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Today: 87 articles and 421 comments as of 14:15.
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Islamic fighters quitting Somalia front
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 3: Non-WoT
4 00:00 Rob Crawford [8] 
8 00:00 JosephMendiola [4] 
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6 00:00 Chuck Darwin [1] 
16 00:00 JosephMendiola [4] 
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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15 00:00 Anonymoose [7]
3 00:00 trailing wife [5]
8 00:00 JosephMendiola [6]
5 00:00 CrazyFool [11]
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10 00:00 twobyfour [5]
21 00:00 Frank G [5]
12 00:00 Jackal [9]
4 00:00 Jan and Opps [3]
23 00:00 Anguper Hupomosing9418 [14]
4 00:00 Frank G [2]
8 00:00 HammerHead [6]
10 00:00 Shipman [5]
5 00:00 Shipman [2]
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1 00:00 PBMcL [3]
3 00:00 Zenster [3]
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2 00:00 Lancasters Over Dresden [3]
1 00:00 Zenster [5]
1 00:00 pihkalbadger [3]
6 00:00 pihkalbadger [5]
1 00:00 wxjames [3]
4 00:00 Manuel [2]
1 00:00 Zenster [3]
Page 2: WoT Background
6 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [8]
8 00:00 Frank G [2]
16 00:00 gromgoru [3]
9 00:00 newc [3]
2 00:00 Anonymoose [2]
1 00:00 JosephMendiola [7]
5 00:00 USN, Ret. [4]
2 00:00 Verlaine [4]
2 00:00 Grunter [12]
8 00:00 JosephMendiola [8]
26 00:00 tipper [1]
4 00:00 Anonymoose [3]
3 00:00 Old Patriot [8]
5 00:00 trailing wife [2]
1 00:00 Anonymoose [9]
1 00:00 49 Pan [8]
3 00:00 Zhang Fei [4]
5 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [8]
1 00:00 PBMcL [3]
1 00:00 Shipman [7]
11 00:00 bigjim-ky [9]
2 00:00 tu3031 [10]
5 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [5]
2 00:00 gromgoru [4]
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3 00:00 jds [3]
1 00:00 SpecOp35 [2]
3 00:00 Redneck Jim [4]
1 00:00 Penguin [3]
Page 4: Opinion
9 00:00 JosephMendiola [9]
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8 00:00 Frank G [3]
2 00:00 JosephMendiola [12]
1 00:00 Zenster [4]
1 00:00 JosephMendiola [7]
1 00:00 SpecOp35 [4]
5 00:00 Jackal [1]
2 00:00 .com [4]
16 00:00 3dc [3]
2 00:00 CrazyFool [4]
5 00:00 Sneaze Shaiting3550 [3]
Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
7 00:00 Uleash Thusing2871 [7]
6 00:00 Herb Tarlick [2]
5 00:00 Grunter [4]
1 00:00 Mark E. [4]
2 00:00 Fred [3]
10 00:00 tu3031 [5]
Africa Subsaharan
Breaking: Up to 500 killed in Lagos fuel blast
LAGOS (Reuters) - Up to 500 people were burnt alive on Tuesday when fuel from a vandalised pipeline exploded in Nigeria's largest city, Lagos, emergency workers said.

Hundreds of residents of the Abule Agba district went to scoop fuel using plastic containers after thieves punctured the pipeline overnight.

"We are talking hundreds (dead). We are yet to confirm the death toll so we don't know if it is 300, 400 or 500," Red Cross secretary-general Abiodun Orebiyi said, adding that 60 people had been evacuated to hospital with serious burns.

Hundreds of bodies, most burnt beyond recognition, were lying at the scene of the explosion as emergency workers tried to put out the fire.

A Red Cross volunteer at the scene said: "A lot of people have been roasted. They are littered on the ground."
Posted by: .com || 12/26/2006 07:57 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Beeb: Lagos pipeline blast kills scores
"More than 200 people have been killed in an oil pipeline explosion in Nigeria's commercial capital, Lagos, the Red Cross says.

