The United States arrested on Monday a Mexican laboratory owner accused of helping make huge quantities of crystal meth, four months after police found $206 million cash in his Mexico City mansion. Mexico's attorney general, Eduardo Medina Mora, said U.S. authorities had confirmed the arrest of Chinese-born Zhenli Ye Gon. "We have received the news informally but confirmed by official sources that the arrest took place," Medina Mora said on Mexican television network Televisa.
Mexico has requested the extradition of Ye Gon, the attorney general's office said in a statement. He was arrested in the Washington suburb of Rockville, Maryland.
DC-area 'Burgers will join me in scratching their heads in a puzzled manner and saying, "Rockville?"
"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious."
No, it's Rockville. A wretched hive full of Rotarians and people who voted for Governor O'Malley. Oh, wait...
It was not immediately clear if the arrest was the result of Mexico's request, although U.S. authorities had previously said no warrants had been issued for Ye Gon. Mexico now has 60 days to check with the Chinese ambassador to see if it wants to make its case for extradition.
Mexican police in March raided a mansion owned by Ye Gon and found wads of U.S. bank notes in bulging suitcases and overflowing closets. Seven people were arrested after that raid in the swanky Lomas de Chapultepec neighborhood. It also turned up six Mercedes-Benz vehicles and pistols equipped with silencers, but Ye Gon escaped to the United States. Ye Gon, a naturalized Mexican, is accused of importing through Mexican ports huge quantities of chemicals used to make the powerful stimulant crystal meth. Ye Gon says he is an innocent victim of a government plot.
Mexican methamphetamine producers have muscled in on the U.S. market. So-called superlabs that mass produce the drug have sprung up across Mexico, where precursor chemicals like pseudoephedrine are more easily available.
While us law-abiding folk in the States have to get a retinal scan if we catch a cold.
The government recently clamped down sales of cough remedies that contain pseudoephedrine.
Um, no. The cough syrup had some other ingredient that kids were using to get a cheap high and it's only verboten to under-18's. Sudafed is a decongestant, and *everyone* has to show ID and be registered in a database to get it. Reuters can email me for my address to send me the check.
Police say a company run by Ye Gon illegally imported chemicals and that he was setting up a lab to make crystal meth, or methamphetamine, a powerful stimulant. Ye Gon has caused a scandal in Mexico in recent weeks by saying a government minister forced him to hide the cash under threat of death during last year's election campaign.
Oopsie!
President Felipe Calderon has deployed thousands of police and soldiers across Mexico to clamp down on drug cartels since taking office in December. So far, March's raid of Ye Gon's house has been the only high-profile bust.
#5
anyone seen the pics of the house they are talking about. he had more than a couple of pistols with silencers . try AKS and just think if he had 206 million in the house how much more is hid somewhere else but i'm sure he will want a court apponited attorney
CIA Director of Public Affairs Mark Mansfield issued the following statement today:
We generally don't comment on books, but we have departed from that on occasion, and have decided to do so in connection with Rowan Scarborough's new book, "Sabotage: America's Enemies Within the CIA." I hate to sound like DU, but that convinces me the book may be true and must be worth reading.
CIA employees work very hard to protect their fellow citizens and to help keep America safe. Even that Aldrich Ames guy?
They take great pride -- and take great risks -- in serving our country. Like Val Plame?
Especially Val Plame.
They know that the intelligence they collect, analyze and deliver to policymakers, diplomats, law enforcement officers, and military commanders makes a difference, each and every day. If anybody can read it wothout laughing.
The premise of Mr. Scarborough's book -- that CIA employees are working to undermine our government -- is both ridiculous and offensive. This convinces me the problem is at the top. Fish rot from the head.
#5
We generally don't comment on books..........but we enthusiastically support the writing of all manner of bullshit books, papers, documentaries, and television interviews by our retirees and annuitants.
#6
The politicization and corruption of the CIA saddens me. Some people I know have worked closely with agency analysts for many years and the couple of analysts and technical means people I've met have been decent, hardworking and patriotic.
But the humint side, and the political leadership, are showing themselves to be in many cases as destructive and dangerous as any government agency can be.
Lacking in honor but not in power.
I'm reading the last Harry Potter book. Between it's dead-on portrayal of 'journalism' that slimes and distorts, and its warnings about corrupted government agencies in power, it is more than timely.
#7
We generally don't comment on books, we generally don't make fictitious films about exploding airplane gas tanks, but for our leftist leaders, we'll do anything, even if it's against America.
How about every CIA from the top down line up at the water board for a voluntary clean up ? Those who chose not to clean up, can stand against the wall, blindfolded.
#9
I'll have to read it before I comment. I know dozens of folks that work for the CIA in the DC area, but not many from Langley. The guys in DC are pretty straight-forward. Most are former military. Between the Plame stupidity and some of the fecal matter coming out of Langley as "analysis", I have my doubts about THOSE folks.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/24/2007 15:53 Comments ||
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I was pleased to see that that Norman Polmar is still around and writing. I first came across his name when researching the sinking of the USS Thresher SSN-593. I attended the Memorial Service in Portsmouth, NH, a year ago in memory of one of my family members killed in April of 1963.
Britains newest warship, the Type 45 guided missile destroyer Daring (pennant D-32), has left the BAE Systems shipyard on the Clyde to begin sea trials. The Daring is the first of a class of destroyers that, under current plans, could total 12 ships. The construction of the Daring-class ships is highly significant for the Royal Navy in view of the recent cutbacks in surface fleet strength and the reduction in the number of nuclear-propelled submarines being planned. The Darings are to replace the aging Sheffield-class destroyers (Type 42).
