of villagers who have lost their near and dear ones, or have been forced to flee their home and hearth and take shelter in 'refugee camps', are a large number of Hindus. Two men whose names have become synonymous with pillage, murder and rape in Nandigram, and who led the CPI(M)'s bloody campaign, are Shahjahan Laskar and Selim Laskar.
The real objective of Mr Ali and his friends -- Maulana Toha Siddiqui of Furfurasharif Muzaddedia Anath Foundation, Mr Roshan Ali of Qaumi Awaz Welfare Society and leading lights of Milli Ittehad Parishad -- who organised Wednesday's violent shutdown was to inflame Muslim passion by raising the bogey of Muslim sentiments being hurt by the Left Front Government. Hence the attempt to convert the atrocities in Nandigram into atrocities on Muslims; hence, also, the demand that the visa given to Bangladeshi dissident writer Taslima Nasreen, who has been living in Kolkata for the past couple of years, should be cancelled.
In fact, the second underscores the real purpose behind Wednesday's violence: Of taking the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen's shameful attack on Ms Nasreen in Hyderabad to its logical conclusion. Mr Ali and his friends allege that Ms Nasreen has "abused Islam and denigrated the Prophet", and hence must not be provided with refuge from those who want to kill her, as ordained by Shari'ah, for 'blasphemy'. If their reference is to Lajja, whose publication led to her first clash with Islamists, then it is rather late in the day. If they are referring to Dwikhondito, then we can only presume that neither Mr Ali nor his ilk has any regard for the law of the land which, they believe, does not apply to India's Muslims.
Here we must digress to understand why the CPI(M) is as guilty as those who ran amok in Kolkata on Wednesday. Ms Nasreen's autobiographical book, Dwikhondito, was banned by the West Bengal Government on November 28, 2003, soon after its publication. The initiative to proscribe the book because "it contains very derogatory and provocative references that go against the grain of the tenets of Islam and of Islamic beliefs" was taken by West Bengal's 'intellectual' Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee at the behest of fellow travellers, many of them Bengali writers who take perverse pleasure in denigrating Hindus and Hinduism. One of them, Mr Sunil Gangopadhyay, has waxed eloquent in Thursday's Anandabazar Patrika on how India is "not a theocracy and we cannot accept fatwas". He did not display such tolerance while pushing for the ban on Dwikhondito.
The ban was declared illegal by the Calcutta High Court on September 22, 2005. Since then, Ms Nasreen has neither said nor written anything that can be considered, by any stretch of the imagination, 'derogatory' of Islam. Two years later, Mr Ali has raised the issue of Ms Nasreen and her controversial book, skilfully avoiding any reference to the court order, taking a cue from the MIM and using Nandigram as a cover.
This is calculated mischief -- as calculated as the mass hysteria that was unleashed by bogus propaganda on the cartoons published in a Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, allegedly lampooning Mohammed, or the equally bogus breast-beating over the execution of Iraq's former dictator, Saddam Hussein. On those occasions, the CPI(M) was vocal in its support of the 'Muslim cause' and rallied its forces behind a convoluted worldview that has now come to haunt West Bengal.
Wednesday's communal violence in Kolkata is only the beginning. Having sown the proverbial dragon's teeth, the CPI(M) must now prepare to harvest its poison yield. The first signs of West Bengal's Marxist Government cravenly giving in to Muslim violence are already visible. Even before calm was restored in the riot-hit areas of Kolkata, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and Left Front chairman Biman Bose sought to placate Mr Ali and his goons by offering to expel Ms Nasreen from West Bengal "to maintain peace". On Thursday, Ms Nasreen was flown out of Kolkata to Jaipur. Her visa expires on February 17 next year. It is entirely possible that the Marxists will now force their obliging friends in the UPA Government to either not extend Ms Nasreen's visa any further or cancel it right away.
But this is unlikely to serve any purpose in containing 'Muslim anger' and preventing incidents similar to what was witnessed on Wednesday. For, Mr Ali and his friends will come up with other grievances that have nothing to do with the genuine problems of India's Muslims. Make no mistake of that.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/24/2007 06:26 ||
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Link ||
[6 views]
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#1
An Indian army soldier patrols the streets in Calcutta, India, Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2007. Soldiers were deployed in Calcutta on Wednesday to quell riots that erupted in the east Indian city
Posted by: john frum ||
11/24/2007 6:33 Comments ||
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#2
John,
Must be Indian troops from up north because they look more Oriental than Aryan.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
11/24/2007 12:45 Comments ||
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#3
Gurhkas
Posted by: john frum ||
11/24/2007 12:55 Comments ||
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One of the high points at which the drama could have turned into a farce within seconds occurred nine years ago at the Wye Plantation summit. After exhausting and debilitating efforts, we received from Yasser Arafat a promise (even if half-hearted and unwilling) to delete from the Palestinian Charter the sections calling for the destruction of Israel.
Upon leaving the conference room, we saw one of the closest advisers of President Bill Clinton and proudly told him about our achievement.
"Are you out of your minds?" he shouted. "He's going to be killed because of that. He is too weak for dramatic steps like that. First he has to be strengthened!"
