INNSBRUCK, Austria It wasn't "Snakes on a Plane," but an Austrian Airlines jet made an unscheduled stop as a precaution Friday after a passenger sneaked a hamster aboard and the rodent escaped.
The flight from Palma de Mallorca, Spain, to the southern Austrian city of Graz made a stop in Innsbruck so officials could search for the furry stowaway and make sure it didn't gnaw through any cables, the airline said in a statement.
It said the flight was diverted after a passenger notified the crew that he had brought a hamster aboard and had lost track of the animal. Passengers were ordered off the plane, and some were taken by bus to Graz. It was not immediately clear how many people were aboard the disrupted flight.
By mid-afternoon, a search of the aircraft still had not turned up any sign of the hamster, authorities said.
Austrian Airlines said the jet would remain grounded until the hamster was found "because it can't take off that way for safety reasons."
#1
HAMSTERS ON A PLANE! You thought snakes were bad? Just imagine some fuzzy critter running down the aisle! The climax comes when a passengers frees her kitty from the cargo hold and it saves the day (and has lunch).
A coalition of parties supporting Congolese President Joseph Kabila said Thursday that it has assembled a majority in parliament, meaning the group will select the prime minister to head the country's first democratically elected government in decades. The creation of the large parliamentary bloc also shows strong political backing for Kabila in runoff presidential elections next month.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/29/2006 00:00 ||
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A strong earthquake hit Venezuela and Trinidad, knocking out power across much of the Caribbean island and sending thousands of people in Venezuela into the streets.
Callers to local radio said there had been structural damage to some buildings in Trinidad, which was the epicentre of the 6.1 magnitude quake.
But authorities in both countries, which are separated by just a few kilometres of the Caribbean Sea, said there were no reports of serious injuries.
In Venezuela, the world's No 5 crude oil exporter, there were no reports of damage to energy installations, although the state oil company said its officials were still checking their facilities after much of the east of the country shook during the quake.
Similarly, initial reports showed energy installations escaped unscathed in Trinidad.
Still, frightened residents on the island scurried into the streets as bottles fell off shelves and smashed in their homes. Telephone lines swayed violently overhead.
An international airport in Trinidad was evacuated and flights canceled as officials checked for any structural damage to its buildings.
As a precaution in case any aftershocks caused more damage, local authorities ordered people to evacuate many buildings in major cities in Venezuela. In the capital Caracas, which is more than 600 km from Trinidad, 10,000 people were briefly ordered outside, the mayor said.
The US Geological Survey's earthquake monitoring centre said the quake hit at 9:08 am (2308 AEST) at a depth of 62.6 km.
Such a magnitude can typically cause considerable damage to poorly built structures, and slight-to-moderate damage in well-built structures.
In Trinidad, which is a major supplier to the United States of liquefied natural gas, there was no damage or disruption to operations at the country's only plant, Atlantic LNG, company spokesman Billson Hansley said.
Atlantic LNG is a joint venture between the state-owned National Gas Co and British, Spanish and French companies.
In the country's capital, Port of Spain, BP Plc's head office was evacuated. It was not immediately clear if the company's offshore gas and oil operations were affected by the quake.
Posted by: john ||
09/29/2006 17:23 ||
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To: Halliburton Earthquake Division
From: Director, Halliburton R&D
Okay youse (sic) guys, that was real funny. Now, we all know that Uncle Hugo has this huge chip on his shoulder vis-a-vis GW, but c'mon already. Uncle Hugo has control of a large amount of oil interests in which we have a large interest once Uncle Hugo and his frat-boy hanger-ons are shoved to the side by the invas...I mean occupa...damn, that's not the right word either - how about we just set that aside for the moment.
Either way, you guys need to knock off playing with the "New! Shiney!" toys. Otherwise Uncle Hugo might start to wonder about all the field agents running around down there shifting money and alliances our way.