According to the website Military Periscope, the multi-purpose destroyers will have a theater ballistic missile-defense capability with the U.S.-developed Standard SM-2 (Block IVA) surface-to-air missiles. The ships will use the Principal Anti-Aircraft Missile System (PAAMS), currently in development by France and Italy. PAAMS will be a long-range air/missile defense weapon, capable of simultaneously engaging multiple targets.
The Daring-class ships will also have the 4.5-inch Mark 8 Mod 1 gun for shore bombardment, a standard weapon in British surface ships, and will embark a multi-purpose large Merlin or smaller Lynx helicopter. The ships also have the Harpoon anti-ship missile and anti-submarine weapons. The ship will have advanced electronic systems, including radars, sonars, electronic countermeasures, and data links.
Five additional ships are now on order or under construction.
The Darings will have a full load displacement of 7,450 tons with an overall length of 499 feet, making them smaller than the improved U.S. Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, which displace 9,200 tons on a length of 509 feet. Also, the British ships are rated at 29 knots, about two knots slower than their U.S. contemporaries.
#1
I'd rather they didn't build them. If they do build them, they should be kept out of the Persian Gulf so the Iranians don't seize them and have access to all that technology and such a large crew.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
07/24/2007 0:08 Comments ||
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#2
OOhh, you are soo right on, Super Hose! Maybe though, the Brits want to impress the Irish!
#3
Sigh. Where to begin. First there are only 6 ($2 billion each) on order and there is talk of selling 2 of those to the Saudis. It does not fire the US Standard missiles but uses the French-Italian Aster missiles (48), unlike the 96 US Mk 41 launch cells that can hold Standard, Harpoon, Tomahawk, ASROC or 4 ESSM missiles each.
So no ABM capability or long range SAMs. No antiship (Harpoon) or land attack (Tomahawk). No torpedoes, rudimentary sonar so no real antisub capability. Best feature is the radar mounted very high. All for twice the price of an Aegis destroyer. Perfect for the Saudis. The British should do better.
Posted by: ed ||
07/24/2007 12:08 Comments ||
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#4
OK, ed, so all the details are wrong. But consider the truthiness: the brits *are* building some boats or something.
Gordon Brown was shaping up for a bitter and prolonged battle over Europe with the Conservatives last night after his Europe minister described calls for a referendum on the new European Union treaty as "frankly absurd".
The comments by Jim Murphy, during a debate in the House of Commons, came ahead of a speech today by William Hague, the shadow foreign secretary, in which he will say a national vote is essential because the treaty would transfer powers from Westminster to Brussels "in spades".
Murphy also appeared to rule out any attempt to renegotiate the wording of the draft EU Treaty.
Mr. Murphy also appeared to rule out any attempt to renegotiate the wording of the draft EU Treaty.
The Tories and some Labour MPs want ministers to change aspects of the draft treaty, including a section which they say would make national parliaments subservient to Brussels.
Mr Murphy quoted former Tory Chancellor, Kenneth Clarke as saying to ask the people to vote on such a document would be "frankly absurd".
But Mr Murphy told MPs he had no intention of seeking any amendments. Responding to the eurosceptic Tory MP Bill Cash, who said there must be a referendum on a document that would create an EU president and foreign minister, Mr Murphy quoted the Europhile former Tory Chancellor, Kenneth Clarke, as saying to ask the people to vote on such a document would be "frankly absurd".
Because they can't be expected to have a proper opinion on such matters, now can they?
Mr Murphy said he could not think of a better way to answer Mr Cash than to repeat Mr Clarke's assessment.
In a sign that the Tories - who have been reluctant to reignite arguments over the EU since David Cameron became leader - are now willing to put the issue at centre stage again, Mr Hague will tell the Policy Exchange think-tank that the treaty will "fundamentally change the European Union and Britain's place in it".
He will argue that it is the same in all but name as the Constitutional Treaty on which Labour promised a referendum in its 2005 election manifesto. That treaty was killed in referendums in France and Holland.
Mr Hague will say that politicians across Europe have confirmed that the new document is essentially the same as the old.
"With power transferred from Britain to Brussels in spades and the EU fundamentally changed, there is no question but that the constitution by another name merits a referendum," he will say. "After the constitution was rejected the first time around, the then foreign secretary set out a simple test for any new treaty.
"If the new treaty had the president and the foreign minister, then, Jack Straw said, it would in essence be the constitution.
The new treaty has the president and foreign minister. It is in essence the constitution.
"The new treaty has the president and foreign minister. It is in essence the constitution. The remaining question is where the promised referendum is."
David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, last night repeated the Government's refusal to hold a referendum on the new treaty. Mr Miliband, attending his first meeting of EU foreign ministers since his appointment, said: "The concept of a constitution has been abandoned. That is made clear in the new treaty. In that context we don't think there needs to be a constitutional referendum."
He went on: "The important question is whether it is a good treaty for Europe and for Britain or not? I think it is a good treaty for Europe and for Britain because it takes forward institutional reform in a sensible way and undermines the arguments of those saying that there is a superstate around the corner.
#7
Bottom line is that the British government is abdicating its sovereignity and the only way to stop it is for the English people to take to the streets to force a referendum.
However, it appears that the people are rather sanguine about it.
I nominate Neal Boortz, or Michael Savage. But that's just me speaking as an angry WASP who lives in the States.
Posted by: BA ||
07/24/2007 13:37 Comments ||
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#10
Not a bad deal for Belgium, but for the UK?
Sounds like these guys in London who want to cede power to the EU probably have a pretty sweet place promised to them when it finally goes down.
The humanitarian crisis in central and western England was deepening last night with up to one million people affected by the worst floods in modern history.