Officials say they are still counting bodies and it is feared the death toll could be much higher."
Posted by: .com || 12/26/2006 8:48 Comments || Top||

#2  The Nigerian version of the capsized ferry.
Note to Nogerians: When vandalizing the gasoline pipeline, no smoking please...
Posted by: tu3031 || 12/26/2006 9:02 Comments || Top||

#3  The picture painted is a bit more 'innocent' than I would expect. Good bet most of the victims were carrying jerry cans, either empty, on their way to the pipeline or full, on their way home. And a few more 'victims' were the ones who hot-tapped the pipeline, sold the fuel from the tap, and provided protection & enforcement. This happens many times a year across the country. Slow learners?
Posted by: Glenmore || 12/26/2006 9:32 Comments || Top||

#4  Up to 500 killed in Lagos fuel blast

worser than global warming a micro climate change..
Posted by: RD || 12/26/2006 14:05 Comments || Top||

#5  Fox News.com says it happened when thieves broke in and started trying to steal fuel from an open pipeline. No suprise.
Posted by: Charles || 12/26/2006 18:31 Comments || Top||

#6  African flambé! Get it while supplies last, not served year round.
Posted by: Chuck Darwin || 12/26/2006 18:42 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Turkmenistan oppo group seeks probe of Deutsche Bank
Desperately seeking Turkmenbashi's slush fund...
Deutsche Bank, the German bank, was last night under pressure over allegations it was holding billions of dollars in accounts formerly controlled by Saparmurat Niyazov, the autocratic president of Turkmenistan who died suddenly on Thursday.

The Financial Times daily reports that it obtains a document that reads that the German bank is holding an account for a $1.68bn Turkmenistan government contract, signed in 2001, to export gas to Ukraine. The account is managed by the bank on behalf of the Turkmenistan central bank, according to the document. Much of the country’s central bank funds were under the personal control of Niyazov, according to finance experts.
A quick spin thru my email shows no spam yet from Turkmenbashi's widow, orphans, or former vice-chancellors...
In a report issued in June, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development warned that funds in the Turkmen central bank were under the “discretionary control of the president without appropriate regulation and transparency”. Niyazov maintained a personality cult that impoverished his country and involved oppression of opposition groups and alleged human rights abuses. His funeral is due to be held tomorrow.

Leaders of a Vienna-based Turkmen exiled opposition group wrote yesterday to Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, demanding an “official investigation” into Deutsche Bank’s role. The letter from the Republican party of Turkmenistan, obtained by the Financial Times, cites an estimate of $3bn being held by the Deutsche Bank and other foreign banks. It said there “are further questions about money-laundering” [and] “violations of European Union banking standards on transparency”. Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt declined to comment.
"Ve know nossink. Tell zem, Hogan!"
Speculation over Deutsche Bank’s alleged involvement with Niyazov has been circulating for months in Turkmenistan and other central Asian countries, according to oil industry workers in the region. Global Witness, a London-based non-governmental group that reported this year on Deutsche Bank’s involvement in Turkmenistan, last night said: “Deutsche Bank should come clear on the Niyazov funds it holds, and if necessary freeze the accounts to ensure the money is not stolen.” Alexander Zhadan, Niyazov’s private secretary and purse-keeper to the deceased president since communist times, controlled his financial affairs. Mr Zhadan has not been seen since the day before Niyazov died, according to unconfirmed reports.
Not to worry. CSI: Ashgabat is on the case!
Andrei Grozin, an expert on central Asia in Moscow’s Institute of the CIS, said it was “naive” to think European banks would return the funds to Turkmenistan.
After he stopped laughing, that is.
He added that Russian officials scheduled to attend Niyazov’s funeral, including Mikhail Fradkov, the prime minister, and Alexei Miller, the head of Gazprom, the natural gas monopoly, were expected to remain in the republic for talks about gas supplies and revenues. Arkady Dubnov, an expert on central Asia, and commentator for Vremya Novostei, a Russian daily newspaper, said: “None of Turkmenistan’s export revenues go through the budget. It is most important for the new government [when it is established] to access the hard currency accounts.” Kurbanguli Berdmukhamedov, Turkmenistan’s interim president, said the date of an election to choose a successor to Niyazov would be announced on Tuesday. In a televised statement, Mr Berdmukhamedov said the People’s Council would name candidates for the presidency. Russian analysts said the results of the election would be pre-determined. Turkmenistan’s Majlis, or parliament, appointed Niyazov president for life in 1999.
Posted by: Seafarious || 12/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:


Turkmen assembly meets to decide future
A Soviet-style People's Assembly meets in Turkmenistan on Tuesday to set out the Central Asian nation's path for replacing authoritarian President Saparmurat Niyazov who died suddenly last week. President-for-life Niyazov, who died on Thursday after ruling the country for 21 years, left no heir apparent and his demise fuelled fears of a dangerous power vacuum in the country, whose rich gas reserves are important for Europe.