During a visit to the Maracay Libertador Air Force (FAV) base, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias has publicly thanked the military delegation that took part in joint military air force CRUZEX 2006 exercises in Brazil.
The President has ordered Defense Minister, General Raul Baduel to plan new military exercises with forces of South America.
The President insists that the Venezuelan Armed Force (FAN) will not support any military exercise organized by Imperialist forces. "We are anti-imperialist, and we are here to defend the sovereignty of our country and not to support the maneuvers of imperialist forces that have trampled on the peoples of the world."
Chavez Frias calls the new exercises (if they come off) "Operation Mercosur in the Caribbean," which he says would be similar to Operation CRUZEX (Southern Cross) but with the incorporation of Navies from neighboring countries.
In other news, the President has promised a couple of million dollars to the complete maintenance of Venezuelan Hercules transport planes and announces his intention to buy Russian Antonov planes, which, he claims, are similar or even better in some cases than the Hercules. Then Chavez placed an album by the Momma's and the Pappa's on his turntable and sent his houseboy in search of the Betmax version of Easy Rider.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/29/2006 00:37 ||
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#1
Chavez will contribute a few aircraft carrier battle groups, I'm sure. And some boomers. And he will watch how things go from one of his AWACS planes. With his wife. Morgan Fairchild. Who he's seen nekkid.
#2
Fine. if their exercises stray one inch into international waters, have a US fleet there to disrupt it. Matter of fact, it might be a good idea to park a carrier battle group on Hugo's doorstep for the whole operation.
#6
I don't think so, msgeek. While it might be satisfying, the very first principle of US foreign policy (back to Washington) is Freedom of the Seas. We fought many skirmishes (no to mention the War of 1812 and WWI) for our or others' rights. I suppose we could say "freedom for us and no one else," but that weakens the policy.
Now, if they leave international waters and cross into the US coastal zone, impound them.
#3
Yeah, those are in Santa Cruz. They're planning to put down secessionary elements with force. Paraguay and Brazil are just the windowdressing.
I mean, hell. Is the socialist-leftist president of Brazil gonna invade? He was a sort-of ally of Chavez and Morales until they pissed in his wine cup once too often.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
09/29/2006 8:55 Comments ||
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#4
However, the Venezuelan military is corrupt and incompetent. In Bolivar state the army is fighting the local militia over control of gold mining..
This is more likely a way for the army to cash in than it is to develop a crack military force.
BEIJING - Scientists on Thursday carried out Chinas first successful test of an experimental fusion reactor, powered by the process that fuels the sun, a research institute spokeswoman said. The test by the governments Institute of Plasma Physics was carried out on a Tokamak fusion device in the eastern city of Hefei, said Cheng Yan, a spokeswoman at the institute.
Cheng said the test was considered a success because the reactor produced plasma, a hot cloud of supercharged particles. She wouldnt give other details. This represents a step for humankind in the study of nuclear reaction, she said.
US and other scientists have been experimenting with fusion for decades but it has yet to be developed into a viable energy alternative.
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Posted by: Steve White ||
09/29/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
A tad premature to be labeled "a step for humankind", methinks. Please register one vote for the Smells Like Bullshit graphic.
#4
Well, no, sounds like they just managed to get to that same unproductive stage that everybody else achieved decades before I was born - non-self-sustaining fusion reaction. That's the point at which the researchers are "twenty years away from fusion power" - where they've sat, ever since, twiddling their thumbs and looking stupid.
Welcome to the crowd, Chinese fusion researchers. You've now joined the ranks of the fusion failures.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
09/29/2006 8:58 Comments ||
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#5
Humanity will achieve controlled sustained fusion only when they have the technology to create and control artificial gravitational (not magnetic) fields.
In other words, not for a VERY LONG time, if ever.
#6
I beg to differ. Inertial confinement is making new strides. For some very interesting reading (and illustrations), please follow this link. Any comments are quite welcome.