Thousands are poised to evacuate their homes with the banks of the two largest rivers in Britain, the Severn and the Thames, threatening to burst.
Up to 350,000 people in Gloucestershire could be without running water for up to two weeks, authorities said yesterday as they warned that it could be a year before some evacuated families are able to move back to their devastated homes.
The heart of England has been paralysed, with scores of towns and villages submerged or cut off.
The heart of England has been paralysed, with scores of towns and villages submerged or cut off. Up to 10,000 homes are either flooded or at risk of flooding in seven counties - Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Herefordshire, Lincolnshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. Countless more are without running water, electricity or phone lines.
Waters stopped just short of breaching defences and engulfing a power station serving half a million homes.
More serious damage was averted by inches as the flood waters stopped just short of breaching defences and engulfing a power station serving half a million homes. Gloucester city centre also appears to be safe after water levels peaked just below the main quay wall.
Analysis of the latest data from county councils by The Daily Telegraph shows that up to one million people have already been affected.
Fresh water tankers and bottled supplies are struggling to get through to all the flooded areas and supermarkets have had a rash of panic buying with police being called in to control desperate crowds.
The Environment Agency said the situation remained "critical", with eight severe flood warnings in place across Britain. Hilary Benn, the Environment Secretary, warned last night that what had become a massive civil emergency was "far from over".
The Thames in Abingdon, Oxon, rose 3ft in less than 12 hours to a "perilously high" level and flooding is expected to peak in the next 24 hours. Some rivers are already 20ft above normal levels.
Oxford, Abingdon and even Reading farther down stream could be badly hit if a predicted water surge materialises, experts said.
Anthony Perry, an Environment Agency flood risk official, said: "We have not seen flooding of this magnitude before. The benchmark was 1947 and this has already exceeded it."
details at the link, including rescue efforts and power/nuclear stations still at risk.
#1
In all sincerity, I truly want the Britons to come through this unscathed. It just happens to be really difficult for me not to want their government to get a truckload lorry-full of egg on its collective face in the process. Gordon Brown's appeasement of Islam will go down in history alongside Neville Chamberlain's vigorous osculation of Nazi gluteal regions.
#2
The first in line for relief will be the Muzzies - they know how to work the system. Well, first after the politicians take their cuts.
Flooding s*cks. 'Recovery' scams s*ck worse.
Don't claim damage, don't let any government people inspect your property, and fix your own problems (secretly - only government-permittees are legally allowed to do the work); you'll come out way ahead (or rather, way less-behind).
#3
I would hope for some small chagrin from every UK leftist who has make smug remarks about Katrina. I expect they will blame these events on "global warming" and George Bush instead.
#6
Best wishes to our friends in the United Kingdom. Mopping up after a flood is the most thankless job in the world. Let us know if we can help in some way.
#7
One of the reasons I'm glad I live where I do is because my house is 6324' above sea level (a little over 2000M). I'm also situated about a third of the way up the side of a fairly high ridge running east-west through this part of the city. The ridge drops off to just below 6000' in the center of town. Kind of hard to flood the local area!
We were in England in 1986 when they were struck by the tag end of a hurricane. We were safe, but some homes in the village where we lived got a bit of water in their basements. The Nene River flooded, but not terribly badly. My sympathies to all Brits in the flood zone, and hope that recovery is quick and as painless as possible.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/24/2007 16:04 Comments ||
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An independent person is to head the flood review announced this morning by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, MPs were told Monday. Britains Environment Secretary Hilary Benn told the House of Commons the review would look at the trail of devastation across the country caused by flooding over the last three days. Benn also warned that the emergency was "far from over and further flooding is very likely".
The British Government has already pledged to raise spending on flood defences to 800 million pounds by 2010-11.
For his part, the main opposition Conservative environment spokesman Peter Ainsworth joined Benn in paying tribute to the emergency services and local communities for their response to the flooding. "We aren't interested in playing a blame game. The extreme weather events which led to the current floods, as well as those in the north of England last month, are not the Government's fault", he told MPs. "They are a humbling reminder of the awesome power of nature".
"What matters is to be quite certain that everything feasible that could be done to respond both to the threat of flooding and to the flooding events themselves was done, is being done and will continue to be done", Ainsworth added.
#1
(enable extreme sarcasm)
I am sure that New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin will have all sorts of good advice for them!
They only have to ask, I am sure that Mayor Nagin will be more than happy to share his expertise.
And if he can't find it in his heart to help, that goombah from the Guardian who covered the Katrina aftermath from his LA health club might be available, instead. (disable extreme sarcasm)
#4
#3 And that plane is either a Martin M-130, or a Boeing 314A. Posted by: USN, Ret. 2007-07-24 14:30
How about an ancient 4-passenger Cessna with a leaky fuel tank?
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/24/2007 16:06 Comments ||
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#5
OP; those a/c were, to my humble avgas-addled brain, the queens of the air and seaplanes to boot. I left out the numerous Shorts and Sikorskys for no rationale reason, other than an attack of CRS.
Somehow I don't think Putin will be pursuaded, unfortunately.
Russia should abandon its "confrontational" rhetoric and join the Western allies to combat the common threats of terrorism and failed states, the secretary-general of Nato said yesterday.
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the former Dutch foreign minister who has led the organisation since 2004, told The Daily Telegraph that "nobody wants a new Cold War, neither the Russians nor Nato, nobody".
Yet the actions and rhetoric of President Vladimir Putin's regime have consciously revived echoes of Cold War confrontation. Last week, Russia "suspended" its adherence to the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, a crucial agreement which restricts the deployment of troops and tanks on European soil. Earlier this year, Russia threatened to target nuclear missiles on Europe and Mr Putin has publicly questioned the value of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty of 1987, which forms another cornerstone of Western security.
