#1
ION WAFF > NORTH KOREA: WAR [agz ROK] IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME. As far is Pyongyang is concerned, 'tis NOT a question of "iff" there will be DPRK-vs-ROK War, but "WHEN".
* CHINESE MILITARY FORUM: [Survey] JAPAN NOW WANTS ITS OWN NUCLEAR WEAPONS. Overwhelming percentage of polled Nipponese believe indigenous NucWeaps will be vital to Japanese security.
* SAME > [Comcast.net] US IS STILL ACTING AS IFF MONEY IS ALWAYS THERE.
#3
Relations between China and India have long been soured by bitter rivalry and mutual suspicion. Over the past few days, though, the two Asian powerhouses have cuddled up like a pair of giant pandas. This is a display of diplomatic affection that matters not least as it could have a significant impact on the shape of the global economy.
#4
'tis NOT a question of "iff" there will be DPRK-vs-ROK War, but "WHEN".
Completely ignoring that they've been "At War" all along.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/19/2010 10:40 Comments ||
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#5
I hope SKor is also ready to respond to any attack on it with an IMMEDIATE and severe counter-attack - planes in the air, arty ready to fire, tanks ready to take out anywhere within reach of the DMZ. It wouldn't hurt for the US to state openly that we're ready to toss a nuke into Pyongyang AT OUR DISCRETION (I.E., no set time or date) if there's another NKor attack. Personally, I'd mine all their ports, and redo the mining if the originals are "swept". Kim needs to have his nose severely bloodied, so that he knows he's not really the all-invincible he thinks he is. If it hurts him and his family personally, all the better.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/19/2010 18:09 Comments ||
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#6
FREEREPUBLIC this AM > NORTH KOREA DEPLOYS MORE ROCKET LAUNCHERS ALONG WEST COAST.
IIUC, NOKOR = IRAN = NUCPROGS + related are NORTH KOREA'S NATURAL OR SOVEREIGN RIGHT.
ARTIC also read, NORTH KOREA RE-ITERATES ITS DESIRE TO "GO NUCLEAR" [NucWeaps], + ISN'T TAKING "NO" FOR AN ANSWER FROM ANYONE, NOT EVEN BEIJING???
OTOH, POSTERS > believe CHINA IS USING NOKOR AS PROXY TO INDIR TEST POTUS BAMMER'S = USA'S METTLE???
* PEOPLES DAILY FORUM > JAPAN TO MARK SEIZURE OF DAOYUS ISLANDS, ANOTHER DIPLOMATIC STUNT? | [Chin FM] CHINA LASHES BACK AT JAPANESE ATTEMPT TO MARK SEIZURE OF [China-claimed]DAOYU ISLANDS.
ARTIC = Beijing upset + angry at Japanese city of ISHIGAKI's public celebration marking Japan's "PIONEERING" [aka Discovery] of the CHINESE-CLAIMED DAOYUS.
* SAME > JAPAN TO SHIFT DEFENSE FOCUS TO CHINA, NORTH KOREA [labels ongoing China mil moderniztion + buildup a major "concern"]; + [Mainichi News] NEW JAPAN "DYNAMIC DEFENSE POLICY" AIMED AT CHINA NEEDS A SECOND [Re]THINK.
* DRUDGEREPORT > NORTH KOREA MILITARY RAISES ALERT.
* PRAVDA > RUSSIA CALLS SOUTH KOREA TO NOT HOLD PLANNED ARTILLERY FIRNG, to de-escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
* PEOPLES DAILY FORUM > SOUTH KOREA NOT SCRAPPING ARTILLERY DRILL DESPITE NORTH [War]THREAT.
* YONHAP > SOUTH KOREA SAYS WILL CONDUCT YELLOW SEA FIRING DRILL MONDAY.
#7
CHINA DAILY FORUM > INDIA DECLARES WAR ON CHINA?
ARTIC = India has refused to declare TIBET as a sovereign or integral part of CHINA in SINO-INDIAN JOINT STATEMENT. INDIA DEEMS TIBET + XINJIANG [in West China] AS PART OF ITS TERRITORY.
Perhaps more pragmatically, China is seeking new rapprochemnet wid Iindia in INDIAN OCEAN since it is being all but absolutely blocked from procuring desired Chin-controlled Naval, Trade Ports in the "FIRST ISLAND CHAIN???
#1
Someone somewhere recently suggested that an intrepid Californian should sponsor a ballot initiative to dissolve the state and return the area to territorial status. That might just appear a viable alternative to some out there soon.