ST PETERSBURG, Russia - Russia handed over to China a destroyer equipped with state-of-the-art weaponry on Thursday, finalising a $1.5 billion deal analysts say boosts Beijings clout in its stand-off with Taiwan. The handover act was signed today, and a Chinese flag was hoisted on the ship, a Russian defence industry source told Reuters, requesting anonymity.
The warship was the fourth Project 956E Sovremenny (Modern) class destroyer built at the Northern Shipyard in Russias second city St Petersburg and sold to China under a 2002 deal through Russias state arms trader Rosoboronexport. In the late 1990s China bought two such ships under a separate contract.
Rosoboronexport is interested in further sales to China, and we are not talking only about ships, the defence industry source said. The company is actively promoting its output in China. But there have been no new orders for ships.
Concern about these ships in both Taipei and Washington is justified by the fact that Taiwan and perhaps even the US Navy lacks an effective defence against the ships SS-N-22 Sunburn (3M-80E Moskit) supersonic antiship missile, Washington-based think-tank the International Assessment and Strategy Center said on its Internet site www.strategycenter.net. This missile travels at about three times the speed of sound and can perform violent manoeuvres that can defeat most defences designed to ward off subsonic antiship missiles.
Apart from anti-aircraft missiles, the destroyer also carries a Ka-28 helicopter armed with rocket-propelled antisubmarine torpedoes.
In 2004-06 Russia built and sold to China six Kilo class diesel-electric submarines.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/29/2006 00:00 ||
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#2
Some mil bloggers believe that this could mark the end for unilateral sales between Russia and China, as China has acquired enuff tech transfer know-how to begin building its own systems. Russia, however, still is in the process of building or contructing several more KILO SUBS, plus at least two more SOV hulls, for the PLAN.
#3
Ugh. Can't the Russians do something more constructive to earn some dough? Or are they still of a mindset that if they foster a militant environment that they will somehow benefit and never be harmed? Why don't they sell this $hit to the Chechens? Duh. They do more work and cause more misery by doing this kind of thing than if they just did the work they should do to develop a more complete economy.
#4
Article: Concern about these ships in both Taipei and Washington is justified by the fact that Taiwan and perhaps even the US Navy lacks an effective defence against the ships SS-N-22 Sunburn (3M-80E Moskit) supersonic antiship missile, Washington-based think-tank the International Assessment and Strategy Center said on its Internet site www.strategycenter.net. This missile travels at about three times the speed of sound and can perform violent manoeuvres that can defeat most defences designed to ward off subsonic antiship missiles.
The problem with this missile is that it has a maximum effective range of 120 km*. A carrier group has coverage out to hundreds of miles. A Chinese ship carrying this missile would be sunk long before it came within range.
Let's face it - a guy with a machete is lethal to a rifleman once he comes within arm's length. But the rifleman would drill the machete-wielder full of holes before he got that close.
* It's a trade-off - the faster you go, the shorter your range. This is why jet fighters on missions don't streak over to their destinations at supersonic speeds - those speeds are for getting out of trouble.
#5
Gorb: Ugh. Can't the Russians do something more constructive to earn some dough?
They are. The idea is that China and the US fight a big engagement, perphaps over Taiwan, and Russia comes out of it with a weakened China, as well as a weakened Uncle Sam. What's not to like?
It should work better than the last time - when Stalin helped Nazi Germany rebuild the German military, pointing Hitler at Western Europe. That worked only until Hitler finished conquering Western Europe. This time it'll work out better. China is no Germany - which was at the time the No. 2 economy in the world, and a major technological innovator - there is simply no way that China could overcome Uncle Sam. Besides, if the Russians get lucky, the Chinese will go apeshit in a conflict over Taiwan and start chucking nukes at the US, which will mean the glassing over of thousands of Chinese cities and military installations, and the end of any Chinese threat to Russia.