Deputy Prime Minister Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, 49, has stepped forward as acting president with the backing of the security leaders close to Niyazov who formed a new Security Council after his death. The Tuesday's meeting of the Halk Maslakhaty -- 2,500 delegates including members of parliament, government and local officials, village elders and others picked by Niyazov -- is expected to set a date for fresh presidential elections.

The assembly, modelled on the Soviet Union's Congress of People's Deputies, is Turkmenistan's highest legislative body. It was not clear whether anything apart from an election date might emerge from the meeting which starts at 2 p.m. (0900 GMT), although there were signs Berdymukhamedov, could be named as the main candidate for the presidency in a sign of orderly transition. "You would imagine that he would be the main candidate," a diplomat said. "The signs are of a stable transition, which looks promising for the immediate stability of the country."

Another big question is whether there would be a single leader wielding unfettered power. Exiled opposition leaders have suggested Tuesday's meeting could throw light on the true balance of forces. "Names mentioned at the moment are temporary," Khudaiberdy Orazov, leader of the Watan opposition movement said. "Tomorrow, the real people who will rule everything will appear."
Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Uzbek rights campaigner released in amnesty
TASHKENT - Authorities in Uzbekistan have released in an amnesty a 69-year-old human rights activist jailed for handing out critical articles at a market, the man said on Monday.

Yodgor Turlibekov was arrested in June after distributing at a local market copies of pamphlets he had written that were critical of the economic situation in the southern province of Kashkadarya. He was charged with blackmailing a local farmer and in October was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail, the Initiative Group of Independent Rights Defenders of Uzbekistan, a local human rights group, said earlier.

The upper chamber of the Uzbek parliament, the Senate, approved an amnesty bill in November to release foreigners, women, and people over 60, who were convicted for the first time and whose offenses were not serious. ‘I was released yesterday under the amnesty. Depending on the situation, I’ll think about continuing my activity as a rights campaigner,’ Turlibekov told AFP by telephone.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


China-Japan-Koreas
7.2 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Taiwan; 3-Foot High Tsunami Headed for Philippines
TOKYO — Japan's Meteorological Bureau said a 3.3-foot-high tsunami triggered by a powerful quake Tuesday off Taiwan was headed toward the east coast of the Philippines. "There is a possibility of a destructive local tsunami," the bureau said, saying waves were expected to hit Basco in the Philippines.

Taiwan's Central Weather Bureausaid the quake measured magnitude 6.7, while the U.S. Geological Survey put it at magnitude 7.2.

No damage or injuries were immediately reported. The quake was felt throughout Taiwan, the bureau said. It swayed buildings and knocked objects off the shelves in the capital, Taipei.

The tremor was centered at sea about 13 miles southwest of Hengchun on the southern tip of Taiwan, the bureau said. Hengchun is about 260 miles south of Taipei.
Posted by: .com || 12/26/2006 08:24 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  How can they call it a 3 foot tsunami? Tsunami's have no heighth in the open ocean.
Posted by: Almost Anonymous5839 || 12/26/2006 8:50 Comments || Top||

#2  Just had a second, 7.0
Posted by: Chuck Simmins || 12/26/2006 8:59 Comments || Top||

#3  The Indonesian tsunami:
The height goes down over time as the wave spreads over the ocean and the energy is expended on shore. At 2 hours after the quake, it was 60 cm (about 2 feet) high. By 3 hours 15 minutes after the quake, that dropped to around 40 cm (about 16 inches) high. By 8 hours 50 minutes after the quake, the wave spread over most of the Indian Ocean and was quite small in most areas—5 to 10 cm (2 to 4 inches)—about the limit of the satellite resolution.
Posted by: ed || 12/26/2006 9:04 Comments || Top||

#4  Basco is NPA ground, hope they can swim.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 12/26/2006 9:14 Comments || Top||

#5  I finally found confirmation of the second quake, Chuck. Ya shoulda posted a linky thing, lol.
Posted by: .com || 12/26/2006 9:37 Comments || Top||

#6  Stand down. Nuthin to see here...

An official at Japan's Meteorological Agency said there was no longer any danger of a destructive tsunami headed for the Philippines, as had been predicted.

"The danger has passed," said Hiroshi Koide of the agency's earthquake section. "We predicted tsunami based on the depth and magnitude of the earthquake. But ultimately, it appears no large tsunami were triggered."