I recalled this tragicomic story a few days ago as I was talking with a player from the international elements engaged in building up the destroyed Palestinian economy. When I asked him why they weren't making aid to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) contingent on stopping the anti-Israeli incitement on the official television channel and in the Palestinian education system, he replied, "Abu Mazen is so weak, and this is not a popular step. First of all, it is necessary to strengthen him and afterward it will be possible to demand something of him."
I have never understood this strange reasoning: First strengthen the weak leader, by giving legitimization to anti-Israeli actions that he allows (or encourages, and sometimes even operates) and then, once the anti-Israeli positions have made him popular, expect that he will suddenly change his spots and lead his people determinedly toward the desired peace.
This distorted approach has become a kind of sacred cow. "We must strengthen Abu Mazen," say Israel's leaders as a kind of mantra. It is of no importance that along the way they are educating another generation of Palestinians to hatred, violence and the aspiration to destroy Israel. It is of no importance that the way to the strengthening is the diametric opposite of peace and dialogue. The main thing is that we are strengthening Abu Mazen.
The old argument of President Shimon Peres and Meretz MK Yossi Beilin and Defense Minister Ehud Barak on "with whom to make peace, a strong leader or a weak leader" is no longer relevant. A look back over the years since the Oslo Accords shows clearly that the direction in which Palestinian society has marched is not the direction of peace. It was all in all just a hudna (truce) before another intifada. And when the society is becoming more extreme, what difference is it to us if the leader is strong or weak?
It is true that to carry out courageous reforms and educate the people to peace, a strong and bold leader is needed. Leaders like that, who understand the need for education toward peace and reforms, do exist - but not in the Muqata in Ramallah. These are people who are not afraid to challenge the tyranny of the weak leader and who believe in building a civil society as a necessary foundation for any progress on the road to peace.
As chairman of the Institute for Strategic Studies, I meet them quite frequently. It is true that they are weak, but for one reason only: We ourselves are weakening them by giving unreserved support to "moderate" tyrants. The justification that support for these troublemakers weakens the only element that is capable of stopping Hamas doesn't hold water: It is precisely the strengthening of an antidemocratic regime and the absence of an alternative that are pushing the public into the arms of fundamentalists, into the arms of Hamas. Annapolis is doomed to failure not because we or the Palestinians have not made enough concessions - it is doomed to failure because it is built on distorted reasoning to the effect that it is possible to move ahead and make a deal with some leader and totally ignore what is really happening in Palestinian society. In this, to our regret, Annapolis has become another tragifarcical Middle Eastern scene.
The writer is head of the Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies at the Shalem Center.
In honor of the holiday shopping season, I thought I might make a recommendation of a great CD that I discovered on a recent visit to Washington DC. While there, I took the opportunity to take a short tour on the grounds of the historic Marine Barracks at 8th and I Streets SE (free on Wednesday mornings at 10 a.m.). This is the home of the United States Marine Band, known as "The President's Own", which have played at every Presidential Inauguration since Jeffersons. The one famously associated with their 17th Director, John Philip Sousa, as well.
Later that day I visited a wonderful music store, Melody Record Shop in Dupont Circle. In the classical section, I spotted a CD of arrangements of the music of Charles Ives performed by the very same Marine Band (the main link at the headline). I was happy to see that the CD by the modern and very American Ives was on the Naxos Records label too; because this label puts out a wide variety of music by good musicians at budget prices, I like to support them. Well, I love the CD and can highly recommend it to give to anyone who likes classical music or band music or just good American music. Although Ives music is complex, I can appreciate it without having much musical education. Here and here are two reviews by people who clearly know a bit more about it.
While on the subject, if you are buying for someone who enjoys modern classical music, there is a great new book out called The Rest is Noise that is just a fantastic read. It's great for me because, as someone who is self-educated in this field, I tend to know disconnected scraps of information about these composers. This book ties the whole history together so well, makes memorable characters out of these creative geniuses, and gives you some perspective on what these men (mostly) were trying to achieve with this music - some of it very challanging and obscure, some of it popular and well known. It is often sad to see how the careers of these great minds got tangled in the political and ideological struggles of the the twentieth century.
I beg the indulgence of the powers that be for submitting a personal essay as an "article" on Rantburg, and hope I have filed this in the proper place (I was somewhat torn between Opinion and Local). I also thought of highlighting the entire thing, but didn't think that would look good. If this sort of post is frowned upon, please let me know. I'd also like to note that I have no personal interest, financial or otherwise, in promoting the CD or the book.
Since I have already taken the liberty, I might also ask which are the best charities for our troops for Christmas? I would definitely like to give to one that supports needy families of our military. I also wonder if there are any that provide books because I know that, if I were out there, I would want good books more than almost anything. Thank you everyone and happy holidays.
I too am a classic music fan (Classical, Jazz and Latin is all we have on in our house) and have listened to many Marine Band concerts as part of the summer tatoos held at Jefferson Memorial. I contribute to a number of "troop support" charities. Here are my 3 favorites who I think do the most:
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.
As climate alarmists from all over the world head to Bali to talk about the sacrifices regular folks have to make to save the planet from global warming, it seems certain media will ignore all the private jets clogging the tiny airport. 