#6
In a fair world, the Russians would pay somehow if this scheme plays out. But it isn't, so there's no guessing.
This kind of political play I see from the Russians exactly mirrors the kind of insecure personality that pulls everyone around them down so they can validate their ignorant way of life instead of pulling themselves up and enjoying the company. Pathetic.
#7
PRESIDENT BUSH: "I will answer the question. I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy. We had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul; a man deeply committed to his country and the best interests of his country. And I appreciated so very much the frank dialogue.
There was no kind of diplomatic chit-chat, trying to throw each other off balance. There was a straightforward dialogue. And that's the beginning of a very constructive relationship. I wouldn't have invited him to my ranch if I didn't trust him."
I wonder if Bush would be willing to repeat the above statement about RasPutin today?
#10
It should work better than the last time - when Stalin helped Nazi Germany rebuild the German military, pointing Hitler at Western Europe.
Or so the Ruskies hope. However, a depopulating but resource rich Siberia already infiltrated by ethnic Chinese and defended by the tattered remnants of a Russian military with no technology not previously voluntarily sold to its enemy may soon present a more inviting and rewarding target for traditional terrestrial conquest than a war ravaged Taiwan invaded over the combined kinetic objections of its inhabitants, the Americans and Japanese.
#12
Actually, in long-term strategy, the US might quietly approve of this sale. We seem to be subtly encouraging the Chinese to spend more and more money on systems that we know we can beat.
For example, the US anti-ballistic missile shield will effectively negate their current ballistic missiles, and for every missile they add to overcome our defenses, we can add anti-missiles at 1/10th the cost. So why not encourage them to build as many expensive as hell ballistic missiles?
Well, that is our theory, at least, and it worked very well in bankrupting the Soviet Union.
So now they've spent $1.5b on a destroyer, money that can't be spent on other things, or even R&D. And you don't learn half as much by reverse engineering as you do in original research in the first place.
#18
"Why don't they sell this $hit to the Chechens?"
Why not?
Hey achmed you want wheels with that? perhaps some tracks?
No Ivan just drop it outside grozny she'll be right.
#19
Moose could you elaborate on that one a bit? plz.
Pretty simple math, RD. Anti-missiles cost a fraction of what a warhead-laden ICBM must run. Freed of any need to convey a nuclear device and requiring a shorter range, their warhead and fuel requirements put them at below a tenth the expense of an ICBM.
DEW (Directed Energy) weapons promise even greater defense-offense cost leverage. With decreased response time, more agile targeting plus a better ability to discriminate between actual re-entry vehicles and dummy warheads, this new generation of anti-ballistic missile defense weaponry betokens even greater security for our nation.
Another development which really should have the Chinese shaking in their army boots is our hypersonic rocket technology. Traveling at almost 5,000 MPH (well over onemile persecond), such vehicles could deliver nuclear payloads to anywhere in the world in a few hours at speeds that would defy all interception.
I certainly agree that the Chinese are wasting time and money buying Russia's crappy, outmoded technology. It fits with their typical modus operendi of imitation without innovation. Much like chess, where if you copy your opponent, you end up checkmating them one move behind when they checkmate you, China is playing a losing copycat game.
#20
Moose: we can add anti-missiles at 1/10th the cost. For example, the US anti-ballistic missile shield will effectively negate their current ballistic missiles, and for every missile they add to overcome our defenses, we can add anti-missiles at 1/10th the cost. So why not encourage them to build as many expensive as hell ballistic missiles?
ME: Moose could you elaborate on that one a bit? plz.
ZEN: Pretty simple math, RD. Anti-missiles cost a fraction of what a warhead-laden ICBM must run......
HUH? the basic math of an offensive missile vs. a defensive one is simple?
Time: *An offensive missile is fired at the time of the shooters attack, their choice of time if you will.
*A defensive or anti-missile system must detect a full on surprise attack, Exactly ON TIME. or else!