Posted by: tu3031 || 12/26/2006 10:04 Comments || Top||

#7  There's something about Boxing Day that gets the Elder Gods inhabiting the molten core under the Asian plates in a frisky mood.
Posted by: Mitch H. || 12/26/2006 14:19 Comments || Top||

#8  Strong but very short/brief quakin' felt here in Guam - D ***nged delicious CALIFORNIA EGGNOG.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 12/26/2006 22:21 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
New Rural Sales Pitch: Work Outside D.C.'s Fallout Zone
WaPo. Salt's on the table.
Winchester and its neighbors along Interstate 81 in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley have much to recommend themselves to potential employers, including a low cost of living, access to a major highway and views of the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains.

More recently, though, the area has been successfully trumpeting another attribute: It is just outside the "blast zone."
Conflating "fallout" and "blast" zones. Sheesh. Alec's not too bright.
In a little-noticed migration with implications for both greater Washington and the valley, several federal agencies, including the FBI, are relocating operations to the I-81 corridor. Helping drive the shift is the government's emphasis on security in a post-Sept. 11 world, which turns Winchester's location 75 miles from Washington into a geographic ideal. It is far enough from the capital to escape the fallout of a nuclear explosion -- a distance often estimated at 50 miles -- but still close enough so that employees can get to the District relatively easily when they need to.

"There's a certain distance they need to be out from the strike zone -- and Winchester is outside of that," said Jim Deskins, economic redevelopment chief for the 26,000-person city.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: .com || 12/26/2006 08:10 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Should be decentralizing the government anyways.

Interior to Denver (nearer to all those federal lands out west).

SEC to NY (NYSE nearby, etc).

You could split up the DoD:
Airforce to Colorado Springs
Army to Ft Hood
Navy to Norfolk
Marines to San Diego
DoD itself: somhwere in the center-south of the US (Dallas?)

NSA, CIA, etc - all should have either the HQ or a large sub-HQ out of the DC area.

etc.


Put the agencies AWAY from DC, and nearer to what they manage.

Problem is: it would kill lobbyists.

I say : GOOD!
Posted by: OldSpook || 12/26/2006 10:51 Comments || Top||

#2  ...My Ladyfriend is from Winchester (her dad is still a prominent physician there) and she suspects that the good people of Winchester might have something to say about this before it is all over. It is still a fairly small city, and distinctly wary of outsiders.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 12/26/2006 11:29 Comments || Top||

#3  Anybody been to the FBI's massive fortress-like facility on the west side of the Appalachians? It's pretty cool. Maybe a glimpse into the future of hardened and dispersed civilian facilities. Will DC be deserted 50 years from now?
Posted by: fmr mil contractor || 12/26/2006 12:06 Comments || Top||

#4  DC will be deserted before that if we dont secure the borders against entry of WMD and terrorists - they get lost in the noice of the huge number of illegal aliens and large volume of drug smuggling.
Posted by: Oldspook || 12/26/2006 13:14 Comments || Top||

#5  Problem is: it would kill lobbyists.

Problem? WTF sorta "problem"? [/sarcasm]

Regulating campaign spending and eliminating lobbyists remain the two most critical reforms of American government if we ever wish to become a two party system once again.
Posted by: Zenster || 12/26/2006 15:40 Comments || Top||

#6  An even wider dispersal of US government offices is far, far overdue. Remember the anthrax attacks? Congress shut down even though no one there was made ill. They had no other place to convene, a real no-brainer status quo.
In attention, attention needs to be paid for make the US society as a whole more resilient in case of a pandemic or an NBC attack. Katrina disclosed many vulnerabilities which need to be addressed.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 12/26/2006 19:32 Comments || Top||

#7  There goes the yearly Apple Blossom Festival.
Posted by: Asymmetrical T || 12/26/2006 20:40 Comments || Top||

#8  Feds expecting Dubya-GOP and US NPE to glow-in-the-dark??? ANOTHER OUTSTANDING REASON FOR "REGIME CHANGE", which of course means in WASHINGTON DC, NOT THE PRO-TERROR, ANTI-US ROGUES. Since no defense is 1000% perfect, "minimizing" risks > somehow comes to mean TO BE AFRAID OF WAR = TAKING WAR TO THE ENEMY/"OVER THERE". WAR 2006 > can wage as long as PC WE DON'T DESTROY ANYTHING OR INVADE ANYONE, DON'T POLLUTE THE ENVIRO, DON'T HURT OUR ENEMY'S FEELINGS, GIVE THEM ALL OUR $$$, etc. The burden is on the USA AND ONLY USA to prove that when Radicalists-Terrorists point their AK47's + RPG's at us, just becuz they shoot at us doesn't mean they intended to hurt or kill us, ergo we are at fault for shooting back + starting a combat fracas which we have to pay for.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 12/26/2006 22:33 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Yogi sez: I never claimed I can cure AIDS [just everything else]