Much of Europe is heavily dependent on Russian supplies of natural gas and Mr Putin has shown himself willing to use this leverage. Both Ukraine and Georgia have seen their energy supplies disrupted after offending Moscow.
But Mr de Hoop Scheffer said that Russia was still a "partner" of Nato and there was no alternative to dialogue. "I'm very much in favour of engaging and investing in this partnership. It's not always easy because on missile defence, on Kosovo and on the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty we have rather fundamental differences of opinion," he said. "It is important that we fight together the faceless common threat of terrorism. We both have to fight nuclear proliferation, we both have to fight failed and failing states. The threats and challenges that we are faced with in 2007 and beyond are not basically different in Moscow than they are in Washington, Paris, London or The Hague and Brussels.
"That is the reason why I argue that there are not many alternatives - except for confrontation. And who gains from confrontation? No one."
Mr de Hoop Scheffer added that Russia's "confrontational tone" was "unhelpful". "I think we should conduct our diplomacy without the megaphone," he said. "There is no need for further public rhetoric and it is not helpful either."
Russia's key grievance against Nato is the alliance's expansion to include Moscow's satellite states of the Cold War era. Today, Nato has 26 members, including the former Soviet republics of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania which border Russia. But Mr de Hoop Scheffer said that Russia's fears were groundless. "The perception is that Nato as an organisation is coming closer and closer to their borders. Why should you be worried about the rule of law and democracy coming closer towards your borders? There's no reason for Russia to be worried. But again, that perception should be taken seriously."
Russia has also objected to America's plans to station a missile defence shield in Poland and the Czech Republic. This triggered Mr Putin's threat to target Russia's nuclear arsenal on Europe. Mr de Hoop Scheffer pointed out that America plans to station only 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and one radar station in the Czech Republic. This would have no impact on Russia's military capabilities, he said, and Moscow's fears were "unfounded quite honestly".
Negotiations in an "atmosphere of openness and frankness" were the only means to address these issues, said the Nato chief. But he added that "we have some tough nuts to crack".
#3
I am a supporter of including Russia in NATO. They don't meet current requirements. That can change. But a return to Cold War confrontation would be catastrophic.
#5
The entire point of NATO was to check the Russians in Europe by extending the US "nuclear umbrella" there. If we allow Russia to join NATO, what are they going to do, nuke themselves?
#3
Writing in the International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University team says that a "woman's breast is a very complex 3D geometry"
I found that to be true when I pursued several years of independent study into the matter while at college. Unfortunately I was unable to obtain post-graduate funding for research that could have saved the country from falling behind in this critical technology. I still have my design notebooks on quick release mechanisms. Perhaps the Chinese will pay for that.
#4
The researchers' 100 measurements have been honed down to just eight factors to describe the breast shape - overall build, breast volume, inner, outer and lower breast shape, height, and gradient and orientation.
They forgot perkiness, bounciness, nummyness, squeezability, armpit drift, equanimity, parity and fwappality.
#5
This is not news to any woman who has every gone shopping for undergarments. That's why it's important to work with a trained fitter, instead of popping by WalMart to pick up the cheapest thing in the size one fondly imagines oneself to be... or was twenty years ago. That is why 70% of British women are wearing the wrong size, not because the brassieres are poorly designed. American women, ditto, by the way.
From the successor of the government ministry that gave the world Pearl Harbor and the Rape of Nanking now comes a cutesy little girl cartoon character dressed as a maid with a hawkish stuffed teddy bear to give a simple explanation of Japan's defense policies, according to Cyzo (August).
Growing numbers of government agencies have used borderline pedophile manga characters to promote their activities in recent years, but it's the Defense Ministry's little girl character that is attracting attention among Japan's otaku, the monthly says.
In the "Manga de Yomu Boeisho Hakusho (Defense Ministry White Papers in Manga)" series printed in 2005, a little girl wearing "Lolita" fashions and an apron is involved in exchanges -- sometimes violently -- with a hawkish stuffed teddy bear as they rumble over the way Japan should defend itself.
News of the story spread through Japan's Internet and by word of mouth and turned the manga into a hit, with second and third editions hitting the bookstores rapidly. It seemed a given that the publisher, Japan Defense Foundation for Mutual Aid, would be given the contract to print last year's manga version of the ministry's white papers, but things didn't quite turn out that way.
"Publishing rights are decided in public bidding and another company undercut us," a spokesman from the Japan Defense Foundation for Mutual Aid tells Cyzo. "But it was such a popular book that we didn't want its success to end after only a single year. We asked the same author of the 2005 edition to draw up another manga using the same characters in a way that would help readers to understand what's going on with the defense of Japan."
The new book "Heiwa no Kuni no Nebaarando (The Neverland of the Peaceful Country)" has also proved to be as popular as its predecessor, with sales going well since its January release.
Japan Defense Foundation for Mutual Aid is confident its cutesy manga characters can drum up plenty of support for an industry that revolves around defending people.
"It's pretty serious contents," a group spokesman tells Cyzo. "But we figure the manga characters are easy to relate to and will make the difficult issues more accessible for kids and young adults to understand."
Japan will work with United Nations inspectors to check the worlds biggest nuclear power plant after a powerful earthquake last week caused radiation leaks, but a fundamental shift in its nuclear energy policy is unlikely despite renewed fears about nuclear safety.
Japan had told the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it did not need help for now, but on Monday it said it would allow inspectors into the quake-hit Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant after it came under pressure from local authorities to do so.