Target acquisition:
*An offensive missile has to acquire or be programed to hit a ship or a land target. neither move very fast.
An anti-missile must not only acquire it's target almost instantly but then it has to hit a fast moving target, either a high speed missile [ballistic or hyper], a cruise missile, or arty round. decoys aside.
There is a quantum difference in the radars, computers, software, sensors, and missile hardware needed to defend vs. attack.
My guess is that Moose has the formula exactly backward. Today our Defensive missile systems are closer to 10 [ten] times more expensive than their offensive ones.
#22
Don't forget to factor in how much it costs to rebuild a city - both for the defending and offending side. And the political hay made by the defending side.
#23
There are many problems with Sovremeny class cruisers. Some were covered in the comments earlier. Let me add a few others.
1... They're uncomfortable as he$$. They're designed for Russian waters, which are much colder than even northern China. They have limited air conditioning, and their defenses against CBW is to shut down ALL but essential ventilation.
2... They've got so much sh$$ added on that they're topheavy and difficult to maneuver in tight areas.
3... Their electronics are mid-70's with some minor upgrades. IIRC, their fire control radars are the equivalent of IBM=360 technology, while we're using the latest multi-processor systems.
4... They're people-eaters. It takes twice as many sailors to man a Sovremeny class as it does to man an American AEGIS cruiser. Those people require extensive training, and their quarters are the pits.
5... Our electronic countermeasures against this class of vessel are excellent. Their radars are especially vulnerable to home-on-track/home-on-jam attacks.
That said, the Sovremeny class is still a decade more advanced than most Chinese-designed naval vessels.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/29/2006 23:10 Comments ||
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#24
BTW, I've been following the development of our missile defensive systems for quite a while, been interested since the first ABM's of the '60s!! Whatever the cost we need them now more than ever.
The shape of things to come.
The Agnelli estate in Padua is a cluster of crumbling high-rise flats. It was built in the 1980s to house the city's considerable student population. These days it is home to several hundred African immigrants. It has a reputation for crime, drugs and prostitution, and is a constant source of angry complaints from local Italian residents.
This summer, after riots between opposing gangs, the left-leaning mayor of Padua took a drastic decision to seal off the estate - with a metal wall. It is 85m (290ft) long, 3m (10ft) high and it stretches along one side of the estate.
"It's not an instrument of segregation," said Mayor Flavio Zanonato. "We just want to limit the activity of the drug pushers here. This isn't a wall in Palestine. It's just something that's harder for drug dealers to jump over." More at the Link
#2
During the outbreak of black plague in Italy, the Duke of Milan issued a decree that any household which demonstrated the symptoms of the disease was to be sealed along with all its inhabitants. It was done. It, by todays standards, was cruel. However, given medical knowledge available then, it was a solution which as it turned out, worked. Milan remained an island of health compared to the surrounding geography. A quarter of Europe would die in the plague as it burned across the land.
#4
"We just want to limit the activity of the drug pushers here. This isn't a wall in Palestine. It's just something that's harder for drug dealers to jump over."
Here's an idea, Flavio...
Why don't you arrest the bastards and throw them in jail? Or would that screw up the Midnight basketball league?
#5
Immigration is a touchy issue in the Veneto region, which is one of the main electoral strongholds of the anti-immigration Northern League party.
"Some people like to forget what jobs these immigrants are doing in our community," said Daniela.
"They work in our factories, they build our houses, and they nurse our old people. They do many of the jobs Italians don't want to do.
Posted by: ed ||
09/29/2006 00:00 ||
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--However, the Greens, some of whom perceived the building in the past as a symbol of American imperialism, would rather have an anti-Vietnam War museum.--
#4
All right for a Vietnam War Museum as longs as they also show the Hue mass graves and the aftermath in Vietnam and Cambodia. And every photo of communists victims accompanied with a quote from Ho Chi Minh thanking the demonstrators agsinst the war without whom, Nort-Vietnam would have lost. And at the end of the expo a collection of signatures for hanging Jane Fonda for complicity of genocide.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Tuesday asked the central government to explain why some Chinese construction companies had been 'blacklisted' in the country on security grounds.