I never claimed I can cure AIDS: Ramdev

RAIPUR: Stating that his statement on AIDS was wrongly presented in the media, yoga exponent Baba Ramdev on Monday said he will not reply to Health Ministry's notice. "I never claimed AIDS can be cured through Yoga. It was wrongly been presented in media. I only said cancer can be cured but in case of AIDS one can get encouraging improvement by doing Yoga," Ramdev said.
"[E]ncouraging improvements", he says.
Replying to a question about the stand of the union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss, he said, "It seems the health condition of the Health Ministry is not good and the Health Ministry had been converted into a ministry of allopathy."
That's as opposed to homeopathy as in homeopathic medicine, a totally discredited concept.
"I have received the notice. But Baba Ramdev is neither a magic nor a remedy. Hence, I will not reply to that notice."
If it quacks like a quack ...
He also clarified that diabetes can be "controlled" through yoga and the practitioner of yoga can help to get relief from the complications of diabetes.
Sure thing, what's your billing rate?
However, blood pressure, thyroid, muscular dystrophy, cancer and many other diseases can be cured through the Yoga, and deaf and dumb can get encouraging result, he claimed.
Just not AIDS.
From Wikipedia - Entry: Homeopathic Medicine (an exceprt)
There are many methods for determining the most-similar remedy (the simillimum), and homeopaths sometimes disagree. This is partly due to the complexity of the 'totality of symptoms' concept; homeopaths do not use all symptoms, but decide which are the most characteristic; this subjective evaluation of case analysis rests crucially on knowledge and experience. Finally, the Drug Picture in the Materia Medica is always more comprehensive than the symptoms exhibited by any individual. These factors mean that a homeopathic prescription can remain presumptive until it is verified by testing the effect of the remedy on the patient.

Would you put your health in the hands of someone who spouted this drivel?

Posted by: Zenster || 12/26/2006 03:54 || Comments || Link || [9 views] Top|| File under:


Science & Technology
Parasite makes men dumb, women sexy
So, um, lust is a parasite? Who knew?
A common parasite can increase a women's attractiveness to the opposite sex but also make men more stupid, an Australian researcher says. About 40 per cent of the world's population is infected with Toxoplasma gondii, including about eight million Australians.
I'm sorry dear, the wedding's off. Nothing personal, Luv - I just found out I don't really love you, it's just a bug that's going 'round. So um, we're still on for this afternoon, right?
Human infection generally occurs when people eat raw or undercooked meat that has cysts containing the parasite, or accidentally ingest some of the parasite's eggs excreted by an infected cat.

The parasite is known to be dangerous to pregnant women as it can cause disability or abortion of the unborn child, and can also kill people whose immune systems are weakened.

Until recently it was thought to be an insignificant disease in healthy people, Sydney University of Technology infectious disease researcher Nicky Boulter said, but new research has revealed its mind-altering properties.

"Interestingly, the effect of infection is different between men and women," Dr Boulter writes in the latest issue of Australasian Science magazine.

"Infected men have lower IQs, achieve a lower level of education and have shorter attention spans. They are also more likely to break rules and take risks, be more independent, more anti-social, suspicious, jealous and morose, and are deemed less attractive to women.
We just thought it was that there wasn't enough blood to, um, run all the systems simultaneously.
"On the other hand, infected women tend to be more outgoing, friendly, more promiscuous, and are considered more attractive to men compared with non-infected controls.
It's that rounding of the heels that does it. Wimmin with round heels are very attractive under certain circumstances.
"In short, it can make men behave like alley cats and women behave like sex kittens".
My favorite parasite.
Dr Boulter said the recent Czech Republic research was not conclusive, but was backed up by animal studies that found infection also changes the behaviour of mice.
"Vaclav! The mice or humping again!"
The mice were more likely to take risks that increased their chance of being eaten by cats, which would allow the parasite to continue its life cycle. Rodents treated with drugs that killed the parasites reversed their behaviour, Dr Boulter said.
So choose: Woohoo! Ride Hard & Die Fast -or- Live looong dull pointless simpering lives.
Another study showed people who were infected but not showing symptoms were 2.7 times more likely than uninfected people to be involved in a car accident as a driver or pedestrian, while other research has linked the parasite to higher incidences of schizophrenia.
"It does not!
"Yes, it does!
"Shuddup!"
"The increasing body of evidence connecting Toxoplasma infection with changes in personality and mental state, combined with the extremely high incidence of human infection in both developing and developed countries, warrants increased government funding and research, in particular to find safe and effective treatments or vaccines," Dr Boulter said.
So many possibilities, lol. And here, all this time, I thought it was the package thingy. (SFW)
Posted by: .com || 12/26/2006 04:27 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I was going to comment on the growing understanding of the role of bacterial/parasitical infections in many human chronic and degenerative diseases, but then I came across this gob smacking statement at wikipedia.