Japans nuclear industry - which supplies about one-third of the countrys electricity needs and is central to its efforts to battle global warming - has been tarnished by cover-ups of accidents and fudged safety records. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said joint studies on nuclear safety would help other quake-prone countries as well as Japan. It will be important for Japan and the IAEA to work together and to analyse the results carefully, he told a news conference. We will cooperate with the IAEA and will probably be making the inspections together.
An nuclear safety official said no date for the IAEA checks had been set, but the Nikkei business daily reported that four IAEA inspectors would visit site as soon as early August. Fears about the safety of Japans nuclear industry have been revived by leaks of water with low-level radiation from Tokyo Electric Power Co.s (TEPCO) plant in the northwestern city of Kashiwazaki, hard hit by the 6.8 magnitude quake.
The plant was shut down automatically in the quake and will remain closed indefinitely for safety checks, and the government has ordered other nuclear plant operators to make strict safety checks.
Hiroki Shibata, a Standard & Poors analyst in charge of Japanese utilities firms, said a drastic policy change in Japans energy policy, such as abandoning nuclear power, was unlikely. I dont think that can be done easily, given the issue of environmental protection and amid high crude oil prices, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2007 00:00 ||
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China agreed yesterday to buy up to a £6.6 billion (9.8 billion) share of Barclays bank, its biggest stake in a foreign company, as the countrys confidence as an international investor continues to grow
The investment by the China Development Bank (CDB) in the British company potentially dwarfs Chinas previous record foreign purchase a $3 billion (£1.5 billion) holding in Blackstone, the private equity firm, bought in May. In turn, Blackstone advised the CDB on its deal with Barclays.
Chen Yuan, the governor of the CDB and a member of the State Council, the Chinese Cabinet, will take a seat on the board of Barclays. The agreement between the banks was discussed with Gordon Brown before it was signed yesterday at 5am.
#1
For all the criticisms of the USA as an alleged "fascist" state, Russia + China, etc. are still having great difficulties admitting that they too are so-called "fascist", THAT FASCISM FOR THE LEFTIES IS THE NEW COMMUNISM-MARXISM, AT LEAST FOR AWHILE. They do love labeling the other + USA as same though, not themselves.
#3
One of the many dangers facing the USA is the huge amount of foreign exchange China has. The money has to be invested somewhere, so why not buy out the capitalists & their running dogs?
China has indefinitely postponed the release of an environmental report on the costs of economic development.
Several local governments are reported to have objected to the release of "sensitive" information about the pollution they cause. Government officials from different departments also appear to disagree on how to calculate the figures. But despite the setback, the man in charge of the scheme says the research should continue.
The project - to calculate how much money pollution costs China each year, the so-called "green gross domestic product" - was launched in 2004. But the scheme seems never to have progressed smoothly.
Figures for 2004 - which revealed pollution cost China about 511bn yuan ($68bn, £33bn) or 3% of GDP - were not released until late last year. Although officials have promised on a number of occasions to release the results for 2005, these figures have yet to materialise. Now Wang Jinnan, the technical head of the project, has told the Beijing News that the release will be "postponed indefinitely".
"Some local governments are quite sensitive about the research and calculations for their provinces," he said. "Separate trial provinces and municipalities have formally issued a request not to publish the calculation results, and have exerted pressure." Mr Wang added that despite the difficulties, the research should continue.
There also appears to be a difference of opinion between the State Environmental Protection Administration and the National Bureau of Statistics. Earlier this month, NBS head Xie Fuzhan seemed to cast doubt on whether a figure for the "green GDP" could even be calculated.
Wang's comments give a rare insight into the arguments going on within the government about how to achieve sustainable development. They also show that even admitting how much damage pollution causes in China is a sensitive topic.
Last month, the Financial Times said the Chinese government had successfully removed controversial figures from a forthcoming World Bank report. It said China had objected to statistics that revealed some 760,000 people died prematurely from air and water pollution each year.
#1
I'm not surprised, The Red Dragon can't come close to considering any "Global Warming Issues" as long as the communistic military industrial complex pushes hard to corner Asian hegemony, and their proposed Blue Water Fleets. With The Chicoms 'chomping at the bits' to stomp Taiwan into submission, aiming at this point nearly 1000 missiles at the island, The US has to check-mate these moves; or lose Taiwan and possible Japan to a sudden blitzkrieg at the Chicoms time of choice! 'Carbon Neutrality' and a jar of Vasoline®, will go a long way with you in China...if you know what I mean.
#3
This information cannot be published. The officials concerned would lose face, and the people would be angered, possibly revolting. These are the two worst possible results of any action taken by the government. Therefore, the action will not be taken. The content of the report is totally irrelevant.
#5
With the number of counties as members of the EU, it's a small wonder that anyone could remember the anthem for their respective countries. Sheesh..!!
#6
it's a small wonder that anyone could remember the anthem for their respective countries.
In an attempt to solve this nettlesome issue the European Union is adopting a single song to serve instead. Word has it that they have unanimously chosen The Internationale.
#8
I was poking around someplace on the web recently and was treated to a fine discussion between two kooks who debated why they play the 1812 Overture on the Fourth of July because, as we all know, it's the Russsian national anthem...
Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan was arrested Monday at the Capitol for disorderly conduct, shortly after saying she would run against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over the California Democrat's refusal to try to impeach President Bush. Sheehan was taken into custody inside Rep. John Conyers' office, where she had spent an hour imploring him to launch impeachment proceedings against Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Conyers, D-Mich., chairs the House Judiciary Committee, where any impeachment effort would have to begin. "The Democrats will not hold this administration accountable, so we have to hold the Democrats accountable," Sheehan said outside of Conyers' office after the meeting. "And I for one am going to step up to the plate and run against Nancy Pelosi."