'We would like to know why the Chinese construction companies are not allowed to take over projects in the country when other foreign companies are allowed,' CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat said.
He was referring to the central government's refusal to give the security clearance to Kerala's Vizhinjam port project, for which a consortium of two Chinese and a Mumbai-based firm had been selected through tenders.
'The party central committee decided to take up the matter with the prime minister,' Karat said.
The central committee, the party's apex decision-making body, Tuesday concluded its three-day meeting for a mid-term review of the party congress decisions.
V.S. Achuthanandan, chief minister of the CPI-M-led Left Democratic Front government in Kerala, recently led an all-party delegation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking him to review the central government's decision to deny clearance to the Rs.43.60 billion ($950 million) port project.
Karat said: 'The tenders had been cleared, the prime minister was expected to lay the foundation stone and the work was about to begin. But, suddenly they found Chinese companies could not given the security clearance.'
'Are the US companies, which have projects in Pakistan, disallowed to take up port projects in India?' Karat asked referring to reports that the security clearance was denied as the Chinese firms, Kaidi Electric Power Company and China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), had projects in Pakistan too.
Karat pointed out that the Chinese firms had been denied permission to take up projects in India earlier too.
'We do not agree with the decision not to give security clearance to the companies because they are from China,' Karat later told IANS.
Posted by: john ||
09/29/2006 16:31 ||
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MD Nalapat has claimed that in addition to activating their CPI-M drones to lobby for them, the chicons have funded several NGOs in India.
The recent campaigns against Coke and Pepsi by "environmental" NGOs were apparently chinese ordered.
The CPI-M bosses returned from Beijing last year with instructions to punish Japanese companies and derail their investments in India.
Like clockwork, labor protests sprung up.
Posted by: john ||
09/29/2006 16:36 Comments ||
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Pakistans President Pervez Musharraf defended his decision to publish memoirs and said on Thursday everything in his book In the Line of Fire was true.
Yes, there are controversies over some parts of the book. Thats normal, he told reporters at Londons Heathrow airport after arriving in England for a two-day visit. But I know one thing and that whatever I have said in the book is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, and I stand by it.
His book sparked controversy even before its launch. He told an American television interviewer that former US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage had warned that Pakistan would be bombed back to the Stone Age if it failed to help Washington avenge Al Qaedas Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. The United States denied the claim and analysts said such remarks were unhelpful for Pakistans relations with Washington.
Now with the controversies of whether I should have written or not written -- well, why shouldnt I have written? It is more than for myself, Musharraf said. I thought that because of the world looking at me inquisitively, personally, I thought through me I could project the reality of Pakistan and what Pakistan stands for and clear all the misconceptions.
Musharraf will hold talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Thursday and give a speech in Oxford on Friday. Musharraf said he would be discussing bilateral issues including trade, counter-terrorism and reinforcing intelligence. He said the international issues he hoped to discuss included the Middle East, Iraq and Afghanistan.
British Foreign Minister Margaret Beckett played down fears that an intelligence report published by the BBC on Wednesday, which criticised Pakistans ability to fight terrorism, would overshadow the visit. I hope not. I dont see that it necessarily should because it is not an official government document in any way, Beckett told the BBC. The author of the report heaped blame for a failure to win the war on terrorism on Pakistan, alleging that its intelligence agency, ISI, indirectly supported the hardline Taleban.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/29/2006 00:00 ||
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Co authors Tommy Flanagan and Joe Iszuzu concur...
Indian defence minister Pranab Mukherjee told a group of reporters in New York on Wednesday that it was wrong of President Pervez Musharraf to claim in his book that India had been outclassed and outgunned in the Kargil conflict.