"In populations where this parasite is very common, mass personality modification could result in cultural change. [Variations in the prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii] may explain a substantial proportion of human population differences we see in cultural aspects that relate to ego, money, material possessions, work and rules." — Kevin Lafferty [4]
Posted by: phil_b || 12/26/2006 7:00 Comments || Top||

#2  Working the symbiosis angle, lol. I'm pretty sure that vacuoles are where BDS is accumulated and stored by the Dark Side... when "critical mass" is achieved, well, the host is doomed.

A Theory Thingy: A far less-publicized aspect, IMHO - demonstrable loss of reason gets all the ink, is the ronerynessiosity of BDS... Once it has taken hold, the host isn't satisfied with being a total fucking moron asshat Moonbat, oh no, it needs company, lots of company, so it works tirelessly to drag everyone else down with it. Mr Zimmerman put this human phenomenon this way:

"While one who sings with his tongue on fire
Gargles in the rat-race choir;
Bent out of shape by society's pliers,
Cares not to come up any higher,
But, rather, get you down in the hole
That he's in..."


Once infected, there is no reliable cure, except for that death thingy.
Posted by: .com || 12/26/2006 7:25 Comments || Top||

#3  I smells a burn.
Posted by: Shipman || 12/26/2006 8:11 Comments || Top||

#4  A carpet burn?
Posted by: .com || 12/26/2006 8:19 Comments || Top||

#5  If there's any justice in the world, that young woman is tomorrow's bloid girl.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/26/2006 8:25 Comments || Top||

#6  Wik say's it makes women Neurotic. We knew it all along, the sexiest women are all psyco. LOL!!!
Posted by: 49 Pan || 12/26/2006 8:45 Comments || Top||

#7  A common liquidparasite can increase a women's attractiveness to the opposite sex but also make men more stupid, an Australian researcher says.

AKA alcohol.
Posted by: xbalanke || 12/26/2006 10:45 Comments || Top||

#8  Vodka Vision, you too can enjoy the feeling of having a beautiful date all it takes is enough Vodka.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 12/26/2006 11:26 Comments || Top||

#9  If I'm not mistaken, that's the young Sophia Loren. They don't make them like that anymore.
Posted by: mac || 12/26/2006 11:39 Comments || Top||

#10  Huh. The sexier women get, the dumber men get. This is news?
Posted by: Angie Schultz || 12/26/2006 12:19 Comments || Top||

#11  Oh, bollocks. How many stupid male risk-takers do you know with cats, and how many sexy loose women with apartments full of cats? If there's a parasite which makes men stupid & rash and women loose & attractive, it's carried by dogs. Your stereotypical cat-owner is a neurotic slob, regardless of sex, far as I can tell.
Posted by: Mitch H. || 12/26/2006 14:24 Comments || Top||

#12  Parasite makes men dumb, women sexy

men, this is just way too much information which as you all know is a very bad thing because it can lead to post-coital tristesse sexual urges.
Posted by: RD || 12/26/2006 14:25 Comments || Top||

#13  Beer goggles. Who's got my beer goggles? y'know, they say beauty is in the eye of the beer holder, and ah have my hands full.......
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 12/26/2006 16:35 Comments || Top||

#14  Mitch look up Toxoplasma on Wikpedia. One of the symptoms is being neurotic. Just like you said.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 12/26/2006 17:04 Comments || Top||

#15  Mmmmmmmmmmmmm...Sophia!
Posted by: tu3031 || 12/26/2006 17:05 Comments || Top||

#16  Science has now proven why men like dogs, or in the altern that Men love parasites, not Women??? Should make for an interesting PLAYBOY-PENTHOUSE Centerfold.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 12/26/2006 22:39 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Cambodian Khmer Rouge tribunal to convene in 2007
A group of 24 Cambodian human rights organizations urged the government and UN-appointed judicial officials on Monday to speed up the adoption of rules governing a genocide tribunal for former Khmer Rouge leaders so the trials can begin quickly. "The credibility of both the Cambodian authorities and the United Nations is at stake: an acceptable agreement on the internal rules must be reached as soon as possible," the 24-member Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee said.

