My ISP is still down - and they're not answering the phone. I'm assuming they're going to come back up and be stable eventually, so until then I'll keep using the alternate. Sorry for the performance difference, but what the hell, it's free.
Comments are fixed. Posted by Fred 4/18/2002 10:45:29 AM
Search is fixed, too. The outage is apparently not just my host, but a problem with a trunk. ATM machines are down, too, as are some of the other sites I've tried to visit. Posted by Fred 4/18/2002 11:22:59 AM
Good to see you back-found the backup link over at Simberg's site. Posted by Mark Byron 4/19/2002 9:25:29 AM
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04/18/2002 ||
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FoxNews reports in a news bulletin that a Piper "tourist plane" has hit a skyscraper in Milan. No details... Drudge has it, too: "Explosion in a Milan, Italy skyscraper; 'small plane hit the building'... Explosion In Local Govt Headquarters In Milan"... Pirelli Tire building is tallest in Milan, also seat of Lombardy government... President of Italian Senate has designated this as a terrorist attack, but that may be premature... 10 floors on fire... Pilot sent SOS... Interesting. Binny speaks and Abdul acts?... They wanted to try for Bush at last year's G8 conference... Could we be having a second close ally soon? Zahir Shah just left Italy for Afghanistan, and Milan's Italy's financial center... Italy's been going after the Bad Guys in the courts, but the occasional government muckety-muck has issued the usual Eurodrivel, despite Berlusconi's consistent support...
Drudge sez:
"A small plane flew into Milan's "Pirelli" skyscaper which lodges the offices of the Lombardy region, according to the news agency Ansa. The police did not confirm the information but said the last two floors of the building were hit by an explosion. A broker working in a building lodging the US consulate in Milan said the building has been surrounded by police and is being evacuated. The building is in the centre of Milan and about 1 kilometre away from the Pirelli building." Plane originated in Locarno, originally reported as Ljubljana... They're downplaying the terrorism angle, but it would certainly be a coincidence to have three in the space of seven months - one terrorism, one a copycat kiddy, and one an accident, especially a symbol of Italian industrialism... Local eyewitness tells FoxNews it's unusual for planes to fly near the building... Berlusconi is on his way back to Italia from Bulgaria... Footage on teevee looks like the plane went most of the way through the building... At least three confirmed dead... Only the pilot was on board... He was a 75-year-old Italian - no turban. Guess it's a false alarm... It's still damned strange...
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04/18/2002 ||
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I love this country. I really do. This is a nation that draws its greatness from silliness. Seven months ago we were treacherously attacked by murderous international religious fanatics. We fought a war and dismantled a regime whose innate evil was up there with the medium worst - not Genghis Khan, or Hitler or Attila the Hun, but maybe on a par with Vlad the Impaler. We've put troops in three other countries and we're preparing to kick the snot out of Saddam Hussein, who also isn't up there with Genghis and Adolph, but could rub elbows comfortably with Vlad and Papa Doc. But the Palestinian conflict blew up at just the wrong time, diverting attention from Sammy. What to do to regain the initiative? What to do to divert attention from Jenin and Nablus and Ramallah, to gain that pause needed to restart the preparations to rub out Sammy and Uday and their nasty Tikriti mafia?
Thousands of joyous Afghans lined the streets Thursday to welcome back former King Mohammad Zaher Shah from 29 years in exile marked at home by war, poverty and fanaticism. Thousands of people lined the route to the former king's villa, desperate to catch a glimpse of him. Dancers in white tunics and red sashes swirled to the beat of drums and a flute, and people from across the country held up photographs of the former king and Afghan flags. Viva el Rey! Convening the Loya Jirga further undermines the legitimacy of the "amir al moumin." The one-eyed mullah must be tearing his beard out about now - and dispatching every gunny he's got to get the old man.
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04/18/2002 ||
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The secretary general of Jamaat-i-Islami Pakistan Syed Munawar Hassan said on Wednesday there was no room for a referendum on a issue, which was clearly resolved in the Constitution, and any support to it would amount to sabotaging the democratic process. At a news conference, held here at the JIAJK office, he remarked that Gen Musharraf had kicked off a campaign which was "unethical, illegal, unconstitutional and undemocratic." They've got twelve more days to harp on the subject, and then if Perv wins they can take him to court to try and have the results thrown out. If he doesn't win, who knows what's gonna happen?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/18/2002 ||
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Underscoring that "Gen Musharraf deludes himself if he thinks the presidential referendum he has scheduled at the end of the month is an affirmation of democracy" the New York Times asked the Bush administration to "more forcefully tell Gen Musharraf that his plan can only undermine the respect he has earned throughout the world since Sept 11." In an editorial "Pakistan's Perpetual President" the Times noted that "in a surreal spectacle, Gen Musharraf has been barnstorming around Pakistan holding rent-a-crowd rallies while barring anti-referendum demonstrations', adding, his heavy-handed tactics can only undermine the nation and weaken its ability to fight terrorism." No doubt the Times has an alternative that will bring Qazi and Fazl and Sami and General Gul to heel...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/18/2002 ||
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Fresh efforts for the unification of Pakistan Muslim League's Functional, Chattha and Nawaz factions have failed because of the yawning gap between the positions of these parties on some important issues including the constitutionality of the referendum. The efforts were initiated recently by Hamid Nasir Chattha under instructions from Pir Pagara. Both these leaders are supporting the April 30 referendum to give Gen Pervez Musharraf five years in presidency after completing his three-year term mandated by the Supreme Court.