Run, Cindy, run!
>"Go dog, go! Go round again!" (apologies to the late Dr. Seuss)
She said Conyers told her there weren't enough votes for impeachment to move forward on the issue.
Sheehan and about 200 other protesters had walked to Conyers' office from Arlington National Cemetery. Forty-five of Sheehan's fellow protesters also were arrested.
Posted by: Steve ||
07/24/2007 07:35 ||
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#1
She said Conyers told her there weren't enough votes for impeachment to move forward on the issue.
#3
Sheehan was taken into custody inside Rep. John Conyers' office
So what's a Moonbat who another Moonbat has arrested? A Super Moonbat?
And another thing. I thought this psycho bitch was going away and would never darken our door again?
Lyin cow.
#5
More KKKrushing of dissent in Bush's Pelosi's AmeriKKKa.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/24/2007 11:09 Comments ||
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#6
You know it really is the only issue they have coming up this next election cycle: "WE HATE BUSH!" Well after the primaries where I am sure the Donks will attempt to out Hate Bush each other in the primaries. This works well for a Republican who can simply state "So what you hate Bush, I aint him, so what else you got?" Since they have nothing beyond that they will fall hard.
#10
If Sheehan can oust Pelosi, I'm all for it and almost might vote for her myself. Consider how absolutely nobody on Capitol Hill would take this woman media whore seriously. Getting Pelosi out of office would go a long way towards some damage control against current democrat treachery.
KATHMANDU - Nepals former Maoist rebels threatened to pull out of a coalition government on Monday, amid a row over soldiers posted to guard the residences of Maoist ministers. The threat by Information and Communications Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara, a Maoist nominee in the cabinet, is the first since the former guerrillas joined the government in April under a peace deal ending their decade-long civil war that killed more than 13,000 people.
It came a day after the army tried to change the guards at the residences of five Maoist ministers. Mahara said the new guards were from an elite ranger force of the Nepali Army which was created to fight the Maoists before they declared a ceasefire last year, and that they had been posted there without consultation. We are seriously considering whether to stay in the government or not, Mahara told reporters.
The guards have since returned to barracks. An army spokesman denied they were from an elite battalion and said the change of guards at the ministers residence was a routine process.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/24/2007 00:00 ||
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#2
China has already warned that UN acceptance of Taiwan, i.e. sovereigny and independence from the PRC, will be pretext for it to initiate mil actions agz Taiwan.
#3
Here's a choice little nugget for your delectation:
Whilst attending Semicon West in San Francisco last week, I spent some time reviewing Somalian Muslim crapulence with a chap from Minnesota. He chanced to make a keen insight about China - Taiwan relations. In summary ...
Look for a vigorous effort by Taiwan at pushing the envelope immediately prior to Beijing's Olympics as a way of focusing attention on the communists' poor intentions regarding Formosa's destiny.
This singular observation made such immense sense that I filed it for future reference here at the 'Burg. I'd welcome any and all speculation about such a notion. Personally, I'd consider Taiwan a fool if they didn't cause a kerrufle on the eve of such a prestigious occasion for the Mainland.
China desperately needs to have a truckloadboatload supertanker of sand pounded up its coal-chute just in time for their impending global debut. Nothing would please me more than seeing Beijing experience all the joy and satisfaction that Moscow was privileged to entertain when its Olympics were boycotted in 1980.
#4
Taiwan has also indic that even iff its bid for official UNO membership fails, it will try again plus proceed to achieve pro forma independence from the PRC anyways, which the PRC has also warned will also force it to take mil action.
*ION, RENSE > Former Israel Agent Juval Aviv warns that a new terror campaign agz the USA will occur in next few months, and is likely to include simultaneous terror events in several US cities involving both suicide and non-suicide attacks/bombers, as well as detonations of WMDS.
Also, DEBKA > AQ warns Muslims to stay away from Govt sites of those North African nations or Govts deemed by AQ as "enemies of Allah".
#5
Mr. Aviv is flogging his new book, JosephM. There's an email making the rounds of his predictions, and if what he's telling security people is similar to what's in the email, it isn't actionable intelligence but general prognosticating: look for attacks on malls and amusement parks, possibly in August or September, probably at disparate locations but about the same time to maximize the terror effect. According to the email this is the kind of thing he says to strangers at dinner parties.
#6
Of course the UN had no problem during the Soviet era of having representatives of the Baltic States and the Ukraine in the UN even though they were directly under the control of Moscow.
Wonder what the reaction would be if Puerto Rico applied. "We'll slap those imperialist American monkeys and accept". No surprise.
#7
Taiwan was one of the founding members of the United Nations and was a member until 1971 when that parliament of dictators - abetted by the Nixon administration - betrayed the Republic of China. We should be ashamed to have anything to do with the UN let alone poor untold millions into the trough for its skeksy masters.
The falling US dollar is lowering the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries purchasing power by up to a third, making the powerful oil cartel more reluctant to increase production and cut prices.
Although oil is trading near last Augusts record $78.65 a barrel, Opec calculations show that, when adjusted for the weaker dollar and inflation, an average of the 12 Opec members crude oil prices has fallen in the past year. The adjusted Opec basket price averaged only $43.60 a barrel in June compared with $44.30 a barrel in the same month last year, according to the organisations latest monthly report.
Growing trade between Opec members, especially in the Middle East and North Africa, and the European Union is aggravating the problem because the pound and the euro have risen. The dollar on Monday fell to an all-time low against the euro of $1.3844 and a 26-year low against sterling, at more than $2.06.