The Cambodian-based human rights groups said the tribunal's independence and impartiality should not compromised. Many observers fear a failure to agree on the rules will delay the tribunal's first session, expected to convene in June 2007.
Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ...And IIRC the last surviving KR honcho just passed away a few days ago. Brilliant.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 12/26/2006 6:31 Comments || Top||

#2  Hey, is that Carla del Ponte warming up in the bullpen?
Posted by: tu3031 || 12/26/2006 9:06 Comments || Top||

#3  The credibility of ... the United Nations is at stake

Little late for that.
Posted by: DMFD || 12/26/2006 12:37 Comments || Top||


Sri Lanka
Tamil rebels deny seizing Jordan ship
The Jordan Maritime Authority on Saturday said Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers were unloading tonnes of rice from a Jordanian ship that drifted into rebel-controlled waters after its engine failed. Farah3, a 150-metre ship owned by the Salam International Transport and Trading Company, was carrying Friday 14,000 tonnes of Indian rice bound for South Africa. Motasem Sakit, director general of the maritime authority, said he did not know if the rebels would release the ship.

The Sri Lankan defence ministry said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam seized the merchant vessel with a 25-member crew, adding that a maritime distress message, indicating that the vessel was “under armed pirate attack”, was received by Britain’s Maritime Rescue Coordinating Centre, which conveyed it to the Sri Lankan naval authorities. But the rebels denied the accusations, saying that they rescued the crew of 11 Jordanians, 13 Egyptians and an Iraqi, and sailors “were being taken to safety despite rough seas while the ship was dangerously too close to the shore”. Government Spokesperson Nasser Judeh, however, described the incident “as an act of piracy”.
Posted by: Fred || 12/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Culture Wars
Hispanic groups call for moratorium on work raids
Hmmmmm. This tells me that maybe they're working?
SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) - U.S. Hispanic groups and activists on Thursday called for a moratorium on workplace raids to round up illegal immigrants, with some saying they were reminiscent of Nazi crackdowns on Jews in the 1930s.
Oh, they're definitely working...
They accused the Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement of "racial profiling," or selective enforcement against Hispanics, for arresting 1,300 workers on immigration violations in December 12 raids at meatpacking plants in six states.
Hey, if they're were some Irish guys or Polish guys or Russian guys in that pile, I'd have no problem tossing their asses either.
"We are demanding an end to these immigration raids, where they are targeting brown faces. That is major, major racial profiling, and that cannot be tolerated," said Rosa Rosales, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, at a news conference.
Oooooooh, "demanding".
"This unfortunately reminds me of when Hitler began rounding up the Jews for no reason and locking them up," Democratic Party activist Carla Vela said. "Now they're coming for the Latinos, who will they come for next?"
For no reason? Illegally entering the country, identity theft. Those are just for starters...
The groups, which included LULAC, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Hispanic National Bar Association, and the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, sent letters to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, urging a halt to the raids. They also called on Congress to quickly to approve immigration legislation that would allow for "guest workers" to remain in the United States.

The government crackdown follows months of political debate about illegal immigrants that culminated in a new law authorizing, among other things, construction of a 700-mile wall along several stretches of the U.S.-Mexican border.

Many of those arrested in the December 12 raids, all at Swift & Co. plants, were from Latin American countries.

Chertoff said the raids showed that illegal immigrants, estimated to number 12 million in the United States, contributed to the problem of identity theft because they worked under false or stolen identities.

Anger at anti-immigrant rhetoric and measures is said to have hurt Republican candidates with Hispanic voters in November elections that saw the Democrats win a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.

LULAC, the oldest and largest Hispanic group in the country with 115,000 members, said workplace raids would cause families to be separated if the arrested immigrants were deported and also would hurt the U.S. economy.

"Every labor-intensive industry including the hospitality, construction, agriculture and restaurant industries will be adversely impacted if these raids continue," Rosales said.
Not to mention the identity theft industry...
Posted by: tu3031 || 12/26/2006 10:33 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  f*ck off Rosa. No more anchor kids, no more bullsh*t. Time to build the mother of all walls. Deport all illegals & send their families back w/them, period.
Posted by: Broadhead6 || 12/26/2006 13:38 Comments || Top||

#2  These groups, especially LULAC, are simply propaganda fronts for corporate cheap labor profiteers. If they actually cared about Hispanic working people, they might focus on whose jobs and identities are being stolen by the invaders. I seriously doubt that any illegal has made off with the identity of a Rosenberg or a Wright or a York. Buy a clue, Oreo whorehouses.
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy || 12/26/2006 14:35 Comments || Top||

#3  The easy way:

Surround the target, then send in somebody to shout "la migra!"