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04/18/2002 ||
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President Bush is seeing signs of progress from the 10-day Middle East mission of Secretary of State Colin Powell and is weighing the possibility of convening a conference to achieve peace in the region. Powell, who arrived at Andrews Air Force Base a little after 2 a.m. Thursday, was due at the White House barely eight hours later for a meeting with Bush and other members of the president's national security team to report on his trip. Despite intense efforts, Powell was unable to get the Israeli-Palestinian cease-fire he had sought. Bush wants to be sure the idea of a Middle East peace conference makes sense before embracing it, a senior administration official said. Got that out of the way. Now Sharon can handle his end of it for awhile. Yasser's never going to move and the problem is going to be how to get anything done around him.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/18/2002 ||
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FoxNews has Rep. (Dr.) John Cooksey on (even as we speak). He met with Yasser in Ramallah back in November and says the old thug is showing early signs of senile dementia. That would explain a lot, including his temper tantrums and his occasional incoherence.
What do you mean, "occasional"? Posted by Anonymous 4/18/2002 1:13:53 PM
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/18/2002 ||
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Israel will remain in two West Bank cities until standoffs over the surrender of wanted Palestinians have been resolved, but it hopes to withdraw troops from other areas by early next week, a Defense Ministry official said Thursday. The two troublespots are Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah. Bethlehem Mayor Hanna Nasser said a round of negotiations on the church standoff, initially scheduled for Thursday, was canceled by Israel. Nasser appealed to Pope John Paul II to visit Bethlehem and help resolve the crisis.
On Wednesday, troops withdrew from parts of the town of Jenin and were expected to pull out of the West Bank's largest city, Nablus, within a few days. However, troops on Thursday raided a West Bank village near the town of Tulkarem, carrying out arrests and searching for explosives, the military said.
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04/18/2002 ||
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UN Secretary General Kofi Annan asked the Security Council to consider sending an armed multinational force to help end violence in Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory. He told council members in closed session that the contingent should have "a robust mandate" under Chapter Seven of the United Nations Charter, which authorises the use of military force to impose council decisions. Annan said he did not envisage a United Nations force, but "rather a multinational force formed by a coalition of the willing" -- a group of nations allied in a military operation with council approval such as that in Kosovo. "Coalition of the willing"? Like Syria, Saudi Arabia, Libya? The idea was crummy a few days ago, and it hasn't gotten any better.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/18/2002 ||
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Soldiers and Shin Bet agents arrested Husam Ataf Ali Badran, a senior commander of Hamasâs military wing in Samaria, in a village east of Nablus yesterday in an operation including ground forces, planes, attack helicopters, and special forces who leapt from helicopters. Security sources said Badran is responsible for terrorist attacks that caused the deaths of more than 100 Israelis and wounded hundreds more.
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04/18/2002 ||
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FoxNews has been showing the second Binny tape, in which he speaks, bragging about the damage inflicted in the 9-11 attacks. He does some gloating, and he's apparently not drugged in this one, or maybe he's in the happy phase. It still doesn't change my opinion that he's a terminally ill man.
"By their own admittance, the percentage of loss at the Wall Street was 16 percent. That this is a record number . . . Unprecedented in the history of the stock market since it opened more than 30 years ago. He's not too good with dates. Maybe it's the drugs...
"The capital is $4 trillion. To learn the amount of their loss, we multiply this number by 16 percent. This should equal $640 billion.
"This number is equal to the Sudanese budget for 640 years. This is what they lost because of God's support and generosity. One blessed attack within one hour, and they lose all this. Perhaps Sudan should look to its economic and social system. We can afford it, even if they couldn't, and won't be able to for the next 640 years.
"The daily national income equals $20 billion. In the first week after the attacks and after the psychological shock, they were shocked and people did not go to work. So if we multiply $20 billion by 7 days, that is $140 billion.
"Every day, that's because of God's generosity and help. If we add this to $640 billion, we reach almost $800 billion of losses every day.
"That's besides the loss of buildings . . . more than 30 till the past two days.
"The airline companies are getting rid of their employees . . . more than 170,000 are out of jobs. They're hiring again...