Commenting on the Pakistani leader's assertion of Pakistani military superiority in the conflict that nearly brought the two countries to all-out war, Mukherjee said, "It is absolutely incorrect, factually it is not correct. There is no question of being defeated in Kargil. Yes, initially there were some setbacks because of the intrusions. But we got it back and established our posts there. There is no question of the Indian Army being defeated."
He found it contradictory that the Pakistani leader had now admitted that the Pakistan Army was involved in Kargil when throughout the war, Islamabad kept insisting that this was an action by the mujahideen. "Now the Chief of Army Staff and President of Pakistan admits it was the handiwork of the Pakistan Army itself. Therefore both things cannot be true. What he is saying now may be true, but what they were saying at that time during the campaign was not true." He compared the Kargil military "intrusion" to similar actions undertaken by Pakistan in 1948 and 1965 in Kashmir.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/29/2006 00:00 ||
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#1
The militants/Jihadis are simply an arm of the Pakistan army whether attacks on India,US,UK etc.
Why do the West tolerate Perv when he is behind most of these attacks??????
#2
This book was funded by a major grant from Kargil.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
09/29/2006 18:22 Comments ||
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I've had it up to here with Perv and Pakistan. But what to do? It's the keystone to this whole mess, take it out and all hell tumbles down. What to do? Is India ready to move when Pakistan implodes? Everyone else is a little tapped out right now.
PESHAWAR: A cinema run by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in NWFP has finally agreed to adhere to directives issued by the local Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) government to temporarily shut shop, sources said on Thursday.
The ruling MMA had on Monday issued orders for all cinemas in the province to close down during the holy month of Ramzan. While all private cinemas had adhered to the government directive, the PAF-run cinema had continued screening films until Wednesday. According to sources, the PAF U-turn came about only after the local government had approached a top military commander in Peshawar, urging him to ensure PAF compliance, thereby saving the ruling alliance from the "embarrassment" of having its directives openly flouted by the armed forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/29/2006 00:00 ||
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So apart from running bakeries, the Pakistan Military runs a public cinema?
Posted by: john ||
09/29/2006 17:19 Comments ||
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South Korea's foreign minister kept his spot as the clear favorite in the race to succeed U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in an informal poll Thursday, the only one among the seven candidates to get the needed majority of votes.
Ban Ki-Moon received 13 votes in favor, one against and one of no opinion, China's U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya said. He slipped slightly from the previous poll, held Sept. 14, when he received 14 votes in favor and one against.
Despite that dominating lead, the secrecy of the ballot meant it was not known whether he got the necessary approval of all five veto- wielding members of the council, and the ballot is difficult to interpret. The results could either give Ban the momentum he needs to win or clear the field for more people to enter the race.
The 15 council nations checked one of three boxes for each candidate: "Encourage," "discourage," and "no opinion." Secretary-General Kofi Annan steps down on Dec. 31, when his second five-year term expires.
Bangladesh's U.N. Ambassador Iftekhar Chowdhury said he attended a speech Ban gave on Wednesday and approved.
"He came out quite good _ mature, balanced, and with the right amount of experience, gravitas, the qualities that you seek in a secretary- general," Chowdhury said. "We think he'll make an excellent secretary- general, of course."
None of other six candidates to succeed Secretary-General Kofi Annan even got the necessary nine favorable votes to make their campaigns viable.
As with the previous two polls, Shashi Tharoor, the Indian U.N. undersecretary-general, was second, with eight in favor, three against and four undecided. Latvia's President Vaira Vike-Freiberga was third with seven in favor, six against and two undecided.
Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai, who was the first to announce his candidacy last year, received five favorable votes and seven against, worse than last time and likely the result of a coup back home.
The other three candidates _ former U.N. disarmament chief Jayantha Dhanapala, Jordan's U.N. Ambassador Prince Zeid al Hussein and former Afghan Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani _ received only three votes in favor.