Mohamed Bin Dhaen al Hamli, Opec president, said at its latest meeting three months ago that the cartel was concerned about the continuing weakness of the US dollar because this is having a significant effect on the purchasing power of oil producing countries. Since then, the dollar has continued to fall against the euro and sterling.
Eric Chaney, a Morgan Stanley economist, estimates that a 10 per cent drop in the dollar against major currencies cuts Opecs Middle East members crude oil purchasing power by about 5 per cent.
Good! Now let's get the Iraqi oil on line and gut the price. See if the Mad Mullahs in Iran have an answer to that one.
Adam Sieminski of Deutsche Bank said the refusal of the cartel to increase its production to force a drop in the oil price was more understandable if the lower value of Opecs spending power...is taken into account.
But the decline in the value of the dollar is insulating some countries from high oil prices, which provides Opec with strong demand even as oil prices soar above $75 a barrel.
Non-Opec members, such as Egypt and Sudan, face similar problems to those of many Opec countries.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/24/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
encourage their insurgent friends to cool it and the dollar plus their wealth would rise....
waiting
waiting....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/24/2007 15:55 Comments ||
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#3
Word, Barbara. Knowing how to cook not only allows you to control the presence of additives and preservatives, it also permits better choices of ingredients based upon quality, nutrition and freshness. Finally, cooking for yourself instead of purchasing pre-prepared or processed foodstuffs can save you thousands of dollars each year.
Actually not. Close examination shows it is mostly the same recipe batches branded with different chain store labels. You have to wonder if these places even bother to clean out their pipes after sending the petfood through.
#2
HED* should test that hypothesis. It would be also cool if they managed to manifest a detached hand, writing on the wall in front of Ahmadinutjob in Hebrew letters: mene, mene...
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
07/24/2007 16:04 Comments ||
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#5
Wouldn't it be funny if there really was a major earthquake this week.... You're all be prophets (and 100% more accurate then Mo-ham-head...)
Personally I don't think it can because A) they don't really care about their people and B) the West will bail them out if it breaks down anyway.... and give them free money to boot!
Iran on Monday launched a new wave of a moral crackdown against women who dress like models and men whose hairstyles are deemed unIslamic, police told local media. Tehrans police force dispatched dozens of police cars and minibuses into the early evening rush-hour to enforce the dress rules at major squares in the city centre, an AFP correspondent said. The new plan will increase security in society which is limited to Tehran but will later extend nationwide comes after a pre-summer drive by the police resulted in thousands of warnings and hundreds of arrests. Tehran police told reporters that the campaign would target women who were badly veiled, wore overly tight overcoats, short trousers and dressed like models.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/24/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Let me guess here:
These would be picked up cause "dressed like models:
And probably these, that waist is just so small!
Whoa -- this could go over big time in the States:
So how does the Iranian Women Rowing team pass:
But, the Police Women? They've got it together as the role model for every young lady
The interesting thing here is, there are fashion models on the runway... and I bet, the young ladies of Iran have fast learned, how to have fashion..... while hiding it.
I'll tell you guys this --- this kind of stuff is scary. The women of the good ole USA need to wake up -- and know... this could be us.
Oh -- not me, or my friends, cause we are of an age, but then? I've got some more years in me. How long, before an Islamic Revolution could take over the USA?
We should really wonder... do we really want our grand daughters and our great great grand daughters -- to face this?
I wonder, will they have pictures made now that they will keep hidden in a most secret place? Will they, when the heart seems most sad, pull those pictures out, looking and soaking in, what is so different from what they have? It will be, our dress.
WASHINGTON The Agriculture Department sent $1.1 billion in farm payments to more than 170,000 dead people over a seven-year period, congressional investigators say. The findings by the Government Accountability Office were released Monday as the House prepared to debate and pass farm legislation this week that would govern subsidies and the department's programs for the next five years.
GAO auditors reviewed payments from 1999 through 2005 and found that the department has not been conducting the necessary checks to ensure that subsidy payments are proper. Of the identified payments to deceased farmers' estates or businesses, 40 percent went to those who had been dead more than three years, and 19 percent went to those who had been dead for seven or more years.
The report was requested by Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee. "It's unconscionable that the Department of Agriculture would think that a dead person was actively engaged in the business of farming," Grassley said.
I'll bet they're registered to vote too
Posted by: Steve ||
07/24/2007 07:33 ||
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#1
40 percent went to those who had been dead more than three years, and 19 percent went to those who had been dead for seven or more years
Do I take it then that "dead for" less than three years is the new standard, or goal? It is the US Government.... right?
#2
I don't see the problem here. These payments were for not growing crops and obviously a dead person doesn't plant or cultivate anything. So he was fulfilling his part of the requirement.
This is what happens when you pay someone for not producing.
#3
Dear Sen. Grassley, The Department of Agriculture considers daisies a crop. Although we have not considered how to have the receipent of the subsidy stop pushing them up. Perhaps an additional payment would do. Sincerely, The Goverment
Posted by: Steven ||
07/24/2007 10:22 Comments ||
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#4
"It's unconscionable that the Department of Agriculture would think that a dead person was actively engaged in the business of farming," Grassley said.
#9
The question would be if these checks are going to the contact person-owner of the farm that is still qualifying for subsidies. So is this a huge clarical error or naming problem.
#10
I have the perfect solution: stop subsidizing farming. There are far better ways to support domestic agriculture than subsidies. Of course, if we did that, a lot of congresscritters would actually have to WORK for a living, but that's life.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/24/2007 20:12 Comments ||
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In what is being called a "wrongful birth" case, a jury awarded more than $21 million Monday to a couple who claimed a doctor misdiagnosed a severe birth defect in their son, leading them to have a second child with similar problems. But because the doctor works for the University of South Florida, the family will have to persuade the Legislature to award most of the money. State law limits negligence claims against government agencies at $200,000.