Nab those that run.
Posted by: mojo || 12/26/2006 14:51 Comments || Top||

#4 
"Every labor-intensive industry including the hospitality, construction, agriculture and restaurant industries will be adversely impacted if these raids continue," Rosales said.


Just think of all the crime-scene investigators, prison guards, fake-id makers, and slave-brothel-owners who will be out of work!

Is anyone else sick and tired of hearing the application of ANY law compared to Naziism?
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 12/26/2006 15:54 Comments || Top||


HotAir's Follow-up: Swift Meat Veterans For Justice
Another follow-up to the ICE raids on the Swift Meatpacking plants.
History:
DepotGuy broke the original story here.
Secondary story focusing on the Minnesota plant is here.
Follow-up #1 on the ID theft is here.
Follow-up #2 on ID theft is here.

This has legs.
Posted by: .com || 12/26/2006 04:08 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


NEA sponsors soldiers writing about the war
Moved to 12/26 due to the late posting; this deserves a full day. AoS.
War has inspired some of the greatest works of literature. Writers from Thucydides to Walt Whitman, from Whittaker Chambers to Kurt Vonnegut, have been shaped by what they witnessed on the battlefield or in its immediate aftermath. Leo Tolstoy, the author of "War and Peace," once noted that great literature often emerges in the years following great wars. But until recently, the National Endowment for the Arts had never run any program to serve our men and women in uniform.

With this in mind, Dana Gioia, the NEA's director, attended a poetry conference in April 2003 and stepped into that incubator of so many good writing projects: a bar. Over drinks he was prodded by the poet laureate of Connecticut, Marilyn Nelson, to launch a writing project for soldiers fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq and other fronts in the war on terror.

Later that year, the project began to take shape. The NEA asked soldiers and their families to submit essays about their experiences on either far-flung battlefields or the home front. And Mr. Gioia persuaded Boeing Co. to underwrite the program by donating hundreds of thousands of dollars. The results have been published in a recent book--"Operation Homecoming"--and have inspired a documentary expected to air on PBS next year.

At the beginning, the NEA tried to spur on the soldier-writers by holding 50 workshops on military bases with well-known authors--e.g., Tom Clancy, Jeff Shaara and Bobbie Ann Mason. The purpose was to help each would-be writer get used to putting his thoughts and experiences down on paper. Half the workshops were in the U.S. and half abroad. Soldiers, veterans and military contractors responded enthusiastically. More than 6,000 people showed up, many of them still on active duty. In some cases, family members came to learn what their loved ones had been reluctant to tell them about the nature of war.

Mr. Gioia estimates that the NEA has received some 1,200 submissions during the course of the project, all of which are to be preserved at the Library of Congress. One hundred of the best essays made it into "Operation Homecoming." The book was edited by Andrew Carroll, a historian who has studied letters home from previous American conflicts. Mr. Carroll told me that the writing from this project is on a par with what was written by American soldiers during the Revolution and every war since. He thinks that one or two of the current crop of warrior-scribes may end up as a writer of stature.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/26/2006 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I've added it to my I Want list.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/25/2006 20:05 Comments || Top||

#2  ...As much as I'm looking forward to seeing this, I suspect that the result the NEA is actually looking for is a powerful ANTI-war work that can be used as one more hammer against the war effort.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 12/26/2006 11:25 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2006-12-26
  Islamic fighters quitting Somalia front
Mon 2006-12-25
  Ethiopia launches offensive against Somalia's Islamic movement
Sun 2006-12-24
  UN Security Council approves Iran sanctions
Sat 2006-12-23
  Somali provisional govt, Islamic courts do battle
Fri 2006-12-22
  War is on in Somalia!
Thu 2006-12-21
  Turkmenbashi croaks; World one megalomaniac lighter
Wed 2006-12-20
  Yet another Hamas-Fatah ceasefire
Tue 2006-12-19
  James Ujaama nabbed in Belize
Mon 2006-12-18
  Palestinian Clashes Kill 2; Presidential Compound Hit
Sun 2006-12-17
  Abbas Calls for Early Palestinian Vote
Sat 2006-12-16
  Street clashes spread in Gaza
Fri 2006-12-15
  Paleos shoot up Haniyeh convoy
Thu 2006-12-14
  Brammertz finds 'significant links' in Lebanon killings
Wed 2006-12-13
  Arab League seeks end to Leb crisis
Tue 2006-12-12
  Hamas gunnies kill three little sons of Abbas aide in Gaza


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