In the next straw poll, set for Monday, the five veto-wielding members of the council will use different colored ballots than the other 10. A veto from one of the five _ Britain, China, France, Russia or the United States _ could doom their campaigns.
U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said he would have preferred the colored ballots Thursday.
"We should have had a differentiated ballot today," Bolton said in a statement. "I look forward to a real vote on Monday, when we'll have two different colored ballots.
tying the anti-smoking nazis to the Eco-Kyoto Nazis? Is there anything Gore can't do? G.E.N.I.U.S.
Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore warned hundreds of U.N. diplomats and staff on Thursday evening about the perils of climate change, claiming: Cigarette smoking is a "significant contributor to global warming!"
Gore, who was introduced by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, said the world faces a "full-scale climate emergency that threatens the future of civilization on earth."
Gore showed computer-generated projections of ocean water rushing in to submerge the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, parts of China, India and other nations, should ice shelves in Antarctica or Greenland melt and slip into the sea.
"The planet itself will do nicely, thank you very much what is at risk is human civilization," Gore said. After a series of Q& A with the audience, which had little to do with global warming and more about his political future, Annan bid "adios" to Gore.
Then, Gore had his staff opened a stack of cardboard boxes to begin selling his new book, "An Inconvenient Truth, The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It," $19.95, to the U.N. diplomats.
Developing... HT Drudge
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/29/2006 15:26 ||
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Gore showed computer-generated projections of ocean water rushing in to submerge the San Francisco Bay Area...
If smoking could cause that to happen, everybody here would be lighting up...
(New York Observer) - In suit pants too short and black boots too polished, Al Gore stepped haltingly to the podium of the Sheraton New York on Thursday afternoon and took credit for helping to solicit an enormous donation to fight global warming. Mr. Clinton patted him on the back and joked, Als the enforcer. Mr. Gore ignored the whiff of condescension as his puffy, aquiline face beamed in the direction of the adulation.
#10
So if all smokers switch to lites, it should be OK for me to continue to drive an SUV. If too many smokers quit or switch to snuff are we in danger of causing an ice-age? If this is true, then Native Americans are actually the ones who screwed up the enviroment. I think Al should take a look at the warming impact of Easy Bak ovens. I might alter my X-mas list based on his scientific findings.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
09/29/2006 22:18 Comments ||
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#11
Fuel load of 1 Gulfstream 5 jet to fly Al Gore: 15,966 kg
Tobbaco in 1 cigarette (100's): 0.90 gram.
Flying Al Gore to 1 speech = 17,740,000 cigarettes smoked. (OK, actually it's even more since kerosene is more carbon dense than tobacco.)
The hypocrisy: Priceless.
Posted by: ed ||
09/29/2006 22:36 Comments ||
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He's right - the unions will try to stop it and they will be as successful as the groups who wish to stop online porn. This - as well as online learning and universities, will revolutionize education.
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.
INNSBRUCK, Austria It wasn't "Snakes on a Plane," but an Austrian Airlines jet made an unscheduled stop as a precaution Friday after a passenger sneaked a hamster aboard and the rodent escaped.
During a visit to the Maracay Libertador Air Force (FAV) base, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Frias has publicly thanked the military delegation that took part in joint military air force CRUZEX 2006 exercises in Brazil. 
ST PETERSBURG, Russia - Russia handed over to China a destroyer equipped with state-of-the-art weaponry on Thursday, finalising a $1.5 billion deal analysts say boosts Beijings clout in its stand-off with Taiwan. The handover act was signed today, and a Chinese flag was hoisted on the ship, a Russian defence industry source told Reuters, requesting anonymity.
Pakistans President Pervez Musharraf defended his decision to publish memoirs and said on Thursday everything in his book In the Line of Fire was true.
PESHAWAR: A cinema run by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in NWFP has finally agreed to adhere to directives issued by the local Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) government to temporarily shut shop, sources said on Thursday. 