Daniel and Amara Estrada, whose two young sons aren't able to communicate and need constant care, sought at least enough money to care for the second child, 2-year-old Caleb. "This is a severely impaired child who will need a great deal of care for the rest of his life," said Christian Searcy, one of the attorneys who tried the case. He called the award "conservative but fair."
The couple claimed that Dr. Boris Kousseff failed to diagnose their first son's genetic disorder, called Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome, which is the inability to correctly produce or synthesize cholesterol, after his 2002 birth. Had the disorder been correctly diagnosed, a test would have indicated whether the couple's second child also was afflicted and they would have terminated the pregnancy, according to the lawsuit. Instead, Kousseff, a specialist in genetic disorders, told them they should be able to have normal children in the future. The jury decided that Kousseff was 90 percent negligent and that an Orlando doctor not named in the lawsuit was 10 percent at fault.
Searcy said he would push state lawmakers to pass a bill awarding the Estradas money over the $200,000 cap. "I believe that this case is so powerful and this tragedy was so preventable and is so poignant, that it is the kind of case that should rise above the fray and rise above party politics," Searcy said.
#1
If you've got an toddler with SLOS like symptoms, birth defects, constant care, etc, something tells me the parents share some type of responsibility in finding out what the problem is, ie, getting a second or third opinion, before having a second child.
Hey Amara, ya think we outta do this again do ya? Yea Danny, no pesos for the first one, no diagnosis, Christian says "its a ticket to ride and we'll be millionaires!"
#3
Searcy said he would push state lawmakers to pass a bill awarding the Estradas money over the $200,000 cap
Look for a bigger payout for your work? That's why the cap. The 'people' got tired of torte lawyers who played for the payoff. Think you can bribe enough state legislatives? Wouldn't that be a kick-back? Not that it should bother a lawyer.
#4
And people wonder why medical costs have gone through the roof.
Its lawsuits liek this and the threat of them that force "defensive medicine" (which is costly as wasteful), and drive up the cost of medical treatment for everyone. Not to mention driving good people away from the field
#5
which is the inability to correctly produce or synthesize cholesterol, after his 2002 birth
I'm no doctor, but this doesn't seem (at least to me) to be as "severe" a birth defect as the AP scare lines would indicate. Isn't their some form (for children) of Plavix or something, or is that too simple?
Even with that, I can't imagine this is that bad a disease to 'monitor' compared to other severe birth defects. I'd assume that it's a matter of watching his/her diet and keeping some drugs on hand, not exactly worth $21 million.
Kousseff, a specialist in genetic disorders, told them they should be able to have normal children in the future.
If that's (literally) what he said, that's probably completely true. If you take it literally, he's just saying it's very possible they could have a second child that's "normal." Of course, that also means there's a chance the 2nd child has the same defect too. I feel for them as parents, but good grief, this free-wheelin' gravy train has gotta stop somewhere.
Posted by: BA ||
07/24/2007 13:46 Comments ||
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#6
This one is ugly, and far beyond mere dietary adjustments, based on a quick search. SLO Foundation Pure Mendelian recessive, so if one child is born with it, the odds are one in four that any subsequent child will also suffer, and 50% that it will be a carrier, as are both parents. It's apparently one of the most common autosomal recessive disorders that I'd never heard of, with an estimated one in 20,000 occurrence in the West. Mental retardation with multiple birth defects, failure to thrive, and unlikelihood of ever achieving independent living as adults and, according to an study last year in the American Journal of Medical Genetics (entitled, amusingly, "DHCR7 mutation carrier rates and prevalence of the RSH/Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome: where are the patients?") is likely a cause of a great many miscarriages and early infant deaths. The cause -- inability to produce cholesterol -- was only discovered in 1993, with a lab test and DNA test following thereafter.
It sounds like Professor Dr. Kousseff misdiagnosed the first child. Fair enough -- it took a small team of doctors three plus years to figure out the cause of my chronic fatigue because it wasn't any of the things they're accustomed to looking for... and another year to conclude that the Hail Mary treatment prescribed not only works but is critical, again because it's not something anyone was accustomed to consider.
I understand the frustration, anguish and increasing desperation that led the parents to sue, but unfortunately they got caught in temporal reality.
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.
Gordon Brown was shaping up for a bitter and prolonged battle over Europe with the Conservatives last night after his Europe minister described calls for a referendum on the new European Union treaty as "frankly absurd".
The humanitarian crisis in central and western England was deepening last night with up to one million people affected by the worst floods in modern history.
An independent person is to head the flood review announced this morning by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, MPs were told Monday. Britains Environment Secretary Hilary Benn told the House of Commons the review would look at the trail of devastation across the country caused by flooding over the last three days. Benn also warned that the emergency was "far from over and further flooding is very likely".
China agreed yesterday to buy up to a £6.6 billion (9.8 billion) share of Barclays bank, its biggest stake in a foreign company, as the countrys confidence as an international investor continues to grow 
Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan was arrested Monday at the Capitol for disorderly conduct, shortly after saying she would run against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over the California Democrat's refusal to try to impeach President Bush. Sheehan was taken into custody inside Rep. John Conyers' office, where she had spent an hour imploring him to launch impeachment proceedings against Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Conyers, D-Mich., chairs the House Judiciary Committee, where any impeachment effort would have to begin. "The Democrats will not hold this administration accountable, so we have to hold the Democrats accountable," Sheehan said outside of Conyers' office after the meeting. "And I for one am going to step up to the plate and run against Nancy Pelosi." 