... asks a Muslim living in Sweden who is also a Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Alternative Energy. Some of the commenters seem less perplexed than the author.
#1
Here is the quote by Abdul-Majeed Azad the distinguished whatever.
"Quran exhorted Muhammad to tell Muslims: "Come, I will rehearse what God has really prohibited you from: take not life, which God has made sacred, except by the way of justice and law; thus does He command you that you may learn wisdom" (4:151). "
Here is a collection of a dozen different translations of 4:151. As one can see, all of them discuss disabling or killing disbelievers. If you go to the verses preceding and following this verse there is even more of the same 'destroy the infidel' stuff.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
12/19/2010 0:30 Comments ||
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#2
"Qur'an exhorted Muhammad to tell Muslims: "Come, I will rehearse what God has really prohibited you from: take not life, which God has made sacred, except by the way of justice and law; thus does He command you that you may learn wisdom" (4:151). "
#6
I did try to read the Koran but found the violence too excessive just had to put it down. My reaction is similar to Ben's in the comment section;
"Ben wrote:
I didnt talk about Christians or the bible. I have read both the Quran and the Bible (I am neither Christian nor Moslem/Muslim). And it is very clear that the Old Testament of the Bible is never as explicit in terms of violence, threats and repeated calls to ´arms´, killing, harsh laws etc than the Quran. It is precisely because the Quran contains these lines/verses(ayats and surahs) calling for blood and killing that many radicals have found it easy to use the Quran to commit mass murder."
Fundamental difference difference is that the Bible is basically a history book. Nowhere it tells such or such action was right or that it would still be right in other times while the Coran commands such actions, declares then right and sets no limits in time to the killing of infidels. Also the basis ot rabinic judaism is that not everything is in the Bible and that is why Jews stopped stoning adulterous women centuries ago. Coran is complete and not subject to revision. There will not be be ànother prophet softening it' in fact it was not created and not even Allah can change it.
#8
Al-Qaedamight have been weakened collectively, but apparently it has been slowly but steadily succeeding in poisoning the minds of the Muslim youth one at a time. This supply chain must be cut at the very central artery.
#10
ION NEWS KERALA > [Outlawed] AL-MUHAJIROUN TERRORIST GROUP [openly] RECRUITING NEAR STOCKHOLM BOMBER'S HOMETOWN, of Luton, Sweden.
ARTIC = LOCAL/AREA MUSLIMS had complained about the seemingly "BLIND EYE" OF LUTON PUBLIC AUTHORITIES TOWARDS ISLAMIST = EXTREMIST ACTIVITIES TAKING PLACE.
Authorities feared footage of gleaming hospital in Michael Moore's Oscar-nominated film would provoke a popular backlash
Cuba banned Michael Moore's 2007 documentary, Sicko, because it painted such a "mythically" favourable picture of Cuba's healthcare system that the authorities feared it could lead to a "popular backlash", according to US diplomats in Havana.
The revelation, contained in a confidential US embassy cable released by WikiLeaks , is surprising, given that the film attempted to discredit the US healthcare system by highlighting what it claimed was the excellence of the Cuban system.
But the memo reveals that when the film was shown to a group of Cuban doctors, some became so "disturbed at the blatant misrepresentation of healthcare in Cuba that they left the room".
Castro's government apparently went on to ban the film because, the leaked cable claims, it "knows the film is a myth and does not want to risk a popular backlash by showing to Cubans facilities that are clearly not available to the vast majority of them."
Sicko investigated healthcare in the US by comparing the for-profit, non-universal US system with the non-profit universal health care systems of other countries, including Cuba, France and the UK.
#1
I think as a whole the leaked diplomatic cables will be a bigger blow to the left than anyone else. It lays bare the facts about many countries, leaders, and political agendas that quite frankly are counter to the liberal mindset.
#2
To date they've been mostly reflecting things we've known here for years, or which have been glaringly obvious. The classified comments haven't been reflecting the public comments, but we've been expecting that.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/19/2010 9:34 Comments ||
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#3
Since none of the wikileaks stuff _of this nature_ is ever going to hit the drive-by media that created the "no wmd in Iraq" lie, among others, _as a societal whole_ we're stuck with the negative outcomes of a wikileaks type operation and none of the positive ones.
(Leaving aside the filtering that's probably happening at the source).
#4
"the leaked diplomatic cables will be a bigger blow to the left than anyone else. It lays bare the facts about many countries, leaders, and political agendas that quite frankly are counter to the liberal mindset"
Naaaahhh, CS - they don't care. In fact, most of them are jealous. >:-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/19/2010 11:56 Comments ||
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#5
To date they've been mostly reflecting things we've known here for years, or which have been glaringly obvious
That's because the good stuff is in the back, available only to a select and deep-pocketed clientele.