"Seventy percent of the American people are suffering from depression and psychological problems, according to American studies. They got depressed after the towers incident and the attack on the Pentagon, and that's all because of God's generosity. We're out of the depression now. Gary Condit was back in the news, and people are looking at Britney's breasts again. True, they cancelled Ally McBeal, but that's a small loss. The poor girl was starving to death. Now we're back to bickering about stoopid things like reparations and Al Gore is back on the campaign trail. Sorry, Binny. You missed on that one.
"One huge hotel company, the Intercontinental, is also getting rid of employees. More than 20,000 employees. Yeah, that's right. And Pearl Harbor destroyed the Pacific Fleet. The US never recovered, lost the Battle of Midway, lost the Battle of Coral Sea, Tarawa, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa in rapid succession, and we all speak Japanese now. Heh heh.
"Actually, no one can figure out the losses or the effects because the amount of loss could at least be . . . more than $1 trillion â all because of these blessed attacks. In December, when they're theorizing the tapes were made, we were still feeling the economic effects. We're actually past them now and recovering nicely, thank you. So another set of attacks on the same scale can be expected to produce an effect felt for three to four months. And to fire us up again so we dismantle another country.
"May God accept the martyrs' actions and offer them the highest level of paradise." They're rubbing elbows with Himmler and Stalin and Torquemada and Vlad the Impaler, saying things like "Is it just me, or is it really warm in here?"
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04/18/2002 ||
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Sixteen police were killed Thursday when a land mine destroyed the bus carrying them in the Chechen capital of Grozny, Russian officials said. An Associated Press reporter saw six wounded - three police, a pedestrian and a police official and his brother traveling in a separate car. Russian officials, citing Chechen police, said only one person was wounded. Chechen rebels frequently use remote-controlled mines to target Russian troops and pro-Moscow police. The Associated Press reporter heard a 15-minute exchange of gunfire after the explosion.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/18/2002 ||
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Police and security agents on Wednesday questioned five Pakistanis suspected of providing logistical support to Richard C. Reid before he boarded a Paris-Miami flight with explosives-laden shoes, judicial officials said. The suspects were arrested Wednesday morning around Paris, the officials said. They are suspected of housing and feeding Reid, 28, during his stay in Paris, as well as lending him mobile phones and escorting him around the city. Sure is surprising that they're Paks, isn't it? Does anyone still doubt that they're the muscle to the Saudis' money?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/18/2002 ||
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A Tanzanian whose name was found on a letter in an Afghanistan cave has been arrested on immigration charges, 11 months after he came to the United States for commercial pilot training, authorities said Wednesday. The FBI said there was no evidence to suggest Issaya Nombo, 44, was involved in terrorist activity and said his name may have even ended up on the letter after someone saw it on the Internet. "It is premature, grossly so, to say he's connected with 9/11," said Frank Perry, the agent in charge of the FBI's Raleigh office. "There is no information whatsoever to link him with terrorism." It'd also be grossly irresponsible not to pick him up, question him closely, and - just to be safe - kick his ass and the rest of him with it out of the country.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/18/2002 ||
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Malaysian police have arrested 14 suspected members of Jemaah Islamiyah in raids that turned up a map of the country's largest port. Among the arrested was the wife of a Malaysian accused of helping two of the Sept. 11 hijackers. Police Inspector Gen. Norian Mai told local journalists that investigators were "confident that we have crushed this group's main plan" but would not say if that included a plot to sabotage Port Klang, Malaysia's key western harbor. The arrested - including two Indonesians - were detained in separate raids Wednesday and early Thursday. Police seized documents including military training notes and a map of Port Klang. More arrests were expected because police believed there were about 100 suspected militants still on the loose. The arrests bring to 38 the number of people detained in Malaysia since authorities began a crackdown on alleged Muslim militants last December. It looks like Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore got to these thugs before they got their operation all the way off the ground. Indonesia is much more lackadaisical, and the seed will probably take root there, to the detriment of the countries around her.
Among the latest detainees was Sejahratul Dursina, who is married to Yazid Sufaat, a former Malaysian army captain jailed since December on allegations he let members of the al-Qaida terrorist organization stay in an apartment the couple own in 2000. Yazid and most of the others are accused of belonging to an Islamic extremist group that authorities say plotted bomb attacks on the U.S. Embassy and other pro-West targets in Singapore. Other suspects have been detained in Singapore and the Philippines. Yazid denies the allegations. Yazid was cooperating for awhile.
Police seized a laptop computer, notebooks and a mobile phone from Sejahratul's house, her sister, Surihanim Mohamad, told The Associated Press. Didja ever notice how many of these inernational terror cartels are family affairs? Samir al-Hada, the fellow who fumbled his grenade in Yemen a couple months ago, was kin to one of he 9-11 hijackers, and I think Pop was in the business, too. Do you ever wonder about Binny's brothers and sisters?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
04/18/2002 ||
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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.