We linger complacently in our comfort zones situated in our pea-sized myopias, believing we are reigniting the economic, political and cultural glories of our ancestors by putting hollow prefixes of Islamic-this and Islamic-that, when the truth is far more startling. For years it us alone who have been eating away at the very soul of a religion we claim to love.
But true to form each time our eyes wander towards its depleted condition we begin to shout, Islam is in danger! We begin to point fingers at what we call enemies of Islam attacking us innocent Pakistanis from all corners. Then in desperation we begin to attack non-Muslims on our own soil, and then the differing sects, all the while cannibalising a faith we claim to be saving.
Pakistan may very well have become the worlds first theological dystopia an over-promising Utopia gone awry. Is it too late? I would like to hope not at least not until we, one fine day, take a peek into our own heads and hearts instead of all the elusive bogymen that weve always been told are constantly hiding underneath our beds.
From the Jewish Daily Forward. I've never heard of them so can't vouch for who/what they are. The opinion seems a little interesting -- a strawman to be dismantled, perhaps.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/19/2010 12:34 ||
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#1
he glibly notes that many killed in Leb in 20006 and in Gaza in Cast Lead were civilians without adding that was a direct result of the Hezbullies and Hamas of firing from civilian centers - using their own people as human shields. He also throws out giving up "Arab Jerusalem" as a nothing-lost deal. I'd say he's less a historian and more of a "let's give them everything and ask for nothing in return"ass. To me a successful west bank populace is a lesson to Gazooks that living relatively peacefully has an upside - one they will never get with Hamas in charge. There's a limit to settlement activity that starts to be counterproductive, but I would NEVER give up Jerusalem. It's a reminder to the Arabs that lost acts of aggression have costs, just like the Golan. They understand that power rules. Soon another crisis in Leb will require a smiting - make it a large one
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/19/2010 13:47 Comments ||
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#2
See the Rantburg link below this one -
Hamas admits it lied to the Goldstone "Investigators"
It discredits the widely quoted "1500 civilians killed" claim.
#3
I'm no military strategist, but I can read a map. Only way Israel doesn't need the West Bank is if they manage to never get attacked from that direction again.
FWIW - anything with "Forward" in the title is highly suspect.
* SAME/TOPIX > [Wikileaks] HEZBOLLAH HAS 50,000 ROCKETS.
* SAME/TOPIX > WIKILEAKS: US BELIEVES SYRIA GAVE SCUD MISSLES TO HEZBOLLAH.
HMMMM, HMMM, IMO Hezbollah/Hizbullah intends to NULL ISRAEL'S MIL + NUCLEAR SUPERIORITY BY PROCURING VARIOUS NUCTECHS + LRBMS, vee M-A-D = MUTUALLY ASSUREDD ESTRUCTION, WHILE LOCAL MMILTERR FACTIONS CONTINUE TO LAUNCH TERRSTRIKES AGZ ISRAEL???
I suspect Tel Aviv is aware of this dangerous Scenario given Israel's repor demand to Washington, DC that the US-WEST NOT + NEVAR! ALLOW ISRAEL TO LOSE ITS TRADITIONAL MIL SUPERIORITY.
Methinks the sooner Israel formally joins NATO the better for its security.
* WAFF > TERRORISTS MAY GET BIOWEAPONS FROM [poorly secured, corrupted] INDIAN LABORATORIES.
* CHINA DAILY FORUM > POSTER Thread(s) > MORE RUSSIANS + INDIANS CONVERT TO ISLAM; + MORE SOUTH KOREAN SOLDIERS [37 in tote]CONVERT TO ISLAM [SOKOR is home to approxi 37,000 indigenous Muslim believers + another 70,000 foreign Muslims].
Alan M. Dershowitz notes that Hamas has (in 2010) essentially confirmed the IDFs count of military vs civilian casualties. He then argues that since the Goldstone report accepted without question the early (2006) Hamas report that only a few combatants had been killed, that Israel's action must have been aimed at civilians, that this essentially eviscerates the entire premise of the report.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
12/19/2010 11:27 ||
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#1
Maybe we'll see a huge correction printed on the front page of the NYT tomorrow.
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.
We linger complacently in our comfort zones situated in our pea-sized myopias, believing we are reigniting the economic, political and cultural glories of our ancestors by putting hollow prefixes of Islamic-this and Islamic-that, when the truth is far more startling. For years it us alone who have been eating away at the very soul of a religion we claim to love.
